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[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 18)

Chapter 18: Follow the Emperor's Base!

With Summer Break beginning, the Digi Destined decide it's now or never. They're going to put an end to the Digimon Emperor. But first… they have to find him.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/178483486

“Fascinating…” Izzy mumbled, poking and prodding at the portal to the Digital World on Ken’s computer, just like Yolei had when she’d visited.

Ken watched, sat on his bed, with Minomon sitting in his lap. “In what way?”

Leaning back in the chair, Izzy answered, “Within the portal’s program, there’s seems to be some kind of tracker,”

“Tracker?”

“It’s tracking… something.” Reaching for his bag, Izzy pulled out his laptop, “Let me see if I can copy this over so I can study it more and try to see what it’s tracking.”

Just… what would Veemon feel would be worth tracking? Or had Veemon even put it in? Ken didn’t exactly know how all that worked and how good at all of that Veemon was.

So Ken just nodded, “I guess if we could match up its movements with something, that would tell us what it was,” Though finding the one specific thing would be… difficult, he’s sure.

“Exactly,” Izzy agreed, disconnecting his laptop from Ken’s computer, “I have it here now… Hand me your Digivice, and I think I’ll be able to copy it over, too.”

Deciding it was probably best to trust that Izzy knew what he was doing – he did seem quite knowledgeable about these things – Ken handed him his Digivice. Izzy worked his magic, and when he returned it to Ken, the display mirrored that of the portal on the computer. He’d keep an eye on it, next time they were in the Digital World. If Veemon had purposely put that tracker in the portal program, it could be something important. If Veemon wasn’t the one who put it there… then maybe they could figure out who did, if they figured out what it was tracking.

---

Ken idly watched at Upamon, Poromon, and Minomon stacked themselves on each other, some balancing game they’d suddenly come up with. While Minomon had tried to argue he should be on the bottom because he was “plenty strong to lift Upamon and Poromon”, he’d been rebutted and put on the top, as neither of the other two thought his pinecone was particularly balanced. Thus, Upamon had placed himself on the bottom, with Poromon in the middle, and Minomon on top.

Their stack was thrown off when Patamon had landed on Minomon and asked what they were doing, causing Minomon to jump, lose his balance on Poromon, and topple both himself and Patamon to the ground. Poromon wobbled, but recovered his balance with a few flaps of his wings.

He had met up with Kari, TK, Yolei, Cody, Izzy, Tai, and Matt in the Odaiba Elementary computer lab. They weren’t actually planning on going to the Digital World today, though. Instead, they were discussing something else: the impending summer break. Not having access to the computer lab wouldn’t be a huge deal, but they had other matters to discuss too.

“I think it’s time we finally put a stop to Motomiya.” TK said, voice serious.

Cody frowned, “But how? We don’t even know what his current goal is, other than trying to put a Dark Tower in every part of the Digital World.”

“That’s enough of a goal,” Matt grumbled, “But he’s right. You’re going to need a bit more of a plan than just finding some way to stop him.”

Finally prying his eyes away from the Digimon, Ken commented, “He and Ohwada must have somewhere they’re staying while in the Digital World. A base of some kind. If we could find that… we could find a way in and maybe learn something more about his plans.”

“Confronting them there could be dangerous, but sneaking in and finding information could be a good idea,” Tai agreed, “But you’d still have to find it.”

“We have all of summer break, that’s a whole week,” Yolei said, confidently, “I say we camp out in the Digital World until we can end this!”

It had been a while since Ken had stayed overnight in the Digital World – not since his first time there. With time having been desynced from the real world, it was feasible at the time, but now… that long of an absence ran a higher risk of being noticed. The last thing he needed was his brother or parents giving him trouble because they noticed he was gone.

Cody voiced the same concern that Ken held, “But what will we tell our parents?”

“That’s not a half bad idea,” Izzy replied, “We could be your cover, that would keep your parents from worrying.”

“We’d just need a good excuse… I know! We tell them you’re on a camping trip with us!” Tai declared, “Then all we’ll need is one of our parents who already know about Digimon to be an adult, and no one will question it.”

TK glanced at Matt, then said, “I think I know someone who could cover that.”

“Dad does have some time off he needs to take.” Matt agreed, “So the four of us will camp while the five of you stop Motomiya and Ohwada once and for all.”

With a grin, Yolei agreed, “That sounds like a plan!”

“A whole week to finish this…” Ken pondered. It sounded perfectly reasonable, with five of them, and against only the two of Motomiya and Ohwada. The only concern was whatever the two could come up with to throw at them, but at this point, with eight Digi Eggs in their possession, it seemed perfectly attainable. The idea of this finally being over was appealing.

Ken just didn’t like the idea that his time with Minomon could end again. Would he be forced back into being a regular boy again, when this was over? When the Digital World didn’t need him anymore? Would he be trapped in the real world while Wormmon stayed in the Digital World? He didn’t just dislike that idea… he hated it. Hated it so much his neck pulsed and he almost felt sick. Just this once, Ken wanted to be different, to stay that way.

Patting him aggressively on the shoulder, Yolei said, “We can do it, easy.” She seemed to have mistaken his worry for being about stopping Motomiya and Ohwada and not what came after. Still, that reassurance caused him to calm a little, his stomach settling.

Kari nodded, “I think we have a plan, then.” She looked at Yolei, Ken, and Cody, “You three tell your family where you’ll be, get your stuff ready, and then we’ll all meet up at Izzy’s tomorrow morning.”

They had a plan. Maybe it was selfish, but Ken sort of wished they didn’t. Still, he knew that this all had to end, sooner or later. What Motomiya and Ohwada was doing was terrible, they were hurting innocent Digimon. It was up to them to stop it, regardless of what fears Ken might have towards what comes after. They’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

And it wasn’t like he’d be crossing it alone, either.

Not this time. This time he had friends who would be with him and would cross the same bridge. That made the fear in his chest quiet, just a bit, and it made his neck stop aching.

Ken stayed around a bit longer, mostly passing the time with Yolei and Cody, as Kari had left with Tai, and TK had wanted to spend time with Matt. In the end, they talked more than anything else in particular. Ken felt like he’d learned more about them in that short time than he’d had in the Digital World. There was just something different about spending time with them when they didn’t have some other goal to accomplish.

It made him wonder, how much had he really known about Ryo? He’d known him outside of the Digital World first, of course, but he’d always felt he’d become closer with him, during that time. Was it all imagined? Or had he really become better friends with Ryo when they’d both been in the Digital World?

Ken might never know for sure, and that bothered him more than he’d like to admit.

---

“Some friends of mine from Odaiba invited me to go camping for break,” Ken said, as dinner was ending. While it would give him an easy escape if the conversation began to go bad, it also just happened to be the first opportunity Ken had to bring it up without interrupting the talk of what Sam had been doing.

“Oh, that’s nice, Ken,” His mother said, almost dismissively. “We won’t be seeing you, then. I’ll try to remember that.”

He doubts it’ll be that hard for them. They’ll probably be happy to only have the child they actually liked home, without any sign of the one they didn’t like being around.

At first, Sam looked pleased with this news, before his eyes narrowed suspiciously, “Friends in Odaiba?” He echoed, “There was that girl, sure, but…”

“I have friends, Sam,” Ken tried to keep his irritation hidden, given their parents were right there. They’d scold him if he made it too obvious. “There’ll be three older kids and one of their dad’s will be going too, so we’ll be plenty supervised.” Surprisingly, it was easy to lie so much about the details of their camping trip.

Still, Sam didn’t look convinced, “How well do you know these people? You can’t just go out to the middle of nowhere with people you barely know.”

Ken turned, heading towards his room, “I know them plenty.” He was more than ready to make his escape and hide in there. Of course Sam would be a thorn in his side and try to pick apart his excuse.

The irony was, he wasn’t even trying to pick apart the part that wasn’t true. He was trying to pick apart the truth. Because apparently the idea that Ken had friends, friends that he knew well and trusted, was too much for him to believe. It was insulting, really. Maybe Sam was just jealous he had the one thing Sam didn’t.

---

When all of them meet up at Izzy’s place, supplies for their Digital World camping trip in tow, Izzy has news for them. “Tentomon contacted me, he says he’s found where the Emperor’s base is.”

“That’s great!” Yolei excitedly said, “That means we won’t even have to search, we’ll just have to find a way in.”

“This seems awfully easy,” Cody commented uneasily.

Though TK nodded, he said, “We’ll just have to find out.”

“Everyone will need to keep their guard up,” Kari added, “Even being near the base puts us in their territory. They’ll have all sorts of Digimon ready to fight.”

“Especially with the Dark Spirals allowing them to control Digimon above Champion level,” Izzy added. “I’ll try to keep my laptop ready, so if things get dicey, get out of there.”

With that, they entered into the Digital World. Thankfully, Izzy had made sure they came out right where Tentomon was waiting for them, meaning they at least didn’t have to search for him. Hopefully Tentomon was right about having seen the Emperor’s base.

They walked as he led him, their Digimon walking beside them, or resting on TK’s head, in Patamon’s case. “It’s a real big base,” Tentomon said, “and they were building all of these Dark Spires, I don’t even know what for.”

Humming curiously, Kari wondered, “He doesn’t need more than one in an area to stop Digimon from Digivolving… so it must be for something else.”

“Or maybe he’s just being weird,” Yolei commented, “I mean, they’re both going through all of this trouble, anyway. Something’s got to be wrong with you to do all this.”

“I don’t think we should really be worrying about that,” Ken quickly replied, “I mean… Whatever their reasonings, whatever their motivations, what’s most important is that we stop them.”

TK nodded, “Once they’re stopped, we might be able to learn more about the why. But all that really matters is that they’re hurting and controlling innocent Digimon.”

Tentomon led them to a clearing, filled with holes. “And here we are!” He gestured, then  turned to look.

“There’s nothing here,” Cody observed, “Just Dark Spires.”

“I could have sworn it was here before…” Tentomon flew a bit closer, though nothing new revealed itself. “Maybe it turned invisible?”

Ken checked his D3. No sign of any Digivices other than the five of theirs, around here, so unless the two had figured out how to hide the signals from their Digivices, it seemed unlikely that Motomiya and Ohwada were anywhere nearby. “I don’t think it’s that,” Ken said.

Checking her own D3, Kari agreed, “There’s no signal from any other Digivices than our own. I don’t think they’re here.”

“So what?” Yolei wondered, “Did the whole base just up and leave?”

“With these two, who knows,” TK commented, though he didn’t sound all that dejected. It was just day one, Ken supposed, they still had time to find the base. So maybe it wasn’t anything to get too disappointed about, not yet at least.

Nodding, now with new vigor, Yolei declared, “Then let’s look for clues! They might have left a trail or something to tell us where they went.” She hurried towards one of the craters in the ground.

Hawkmon hurried after her, “Yolei! Wait up!”

For a moment, Ken watched the two. Then, he looked at the others and asked, “Should we… follow them?”

They all considered it, for a moment. Then TK said, “You guys start looking, Patamon and I will go after them.” Without another word, he and Patamon began to follow after Yolei and Hawkmon, not quite running, but in an urgent jog. Yolei would still reach the edge of the crater well before them.

“TK and Patamon can probably keep them out of trouble,” Gatomon said, “So let’s see if any of us can find anything.”

Cody, Kari, Gatomon, and Armadillomon took off in the opposite direction that Yolei, Hawkmon, TK, and Patamon had gone in. Unsure, Ken sat Wormmon down, “Where do you think we should look?” They currently stood in a rocky clearing, surrounded on all sides by a forest. You’d think, if a whole base somehow disappeared, there would be some obvious sign of it. Drag marks in the dirt, gashes in the rocks, or downed trees. Something like that.

“Maybe we could go up?” Wormmon suggested, “I could Digivolve into Shadramon and see if we could find anything too big to be seen from the ground. Or a bit further away.”

“It might be better if you save your energy, for now,” They didn’t know how safe it was here, but they were solidly in the Emperor’s territory. The odds were, any Digimon they encountered here would be under Motomiya and Ohwada’s control. Ken pointed towards the end of the forest, opposite of the way they’d came, “Let’s investigate over there.”

Wormmon nodded and the two made their way over. Over by the crater, Ken can hear some noise, prompting him to look over there again. He can’t make out entirely what’s happening, at this distance, but he sees TK leaning over the edge of the crater as Patamon glowed and Armor Digivolved into Pegasusmon, diving down into the crater. That, certainly, was a bit concerning. A moment or so later, Pegasusmon emerges with Yolei and Hawkmon on his back.

Hopefully the two were okay.

---

Sam was no detective, but he liked to consider himself pretty tech savvy, which gave him an edge over a lot of other people, when it came to research. After Ken had left, that morning, for Odaiba, a boy called their home. Sam had taken that as an opportunity to take notes about just who Ken was going to be with. Call it nosey, but Sam had to be sure that Ken was safe and no one was going to take advantage of him.

The boy who called, Matt Ishida, seemed to be perfectly willing to humor him, if sounding a bit annoyed to have to give the name of every person that would be there and how they related to each other. Sam could recall the name Yolei Inoue as being the girl who’d come over a while ago, and he recalled the boy who’d been leaving the other day as Sam had gotten home as Izzy Izumi. The rest of the names were foreign to him, though. Not that Ken exactly liked talking to anyone, anymore.

So names in hand, Sam does some digging, not that there’s too much remarkable about any of the kids. There was a little about Ishida – he was apart of a band, and it seemed someone involved had enough skills with the internet to make a brief website. It figures, really, most people don’t have the media presence Sam is stuck with, so most of the time there wasn’t much to find. Sam didn’t spend too much time on that, though, as he couldn’t help this nagging feeling. Like something wasn’t quite right.

Searching for a pen or pencil to try to write out his thoughts, Sam opens his top desk drawer on a whim. For one reason or another, he barely ever used it now, so there wasn’t much of importance in there. But he might have left something write with in there from a year or so ago…

And something’s missing, he noted, searching his brain. What was even the last thing he put in here…? Oh, that strange device that had come out of the computer. The one Ken had taken. It was missing.

Sam had hated that device – at first, he just worried it was somehow dangerous, and then he was upset that Ken would take his things and disappear out of the apartment like that (he had been hiding, he had to be, but it didn’t make Sam any less worried). He shoved it into the drawer in his anger, in the coming days only coming to hate it more. Because it made him yell at Ken, and then suddenly Ken, sweet and gentle Ken, seemed to hate him with all his heart.

It used to be that Sam was a good big brother, that Ken adored him. Someone had to look after Ken, after all, and their parents never did, so it fell to Sam. He was just trying to protect Ken and he’d been so sure that Ken would get over it in a few days, maybe a week. That he’d understand, eventually. But he hadn’t. Even now, he still seemed to hate Sam. Sometimes, their parents called it jealousy, but Sam knew better. It was contempt, not because Sam was a genius, but because Sam was a horrible older brother. Because Sam took all the attention even though he didn’t want it and he couldn’t even give his own attention to Ken, anymore.

But Sam was trying. Trying everything he could to just maybe prove to Ken he could be an okay brother, at the minimum. That he did love Ken. That he was just trying to look out for Ken.

And now that device was missing from the drawer he’d put it in. How long? There was only one other person who knew where it was or that it even existed, so the culprit was obvious. But when had Ken taken it? Sam hoped it was only recently, in case there was something dangerous about that device… he’d meant to take it apart after it had first appeared, but that had never happened, so he didn’t even know what it could do, as he couldn’t get it to turn on.

That was how Sam found himself stepping out of the train station in Odaiba. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted to accomplish, just that he knew, somehow, he needed to go there. Sam had been to Odaiba a few times, but not all that frequently, so while he wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, he still didn’t know the streets very well.

Yet he still somehow comes to a van, where three boys and a man were loading some supplies into. One, Sam could recognize as being Izumi and another he recognized from the pictures of the Teenaged Wolves as being Ishida. That meant that the other boy was probably Kamiya, since Sam doubted they were any of Ken’s more direct friends. It had sounded like they were more or less around Ken’s age.

Izumi noticed him first, then said something too quiet for Sam to hear from here to the others. The other two boys looked his way, then, with a grin, Kamiya approached Sam, “Hey! You’re Ken’s brother, right? I’m Tai Kamiya!”

Surprised by his sudden enthusiasm, Sam blinked for a moment, then nodded as his mannerisms script loaded, “I am,”

Hands casually in his pant pockets, Ishida approached as well, asking, “What are you doing here?”

Now this was the hard part. While Sam was sure his worries were very normal things for an older sibling to feel about their younger sibling, he still had to be careful not to come off too strong in that regard. “I just wanted to make sure Ken would be holding up okay,” Sam finally said, “He’s never done something like this before.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Kamiya responded, “He’s got plenty of support, between his friends and us.”

“Still…” Sam adjusted his backpack. He always brought one with him, with a change of clothes, water, snacks, and a first aid kit, just in case something happened. It had come in handy when he’d go out with Ken, but in recent years, it was only really the water and occasionally the snacks that had ever been needed. Then he had an idea. “Actually… I was wondering if I could tag along? I’d love to get to know some of Ken’s friends.”

Kamiya stalled, casting a hurried glance at Ishida. Ishida’s lips twitched into a frown, for a moment, before an exaggerated smile. “I’m going to help Izzy and dad finish up,” He clapped Kamiya on the shoulder and leaned in and whispered something.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’ll be sure to… do that.” Kamiya replied to whatever Ishida had whispered, as Ishida made his way towards the van. “Say, uh, Ichijouji, have you ever gone camping before?”

Sam was startled by the sudden question, but he supposed it wasn’t an unreasonable question, given his equally sudden request. “Not really, no,” His parents were never really the type, and it wasn’t like he knew anyone who would ever actually invite him. “What about you?”

“A couple times, and I went to summer camp a few years ago,” Kamiya easily replied, “Real fun time, as long as being in the middle of nature is your thing.”

This was the part of conversation Sam had never really gotten good at. Unscripted small talk. Usually, with interviews and such, there was little small talk and he’d have plenty of time to prepare, as it was usually the same few things. While he didn’t usually know exactly what questions were being asked during an interview, he’d gotten pretty good at guessing, and so he could prepare answers ahead of time.

Awkwardly, he adjusted his glasses. He wasn’t really sure what to say from here. Should he ask a question? Or perhaps make an observation? And no one ever did answer his request to come along, either…

He was saved from continuing this conversation by Ishida calling out, “Alright, we’re all ready to go!”

Kamiya took a step back, which Sam matched with a step forward. Then, Kamiya shot a glance back at Ishida again, their eyes meeting. There was something conveyed there, but Sam couldn’t imagine what.

“Well…” Kamiya began, “Oh! Would you look at that!” He pointed somewhere behind and past Sam, prompting Sam to, confused, look in that direction.

It had seemed like Kamiya had been pointing towards the roof of a nearby building, but Sam didn’t see anything there. Or anywhere near it. Or anywhere in that vague direction. He can hear the sound of vehicle doors closing, and then an engine starting.

Confused, Sam turned back towards the van, only to see it leaving. Well, they could have just said no when he asked to come along, they didn’t have to ditch him. It wasn’t a very good first impression.

Just for that, Sam decides, they won’t get rid of him so easily. After all, he’d asked for where they were camping when he’d spoken to Ishida on the phone, earlier. He knew exactly where they were going and he was more than happy to find his way there. He’d just have to call his parents, later, and let them know where he’d gone.

---

TK, Patamon, and Yolei rejoin with the others, as Yolei held Hawkmon in her arms. He was a bit injured, which wasn’t ideal, but it would probably heal up pretty quick. In the meantime, though, he’d be out of commission.

Yolei sighed, “You guys go back to looking, I’ll wait here with Hawkmon,” They’d made a little camp at the edge of the forest, and Yolei easily set herself down with her back against a tree. She didn’t look very pleased about it, but somehow, Kari doubted that staying behind was all that was bothering her.

Kari pursed her lips for a moment, considering what she was about to say, then decided to say it anyway. “Gatomon and I will stay, too. That way you have some company and a Digimon that’s up to fighting, if it’s needed.”

“If that’s what you want,” TK said.

When Kari nodded, Cody added, “We’ll be back before dark.” With that, the boys went off and hopefully they’d find some clue or other.

For a while, Kari, Yolei, Hawkmon, and Gatomon just… sit. Kari doesn’t mind, she liked sitting in the quiet, sometimes. Sitting with Gatomon in her room was a pastime she always enjoyed, and Gatomon seemed to like it too. After a while, though, Yolei finally broke the silence.

In a whisper, she said, “I’m sorry, Hawkmon.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Hawkmon insisted.

Judging by Yolei’s expression, she didn’t buy it, “It’s my fault you got hurt! If I’d just paused for a moment and listened to you… if I wasn’t so reckless…”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Yolei,” Kari said, softly.

Yolei took that in for a moment, staring down at her lap. Then, in a soft voice, just a bit above a whisper, she asked, “Even Motomiya?”

“Why do you ask?” Kari tried to hide her surprise. She hadn’t thought the conversation would turn to Davis, certainly not out of the blue.

“I mean… you know him best, out of all of us. So do you think that maybe all of this is just… one big mistake?” Yolei pondered, “I know I said some harsh things, earlier, but… I guess some part of me can’t help but wonder.”

One big mistake. It would be one terribly big one, but Kari liked to think… she liked to think Davis really didn’t mean anything bad by this. It wouldn’t be something that could easily be forgiven, of course, but she still struggled to imagine that Davis was doing all these things out of malice.

She took a deep breath and answered, “I… hope so. Davis… he was never the sort to do something like this. I don’t know what could have drove him this far…”

Yolei shrugged, half-heartedly, “Beats me, but… I guess I kinda hope that he’ll realize he’s messed up before anything gets worse.” There was a certain wistfulness in her voice, “Not just because that would make things easier on us, but because… well… some stuff just doesn’t add up, I guess, and it all being some wild mistake feels like it makes more sense than him being secretly some… monster.”

A rather big question had always been how Davis even figured out how to do these things, create devices like the Dark Rings, Dark Spires, and Dark Spirals. He wasn’t like Izzy, he wasn’t even remotely good at computers. And in the Digital World especially, making things required knowledge of those kind of things. But even if this was some big choice that Davis would come to regret, it didn’t explain how he pulled any of it off.

But maybe it opened up room for an explanation. Kari wasn’t really sure.

Again, silence falls. It feels a bit less easy than before. Thoughts and feelings still hanging in the air. Except Kari can’t quite place what they are and doesn’t know if it’s something she should try to bring up or not.

A lot longer passed, this time than the first. Again, it was Yolei who broke the silence, “My first thought always seems to be to go rushing into things.”

“Some people are that way,” Kari replied.

“Yeah, but it means things like Hawkmon getting hurt happen,” Yolei huffed, “Or I make some assumption about what someone is like even though I don’t really have much to back it up.”

Kari thinks she understands, well enough at least, what’s bothering Yolei right now. “Maybe so, but when people get from your actions, it means you know to take a moment to try to consider what might happen, next time. You can learn from it. And you can always change what you think of people, regardless of what your initial assumption is.”

Yolei sighed, “I guess I just wish I was better at slowing down.”

“Things can always change, and even if they don’t… there’s nothing wrong with being that way. Things happen, people get hurt… but we learn from it and keep going.”

With a light laugh, Yolei commented, “I guess you’re pretty good at this leader stuff.”

For moment, Kari blinked, processing her words, “Oh, well… I don’t really think of it this way. We’re all a team, after all, and… I don’t think we fully have a leader.” She tilted her head, pondering that. “I’m just… saying the things I’d say regardless.”

---

“Other than those craters and the Dark Spires, there’s not any other sign of the Emperor…” Patamon sighed, gliding down and landing on TK’s head, jostling TK’s hat.

“It’s like the whole base vanished…” Cody mumbled.

There was still sun in the sky, at least, but they’d been looking for hours with little sign of anything useful. At this point, it would start getting dark, soon. “Maybe we should call it a day and head back,” Ken suggested. “Start again in the morning, and hopefully Hawkmon will be feeling better…”

“It sounds like as good of an idea as any,” TK replied, then looked down at Cody and Armadillomon, “What do you two think?”

Armadillomon tilted his head, “It is gettin’ close to dinner time.”

“Might as well,” Cody nodded.

Wormmon sighed, “I think I’ll sleep very good tonight, all this walking is tiring…”

Without another word, Ken leaned down to pick up Wormmon. A shadow passed overhead, familiarly long and winged, causing him to pause. It stopped itself just in front of the sun, causing the Airdramon’s shadow to be cast over them.

Looking up, Ken sees Ohwada, standing easily on the back of an Airdramon, Lekismon beside him. He braced himself and leaned over, “Aren’t you all here a bit late?”

TK frowned, “Ohwada.”

In response, Ohwada tilted his head, “Not too many other Digi Destined around here.” He leaned back, “I’m sure you know where this is going.”

“You could just… not,” Wormmon suggested, “That’s always an option.”

Ohwada just rolled his eyes and gestured. From the forest emerged a spider Digimon – Dokugumon. “If you just buzzed off, this wouldn’t be a problem.” Ohwada glanced towards Lekismon, “Lekismon, help Dokugumon out.”

Lekismon huffed, “Fine, sure. But just because I still need to test out my new form!” With that, she jumped off Airdramon, landing easily beside Dokugumon. That made two Champions to deal with. Not unreasonable, but not ideal. Dokugumon, at least, they could get out of the fight by breaking the Dark Ring on one of its legs. Lekismon was a different story – she’d need to be fought until she either couldn’t fight or Ohwada called her off.

Ken glanced at TK and Cody, who nodded. There wasn’t really any avoiding the fight, so they’d just have to give it their all. “Digi Armor energize!”

“Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Togemogumon! The Quills of Friendship!”

“Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to… Pteranomon! The Wings of Love!”

“Patamon Armor Digivolve to… Pegasusmon! Flying Hope!”

Pegasusmon and Pteranomon took off towards Dokugumon, while Lekismon leaped towards Togemogumon. “Moon Night Kick!”

Planting his feet, Togemogumon launched the crystal quills from his back at her, “Hail Machine Gun!”

Lekismon planted a foot on one of the crystals, destroying it and using it as a platform to leap back and away from the rest. Gracefully, she landed on Dokugumon’s back, just in time to intercept Pegasusmon’s headbutt with her own hand. With the other hand, she then punched Pegasusmon.

Pteranomon swooped by, firing the missile underneath its wings at Dokugumon and Lekismon. This caused Dokugumon to shake and Lekismon to lose her balance, sliding off its back. “Rude!” Lekismon cried indignantly.

Landing on the ground, Pegasusmon galloped towards Dokugumon’s arm, before spinning on his hooves so that his back legs faced Dokugumon. Quickly, he kicked, aimed at the Dark Ring, causing it to shatter. Lekismon grumbled something and then turned her gaze up at Airdramon and Ohwada.

Ohwada mumbled something incoherent from here but the inflection sounded a bit like a swear or something of the kind. Airdramon then swooped down, grabbing Lekismon by the arm and took off, despite her protests about being handled in such a way.

For a moment, Ken couldn’t help but just watch them leave. Finding Ohwada here didn’t really mean much – it was hard to come into the Digital World and not find him, really. He always seemed to show up wherever they were – that was probably by design.

Hopefully they could find some clue to point them towards the base tomorrow.

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 17)

Chapter 17: Ghost of a Chance

It's August 1st and it seems all the Digi Destined have plans.

Happy Odaiba Day! If you're reading this in the future, I am in fact posting this on August 1st.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/177378126

August 1st.

Davis thinks he hates that day, now. He remembered, three years ago, when that fog came into Odaiba and those ghosts started taking kids. He was one of them, pulled away from Jun and brought to be with a bunch of other kids. Some scary monster man was looking for one in particular. Davis, obviously, hadn’t been that kid.

That incident hadn’t been that bad, though. A little freaky, but he’d been brave and mostly unbothered by it. Life went on and he’d mostly forgotten about it, until he met Veemon. No, the reason why he thinks he hates August 1st now… one year ago, Jun was hit in a crosswalk by a careless driver. And as soon as he heard, Davis and his parents sat at her side in the hospital. Until she was gone.

It was the worst day of Davis’ life and it would take a lot to top it, despite his young age. As much as he and Jun would argue and fight, he’d never wanted her gone. As much as they both might have joked about wanting to be an only child… Davis now was, and he hated it.

For the first time since leaving the human world for the Digital World, Davis wondered what his parents were doing. Maybe it was cruel of him to put them through this. To mourn their daughter and to have their son run away. To have neither on this awful day. But Davis had things he had to do, and spending time in the real world was only slowing him down, especially now that he had the Digi Destined to worry about…

They were a threat to his plans, but this last challenge, to win the game, was a race, not a fight. If he gets what he wants before they can stop him, then he wins. Then he wins and then something, at least will be fixed. He’ll leave this empire he’s made in the Digital World to Lui, then. Because by then, he won’t care what happens. Veemon would call it selfish, and maybe it was. Davis didn’t care, not anymore.

“You seem… off, today.” Lui noticed, his voice not quite soft, not like it used to be, but close enough. The loss of that softness was Davis’ fault, he knows that even if Lui might not realize it. The closer Davis gets to his goal, the more the clouds seem to clear and his actions clarify. But it’s too late to do much about any of that, he just hopes Lui will start noticing too. Right now, Davis is just happy Lui noticed.

As happy as he can be, given everything. “Today is August 1st.” He answered plainly.

Understanding, Lui said, “Oh. You should take it easy today.”

“I have work to do.” Davis tried to reason, though the idea of laying down and not leaving his bed sounded very appealing.

Confused, Lekismon asked, “What’s so special about today?”

Lekismon was the first Digimon Davis had seen really Digivolve who wasn’t partnered to a Digi Destined. It was a bit odd to see her stay that way, instead of reverting to Lunamon. Now, she was taller than Lui, more around Ichijouji’s height. And she possessed the power of a Champion level Digimon, of course. Davis had considered suggesting they put a Dark Ring or Spiral on her, to keep her from deciding to disobey, but he knew Lui didn’t see much point, right now at least. She was Lui’s problem, more than she was Davis’, so Davis would leave her to Lui.

“The Digi Destined won’t be coming here, today,” Veemon reminded in an odd act of kindness, “They have plans in the human world today. They always do.” How Veemon knew about that, Davis didn’t know. But he did recall Kari had, in the past between now and the day of the incident in Odaiba, plans with Tai and some friends of theirs on August 1st.

“So take a break,” Lui insisted, “I’ll make sure nothing happens.”

As much as he knew he should argue, because working on creating a Digimon was hard and he still didn’t really know what he was doing, even with detailed instructions, Davis found himself nodding. The desire to just rot in bed was well outweighing anything else.

---

Ken found himself on the train to Odaiba. On one hand, he still liked the idea of getting to know the Digi Destined in the real world, on the other… he hadn’t been around for what happened in Odaiba on August 1st, so it felt a bit odd to be invited to a memorial for it. But it wasn’t like he was special, either, they invited Yolei and Cody, too. They just didn’t have to make as much of a trip.

He supposed he was glad that they felt close enough with him to invite him at all. Things had been better, at least, Ken felt they had been. Letting himself believe that they wanted to be around him, that they really were his friends, had made things all feel so much better. This could be an opportunity to get to know some of the older Digi Destined better, too.

Minomon was with him, of course, sat comfortably in a bag with some snacks. Hopefully, he wouldn’t eat all of them before they arrived, though he knew the odds of that were low. Half the reason for the snacks was for him to eat, but Ken had hoped that they could share some with the other Digimon too. Maybe even the Digi Destined, though with Digimon appetites, that wasn’t too likely.

Yolei and Cody had said they’d meet him at the train station and they’d all walk to where they were meeting up together. Kari and TK had wanted to help their brothers with setting up, and Ken was just glad to have someone to help him make sure he finds the right place. He’d been to Odaiba a few times, but not enough to be particularly familiar with its layout.

Stepping out of the train station, he smiled when he saw them. Yolei grinned and waved, calling out “Ken!” Quickly, he weaved through the crowd and made his way to them. She continued, “You made it,”

He nodded as Minomon stuck his head out from the bag, “I left some of the snacks for Upamon and Poromon.”

“That was nice of you, Minomon,” Cody said, Upamon wiggling a bit in his arms.

“Now lets go meet up with the others.” Yolei said, turning around and taking the lead. Poromon sticks his head out of the I-Mart bag hanging off of the crook of her arm. Ken is happy to let her lead, and Cody doesn’t protest so he must not mind either.

The older Digi Destined were already settling in the park, under the shade of a tree. Upon noticing them arrive, TK waved, “Great! You’re here,”

“It seems like you all have already settled,” Cody noted, taking in how they were all sat.

Sora nodded, pulling a box of food out of a bag and handing it to Tai, “We always thought this was the best way to remember it. Getting together and remembering.”

Cody watched, for a moment, before he said, “I hadn’t thought anyone had been hurt when the fog came in. All the news reports said that no one was missing, injured, or dead.”

Kari frowned, at that statement, but said nothing. Awkwardly, Sora began, “Well… no humans were…”

But the news wouldn’t have reported on any Digimon. They likely wouldn’t have known good Digimon from bad Digimon. So then, perhaps they’d lost an ally of theirs, that day. Ken wouldn’t ask, and thankfully Cody seemed to get what Sora was implying and chose not to ask either.

Instead, Ken chose to ask, “So this is all for when the Digimon came into the real world three years ago?”

“We decided, the first year after it happened, that it would be a good thing to do,” Izzy answered.

It wasn’t long before they were all sat down, snacking on the food, though it was mostly the Digimon doing eating it. Sometimes, Ken was impressed by just how much they could fit in their often small mouths, though he hadn’t a clue where any of it went. Maybe their bodies processed it into data? That would make enough sense, he supposed.

At some point, some of the older Digi Destined had begun telling him, Yolei, and Cody about their adventure. Right now, Tai was regaling them with WarGreymon’s fight against VenomMyotismon three years prior. “And then MetalGarurumon sends the TV station’s observation deck at WarGreymon, and WarGreymon kicks it straight at VenomMyotismon!” Tai sweeps his hand in an arc, before balling it into a fist and smacking his palm. “It gets him straight in his weird second mouth!”

“That’s so cool!” Yolei said, “But then, didn’t something weird happen after he was defeated?”

“The Digital World appeared in the sky and on various devices,” Izzy confirmed, “We had to return there in order to fix it. Due to the time distortion, at the time, it meant we weren’t gone for very long on either of our trips.”

Yolei tapped a finger on her cheek, “Say, Ken… how long were you in the Digital World when you first went?”

Ken blinked, surprised to suddenly have the conversation turned to him. “Oh, well… I think it took a couple weeks to defeat Milleniumon, and then I was sick for two weeks after, so… about a month?”

Pausing his eating, Minomon nodded, “That sounds about right. But Milleniumon was causing funny things to happen, so only a half an hour or so would have passed in this world.”

“Yeah, I think it was about the same when Milleniumon first showed his ugly face,” Matt commented. “We were there a lot longer than we were gone.”

“Milleniumon seemed to have possessed an ability to distort time and space,” Izzy added, “It’s likely that’s why.”

Tai snapped his fingers, “Speaking of your time in the Digital World… I bet you’ve got a good story or two to share, right Ken?”

Uh oh. Ken wasn’t sure how to explain to them that his memory of that time wasn’t very good. Or well, he knew how to say it, but he didn’t particularly want to explain why. Didn’t want to risk them worrying about it or something. Because as far as he could tell, it wasn’t that worth worrying over.

“Oh, oh! I know!” Minomon said, bouncing over, “How about when I first Digivolved into Stingmon? That was pretty cool, right Ken?”

Ken swallowed, searching his memory. When Wormmon first Digivolved into Stingmon… He seems to recall a little, at least. That was better than most things. “Right…” He began, taking a deep breath as he tried to make sense of the fragments he had. “We were fighting a Digimon…”

“Dark Tyrannomon,” Minomon supplied, “With a Salamon and an Otamamon,”

He nodded, “Dark Tyrannomon had pretty much knocked Salamon and Otamamon out, so it was just you.”

Excitedly, Minomon added, “And then you were telling me how much you knew I could do it and I felt really special! Then your Digivice reacted and I Digivolved into Stingmon!” He hopped excitedly, his arms waving around. “I was able to beat Dark Tyrannomon and it was really cool! Then I picked you, Salamon, and Otamamon up and flew you all back. You said I was really cool and how happy you were I got to Digivolve and that you knew I’d pull through for you!”

Though Ken can’t remember exactly what he’d said to Stingmon, it sounds like something he’d have said, a couple years ago. He hadn’t had much filter at the time, at least when it came to telling others how amazing they were, and he was sure that Stingmon had been no exception. Not that he thinks that Minomon would lie to him, that wasn’t like Minomon in the slightest.

“Aww, how cute,” Mimi cooed. “Your partner first Digivolving is something you’ll always remember, I think. At least, I’ll always remember when Tanemon first Digivolved into Palmon, or when Palmon first Digivolved to Togemon.”

Ken decided he wouldn’t mention the part where he didn’t really remember the details of that fight. If Minomon hadn’t jumped in to tell most of it, Ken wasn’t sure he’d have been able to convey the story in any meaningful way. Who it was against, who was even with him and Wormmon at the time. He just remembered that Wormmon had been the only one still standing at the time and that he’d been so amazed to see Wormmon become Stingmon.

Cody looked down at Upamon, “I wonder if our partners will ever be able to Digivolve like that, once we get rid of the Dark Spires?”

“Most likely,” Joe replied, “So far, there doesn’t seem to be a reason why they couldn’t.”

Regarding Poromon, Yolei wondered, “Huh, what could Hawkmon become?”

“Maybe a bigger bird, like Biyomon does,” Tai offered, “There’s usually some overlap in what our partners are already like and what they become when they Digivolve. Like how Greymon is a bigger dinosaur and Togemon is a bigger plant.”

“They usually get bigger,” Sora added.

“Sometimes,” TK began, looking over at Patamon, who had a pouch of jelly in his mouth, “They become something pretty different. Like how Patamon becomes Angemon or Gatomon becomes Angewomon. They don’t look much like they did before they Digivolve.”

Given Patamon was a small creature with wings and Angemon was a literal angel, that felt like a bit of an understatement. Ken had never seen what Angewomon looked like, but given the name and TK’s comment, he really doubts “cat” plays a very big role in her appearance. Though imagining a cat angel was a bit amusing.

Ken is glad that the conversation has again moved to other topics. Not only did Ken really not like talking about himself, but he would rather avoid talking about anything that might further reveal how much he couldn’t remember. It was bad enough that some of the Digi Destined, his friends, had seen a couple cases of it already. The last thing he needed was for them to think there was something wrong with him, or worse, worry.

Soon, they all began to split their separate way, TK wanted to spend time with Matt, since he was staying with him and their father for a bit. Yolei and Sora wanted to join Mimi in sightseeing and Joe had studying to do. That left Ken with Kari, Tai, Cody, and Izzy, plus Upamon and Gatomon. They head to the Kamiya apartment, empty since Kari and Tai’s mom was out for a while.

Tai sat backwards in his desk chair, resting his hands on the back rest, while Kari and Ken sat on Kari’s bed and Izzy and Cody were sat on the floor. “Now that we’re here… I have some things I want to test.”

“You do?” Kari asked, tilting her head.

He nodded, “Since we won’t be able to use the computer lab for the portal soon, with summer break coming up, I wanted to test a theory of mine. We always figured it was the computer that was special, but maybe it was your Digivices instead.”

That would make a degree of sense – the portal that the other Digi Destined used apparently would only open for D3s and not the old Digivices. Ken wasn’t sure if that was the case for the one he used, now, as he had been able to enter the first time with his old Digivice. But then, his portal had been sent by Veemon, one way or another, and not appeared like it sounded like this one had.

Ken fished out his Digivice, “So you think there could be a way to get another portal to open elsewhere, using our D3s.” He regarded it, something he’d found himself occasionally doing.

“Exactly, I’ve already done some work to set it up,” He pulled out his laptop, opening it and beginning to type. “So now we just need to test it. Who’d like to volunteer?”

Kari, Cody, and Ken all side eyed each other, just a bit wary. It wasn’t like they thought that anything bad would happen, or that Izzy would ask them to do something potentially dangerous. But unknown territory was unknown territory… oh who was he kidding, Ken knew full well he was too curious himself to put up much of a fight if he was asked to test it, anyway.

He sighed and raised his hand, “I’ll give it a try.”

“Great!” Izzy turned his laptop to face him and Kari. Ken raised his Digivice to the screen, just as he had countless time at home. To the side, the status of the gate changed to open.

“It worked!” Tai cheered.

Nodding, Kari commented, “This should make things a lot easier.”

“It might be harder to keep it from our families, though…” Cody commented.

“Oh yeah, mom would freak if she came into our room and we were both gone…” Tai sighed, “We’ll have to be careful.”

Right, Ken’s ability to disappear right out of his room was unique. Because even if his family did notice he was gone, they’d probably just assume he was practicing soccer or something. They would come up with a reason not to worry because they wouldn’t want to worry. Or see much point in it.

“And to think, Ken’s doing that all the time,” Kari said, glancing at Ken. Ken ducked his head, using returning his Digivice to his pocket as enough of an excuse to try to make himself disappear.

While some part of him figures he should probably try to do something to play it off, another part of him would rather not say anything at all about the comment. That part was the winning part, so he stayed quiet, hoping that it would pass by without too much notice or thought.

Thankfully, if anyone took notice, no one said anything.

“Which reminds me,” Izzy began, and Ken thinks he might have counted his blessings a little too soon. “Yolei mentioned that she noticed something odd about your portal when she took a look at it.”

Ken had nearly forgotten about that, “Oh, right. She said she couldn’t figure out what.”

“I’d love to take a look at it, one of these days,”

“If you’re ever in Tamachi…” He couldn’t exactly bring his computer all the way over to Odaiba, after all. Or well, he could, but it would be an absolute hassle and something would probably break, given it was getting a bit old, anyway.

---

The Digi Destined all meet back up again, Ken wasn’t sure if they had other plans or what, at this point he was fully just along for the ride. Not that that was bad, in a way, it was surprisingly enjoyable.

Kari and Gatomon had picked up flowers and now they were heading towards the TV station. Ken recalled hearing that the whole station was pretty much destroyed when Myotismon attacked, so Ken had to guess that there were some Digimon casualties there. They’re within sight of the TV station when out of the blue, dark clouds move in overhead, seeming concentrated around the station.

A bolt of lightning strikes the station.

“That’s not normal,” Ken said, stunned. Suddenly clouds, maybe even a sudden rainstorm, sure, but sudden lightning? Located specifically over a TV station? Something was wrong.

They rush to the building while everyone else seems to be leaving it. Understandably, they were freaked out by the lightning. It was probably for the best they evacuated, anyway. Gatomon stared at the building, for a moment, her eyes becoming wild and frantic. Then she ran inside, without a word as to why.

“Gatomon, wait!” Kari cried, running after her. Without wasting anymore time, the rest of them followed.

As they navigated the building, following after Gatomon, it was like the building was being filled with a whispering. Ken couldn’t make out much of it, but he could have sworn he heard Gatomon’s name. Was whatever was causing this calling for Gatomon? Gatomon comes to a stop in a large room, staring up at the ceiling.

A black silhouette swirled around the ceiling, mostly featureless, save for the shape of a pointed hat and eyes.

“It’s the ghost!” TK yelped.

“Ghost?” Cody asked, “Ghosts aren’t real…”

Matt answered, “Dad’s been saying how all sorts of weird things have been going on at the TV station recently…”

The desk and chair in the room shook, papers on the desk flying everywhere. This time, the voice was finally clear enough to hear it calling out “Gatomon,”

“Let’s say it’s a ghost,” Jou began, “…what is it trying to get?”

“Me,” Gatomon answered, taking a step towards the shadow, which now bounced all around the room. “I’m here! Right here!”

Wiggling nervously in Ken’s arms, Minomon cried, “Oh no! It’s going to eat her!” He managed to free himself from Ken’s arms, landing on the floor. Upamon and Poromon joined him.

“We gotta do somethin’!” Upamon declared. “Protect Gatomon!”

“What are you going to do?” Cody asked.

The three Digimon began to glow. Digivolve. The three Digimon were going to Digivolve.

“Minomon Digivolve to… Wormmon!”

“Upamon Digivolve to… Armadillomon!”

“Poromon Digivolve to… Hawkmon!”

Determined, Hawkmon said, “It must be a Digimon under the control of the Digimon Emperor.

Gatomon shook her head, hastily holding out her arms. “Wait!” Then she turned her attention back to the shadow, “I’m here!” She called again.

She seemed so confident in whatever it was she was trying to do. “Let her try what she’s doing,” Ken said, watching her.

The voice called Gatomon’s name again, even louder and clearer than before. The shadow bounced a few more times, before it landed on a direct course with Gatomon. “Wizardmon!” She called out in return, the shadow stopping just before her.

“Wizardmon?” Kari echoed, voice faint but shocked. The other Digi Destined made equal sounds of surprise.

Ken got the impression they were missing something here, but if the other Digi Destined recognized the name… then perhaps this Digimon had nothing to do with Motomiya and Ohwada. Or at least, something far more complicated was going on here. The shadow began to rise from the floor, taking on the ghostly appearance of a Digimon with a pointed hat and a purple cape with writing on the inside.

“Gatomon,” The ghost said, the same voice that had been calling for her before, “I’m glad you made it here.”

“Wizardmon… it’s good to see you again,” Gatomon said, sounding almost a bit sad.

Maybe this was a ghost they were seeing.

“Is he… a friend?” Cody wondered.

“Gatomon… there’s something I need to tell you, about your enemy. He can’t be defeated as you are now.” Wizardmon said, eyes trained on Gatomon.

Gatomon frowned, “The Digimon Emperor?” She asked.

Wizardmon continued, “The Digimon Emperor, yes, but he is not your only enemy. The only way that enemy will be defeated is to save the Digi Destined wrapped in darkness.” That was vague, but it seemed obvious he must have been talking about Motomiya. “The only thing that can hold back kindness is a corrupted miracle. And only the golden radiance created by a miracle will be able to release that kindness once more.”

Yolei’s face twisted, “Kindness? We don’t have to be nice to Motomiya, do we?”

Ken wasn’t so sure that was an absurd thought, given he’s certain that Motomiya wasn’t an inherently awful person, despite his actions. But what Wizardmon meant by all of that, he wasn’t quite sure.

“Kindness alone will not be enough, but the golden radiance is also needed,”

“I see…” Gatomon seemed to ponder his words. “But…”

“You don’t have much time,” Wizardmon urged, “Now I must leave. Goodbye, my friend.”

Twiddling his legs together, Wormmon began, “W-wait…”

“I can’t…” Wizardmon glanced at Wormmon and the other Digimon, then back at Gatomon. “Be careful, Gatomon.”

“Wizardmon!” Gatomon called out, reaching her paw out. In return, Wizardmon reached his own hand out. The two overlapped, Gatomon’s paw reaching through Wizardmon’s own.

They held there, for a moment, before Wizardmon pulled his hand back, looking at it sadly, “I’m sorry,” He said. Then he began to float back. Gatomon chased desperately after him, until he floated out the window.

She pushed her paws against the window, “Wizardmon!”

Then he was gone.

Gatomon fell quiet, but Ken thinks he can hear her crying. Kari approached her, getting to her knees to wrap an arm around her, equally quiet. The two seemed to need a moment.

“Wizardmon came back to tell us…” Sora began, but didn’t seem to have the motivation to finish her thought.

Ken glanced at the other Digi Destined, “He was a friend of yours, wasn’t he?”

“When we fought Myotismon… he was a friend of Gatomon’s, and he protected her and Kari from one of Myotismon’s attacks,” Sora explained, sadly, “He sacrificed himself.”

Sniffling, Gatomon said, “Even now… Wizardmon is looking out for me.”

But what had he meant? The part about Motomiya not being their only enemy was obvious – but Ken also didn’t think he meant Ohwada, either. There was something else going on, they just didn’t have all the pieces when it came to Motomiya. As for the last part…

The only thing that can hold back kindness is a corrupted miracle. And only the golden radiance created by a miracle will be able to release that kindness once more.

The choice of using the word kindness felt… deliberate. Deliberate in a way that felt like it was calling out Ken, almost. Or rather, perhaps the Digi Egg of Kindness? It was true that it would make enough sense if there was one. But what was this “golden radiance”? How could they rely on a miracle to create that golden radiance? That was the part that confused Ken the most. What did it mean?

Ken suspected he was going to be spending a lot of time thinking on it.

---

Lekismon had been minding her own business when…

“Lekismon!” Lui called. It was a bit less demanding than normal, which she appreciated. Curious she made her way towards where his voice came from. Lui stood, appearing much more casual than he normally did. He was just wearing his jacket, none of the rest of his Sea Angel get up. “We’re heading out.”

She raised a brow, “We are?”

He nodded, “I need you to carry this,” He gestured to a strange little box. It was hard, with a hinged lid and a handle.

Curiously, she picked it up, “It’s light,” She said. He could easily carry this.

“It won’t be on our way back.” Was Lui’s response.

“What, am I some kind of pack mule?”

“Do you even know what those are?” Lui didn’t wait for her to reply, climbing onto an Airdramon’s back. He turned to look at her, staring expectantly.

She grumbled, but followed him on, carrying the small box. “I’ve heard of ‘em.”

Airdramon takes off, swiftly flying towards wherever Lui meant to head. It was obvious he had somewhere in mind and had little interest in taking his time getting there. Lui seemed… determined, but somehow she didn’t think he was intending to try to take over a new section of the Digital World or something. This didn’t match how he’d usually behave, if that were the case.

Eventually, they make it to an icy section of the Digital World, Airdramon dipping low and landing behind some cliffs. Below the cliffs was a small Digimon village, Lekismon had barely caught glimpses of a few Icemon and Penguinmon roaming between the buildings. “Just… what are you up to?” She asked, as Lui slid off Airdramon.

“I’m getting a gift for Davis,” He answered, watching as she hopped off Airdramon.

“Here?”

He nodded and began the walk towards the village. Was the reason why he was dressed so much more normally because… he didn’t want to be recognized? But why would he care? Whatever he wanted, he could easily just take it as Sea Angel.

Once they reached the village, Lui took the box from her and entered one of the buildings, telling her to wait outside. While she was suspicious, she figured there wasn’t a ton Lui could do on his own. He hadn’t even brought his baseball bat. So she waited, Digimon watched, until Lui came back out, heaving the box along.

“Okay, could you take it now?” He asked, putting in more than a little effort to lift it up so she could take it.

As curious as she’d been this whole time, she takes it. The box has gained quite a bit more weight, though she can’t imagine from what. Beginning their walk back to Airdramon, Lekismon asked, “So are you going to tell me what this actually is?”

Lui seemed to consider it for a few moments, before finally answering, “Ice cream.”

She blinked. That was the thing he, Davis, and Veemon had mentioned forever ago, wasn’t it? “Ice cream?”

“Today’s a hard day for Davis. So I’m trying to make it… less sucky, I guess.”

“I still don’t get what’s going on…”

“His sister died, a year ago today.” Abruptly, Lui told her. They’d reached Airdramon and he hastily climbed on. Lekismon followed suit, feeling rather odd.

She doesn’t know what she’d do if she’d lost Sunmon, after all. And unlike Digimon, humans never had a chance to be reborn, so this sister was gone for good. “Oh,” She said, feeling like there weren’t any words that would really matter in this moment.

The ride back was silent, Lekismon didn’t mind though. She felt like there was too much swirling around her head right now for her to really talk much. About Davis, about this act of kindness from Lui…

---

It felt strangely common, right now, for Veemon to find himself perched under one of the many arches that opened between the stairway and the room that held the power source of this base. Davis had never really known just what he’d put in here, just followed what those emails told him to do.

But Veemon knew. How Davis had even been able to create the power source as it was now, he wasn’t entirely sure. It had been some kind of miracle, some odd chance or fluke of luck that it worked at all. He doubted that the person sending those emails had known the odds of the whole thing working, though. If it had been anyone else, it probably wouldn’t have.

If only Davis had been in a better position to be stronger, if only Davis would have listened…

Reaching out to Ken had been the most he could do, along with guiding him to the Digi Egg of Courage. Ideally, Veemon would have loved to use the Digi Egg’s power again himself, but with everything with Davis, it wasn’t going to happen. At least, not in any good way. So he’d made sure that Ken and Veemon could use it, since they wouldn’t be able to access the power of their Digi Egg any time soon.

Veemon supposed he had lied when he said the Digi Egg of Courage was the only one he’d known the location of, but it wasn’t like the Digi Egg of Kindness was at all accessible. It would take a lot to change that, how much exactly Veemon didn’t know.

“So this is what powers the whole base?” Despite Lekismon’s new size, as a Champion level Digimon, she was still quite light footed. Enough that, trapped in his thoughts as he was, Veemon hadn’t heard him coming.

“Yeah,” Veemon sighed, then glanced up at her. She was holding a bowl in her hand, by the edge, a spoon sticking out. “…What’s that?”

She awkwardly sat down beside him and handed him the bowl, “Lui said it was ice cream. He got it for Davis, but I figured he wouldn’t notice if I snuck some for you.” The ice cream had already began to melt, but that had never stopped Veemon. “I remember it sounded like you liked it.”

A smile growing on his face, Veemon took the spoon in his hand, “Thanks, Lekismon!” Excitedly, he took a big scoop and shoved it in his mouth. It had been so long since he’d last had ice cream, well before Davis had come to the Digital World and become the Digimon Emperor.

“I figured you deserved something nice, too,” She said lightly.

He took another scoop, then paused and looked back up at her, “Do you wanna try?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you’ve never had it before, right?”

She considered it, “I haven’t… well, sure.” He held the spoon up towards her, and Lekismon leaned down and took a bite. It sits in her mouth for a few moments as she seemed to take in the taste. When she’s finished, she said, “Wow, that’s pretty good!”

Veemon nodded, “See! Ice cream always makes things better!”

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 16)

Chapter 16: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

In searching for a Digi Egg, the Digi Destined get trapped and it's up to Cody to get help.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/177077471

Ken was not claustrophobic. Nor did he have thalassophobia. Nothing like that. Any anxiety from being trapped underwater in an oil rig came from that very setting. Trapped. Underwater, where you can drown or suffocate. Even if they wanted to try to swim to the surface, MegaSeadramon patrolled around the water and none of them had partners who could do well in the water.

This situation was less than ideal, but Digi Destined had a way of making things work out. Ken would admit he was fairly low on ideas, though. Swimming was out of the question, but there had to be some way out. Wormmon had climbed into his arms, a comforting presence, but it was as much for Ken as it was for Wormmon. Taking a moment, Ken studies the other Digi Destined and their partners.

Patamon sat on TK’s head, the two talking with Kari and Gatomon. The latter two looked concerned, understandably. It sounded like the four were brainstorming ideas. Yolei and Hawkmon were talking about the Digi Egg they’d been searching for, the Digi Egg of Reliability, and who would be able to pick it up.

Since he and Yolei already had second Digi Eggs, it seemed most likely that it would be Kari, TK, or Cody who would be able to pick up the Digi Egg. Ken wasn’t sure which seemed more likely, as he’d consider all of them fairly reliable, but if he had to pick…

That brought him to Cody and Armadillomon, they sat off to the side of the group. Cody looked… unwell, Ken thinks. He was the youngest of the group, after all, and while the Digital World was a magical place, especially at that age, it was also greatly frightening. Ken could remember that he’d felt that way himself, at times. The moments that he became acutely aware of the danger he was in, when in the Digital World.

He made his way over to Cody and Armadillomon, setting down beside Cody, “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” Cody answered, though there was a tremble in his voice,

Now, Ken could point that out or try to reassure Cody, but he thought he knew Cody well enough to figure that wasn’t what Cody would want. While Ken had been the type of child to cry and let everyone know when he was scared, Cody was not. Cody wanted to be strong, to keep his fear to himself. That was something Ken understood as well, though Ken usually found himself trying to hide such things more out of not wanting to bother other people.

“That’s good,” Ken replied, “I don’t think I’m going to want to go swimming anytime soon.”

It was a poor attempt at a joke, Ken had never considered himself all that funny, and Cody’s rather unimpressed expression proved it. Well, it was worth the try, at least.

Cody looked at him, for a moment, then asked, “Do you think MegaSeadramon will leave at some point?”

“I don’t know, depends on Motomiya and Ohwada, I think.” Ken answered, brow furrowing. “I don’t think they’d try to kill us or anything, but…” he winced. He hadn’t meant to bring up anything to do with the fact they could, in theory, die down here.

Frowning, Cody pulled his knees to his chest. “They’re just kids like us. They wouldn’t kill us.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself of it.

Ken nodded, “Exactly.” But they both knew it wasn’t so simple. They both knew Motomiya and Ohwada seemed willing to hurt people to get what they want. And with some of the other lines the two seemed willing to cross… it was hard to be sure that letting them die, one way or another, wasn’t one of them. He thinks it would be best if it was Motomiya who had set MegaSeadramon on them. He might be more willing to make sure they live, given he and Kari used to be friends, and his interest in Veemon’s time with Ryo.

Regardless of if their conversation would continue, it was ended by TK calling out, “Look at this!” He stood by a wall, a door creaking open to reveal what appeared to be some kind of escape pod.

“A way out,” Yolei noted.

Hawkmon then added, “But only big enough for one of us.” He was right, the escape pod only appeared big enough to hold one human or Digimon. And since their Digimon needed them to Digivolve and couldn’t easily navigate the human world, it would make the most sense for one of them humans to go.

There’s a moment of silence as they all thought, tried to decide who ought to go. Ken glanced at Cody again, who stared at the escape pod intently. But it’s Kari who breaks the silence, saying, “I think Cody should go.”

“Me?” Cody asked, “No, someone else… you, Kari. Or TK, Yolei, or Ken…”

“I agree with Kari,” Ken said, “I think Cody would be the best option.”

Yolei thought a moment, then nodded, “He can get Joe! Ikkakumon might not be able to defeat MegaSeadramon, but he’s at least aquatic and would fair a lot better than the rest of us.”

Cody shook his head, “But I…”

“Have some faith in yourself,” TK told him with a smile, “We know you can do it.”

Cody looked like he wanted to argue further. He also looked just as frightened as before. It was something they’d all been able to see, it was why they all wanted him to be the one to go. That, and in the worst-case scenario… Ken decides he isn’t going to think about the worst-case scenario.

To try to reassure Cody, Armadillomon said, “You’re always good about pulling through, we’ll be waiting right here for you.”

Hesitantly, Cody acquiesced, “…Okay.”

---

It’s good luck that the TV for this area of the Digital World wasn’t far from the oil rig they’d been searching for the Digi Egg on. That let Cody get to the real world, quickly enough. It was one of the few times that Izzy wasn’t in the computer lab, as he usually was there monitoring the Digital World even when they weren’t in it. That was bad luck. Getting any kind of help would be good, even if Joe and Gomamon would be the best.

There was a phone at the school, but he didn’t know the phone number for Joe’s school. To find that, he’d have to run a little further back home and find it in the phone book, so he’d use their phone. Hopefully, then, Joe could meet him at the school and they could go back to the Digital World and find a way to rescue the others.

The others must have known that he was scared – he tried not to be, but it was hard. Why else would they have insisted he be the one that go? Or maybe it was because he was the youngest, maybe they thought that if only one person could survive and everyone else suffocated, it ought to be him. As quick as it came, Cody banished that thought, deciding that them noticing his fear was a much better option.

Usually, he hated being the youngest. He didn’t think the others really looked down on him, but it did feel like they didn’t always take him quite as seriously as they did each other. It wasn’t like that was new, he’d been friends with Yolei before this, and Yolei was prone to sometimes dismissing his ideas because he was a few years younger than her. Sometimes, it grated on him, though he tried to be patient and not let it get to him.

As the elevator opens, his mom and grandfather step out. “Oh, Cody,” His mother said, “Weren’t you spending time with your friends after school today?”

“I, um… we needed to call a friend and we… couldn’t remember the number,” Cody replied, searching for something to say. Lying was bad, that’s what his grandfather had always taught him. That he should never lie, because lies only ever hurt people, and Cody never wanted to hurt anyone. But he couldn’t tell the truth, not the full truth at least. His mom and grandfather would never believe him, and he didn’t have Armadillomon here to act as proof, either. “I ran here to look it up.”

“Is that all?” She asked, examining him for a moment, “You look like you’re in a hurry.”

He couldn’t tell her that his friends were in danger, that they could die. But there wasn’t anything he could tell her that wasn’t a lie. What reason would he be in such a hurry if there weren’t lives on the line?

His grandfather shook his head, “Now, now, let him have his secrets.” It was like he knew that Cody couldn’t answer that question with the truth. “Better a secret that you know he has than a lie you don’t know he’s telling. And anyway, it isn’t like young boys want to tell their mother about everything.”

“If you think it’s fine…” While his mother looked less than convinced, she seemed content to listen to his grandfather and the two carried on their way.

At least Cody didn’t have to lie. He hoped sometime soon he could try to tell his mom and grandpa about the Digital World, but even with Armadillomon, he wasn’t sure they’d believe him. It all would sound so fantastical and they might think he made it up. Or that Digimon were something to be afraid of. He hurries to the apartment, recalling the name of Joe’s school so he can find the phone number.

Once he has the phone number and calls, the next obstacle revealed itself.

“I’m sorry, but he’s in a biology test right now.” The woman who answered the phone said, probably the school’s secretary.

Worry swelling within him, Cody replied, “But it’s an emergency.”

“We can only let him out if something like say… a family member was in the hospital.” The secretary told him, “Otherwise, it will just have to wait until his test is over.”

Cody didn’t know how to tell her that lives were in danger. It felt impossible to explain that Joe was the only one who might be able to save them. So he let the call end and stares at the phone, trying desperately to find a way that he could get Joe out of that test right now. He began to walk out of the apartment.

It seemed like the only solution was to lie. But that was something awful, nothing good would come of it. But his friends were in danger – his friends could die. Could suffocate, having put all their faith in him. Because he couldn’t get Joe out of one test.

Exiting his apartment building, he breaks into a run, finding himself heading towards Joe’s school.

---

“Do you think Cody’s doing okay?” Yolei wondered aloud. It wasn’t like there was much else to do, while they waited. They’d placed all they had in Cody’s hands and they just had to trust he’d make it back with help.

“I’m sure he’s doing fine,” TK replied, sounding fairly confident.

Ken hoped he was right, but he could also only imagine a few obstacles that could cause any problems. If there were Digimon in the way between where Cody emerged from the water and the TV was a big one. Once he had gotten Joe and Gomamon, Gomamon could at least Digivolve and fight.

Armadillomon nodded, seeming to agree with TK, “And when they get back here, maybe we’ll be able to do somethin’ about that Digi Egg.”

“I wonder who it’ll be?” Patamon pondered, before he flapped his wings, hopping off of TK’s head and gliding around a bit, “Imagine if it was us, TK! I could Digivolve into, hmm…” Since it was the Digi Egg of Reliability, Ken couldn’t help but imagine an orange seal with wings. Maybe even a horn.

At whatever mental image Patamon’s comment had conjured, TK grinned, “I bet Gatomon would hate it if it were her and Kari who got the Digi Egg.”

“What, why?” Gatomon demanded, “I think it would be pretty cool to have another Armored Digivolution.”

“’Cause you’re a cat,” Patamon said, flying down towards Gatomon, before pulling back up, “And cats hate water!”

Hawkmon crossed his arms, “We can’t be sure that the Digi Egg will cause whoever Digivolves with it to become aquatic. Maybe they’d simply be grounded, like Togemogumon and Shurimon.”

Smiling a little, Kari replied, “Well, the Digi Eggs seem to inherit some aspect of the Digimon of the Crest they’re associated with. Like how Shadramon has fire or Shurimon is plant based, even though neither of those aspects are present in Wormmon and you prior to Digivolving.”

Nodding, Yolei added, “That makes sense. Since Biyomon is a bird, Armadillomon can fly when he uses the Digi Egg of Love, and since Tentomon is an insect, Hawkmon takes on insect traits when he uses the Digi Egg of Knowledge.” She smacks a fist into her open palm, “So it stands to reason that, since Gomamon is aquatic, whoever gets the Digi Egg of Reliability, their Digimon is going to become aquatic too.”

Patamon made a face, “I don’t know if I want to swim. I like flying better.” He flapped his wings, gaining height until he could sit on TK’s head again.

Ken laughed, “Well, none of us can pick it up, now, so something’s going to have to change.” MegaSeadramon swam by one of the few small windows in the chamber they were stuck in. “Before anything else gives way.” His light mood soured a little.

He tried not to let himself worry too much, but… worrying seemed to be something he was oddly good at. Maybe that was why Wormmon was so good at it too. It wasn’t like anyone would really miss him if Cody didn’t come back in time, though. He was with nearly all the people who cared… obviously Cody would, and he supposed the older Digi Destined might, but he’d admit he still didn’t know them that well.

His family certainly wouldn’t miss him, he was sure it would take his parents, at least, a bit to even notice he was gone. Sam… bothered him enough, pretending to care, that he might notice sooner. Whether he’d say anything was another story, but he’d probably just think Ken ran away and would probably be happy about it.

For reasons Ken couldn’t really explain, he found that thinking about that was harder than thinking about what might directly happen to them if Cody didn’t make it back in time. Really, he should stop thinking about all of it, about the worst-case scenarios, and instead just focus on the fact that Cody was exactly the type of person to pull through. They didn’t just send him because they knew he was scared. They did have full faith he could bring help.

---

Joe rushed past Cody and began down the street from his school before Cody could even try to say anything. “Dad! I’m on my way!”

“Joe, wait!” Cody called frantically, “Your dad’s fine!”

At that, Joe stopped and turned to look at Cody, “He is?”

“He is,” Cody admitted, “I… lied, to get you out of your test. The others are trapped underwater by MegaSeadramon and we really need your help!” Despite it feeling like perfectly justifiable reasoning, the fact that he lied still weighed him down like rock.

“That’s just a different kind of emergency, then,” Joe said, “Hey, it’s alright. Sure you gave me a scare, but that’s not a big deal.”

Shaking his head, Cody replied, “It’s not that. It’s… I lied. Bad things come from lying.”

There’s a moment where Joe seems a bit unsure, but it’s quickly wiped away, “Yeah, usually lying is bad, but sometimes it’s necessary to do things that are good. No one’s really going to be hurt by this lie, right? But you told it so I can help you guys, which is going to be good for your friends.” He gave Cody a reassuring smile, “It’s good not to lie, but it’s also important to know when a bit of lying might be needed. I guess it’s more like… lying in itself isn’t bad, but what you lie about and why.”

“Oh,” Cody blinked. It sounded so wrong, but it made sense anyway. It wasn’t bad to lie if it meant saving his friends. But it would definitely be bad to lie if it meant someone might be getting hurt or it might betray someone’s trust unnecessarily. “I… think I understand.”

“Great! Now let’s go save our friends!”

---

“I hope we don’t end up at the beach anytime soon,” Wormmon commented, comfortably situated in Ken’s arms, still. “The ocean’s pretty, but underneath is scary.”

It seemed their time in this part of the oil rig was getting to him. Not that Ken could blame him, it certainly was a frightening situation. He reached up and pat Wormmon’s head, doing his best to reassure him. “I’m sure we won’t be here for too much longer.” He hoped that it would be because someone would come to save them, that Cody will have found help, but a part of him couldn’t forget that there was always a worse outcome.

“Still, I think I prefer the forest. Or even a cave.”

“Caves’re pretty nice,” Armadillomon agreed, “Lotsa dirt.”

“Very dry,” Wormmon added.

Still patting Wormmon, Ken reminded, “You spend most of your time with me. Which if we’re not here, usually means at home.”

Wormmon nodded, “Which is dry. Well, mostly, except for the bathroom. And the kitchen. But I don’t go in those much.”

The conversation doesn’t get much longer to continue, ended abruptly by a section of the floor tearing up. Thankfully, save for the splash, no water entered, and instead they’re greeted with… a Whamon?

“Whamon!” Kari called, apparently recognizing this particular Whamon.

Whamon’s mouth opened, revealing Cody and Joe, who waved. “Ikkakumon’s keeping MegaSeadramon busy,” Joe said. “Whamon can get us all out of the water.”

As they all begin to walk towards Whamon, Cody jumped out of his mouth, running towards the Digi Egg of Reliability, still as stuck on the floor as it had been since they found it. “Cody?” TK called out, turning to watch him.

“We came all this way for the Digi Egg,” Cody replied, “Even after all this… I don’t want to leave without it.” He reached down, grabbing the Digi Egg. And then, with little resistance, he lifted the Digi Egg up.

“He is pretty reliable,” Ken said as he stepped into Whamon’s mouth.

Cody takes a moment to stare at the Digi Egg of Reliability, then looked to Armadillomon, “Are you ready?” He asked. When Armadillomon nodded in response, Cody raised the Digi Egg. “Digi Armor energize!”

“Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to… Submarimon! Guardian of the Seas!” Submarimon looked oddly like a small submarine, save for the fact he had flippers and a drill on his front. There was an obvious cockpit in him, with just enough room for one person. “Hop in!” The hatch opened, causing Cody to stare at it. Then, he took a deep breath and slid in.

With everyone else now in Whamon’s mouth, Joe said, “Let’s get out of here.”

---

Part of Cody’s fear today has been from the situation they were in, he’d admit that much. The other part though… the last time Cody had been around all this water was almost exactly three years ago, when the plane he, his mother, and grandfather were in was forced to make an emergency landing in the water, when the fog over Odaiba was so thick… It had been during Myotismon’s attack, the night he’d first seen a Digimon.

Cody doesn’t know if this much water always bothered him, or if it was because of that night. But it was certainly bothering him now, surrounded by it, protected only by Submarimon. At the same time, though, he knew Submarimon would never let something happen to him, and maybe the safest place he could be, in all this water, at least, was protected by Submarimon.

Ikkakumon was still fighting MegaSeadramon, as they’d left him. “Ready for some help?” Submarimon called.

The Dark Spiral that controlled MegaSeadramon was located around the upper part of i’s body, making it difficult to get to since the head seemed to be stopping Ikkakumon’s attempts to get close. Hopefully, with Submarimon’s help, they’d be able to destroy it. MegaSeadramon lunged at them, causing Ikkakumon and Submarimon to split apart.

“I’ll keep it occupied,” Ikkakumon said, aiming his horn at MegaSeadramon. “Harpoon Torpedo!”

Submarimon raced below MegaSeadramon’s head and below its upper fins, where the Dark Spiral was located. “Oxygen Torpedo!” From the drill on his front, a missile of air shot out, rushing towards the Dark Spiral. A moment later, the Dark Spiral broke into pieces, freeing MegaSeadramon from its control.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Cody finds himself relaxing. The ocean was large and not any less scary than before, but… he was safe, with Submarimon. He didn’t need to be as afraid, because Submarimon would always do all he could to protect him… and Cody would do his best to help and protect his friends, too.

---

Though Ken knew that Ikkakumon, Submarimon, and Cody would be fine, it was still a relief to see them emerge from the water. Cody seems more than happy to climb out of Submarimon, but he doesn’t look quite as frightened as he’s looked throughout the day.

“Great job!” Yolei cheered, “And now, with the Digi Egg of Reliability… we’ve found all the Digi Eggs!”

Ken blinked, “All?” He echoed.

TK nodded, “They seemed to match the Crests, right? And we’ve found Digi Eggs for all eight of the Crests.”

It was true, they’d found eight Digi Eggs, and they’d all corresponded to the eight Crests that the previous Digi Destined had, but… Well, maybe that was all there were. After all, Ken never even used his Crest of Kindness, as Wormmon never Digivolved further than Champion. So maybe there was no Digi Egg of Kindness, for that reason or perhaps another. It wasn’t like Kindness sounded like it would make all that strong of a Digi Egg, either.

Ken was content to leave the conversation at that, because they were probably right. There were probably eight Digi Eggs, and they’d found them all. Wormmon, though, did not seem to share this sentiment, as he said, “But there are nine Crests.”

“Nine?” Kari echoed, “What’s the ninth, then?”

“Ken’s Crest of Kindness!”

“Ken’s…?” Looking up from Wormmon, at Ken’s face, Kari studied him. “You have a Crest?”

It seemed like he was going to have to bring it up, since Wormmon had done it for him. He really didn’t think it was important, but now that they knew he couldn’t’ not say anything. So he nodded, “Well, had, when I first came to the Digital World. At least, Gennai said it was a Crest. But I never needed to use it, and before I left, I let Gennai take it.” He’d been sick at the time, so he couldn’t quite recall what Gennai had wanted it for, but it was something important, he thinks. Or at least, it had sounded important.

Wormmon nodded, “To help protect the Digital World, with all of your Crests. But if the Digi Eggs correspond to the Crests… then there should be a Digi Egg for Ken’s!”

“Then maybe we still have a Digi Egg to find,” Cody suggested, “But it’s strange that you didn’t already find it… Kari and TK both had Crests, and they found the Digi Eggs associated with their Crests.”

Yolei’s brow furrowed, “It is weird… we’ll just have to keep an eye out. The only way we’ll know for sure is if we find it. Or find someone who knows for certain how many Digi Eggs there were.”

“I only found the Digi Egg of Courage because Veemon led me to it. He said it was the only one that he knew the location of.” Whether because of dumb luck or something else, Ken wasn’t sure. If Veemon could Armor Digivolve… he couldn’t rule out that Veemon knowing where the Digi Egg was had been less coincidence and more of something else.

“Like Yolei said,” Kari began, “We’ll just have to keep an eye out.”

Ken wasn’t sure if he wanted to find a Digi Egg of Kindness, though. He thinks it would only be a letdown for everyone.

[writingpaperghost]

Stanin' By Your Side (Chapter 15)

Chapter 15: Little Sun, Little Moon

Sunmon continues to be Sunmon, Lunamon wants to freaking Digivolve, and Ken finally tries talking to Gennai.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/176775946

“Big brooooo!” Sunmon calls, “Wake up! Wake up!” He bounced beside Hackmon’s head, nudging him.

Hackmon groaned, prying open his eyes, “What is it?”

“I dreamed,” Sunmon proudly said, “Lunamon was there. And our dream friend. We were telling him all about the stuff we’ve been doing.”

“Not this again…” Hackmon grumbled, closing his eyes once more.

Sunmon bounced again, harder this time. “Hackmon!” He whined, “Dream friend thinks one of us is gonna Digivolve soon! I bet it’s gonna be me, and then I can help Lunamon with the Angel!”

Hackmon, accepting that he wasn’t going to go back to sleep, sighed, opening his eyes again and standing up. “Geeze, I hope so. Then I’ll finally have peace.” He shook his head, “Don’t know why you care about that human, though. Seems to me he only causes trouble.”

Pausing his bouncing, Sunmon pondered that for a moment, “Um, well… our dream friend asked us to.” He finally answered.

“Right,” Hackmon replied, unimpressed. He stretched, taking his eyes off Sunmon, “The dream friend. Who’s definitely real.”

“Of course he is!” Sunmon protested, “He’s, um… white and a bit pink… and he’s got one eye and… um… a purple orb in the middle of him.” He searched his brain for the words to describe his dream friend.

In lieu of replying, Hackmon just rolled his eyes and walked off, still appearing unconvinced about the existence of Sunmon’s dream friend. Sunmon pouted, hurrying to follow after him.

When a pair of Digi Eggs had been entrusted into the care of the Sistermons, Hackmon knew full well that meant he was going to be playing babysitter. He wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, he didn’t really have anything against In Training Digimon. They were small, weak, and needed protection, but that wasn’t really their fault, given how little time they’d usually existed in the world by that point. Digimon who were reborn with their memories intact could usually Digivolve back up to at least Rookie pretty fast.

Or they used to, at least. Things were weird now, with those stupid Dark Spires around. They mostly stayed away from areas that had them, and when they did go to ones that did, they were always very careful and never stayed very long.

Still, finding himself stuck with the twins hadn’t been something he was thrilled about, but he’d always shouldered through it knowing it was only until they Digivolved to Rookie. Lunamon had left the next day after she had, though Hackmon wished she hadn’t gone to one of the guys causing so much trouble for the Digital World. He’s quickly figuring out that Lunamon was just a fast learner, because Sunmon is still here and Hackmon doesn’t think he’s very close to Digivolving yet.

Digimon all grew at different paces, Hackmon has known this for a long time. That’s why he’s still only a Rookie, why he hasn’t Digivolved yet. He’s just one of those Digimon who needs a longer time, because he needs to be especially strong to Digivolve. Lunamon Digivolved pretty quickly, all things considered, but she’d always been very enthusiastic and go getting. Sunmon, conversely, has always been more restrained, despite his capacity for loud volumes.

Hackmon’s been starting this theory, about what drives Digimon to Digivolve. He thinks some, like Lunamon, gain the ability through lots of hard work and motivation. She trained herself a lot to get strong enough to Digivolve, then she did, and she continues to do so to try to Digivolve further. What Sunmon needs, most likely, is something a little different. It’s not like he lacks motivation, but he’s clearly not as gung-ho about training as Lunamon is, and he’d much prefer to spend his time enjoying other things. Like spicy food and nice naps, the company of people he liked…

Sometimes, late at night when he’s trying to sleep, Hackmon wonders if what he needs to Digivolve wasn’t training and growing physically stronger, but something else. He always pushed that idea to the side, though, because surely his master and the Sistermons know the best way to help him. To get him strong enough to Digivolve. Strong enough to be a Royal Knight.

Behind him, he can hear Sunmon giggle and Sistermon Blanc coo, “Blanc!” Sunmon cheered, “Do you think I’m gonna Digivolve today?”

“Maybe you will,” Sistermon Blanc replied, “We’ll have to see.”

Hackmon really doubted it.

---

In Lunamon’s opinion, Davis’ stupid base was boring as all get out. There was nothing to do here, other than bother Lui or Davis. And Davis wasn’t fun to annoy and Lui could be, but… it felt a bit strange, now. Just seeing Lui, really.

Last night, she and Sunmon saw their friend, the angel that greets them in their dreams, sometimes. In their earliest memories, the angel was there, so she knows he’s important. Their friend. Maybe something beyond that, she doesn’t know. Sunmon told the angel all about what he’d been doing with Hackmon and the Sistermons, and Lunamon… she told him about Lui.

The angel looked so sad to hear how angry he could be. How much he hated Digimon. He used to be sweet and nice, the angel said, he used to love and smile all the time. Lunamon can’t help but wonder why that changed, but the angel didn’t seem to have any answer for her. Something happened, she figured, but whatever it was, she had no clue. Probably whatever got him with Davis.

So what was she supposed to make of him? The angel told of someone very different, and it’s clear the reason why the angel asked her and Sunmon to look out for Lui was because of that. But Lui was doing awful things and letting Davis do awful things too. She’d hand it to him, she didn’t think a lot of human would try directly attacking Digimon themselves, but that usually served the purpose of getting them to leave him alone or to do what he wants. It wasn’t like he was protecting himself.

She wasn’t going to leave him, though. She’d promised the angel that she’d watch out for him, whatever it took. Even if it meant being stuck in this place. That didn’t mean she had to like it, though.

“You’re glaring at the walls again,” Veemon dryly noted, entering the room she was sat in. She thinks it might have been for storage, but it was broadly empty.

“Not much else to do,” She replied, equally dry.

He tilted his head a bit at that, then sat down beside her, “You sure you want to stick around here? Things… are probably only going to get worse.” He sounded… sad, she thinks. Maybe he was realizing just how far Davis was willing to go for this game.

“Gotta make sure Lui keeps mostly out of trouble,” She said, not exactly an answer but close enough. Besides, this was how Sunmon would know how to find her, when he finally Digivolved. Whatever that took.

“I still don’t get why. He’s not your partner, you don’t seem that close…”

She shrugged, “It’s not so much that it’s what I want… but someone else wants him safe. That’s why my brother and I were created, to protect Lui…” It was something they’d both always known, deep down in their very being.

Looking over at her, Veemon frowned, “Your brother?”

“Sunmon, he’s still an In Training,” Cheerfully, she answered. “Keeps telling me how much he can’t wait to Digivolve so we can be together and protect Lui.”

Lunamon was well aware, even before Veemon gave her such a strange look, that Digimon really having siblings was… unusual. There were exceptions, of course, but it was uncommon. In a way, it was almost more common for Digimon to be twins, like she and Sunmon, and even that was pretty rare. It was just the nature of how Digimon worked that they didn’t really… have family the same way humans did. Most Digimon just started existing at some point.

Veemon makes a quiet noise to convey he heard what she said. She decided to finally look over at him, taking in the frown he wore. It seemed like he was always frowning, one way or another. She couldn’t exactly blame him, but she didn’t think it was right. There was no other Digimon she’d seen who was both free of the control of a Dark Ring and this gloomy. Even Hackmon had more energy than this guy, and Hackmon was more preoccupied with his training than much else!

Then again, there wasn’t any other Digimon who was partners with the Digimon Emperor.

“What’ll you do if he gets what he wants?” She asked. “If he gets control of the whole Digital World?”

Slowly, Veemon’s gaze cast to the floor, “I don’t know. I don’t think there’s much I can do. Regardless of the Dark Spires, I can’t Digivolve without him.”

Right, because partnered Digimon need their human’s Digivice to Digivolve. That was annoying, Luanmon was glad she wasn’t partnered to anyone. She could freely Digivolve, at least as long as she wasn’t around a Dark Spire. It was easier for her to stay Digivolved, too.

But what she could do didn’t really matter when it came to Veemon. “Still, are you just gonna sit around and hope the other Digi Destined don’t let him get his way?”

“I’ve done what I can. I don’t think I can do much right now.” He shrugged, then turned his gaze back at her. “What about you? You’re not doing much about it either.”

“Like I said, I’m just trying to keep Lui safe,” She huffed, turning her head away.

He tilted his head, “And when Lui gets what he wants? At the end of the day, Davis and Lui share a goal.”

If she were being honest, she hadn’t given it much thought. In a way, she hoped that Davis and Lui wouldn’t get what they wanted, wouldn’t find a way to gain control of the Digital World. But she had to admit, they were making better progress recently than every before, especially now that Davis had a way to control stronger Digimon. What would she do? She didn’t think she had the kind of power right now to stop it either, but…

She shrugged, “I think the Digi Destined won’t let it reach that point. They’re stubborn. Sooner or later, they’ll find a way to stop them.” She’d rather just believe in that than consider if they couldn’t.

---

Despite how the Digital World constantly shifted, Ken found where he was looking for easily enough. A familiar, quiet Digimon village. This was where he and Ryo arrived at, when he’d first arrived in the Digital World. It wasn’t far from here that he first met Wormmon, too.

As much as he wanted to sit and think on the good memories, perhaps see how much of it he could actually remember, that wasn’t why he was here. Or it was, in a way, as it was his memory of Ryo that brought him here, searching for some kind of answer. Maybe there wasn’t one to be found. Or maybe Ken had known and had forgotten. Maybe there were answers to that, too.

“It’s been a while since I was last here,” Wormmon said, looking around from his position in Ken’s arms. “Are you sure you don’t want to ask anyone else to come along?”

Ken had considered it when he’d decided he was going to make this trip. Considered asking Kari and TK, maybe even one of the older Digi Destined, to accompany him. It wasn’t like they’d never met Ryo, after all. But it hadn’t felt right, for reasons Ken couldn’t really explain.

He shook his head, “I think it’s… better, if it’s just you and me.” Whatever they uncovered, if it was anything worthwhile, they could tell the others. Truthfully, Ken didn’t have high hopes, on the Ryo front, but he’d admit that wasn’t the only thing he wanted to ask about. Not that he expected much by the way of answers for anything.

The layout of the village was the same as it was before, he can feel the eyes of the various Digimon who lived there on him. Tanemon and Pabumon stop in their game, pausing to look at him, and Otamamon and Drimogemon stop their conversation. It was notable, of course, when a human was around. Even more so when there was no real reason for there to be, but Ken was sure they could figure it out. He wasn’t here because a Digi Destined needed to be, but because Ken Ichijouji needed to have a long overdue conversation.

Approaching one particular building, Ken takes a deep breath to steady himself. He wasn’t anxious, perse, but he knew that this would at least be an awkward conversation. Then, he knocked.

After a few moments, the door opens, and a familiar, albeit far less old, voice said, “Oh, Ken, Wormmon, it’s good to see you again.”

Staring at the owner of the voice, Ken blinked, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He then looked down at Wormmon, who looked equally confused. Then back to the man. “…Gennai?” He’d been expecting an old man, like when he’d first come to the Digital World. Like when he’d left it, that time, even. The man who had opened the door was not old, not in the slightest. If anything, he looked like around college age or so.

“Right, you haven’t seen me since I’ve gone back to my real appearance,” The man laughed a little, “I really am Gennai, I just look a bit different now.”

Dryly, Wormmon responded, “More than a bit.”

Still, Ken nodded, deciding it would be far easier to simply go along with this than question why he used to look old or what had changed to make him not be anymore. That wasn’t really what he was here about. “I was hoping to ask you about some things that have been on my mind.”

Gennai lets them in as he asked, “What about?”

“Ryo, for a start. What… happened to him?” Ken began, tightening his grip just a little more on Wormmon, “He never came back.”

“No, he didn’t.” Gennai agreed as the two sat. Ken and Wormmon watched him, waiting for an answer. It was obvious that he wasn’t keen about the answer. “He went to face Milleniumon again. Whatever happened between the two… I don’t think either will be coming back again.”

While Ken hadn’t expected a better answer than that, his gut still twisted at the confirmation of his worst fears. He’d always hoped that Ryo would come back, one day, that maybe he’d just been hiding in the Digital World or had run away in the real one. That he was alive. But a part of him had always known it was unlikely, known that the odds were more in favor of him being dead, especially as time marched on and the day Ryo disappeared moved further and further into the past. Gennai might not have said exactly that, but the implication he meant to give was obvious.

It didn’t answer all his questions about it, though. “We’d already defeated Milleniumon,” He wasn’t afraid to let an accusatory tone slip into his voice, “There’d been an email… what was that about?” He could hazily recall telling Ryo to ignore it – it was a survey, of some kind, and he’d been sure it was a scam or something but Ryo had been curious. That was the last he could recall seeing of Ryo, though it was possible that he had forgotten, especially with how little he could recall of that time to begin with.

Hesitantly, Gennai said, “Milleniumon was… the kind of Digimon that was quite hard to get rid of. That email was to lure Ryo so that he could face Milleniumon again.”

“On his own? Did Veemon at least go with him?” It was possible, given everything going on with Motomiya, that Veemon hadn’t considered it quite as important and never mentioned it. It wasn’t like they’d spoken a lot, recently, and Ken could easily see why it might be omitted.

“Not exactly,” Gennai replied, “But he wasn’t on his own, I assure you.”

Ken was beginning to think that Gennai didn’t particularly want to tell him about what happened to Ryo. Maybe not out of malice, Ken didn’t think he was a bad person, but he was clearly being cagey about it. Still, Ken had to wonder why. What was it he didn’t want to say?

Tilting his head, slightly, Ken asked, “What do you mean by ‘not exactly’?”

“Now,” Gennai began, putting on a polite smile. Ken knows that type of smile, it’s the one that Sam always wears. Polite, but far from genuine, maybe even a little strained, “You said there was more than one thing you wanted to ask about. Maybe we should move on to some of these other questions.”

He was dodging the question, that much was obvious. Why he didn’t want to clarify, Ken couldn’t imagine, but he suspected it wouldn’t be easy to pry it out of Gennai, either. The question was, then, did he push the topic, try to get Gennai to actually answer directly? There was no guarantee it would work, especially if it was something that he really didn’t want to talk about.

It wasn’t worth it, he decided. As much as he wanted to know more, to know why Gennai didn’t seem to want to talk about it, he at least had the confirmation he wanted. Ryo was almost certainly gone for good and it was probably fighting Milleniumon that had caused it, one way or another. That was more than he had before, Ken could at least stop letting himself hope. For a while, the hope had kept him going, he had to be home and okay for when Ryo came back. He doesn’t need that hope, anymore, because he has other friends, now, friends who had made him feel more alive than he had in years.

Instead of pursuing what happened to Ryo further, Ken decided to ask, “Do you know anything about why Motomiya is doing all of this? Or Ohwada?” Maybe if they could understand why, they could figure out just what they were trying to do, or how to stop them.

Shaking his head, Gennai answered, “I’m afraid not. Motomiya is a Digi Destined, Veemon’s partner, but… what drove him to all of this or how he figured out how to create any of these devices, I can’t say.” He paused, thinking, before continuing, “Ohwada would be Sea Angel, I take it? I’m afraid I don’t know much about him, other than he’d never been to the Digital World before Motomiya brought him.”

So nothing that they didn’t already know. It had been worth a shot, at least, but Ken had to admit he’d been hoping for a bit better results. “I see…” He considered, then, what he should ask about next. What he landed on was less so a question than an observation, “My memories of the first time I came to the Digital World are… hazy.”

That caused the polite smile to fall from Gennai’s face, “Hazy?” He repeated.

“I’ve found myself… forgetting things, I think. That Veemon wasn’t Ryo’s partner, or that he could Armor Digivolve… a lot of the details of that time, really.” It felt…strange admitting it out loud, in front of someone other than Wormmon. Of deliberately saying it. But if anyone might have some idea, it was Gennai, and Ken… needed to know, if he could. So he could stop worrying so much.

“That’s…” Gennai began, then hummed in thought. “Do you recall what made you sick?”

That, Ken was confident of, at least. He nodded, “It was that attack from Milleniumon. The one I pushed Ryo out of the way of.”

“If I had to guess,” Gennai sounded a bit hesitant, a bit uncertain, “It has to do with that.”

Tilting his head, Wormmon asked, “Why do you think that?”

Gennai regarded them for a moment, before answering, “Whatever that attack was, it was intended for Ryo. There’s enough reason to think that Milleniumon might have wanted Ryo to forget things.”

It wasn’t an unreasonable conclusion, Milleniumon was… strange, when it came to Ryo. Even Ken had noticed it, from the brief interactions he’d seen. Maybe Milleniumon did want Ryo to forget about time in the Digital World, maybe it was a hope that it would stop Ryo from getting in his way again, assuming Milleniumon thought he’d come back a third time. Which he did do, so it wouldn’t be that strange to think that Milleniumon might have figured as much.

It still didn’t sit quite right, though. Something about how Ken’s neck would ache, sometimes. What was that? Why? It was right where that attack had hit him. The forgetting made enough sense, but aching, the strange coldness… it always started at that spot, and that was less easily understandable. What would Milleniumon get out of that?

Hesitantly, Wormmon looked up at Ken and asked, “It… also hurts a bit, sometimes, doesn’t it?”

“Sometimes it aches,” Ken agrees. “The back of my neck. Usually when I’m upset.”

“That,” Gennai considered, “Is… odd.”

That was what Ken thought, too. He tried not to think too much about it, though, whenever he did, it brought too strong of an anxiety about what it was about. Sometimes, an emptiness, too. Though right now it was more the former than the latter. In some ways, only having his theories could be better than having any real idea of what was going on.

But at least he had an answer for his memories, if Gennai seemed to think that the injury had something to do with it. “I didn’t think you’d have too much of an idea, about that.” Ken said. If anyone knew, it was Milleniumon, and Milleniumon was gone.

“It’s been good to see you again, regardless,” Gennai said, a smile returning to his face. “You and the other Digi Destined have been making good progress in undoing what Motomiya and Ohwada have done.”

In response, Ken smiled, “It’s been going well, but… I think we’ll have to come up with a proper plan, soon. Something to put an end to all of this… I don’t think we’ll be able to keep up with them forever.” The quickest way to put a stop to it all would be to stop Motomiya and Ohwada directly. They couldn’t beat out the two just by destroying the Dark Towers, they could erect more of them far too quickly.

“I’m positive you all will be able to pull through. That’s what you Digi Destined are best at.”

Ken supposed he was right, there was plenty of evidence that Digi Destined could find a way to save the day, even in very difficult circumstances. That he, Kari, and TK had experience with saving the Digital World would help, too. Even without experience, he had full faith that Yolei and Cody were more than capable, they’d proven themselves as much.

He nodded, “I think you’re right,” There was no one he’d trust with this more, than his friends. All of them together, he felt, would be able to handle whatever Motomiya threw their way.

---

“Big brother!” Sunmon called, voice echoing across the grassy plane that they’d been camping on. Hackmon was in the middle of his training with Sistermon Blanc, dodging a stab from her trident. He tried not to let Sunmon’s voice distract him. The next time he called out, it was closer, “Haaaaaaackmooooon! Lookit what I can do!”

Hackmon does not, in fact, look in Sunmon’s direction. Instead, he kept his focus on Sistermon Blanc and her trident. Sunmon knew not to bother him when he was training, yet here he was, bouncing his way over.

“Sunmon wants to show you something,” Sistermon Blanc said, though made no efforts to stop what they were doing. So either Sistermon Blanc was being opportunistic, or Sistermon Noir put Sunmon up to this. Either were equally possible. “You should be a good big brother and look.”

“Not his big”-Hackmon ducked, feeling the trident graze the ends of his cloak-“brother.”

Sunmon was one of the few Digimon who had a sibling in data, so Hackmon always thought it wasn’t exactly unusual that he and Lunamon had hatched and decided that Hackmon was their “big brother”. But that didn’t mean Hackmon had to like it – he didn’t need any little siblings, having them would mean he’d have to worry about them. That would be a big responsibility, and it’s not like he couldn’t handle it, but he didn’t particularly want to have to worry about that and his own training.

Not that Sunmon or Lunamon ever listened to him when he protested them calling him big brother.

He jumped back, and now he can see Sunmon, hopping happily to the side. “Look! Look!”

Despite himself, Hackmon does.

“Sunlight bubble!” Little bubbles fly out from his flame, hued a pretty orange and yellow.

Pulling his gaze away, Hackmon turned it towards Sistermon Blanc again, legs already ready to send him away from her attack. Quickly, he realized that her attention wasn’t on him, anymore, instead on Sunmon. He knows, of course, that she’d never hurt Sunmon…

That doesn’t stop him from springing forward, wrapping his front legs around Sunmon as the tip of his tail clashed with her trident. Sunmon makes a quiet, confused sound, peering up at Hackmon.

Then Sunmon smiled, “Big brother’s so cool!”

Turning to look at Sistermon Blanc again, Hackmon can see her smiling. “Good, Hackmon. I think that’s enough for today.”

He grumbled, helping Sunmon up to settle in the hood of his cloak. She wouldn’t have hurt Sunmon. But he still didn’t like that she pretended she might. And Sunmon was, as he often was, oblivious to it all.

---

“Lunamon!” There was Lui, calling for her. “Get over here, we have Digi Destined to deal with.”

It could prove to be interesting, at least. Good training to get her so she could Digivolve again. Although to even do that she’d have to leave anywhere under Davis and Lui’s control, as the Dark Spires would stop her. But truthfully, she’d much prefer the Digi Destined destroying those towers.

Not that she thought she could do a whole lot against their partners, when they could Digivolve and she couldn’t. And especially not with there being so many of them and only one of her. She was pretty good, but she wasn’t that good.

Rolling her eyes, she makes her way to where Lui is impatiently waiting. “Took you long enough,” He said.

“Maybe I should go back to what I was doing, then.” She replied, “It’s not like you can make me do anything.”

He raised his baseball bat threateningly, “I can be very persuasive, remember?”

“Whatever, whatever,” She grumbled, “Let’s get going, I wanna fight some Digimon.”

They end up in one of Lunamon’s least favorite places in the Digital World: the desert. It was hot and dry, which she knows Sunmon would love, but she was less fond. She liked the water, it suited her far better, and the desert had a tendency to lack it. But whatever, she’d manage, and at least she’d get to fight someone.

All five of the Digi Destined were there, with their partners. Wormmon has Digivolved into Togemogumon, and Hawkmon has Digivolved to his newly gained form of Shurimon. Pternomon, Nefertimon, and Pegasusmon were present as was expected. Lui, of course, had Digimon controlled by those Dark Rings facing them, instead of letting her try to fight any of them. She could put up a good fight, despite being a Rookie, and he knew that! It was annoying.

She’s not surprised, then, when the Digimon are freed and the Dark Spire falls. Lui doesn’t seem very surprised, either, which makes her wonder why they did any of this to begin with. They could have stayed home and it would both have been more interesting and less of a waste of time.

Lunamon was determined to get some training out of this, though, so she leaped towards Togemogumon. As he was the most grounded Digimon, it made him the easiest to target. “Lop ear ripple!”

Togemogumon was able to stop her attack easily, which wasn’t all that surprising. Just wait until she Digivolved, then she’d be able to do so much more…

An Airdramon swooped down, attacking Pegasusmon and Pternomon. Usually, Lui didn’t bother having them attack, but he must have been in a bad mood. Then again, she thinks he’s almost always in a bad mood, now at least. Pternomon fired a missile from his back, which Airdramon easily weaved its body around. The missile continued on towards…

Oh. Lui.

Lunamon sprinted towards him. She can see the moment he realized the attack was coming his way, and he doesn’t move. Instead, he stiffened. Frozen.

As she ran, something bubbled in her, almost like a growing anxiety, but familiar. She knew this feeling, had been waiting for it. It grew more and more, spreading through her body. Leaping towards Lui, the feeling consumed her.

“Lunamon Digivolve to… Lekismon!” Her body grew, limbs becoming longer, protrusions growing out of her back.

She grabbed Lui, her feet touching the ground just long enough to push her up again. The missile hits the ground where Lui was before, but they were plenty far from it now, as she landed on the ground once more and sat Lui down.

Squinting at her, Lui said, “You… Digivolved.”

“About time,” She said, taking just a moment to admire her new form. Already, she felt stronger.

Lui made a quiet sound, one she can’t quite make out. “Let’s get out of here.”

Sunmon was going to be so jealous.

---

“What? No fair!” Sunmon cried, “Lunamon’s Digivolved again?!”

Laughing lightly, Hackmon replied, “I guess you’re going to have to work a lot harder if you’re going to catch up with her.”

“Obviously,” Sunmon pouted.

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 14)

Chapter 14: The Samurai of Sincerity

The Digi Destined have a nice bite to eat and talk about their encounters with Digimon. And then they find another Digi Egg.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/176517386

This part of the Digital World was free from the Dark Spires, at least, it made the long time they spent searching for the signal their D3s picked up a bit less stressful. They were less likely to be attacked. It seemed most likely that the signal was a Digi Egg and, knowing that they could use more than one Digi Egg and knowing there’s a chance Motomiya could use it too, they searched for it. Hoping to find it before Motomiya or Ohwada, though at this point there was thankfully no sign of them.

Armadillomon groaned, “Geeze you guys, I’m getting real hungry,”

Yolei checked her bag, usually full of snacks, but this time… “Sorry guys, but you’ve already eaten all the food we brought.” As if on cue, her own stomach growled, quite loudly, “Ugh! I’m hungry too…”

Ken would admit he was feeling pretty hungry too, they’d been in the Digital World a bit longer than they’d originally planned. He was sure that he, Yolei, and Armadillomon weren’t the only ones feeling the hunger, either.

“Maybe we could find somewhere to eat here in the Digital World?” Ken suggested. He knew that the Digimon were capable of making food that humans could eat, he’d had it plenty when he’d first come to the Digital World. And he’s sure that the older Digi Destined had to keep themselves fed somehow, while they spent all that time in the Digital World.

Considering that, TK said, “We’ve found food around before, but it’s not exactly the most consistent,”

Sighing, Yolei said, “Ugh, maybe we should just go home…”

“Actually,” Gatomon began, peering through some trees, over a lake not too far from them, “It looks like there’s some kind of restaurant over there.”

---

“I’ve decided all computers should explode,” Davis dramatically declared, glaring daggers at his computer screen not for the first time that day alone.

As much as Lui wants to point out that he’s the one making himself do this, he suspected Davis wouldn’t appreciate that. Instead, he asked, “What are you even trying to do?”

“I’m going to make the ultimate Digimon!” On one of the bigger screens, an image appeared, it seems of this so-called ultimate Digimon. At present, it had the body of Greymon and the legs of Garurumon.

Lui blinked, surprised. Trying to create a Digimon, even as a composite of parts of other Digimon, was not something he’d expect Davis to try. And it wasn’t something he exactly expected Davis to succeed at, between the fact Davis clearly didn’t know what he was doing and that Lui wasn’t even sure that stitching Digimon together could work. “That’s…” He searched for words that could encapsulate any of his thoughts. “Why the hell does whoever’s sending you those emails want you to make Frankenstein’s Digimon?”

With a shrug, Davis leaned back, “I don’t know, but it seems like a good idea. With a Digimon this powerful… we’ll be able to take over the rest of the Digital World easy.”

“And then what?” That was the thing that had always eluded Lui. What would Davis do when he’d conquered everything, when the “game” was over? If the game was gaining control of the whole Digital World, would he just… leave when it was over? Lui, certainly, didn’t want to just call it quits, at that point.

“To the victor goes the spoils,”

“That doesn’t explain anything,” He sighed, trying to figure out if Davis was being dramatic or purposefully obtuse. It could be either, it really just depended on how much he knew what he really planned to do. Lui, frankly, leaned more towards the latter, that he was trying to avoid admitting he didn’t know what would happen when he’d reached his goal.

After a moment, Davis replied, “It’ll be… amazing, just trust me on that.”

Sighing, Lui said, “You know I’d trust you on just about anything,”

---

“Oh, Ken… I think I ate too much…” Wormmon whimpered, curling up on himself. Hiding a small laugh, Ken began to rub Wormmon’s back.

Yolei leaned back and stretched, “You’ve got to admit, it was pretty good food.”

“Yeah,” TK agreed, “But I can’t help but feel a bit uneasy…”

Looking over at TK, Cody asked, “Is there something wrong?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve been here before…” TK lowered his gaze in thought.

Unbothered by TK’s unease, Yolei called, “We’re ready to pay our bill!”

Tilting his head in thought, Ken picked up Wormmon as they all filed out to leave and asked, “What currency to Digimon even use, anyway?”

Wormmon lifted his head up, peering at Ken, “Hmm… well…”

It turned out that the restaurant didn’t take Yen. That wasn’t exactly a surprise – according to Wormmon, the Digital World operated half on trade and half on its own form of currency, depending on the situation. Most Digimon got by on varying forms of trade, but certain establishments, like restaurants, usually used DigiCoin instead. Which would have been good to know before they’d gone to pay, but Wormmon admitted it slipped his mind. Gatomon and Patamon admitted the same, as none of the three Digimon usually interacted with parts of the Digital World that operated solely in currency.

That did leave them in a bit of a bind, one that Yolei wasted no time in arguing with Digitamamon about. Ken sort of understood where Yolei was coming from, given they’d had no prior indication they needed a different kind of currency to pay, and the accusation that they were purposefully trying to not pay was a bit strong. But it wasn’t like Digitamamon was wrong for wanting to be paid in a currency that would actually be useful to them.

This was one of those situation where Ken wasn’t really sure they’d have much luck getting out of it. They’d probably just have to work out some other way to repay Digitamamon, but they’d only be able to figure that out once Yolei was done with her fight. Cody and Kari were trying to get her to calm, to little avail.

“I can pay,” Came a new voice, a boy it sounded like. He had a slight accent, but not enough to easily be noticed.

“Heeeello everyone!” And that was Mimi. Turning towards the door, they’re greeted with the sight of Mimi waving cheerfully, a blond boy with her. “What a surprise to see you here!”

The wind under Yolei’s sails to argue faded with the appearance of Mimi and her friend, who easily walked past the rest of them, and Yolei, to speak with Digitamamon and pay for them.

“Mimi,” Kari smiled pleasantly, “It’s good to see you.”

“And it’s wonderful to see all of you,” She was still smiling, “I want to introduce you to my friend, Micheal, he’s a Digi Destined in America.” She gestured towards the blond boy.

That was how they found themselves all back in the booths of Digitamamon’s restaurant, now speaking with Mimi and Micheal. Betamon, Micheal’s partner, sat in his lap while they all talked. “My Digivice is like Mimi’s, but I hear you guys have different Digivices.” He said.

Kari nodded, “For some of us they changed, but for the others, they’ve always been like that.” Then she asked, “When did you become a Digi Destined?”

Micheal thought a moment before answering, “About three years ago, I saw Gorillamon appear in New York. It was a real crazy sight!”

“That would be around the same time as Myotismon appearing,” TK recalled.

Cody considered that for a moment, “I remember being on a plane forced to make an emergency landing in the water, four years ago.”

Ken didn’t know a lot about the incident with Myotismon, only having heard little bits in passing. It was located in Odaiba, so all Ken experienced of it, at the time, was overhearing it on the news. At the time, Sam had scoffed and said it was probably “mass hysteria”. Even then, Ken didn’t really know how people could imagine that much fog rolling in.

Yolei sighed, “Aw, you got all the cool options… though I do remember sending a lot of emails when Diaboromon appeared.” She thought for another moment, “Say, Ken, when did you first see Digimon?”

It felt a bit strange talking about himself, still, but he supposed it was about time. “It would have been Diaboromon too,” He recalled the confusion and wonder at seeing Diaboromon, WarGreymon, and MetalGarurumon fight. The amazement of seeing Omnimon and then writing as many emails he could, as Ryo and the computer had asked, to try to help. “Actually, I got my Digivice later that evening…”

“What?” Yolei asked, pulling out her D3 and waving it, “That quickly?” Ken supposed that, while he’d mentioned he’d been to the Digital World before all this, he hadn’t elaborated much on it.

“Well, it wasn’t a D3, at the time. Mine changed, like Kari and TK’s, but this was before the Digimon Emperor.” Ken explained, “A couple days after Diaboromon, I saw Diaboromon on the computer like before, so I called my friend over again. He had known about Digimon before, and knowing that I thought he might have some clue as to what to do.”

Sitting on that information for a moment, Cody asked, “Another Digi Destined?”

Truthfully, Ken wasn’t quite sure what Ryo had counted as. He’d never had a Digivice or partner of his own, so did he even count as a Digi Destined? At the time, Ken had known so little about it all he’d never saw any reason to ask for any clarification – Ryo was a Digi Destined, and he wasn’t, until he was. “I… don’t know, he never had a Digivice or partner of his own… actually, Kari, TK, Mimi, I think you and your partners have met him, at least briefly.”

“Really?” TK asked, tilting his head in surprise. “Who…?”

Mimi’s brow furrowed in thought, “No Digivice or partner of his own… Ryo Akiyama?”

“Oh, I remember him,” Kari said, “He and Agumon defeated Milleniumon together.”

Ken nodded, “Ryo happened to live near us, so I’d taken to asking him for computer help when Sam was busy… But then that day, Diaboromon seemed to appear again, and Veemon brought us to the Digital World. He and Ryo went to fight Diaboromon on their own, even though Gennai said they should wait for Tai and Agumon. Except… it turned out that Diaboromon wasn’t real, and instead it was just an illusion created by Milleniumon to lure Ryo back into the Digital World. So Milleniumon made a copy of the Digital World and trapped Gennai and I in it, while Ryo was alone in the real version.” He looked down at Wormmon, placing a hand gently on his head, “That’s when I met Wormmon, and together we worked to help Ryo get to the point he could fight and defeat Milleniumon.”

“It was a lot of work,” Wormmon said, “But I couldn’t have a better partner than Ken!”

TK smiled, “So then this world saving stuff is old news to you,”

“Wormmon and I just helped,” Ken quickly replied, “Ryo and Veemon did most of the hard work.”

Cody studied him, then said, “I’d think even just helping would be impressive. But you two seem to have a lot more experience than you give yourself credit for.”

Unfortunately for Ken, he was running out of ways to deflect any perceived skill. He didn’t know why they were all so insistent in thinking he’d done anything special, when it had been far from it. Even if they had, Wormmon was the one doing almost all the work, so he deserved the most credit. He was the one who had to fight, Ken just watched and cheered him on.

“It sure sounds impressive,” Micheal said, “If nothing else, quite the adventure.”

Yolei grinned, “We’re having a real adventure too! I mean, we’re making good progress on freeing the Digital World from Motomiya, even if he took over a bunch of it when he captured Agumon.” She snapped her finger, “And I bet we still have an adventure ahead.”

Her enthusiasm brought a smile to Ken’s face, even though he knew their path ahead wouldn’t be easy. He doubted that Motomiya and Ohwada wouldn’t make things difficult, especially with the Dark Spires now existing. Still, Yolei didn’t seem to question whether or not they could pull it off, and that confidence was something Ken could admire.

“Speaking of…” TK began, “We should think about getting back to looking for that Digi Egg,”

Kari nodded, “It’s been great to see you, Mimi, and to meet you, Micheal, but…”

“We hope to find the Digi Egg before it gets too late in the day.” Cody finished.

“Maybe we could help?” Micheal eagerly suggested.

Mimi nodded, “A few extra sets of eyes might help,” Then she excitedly added, “Then we can spend a bit more time together.”

The Digi Destined leave Digitamamon’s restaurant, ready to return to their search for the Digi Egg, now with the aid of Mimi, Micheal, Palmon, and Betamon. Hopefully, with the extra eyes, they’d be able to find the Digi Egg soon enough and head home. Of course, even if they find it, there’s no guarantee that any of them would be able to pick up the Digi Egg. With the Digi Egg of Friendship, they saw that whether a person can pick up a Digi Egg could change depending on their actions.

With all the trees and other plants in this part of the Digital World, even though they could get close to the Digi Egg using their D3s as guides, they still had to search to uncover it. It could be in a tree or under a bush, or some other place they couldn’t easily see. It was almost like it was easier to find the Digi Eggs when you weren’t even trying, and maybe that was the case.

And then Gorillamon showed up, which complicated things a little. Not that Ken doubted that, between all of them, he couldn’t be handled. After all, there were seven Digi Destined here, and the lack of Dark Spire meant that all the Digimon could Digivolve.

“Gorillamon,” Micheal sent a certain look at Gorillamon – he’d mentioned having seen one a few years ago, maybe there were some lingering feelings from that encounter. “Why don’t you let Betamon and I handle this?”

Kari’s gaze switched quickly between him, Gorillamon, and Betamon. “If you’re sure…”

Micheal nodded, then looked down at Betamon. Betamon returned the look, before they both settle their attention towards Gorillamon. It was the sort of easy companionship and understanding Ken noticed in a lot of Digi Destined and their Digimon partners. Knowing each other well enough to convey a lot in just a few movements. Ken had always preferred words, less of a chance Wormmon, or anyone else, might misunderstand, but he got the impression he was a tad unusual in that regard. Others seemed to much more easily trust nothing to be misinterpreted, and it was clear Micheal and Betamon were no exception.

“Betamon Digivolve to… Seadramon!” Where Betamon appeared like some amphibious creature, Seadramon more closely resembled a sea serpent. Thankfully, they were still next to the lake, so Seadramon had plenty of room to operate in his best terrain.

Seadramon wrapped himself around Gorillamon, pulling them both into the water. Like this, Seadramon had an easy advantage, being well suited to the water while Gorillamon began to flail, trying to both pull free of Seadramon and get out of the water. Seadramon gave little opportunity for this, though, keeping his body wrapped around Gorillamon, trying to pull it deeper into the water.

“Check for a Dark Ring,” Yolei said, “Gorillamon must be under the Emperor’s control.”

“Not all Digimon are friendly,” TK reminded, “It’s also possible that Gorillamon is doing this of his own accord.” They’d never really encountered Digimon that attacked them and weren’t under Motomiya and Ohwada’s control. Sometimes, Ken wondered if Yolei and Cody fully realized that some Digimon were just… not good. Sometimes they hurt people, or at least tried to, and sometimes they aspired for goals as awful and lofty as Motomiya did.

In their current struggle with Motomiya, Digimon often ended up more like playing pieces in a game than their own actors. Under the control of the Dark Rings, their personal motivations become second to Motomiya and Ohwada’s, so even if they had encountered Digimon who genuinely didn’t mean well, that had never really mattered. Their ultimate foe was one that was entirely human and the Digimon they faced along the way just needed to be freed.

There were moments where a nagging feeling made Ken wonder how long that would last.

“We still need to be sure,” Yolei reasoned, “We can’t know unless we see if he has a Dark Ring or a Dark Spiral.”

“There!” Cody pointed, when Gorillamon and Seadramon emerged from the surface of the water, wrestling. “On Gorillamon’s arm!”

A Dark Ring, wrapped around Gorillamon’s upper arm, not unlike many other Digimon they’d faced before. Despite the lack of Dark Spire here, there were still Digimon here that were under Motomiya and Ohwada’s control – Ken wondered if one of them were here too, his last encounter with Motomiya still echoing in his mind.

Veemon must have, at some point, told Motomiya about their adventure with Ryo. But why Motomiya seemed so interested in it was beyond Ken. Nothing about what little he could gather about Motomiya and Veemon’s relationship made him think that Motomiya would really care about something like that. Then again… he almost sounded a bit jealous, acknowledging that Veemon had been with someone before him.

Now wasn’t the time for that.

“Seadramon, break the ring on Gorillamon’s arm!” Micheal called out.

Seadramon roared, rearing his head back. He aimed his horn at Gorillamon’s arm, then rammed forward. The horn pierced the Dark Ring, breaking it apart. The fragments fell into the water, floating harmlessly as Gorillamon fell out of the Dark Ring’s control. He looked around, confused, as Seadramon uncoiled himself from around Gorillamon.

Mimi sighed a small sigh, “I guess even in places free from the Dark Spires, some Digimon are still under the Emperor’s control.”

“There are areas around here with Dark Spires, Gorillamon could have wandered in from there,” Ken noted. Right now, most areas freed from the Dark Spires were surrounded on most sides by areas that weren’t. Working against a pair who had all day was hard when they had other commitments. Though… Motomiya and Ohwada had been slowing down, recently, which only put Ken more on edge.

“Or… Davis and Ohwada might have realized there’s a Digi Egg here too,” Kari added. They couldn’t rule that out, either, not unless one of the two showed up here to prove otherwise.

With a sigh, Yolei said, “Let’s just hurry up and find that Digi Egg, this is getting tiring.”

Seadramon hopped out of the water, returning to Betamon. Before they could resume their search, though, there’s rustling in the bushes before Digitamamon emerged, “Hey! What’s all this noise about?!”

They must not have been that far from the restaurant still, if the fight between Gorillamon and Seadramon was able to be heard and be loud enough Digitamamon was complaining about it. Ken felt a bit bad, but it wasn’t like Digitamamon’s restaurant was bustling, they’d been the only people there. He doubts Digitamamon was losing any customers over the noise from that brief scuffle.

Mimi takes a step forward, her best smile already on her face, “We’re very sorry about that, Digitamamon. There was some trouble with Gorillamon, but it’s all okay now and there shouldn’t be any more noise like that.”

“Honestly, you Digi Destined…” Digitamamon grumbled, “Always making so much noise… well I’ve had enough of it!”

Confused, Ken, Cody, Kari, and TK share uncertain glances. What was getting Digitamamon so worked up? The noise had already gone away and Mimi had specifically said that it shouldn’t happen again.

Taking a step to join Mimi, Yolei called out, “What gives? We already apologized! It’s not like we can help being attacked!”

“Now, Yolei…” Mimi cautioned, patiently. “I’m sure Digitamamon has plenty of reason for feeling a bit agitated.”

Digitamamon’s normally yellow eyes glowed red for a moment. Hawkmon pointed towards the abyss of darkness inside Digitamamon’s shell, “Look! A Dark Spiral!”

“Inside Digitamamon?” TK questioned, “How are any of our attacks going to get in there?”

Now seemingly filled with determination, Yolei replied, “I don’t know, but we’ve got to find some way. Even if Digitamamon really is a jerk, he doesn’t deserve to be controlled!”

“He could… also not be a jerk at all,” Ken suggested.

“And we won’t know until we break the Dark Spiral and see what he’s really like! Maybe he’s nothing like I thought, maybe he is.” Yolei pumped her fist, “There’s only one way to find out!”

The ground began to tremble, a light glowing brighter and brighter until a Digi Egg emerged. This one appeared a light green, like a leaf, sat upon a shuriken. A dark green symbol was on the front, shaped a bit like a teardrop. The Digi Egg flew into Yolei’s hand.

Looking over at it, Mimi observed, “That has the Crest of Sincerity on it,”

“The Digi Egg of Sincerity, then,” Kari noted.

Nodding, Yolei hold the Digi Egg of Sincerity up, “Digi Armor energize!”

“Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to… Shurimon! The Samurai of Sincerity!” Shurimon appeared much like a ninja, contrary to his title. His arms and legs were twisted vines that each grasped a shuriken, like in the Digi Egg. On his headband was the Crest of Sincerity.

Surprised, Digitamamon took a step back. Shurimon jumped, rearing his arm back and then throwing one of his shuriken. The shuriken soared through the air, slipping into the void within Digitamamon. A moment later, they’re greeted with the familiar sound of a shattering Dark Spiral.

Shurimon landed beside Yolei, Digitamamon blinked, then looked around. “…Why am I out here? My restaurant! Someone needs to be watching it!”

Yolei grinned, “It’s great you’re back to your normal self, Digitamamon,” She then added, “I’m really sorry about arguing with you earlier.”

“Oh, that…” Digitamamon considered for a moment, “Well, don’t try it again.” With that said, he hurried off, likely to return to his restaurant.

“Wow, so this is what you all are doing regularly?” Micheal asked, “What a day.”

Thoughtfully, Cody replied, “Well, not exactly, but it isn’t entirely dissimilar.”

With the Digi Egg found, they soon said goodbye to Mimi and Micheal, who were returning to America. Soon, the rest of them would be heading home, too.

More and more, Ken found himself in the paradox of both not wanting to go home and wanting desperately to. On one hand, he’d never felt better than when he was with his friends, a happiness he struggles to remember feeling in years. On the other… being around people could prove to be really tiring and Ken hadn’t felt this way since he’d first been in the Digital World. He’d chalked it up to everything going on at the time, but he was beginning to think it was the constantly being around people.

As they approached the TV, TK paused, “Say, Ken… do you know how Akiyama’s been doing?”

That caused Ken to freeze in place, Wormmon making a quiet, sad sound. After a moment to collect himself, Ken took a deep breath, “I don’t know. I… after we defeated Milleniumon, he disappeared.”

“Oh,” TK frowned, “think he’s doing okay?”

“I hope so,” The not knowing nagged at him, though. He felt like he’d failed, in some way. That if he hadn’t gotten sick, he could have kept Ryo from disappearing. Or if he hadn’t pushed Ryo out of the way… maybe he’d have been the sick one. Maybe he’d be the one standing here now, and Ken would be the one who had disappeared.

Ken’s stomach churned at the thought.

“Hopefully you’ll get to see him again,” TK said, “I’m sure you miss him.”

Unsure of what precisely to say to that, Ken just nodded. The question of Ryo nagged at him, as it often did. Maybe it was about time he finally found answers.

---

“Let’s put more peppers in!” Sunmon cheerfully suggested, watching the pot of soup very closely.

“Or,” Hackmon suggested in response, using his claws to slice a carrot, “what if we didn’t?”

Sunmon looked away from the pot of soup, instead looking at Hackmon, “But… peppers are good! They make food spicy and yummy!”

Hackmon made a face, “I don’t think food should fight back.”

Slowly blinking, Sunmon tilted his body, like one would tilt their head, “Huh?”

“I think,” Sistermon Noir declared, “We should add lots of broccoli!”

Simultaneously, Sunmon and Hackmon responded, “Yuck!”

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your side (Chapter 13)

Chapter 13: Ocean of Darkness

Kari's been having strange dreams, of a dark beach, surrounded by darker ocean.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/176134151

Kari wakes up with a start, heart racing. Gatomon sleeps at the foot of her bed, seeming unaware of Kari’s sudden fright. For a few moments, Kari sits there, waiting until her heartbeat slowed. She woke up a bit earlier, but she wouldn’t bother going back to sleep, school was too soon.

Lately, Kari had been having nightmares. Nightmares of a beach, rocky cliffs on one side and an endless abyss of ocean on the other. There was… something in the ocean, she always knew, but she didn’t know what. And whenever she ventured in… it threatened to consume her.

The frequency and consistency of the dreams were concerning, but she didn’t know what to do about it. She knows she should probably tell someone, but the last thing she wanted was to worry her friends or her family. Because she knew they would worry. Tai, Gatomon, and TK especially.

It was probably just stress, anyway. Things had been stressful recently, to say the least. Between finding out Davis was the Digimon Emperor, Davis and Ohwada capturing Agumon, and the amount of the Digital World they’ve managed to take over, she and the other Digi Destined had a lot on their plates. That was probably contributing to the nightmares, even if the subject matter didn’t have much to do with it.

By the time she’s gotten to school, sent Gatomon off to hang out with the other Digimon in the computer lab, the nightmare lingered on Kari’s mind. Something about the eeriness of the ocean and the persistence of the dream. She stared at Davis’ empty seat, mind wandering.

She hoped he was okay, in the Digital World. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but worry about him, worry about what was going on with him. He had to have some kind of reason for doing it all. Even if it was just grief.

In a way, Kari felt like she could have done more to stop this. Found a way to better be there for Davis. Something like that. Anything to keep him from reaching this point, from becoming the Digimon Emperor and terrorizing the Digital World.

“You okay, Kari?” TK’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He watched her, concern evident on his face.

Slowly, she blinked, then said, “…I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep that great, last night.”

“You do look tired,” He noted, “Everything that has happened recently isn’t getting to you, is it?”

Kari shook her head, “I’m fine, really I am. I’ll feel a lot better tomorrow, once I get some better sleep.”

He laughed a little, “We aren’t planning to head to the Digital World today, you could always take a nap after school.”

“Maybe,” She’d admit that the idea sounded nice. It at least gave her some vague notion to look forward to, to get her through the school day.

---

Davis glared at the computer screen, Lui thinks they’re lucky both that looks can’t break screens and that the screen wasn’t exactly real. Otherwise, the screen would probably be webbed with cracks, if not scattered in a bunch of pieces on the floor. Lui wasn’t privy to whatever his latest project was, not yet, but given how much Davis was going on about getting a stronger Digimon, he suspected it had to do with that.

Right now, though, Davis just grumbled and glared, like it might somehow make the code work correctly. Lui knew that Davis had no clue what he was doing, even after all this time, so the fact that problems cropped up constantly wasn’t a surprise. It did make the fact that anything ever got done a bit impressive, though. He supposed having someone willing to figure out most of the hard stuff for you helped with that, though.

With an annoyed groan, Davis stood up hastily. “This is so annoying,”

“You sure you can pull off that plan?” Lui asked, watching him closely.

“I will,” Davis said, maybe a bit too forcefully, “it just… I am so done staring at it right now.” He turned towards the door, beginning to walk away.

Curious, Lui asked, “Heading out?”

“I need to think about anything other than this.”

Knowing Davis, he probably wouldn’t go too far. Just far enough to let off some steam for a bit, then he’d be back, either back at this project or finding something else to do. Worst case scenario he goes far enough to conquer another section of the Digital World, but even then, until he left their territory, it was fairly safe. No Digimon under the control of a Dark Ring could attack the Digimon Emperor. Any who had avoided capture wouldn’t be able to Digivolve, which was how they limited most of their opposition in the first place. At least, their non-Digi Destined opposition.

---

Kari only makes it to just shy of lunch when that horrible feeling returned. Like in her nightmares, except this time she was awake. At least, she thought she was, the water that began to fill the classroom felt real, the way it crept up her ankles, then up her legs… Soon it neared her knees, voices whispering.

Come to us, they said, drown in our ocean.

And Kari couldn’t move. Her limbs felt horribly heavy, terrifyingly so, keeping her stuck in her seat. All she could do was watch the water rise, listen to the whispers, her heat beating ever faster as her breath quickened.

Finally something budged, her chair tilted, and she fell into the water-

The floor. She hit the floor of the classroom gasping.

“Kari?!” TK stood, worry filling his voice as he crouched down to check on her. “Are you alright?”

“I…” She tries to push out a reassurance, anything to keep him from worrying more than he already was. But it caught in her throat, the words simply not coming out. Searching for something that would, she settled on, “…I’m not feeling too good.”

The eyes of the whole classroom are on her, including their teacher. There’s an obvious note of concern in his voice when he asked, “Do you need to go to the nurse’s office?”

Again, she wants to say no, to pretend everything’s fine, but she can’t. So she had to admit it, “I think so,” maybe she really just needed some rest.

“I can walk you there,” TK quickly said.

As much as she appreciated the concern, she didn’t want him missing class, no matter how unwell she felt. Besides, she felt better, now. Now that the water was gone again. “I’ll be able to make it there okay.” She was just tired, after all. That was it.

She pushed herself up and hurried out of the classroom. The second she’s in the halls, alone, she hears whispering again. At first, she thought it was her classmates, or maybe some kids trying to skip class by hiding in the halls. But as she walks, it doesn’t fade, nor can she see anyone who could be whispering.

Still, she called out, “If this is a- a prank, this isn’t funny.”

The whispers don’t stop, it feels like the color slowly drains from the school, just like in her dreams. She could swear she sees shadows in the stairwell, lurking just out of view. In the windows of other classrooms, too. In the corner of the hall.

Once more, her heart begins to race. She can’t help it, this was too strange, to nerve wracking. “Stop it,” She tried again, “No one’s laughing.”

Come to us, came the whispers again. All Kari can do is grasp her head and call out for someone, anyone. Someone who could drive these shadows and whispers away. Then she fell.

She comes to on cold sand. Sitting up, she looked around, finding herself on a beach. There were cliffs to one side of her, rocky walls that held a town above them, a tunnel boring into them. On the other side was water, dark like ink. Everywhere she looked, not an ounce of color, just shades of grey and black.

Just like in her nightmares.

Quickly, Kari stood, looking around again, this time more hurriedly, searching for a single other soul. There was no one to be found, not a person on the beach, or in what she could see of the town. Not a boat on the ocean or any other sign of humanity.

Just an empty town, an empty beach, and an empty ocean. It all rang wrong in every fiber of her being. She had to get out of here.

If she had to guess, the tunnel probably would put her on a road that would lead her to the town. And maybe in the town she’d find something. Another person, some way out, she didn’t know, she just knew she had to try to find whatever it was. It was the only way she was going to find a way out of here, wherever it was that she even was.

---

By the time school was over and Kari hadn’t returned to class, TK figured she was either still in the nurse’s office or had gone home. So he heads to the nurse’s office first, it was the closest and most likely option. Kari would probably want to avoid going home early, since that would mean worrying her mother. And Kari didn’t like much when she worried others.

Obviously she tried to hide that, but TK had picked up with it, especially recently. As much as she tried to push past it, it was obvious that learning Davis was the Digimon Emperor was hard on her. Yet she seemed determined not to let that influence what she did, or what they did to try to stop him. But with all that weight, it must be hard.

He wished she wouldn’t try to carry all that weight alone. That she’d stop trying to hide when things bothered her. From him, at least. Or Gatomon. They’d all gone through so much together, and he knew, as the youngest when they first went to the Digital World, they had a unique bond.

That was why he’d been determined to be the one to help her when she’d gotten stuck in the Digital World. Obviously, it was easier for him to make a second trip, since any absence at home wouldn’t be so strange for him. He’d primarily invited Ken because he wanted to try to pull Ken into actually being apart of their team, which he seems to only have just finally accepted.

All TK planned to do was make sure Kari was okay. He reached the nurse’s office in fairly good time, ready to either see Kari or hear she’d gone home.

There’s not a sign of her inside, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. He asked the nurse about it, only to find out Kari never came to the nurse’s office in the first place. Now he’s worried. If Kari hadn’t gone to the nurse’s office, then where did she go? She wouldn’t have gone straight home, would she?

He hurried to the computer lab. If she went home, she would have gotten Gatomon. Someone would have had to see something.

“TK!” Patamon cheered, gliding over to him when he arrived at the computer lab.

Gatomon hurried over, “Will Kari be here soon?”

---

When Kari reached the tunnel, darkness was all that greeted her inside. She couldn’t tell how long it was, as it became pitch black about ten or so feet in. Still, it was the best option she had, so she entered the tunnel, slowly. Who knew what waited in the darkness.

A swarm of red dots appeared, down by the ground, the only color in this desolate place. In a hoarse, croaking, voice, the dots begged, “Help us…”

Kari gasped in surprise – it seems there were other people here. Or… Digimon, maybe? “What… are you?”

“We’re Scubamon,” A pair of dots moves closer to her, coming into the light and revealing an amphibious looking Digimon, the dots it’s glowing red eyes. “We need help returning to the ocean.”

The ocean wasn’t that far away from here, Kari wasn’t sure why they couldn’t make it themselves. But she saw no reason to deny them, “I’ll help you,”

“Thank you…”

She began to lead them back towards the ocean. The idea of getting too close to the dark abyss of water made her uneasy, but she decided she might just be spooked by the similarity to her nightmares. After all, that ocean was the home of the Scubamon, so obviously it wasn’t all bad. Somehow, she must have slipped into the Digital World, though she’s never seen anywhere like this before.

The walk to the ocean isn’t long, though Kari finds that the closer she gets to the water, the more she begins to feel sick. Something in her stomach churned, but she’d push past it for the Scubamon. They just had to get to the water, and then she could go back to the tunnel and her search for a way home.

“Here,” She said, gesturing towards the water, “Just a few more feet and you’ll be in the ocean.” She stopped just shy of the water licking at her shoes, having zero intention to get her feet wet, let alone get into the water.

“Won’t you come in with us?” One of the Scubamon said, though she can’t tell which one. “Just a little bit, to make sure we’re safe?”

The pit in her stomach tells her to say no. The part of her that wants to help these poor Digimon said yes. This wasn’t the sort of situation where she could really choose a halfway – either she was in the water or not.

Despite her better judgement, Kari takes a step into the water. The Scubamon follow suit. She takes another step, and so do they. She doesn’t know why they won’t just go in on their own, but she keeps walking, deeper and deeper, until she’s up to her knees in the water.

Before, the Scubamon were smaller, more frog-like. Now, as they came further and further into the ocean, they twisted, growing larger, standing back on two legs. Shrouded in darkness even though there was nothing to shadow them, their eyes still glowing a bright red.

She swallowed, knowing she should have listened to her gut. Something was wrong.

“Come further in,” They said, she doesn’t know which one or if they all did, “let us bring your to our master, deep in the ocean.”

Fearfully, she took a step back, only to find there were Scubamon behind her, “No,” She said, “I think I should… go.”

“But we’ve been waiting for you to come here.”

The arms of one of the Scubamon – or whatever they really were – wrap around her. She wiggled and pulled, but couldn’t find a way to get free of the Scubamon’s grasp, despite her struggle.

Something warm falls on her, the darkness fading, light descending from the sky. It’s warm, familiar. There are wings flapping above her, golden feathers falling into the ocean. And then she heard it, “Kari!” TK’s familiar, comforting voice.

“Lightning Paw!” That was Gatomon, jumping down from Pegasusmon’s back and punching the Scubamon that held Kari.

“TK, Gatomon, Pegasusmon…” Kari looked up, seeing TK sitting on Pegasusmon, relief painted on his face. “You came.”

“Of course,” TK said, “I’ll always be there to help you.”

Gatomon punched another Scubamon, before light began to envelop her. “Gatomon Digivolve to… Angewomon!” Angewomon’s brilliant white feathers joined Pegasusmon’s in raining down on the Scubamon.

Kari watched with awe as Angewomon scooped her up, “You… Angewomon, you Digivolved?”

“This place is… different from the Digital World or the real world,” Angewomon explained, flying up to join TK and Pegasusmon. “Now let’s go home.”

In the sky, from where the others had come from, a hole was still torn. On the other side was their world, vibrant and warm. Pegasusmon, who was closest, flew through first, but Angewomon was close behind.

Landing on the ground of an alley way, Angewomon sat Kari down, while Pegasusmon landed and gave TK a chance to dismount. Then, the two Digimon devolved back to Patamon and Gatomon.

Looking back up the way they came, Kari saw no sign of the dark other world they’d come from. Like it never was. There were no more whispers, for the time, or shadowy figures. Just her, TK, Gatomon, and Patamon.

“…What was that place?” She wondered.

---

Sometimes the world seemed too bright for Davis’ liking, and the Digital World was no different. Still, it beat staring at a computer screen any longer, he thinks if he did, he’d punch the screen and wouldn’t have one anymore. If the situation were different, he might think that would be a good thing. Unfortunately, his latest project was quite important and he had to get it working sooner rather than later.

For now, though, a stroll through the parts of the Digital World that were under their control would be good enough to get his mind off things. Like how close he was, despite the interference of the other Digi Destined. Soon, he’d have control of the whole Digital World, soon he’d have won the game… and to the victor goes the spoils, the prize he’d been promised months ago.

Not even the Digi Destined would stop him, he’d make sure of it. Even with Veemon constantly sabotaging his efforts.

At first, Veemon had seemed excited to have Davis as a partner, but that excitement clearly disappeared quickly. Now he seemed to want to have anyone else, like he couldn’t see what Davis was trying to accomplish. Not that it mattered, Davis didn’t need him, and if push came to shove, he’d find a way to keep Veemon from messing anything else up.

Besides, once he’d won the game, it would all be worth it.

A rustle not too far away caught his attention – maybe one of the Digimon under his control? He doesn’t know what they’d be doing here, though. Too far away from a Dark Spire or a village to be of any significance to be protected. All that was here were trees and bushes, or other similar kinds of foliage. Nothing of any importance.

Silently, he investigated. When his eyes land on Ichijouji, whom appeared oblivious to his presence, he ducks behind the nearest tree until he can access the situation. Then he watched. Ichijouji was on his own, save for Wormmon, who walked on the ground beside him.

Davis was willing to bet they were searching for a Dark Spire to attack, but crucially, there were no other Digi Destined here – a quick look at his Digivice confirmed that it was just him and Ichijouji. If Lui were here, he’d probably say that they should try to get Ichijouji on their side again, but Davis knew it wasn’t likely to work, now. He’d just gotten a Digi Egg all about friendship. They didn’t have the kind of leverage needed to get him to betray the other Digi Destined.

Ichijouji reached into his pocket, pulling out his Digivice, his attention fixed on it. That might tell him he isn’t alone, so Davis knew he had to act now. He might not be able to get Ichijouji to join them… but there was something else he wanted out of Ichijouji. The trouble would just be getting him in a position where he’d tell.

Not that Davis had a lot of time to think about that, so he did what he always did, when he was playing soccer and had to act fast. He tackled Ichijouji, knocking him onto the ground and sending his Digivice scattering.

“Heya, Ichijouji,” Davis said, unable to help a bit of amusement at Ichijouji’s shocked expression.

“Motomiya?” He wrestled underneath Davis, but Davis managed to keep him mostly in place.

With a tilt of his head, Davis reminded him, “This is the middle of my territory, you can’t seriously have expected not to run into someone.”

“Not you!”

It was kind of funny, though Davis would admit it made sense. Why expect your enemy to just waltz up – or tackle, in this case – when that isn’t something he’s made a huge habit of doing? Yeah, Ichijouji didn’t have too much reason to expect this. But Davis liked when he could surprise people. Especially people like Ichijouji.

“If it makes you and Wormmon feel better,” Davis said, “I’m not here to fight.”

Ichijouji looked incredulous, “You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true,” Davis insisted.

“Then what are you here for?” As they talked, Wormmon skittered over, clear worry on his face. It was almost cute and exactly as Veemon had described Wormmon to be, in the past. Davis only bothered to remember because… well things had been different, at the time, and the information had never quite slipped his mind.

“Tell me about Ryo Akiyama,”

Wormmon stiffened and Ichijouji’s eyes widened, mouth falling agape. “How- why-“

“I know you know about him,” Davis leaned over, meeting eyes with Ichijouji, “Veemon told me.”

Sounding suddenly quite protective, Wormmon demanded, “And why do you want to know?”

“Why wouldn’t I want to know about the person who my partner was with before me?” The one time Veemon had spoke of Akiyama, it had been brief and undetailed. If Davis was ever going to get Veemon to actually respect him, he needed to know what he was contending with. What the boy who came before him was like. And if Veemon wouldn’t tell him… then Ichijouji and Wormmon would have to.

This time, when Ichijouji struggled under him, he actually managed to dislodge Davis, knocking Davis to the dirt. Ichijouji then scrambled to his feet, “Why should I tell you?”

Dusting himself off, Davis stood and scowled, “It’s not like I can do anything to him,” he shot a glare at Ichijouji, “Some of us just don’t have the luxury of being our partner’s first.”

It didn’t matter if Veemon had said he and Akiyama weren’t partners, it certainly sounded like they were close enough. So if Davis had to play second fiddle, he wanted to know how he could usurp first fiddle and be the one Veemon actually cared about. So Veemon would stop wasting all that care on a boy who either had abandoned him or was dead. It would make Davis’ life a lot easier if he could just have a partner who actually cared about him.

Ichijouji scooped up his Digivice, pulling his D-Terminal out of his pocket, “Wormmon,” he began.

Davis groaned, they were going to run away. He just wanted answers, this time he hadn’t even threatened them or anything, though he’d admit the tackle might have been coming on a bit strong. Still, this was pretty civil compared to some of their previous interactions in the Digital World.

“Digi Armor energize!”

Right, Davis didn’t really have a plan for this. Hopefully his initial guess was right and they’d just run. He didn’t think there were any Digimon under his control actually anywhere nearby. A fight wasn’t what he was going for.

“Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Shadramon! The Flames of Courage!”

Taking a step back, Davis watched as Shadramon scooped up Ichijouji and, wings buzzing so fast they could nearly burn, takes off into the sky. Without much else to do, Davis just watches them leave, doing little to try to stop them.

He was already in a bad mood, but now… he’s going to go home and instead of looking at his stupid project, he’ll probably just pick a fight with Lui or something. Maybe Lunamon if he was bold. Lui would forgive him for it later. Lunamon… well Davis didn’t really care how Lunamon felt about him.

All Davis had to do was keep going, keep pushing through all of this… and once he won the game, it would all be worth it.

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 12)

Chapter 12: Regular Friendship

Ken experiences a day that probably counts as a regular hangout with one of his friends. This is a weird experience for him.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/175809956

Davis had some new project he was working away at, courtesy of his email inbox. Every time he got a new one, Lui was tempted to try to sneak a peek, he doubted Davis would even get that mad about it. But he also wasn’t sure how badly he wanted to know, if he wanted to risk unleashing some forbidden knowledge on himself. He didn’t know much about the sender of those emails, but he knew that Davis followed every piece of advice in them.

He’d asked, once, why Davis even bothered. And Davis, tone so serious Lui thought he’d been replaced by a subpar doppelganger, had replied that it was “important”. That he had to and that was how he’d win the game. Lui didn’t know what he thought would happen when he “won” the “game”, conquering the entire Digital World, but he knew that it was something that Davis couldn’t stand the thought of not happening.

Lui’s sure the emails told him all of that, too.

While Davis wanted to conquer the Digital World for some nebulous prize he never directly spoke of, Lui had far simpler reasons. Digimon were monsters, they hurt people. Thus, they needed to be destroyed. And the simplest, easiest way to pull that off is to conquer all the Digimon and then destroy them. They could destroy anyone who provided too much resistance along the way.

It’s not that Lui thought that killing the Digi Destined was the appropriate course of action, but he did think Davis wasn’t taking them seriously enough. It would probably be better, in that regard, to destroy their Digimon. But Davis never seemed to think that. Or at least, he was too happy to play around with them, and then something would happen like with MetalGreymon and what advantage they’d had would be lost.

Ichijouji gaining the Digi Egg of Friendship made Lui doubt they’d ever get him on their side – their best chance had been in the desert, before Veemon had ruined it – but he’d still watched the interaction. Took notes, in case it came in handy in the future. You never knew, after all, what would come in handy.

The base Davis had constructed, back when this all started, was probably bigger than it needed to be. By now, Lui knew the layout well, but to anyone who wasn’t as familiar, it would be easy to get lost. Still, Lui had a favorite spot, or rather, a place he just found himself going to, when he was alone. It was kind of like a balcony, although it lacked any protective railing.

Lui just liked it because no one ever came out to it, no Digimon would fly near the base, and it let him pretend he was somewhere else. The Digital World was far from his favorite place, but there were times that it resembled the real world. He liked those times best, it let him pretend things were still normal.

He didn’t mind that he was living here full-time, right now. He and Davis could return to the real world whenever they wanted, so long as they concocted believable enough stories as to where they’d gone. Lui had no particular care for his aunt and uncle, as nice as they were. They weren’t his parents. Lui wasn’t sure he ever really knew his parents, either, though. The real world didn’t have much for him, but neither did the Digital World.

Laying on the floor, Lui stared up at the night sky. In the Digital World, the sky looked mostly the same as the real world, during the day, but at night… at first glance, it was normal, enough, until you realized none of the stars looked the same, no matter where you were. At least it was peaceful enough, here. He closed his eyes, maybe he’d sleep out here, at least until he wakes up and remembers how uncomfortable it was.

“Are you sleeping?” Gratingly, that was Lunamon’s voice. Lui opened his eyes, greeted with her curious, annoying face.

“No,” He replied, reaching up to shove her away.

She danced around his hand, “You looked like you were.”

“Well I wasn’t,” He didn’t know why he was still acknowledging her existence.

Pouting, Lunamon sits down beside him, and Lui attempts to close his eyes and just ignore her. He wasn’t going to let her ruin his mostly good mood. There are a few blessed moments of silence, before she breaks it again.

“That’s kinda like my… parent, I guess,” She said, and as he cracked his eyes open, he could see her pointing. Following her hand, he sees she’s pointing at the moon. “Not that Digimon really have parents.”

Lui decided to closed his eyes again, “Parents are… complicated.” He said, even though he knew it was a waste of time. A Digimon would never understand. Digimon were monsters.

It’s strangely silent for a few moments again, before Lunamon spoke again, “I think it could be nice, but… I’ve got myself two brothers, and that’s pretty good.”

Digimon that could have siblings. It didn’t seem so out of the blue, but it still seemed strange. Why would monstrous programs have siblings? What good would that do? Lui tries not to waste too much time thinking about it.

---

Ken stared at the email again and again, like it might change or disappear entirely. Or maybe he misread it. But it stayed the same, read the same as the first time he’d read it.

To: Ken Ichijouji

From: Yolei Inoue

Subject: I’m Around!

Hey Ken,

I know this is out of the blue, but I have a quick errand to run near Tamachi, and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out? I figured since none of us had any plans in the Digital World, it could be a good use of time. Plus, I think it would be fun to spend more time with you in the real world! And maybe I could take a look at your portal and see if it’s any different from ours. Let me know if you’re down for it.

Sincerely,

Yolei

The Digi Destined emailed him plenty, but this was different. This was one of them asking to just. Hang out with him. Like friends did. Which made sense, because Yolei was his friend. Still, it felt strange to Ken, this invitation to do things that were completely normal yet entirely foreign to him.

It excited him, this chance to be normal. To just… spend time with a friend. Once the request had sunk in, Ken began to type out his message.

To: Yolei Inoue

From: Ken Ichijouji

Re: I’m Around!

Yolei,

I would like to spend time with you-

Since you’re around

I’d love to

I don’t mind the surprise email, most emails are a surprise to me, honestly. Regardless, I agree that it sounds fun to spend time with you in the real world. I’ll admit, I’m not really familiar with… hanging out with people, but the best way to learn is by doing, and I’m sure you won’t lead me too far astray. We can meet up somewhere, when you’re done with your errand, and decide what we’ll do from there. I’ll be sure to bring Minomon, he’ll be happy to see you, and hopefully he’ll get to see Poromon too.

If you really want to, you can come over and look at the portal, but I doubt it’s too much different from the one you all use. My parents will be out most of the day at work, and my brother will be out until the early evening, so you won’t need to worry about raising any questions.

I look forward to seeing you,

Ken

It took a few tries to figure out how to get started, but Ken was happy enough with his response. It didn’t feel over eager or anything, but also didn’t seem like he was only agreeing because she happened to be in the area and asked, that he did actually want to spend time with her.

Minomon peered over at him, a bit too short to make out the D-Terminal’s screen. “What’s the email?” He asked, “Ken! You’re smiling so much!”

Looking over to Minomon, Ken felt a bit conscious of his smile, but he couldn’t help himself. “We’re going to meet up with Yolei today and spend some time with her,” He answered.

“Will Poromon be there?”

“Hopefully,” Ken replied, not wanting to definitively say, since Yolei hadn’t mentioned whether Poromon would be with her. Ken brought Minomon everywhere, but he was sure that wasn’t what the other Digi Destined did. Minomon was, all things considered, a fairly calm Digimon. His brief meeting with Upamon and Poromon made Ken think that Minomon might be unique, in that regard. Not that he wasn’t prone to bursts of excitement, like now.

Happily, Minomon hopped, “It will be fun!”

Ken’s D-Terminal beeped again, a new email having come in.

To: Ken Ichijouji

From: Yolei Inoue

Re:Re: I’m Around!

Great! Let’s meet outside the train station at eleven! Don’t worry, Poromon will be with me, he’s excited to see Minomon.

The response to his reply was far more casual than Ken expected from an email. Then again, maybe that was how friends emailed people. Ken didn’t really know.

It was still early enough in the morning that Ken has time to kill. He does some studying, deciding it would be best to get some in for the day, as he didn’t know how much time he’d be spending with Yolei. Time passes by quicker than Ken expected and then soon he’s gathering snacks for Minomon and putting them and Minomon into a bag, then taking off for the train station.

Yolei suggested they meet outside the train station at eleven. It was ten forty five, and Ken was already at the train station. If she arrived early, he would say he left a bit early by accident and had just got there. If she showed up closer to eleven, he would still insist she just got there. And if she was, for whatever reason, late, he’d say he lost track of time studying and was also running late and had just arrived. That way, no matter what, he wouldn’t look over eager or make her feel like she made him wait.

Minomon peeks his head out of the bag, eyes looking over all the people passing by and through the station. There was an apple slice in his mouth, quietly being munched away on. They’d be lucky if there were any snacks left by the time Yolei and Poromon arrived.

It’s a couple minutes before eleven when Yolei comes out of the train station, looking around as Poromon stuck his head out of her bag, doing the same. Before Ken can call out to her, her eyes land on him and with a big smile, she waved, “Ken!” then hurried her way over, weaving through people.

Unable to help himself, he smiled in return, “Yolei, I’m glad you made it here alright.”

“This is my first time in Tamachi,” She looked around for a few moments.

Minomon drops the apple slice he was eating and it fell back into the bag. He waved one of his little arms in greeting, “Hi Poromon!”

“Hi Minomon!” Poromon waved his little wing in response.

“So,” Ken began, awkwardly, “…what do we do now?”

Yolei hummed, “Well, we could go do something! Or just walk around, I don’t know, is there anywhere cool around here?” She continued to look around, “And I still want to see your portal before we go. Izzy’s been showing me lots of things he’s learned about Digital World related stuff.”

Ken thought about it for a few moments, “There’s a park I used to go to a lot, there’s usually an ice cream stand there in the summer, but I don’t think it’s been warm enough for it to open yet. I liked to go there since it wasn’t that far from home… other than that-“

“The park sounds great!” Yolei decided, “You can tell me about what you used to do there.”

She turned in a direction, about to march off before remembering she didn’t know where to go. Ken chuckled a little, then began to lead her to the part. He hoped she didn’t ask too much about him, there, he wasn’t sure how much he really wanted to talk about Sam.

Sam brought a storm of feelings to him. Sorrow, anger, annoyance… They used to be so close, but now Ken has to wonder how much of it Sam was just doing out of obligation, as the older brother. How much did he really like going to the park to play with Ken? How much did he really like taking him for ice cream? Mixing soap and water together so the two of them could stand on the balcony and blow bubbles?

Now wasn’t the time to think about that, though. He was hanging out with Yolei, and his complicated feelings about his brother had no place here. As they walked, occasionally Yolei would stop to look at things – things Ken had seen thousands of times, but to her they were new and interesting. They weren’t in a hurry, at least as far as Ken knew, so he didn’t try to rush her.

Eventually they made it to the park, just as Ken remembered it. He and Sam used to spend so much time playing here. Soccer, mostly, but they played other games, tag, hide and seek… it was where they went when they wanted to go outside. In the winter, they built snowmen and Ken would make tens of snow angels. He always tried to get Sam to join him, but Sam would always say he thought they were best when Ken did it.

And now he was here with Yolei, “Let me guess…” She began, surveying the park, “You play soccer here a lot.”

“I used to,” He replied, “I don’t really have anyone to play with, anymore.”

If Yolei caught anything strange about that statement, she didn’t show it. “Is that all you do here?”

“Like I said, I don’t come here much anymore…” He leaves out the part where the reason why he doesn’t is Sam. Actually, this is the first time he’s been here without Sam. The first time since Sam grew to hate him.

“I bet it would be fun to fly around with FlyBeemon,” She said with a cheery hum, “Just imagine, speeding around…”

At that, Ken smiled, “You like flying with him?”

“Of course!” She was grinning, now, “It’s so amazing and thrilling! Don’t you like flying with Shadramon?”

In response, he nodded, “I do, but…”

“But?”

“I like flying with Stingmon better,” There wasn’t a huge difference, Shadramon and Stingmon were very similar in physicality, but there was just… something about being held by Stingmon he liked better. Maybe it was because Stingmon’s Digivolution was a proof of their bond, more than Shadramon’s was.

She glanced at Minomon, who at some point was joined in the back by Poromon. “Stingmon is Minomon’s Champion form, right?”

Excitedly, Minomon answered, “Yeah! Everyone thinks I’m weak until I Digivolve into Champion. And then I’m strong and can protect Ken!”

“Well, I don’t know how strong Wormmon might be… but he’s got spunk!” She pumped her fist, “It was super cool when you tried to fight RedVeggiemon!”

Ken nodded in agreement, “He also got Sea Angel off of me, in the desert. Minomon is very brave and I’m very lucky to have such a wonderful partner.”

“I know, right?” Yolei smiled, eyes moving to Poromon. “It’s like Poromon was handpicked to be the Digimon that was best for me.”

“Maybe he was,” Maybe all of their partners were. “We don’t know much about how Digi Destined and Digimon are decided.” It was something he’d always wanted to ask Gennai about, among all the other things on that list. Despite that, he never actually made the trip to see Gennai again, for reasons even he couldn’t place. Maybe it was procrastinating, maybe he was worried about the answers, maybe the questions didn’t seem that important, in the grand scheme of things.

She thought about what he said, for a few moments. Minomon and Poromon steadily munched through a bag of chips while she did. Then she decided, “That would be cool. If we’re paired with our partners because they were best for us.” After another moment, she wondered, “But what does that mean for Veemon? He’s Motomiya’s partner… but you knew him before.”

In the time since learning that Veemon was Motomiya’s partner, Ken had wondered a lot about that. First, he traveled with Ryo, and then Ryo disappeared to somewhere even Veemon had no clue of, couldn’t extract from Gennai. Then he gets partnered to the current scourge of the Digital World. Why couldn’t Veemon just have someone who was good and cared for him?

Ken sighed, “Maybe he’s the exception. Or maybe he’s what Motomiya needs.” He shrugged, just a little. “Maybe I’m wrong and it’s all coincidence.”

Yolei frowned, then sighed, then puffed up and crossed her arms, “You know what? I think you should just show me your computer. I’m more of an indoor computer person anyway.”

At least she’d tried to give him the option to not invite her to his home. Truthfully, while some part of him wanted to keep Yolei far away, another part of him was nervously excited by the idea. The last time he’d had a friend over was when he and Ryo had entered the Digital World together. And at that time, he hasn’t quite been willing to risk calling Ryo a friend.

With a small laugh, he replied, “Like I said, I don’t think there’s anything special about the portal but… I don’t mind you taking a look. And if we’re inside, Poromon and Minomon won’t have to be hiding.” Their Digimon cheer, quietly, between their mouthfuls of food.

“Only one way to know for sure,” Yolei said.

That was how Ken found himself back home, this time with Yolei and Poromon. Minomon and Poromon wasted little time in getting out of the bag and enjoying their return to freedom. Ken smiled at their antics, while Yolei took a brief look around. As far as Ken knew, their apartment wasn’t that unusual, so she’d probably lose interest fairly quickly.

Her eyes landed on the wall his parents kept pictures on. “This is you and your family, right?” She pointed to one. Ken walked over and looked more closely. It was an old family photo, of his parents, Sam, and himself. He doesn’t know how old it is, but he knows it’s old enough that he was in it at all. Sam had his arms wrapped around Ken’s shoulders, holding him close. Though they were all smiling, Ken thought he might have been crying before the picture was taken.

“Yeah,” Ken replied, “It’s from when I was really young.”

She looked at the other pictures, “But you’re not in many of these, are you? This other boy, with the glasses… he’s your brother?”

He followed her gaze. There were a few pictures of him and Sam, here and there, but most of them were Sam, or Sam with their parents. Ken frowned, “…Yeah, that’s Sam,”

“I wouldn’t have taken you for the camera-shy type,” She was giving him an opening. A chance to explain away his absence from the pictures in a way that didn’t make anything look odd. To say he wasn’t in many of them because he didn’t want to be.

For a moment, Ken considered taking it, insisting that he really wasn’t that big of a fan of pictures. It wasn’t like it was a big deal, he didn’t need to risk making a big deal about pictures. On the first time he’d really had a friend over, where they’d do friend things and spend time together. She didn’t need to think there was anything wrong with him or his family.

But that was the thing. After spending so much of his life putting on that appearance, of watching Sam put it on too… Ken found himself tired of it, of pretending that everything was wonderful, that they were the perfect family. That he was shy and didn’t like to be seen or bothered.

Ken was starting to realize a lot of what he thought he was like was just an appearance. A way to be left alone, a way to not raise questions about his family. He liked being with people, his heart soared at the realization he had friends. Going out and being with other people, being told he could contribute, he could help, made him feel amazing. On the days that they weren’t all going to the Digital World, he and Minomon would still slip in, because staying cooped up in his room got to him, now, made him restless. Sure, he couldn’t stand to be around people all day, but… but he didn’t like always being alone, either.

He didn’t want to hide what he was like, or what his life was like. “…Not really,”

Yolei took her gaze from the photos, now on him, “Then… why are there so few pictures with you?”

“Because no one wanted me in them,”

She frowned at that, in a way that looked almost more like a mix of irritation and a challenge. “They don’t know what they’re missing.” Then she seems to get an idea, “I know! One of these days, we’ll have to get a picture taken of all of us! Kari, TK, and the older Digi Destined have one from their adventure in the Digital World, it would be cool to have one for ours.”

“That sounds… nice,” He admitted.

“Great! Now let’s check out that portal!” Yolei seemed more than happy to not linger on the subject for too long, which Ken was grateful for. As much as he didn’t want to hide what things were like from her, he also didn’t particularly want to have to go into detail. As Ken directed her towards his room, she noted, “You know, your brother seems kind of familiar…”

“You’ve probably seen him somewhere,” Ken sighed, shutting the door behind them just even that it wasn’t wide open, but not enough to keep Minomon and Poromon out. “Mom and dad have him doing interviews all the time for anyone who’ll have him. Child genius and all that.”

“Oh, huh,” She hummed, “Must suck.”

He blinked, surprised by her words, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you wouldn’t know how your brother feels about it, but for you, it’s got to suck.” She glanced around the room, before her eyes landed on the computer on his desk, which she happily made her way over to. “Everything you do probably gets overshadowed by the fact your brother is a literal genius. Is that why you’re not in any of the pictures, because they give your brother a lot more attention?”

She got to the heart of the matter so easily. Ken was stunned, for a few moments, just walking over to his computer to turn it on and log in for her. “It… well… yes.” He admitted. He wasn’t sure if it felt a bit difficult because he didn’t want to admit it or because he was still so surprised. “I can’t exactly blame them, it’s not like I’ve done… anything remarkable.”

Yolei rolled her eyes as he brought the portal to the Digital World up, “You’re a Digi Destined. That’s really cool and remarkable!” She began to poke around the portal program.

“They don’t know about that,” He reminded her, “I don’t think I’ll ever tell them. Even with Minomon here… even if they believed me…” It just didn’t seem worth the trouble.

“I mean, I kind of get it.” Yolei nodded, “Still… well, I think you’re pretty cool. I guess what your family thinks of you doesn’t matter, as long as you’ve got other people who like you.”

He fell quiet, eyes watching he and the computer, but his thoughts on her words. It was… wonderful, now, to have friends, and he knew they thought fairly well of him, at least. Even the older Digi Destined didn’t seem to dislike him. Still, he’d spent so much time… before, he’d had Sam, at least. He’d felt loved, with Sam, he’d be so sure that Sam had been happy to be with him. But then suddenly he didn’t have Sam and… Ken thinks the past couple years, since that day, had been the worst time of his life.

He wasn’t sure that how his family felt about him didn’t matter. At least, not when for so long, they’d been the only people he really had. His friendship with Ryo was small, and once it had grown it was brief. Outside of that, he never really had anyone else to care about him, until now.

After poking around for a couple minutes, Yolei hummed, a note that more denoted curiosity than just interest, “There’s… something a bit different about your portal.”

“Oh,” He startled out of his thoughts, “How so?”

She clicked and typed a few times, her brow furrowing in thought, “I… can’t quite tell.”

It was a surprise that there was anything different, it was just a portal… then again… “Veemon sent it to me.”

Turning to look at him, she asked, “He did?”

“Um, he sent it to me. To come back and help with the whole… Digimon Emperor thing.” Ken tried to explain, “He sent me an email and it had the portal program attached.”

“You… had gone to the Digital World before?”

Right. Ken… hasn’t really mentioned that. TK seemed to at least suspect it, but it never felt like there was a good time to explain his first time in the Digital World. He winced a little, and answered, “Once, a couple years ago. It… never really came up, before.”

Yolei smiled, “You’ll have to tell me about it. Kari, TK, and some of the older Digi Destined have told us a bit about their adventures but… it would be cool to hear about your’s too.”

Ken doesn’t want to admit how little of his adventure he could remember. That would raise questions he still hadn’t figured out the answers to. But he wouldn’t burden her with that, right now. “Sometime, sure. I don’t think most of it was all that interesting, though.”

“Now… what we need to figure out, is what makes your portal different from ours,” She turned her attention back to the computer screen, typing away again.

Whatever Yolei was doing, Ken couldn’t make too much sense of it. Some of it, he could follow, but it was obvious Yolei had a much better understanding of computers and computer programming than Ken did. Despite that, he found himself watching her work, the way she concentrated and dug through the program so thoroughly.

“Ken!” Looking down at the floor, Minomon called for Ken’s attention, Poromon with him. “Ken, we’re hungry.”

“You ate all the snacks already?”

Poromon nodded, “They were really good and we were really hungry.”

With a small laugh, Ken scoops the two up, “Alright, let’s see what we can find for you.”

---

“Alright, we’re going to start the day with a quick jog,” Sistermon Noir explained, “Just around this lake a couple times.”

It was a small lake, the task didn’t daunt Hackmon in the slightest. But Sunmon… he squinted at the lake, then blinked.

“Um, I don’t have legs.” He said.

Sistermon Noir glanced at Sistermon Blanc, who hummed in thought. After a moment, Sistermon Blanc replied, “How about you do a few laps around this large rock?” She gestured to a sizeable rock. Hackmon could run around it in a minute or two at most, but Sunmon… would probably take a fair amount longer.

Staring at the rock, Sunmon nodded – well, shook his whole body in a way that might be interpreted as a nod, “Yeah! I can do that!”

Hackmon still doubted that Sunmon would last through the day of training. For all his excitement, even Lunamon hadn’t dared to try it. She’d just waited out Digivolving from Moonmon to Lunamon, doing her own training. Sunmon, who wasn’t nearly as impatient and ambitious as Lunamon, would probably pass out an hour or two in. And then he’d learn that it was too much for him and Hackmon could go back to not having him around when he was training.

He was going to become a Royal Knight, one day, and that meant that he had to work and train hard. So then he could be ready, when he finally Digivolved. The training was important for him. For Sunmon…

The twins, Sunmon and Lunamon that is, always spoke about their… dream friend. Hackmon didn’t get it, but that seemed to be why they were so determined to Digivolve to Rookie, and why Lunamon immediately left when she did. Hackmon just wished that she didn’t go to one of the humans that was terrorizing the Digital World. What she hoped to gain from that, he didn’t know.

But it was what drove them, and Hackmon supposed they weren’t so different from him, in that regard. They all had reasons they had to work hard and get stronger, for the day they will one day Digivolve. The twins had some goal they pursued, and Hackmon had his.

---

Once Minomon and Poromon had been gotten some new food, they happily bounced back to Ken’s room. Yolei was still working on his computer, clearly engrossed in digging through the portal program. This wasn’t exactly what he’d been expecting when she’d asked to hang out, but he couldn’t say he minded. It was unique, and he doubts many other of the Digi Destined would end up doing this.

While she worked, he watched Minomon and Poromon, until Yolei finally leaned back and groaned, “Ugh, there’s something so… weird about it.”

“Weird?” He asked, looking over at her.

“It’s… I don’t know. I think Izzy might have better luck.” She sent a small glare at the computer.

Despite her not getting the solution she wanted out of it, Ken didn’t mind the time being spent. It was still time spent together, and the casualness of it all made Ken feel wonderfully normal. Here they were, two friends, doing things in the same room together. Like normal friends. At least, like Ken was pretty sure normal friends did.

“It’s not like it’ll suddenly go away,” He said, “And whatever’s up about it probably won’t change, either.”

“I guess,” She huffed, then, with one last glare at the computer, stood up. Ken turned the computer off, since he doubted they’d need it from here. “Ah, I hope Poromon isn’t contributing too much to eating all your food.”

He laughed a bit, “It shouldn’t be too bad, though I guess we shouldn’t underestimate how much they can eat.”

She laughed too, Ken decided he liked it. It let him know he was doing good, that he wasn’t being an awful friend or failing horribly at hanging out. She could probably figure out, by now, he didn’t really know what he was doing, but the fact that none of this felt too awkward was reassuring. Hopefully he could keep this up with the others, too.

Ken moved to clean up after the Digimon, though he paused when he heard the front door open. It was too early for their parents to be back from work, so then… Sam was home early.

Confirming his thought, Sam called, “I’m home!” obviously expecting Ken to be home. Since Ken never usually responded, any silence wouldn’t be considered unusual.

Before he can shut the door to his room fully, Yolei asked, “Is that your brother?”

He hears Sam’s steps stop abruptly, “Ken?” He called, concern in his voice.

“A friend’s helping me with my computer,” Ken quickly called back, hoping, though he knew it was pointless, that Sam would just leave it at that.

Of course, there was no world where Sam would leave it at that. His footsteps begin again, coming to Ken’s door, “A friend?” He peered past Ken, eyes landing on Yolei, “A girl?”

“I have friends,” Ken insisted, “And some of them are girls.”

The expression on Sam’s face told Ken that he wanted to question that statement. He stayed silent in that regard, despite the obvious disbelief on his face. Ken was thankful for it, just because the last thing he wanted was his brother questioning the fact he had friends in front of one of said friends. It wouldn’t even be so much embarrassing as it would be incredibly frustrating and annoying.

Yolei waved, giving Sam a smile, “Hi, I’m Yolei Inoue.”

Sam blinked, then politely replied, “Sam Ichijouji, I’m Ken’s older brother,” He studied her, for a moment, before adding, “I’m glad Ken’s finally had a friend come over, even if it’s to help with the computer. Especially with how busy I am…” He shook his head, “I’ll leave you be.”

He walked away, and Ken closed the door as he did. Yolei looked over at him, “Your brother seems… nice enough.”

“He has to do interviews all the time,” Ken reminded, “He’s good at only saying the polite and expected the thing.”

“Well, that’s one way to look at it,” Yolei replied. She glanced at the time, “Hmm… I guess I should probably head home soon.”

That was understandable, it wasn’t like she lived near by. She had a train ride ahead of her, plus the walk to and from the train stations. “I’ll walk with you back to the train station.” He picked up Minomon.

“That’s nice of you,” Yolei smiled, picking up Poromon, “I hope we can spend time together in the real world again.”

“I hope so too.”

---

Sunmon napped peacefully in the firepit, which currently lacked fire but was always Sunmon’s favorite spot regardless. He liked fire, which made sense given he was part fire. Just as Hackmon had expected, he’d barely made it an hour into training. The laps around the rock that the Sistermons had him doing had nearly exhausted him. He’d made it only a short way up the mountain they were hiking up before he’d got tired and rolled back down.

Hackmon had just finished his own training, meaning Sunmon had probably been napping for a few hours. If Hackmon were a more sentimental or cuteness liking Digimon, he’d probably coo at Sunmon like Sistermon Blanc was prone to doing. He wasn’t, though, so he just rolled his eyes. At least with Sunmon asleep, he didn’t have to worry about finding any stowaways in his cloak.

“Isn’t he so cute, Hackmon?” Sistermon Blanc cooed, gesturing to Sunmon.

Unable to help himself, Hackmon made a face, “Ew, who cares if he’s cute? He couldn’t even make it up the mountain!”

“He’s still pretty young, we probably should have saw that coming…” She noted, a bit sheepish.

Jumping up from behind Sistermon Blanc, Sistermon Noir said, “We’ll just have to come up with a training plan that’s suited to him. I’m thinking we start training him on water endurance.”

“Maybe after he’s Digivolved…”

Hackmon slipped past the pair, “He’ll just go off with Lunamon, once he’s Digivolved,” He grumbled. Not that Hackmon would be upset to be free of Sunmon. Sunmon was noisy and annoying, and while it was more peaceful with Lunamon gone, Hackmon wished he could be counting the days until he was finally free of- of children.

Never mind that Hackmon himself was still pretty young, he was older than Sunmon and Lunamon by a fair margin. Which was why they insisted on calling him their big brother, even though he wasn’t. He wished they stop that, too, but they always refused. As if he’d want to be the big brother of two nuisances.

And, once they were gone, it meant he wouldn’t have “helping these twins get to the point of Digivolving” as a part of his training.

Sistermon Blanc and Sistermon Noir had walked off, still discussing possible training plans for Sunmon. Hackmon looked back over at the firepit, Sunmon still snoozing away. The wind kicks up, and Sunmon shivers, just a little, his flame flickering from the intensity of the breeze.

Silently, Hackmon walked back over to the firepit, regarding Sunmon for a moment. Then, with a heavy sigh, he scooped up Sunmon and walked over to a nice spot under a tree. Hackmon curled up, making sure his cloak draped over Sunmon.

Maybe he’d take a quick nap, too.

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 11)

Chapter 11: Quills of Friendship, Togemogumon!

The Digi Destined come across another Digi Egg, this one with the Crest of Friendship on it, only… no one can pick it up. The arrival of Motomiya and Ohwada doesn't make things any easier.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/175331106

Ken doesn’t know how long they’ve been on the rails for. Certainly more today than he ever wanted to be again. But they were chasing Motomiya, Lui, and MetalGreymon, again, and they had to find Agumon… not that Ken liked fighting MetalGreymon, he was just too worried about harming Agumon.

It was shaping up to be a long day and Ken would look forward to going home. Though he’d prefer it if they could have finally rescued Agumon, by then. Given how these last two attempts have gone, though, Ken was starting to think that wasn’t going to happen, not today at least.

They still tried to find MetalGreymon anyway. The others chattered, here and there, but Ken kept to himself, watching the Digital World speed by. Maybe it was the exhaustion getting to him, but he was finding it difficult to find the energy to really… care. It’s not that he wanted to leave Agumon in Motomiya and Ohwada’s hands, but it just seemed more and more likely they wouldn’t be able to get him out.

The odds were, Veemon and Lunamon weren’t going to be able to intervene like they had again, which meant it was all on them to figure out how to free Agumon. And what could they do? If they could break the Dark Spiral, he’d be freed, but that had proven far from easy. Plus, there was nothing stopping Motomiya from putting another on him.

In a matter of hours, Motomiya had taken over more of the Digital World than he had in the several months he was active before Veemon had emailed Ken. They still had school, their lives, they couldn’t abandon that just to fight a fruitless battle. Maybe this was a losing war they were fighting. Maybe they were just delaying the inevitable. Whatever Motomiya would do when he had complete control of the Digital World.

Wormmon lifted his head up, looking at Ken. Softly, he asked, “Something’s bothering you, isn’t it?”

Sam used to call Ken gentle all the time, and at the time, Ken had taken pride in it. Now… now the gentle one was Wormmon, he thinks. Always so aware of Ken and his feelings, always worrying… If someone loved Ken, it was surely Wormmon.

Ken didn’t deserve such a wonderful partner, but he sure wouldn’t let go now that he had him.

“Lots of things are,” He admitted, “but nothing important.” He didn’t want to worry Wormmon more than necessary. Not with everything going on today.

Despite the reassurance, Wormmon’s antenna drooped, “If you say so…” He pressed himself against Ken’s chest, “But I’m always here for you. You can tell me anything.”

Looking away, Ken took a deep breath, then replied, “I know.” And he did, he really did. Now just… wasn’t the time.

“Hey! Our D3s are picking up a signal!” Yolei said, looking at her D3.

The others pulled out their D3s to confirm. Sure enough, there was a signal coming up. Given there was only one, it seemed unlikely to be Motomiya and Ohwada. That left either another Digi Destined or… a Digi Egg? It stood to reason there were still a few more out there, but they hadn’t found any for so long, it had sort of slipped their minds.

“We should check it out,” Tai said, already helping Matt and Gabumon lower the sail, their speed slowing down.

They were able to get the cart to a stop around where the signal seemed to be. They were still in a mostly rocky area, so it seemed likely they’d notice another person, if it were a Digi Destined. It didn’t take long for them to find a shallow cave, within which was a Digi Egg.

It was blue and yellow, a horn sticking out of this one too, like the Digi Egg of Courage. “It’s the Crest of Friendship,” Matt said, examining the Digi Egg.

“You want to try picking it up?” TK suggested, “It’s not like we have any idea who it could belong to.” The five of them with D3s already had Digi Eggs, so either there was someone else out there with a D3 the Digi Egg would choose, or one of them was getting a second Digi Egg. Though it could be one of the other kids, who were already Digi Destined, could gain a D3, as Ken, Kari, and TK had.

With a shrug, Matt reached down and grabbed the Digi Egg, pulling on it to little avail. Next thing Ken knows, everyone is taking turns trying. It makes sense, in some regard, the Digi Eggs are powerful and useful tools. Having another on their side would be good. But no one was having much luck.

“Okay, Ken,” Yolei turned to him, “You try?”

“Me?” He blinked, realizing that everyone else had made an attempt to pick up the Digi Egg. Which left him. “I… don’t think there’s much point in trying. I’m not… you’re all probably a whole lot better at friendship than I am, and if none of you can pick it up…”

It was like those words were a challenge to Yolei, except instead of encouraging her or anyone else to try again or something, she took it to mean she should try even harder to get Ken to try. “Come on! You’re a way better friend than you think!”

“I really doubt that-“

“Just give it a shot!” She grabbed his arm, turned him towards the Digi Egg, then gave him a forceful shove. He stumbled a little, but managed to regain his footing.

He stared at the Digi Egg of Friendship, breath caught in his throat. The Digi Egg didn’t really stare back, as it lacked eyes, but it certainly felt like it was. Finally managing to let out a sigh, he shifted Wormmon to one arm and resignedly approached the Digi Egg. It would be better to just appease Yolei and the others and get it over with.

He reached down, hand gently grasping the Digi Egg, and for a moment, anticipation shot through his chest. Then he pulled and it felt like pulling on a door that was welded shut, the Digi Egg firmly planted on the ground. For some reason, as he stood back up and shrugged halfheartedly, he felt… disappointed.

Curious, Cody noted, “So none of us can pick it up.”

“Then do we just leave it here?” Yolei wondered.

“Then we’d have to worry about Motomiya or Ohwada picking it up,” TK said, “Though whether it would let them…”

Frowning, Tai wondered, “Could either of them even use it?”

“Davis does have a D3,” Kari reminded, “But we’ve never seen his partner…”

Wormmon spares a moment to glance through everyone, then said, “Veemon can Armor Digivolve.”

“What?” Ken asked, holding Wormmon out so he could more easily look at him, “When did you learn that?”

He doesn’t like the way that Wormmon looks at him, after that question. Concerned, confused… Wormmon tilted his head, before slowly asking, “Don’t you remember, Ken?”

Searching his memory, Ken tried to think of anything that could be related to what Wormmon was talking about. Had it been something Veemon had mentioned at some point? Or Gennai, maybe? He thinks there might have been something unique about Veemon, why Veemon had ended up with Ryo, but he couldn’t remember if he ever knew what.

The fact that he couldn’t think of what Wormmon was referring to made Ken’s breath quicken. “No,” He said, his voicing sounding distant to his own ears.

“Oh,” Wormmon frowned. Ken didn’t like how he said that. Something was wrong, this is something he should remember, that had to be it. So why couldn’t he? The fact that Veemon could Armor Digivolve seemed like something he should remember, especially as he probably would have learned before he’d gotten the Digi Egg of Courage. Veemon hadn’t mentioned anything about it, then, that Ken was sure of. So when?

“Ken,” It’s Tai who said that, having crossed the distance to him, setting a hand on his shoulder. Ken felt himself sway a little, feeling a tad lightheaded. “Just take deep breaths, it’s fine.”

He does his best to do as Tai asked, finally prying his gaze off of Wormmon, holding him back to his chest. Maybe Wormmon was mistaken. Maybe Ken never knew this at all.

“Veemon was the Digimon who brought you to the Digital World, wasn’t he?” TK asked, “You and Minomon mentioned him yesterday… what does he have to do with Motomiya?”

Ken’s through felt dry again as his mind raced to find a way to explain to the others that he was friends with Motomiya’s partner. With the Digimon Emperor’s partner. That it was Veemon who had ruined Motomiya’s trick the day before, that he was one of the ones who had freed Agumon earlier.

It was Wormmon who answered before him, “Veemon is a friend of ours, but… he found his partner, and his partner is Motomiya.” Then, he added, “He brought Ken back here and brought us to the Digi Egg of Courage, then he helped us yesterday, and he was one of the Digimon who freed Agumon today. He’s a good Digimon, please believe that.”

Nodding, Ken added, “I think the only reason he’s still with Motomiya is because he’s his partner. He doesn’t seem to like a lot of what Motomiya’s been doing.”

Kari’s gaze goes back to the Digi Egg of Friendship, “So… it’s possible he could use the Digi Egg, if he could manage to pick it up.”

In reply, Wormmon nodded. That if was a very big one, though, as the Digi Egg seemed to be… picky. Though they didn’t know a lot about the Digi Eggs, so maybe any given person could only have one and Tai and Matt just… weren’t chosen to get D3s, but Ken, Kari, and TK had been? It was hard to say.

“That still doesn’t answer what we do now,” Cody reminded, “And we still have Agumon to go save.”

No one mentioned how difficult it was likely saving Agumon would turn out to be. Ken’s pretty sure they all knew it, including Cody, it was just that no one wanted to say it.

They file out of the small cave, giving themselves time to think. There weren’t a lot of options, but they still had to decide what they wanted to do. Ken isn’t sure what to think about, but something about Wormmon’s earlier comments still stayed with him, hovering over his thoughts.

Don’t you remember, Ken?

He didn’t. Nor did he remember ever knowing that Veemon wasn’t Ryo’s partner. Were there other things he should remember, but don’t? He finds himself sifting through everything he could think of. Of his first time seeing Digimon, of coming to the Digital World for the first time, his adventure here…

He found himself struggling to pin down many specifics of his adventure. Veemon had been with Ryo, and Ken had found himself on his own, that was when he met Wormmon. And then… He traveled through the Digital World, alongside Wormmon. But the specifics seemed to elude him. They fought Digimon, sure, made it so he could meet up with Ryo again and they could face Milleniumon… but that’s all he can really place.

How hadn’t he noticed sooner? And why? How could he forget so much? Even things that Wormmon seemed so sure he should remember…

The hazy memories continue through the time he spent sick, but that makes sense, because he was feverish that whole time. And after that… he remembered coming back to the real world, his fight with Sam, so it seemed his memories were intact after that point. That meant the only thing he struggled to remember was… his time first spent in the Digital World.

It didn’t make sense, though, he… he hadn’t thought there was anything too scary or traumatic. Then again, he couldn’t exactly remember, either. Still, there had to be some reason he couldn’t remember, he just didn’t know what.

He shook his head, trying to dig himself out of his musings. He wasn’t going to have much luck finding an answer on his own, not with how much he just couldn’t remember. The answer could very well be among that. Instead, Ken tries to listen in on what everyone else was talking about.

“We do still have to find Agumon,” TK reminded, though it was more contemplative than much else.

“Leaving the Digi Egg here on its own could be bad news, though,” Cody mused.

Yolei sighed, defeated, “We’re not any closer to a solution than we were before.”

The familiar sound of wing beats killed what little conversation was left. All heads turned towards the sky and the approaching Airdramon. Again? They hadn’t even done anything to warrant Motomiya and Ohwada’s attention, unless they somehow knew there was a Digi Egg here…

Now, Yolei groaned, “Seriously? Three times in one day?”

Leaning over Airdramon’s head, Motomiya answered, “You just can’t stay out of trouble.”

“Trying to fight him again probably won’t go well,” Gatomon said, “Especially if he brings out MetalGreymon again.”

“I’m not cruel,” Motomiya scoffed, “I’ve got a better idea. Flymon!”

A bright yellow and black Digimon swoops down towards them. Everyone ducks, and once Flymon has passed overhead, they stand again, trying to figure out what it’s goal even had been.

“TK!” Patamon cried, held tightly in Flymon’s arm.

TK lurched forward, “Patamon!”

Motomiya studied Patamon, who struggled in Flymon’s grasp, to little avail. “He is a little… cute, I guess.”

“He’s caused you more problems than anything else,” Ohwada reminded.

“I know, I know!” Motomiya huffed, “Anyway, the plan.”

Unimpressed, Yolei called, “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share your plan? You know, all evil monologue-y or something?”

Looking too proud of himself, Motomiya answered, “Actually, I was going to do that anyway.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a Dark Spiral, “Here’s the deal, I’m going to put this Dark Spiral on him, and you’re going to watch.”

TK stiffened at the sight. Quickly, Kari said in a hushed voice, “We need to do something.”

“MetalGreymon isn’t here,” Hawkmon noted, “We could probably take out Flymon.”

“Even after being thrown around so much earlier?” Ken asked. He didn’t like the idea of watching Wormmon be knocked down again. That was too painful to even think about.

“We’ve got to try,” Gatomon insisted, “Or else we’ll have another one of us under his control to worry about.”

Having seen just a bit of Angemon’s power, Ken would admit he didn’t like that thought either. And if Motomiya could get Patamon to Digivolve past Champion… MetalGreymon was bad enough. But still, it felt like it would be pushing their limits.

Kari got out her D-Terminal, joined by Yolei and Cody. “Digi Armor energize!”

“Gatomon Armor Digivolve to… Nefertimon! The Angel of Light!”

“Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to…Flybeemon! The Needles of Knowledge!”

“Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to… Pteranomon! The Wings of Love!”

The three Digimon took off, flying towards Flymon. Airdramon moved away from Flymon, seeming intent on keeping Motomiya and Ohwada away from the fight. Motomiya watched, smug, while Ohwada seemed to survey the Digi Destined. His gaze lands on Ken, and Ken can’t help but tense, holding Wormmon even tighter.

“Ken, why isn’t Wormmon Digivolving?” Yolei asked, looking over at him. Ken took his eyes off of Ohwada.

He glanced down at Wormmon, who whispered, “Ken…”

There was still the option to change his mind. To take out his D-Terminal and let Wormmon Digivolve. Let him join in the fight against Flymon. But Ken couldn’t bring himself to, not after everything else today. “I can’t,” He finally said, holding back a shiver, suddenly cold. His neck ached again, he thinks it’s just from looking around so much earlier.

“Why not?” Matt demanded, annoyance clear in his voice, “Patamon’s in trouble and you’re not doing anything!” Ken flinched as Matt marched over to him.

It was always hard to express these things, the horrible feelings that swirled through him. It’s… selfish, he knows, and he knows no one will like to hear it when he says it out loud. He knows they want him to send Wormmon to fight, like always, on the chance it can free Patamon from Flymon’s grasp. Yet can’t bring himself to do it.

“I… I can’t keep watching him get hurt.” Every hurried check to make sure that he wasn’t badly injured, every time seeing Wormmon be knocked to the ground. He doesn’t remember it being this bad before. Then again, it turns out he doesn’t really remember before.

“So you’ll let Patamon get hurt instead?” Matt grabbed Ken’s jacket and roughly pulled him closer.

There isn’t really anything Ken can say to that. His head just pounds as he tries to make sense of things. He knows he should probably care more about Patamon being in danger, he knows it makes him awful that he’s so apathetic about it, that he’d prioritize his partner over someone else’s. But TK would still have Matt and Kari, and all the others. If Ken lost Wormmon…

Again, Wormmon called out, his voice still soft, gentle, “Ken… I’ll be okay.”

“You don’t know that.”

“We’ve faced scarier things than this, together.” Wormmon wiggled from Ken’s grasp, climbing up to rest his head on Ken’s shoulder. It’s like a hug, Ken thinks, and it warms him, but he still can’t bring himself to let go of Wormmon.

Matt’s grip lessened, though his expression didn’t change. It’s Kari, then, who called out, “You can’t make decisions like this on your own. Wormmon has feelings about it too.”

“I can’t lose Wormmon,” Ken said, falling to his knees. It isn’t that he thinks that TK could stand to lose Patamon, it isn’t that he thinks anyone of them could, but… “I can’t be alone again.”

Silently, TK walked over to him. The noise of the fight seemed to disappear as he crouched down beside Ken. Ken hugged Wormmon tighter, as TK set a hand gently on his shoulder, “You’re not alone,” He said, “It doesn’t matter what things were like before, or what they’re like in the real world… you have us. And we won’t let you be alone.”

Ken stiffened, suddenly feeling familiarity. From the back of his mind, he remembered… something like this. A conversation not too dissimilar he’d had before, at a very different time.

“You won’t stop visiting me after this, will you?”

“Of course not. I’ve always been happy to come visit you, haven’t I?”

“Well, sure, but… you’ll be a hero a second time. I think you’ll be even more too cool to come see boring me.”

“You’ll be a hero too, Ken, once we put a stop to Milleniumon. Really, you already are one, just by making it this far and helping me get to this point.”

“It’s just… really lonely, sometimes. Mom and dad are always busy, and Sam is super busy too… I guess I just… realized I’ll be lonely when I go home.”

“Don’t worry, Ken. I’ll always come to see you, and if you ever need help you can ask me. That’s what friends are for, so you’ll never be alone.”

It was a memory, a moment he can suddenly see so clearly. A conversation he and Ryo had when they had reunited, before going to fight Milleniumon. At the time, Ryo’s words had filled him with such confidence and excitement. The idea that soon he’d be a hero – everyone loved heroes – and that Ryo would always be his friend. A reassurance – no, a promise – that he’d never be alone.

His arms fell to his side, freeing Wormmon from his grasp. And Ken looked up, staring at TK. Despite everything… TK didn’t look angry – concerned, yes, but not angry. He didn’t look disappointed, either. Even with Patamon in danger, even with Ken refusing to help. And Ken felt something growing in his chest, not fear, not anxiety, not anything like before. Instead, it was… warm and exciting.

Ken knew, more than he ever had before, that he truly wasn’t alone. He hadn’t let himself see it, before, had been too scared to admit it and get his hopes up, to risk being left behind again. First it was Ryo, then it was Sam, and he was afraid it would happen again. But this new feeling felt too true to be overtaken by the fear.

As foreign of a thought as it was, Ken had friends. More than just one or two, at that. More than he’d ever had before. And….

Ken would do anything for Wormmon, he’d known that for a while. But when he looks past the fear, lets the courage in his heart burn and guide him, he realizes Wormmon isn’t the only person he felt so strongly about. The idea of putting Wormmon, or anyone else, in danger to try to help another felt wrong, but… how else could they free Digimon, but putting their partners in danger? Or putting those Digimon that had to be freed in danger?

A few small injuries were nothing in compared to slavery to Motomiya and Ohwada, or being forced to Digivolve like Agumon had been. To save their friends, they had to take risks. To save his friends, Ken had to be willing to take risks. To let Wormmon take risks.

Hurriedly, Ken reached into his pocket, awkwardly pushing himself back into a standing position. Wormmon hurried out of his lap, staring up at him. D-Terminal in hand, Ken took just a moment to look around. Everyone’s eyes were on him, but that wasn’t a bad thing. “I’m sorry, for all of this,” he said. Then he looked down to Wormmon, “Ready, Wormmon?”

With a glimmer in his eyes, Wormmon nodded, “I’m always ready when you’re with me, Ken.”

A light bursts from the cave, flying to Ken. It reminded him of when he’d picked up the Digi Egg of Courage and his Digivice had changed. Except this time, it wasn’t his Digivice, the light was the Digi Egg of Friendship. It had chosen him.

He doesn’t pay the others much mind, raising the Digi Egg with newfound "determination. They were going to rescue Patamon, and after that, they would rescue Agumon too. “Digi Armor energize!”

“Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Togemogumon! The Quills of Friendship!” Togemogumon resembled and dark blue and white hedgehog, the Crest of Friendship on his arms.

Togemogumon turned his attention towards Flymon, bracing himself, “Hail Machine Gun!” The spikes on his back burst out, flying at Flymon. With so many, Flymon wasn’t able to dodge, one of the ice spikes piercing the Dark Ring and shattering it. Now freed from control, Flymon lets go of Patamon, who glides down to TK.

“What!” Motomiya yelped, “He- He has a second Digi Egg? No fair!”

“You should have just put the Dark Spiral on him instead of drawing it out!” Ohwada replied, then shook his head, “Let’s just sic MetalGreymon on them. I doubt they’ll be able to stop an Ultimate level Digimon, even with this new Digi Egg.”

Motomiya crossed his arms, “C’mon, it’ll take more than just a… weird… whatever that is to stop us!” He nodded, seemingly to himself, then gestured at Togemogumon, “MetalGreymon!”

From the horizon, four Airdramon appear, carrying MetalGreymon. They drop him some distance away, but he rushed towards them, each stomping step taking him closer and closer to them.

Ken glanced back at the others, “Do we try to fight him again?”

They share a glance, before Kari and TK nod at each other, “We have to try.” TK said, Patamon heaving his wings to take himself into the air. “Digi Armor energize!”

“Patamon Armor Digivolve to… Pegasusmon! Flying Hope!”

There were all five of them again, ready to fight against MetalGreymon. Last time it hadn’t gone well, but this time… well, they had Togemogumon on their side. Somehow, Ken felt more optimistic about it all. This idea that he had people who would be with him, that he wasn’t some outsider in this group… it had Ken feeling more confident than he had in a long time.

MetalGreymon fires his missiles from his chest at them. Togemogumon jumps in the way, the crystals from his back launching out in an array, forming something of a shield. “Crystal Guard!” MetalGreymon’s missiles crash into the crystals, negating any damage the attack might have done.

Nefertimon and Pegasusmon fly up on each side of MetalGreymon. “Golden Noose!” They bind MetalGreymon, limiting his movement. With that opening, FlyBeemon and Pternomon swoop in, FlyBeemon shooting his stinger and Pternomon firing missiles from his back. MetalGreymon recoiled, though was still somewhat held in place by Nefertimon and Pegasusmon.

Togemogumon rushed towards MetalGreymon, “Hail Machine Gun!” Again, he launched the crystal quills from his back, this time, though they were all focused at the Dark Spiral on MetalGreymon’s arm. With enough of them hitting, the Dark Spiral broke, splitting into two and falling from MetalGreymon’s arms. The moment it snapped, MetalGreymon glowed, shrinking back down to Agumon, who collapsed where he stood.

“What!” Motomiya yelped, “Come on! This is not-“

Ohwada cut him off, “We can come up with a new plan. There isn’t much else for us to do here.”

In response, Motomiya pouted, “Ugh, fine. I’ll just come up with a better plan for next time.” Airdramon took off, speeding away from them. They could try to chase after them, but it had been a long day.

Tai rushed to Agumon, checking him over. It was a heartwarming sight. For once, Ken was quite happy to have been proven wrong. They saved not only Patamon, but Agumon too.

“Guess you came around, “ Matt said, the statement clearly directed at Ken, though Matt’s gaze was one Tai and Agumon.

“I guess I just never realized that anyone here might actually…” It’s then that Ken realized how absolutely pathetic this train of thought was, no matter how true it might be. He debates, for a moment, if he’d really admit to this. Then, decides that he wants to be more open with the Digi Destined, try to get to know them better and let them know him better. Which unfortunately means letting them have some idea of what his life outside of the Digital World might be like, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. “…care about me.”

Matt takes his gaze off Tai and Agumon long enough to shoot him a look, one that Ken isn’t quite sure what to make of. Skeptical, maybe? What Ken had said was absurd, so that could definitely be it. Or maybe it was just something else Ken was bad at figuring out. That was always an option.

The other Digi Destined approached him. Yolei speaks first, smiling, “You know, Ken, Togemogumon was pretty cool.”

“I don’t deserve any of the credit, Wormmon was the one who Digivolved,” Ken reminded, a small smile on his face. Yolei was always so friendly with him, he doesn’t think he’d ever truly appreciated it until now.

“But, it is thanks to you and Wormmon that we were finally able to rescue Agumon and that Patamon wasn’t captured.” Kari said, smiling. He didn’t think she’d liked him much, at first. Understandably, she was wary of trusting him. He doesn’t know how he ever gained it, but he was glad he had now.

Quietly, Cody observed, “Things obviously aren’t… easy for you, in the real world, but… you always seem to be able to push past it here.” Cody was quiet, at times, the youngest of them, but he was observant. Far better at understanding people than Ken was, certainly. In a way, he kind of envied that, but it was also nice to have someone who could see things so easily.

Even if Ken wished he hadn’t picked up on the obvious fact of what his life might be like in the real world.

Lastly, TK looked at him with a warm expression. “Thank you, for letting us in.” TK was the one who was always trying to reach out to him, for reasons Ken had never understood. TK was the one who helped him realize that he had friends, now.

Shaking his head, Ken replied, “I should be thanking all of you. For having more faith in me than I had in myself.”

Holding an unconscious Agumon in his arms, Tai rejoined the group. “I think you’ve grown, the Ken I met when Kari and TK found their Digi Eggs wouldn’t have been willing to believe TK, I think. Or any of us.”

As much as Ken hated to admit it, Tai was probably right. He doesn’t know when any of them had wormed their way in, just that they had and now he could doubt them. They were his friends, and they seemed more than willing to put up with stumbles as he figured out how to be a friend to them.

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 10)

Chapter 10: The Captive Digimon

The Digi Destined make a plan to rescue Agumon.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/174995741

Davis kept Agumon in a containment room – they had a few of those, but most went unused. He and Lui always said was easier to keep the Digimon that were under their control in plain cages, as most of them weren’t that strong. On his own, Agumon wasn’t either, but when he Digivolved…

Holding out his Digivice, Davis tried to force Agumon to Digivolve into MetalGreymon again. And again, instead of becoming MetalGreymon, Agumon Digivolved into SkullGreymon, damaging another part of the ceiling. Of course, even with a hole in it, SkullGreymon couldn’t escape, Davis had made sure of it.

So instead, this cycle just went on and on. Veemon wanted to tell Davis to knock it off, but he knew it wouldn’t matter. Davis wouldn’t listen. He didn’t listen much, nowadays. Unless it was to Lui, or those emails he got.

Never mind that they all knew the Dark Rings weren’t even that good at controlling Digimon that had Digivolved past Champion. But Davis wanted MetalGreymon and clearly he’d made up his mind about it.

“Give it a rest,” Lui said, “It’s not like the Dark Rings really work on stronger Digimon anyway. Even if you got him to become MetalGreymon, he probably wouldn’t listen to you.”

At first, Davis grumbled, but put his Digivice away. Then, as he began to turn away, he seemed to have an idea, “That’s it! I’ll just make a better Dark Ring!” He hurried off, clearly ready to start on that new project. Lui followed behind, though not as enthusiastically.

Veemon knew, though, that Davis wasn’t good at any of that. It was those emails that he got a lot of the information from. The ideas, how to make them, step by step… If it weren’t for those emails, the Digimon Emperor would be nothing.

“Imagine, forcing a Digimon to Digivolve…” Lunamon grumbled, her arms crossed.

Lunamon never had a Dark Ring, so Veemon doesn’t know why she sticks around, when she seems to dislike it all so much. “You could leave,” He reminded.

She scoffed, “Nah,”

“If you don’t like it so much, why do you stay here?” Lui had tried very hard to get her to leave, but she always stubbornly refused.

With a smile, Lunamon answered, “It’s my duty.” Then she looked at Veemon, some glint in her eye and asked, “Why are you still here?”

“Great question,” Veemon grumbled. “But he is my partner.”

“So?” Lunamon shrugged, “Partners aren’t an end all be all.” She peered through the window, down at Agumon.

Frowning, Veemon looked too. He hated seeing a Digimon like this, in pain, abused by his own partner. Those were the worst ones. At least with Lui, he wasn’t his partner. But Davis was, and Veemon had to live with that fact he hurt so many Digimon and there wasn’t much Veemon could do about it. He can’t Digivolve on his own, he couldn’t stop Davis or Lui.

Solemny, he said, “You should be helping them at all.”

“Neither should you,” Lunamon countered, “But we both know it’s not about what they’re doing. We’re still here because they are. Because you won’t leave your partner and I won’t leave Lui.”

In response, Veemon could only sigh. Davis had changed, when he’d come back to the Digital World. Changed in some way Veemon couldn’t understand and Davis wouldn’t tell him. The Davis Veemon had first met, breaking up the solitude he’d been in since Ryo left, was an adventurous boy. He saw no fear in the Digital World, in the Digimon in it, even when he probably should have. They’d explore the world in wonder, the most amazing day of Davis’ life, at the time. And it had been such a good one for Veemon.

And then time passed and Davis hadn’t come back. Couldn’t, Veemon figured, much the same as how Ken couldn’t. Because the Digital World was closed off to the real one, and even Digi Destined couldn’t bypass that.

Then the day came that Davis had, except it was different, then. Angrier, in some ways, yet somehow quieter in others, his Digivice now different, its color all gone. Veemon had greeted him happily, and that was when Davis presented his plan. Rule the Digital World, the ultimate game. It was only later that Veemon realized that the plan, the idea of the Digimon Emperor, the Dark Rings, the Dark Spires… it all came from someone other than Davis.

Now here they were, Davis controlling most of the Digital World, Lui aiding him, and Veemon… well, he wasn’t doing much to stop it. Did that make him a good partner? Was it good to just let your partner do whatever they want? Or would it be better to try to stop him? How would Veemon even do that, anyway?

Lunamon glanced at him, a sly expression coming to her face, “Hey… how about we bust Agumon out of here?”

“What?” Veemon looked over at her, surprised, “That’s… we could do that.” Veemon knew all about the security here, as Davis’ partner. Thus, he could easily get past it. He hated seeing Agumon like this.

With an excited hop, Lunamon said, “Then let’s do it!”

---

Tai and Matt were bickering. This was the first time that Ken had seen the two together, but he hadn’t expected it to be like this. Or rather, this is the first time he’s seen them together in person, he had briefly seen the two technically together when he’d seen Omnimon fight Diaboromon. But the two had seemed so in sync, then… and now…

Now they were bickering and- oh, Tai just punched Matt.

Even as their scuffle rocks the cart, Ken finds himself frozen in place, his limbs heavy. He wasn’t sure what to do, how to react. He doesn’t even know what they were arguing about, right now, just that it was something and it was more than he was expecting.

“Don’t worry about them,” TK said, not to Ken specifically, but to him, Cody, and Yolei. “This is just how they do things.”

Ken supposed that TK would know, as Matt’s younger brother. Kari also looked unbothered by the two of them.

Still, Ken didn’t really get it. “I didn’t think… friends usually hit each other.”

“It’s a… Matt and Tai thing,” TK replied, watching the two as they seemed to calm. “They’ve always been a bit rocky, but… they are friends. They just have a weird way of showing it, at times.”

Despite the explanation, Ken still didn’t follow.

Thankfully, before Ken could risk making himself look stupid in the pursuit of trying to understand, which likely wouldn’t even be worth the trouble anyway, Cody points in the distance. “Look, a town!” Sure enough, still a few miles away, there was a town of some kind that the train tracks brought them to.

That seemed to be enough to distract Tai and Matt from whatever was left of a squabble. Looking towards the town, Tai wondered, “Maybe there will be a lead to Agumon there.”

“If we’re lucky,” Matt replied.

The train tracks ran into the town, which seemed… empty. Given they were still in the Emperor’s territory, it wasn’t all that surprising. Towns and cities in the Digital World were often left empty once they came under the Digimon Emperor’s control. Even though it wasn’t unusual, it still felt… strange. Eerie.

On one of the other lines, a train chugged along. The cabin of the engine was raised higher up than their little cart, making it hard to see inside. Still, the bright yellow was hard to miss. The train intersects with their own rails, though still far ahead, before coming to a stop.

Leaping out of their cart before they can even pull the sail cloth down, Tai hurried towards the train. “Agumon!”

Out from the train, Agumon hopped out, “Tai!”

Tai pulled Agumon into a hug, both smiling widely. It was a pleasant sight, one that made Ken hold Wormmon a little closer. It seemed they didn’t have to do much, to save Agumon from Motomiya and Ohwada. Not that he would complain, as he was happy as long as Agumon was safe and alright.

“Well that was easy,” Yolei comments, watching them as well. “I guess that means we’re all good, now.”

“We’ll just need to find a TV, now,” Matt agreed, “Let’s turn the cart around and head back the way we came.”

They all climbed out of the cart and soon were working to turn the cart on the rails. It seemed like a smart idea, since heading the way they had been going seemed more likely to run them into Motomiya and Ohwada. Preferably, they’d avoid that.

Between all of them and their Digimons, they managed to turn the cart around. Then they all climb back in and continue their travels, now with Agumon in tow. Ken hoped that their travel would be peaceful, but he knew not to get too comfortable. Still, they had time to kill, and while they should probably keep an eye out, that didn’t have to be all they do.

Watching the scenery pass by, Ken asked, “What was Motomiya like? As you knew him in our world?” Then, awkwardly, hoping to keep the question from being too strange, he adds, “So we can have an idea of what we’re up against.”

Frowning, Kari answered, “He’s… different as the Emperor. But as Davis… Tai and I have known him for a few years, mom agreed to watch him after school one day and I guess he and I hit it off. Plus he and Tai liked to play soccer together.”

“He’s never been, like, the smartest kid or anything, but he wasn’t a bad kid,” Tai added, “He got in trouble, sometimes, but it was never anything big.”

Frowning, Cody wondered, “How did he end up as the Digmon Emperor, then?”

“I… don’t know,” Kari sighed, “It… given when it happened, we have some ideas about what pushed him so far, but… nothing for sure. And even that doesn’t entirely make sense.”

Ken catches sight of a Dark Spire in the distance, imposing and chilling. A boy their own age made it, one who wasn’t even a genius like Sam. Which raised the question… “If he’s not some computer genius, especially at our age… then how did he make the Dark Spires and the Dark Rings?” he turned his attention towards the others, “That would require quite a bit of understanding of programing.”

“That,” Tai began, looking off at the landscape they passed by, “is a great question. It doesn’t seem like something he could figure out…”

“Maybe it’s that Ohwada’s doing?” Yolei suggested.

Wormmon shook his head, “Sea Angel showed up after the Emperor already had Dark Rings and Dark Spires. Unless he had been working out of sight before… I don’t think it was him.”

Something just wasn’t adding up. The only answer was that Motomiya was responsible for the creation of the Dark Rings and Dark Spires, but it seemed unlikely he had the skills to do so. If it wasn’t him, though, then who was it? Was there someone else pulling the strings? But who, and why? A Digimon hiding its existence from all else? Why would Motomiya work with that Digimon, if that were the case?

Or maybe Ken was overthinking it all, and maybe Motomiya was more talented than he let to Kari and Tai. But given the recency of the Digimon Emperor’s appearance, it seemed unlikely that he would have purposefully kept it from them prior. There’s no way he could have created something so sophisticated if he was only just learning.

“Who knows,” TK said, “Obviously there’s a whole side to him we didn’t even know about until yesterday.”

The conversation died after that, but Ken thinks they aired about a bit more important information, at least in regard to Motomiya. It didn’t really answer any questions, and certainly raised a couple more, but it was something. He hoped, at least, that Kari and Tai were holding up alright, between learning Motomiya was the Digmon Emperor yesterday and Agumon getting captured today…

It had to be a lot, Ken couldn’t imagine what it was like. Though, he imagined, it was, in part, not unlike when he woke up from his fever, Wormmon at his side, and he and Gennai explained that Ryo had disappeared. Except Agumon came back and they at least had some vague idea as to where he was and what happened. So maybe it wasn’t all that similar at all.

Ken wished he was more remarkable, so he could more easily understand what remarkable people, like the other Digi Destined, were going through. So he could understand the remarkable world he’d found himself in again. The Digital World had seemed so… infinitely big but easy to understand, when he’d first been here. Maybe it was because of his age, or maybe it was something else, but he’d never felt as lost as he had been since meeting the others.

No matter what he did, it seemed all he brought to the table was some strange ability to have caught the attention of their enemy. He had to wonder why, but maybe they saw through it all. Maybe they knew that he wasn’t like the others, wasn’t as impressive or capable. He’d been making it through, yes, but he never did fit in with them, just here to help and try not to accidentally make things worse. And that didn’t always succeed anyway.

Courage was an easy feat, when it felt like that was all you had. He would do anything for Wormmon. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if one of the other Digi Destined were in danger, but he thinks he’d try to help him. And their partners… well, it was easier when helping didn’t require fighting. Regardless, he was just glad the trait he’d ended up with was one that was easy to keep up. He was glad it wasn’t something weak.

He recalled, a hazy memory from his first trip into the Digital World, a Gazimon who told him that only weak people were kind. That it got you into more trouble than it was worth. Wormmon had told him how Digimon like Gazimon could be, but still, something about that had seemed so… insulting, at the time. Maybe because kindness was supposed to be the one thing he had, if nothing else.

Don’t ever stop being kind, Ken.

The words reverberated in Ken’s head, Wormmon’s loving voice soaked in familiarity. He can’t remember when Wormmon had said it, but he knew he had, at some point. Wormmon saw kindness as Ken’s greatest trait, and when he was younger, he loved that idea.

Gentleness is why he was so good at blowing bubbles, why Sam never could. Because Ken was kind and Sam wasn’t. Ken was gentle and Sam wasn’t. Despite this, Sam was loved and Ken wasn’t. As much as Sam tried to tell him being gentle was good, was a positive, Ken didn’t see how. Being kind didn’t get him any good attention from his parents, it didn’t keep Sam from hating him, it didn’t get him loved.

How could Ken stay kind when it so clearly left him weak? Kari and TK, who both had Crests before, picked up Digi Eggs that represented those Crests. Light and Hope. They sounded like wonderful traits, their strength apparent in both Nefertimon and Pegasusmon. Ken, meanwhile, didn’t get a Digi Egg of Kindness. Veemon had led him to the Digi Egg of Courage, instead. Was it just because it was Veemon who had led him there?

It was probably for the best, regardless. He doubts a Digi Egg of Kindness would give him and Wormmon much power. Courage was fiery, was bold and loud. It didn’t suit Ken at all, he wasn’t bold, loud, bright, or anything else like that, but at least it was strong.

The silence, and Ken’s thoughts, were broken by Gabumon, “Hey, Agumon, how’d you get away, anyway?”

“Oh!” Agumon jumped a little, “Well, that rabbit Digimon and a blue lizard Digimon let me out.”

Lunamon and Veemon. But Lunamon had been there when Motomiya and Ohwada had captured Agumon in the first place. Then again, she’d also been yelling about the two about the whole thing. Ken wasn’t sure what to make of her. But Veemon… this would be the second time he’d done something to interfere with Motomiya’s plans, third if you counted calling Ken to the Digital World again and leading him to the Digi Egg of Courage.

Maybe trying to make sense of all of this was more trouble than it was worth. What did he get out of it? A headache, certainly, but even if he did figure out some magic special knowledge of the world, what would it do for him? People operated in ways well beyond his understanding, and Ken had already spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. His entire life, maybe even.

Something darkens out the sun, and at first, Ken thinks it’s a cloud. But then, staring at the ground passing by, he realized… the shape was focused just above them, and it moved… plus, there was the flapping of wings. Startled, he looked up, greeted with the underbelly of an Airdramon.

“It’s an Airdramon!” TK called up, having already realized what Ken just had.

The Airdramon falls back, just enough that if they look back, they can see Motomiya standing on its head. “Heeeeello everyone!” He waved, a grin planted on his face. Just barely, Ken can see Ohwada’s head over the body of Airdramon too. So there was at least those two there.

“Great,” Yolei grumbled, “We can’t get rid of this guy!”

Something told Ken it would hardly ever be so easy. And it didn’t take a genius to guess what Motomiya and Ohwada were probably after. They’d want Agumon back, to try to force him to Digivolve into MetalGreymon again. And it probably wouldn’t work, again, and so they’d be stuck dealing with SkullGreymon again.

“I see you’ve found our runaway,” Ohwada bravely peered over the side of Airdramon, “Knowing you all, you’re not going to hand him back over.”

Tai placed himself in front of Agumon, as much as the tight confines of the cart allowed. “You’re right about that!” Airdramon was easily able to keep up with the cart, so the odds were, outrunning them wasn’t likely to happen. But they could probably fight, as long as they made sure no Dark Ring could make its way to Agumon.

The idea that Motomiya would force a Digimon to Digivolve – a Digimon partner to a Digi Destined, at that – left a sour taste in Ken’s mouth. One that he’d be more than happy to let Shadramon burn away. “Wormmon,” He looked down, shifting Wormmon to rest in one arm while he reached into his pocket for his D-Terminal. “Digi Armor energize!”

Wormmon leaped up, glowing as he Armor Digivolved. “Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Shadramon! The Flames of Courage!”

Shadramon quickly flew up to meet the Airdramon, throwing a volley of flames at them. While Ken had his reservations about fighting Agumon in any form, he had less reservations about fighting an Airdramon under Motomiya’s control. Besides, it would be far easier to break the Dark Ring on Airdramon than it would have been on SkullGreymon.

With an excited grin, Yolei pulled out her on D-Terminal, “Great idea! Let’s kick some Emperor butt! Digi Armor energize!”

Hawkmon flapped his wings, preemptively taking off into the air, “Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to…FlyBeemon! The Needles of Knowledge!”

“Are we sure this is the best idea?” TK asked, watching as FlyBeemon flew up to join Shadramon.

“We can’t outrun them,” Ken pointed out, “So what other choice do we have?”

Kari nodded, “We can’t let them take Agumon again. They’ll only hurt him more.”

Already working on the sail, Matt said, “We’ll handle stopping the cart, you guys focus on fighting them.”

With Nefertimon, Pegasusmon, and Pternomon joining the fight, the Digi Destined quickly leap out of the cart once it had slowed enough. It was better not to all be cooped up together, in case Motomiya and Ohwada had some kind of trick up their sleeves. Surely they knew that they wouldn’t be able to recapture Agumon easily.

Airdramon kept pace with them, slowing when they did, though soon four more Airdramon appeared, putting themselves between the one Motomiya and Ohwada were on and the Digi Destined’s partners. The four Aidramon obscured the other one, which though suspicious, it wasn’t like there was much they could do about it right now.

Cody glanced at the others, “What do you think they’re planning?”

“Some way to try to capture Agumon again,” Matt said, Gabumon and Agumon keeping close to him and Tai.

“We’ll need to keep an eye out for Davis and Ohwada,” Kari added, glancing around.

With their Digimon distracted with the Airdramon, they were sitting ducks. Then again, unless Motomiya and Ohwada had more Digimon up their sleeves, they were also defenseless. Although they also had the Dark Rings, which were really the problem here.

Footsteps are an obvious alert to the approach of Motomiya and Ohwada. Clearly, they weren’t too concerned about the element of surprise, which Ken was thankful for. Not that he thought Motomiya had a subtle bone in his body, from their brief interactions.

Motomiya spun a Dark Ring around his finger, idly, like it wasn’t some terrible device that forced Digimon to be subservient to him. “Today’s been pretty eventful, huh? I don’t know how Agumon got out, but…”

“Obviously we’re not letting him get away,” Ohwada finished flatly. Where Motomiya had energy and excitement in his voice, Ohwada simply appeared and sounded unimpressed.

Gesturing towards them, Motomiya gave Ohwada a knowing look, “Ready when you are, Angel.”

Ohwada’s gaze dances between all of them, quickly and silently, not staying on any single one of them long enough to really be studying them, but too long for it to be coincidental. Not quite searching, either. Finally, he set his gaze on Tai, narrowing his eyes.

“Davis, don’t do this,” Tai implored, “Please. This isn’t worth it.”

For a moment, even with the sunglasses on, Motomiya’s expression seemed to change. A crack in his Emperor façade, revealing something soft and bleeding underneath. “You wouldn’t understand, Tai. I have to win this game.”

Without anymore fanfare, Ohwada rushed towards them, shoving aside Ken, TK, and Kari on his way to Tai. Then he threw his body at Tai, knocking him over. Taking advantage of the distraction, Motomiya tossed his Dark Ring at Agumon.

Except, Ken realized, the Dark Ring wasn’t a ring. It was a spiral. Why was it different?

“Let’s see how my new Dark Spiral does,” Motomiya said as Ohwada scrambled off of Tai and away from Agumon. Pulling out his Digivice, Motomiya declared, “Digivolve!”

Agumon glowed, and as he grew, he took on an appearance different from last time, not SkullGreymon, but… when the light faded, it was MetalGreymon that stood there. Instead of orange, his skin was blue, but otherwise it was the spitting image. That… that was not good, not at all.

“Yes!” Motomiya cheered, “It worked!”

Ohwada eyed MetalGreymon, warily, “Guess so.” Unlike SkullGreymon, though, MetalGreymon seemed perfectly placid, not a sign of unruliness to him.

This “Dark Spiral” seemed like a more powerful version of the Dark Ring. The Dark Rings seemed to lack the power to really control Digimon that were stronger than Champion, or at least it was more likely for them to fail that way. MetalGreymon was an Ultimate Digimon, and it seemed to be entirely under Motomiya’s control.

Would they have to fight MetalGreymon, now? Ken didn’t like the idea of that, of risking hurting Agumon too. The Dark Spiral took up more space than the Dark Ring, providing a bigger target, but whether it was just as fragile as the Dark Ring was harder to say. Not until they started trying to attack it. Plus, MetalGreymon would be a more difficult foe than most of the Digimon they’d freed from the Emperor’s control before.

The Airdramon that their partners were fighting had retreated, moving to hover above Motomiya and Ohwada, who had returned to Motomiya’s side. The one they once rode swooped down, the two climbing back on. “MetalGreymon!” Motomiya called, “Show them what you can do!”

MetalGreymon roared, rearing back as missiles fired from his chest, causing their Digimon to scatter every which way. FlyBeemon flew closest, only for MetalGreymon to swipe at him, something FlyBeemon was only narrowly able to avoid. The others regrouped, circling around MetalGreymon.

The rest of them could only watch on helpless as their Digimon try to free MetalGreymon. They didn’t need to be told to try to destroy the thing that looked like a Dark Ring on MetalGreymon’s arm, but like in most cases, breaking it was easier said than done. And all the while, the rest of them couldn’t do anything to help, which wasn’t unusual but… at times like this, it felt particularly awful.

Antsy making, perhaps. At least, Ken felt antsy. Restless. He wanted nothing more than to do something, but he knew there wasn’t anything he could actually do that would help. If anything, it was more likely to get in the way.

He glanced back at Tai, who watched the fight intently. That was his partner they were fighting, again, how awful it must feel. If someone had taken Wormmon from him, and then forced Wormmon to Digivolve into something he wasn’t… Ken thinks he’d be furious. He’d do anything to free Wormmon from that. But what could Tai even do, in this situation, save for placing his fate in everyone else?

Shadramon dove towards MetalGreymon’s arm, throwing barrage after barrage of flames at the Dark Spiral. In response, MetalGreymon struck him out of the air, sending him to the ground, a light streaking back to Ken’s D-Terminal.

“Wormmon!” It was just as earlier, when SkullGreymon had knocked multiple of their partners out of the sky. Of course, asking them to fight again so soon was probably not the best idea either, but it wasn’t as though they had a choice. And now Wormmon might be hurt again.

MetalGreymon strikes Pegasusmon next, followed by FlyBeemon. That left Pternomon and Nefertimon as the only ones still standing. Given how swiftly MetalGreymon was able to defeat the other Digimon though…

“They’re not going to be able to stop him,” Matt said, not taking his eyes off the fight.

Glancing back towards him, Ken asked, “Then what do we do?”

Matt didn’t have an answer, which made Ken feel neither better nor worse.

Motomiya’s voice cuts through the noise of the fight, “That’s good, MetalGreymon,” Triumph was apparent in him voice. “I think we’ve made our point.”

“You’re stopping now?” Ohwada asked in disbelief.

“It’s not about demolishing the Digi Destined or something,” Motomiya said, Airdramon moving closer to the Digi Destined, letting him peer down at them, “It’s about making a point. Proving that it’s a waste of time to get in my way.”

The other four Airdramon surrounded MetalGreymon, ropes wrapping around him before they used them to raise him up. Nefertimon and Pternomon pulled back, warily. What could they really do? Still, it hurt to see them begin to take MetalGreymon away.

“Now stay out of my way, got it?” Airdramon pulled away, Motomiya disappearing from view. “Or MetalGreymon will get rid of your Digimon entirely.” That was a threat, no doubt about it.

The Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel left them, taking MetalGreymon with them. And now they had to figure out what to do next.

---

It was kind of funny how the Digi Destined, right after losing so awfully to MetalGreymon, decide to start following him again. Or rather, following Davis and Lui, but those were about the same, really. Before catching up to the Digi Destined, Lui had put Lunamon on Digi Destined following duty, which sounded like it would be boring. And it was, especially since they had that cart and she was stuck running after them the whole way. If only she could Digivolve, then she could be faster and keep up with them easier!

But she couldn’t, both because of the Dark Spires and because she just. Hadn’t figured out how yet. Which she would! Eventually. It just needed time. She’d only recently Digivolved into Lunamon, in the first place, and obviously these things take time. It’s not like she’s bound to some human, either, which made it… harder and easier.

Her ears perk up when she hearings racing footsteps behind her, familiar footsteps. She wasn’t expecting them, but she wouldn’t say it was unwelcomed. Laughing, she hears Sunmon call out, “Luuuunamoooon!”

“Hi Sunmon!” She chirped back, not slowing down. Regardless, Hackmon catches up with her and easily keeps pace, Sunmon situated in the hood of his cloak. “Hiiii, Hackmon!”

Cheerfully, Sunmon replied, “You were so cool earlier!”

“I know, right?” She grinned, “My Lop-ear ripple is really great.”

Hackmon rolled his eyes, “It was fine,”

Sunmon, ignoring him, said, “You’re always really cool. I can’t wait until I Digivolve… then we can be cool together!”

“You bet!” With a giggle, Lunamon gestured at Hackmon, “So, did you miss me or did Sunmon bully you into doing this?”

“What do you think?” Hackmon grumbled, “He just wouldn’t leave me alone! Sistermon Blanc said it would be good if I just agreed, so…”

“She says I can join Hackmon when he’s training!” Sunmon excitedly added, “So just you wait! I’m going to Digivolve real soon!”

Laughing, Lunamon replied, “You better, it’s getting boring on my own!”

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 9)

Chapter 9: The Emperor's New Home

The Digi Destined deal with the aftermath of learning the identity of the Digimon Emperor. And then they have another problem, a reoccurring theme in their lives.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/174692686

“Davis is the Digimon Emperor,” Kari said, sat on her bed. Tai stood across from her, watching with a worried expression. At her words, his expression turned to shock.

“Davis?” He repeated, “Davis is a Digi Destined – the Digimon Emperor?”

Kari nodded silently. Her throat felt too tight to talk more than necessary. Her feelings were beyond her grasp to easily describe, in that moment, seeming like some terrible storm. How long? How long had she not known…?

How had she failed Davis so much that he became like this?

Suddenly she’s trying to dig through every interaction in the past few years, trying to find the moment anything changed. The answer was obvious, though, without searching. The day that Davis had changed in a way he’d never quite gone back from.

The day Jun Motomiya died.

Tai is quiet, processing this information just as much as she was. Finally, he said, quietly, “Do you think it’s because of… of Jun?” They never knew Jun as well as they’d known Davis. Jun was a few years older than Tai and mostly seemed content to leave them with Davis.

Maybe because Jun was so much older than Davis, the two fought a lot. They’d fought again, that day, nearly a year ago. Davis had ended up at the Kamiya apartment to cool off, as Kari tried to help him calm. She never could imagine getting into such an explosive fight with her own brother, but she knew that she and Tai were little like Davis and Jun.

But eventually Davis had calmed, more mildly annoyed than anything else. He was about to head home, probably not apologize to Jun, but ready to forget about it. Kari had been glad, at the time, she always was when Davis would calm from his fights with Jun. He’d always get in a huff and it wasn’t bad or anything, but it often was silly.

Kari doesn’t remember what they’d been fighting over, that day. Something silly, she was sure, but the exact reason had left her mind quickly. If all had gone well, the whole thing wouldn’t have been that notable, save for the day it occurred.

The weather had been pleasant that year, on August 1st of 2001, warm with a gentle breeze. By the time Davis was getting ready to leave, Kari had an hour before she’d leave to meet the other Digi Destined. Tai had already gone out earlier, planning to spend some extra time with Matt and Sora before they all met up, and that had left Kari home with her mom when Davis had been there.

When no one was home to answer the phone at the Motomiya apartment, Davis’ mother called them instead, correctly guessing that Davis might be with them. Kari’s mom answered the phone, and Kari could tell, by her tone, that it wasn’t good. She pulled Davis aside before he left and told him something. He ran out of the apartment after that.

It was only after he left that Kari learned that Jun was in the hospital. It was a car accident, apparently, a driver didn’t stop at the light and Jun had been in the crosswalk. Kari went through the rest of the day with a sinking feeling in her stomach, despite trying to tell herself that everything would be fine. She didn’t want to think about what it would be like if it wasn’t.

The other Digi Destined noticed, of course, but she didn’t want to sour the mood more than it already was, so she kept it to herself until she and Tai were walking home. The others didn’t really know Jun or Davis, anyway. And while she and Tai didn’t know Jun all that well, something like that was still awful and they both knew that it could hurt Davis.

After Jun died, Davis barely left his room and barely let anyone into it. Kari and Tai could worm their way in, because Davis had always liked Kari and he’d always seemed to look up to Tai. But even then, he still kept his distance, emotionally at least.

He came back to school out of the blue, one day, looking better than he had since Jun died. It had been strange, at the time, btu Kari just assumed that something happened in private, perhaps some realization had come to him, that had made it all easier. After that, he had been much like his old self – not exactly, but close enough that Kari stopped worrying so much about him.

Maybe that was a mistake.

“It… could be.” Kari tried to think about what they knew about the Digimon Emperor.

Gatomon, who had sat herself beside Kari, said, “The Digimon Emperor appeared in the fall of last year,”

“That would be after Jun died,” Tai confirmed, “But it feels so… unlike him.”

Kari shook her head, none of this made sense. But there was no denying that it was Davis underneath those glasses. That wasn’t something they could ignore.

She needed to talk to him tomorrow, here, in the real world.

---

Davis wasn’t at school that day, his seat on the other side of TK painfully empty. Kari wanted nothing more than to just talk with him, but obviously Davis didn’t feel the same. Had he stayed home? Or had he skipped school to go to the Digital World, now that the truth was known to them?

“What do you think he’s doing?” TK asked, eyes fixed on Davis’ empty desk.

“I… don’t know.” Kari admitted, “I’d never… never expect any of this of him.”

TK looked over at her, concern written in his expression, “Maybe you didn’t know him as well as you thought you did.”

The worst part was that Kari couldn’t even bring herself to try to argue otherwise. Maybe TK was right, maybe the Davis she thought she knew wasn’t real, maybe he’d died with Jun. Maybe the Davis she’d known was gone and replaced by a persona, meant to hide the Digimon Emperor underneath. But even the Digimon Emperor, now that she’d seen him, didn’t seem so terribly dissimilar to Davis.

Kari could only pry her eyes off of Davis’ desk and look towards the front of the classroom, try to get her brain ready to focus on class. Somehow, she doesn’t think it’s going to work very well.

---

Throughout the school day, Ken kept an eye out for Ohwada. They weren’t in the same class, which made it difficult, but Ken needed to know if there was anything different about him. To try to either confirm or deny that Ohwada might be Sea Angel, or otherwise have some connection to the Emperor.

Thinking about it now, there was certainly a physical resemblance – same hair color, much the same haircut. And the eye that Ken could see of both looked about the same, so that was more in favor of that idea. They’d never seen Sea Angel’s Digivice, or heard any word of it, that would be damning evidence, given the distinctive damage on Ohwada’s own. And Ohwada knew Motomiya, the Digimon Emperor. So the odds were high there was some connection, regardless.

Even at lunch, Ken couldn’t find a trace of Ohwada. Occasionally, in the past, he’d noticed Ohwada in the lunchroom, though mostly would brush it off. But not today. Awkwardly, Ken ended up approaching some of the kids who usually sat near where Ohwada would.

Lui Ohwada was gone that day, they told him.

Suspicious, but it could also be a coincidence. Ken wouldn’t jump to any conclusions quite yet. It didn’t quell this antsy feeling in his stomach, nerves he thinks. Why he was nervous he wasn’t sure, but that had to be the answer.

By the end of school, Ken was ready to get home and go to the Digital World. He wanted to meet up with the other Digi Destined and see if they knew anything about Ohwada. If nothing else, he wanted to see what conclusions they could come to, about Motomiya, about Sea Angel. He doubted they’d find too many answers, with what information they had, but no one had shared much the day before. The whole thing had ended up too upsetting.

Hopefully, they could figure something out about this all, at least.

---

Izzy is in the computer lab when the rest of them get there, as he often is, and Tai shows up not too long after. Kari thinks it should be a surprise, but with what they’d learned about Davis… Tai was probably worried. Still, there’s something about his expression that seemed different from the night before.

After a moment, Tai said, “Davis is missing.”

“Missing…?” Kari muttered. Of course, if he wasn’t going to school… the odds of him using the same portal as the rest of them were low, so he had to have his own way into the Digital World.

“He must have gone to the Digital World,” TK said, eyes flicking between each person in the room.

That certainly seemed the most plausible answer. “So I guess we won’t be able to confront him here,” Yolei frowned, “He’ll have Digimon on his side in the Digital World.”

Kari shook her head, “We can worry about that later, for now, we should head to the Digital World so we can meet with Ken.”

“Mind if I come with you?” Tai asked. Kari wasn’t sure what he hoped to accomplish, maybe he just wanted to see Agumon, given everything.

“We’ll be happy to have you,” TK smiled, small but his attempt to reassure.

Izzy glanced up from his laptop, “Just be careful, we don’t know what either of them have up their sleeves.” He goes over to the computer that the portal is situated in, bringing up the map of the Digital World, “It looks like Motomiya and Sea Angel have been busy.” There had been more white squares, when they’d looked at the map yesterday. Today, it was nearly filled with black, meaning most of the Digital World was covered in Dark Spires… including places they’d already cleared from the Emperor’s control.

“We’ll have to work even harder to clear the Dark Spires away,” Cody said.

For a moment, Kari let the sight sink in. This was Davis’ doing. It didn’t matter who the Digimon Emperor was… he was hurting countless Digimon, and it was their job to stop it. She’d have to put aside her own feelings about him, and make sure that he couldn’t do worse than he already has. Make sure he’s stopped.

And then maybe she could see the Davis she used to know, again.

---

It doesn’t take Ken long to find the other Digi Destined, once he’s made it into the Digital World. Before arriving, he’d taken a look at the map in his D3, greeted with the horrifying sight of a near entirely black map. That was something they’d have to discuss, too.

“Ken!” Yolei called, waving.

As he approached the group, TK gave him a smile, “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” Ken assured, “Now we should get down to business.”

Nodding, Kari agreed, “Let’s go over what we know: Davis is the Digimon Emperor, which means he’s been a Digi Destined since at least the time that the Emperor appeared. Davis is missing, and given how much of the Digital World has Dark Spires in it now, it’s likely he’s been here the whole time.” Motomiya was missing? Well, that certainly made Ohwada suspicious. If he wasn’t Sea Angel or otherwise connected, why would he be gone? Combined with everything else, Ken was almost certain, now. “And we don’t really know much about Sea Angel.”

“Actually,” Ken spoke up, “I think I might know who he is.”

Surprised, Tai asked, “Really?”

“You think it’s Ohwada, right?” Wormmon asked, though he sounded confident in the guess.

Ken nodded, “There’s a boy at my school, Lui Ohwada, who, the other day, told me he was a Digi Destined. He looks a lot like Sea Angel, too, and he was talking to Motomiya after the game yesterday.”

Frowning slightly, Kari repeated, “Lui Ohwada…” she hummed for a moment before adding, “I think he went to our school, but left around… November? I think his parents passed suddenly or something.”

“That’s around when Sea Angel first appeared,” Patamon said.

“It sounds pretty plausible,” Cody agreed, “But… why? Why are either of them doing this?”

That was what had evaded Ken this whole time. What did either Motomiya or Ohwada have to gain from all of this? Motomiya spoke like he viewed this all as a game, but surely he couldn’t be so dense as to not realize that the Digimon weren’t just characters in a game. And Ohwada… his interactions with him in the real world were jarring, discomforting, but nothing that spoke of any real motivations. In the Digital World though… Sea Angel seemed quite angry, so maybe that had something to do with it all.

Then there was Ohwada’s claim… that he was the first Digi Destined. Ken wasn’t sure the validity of it, or if he should even tell the others about it. While it was possible that, if he was telling the truth, there was something special about him being the first, but at the same time… he said his partner was gone, and Sea Angel didn’t seem to have a partner, so it wasn’t unreasonable to think whatever might be unique about Ohwada wouldn’t matter without his partner.

None of it answered the why, though, not for sure.

“That’s something we’ll still have to figure out,” Kari said, shaking her head. “Right now, though, it doesn’t matter. We can’t let them take control of the Digital World.”

Yolei pumped her fist, “The next time we see those two, we’ll kick their butts!”

Knowing the strength that Veemon could possess, Ken had to wonder if that would be easy. Then again, he didn’t seem entirely on board with Motomiya’s plan… so even if they were partners, it was possible that Veemon wouldn’t work with him. Maybe that was why Veemon had asked Ken to return to the Digital World, brought him to the Digi Egg of Courage. Veemon was his friend, still.

A beep resounds from Tai’s Digivice, prompting him to pull it out. His eyes widened as he looked at the screen, “Agumon’s in trouble!”

“Then let’s go to him, first. We can figure out what to do next after,” Kari suggested, and the others nodded in agreement.

Ken couldn’t help but worry about what type of trouble Agumon was in, though.

---

“Pepper Breath!” Flames came out from Agumon’s mouth, but Airdramon simply pulled up and away, easily dodging the attack.

Davis was bold, recently, Lui would give him that. First the plan to try to get Ichijouji on their side, then choosing to leave the real world and use the time the Digi Destined were in school to rapidly expand their empire, unimpeded, and now this. Trying to get a Dark Ring on Agumon, one of the partners of the older Digi Destined. It wasn’t the first time they’d tried, but it was rare, since Lui came into the picture, that Davis would go out and do things like this himself.

He wasn’t sure what had changed, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain. If Davis was going to be doing all this, he might as well take it seriously.

“Lop-ear ripple!” Lunamon sent a burst of bubbles towards Agumon. As unpredictable and annoying as she could be, when she could be persuaded to fight, she was quite good at it. Certainly easier to persuade, too, than Veemon.

Lui keeps telling Davis to just get rid of Veemon, but he never listens. What good is a partner who won’t fight? Besides, it was only a matter of time before Veemon betrayed them entirely – he’d already ruined their plans with Ichijouji the day before, what more trouble could he cause? Digimon couldn’t be trusted, especially not the ones that claimed to be “partnered” with a human.

“Here!” Davis produced a Dark Ring from his pocket, throwing it at Agumon. At first, the ring was hidden by the cloud of bubbles and by the time Agumon was able to see it, it was far too late to stop it. The Ring clasped itself around Agumon’s arm, and though he struggled for a moment, his eyes soon turned red.

Now, Agumon was under their control.

Lunamon pouted, “Aw… that was so easy when he can’t Digivolve…” Lui chose to ignore her, and it seemed Davis was doing the same.

“So what are you going to do with him?” Lui asked, deciding for the time being to sit himself on the mostly stationary Airdramon, legs dangling over the side. If this Digimon weren’t under the influence of a Dark Ring, he wouldn’t dare to be so casual on it, but as it was, it wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.

“Agumon!” And there were the Digi Destined, that particular cry coming from the older Kamiya. Lui recalled him being present when he’d first encountered the Digi Destined, he was Agumon’s partner. This must be an agonizing sight for him, given how stupidly these Digi Destined trust their partners and cared for them, like they weren’t monsters.

“He has a Dark Ring on him,” Hida observed, though there was urgency in his tone.

Good, they could figure out they should be worried. Even if Lui himself didn’t even know what Davis had in mind. Agumon was capable of becoming a powerful Digimon, supposedly, but given the Dark Rings didn’t work that well on Digimon above Champion level, that seemed dangerous. They could lose control of Agumon as swiftly as they’d gained it.

Davis pulled out his Digivice – Lui recalled the brief time that it had once been like his, but that time was long ago. Both of their Digivices had changed when they’d become who they were now. Lui had damaged his, and Davis… his had changed into this new model, gone from light blue to black and grey. A dark Digivice, just like the things he made as the Emperor.

“Alright, Agumon, show me MetalGreymon’s power!” Davis raised his Digivice high, “Digivolve!” Waves of energy released from the Digivice, pulsing towards Agumon. The energy enveloped Agumon and his form began to change. Except, instead of turning into MetalGreymon…

The Digimon that formed in Agumon’s place was made of bone, a missile on his back the only thing made from a different material.

---

That wasn’t what Agumon was supposed to Digivolve into, Ken knew that. Was it something about Motomiya’s dark Digivice? Or something else? Obviously the Digivice could force Digimon to bypass the Digivolution block transmitted by the Dark Towers, but beyond that, what it could do was hard to say. How much any of that contributed to Agumon Digivolving into something else.

In horror, Tai gasped, “Agumon Digivolved into SkullGreymon?”

“It must be because Davis forced him,” Kari said, narrowing her eyes at Motomiya.

Frowning, Cody wondered, “But what do we do…?”

“If we fight SkullGreymon, Agumon could get seriously hurt,” Ken agreed. He didn’t like that idea, so there must be some other way to free SkullGreymon. Break Motomiya’s control on him, somehow.

“SkullGreymon can be really unpredictable,” Tai replied quickly, “If you let him run loose…”

Unminding of their conversation, Motomiya called out, “SkullGreymon, defeat those other Digi Destined so I can finally win my game!”

SkullGreymon roared, loud and imposing. And then the missile fired from its back, making its way straight for the Airdramon that Motomiya and Sea Angel were on. Rapidly, Airdramon flew up, though not before Lunamon leaped and grabbed onto the tail. Now, Motomiya and Sea Angel were high above them, having just barely avoided SkullGreymon’s attack.

“Don’t attack me!” Motomiya cried, “And why didn’t you Digivolve into MetalGreymon, anyway? I want a cooler Digimon, not one that’s going to attack me!”

From the tail of the Airdramon, Lunamon began to climb closer to the two human, “That’s because you forced him to Digivolve, you idiot! Nothing good ever happens when you force a Digimon to Digivolve!”

“Oh, save it,” Sea Angel scoffed, “No one was asking you.”

“And I can’t believe you’d let someone put a Digimon through pain like this, Lui!” Lunamon snapped back, anger evident in her voice. Her words confirmed Ken’s suspicions, though, that Sea Angel was Ohwada. Great. Well at least that was solved.

Ohwada ignored her, instead fixing his eyes on SkullGreymon. “I don’t think you’re going to have much luck controlling it,” He said.

Motomiya frowned, “Well let’s see what happens,” the Airdramon pulls back further, “From a distance.”

TK takes a step forward, pulling out his D-Terminal as Patamon hops off his head, wings fluttering to keep him in the air. “We’re going to have to fight him,”

Kari nodded in agreement, “We can free him from Davis’ control, but it’s more important that we don’t let him hurt anyone.” She reached for her own D-Terminal.

For reasons Ken can’t explain, his stomach twisted at the thought of fighting SkullGreymon. Was it fear? But he’d faced powerful Digimon before, so he shouldn’t be afraid of this one. Not when he’s seen stronger, if perhaps a bit more predictable Digimon. So why was he suddenly feeling so strange?

Not that he really wanted to fight Agumon anyway.

Yolei and Cody nodded in agreement, pulling out their own D-Terminals. Ken realized, then, that he was still the only one who hadn’t. He swallowed, taking it from him pocket despite his hesitations. It felt wrong and he couldn’t understand why.

Climbing up to his shoulder, Wormmon quietly reassured him, “We’ll be alright. You and I have fought stronger Digimon than this, and we have all the others to help us.”

“I know,” Ken whispered back. If there was something else to say, Ken didn’t know what, or how. So he doesn’t, instead doing all he can to push the disease in him to the side. Being distracted wouldn’t help them, it never did.

Their Digimon Armor Digivolve, quickly setting on SkullGreymon. They flit around the air – SkullGreymon was strong, that much was clear, but being such a large Digimon left it  a bit slower than most of their partners, who could at least dodge his swats while they chipped away at him.

At least, they were able to keep it up that way for a while. SkullGreymon swats at Shadramon, sending him to the ground, the power of the Digi Egg of Courage returning to Ken’s D-Terminal as Shadramon became Wormmon again. Moments later, FlyBeemon and Pternomon soon followed. Stuttering panic made his heart race, his body lurching towards Wormmon before he felt TK’s hand on his shoulder.

“I know you want to make sure Wormmon’s okay,” TK said, glancing between Ken and Wormmon, “But you can’t go running to him, now. Not with SkullGreymon right there.”

Ken had to wonder if he and TK had the same relationship with their partners. If TK would appreciate being told the same if it were Patamon there. The idea of Wormmon being hurt alone was enough to terrify Ken, the possibility of losing him entirely… it wouldn’t be the fact he couldn’t help the Digi Destined that hurt the most, it would be the fact that he’d lost Wormmon, his friend.

“And what are we supposed to do, then?” Ken harshly replied, “Obviously fighting SkullGreymon isn’t working.”

Nefertimon and Pegasusmon retreat from SkullGreymon, for the moment, flying back towards the Digi Destined. “It might be best we retreat, for the time being,” Nefertimon suggested.

“But what about SkullGreymon?” Yolei asked, “If we can’t fight him, what will happen?”

“I don’t know,” Pegasusmon replied, “But it isn’t safe to keep fighting him.”

From their perch on Airdramon, Motomiya and Ohwada watch the fight. By this point, Lunamon has made her way up to Ohwada and seemed to be yelling at him, though he didn’t react to it. Ohwada, watching SkullGreymon closely, asked, “If the Digi Destined retreat, what will we do about SkullGreymon?”

Motomiya considered that for just the briefest moment, then answered, “I think a few Airdramon could carry him.”

“He’d blow them up,” Ohwada dryly replied, “but I’ve got an idea that might make it easier…” He learned over and whispered something to Motomiya.

Whatever it was, Motomiya seemed to like the idea, “Yeah! I bet that’ll work!”

Not too far away, several Digimon appeared, walking swiftly towards SkullGreymon. There were four of them, black in color with orange markings, and they made their way towards SkullGreymon, though he dwarfed them in size. This must be Motomiya’s plan – or Ohwada’s idea, rather – though Ken just hoped it would stop at SkullGreymon. He doubted they were in any position to fight four more Digimon, right now.

“What are those?” Cody wondered, watching the Digimon closely.

“DarkTyrannomon,” TK answered, “They’re dangerous Digimon, but compared to SkullGreymon… they’re small fry.”

Together, the four DarkTyrannomon send flame breath at SkullGreymon. SkullGreymon appeared unbothered by the attacks, though, and swatted at the DarkTyrannomon. One by one, he knocked them down, defeating them easily.

The fight must have exhausted him, though, as SkullGreymon began to glow, shrinking down back to Agumon. Before any of them could even try to get to him, let alone try to destroy the Dark Ring, Airdramon swooped down, picking him up with its mouth.

Motomiya grinned as Airdramon flew back up, far above them and out of their reach, “Hey, I’m still winning here. Just because he didn’t become what I wanted him to this time… there’s always next time!”

“Davis!” Kari cried out, “Stop this! You’re only hurting people!”

“Oh, he knows plenty what he’s doing,” Ohwada replied. “You don’t make it this far with that much delusion.”

That was the last they could hear before Airdramon was too far away.

With the conflict over, Ken rushed to Wormmon, to make sure he was okay. Quickly, he scooped his partner up, checking for any obvious injuries. Wormmon settled comfortably in his arms, and Ken was glad to see he didn’t seem to be particularly hurt or in any pain.

“What do we do now?” Patamon wondered, settling on TK’s head.

It’s Tai who easily suggested, “We need to rescue Agumon.”

“But how?” Cody wondered, “We don’t even know where he is.”

---

To: Matt Ishida, Izzy Izumi, Sora Takenouchi, Joe Kido, Mimi Tachikawa

From: Kari Kamiya

Subject: Agumon

Agumon’s been captured by the Digimon Emperor. All of the area’s he was protecting has been taken over. We’re going to do what we can to try to rescue him.

Kari

---

The Digi Destined had been walking for a while, thankfully the land in this part of the Digital World was flat, but it was also empty and boring. They were just walking in the direction that Motomiya and Ohwada had gone, hoping they could find some other clue as to where they’d taken Agumon.

Thus, when they heard the sound of something coming down the railway they walked alongside, it got their attention. They pause, turning to look back the way they came, seeing a rail cart coming down the track, propelled by a sail cloth.

Upon seeing Matt in the rail cart, Tai grinned, “Matt!” He waved and the rail cart slowed.

“I got Kari’s email,” Matt replied, hopping out of the cart, “I figured you’d like a helping hand.” Gabumon stayed in the cart, lowering the sail.

Tai’s smile fell, just a bit, but he still seemed happy to see Matt regardless, “Dunno how much help you two will be, since Gabumon probably won’t be able to Digivolve but… it’ll still be great to have you.”

“Get on,” Gabumon called, “And we can get going again.”

Matt coming to help was a bit of a surprise, at least to Ken. He didn’t seem like the kind… but then again, he had the Crest of Friendship, didn’t he? Ken supposed coming to help your friends, when they’re in trouble, when they need it, is a part of friendship. At least, that’s the impression he got, his actually experience in that department was nearly nonexistent.

But he’d go to the ends of the world for Wormmon, and he’d have done just about anything to help Ryo… so, maybe he had enough of an idea. Maybe he understood why Matt was here well enough.

Somehow, though, Ken doubted that. Other people were nearly always less straightforward than he ever thought they were.

---

“SkullGreymon is scary,” Sunmon whimpered, twisting himself into the red cloak of the Digimon he was with.

The other Digimon walked, leaving their perch where they’d watched the fight with Agumon that had quickly grown into a fight against SkullGreymon. “What? Are you a scaredy cat, Sunmon?” Then he shook his body a little, “And stop twisting around, you’ll rip my cloak.”

“It’s already all ripped up at the ends,” Sunmon grumbled, then untwisted himself and loudly protested, “And I’m not a scaredy cat!”

“You sound like one,” The other Digimon commented, tilting his head to the side so that Sunmon could set on his shoulder. “Especially since Lunamon obviously wasn’t scared.”

“That’s because Lunamon’s always jumping, um, headfirst into- into stuff!” Sunmon argued, “I hope she’s giving silly Lui a piece of her mind for being so mean!”

Rolling his eyes, the other Digimon reminded, “You’re the ones who are so insistent about being around him.”

“Obviously!”

With a shake of his head, the other Digimon sighed, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Light footsteps land beside them, then join the cloaked Digimon in walking. This time, it was a humanoid Digimon who wore white, with a pink hat. “Don’t be too mean to your ‘little brother’.”

“Yeah, big bro!” Sunmon echoed in agreement.

The cloaked Digimon shook himself again, knocking Sunmon off his shoulder. “I’m not your big brother!” He groused, “The only reason why I care about seeing Lunamon is just seeing what trouble she gets into. Because she’s good at that. That’s all.”

Sunmon pouted, “Then I’ll just have to get stronger, so I can join her and you can watch us be cool together, ‘cause I’ll be keeping her out of trouble!”

“Aww,” The humanoid Digimon cooed, “Maybe Sunmon should start joining you with your training, Hackmon. That’ll get him stronger really quick.”

“Woah, really?” Sunmon hopped excitedly, looking over at the humanoid Digimon, “You really mean it, Ms. Blanc?”

Hackmon snickered quietly, as Sistermon Blanc picked up Sunmon. Poor little Sunmon doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 8)

Chapter 8: Davis and Lui

A soccer game brings Ken into meeting the other Digi Destined in the real world. Taking a trip into the Digital World, he finally encounters the Digimon Emperor.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/174383886

“Davis has a game today, right?” Tai asked that morning.

Kari nodded, “Yeah… I think they’re playing Tamachi Elementary?” She couldn’t quite recall, but if that were the case… maybe they’d see Ken. He did go to Tamachi Elementary, and he’d mentioned he played soccer, before. It could be… nice to get a chance to meet Ken in the real world.

“Tamachi, huh? Isn’t that Ken’s school?”

“I think so,” Kari gave Gatomon a pat, and Gatomon let out a gentle purr. As much as Gatomon liked to be mature and all, there were times where Gatomon was quite like a cat. Kari tried not to take too much advantage of it, but she’d admit it was pleasant to pet Gatomon, sometimes.

Tai grinned, “Might be a bit awkward if we have him to cheer on too. Think Davis would understand?”

Kari didn’t know what Davis would think, anymore. On one hand, he seemed so much like his old self, on the other… it didn’t seem quite right, either. And it wasn’t like that was wrong, Kari had never really lost someone like that. She couldn’t even imagine losing Tai. She didn’t really understand what Davis was going through, no matter how hard she tried.

She tried, she really did. She and Tai tried all they could, because they knew Davis well enough. And even then, they couldn’t expect that Davis would react the way he did, that he would stop wanting to talk with anyone. But maybe that was normal. Davis had started opening up again, after a bit, though Jun always remained a sore subject Kari rarely dared to bring up.

Most of the time, it was nearly like nothing happened at all. Other times, there was something lurking underneath, something no one could really do much about. A pain that Kari knew she’d never understand and she didn’t know anyone else who would.

Them knowing someone on the opposing team really shouldn’t be a problem. Davis is usually pretty easy going and friendly, there shouldn’t be anything different. But Kari could never be sure.

“He seems nice enough,” Gatomon answered instead, “And it’s an elementary school game, I don’t think the stakes are that high.”

“Yeah,” Tai agreed, “Maybe Davis could get another friend, out of Ken.”

“He lives all the way in Tamachi,” Kari reminds. Though… “Davis did mention he already had a friend there, though.”

Gatomon stood from her position beside Kari, hopping to the floor, “Huh, wonder how that happened…”

---

Ken probably didn’t sleep as good as he should have, given he has a game today. He hadn’t been sleeping as good as he probably should have in general, recently. Things have been fine, but then there was that day that Kari and Gatomon got trapped in the Digital World. That wasn’t the part of the day that bothered him, though. The part that bothered him was what came after.

“Who are you?” Ken asked, hoping in vain for some other, new, answer.

With a polite smile, Ohwada answered, “Lui Ohwada, the first Digi Destined.”

Ken finds himself speechless again.

“The first?” Minomon echoed, eyes wide.

“February 29th, 1996, an egg appeared on my family’s porch.” Ohwada added.

Quickly doing the math, Ken comments, “You’re younger than me,” Not as much as Cody was, but still. If he was a Digi Destined that long… “you would have been… three?”

“Four,” Ohwada quickly corrected.

“What happened to your partner, then?” Minomon asked, his head tilted in curiosity.

Quickly, Ohwada replied, “He’d dead. It doesn’t matter how.” It was sharp, something jagged underneath his attempts to remain polite.

“Why tell us all this?” Ken asked. What reason could there be? Especially out of the blue like this? And when he had no partner and had never been to the Digital World.

“I don’t know,” Ohwada shrugged, “it just felt… right.”

“Felt right?” Echoed Ken in disbelief. How was that any answer?

Ohwada studied him, and for a moment, Ken thinks he’s going to shrug again and give some half answer. Instead, Ohwada glanced away, “We’re apart of… an exclusive club, in a way. Sure, there’s not a small amount of Digi Destined out there, but…” Slowly, he looked back at Ken, “I mean, are there any other ones in Tamachi?”

Needless to say, Ken didn’t think there was. He certainly hadn’t met them,

“We not friends,” Ken was quick to say, “I don’t know you.”

“Fair enough,” Ohwada conceded, “But maybe we could get to know each other better?”

Shaking his head, Ken replied, “I don’t see why we would.”

Again, Ohwada shrugged, “If that’s what you want… offer’s always open, though.”

“Maybe if you gave me answers,” Ken narrowed his eyes at Ohwada, searching for… something. He doesn’t know. Answers wouldn’t appear as anything that Ken could see.

“I don’t have any answers to give you,”

Ken had enough of this, it was getting nowhere and he didn’t trust Ohwada not to be trying to pull something. Who knew what, but this was all too suspicious. “If this is all you’re going to do, I think you should leave.”

“If that’s what you want,” He repeated, looking at Ken intently, “I’m sure you can find me, if you wanted to.”

Lui Ohwada. Ken didn’t understand a thing about him, and their conversation that evening had only raised more questions. For every answer Ohwada gave, he dodged or lacked more.

He had been a Digi Destined for six years, even longer than the older Digi Destined. Something had happened and his partner was dead. His damaged Digivice. His claim of being the first Digi Destined… How he knew Ken was a Digi Destined at all. He’d never been to the Digital World. But he knew another Digi Destined who had.

It all just didn’t make sense, something was missing from the story, whether Ohwada knew it or not. The question then was… did Ohwada leave things out on purpose, or was it incidental? How many of the answers and missing pieces did he have and just choose not to provide? Why did he ever come to Ken at all?

He spent a lot of time trying to figure it all out. And trying to figure out what the Digimon Emperor was trying to do. And how he was pulling it all off. Yet, none of it was making any more sense than it had before, leaving him with more than a little frustration.

But he had a game today, and he owed it to his teammates, at least, to keep himself from getting distracted for that long. It was in Odaiba today, too, which was a strange thought. This was the closest he’d ever gotten to the other Digi Destined in the real world and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. It probably wouldn’t matter, it’s not like he’d mentioned having a game there today, anyway.

“I’m going to be in your bag for a while today, aren’t I?” Minomon asked, staring at the bag like it had greatly offended him.

Ken gave him a small smile, “I’ll try to make sure that you have lots of snacks.” They would still all be eaten by the time the game was over, but there wasn’t much Ken could do about that. Minomon could be a real black hole, sometimes.

“Still, Odaiba’s pretty far,” Minomon laments, before perking up a little, “Oh, but that’s where the others live, isn’t it?”

“It is,”

“Maybe you can say hi?” Minomon seemed to like that idea.

Ken doubted they’d be interested in seeing him, but he knew Minomon wouldn’t like to hear that. “Maybe,” He chose to say instead, “if I have time.”

Minomon cheered, hopping up and down on the bed. He seemed to like the other Digi Destined. Or maybe he liked getting to be around other Digimon. Ken wasn’t really sure and he never really asked.

---

Davis smiles when he sees Kari and Tai, “You guys came!”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Tai replied, “Kari might, but you know, sometimes the world is important.” His addition is in a joking tone, though the punchline of the joke almost certainly went over Davis’ head. After all, Davis wouldn’t know anything about either Tai or Kari’s involvement in the Digital World and the world saving they’ve had to do in the past. Or that Kari might be doing a little of it right now.

Which is strange to think about, even now, but that was the Digital World for you. So many strange things.

“Just you watch, we’re going to kick Tamachi’s butts!” Davis declared, his familiar confidence a reassuring sight. He was fine, Kari just worried too much. Even if she wasn’t sure why she still did. Because he was fine.

From behind Kari and Tai, Yolei’s voice rings out, “So the game is against Tamachi today!”

Surprised, Kari turns to look at her, “Yolei?”

“One of your friends?” Davis asked, though Yolei paid him little mind.

“I heard that they were playing Tamachi today, but I couldn’t figure out for sure,” Yolei explained, “and I want to cheer Ken on!” Poromon peeked his head out of Yolei’s bag, only for Yolei to put her hand on top to shove him back down.

Tai turned towards her, his smile not faltering, “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

“So…” Davis began again, “Friend?”

“Yolei’s a year above us,” Kari explained, “and we have a friend we’re pretty sure plays on Tamachi’s team, so she wants to cheer him on.”

Davis laughed, “I’ve got a friend coming to cheer me from Tamachi, so I guess it’s not that strange… well, make sure to cheer him on too. I’ll look forward to showing him just how great I am at this game!”

Returning to the rest of his team to continue warming up, Davis leaves them. Tai and Kari set about finding a place to sit, the bleachers fairly empty. They decide to sit with Yolei, who’s finally let Poromon out of her bag and into his lap. Kari sat down next to Yolei, with Gatomon sitting on her other side, while Tai sat behind him.

Not too long later, a bus arrives with the Tamachi kids, each filing out one by one. Towards the end of the line, sure enough, there’s Ken, shifting his bag on his shoulder nervously. He glances through the bleachers. At first, his gaze lands on a boy on the other side of the bleachers, with lavender hair, who sat alone. He studies the boy for several moment, his steps faltering just the slightest, before he continued on. Then his gaze lands on them, and his eyes widen, the surprise enough that he nearly misses a step.

One of the boys behind him whispers something and Ken makes a face, but continues walking.

Ken doesn’t look back at the audience while he and his team warm up, almost like he was pointedly avoiding looking in that direction. Still, Kari doesn’t think that’s all that strange, given he was probably focused on getting ready for the game.

“Ken looks awful cute in his soccer uniform,” Yolei commented, eyes fixed on Ken. Kari takes another look, but doesn’t really see it.

“No one ever says I look cute in my uniform,” Tai grumbled, barely audible behind them. Somehow, Kari doesn’t think Tai actually cares that much about girls thinking he looked “cute” in his soccer uniform.

Apparently not looking for a response, Yolei continued, “You know, I’ve never actually seen a soccer game before.” She taps a finger on his cheek, “What do you even do playing soccer? Kick the ball at people?”

Kari can’t see Tai’s face, but she’s sure that he’s making an expression of disbelief. “Not exactly…” He began, and though he tries to explain the game of soccer to Yolei, it’s clear she only partly understands. He gives too much detail, when Yolei doesn’t even know much about the sport and likely was only interested in the bare minimum explanation anyway. But it’s fun to listen to, to pass the time until the game starts.

---

Ohwada was here. That shouldn’t be a surprise, when they’d first met, he’d mentioned something about having a friend who plays soccer at another school. So while that school being Odaiba was a surprise, it wasn’t like it was impossible. Or even entirely new information. It still felt… wrong. Suspicious. Nawed at something deep within Ken.

Tai, Kari, and Yolei weren’t so strange. They lived here, they probably knew someone who played for Odaiba. That was normal. They had plenty of friends, probably. Ken never asked, but they seemed like the type of people.

He should just focus on getting ready for the game. It wouldn’t do to be distracted when he was supposed to be warming up. Or worse, when the game had actually started. He was hardly amazing, but he was good enough he usually played a fair amount of the game, and that meant that his teammates would be relying on his to be doing his best. It wouldn’t be fair to them if he was distracted.

The game blurs by, the teams are neck and neck for most of the game. That’s the most thrilling kind of match, the ones where you can never know for sure who’ll win until the end. For the time, Ken can chase everything else from his mind and just focus on the game. That would be easier, though, if he wasn’t constantly hearing his name from the bleachers.

Yolei was the worst offender, for some reason. Tai and Kari he could at least hear cheering for another boy, probably their friend they originally came from, alongside trying to cheer for him. Yolei though… she was only cheering for him.

By halftime, they’re ahead by two goals, but that was hardly the first time they’d had the lead, and Odaiba had caught up before. Anything could happen in the next half of the game, especially as some of the players tired.

One of his teammates snickered something to him about how he seems to have a fan, and Ken tries not to get too embarrassed. He can’t remember the last time someone came to one of his games and cheered him on. It wasn’t that he was upset about Yolei being so loud and obvious, but he also wasn’t really sure how to feel about it. And he still didn’t really get why she was doing it, either.

The next half of the game stays as close as the first. As they near the end, they’re tied, and Ken doesn’t think that his team will be able to make another goal, Odaiba has the ball, but they can at least stop Odaiba from scoring again. Ken sees his opportunity when a boy with spiky brown hair has the ball, running towards the goal. He runs at the boy and slides, crashing into the boy, but not before the ball has been kicked.

Ball crashing into the net, despite Ken’s best efforts, Odaiba scores a goal just in time to win the game.

With the game over, the teams gather together for their closing talks and such. Ken pays it the minimum amount of mind, antsy to get this all over with so he can check on Minomon and source some snacks for him, as he was surely out. Their coach lets them go and Ken turns, catching sight of the brown haired boy he’d just crashed into. There was a cut on his leg, right above the ankle, from where Ken’s cleat had caught him, and though it wasn’t bleeding too much, Ken did feel a bit bad.

Right, he’d go apologize, and then he’d check on Minomon. Minomon would understand.

The boy grinned when he noticed Ken approached, “Hey! Good game, you got me good there at the end!”

“Ah,” Ken hadn’t been expecting that. Still, he recovered quick enough, “I’m sorry about your leg.”

“Eh, no big deal,” The boy held his hand out, “I’m Davis Motomiya.” Davis, that was the name that Kari and Tai had been cheering. Then… this boy was probably the one they’d come to see.

Taking his hand and shaking it, Ken replied, “Ken Ichijouji.”

“Oh, so you’re Kari’s friend?” Motomiya quickly asked.

He must have put two and two together with Yolei’s cheering. Or something like that. “Um… yes?” He didn’t mean for it to come out like a question, but it felt a bit strange to say that he was really friends with any of the Digi Destined. And especially to say that to someone who knew them.

“Ken!” Called Yolei’s voice.

Motomiya peered past Ken’s shoulders – which required him to get on the tips of his toes, as Ken was quite taller than him. “And here one of those friends comes… you should probably go see her.”

“Right,” Ken said, face feeling a bit too warm for his liking. He turned towards the bleachers, seeing Yolei waving at him. He gives an awkward wave in return and then hurried over to his bag. Somehow, Ken doesn’t think he’ll avoid the other Digi Destined today. Well, Minomon would be happy.

Before he worries about them, he peeks in his bag to check on Minomon, “Holding up alright?”

Minomon nodded, a smudge of jelly on the side of his face, “I ate all the snacks, though.”

“I figured,” Ken whispered, “Kari, Tai, and Yolei are here, along with Gatomon and… Hawkmon’s other form, I guess. I’ll probably say hi to them before I can go get you more food.”

“Oh! I want to say hi to the Digimon!” Minomon insisted.

That shouldn’t surprise Ken, “I’ll let you out once I get over to them,” he promised, then zipped up his bag.

Now he heads to the bleachers, met partway up by Yolei. “Wow Ken, you’re pretty good at soccer,” she said.

Ken wasn’t so sure about that. An uncertainty he felt was probably warranted, when Tai catches up and comments, “Most of what you know about soccer you learned today.”

“Um, thank you,” Ken replied regardless. If Yolei thought he was at all good, it was only polite he thanked her for her kind words.

“You did do pretty good,” Tai added.

Kari smiled, “Davis is going to be thinking about that tackled for weeks,”

So Motomiya was Kari’s friend. Ken sort of figured as much, but that comment felt like confirmation. “It was… a good game,” Ken made himself smile, to hide how awkward he felt. He’d really been hoping to avoid this. He reached for his bag, unzipping it and letting Minomon peek his head out.

From Yolei’s arms, her Digimon soars over, perching on his bag. “Hi Minomon!”

“Poromon!”

Watching the two, Yolei grinned, “Say, since you’re here, why don’t you stick around a while and we can hang out?” she gestured at Minomon and Poromon, “Plus, then Minomon can get a chance to spend time with other Digimon.”

“Oh,” Ken’s eyes widened, not sure how to get himself out of this situation. He hadn’t planned to spend anymore time in Odaiba than it took to play the game. Then again…

It wasn’t like anyone at home would miss him. Sam had was making an appearance on TV again and since it was supposed to be so late in the day, he and their parents wouldn’t be home until late. They would have left by the time Ken would normally be back anyway… So no one would know if he did something after the game.

And the Digi Destined are the only people other than his brother that ever invited him out to do something, even if it was just hang out.

Swallowing, Ken smiled, “I guess I’m in no hurry to get home…”

Yolei cheered, “I can show you my family’s store!”

“I’m sure TK and Cody would be happy to say hi, since you’re here,” Kari added.

“And getting any group of Digi Destined together is great!” Tai commented, but he was smiling just as much as the others.

Ken turns to let the others by so they can lead the way, when something catches his eyes. Walking up the bleachers, towards the road, was Motomiya, joined by… Ohwada. For a moment, Ohwada looks over at Ken, making eye contact, and then he smiles. For some reason, it made the hair on the back of Ken’s neck stand on end.

Ohwada knew Motomiya.

Just what did that mean?

---

Somehow Ken finds himself joined by the other Digi Destined and their partners, plus Tai, on the floor of the Kamiya apartment living room. He feels strange, a bit like a small child again. Their partners devoured their snacks, a bag from I-Mart that had, when they arrived, been filled with food, sitting in the middle of them.

“Our mom knows about the Digimon and everything,” Tai said, “So we don’t have to worry about her coming home to see the Digimon.”

What a strange thought, having a family that knows about Digimon. Ken tried to tell Sam about it all, when he’d first come back from the Digital World… but Sam had just gotten mad at him for taking his Digivice. Now, Ken didn’t see the point in trying to explain it all, or to explain that the Digivice was his, not Sam’s.

TK smiled, “It’s definitely convenient when your family knows,” Patamon smiled and climbed into his lap. “But honestly, I don’t think they would have believed it if they hadn’t seen it.”

“Man,” Yolei sighed, “If I told my family about it, they’d probably think I was making it up.”

Yolei didn’t strike Ken as someone with a particularly fanciful imagination, but he supposed what someone’s family perceived of them wasn’t necessarily true, either. So maybe her family thought she was the kind of person to make up amazing and wild stories. Ken would believe what he had evidence to believe, though they did both share the same secret, that of the Digital World and the Digimon.

“It is something that would be difficult to explain,” Cody agreed, “I don’t think my mom and grandfather would believe it, either.”

“Even though I’m-“ Upamon swallows a grape, “-right here?”

With a small smile, Kari replied, “Most adults see Digimon and get scared.”

Ken remembered being scared the first time he’d gone to the Digital World. He’d been with Ryo at first, but then, when they were separated… he’d been alone, for a little while. Until he met Wormmon. Wormmon had been looking for him, at Gennai’s request, but Ken quickly came to adore Wormmon. His new best friend, who stood by him the entire time.

The Digital World was less scary, with Wormmon at his side.

Moving to sit on the couch, Tai looks at him and asked, “What about you, Ken? Think your family would believe Digimon?”

“No,” Ken replied quickly, easily, “They’d never believe me.”

“We really were lucky that our parents saw so much it was hard to deny,” Kari said, “It means we don’t have to hide anything from them.”

Lucky for Ken, it was easy to hide things from his family. They didn’t pay much mind to him, so it wasn’t like he had to try very hard. So it was just keeping them from noticing Minomon, which was easy so long as Minomon stayed in Ken’s room. Which reminded him…

“Hey…” He began, “Do… you guys know of any other Digi Destined?”

TK blinked, surprised. “Other Digi Destined… well, Izzy had a friend in the States, and I think Mimi knows of one there…” He listed, thinking, “And the number of Digi Destined seems to go up every year. Why do you ask?”

Ken hadn’t thought as far as an excuse. He should probably just tell them about Ohwada, but somehow… he felt like he should hold on to that, for a little while. Until he can figure out what Ohwada’s deal is. But he was hoping to find some leads on Ohwada’s mysterious Digi Destined friend. Even that didn’t feel like the correct answer, though.

Finally, it comes to him, “The Digimon Emperor has a Digivice, so that means he’s a Digi Destined,” He replied, “I was thinking if we could get an idea of all the options, we might be able to figure out who the Emperor is and confront him in this world, where he doesn’t have the Digimon, Dark Rings, or Dark Spires on his side.”

“That could be a good idea,” Cody said, “But we know so little about him… has anyone even seen him?”

Minomon bounces, “I’ve heard of some Digimon who have… actually, we should have asked Veemon more about him when we saw him.”

“What?” Ken frowned, turning his attention towards Minomon, “Why?”

“Oh, um, well… Veemon just seemed to know a lot about him,” Minomon answered, looking suddenly quite nervous, “And, uh, well, I heard from some of the other Digimon, while you were gone, that he’d found his partner a year or so ago…”

“His partner?” That stirred something unpleasant in Ken, for reasons he couldn’t entirely understand, “But what about…?” Ryo. What about Ryo?

Slowly, Minomon tilted his head, then blinked. Like he wasn’t sure why Ken was asking. “They weren’t partners, remember? Veemon was just helping out for the time being.”

Ken’s neck ached and his throat felt dry. That was… he didn’t remember that. He stared at Minomon, surely coming off as dumbfounded or something. He’d always thought that Veemon was Ryo’s partner. Maybe Minomon just thought he knew and he never actually had known.

“Veemon?” Kari asked, slowly, patiently.

Taking a sip of the glass of water he had, Ken tried to wet his throat so whatever he said wouldn’t come out hoarse. He took a deep breath and answered, “He was the one who brought me to the Digital World, he’s… a friend, but I haven’t seen him since I got the Digi Egg of Courage.”

Then there was the implication Minomon had made, bringing up that Veemon had found his partner in the time between Ken last seeing him and returning to the Digital World. Ken wasn’t sure he liked those implications, whether Minomon meant to make them or not. He was worried about Veemon, now, especially since he hasn’t seen him in a while.

Before Ken even knew it, some awkward silence had fallen over the group and he couldn’t help but feel guilty about it. Leave it to him to find a way to ruin the mood.

Yolei jumped up, “Hey, I know! Let’s all go to the Digital World!”

Seemingly already on board, TK adds, “We can slip into the school, and we probably have enough time to destroy a Dark Spire, too.”

“It couldn’t hurt, maybe the Emperor and Sea Angel are busy today and we’ll take them by surprise,” Cody agreed.

Tai surveyed the group, then looked at Kari, then Ken, “What do you two think?”

“It… could be fun,” Ken said, surprising himself.

Kari considered it, for a few moments, then nodded, a smile coming to her face, “If Ken isn’t too tired, then let’s do it.”

---

“The Digi Destined are in the Digital World again,” Sea Angel observed, entering the room that served as the Emperor’s main operations room. The Emperor flicking through video feeds on the screen, stopping when it landed on one that showed the Digi Destined, wandering a desert. It seemed he didn’t need Sea Angel to tell him.

The Emperor rested his cheek on his fist, staring at the screen, “Think you can get Ichijouji separated from the others?” he asked, not taking his gaze off of Ichijouji on the screen.

Sea Angel laughed, “Should be easy enough,” he had a few ideas, but in a place like the desert, it would be easy. “You have a plan for him?”

“We want to push him to despair… so let’s see what happens when he’s helpless.” There was something surprisingly devious in the Emperor’s voice. This plan… this was his plan, not some mysterious emailer’s. That made Sea Angel all the happier to play along.

Well, Sea Angel was already looking forward to seeing what the Emperor had in store.

---

“I’m starting to think going to the Digital World wasn’t such a great idea,” Yolei grumbled, fanning herself with her hand.

There’s something unsettling familiar about this climate of the Digital World, a sort of desert, sometimes broken by slabs of rock. Ken recalled his first time in a part of the Digital World like this, when he’d been traveling through the Digital World with Wormmon, trying to figure out how to help Ryo. He couldn’t quite recall why, but there was something important about that memory, as hazy as it felt.

Then there was the next time. Ken had reunited with Ryo to face Milleniumon, a fight that Ken could recall clearly. He’d been scared, at first, but Ryo had been confident, and that had filled Ken with confidence. After they’d defeated him and saved the Digital World, Milleniumon had sent out one last attack, aimed at Ryo, and Ken had shoved him out of the way.

After that, Ken had gotten sick, and he couldn’t remember much after.

So being back, even if it might have been a different place, made something crawl under his skin. Whether it was because of the fight he had last time or something else, he didn’t know. But with the others here with him, he didn’t let it bother him too much.

“It’s definitely hot,” TK agreed, though he at least had Patamon, who occasionally flapped his wings to help cool TK, while TK would fan Patamon with his hand.

“We should have brought sunscreen,” Cody said, “It would be bad if any of us got sun burned.”

Wormmon climbed out of Ken’s arms and onto his shoulders, “I’ll take the heat over the cold any day.” Wormmon hadn’t liked their icy trip to help the Digi Destined help Gomamon, even with Shadramon wielding the flames of the Digi Egg of Courage.

Hawkmon raised a wing, “Insects don’t do very good in the cold,”

“I don’t think cats do great in the heat, either,” Gatomon comments, wiping at her brow. “Now where is that Dark Spire?”

A pleasant breeze kicked up as Ken looked around, “Are we sure there’s one in this area?” He couldn’t see any sign of one, and they were usually hard to miss.

“According to the map on the D3’s there is,” Kari answered, pulling out her D3 just to be sure. “It must be hiding somewhere.”

Well, the D3 did seem to keep updated on which areas had a Dark Spire in them, so Ken supposed it must be right. Maybe this was like when they met Mimi, and it was hidden somewhere that wouldn’t be easily found. Ken looked around again, eyes searching for anything that looked unusual.

The breeze grew stronger, now more pushing wind than pleasant breeze.

“Guys…” Yolei called out, “Sand storm!”

Oh, that’s why the wind was so strong.

Before Ken can process much more, all he can see, hear, and nearly all he can feel is sand. Quickly, he reached up and pulled Wormmon back in his arms. This was… familiar, he’d been in this situation with Wormmon before. The storm pushed them around, but Ken tried not to move too much, hoping that the others would do the same. That, or they would at least be able to back track if they didn’t.

Finally, the storm cleared, and Ken could get a good look at his surroundings, Wormmon still held tightly in his arms. He couldn’t see anyone else and he wasn’t even sure if he was anywhere near where they had been. The Digital World could be easy to get lost in, and something like a sand storm only made it worse.

“Oh no…” Wormmon quivered a little in his arms, “Where are the others?”

Ken reached up to pat his head, “I’m sure they’re fine, we’ll just have to find them…” He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his D3, clicking to bring up the scanner. It only showed two Digivices nearby. That was still better than nothing, that meant at least two of his friends were nearby.

So Ken begins to walk towards them, ignoring the way something horrible and unpleasant begins to rise in his chest. Anxiety for reasons he couldn’t understand, but something told him to be careful. He shouldn’t need to be careful, the Digi Destined are his friends.

After a few minutes of walking, he reached a canyon, where a rock arch bridged the sides. He was in the canyon, though, and couldn’t see over the edges of the rock easily. Glancing at the D3 again, it showed the two signals were up on top of that rock arch.

Looking up again, Ken froze. Perched on the rock arch were two figures, one, Sea Angel, sat, one leg up by his chest, the other dangling down. Beside him, standing with his fists on his hips, was another boy, with a jacket with a fuzzy color, a pair of goggles on his head and sunglasses over his eyes, and brown hair spiking up and around.

“It great to finally meet you, Ichijouji,” The boy said, “Angel here has told me a lot about you.” His voice sounded… familiar, but Ken couldn’t place where he’d heard it.

“Try to remember to be humble,” Sea Angel called, sounding terribly smug, “You’re in the presence of the Digimon Emperor, after all.”

Oh. Well that made sense. The Emperor was obviously a Digi Destined, and of course Sea Angel would be too. Which meant they had Digivices… and those were the signals his D3 had picked up. But this all seemed… calculated, planned for. Were they after him specifically? Or just to separate one of the Digi Destined from the others?

He couldn’t show any fear, though, even as he suddenly felt quite awful, sick to his stomach. He puts on a brave face, decides the best course of action. Sea Angel has a temper, but he knew nothing about the Emperor. He thinks he’ll feel out the Emperor while testing how much he can rile Sea Angel.

“So you’ve finally decided to show yourself, Digimon Emperor.” He adjusted his grip on Wormmon, “You must have some plan, then.”

“You bet I do!” The Emperor grinned, “Y’know, I’ve never been the biggest fan of the desert, but it does have its advantages.”

Wormmon quivered a bit in Ken’s arm, thankfully too small a movement to be noticeable from how far away they are. Ken watched the Emperor, but with so much of his face obscured, there wasn’t much to make out other than the grin. “Like what? Sudden sand storms? Miles of empty sand?” Ken needed more information, anything to get some idea as to what the two were up to.

The Emperor shoots a quick glance at Sea Angel, whose gaze had been switching between Ken and the Emperor. Sea Angel then nods and stands, turning to seem to clamber down the rock, but Ken can’t see where he goes once he’s obscured by the rock. He’d just have to keep an eye out for him, while also watching the Emperor. His anxiety only grew.

“That sand storm was on purpose, but with all this sand, you wouldn’t have guessed, right?” The Emperor sounded proud of himself, “Listen, Ichijouji. You’re… different, I bet you know that. Angel and I are different too, so I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.”

Narrowing his eyes, Ken tried to make out anything that could tell him just what the Emperor meant by that. After a moment, he replied, “No, actually, I can’t.”

A pout, it looked wrong on someone who was supposed to be so dangerous and terrible as the Emperor. Then again, his entire demeanor seemed strange for someone who seemed something like an evil genius. Or as close as a kid their age could reach. “Fine,” He sighed, “I’ll spell it out. I’m saying you should join us. And if you do, I’ll forgive all the trouble you’ve caused me and Angel. We can even come up with a cool name for you.”

Ken balked – was the Emperor serious? “Why would I join you?” Ice spiked in his neck, cold creeping down his shoulders, then his back. Without meaning to, his tightened his grip on Wormmon. In response, Wormmon whimpered quietly, just enough to remind Ken to mind his grip.

“Don’t sound so offended!” Cried the Emperor, with a sort of indignation. “I mean, come on! Well, whatever. At least see what the alternative is.” The Emperor snapped his fingers and eight figures lowered from the underside of the rock arch he stood on. It was the others and their Digimon, all tied and dangling. The ground then shook, and from the sand raised a Digimon. “This is Deltamon. And he’ll have your fellow Digi Destined for a snack if you don’t join us.”

He can hear his and Wormmon names called, the voices of the other Digi Destined and their partners crying out for help. It all blurs together into an awful cacophony.

The cold snaked down Ken’s arms and all the way through his back, just above his legs now. He dropped Wormmon, hand heading for his pocket to retrieve his D-Terminal. Next thing he knows, he’s crashed into, knocked to the ground, all of Sea Angel’s weight on top of him. “Now, we can’t have that, can we?” Smugly, Sea Angel reached into Ken’s pocket and took the D-Terminal, throwing it across the sand. He pried Ken’s D3 from his hand and threw that too. “Sit and watch, the Emperor is still speaking.”

Sliding into a sitting position, not unlike Sea Angel had been in earlier, the Emperor smiled, smug and sure. “I’m not a monster, though… So even if you won’t join us, I’ll let you save one of these kids and their partner. So pick your favorite…” He gestured below him, “Dear Kari? Or how about insufferable TM? Maybe little Hida? Inoue sure seems to like you a lot, maybe you’ll save her?”

The way he used Kari’s first name and used an incorrect version of TK’s struck Ken as odd, especially as he called Ken, Cody, and Yolei by their last names. But Ken didn’t have the time to linger on that, not with his friends dangling above Deltamon, not with the Emperor giving him an ultimatum.

His neck hurts, and if Sea Angel wasn’t sat on him, he’d try putting pressure on it to get it to stop.

“What’ll it be, Ichijouji?” Sea Angel asked, still smug. “Choose care-“

“Sticky net!” Wormmon cried, shooting his net at Sea Angel, cutting off his sentence.

“Ack!” Sea Angel pried at the web, “Stupid worm! Mind your own-“ Wormmon then threw himself at Sea Angel, his momentum enough to knock Sea Angel over and give Ken the opportunity to roll away from him and back to his feet.

The Emperor frowned, standing up, shoulders stiff, “Angel! Be more careful!”

“Ken!” Wormmon cried, “We have to Digivolve!”

Ken stood, slowly, not taking his eyes off the Digimon Emperor. “I’m not going to choose one of them over the other.”

“Then Deltamon will eat all of them,” The Emperor responded flatly, “Or, you could join me. The offer’s still open.”

He takes a step towards Deltamon, the arch, the Digi Destined, and the Emperor. “If that’s what it takes…”

And then a delightfully familiar voice echoes across the sand, “Aw, come on. They’re not even the real Digi Destined, if those Bakemon get eaten, then that’s just the circle of Digi life or something.” Veemon. Both Ken and the Emperor’s heads snap towards the source.

“Yeah!” Cried Lunamon, who stood beside Veemon on one of the sides of the canyon. “The circle of Digi life! Or something!”

The Emperor stomped his foot as the Digi Destined and their partners dissipated into their true appearances – Bakemon, as Veemon had said. “You!” The Emperor yelled, “You’re messing it up! We almost had him!”

Of course. There had only been two Digivices on his D3 when he arrived. If the others had been here… they would have shown up too. He feels… angry, he thinks, something about it all makes his limbs tremble and that’s the only answer he can come to. Anger. Maybe this coldness creeping through his veins is just the feeling anger brings.

He hurried towards his D-Terminal and D3, several feet away where Sea Angel had thrown them. They stand out against the sand, which Ken gets a small handful of when he scooped the two items up. “Wormmon,” Ken called out, his voice feels almost foreign when he does. Level despite his anger, or perhaps even cold, like the rest of his body was beginning to feel. He raised his D-Terminal, “Digi armor Energize,”

“Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Shadramon! The Flames of Courage!”

Looking back over towards Shadramon, and Sea Angel behind him, Ken considered the best course of action. He had qualms with Sea Angel and the Digimon Emperor, yes, but Deltamon felt like the more important problem. The Bakemon probably weren’t a big worry, but a Digimon as big as Deltamon could be. “Shadramon, stop Deltamon.”

Shadramon looked at him, “But Ken… will you be okay?”

As they spoke, Sea Angel pulled more of Wormmon Sticky Net, his limbs mostly free by now. Ken watched, simply answering Shadramon with “I’ll be fine.” He didn’t think, on their own, either of the two posed much of a threat. A glance over to the arch shows the Emperor absent. Either he was coming down here or he was running away, and Ken didn’t know enough about him to know which was most likely.

Sea Angel turns his head to yell back at the rock that Veemon and Lunamon were one, “Lunamon!”

“Hmm… I don’t feel like it,” She replied, “Besides, he’s one kid. What, you can’t handle one kid?”

Veemon held a finger to his cheek, thinking, “Hmm, well, he is a kid too…”

“So are we!” Lunamon threw her hands up in annoyance. “Technically, at least.”

“You might be,” Veemon replied, “But I’m actually pretty old…”

Ken blinked. Such an odd pair of Digimon… and still, what was Veemon doing here? Obviously, the Emperor was familiar with him, some unsettling implication nesting into Ken’s head. He didn’t want to think about that, right now, not with everything else to worry about.

With a heavy, annoyed sigh, Sea Angel grumbled, “Stupid, annoying, useless rabbit…” His attention then returned to Ken and he crossed his arms, “Come on, Ichijouji, don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“You’re the ones making it more difficult for yourselves,” Ken replied.

Sea Angel scowled, glaring at Ken with an intensity that could burn someone if looks could. There’s something about how he holds himself that makes Ken feel like he was ready for a fist fight. Given the tackle earlier, maybe he was.

“Ichijouji,” Oh, there was the Emperor, appearing from over a dune of sand. Though Ken can’t see his eyes, he suspects that the Emperor is glaring at him. “Why do you always have to ruin my plans?” He sounded irritated, more so now than from anything else Ken had done earlier.

The smart thing would probably not be pushing his buttons, since he was already riled up and Ken didn’t exactly have the others for help. Shadramon was stuck trying to deal with Deltamon on his own, which already was far from ideal. But Ken was angry and in the moment, he didn’t really care about the Emperor and Sea Angel’s anger.

Which meant he was absolutely going to push the Emperor’s buttons, “I guess it’s a talent,”

The Emperor growled, fists clenched, as his head lowered, just a bit. “You’re not special! You’re just messing up my game!”

“Hey,” Sea Angel said, quietly, his tone not quite even itself, but it was clear he was trying to soothe the Emperor. “We have other plans.”

Shadramon was now joined by Pegasusmon and Nefertimon. Moments later, Pternomon and FlyBeemon appear too, helping in the fight against Deltamon. The others have arrived, then, or at least were close enough to see Deltamon and have their partners Digivolve. He couldn’t see anyone on the backs on the Digimon, so Ken assumed that they were on foot.

Intent on undoing any good Sea Angel’s effort had done, Ken said, “You’re right, I’m not special. And you’re losing to me, so what does that say about you?”

The next thing Ken knows, the Emperor is on him, fists swinging. If there was one thing wasn’t used to, something he hadn’t really expected to come up here, it was an actual fight. One where he was technically a participant. Unsure of what else to do, Ken just raised his arms to cover his head and face, letting the Emperor’s gloved fists come into contact with them. Better his arms than anything particularly important.

At least he could blame the bruises on his game today. Not that he expected anyone outside of the Digi Destined to notice. They probably wouldn’t either, if he just kept his jacket on for a while it would take the marks to heal.

“Not sure that will do much good,” Sea Angel comments, “But I’m not exactly one to talk. At least you’ll feel better.”

That’s when Ken hears the others, “Ken!” Kari called out.

“Hey, there’s Sea Angel!” Yolei noticed loudly, “And who’s that guy hitting Ken?!”

Cautiously, Cody wondered, “Is that… the Digimon Emperor?”

“…He’s just a kid like us,” TK said, though he probably shouldn’t be so surprised, as Sea Angel was clearly a kid like them too.

With a great heave, Ken managed to throw the Emperor off of him, causing the Emperor to stumble. He hissed and held his leg, right down by the ankle… Ken feels a flash of deja-vu, a nagging feeling that he knows what’s wrong.

Sea Angel rushed to the Emperor’s side, “You good?” He asked, eyes quickly landing on where the Emperor held his leg.

“Peachy,” The Emperor grumbled, taking his hands off of his leg and standing up straight again. There was a dark stain on the pant leg, where there must have been an injury…

It must have been a cut, that’s what the blood mark looked like.

“That cut…” Ken began, unable to take his eyes off of the pant leg.

The Emperor scowled, “Crud, this wasn’t in the plans…”

“We’re well off the plan by now,” Sea Angel responded dryly, “Deltamon’s on the brink and your partner ruined the twist of the Bakemon. We’re better off calling it a day and getting out of here while we still can.”

The Emperor doesn’t immediately reply, seeming to take in Sea Angel’s words. Ken spares a glance back, seeing that the other Digi Destined have finally made it to him. They were here, that was good.

“Are you alright, Ken?” Yolei asked hurriedly.

“We were worried when we realized you and Wormmon had been separated from us,” Cody added.

Ken doesn’t answer, to focused on watching the Emperor, trying to guess what he’d do next. Attack again? Retreat? Pull another Digimon out of somewhere? The Emperor obviously was more smart and cunning than he let on, to pull off what he had. So he must have some kind of trick up his sleeve.

Slowly, the Digimon Emperor reached for his glasses, grasping the arm of them.

Sea Angel watched him, before sharply asking, “What are you doing?”

“I think Ichijouji will figure it out soon enough anyway…” The Emperor said, “The cut’s a pretty telling thing. Kinda wish we could keep this up longer but…” The Emperor yanked his glasses off, tossing them to the side.

“Davis!” Sea Angel hissed, grabbing the hood of the Emperor- of Motomiya’s jacket and pulling sharply.

Behind Ken, in disbelief, he can hear Kari softly gasp, “Davis?”

There stood Davis Motomiya, soccer player, the one Ken had tackled earlier, the one that Tai and Kari had been cheering for. Even with the getup of the Digimon Emperor, though, it was undeniably him, especially now with the glasses off, his face no longer obscured. The hair, that expression… The same boy that Ken had met hours earlier. But for some of the other Digi Destined, that relationship was clearly not so brief.

He hadn’t thought it possible, but Ken became even angrier.

Motomiya grinned, “Bet you’re surprised, aren’tcha?” He surveyed the Digi Destined, “all this time, and I bet none of you would have guess it was me.” He sounded oddly proud of himself.

“This is stupid,” Sea Angel groused, “Our plans! How are we going to use any of them now?”

“Don’t worry about it, Angel,” Motomiya waved him off, “I’ve got plenty more.”

With a huff, Sea Angel turned away, “I really doubt that.”

TK took a step towards Motomiya, “Davis… why are you doing this? Why terrorize the Digital World like this?”

“Easy, TL,” Motomiya placed his hands on his hips, “This is all a game that I’m winning, even if you guys try to get in my way.”

“A game?” Yolei echoed, sounding dumbfounded at first. Then, in outrage she yelled, “This isn’t a game! These Digimon are real people you’re hurting and controlling!”

Motomiya scoffed, “Yeah, sure, real. You guys might be, but you’re not the ones ever in any real danger.” He gestured towards them, “Sure, I might’ve tried hitting Ichijouji a bit right now, but it’s just my fists and he’s clearly fine.”

Sea Angel looked back their way, studying them all. Then he looked to Motomiya, “I think we should get out of here. Preferably before you make Ichijouji so mad what’s left of the plan backfires entirely.”

Deltamon submerges itself back into the sand, the Dark Ring must have been broken. Their Digimon begin to make their way back to them, soon landing beside the Digi Destined. Motomiya frowned, watching it all.

He then turned his head to look at Sea Angel, “Guess you’re right.” He turned around, takes a step, then turned his head back towards the Digi Destined, “See ya later!”

From the sky, an Airdramon swoops in and the two hop on, silent. The Digi Destined can only watch as they fly away.

“Should we go after them?” Pegasusmon asked.

Kari shook her head, “No… not today.” She said, her voice still quiet and soft.

“I think we should head home,” Cody said, “We could all use the rest…”

TK nodded, “Besides, Ken has a long ride home…”

“Speaking of…” Yolei sidles up besides Ken, “It’s great to see that you’re okay. The Emperor and Sea Angel didn’t do anything, right?”

Ken’s body had been cold since the Emperor had dangled the images of the other Digi Destined in front of him, Deltamon looming beneath them. He’d nearly gotten used to the sensation. Now, though, with the Digi Destined and their partners all around him, so close and within reach, and most importantly, safe, that icy cold began to thaw. He blinked, some haze that seemed to have fallen over his mind lifting, albeit slowly.

He swallowed, then looked over to Yolei, and with a small smile, he answered, “Nothing too bad.” He shook his head, placing his gaze on Kari, who still stared at where Motomiya had been standing minutes ago. “Kari… will you be alright?”

At that, he head turned, looking at Ken. Her eyes were widened, just a little, “I… I think I’ll need to talk with Tai, tonight, but… I’ll be okay. Thank you, Ken, for asking.”

Something warm blossomed in Ken’s chest, but he chose to ignore it in favor of studying Kari for just a moment more. Learning that Motomiya was the Emperor… he seemed to know both her and TK, but obviously Kari knew him better. And that meant this must be harder for her. He can’t imagine what it’s like, learning your friend was your enemy.

He wasn’t sure if he bought that she’d be alright, but knowing she’d have Tai for support, alongside Gatomon, just at home, was reassuring. He seemed to recall hearing that TK, Yolei, and Cody didn’t live too much farther away, so it wasn’t like she’d be alone or that support would have to go very far to reach her.

TK nodded, his gaze too on Kari, but a soft smile on his face, “We can talk about all of this tomorrow, I think. After school, we can meet up here in the Digital World.” He looked around at the group, but his eyes landed specifically on Ken, “That sound good?”

Ken nodded, easily, “I think we’ll have plenty to talk about tomorrow.”

---

The second they were all out of the school, Kari hurried off, heading home she said. Gatomon bounded after her, but no one felt like they should quite leave the two on their own, even the short distance to the Kamiya apartment.

“Upamon and I will make sure they get home okay,” Cody said, determination in his voice despite the fact he was the youngest. There was some amusement in that thought, the youngest making sure that the leader would make it home okay. But Cody obviously cared about his friends, so it wasn’t entirely a surprise.

With that said, Cody took off after Kari, Upamon in his arms.

For a moment, Ken let himself smile at the sight, before turning to Yolei, Poromon, TK, and Patamon. “I should head to the train station,” He said.

They’d been in the Digital World a bit long for his liking, but he was still confident he’d be able to make it back to the apartment before his Sam and their parents. It might cut it a bit close, but he can sprint from the station if he needs to.

“Oh,” Yolei smiled, “Let Poromon and I walk with you there. You know, just to be safe.”

What would really be the benefit of walking with him and Minomon to the train station? He didn’t think it was that far, or so late that it would be particularly dangerous. “Why…?”

Before he can finish coming up with a way to word his question, TK said, “Yeah, Patamon and I can come too, and then we can walk with Yolei back home.”

“They live in the same building,” Patamon added.

Ken was getting the impression he wasn’t getting out of this. “…Okay.”

So they all walk, not much conversation to be had. He’s sure they’re all reeling about the day too, and it isn’t like Ken himself is the most talkative person. So he makes no attempts to break the silence himself.

When they finally reach the station, Yolei waved to him, “See you tomorrow!”

TK waved the same, but as Ken passed by him, he whispered, “If you ever want to talk, about anything, I’ll always be happy to.” Then he said more loudly, “Ride safe!”

Ken had little intention on taking TK up on that offer.

On the train, there’s more noise, the bustle of the city present, though most seemed as tired as he felt. Ken felt like he deserved to be more tired than most, given the rollercoaster that was his day.

On one hand, at least one question was answered: the identity of the Digimon Emperor. Ken still had plenty, though. Who was Sea Angel? Ken had his suspicions, now, knowing that Motomiya was a Digi Destined and that Ohwada somehow knew him, and also had a mysterious friend who was a Digi Destined. Ohwada had claimed not to have gone to the Digital World before, but that could easily be a lie. Ken doesn’t know how truthful he was about anything, after all.

Then there was Veemon… Sea Angel had called him Motomiya’s partner, and given what Minomon had said earlier… It felt odd to think of Veemon as the partner to anyone other than Ryo, but beyond that… how could the Digimon Emperor be Veemon’s partner? It just didn’t seem right.

And why had Motomiya and Sea Angel singled Ken out specifically? There was clearly some reason they’d wanted him, wanted him to join them. But why? Ken couldn’t think of any reason.

Too many questions. Maybe they could scrounge up some answers tomorrow, once they’d had time to think and they could put their heads together.

Ken thinks he’ll sleep great tonight.

---

“So what’s the plan now?” Lui asked, crossing his arms. He watched as Davis trudged to his chair, staring at the many screens, which at current displayed only the map of the Digital World.

After a moment, Davis answered with his own question, “Think you’re ready to really commit to this empire?”

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7: Guardian Angel

When Kari and Gatomon get stuck in the Digital World, Ken, Wormmon, TK, and Patamon return to help her get out.

AO3: archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/174076249

This was hardly the first time that Ken found himself sprinting away from Digimon. Nor way it the first time they Shadramon had picked him up to aid in that escape. He doesn’t think it would ever stop being nerve wracking, though.

They’d been trying to destroy the Dark Spire in this area, but the whole area was a closed off city filled with Guardromon. In the end, they drew too much attention and there was no way they were going to be able to destroy the tower now, free all of the Gaurdromon. So their only choice for the time being was a retreat.

“Hurry!” Yolei called, before FlyBeemon devolves into Hawkmon and the two of them leap into the TV. With the area being shut off the way it was, the only easy way they had out was through the TV, leaving the Digital World entirely.

TK and Pegasusmon are the next closest, and Pegasusmon’s reversion to Patamon sends the pair hurling through the TV. That would be a rough landing. Cody and Pternomon are behind them, with Ken and Shadramon behind from there. Kari and Nefertimon were leading the back, presumably to make sure everyone got in.

A blast from one of the Guardromon narrowly misses the TV, mostly because it hits Pternomon instead. It sends Cody and Armadillomon to the ground. Shadramon shifts his hold on Ken, and Ken does his best to accommodate, as Shadramon scoops up Cody and Armadillomon, flying through the TV.

Ken and Minomon come tumbling out of his computer, making a painfully loud thud when they land. Ken himself wasn’t too bothered by the pain, it reminded him of getting tackled during soccer, but he worried that the noise would have drawn attention. His parents weren’t home, but Sam was, studying, and knowing Sam, he’d be nosey enough to investigate.

Glancing at the computer screen, Ken can see that the portal showed that the TV in the area they’d just left was inaccessible. With all the Guardromon shooting at them, he worried it had been damaged. That would make it harder to get there and destroy the Dark Spire.

There’s a knocking at his door, causing Ken to quickly stand and turn the computer monitor off. Looking down at Minomon, he scooped him up and shoved him under the blankets of his bed. Minomon yelped, but Ken shushed him, then hurried to the door.

“Ken?” Sam called as Ken opened the door. “Is everything alright, I heard a thud…?”

“It’s fine,” Ken said, mind racing for an excuse. “Maybe the neighbors?”

Sam considers that for a moment, but then frowned, “It sounded like it came from here.”

“I… caught my foot on my backpack and stumbled.” He lied, “I sat it down in a different spot than normal. Maybe you heard that?”

“Just now?” Sam peered past Ken, eyes landing on where Ken’s backpack sat, the same as always.

Not intending to admit that it wasn’t true, Ken nodded, “Yes, now I was just about to start on some homework…”

Though he was still frowning, Sam relents, “Right…” He turned to leave, right as Ken’s D-Terminal beeped – an email, surely. That caused Sam’s attention to return, “What was that?”

“An email,” Ken answered quickly, gesturing to the computer, “From a friend, I’m sure.”

“A friend?” Sam raised an eyebrow, skepticism in his voice.

“A friend,” Ken repeated, and then shut the door. Leave it to Sam to make him feel like a freak for daring to say he had even one friend, regardless of how true it was. He sits down on the edge of the bed, pulling the blankets back to let Minomon out, and then pulled out his D-Terminal.

To: Ken Ichijouji

From: TK Takaishi

Subject: Kari

Ken,

Kari and Gatomon didn’t come out with us. Unless they came out with you, somehow, they must still be in the Digital World. Yolei, Cody, Poromon, and Upamon have gone home for the day. Going to go into the Digital World to rescue Kari and Gatomon, the TV there doesn’t work, but nearby ones do.

Don’t worry, will make sure they’re okay,

TK

Ken reread the email a couple times. Kari and Nefertimon had been behind him and Shadramon… whatever happened to the TV must have happened after he, Shadramon, Cody, and Armadillomon got through. That Kari and Gatomon were still there, though, was worrying. There was no way out, then, and Gatomon probably wouldn’t be able to bust through the walls right now, let alone get them to a wall, with all of the Gaurdomon.

So TK was probably right to go to help. But all on his own? Or well, his and Patamon’s own? Ken was worried about that, too. That was still a lot of Digimon, and Patamon was only one Digimon. Looking down at Minomon, Ken wondered…

“Are you up for going to the Digital World again?”

Minomon looked up at him, curious, “I could… but I’m hungry, Ken!”

“Right,” Ken nodded, remembering that Minomon ate… a lot. He was told this is normal for Digimon in the real world. “After you eat”

“Then I’d be glad to!” Minomon bounced excitedly. “Is it something about the email?”

Standing again, Ken replied, “Kari and Gatomon got stuck in the Digital World. TK and Patamon are going to help them get out… I thought we could help.” He sets his D-Terminal down by his computer.

“We can!” Minomon agreed, “It would be bad if something happened to them.”

“Exactly. Now wait here and I’ll grab you some food.”

---

Once Minomon was fed, Ken made sure he had his D3 and his D-Terminal, before picking up Minomon, finding the nearest exit point to where they had been, and then returning to the Digital World. Hopefully TK and Patamon weren’t too far ahead of them, otherwise they’d be playing catch up. Thankfully, this section of the Digital World had pretty decent visibility, mostly just rocky.

It's easy to find where they had been, the walls and dome that separated Kari and Gatomon from the rest of the Digital World. And not too far away, Ken sees the familiar hat of TK, and the orange loaf shape of Patamon, perched on his head. Adjusting his grip on Wormmon, Ken hurries over.

“TK! Patamon!” He called out. The two looked over, a smile coming to TK’s face.

“Hey, you came!” TK called back, waiting where he was until Ken had reached him. “I was wondering if you would.”

Ken frowned, pondering TK’s words. “You… the others went home, why would you care if I came?” It wasn’t like TK had asked Ken to, he’d just been letting him know about his plans… then again, Ken supposed he couldn’t know if TK had let anyone else know what he was planning.

“I was hoping you’d come so I could get a chance to talk to you some,” TK answered, “You seem like the type that might prefer it with less people around.”

“So that’s why you bothered telling me about Kari and Gatomon not coming through,” Hoping to bait Ken to come here. It was a bit annoying that Ken was apparently so predictable that TK, someone he didn’t feel he knew that well, could figure out how to get him here so easily.

TK turned his attention back to the walled off city, “I mean, it felt like something that’s important for you to know. You can’t be apart of the team if we don’t make some attempt to keep you in the loop.”

Patamon hopped off his head, gliding towards Ken and Wormmon, “Plus, if Wormmon really can Digivolve without a Digi Egg… well, that means you two probably have more experience in the Digital World than you’re letting on.” He lands on Ken’s shoulder, peering down at Wormmon, before hopping off again and flying back to TK.

Some part of Ken felt… touched, he supposed, that the other Digi Destined felt it important to keep him informed about going ons, even if those things don’t necessarily directly affect or involve him. Another part of Ken panicked at the idea that any of the Digi Destined might think he was keeping things from them. Which he was. But it wasn’t like he meant to or that it was all that important.

“I… well…”

“We’ll have to find a way in, with the TV broken,” TK said, gesturing to the walled city where Kari and Gatomon were. “It’s sealed all around, so we can’t fly over.”

Patamon looked around, searching the landscape, “There’s no Dark Spires in this area,” he said. “Why don’t we Digivolve!”

It was clear that Patamon was itching to Digivolve regularly.

TK nodded, “You could probably bust through the walls pretty easy as Angemon…” He agreed, “And Wormmon can show off his Champion form too. Stingmon, right?”

“Oh, that would be nice,” Wormmon said, looking up at Ken.

Ken can’t say no to Wormmon. So he sets Wormmon down on the ground, “Alright, then let’s do this. Once we’re inside, they won’t be able to stay Digivolved, but stealth will probably be better if earlier is any indication.”

“Patamon Digivolve to… Angemon!” Angemon was a somewhat familiar Digimon, though Ken thinks he was more familiar with a different Digivolution of his, or perhaps a similar line of Digimon.

“Wormmon Digivolve to… Stingmon!” Whenever Ken saw Stingmon he always felt very… safe, he supposed. The sort of feeling he only got nowadays when he was alone in his room. Stingmon would never let anything or anyone hurt him, more than anyone else in his life ever would do. And Stingmon would never hurt Ken, no matter what.

“Alright!” TK cheered, “Now let’s get in there and save Kari and Gatomon!”

---

To: Tai Kamiya, Matt Ishida, Izzy Izumi, Sora Takenouchi, TK Takaishi, Joe Kido, Kari Kamiya

From: Mimi Tachikawa

Subject: Look at this!

Heeeello all!

While I was in Japan the other day (you all remember, I went on that picnic with Kari, TK, and their new Digi Destined friends) I saw this interview on TV with this boy genius. When I met Ken, I thought there was something familiar about him… it turns out, the boy in that interview looks just like him and has the same last name! Sam Ichijouji… Maybe they’re related? I just thought it was interesting! I found an online magazine article about it, you should look. He sounds like he’s pretty interesting!

Love,

Mimi <3 <3 <3

At the end of the email, Mimi had sent a link to a website containing a magazine article about a recent TV interview done with a teen named Sam Ichijouji.

Tamachi’s Boy Genius, Sam Ichijouji

While many in Tamachi have heard of the young genius Sam Ichijouji, it’s only in the past few years that his intellect has made news outside of his home. In a recent interview, Ichijouji talks about his life growing up and what an average day has come to be like.

Ichijouji’s brains made itself apparent at a young age, his mother reports, easily getting top grades in his classes and out doing all of his peers at Tamachi Elementary. By that point, he already had a six-year-old brother to help with, too. His parents, recognizing how impressive he was, began to do all they could to make sure his skills were recognized by others and that he could have the education he deserved. Things were tough, sometimes, but Ichijouji says they all made it through alright.

Most recently, Ichijouji won a computer science competition for young programmers, having created a computer program that aids students in managing their daily schedules. He says he himself plans to make great use of the program to keep track of his busy schedule.

According to Ichijouji, his usual schedule often looks quite similar to that of the average student, although he also does many interviews with various newspapers, magazines, and television stations. Despite this, he still enjoys many experiences typical to your regular teenager. He studies, has homework, and when he’s not doing all those other things, he even plays sports, although he says his focus on his academics leads him to not participate in most of his teams’ games.

Those of Tamachi eagerly await what their bright star might accomplish next.

At the bottom of the article is a picture of a teenage boy with dark, messy hair and glasses. He has a polite smile, the kind that’s trained into existence, and a solemn look to his eyes. His school uniform looked perfect on him, like a second skin that lacked a single wrinkle.

---

“The Guardromon destroyed the TV in that area,” Sea Angel notes, pointing at the corresponding square on the map of the Digital World. The Emperor squints beneath his sunglasses, brow furrowed. “That’s the walled city. Andromon’s city.” He adds.

“Oh,” The Emperor intoned, “So the Digi Destined don’t have a way in. That’s pretty good, I told you taking over the walled city was a good idea.”

Sea Angel rolled his eyes, “Sure you did,” The Emperor was the one who had thought it was a waste of effort. But that didn’t matter, now. “It won’t be easy for them to get it, but they could still pull it off. It also looks like one of them is still in there…”

The Emperor leans back in his chair, “Which one?”

“Kamiya, it looks like.” Sea Angel knew that the Emperor had a soft spot for Kamiya, of all the Digi Destined.

“Kari?” He sits up straight, “They better not hurt her.”

“She’s our enemy,” Sea Angel points out dryly.

In the opposite of an intimidating expression, the Emperor pouts, “But Angel, she’s… you don’t know Kari. She’s just so… wonderful, y’know? A bright, shining light…”

Taking a deep breath, Sea Angel steeled himself for another Kari Kamiya conversation. “She does have the Digi Egg of Light, so I would expect as much.” He said, crossing his arms, “But you can’t ignore that she’s a threat to your own plans.”

“I don’t’ want her to get hurt, though,” The Emperor argues, “She doesn’t deserve that.”

And Sea Angel sighs, now. “She’s the one opposing us.”

“It’s not like she’ll be able to destroy the Spire with just her Digimon.” The Emperor pauses for a moment, then leaps out of his seat, “We should go see her!”

“What.”

Ignoring Sea Angel’s confusion, the Emperor marches out of the room, “We’re taking Airdramon and we’re going to the walled city!”

“Why?” Sea Angel yelped, hurrying to catch up with him. “What is going through your head?”

Glancing back at him, the Emperor grinned cheekily, “A great idea!”

---

Ken, TK, Wormmon, and Patamon walked through the walled city, doing their best to avoid detection from the many Guardromon. It was a miracle their entrance hadn’t drawn more attention, given they’d blown a hole in the wall. Now, they just had to find Kari and Gatomon and figure out how they were going to get out of here. If they were lucky, they’d be able to back track to the way they came, or maybe just blow another hole in the wall.

“Hey, your family won’t start worrying, will they?” TK asked, voice quiet, but not to the point of a whisper.

Confused, Ken asked, “Why would they?”

Shooting him a curious look, TK answered, “Well, we’ll probably be here longer than we’re normally in the Digital World, and I assume they don’t know about… all of this.” He gestured around them. “So if they realize you’re gone and don’t know where you are, they’d probably worry, right?”

“My family doesn’t pay me much mind,” Ken pursed him lips. Their parents worked later than normal that evening and Sam would hopefully keep himself too busy with his studies to notice that Ken wasn’t in his room.

“You… don’t seem to like to talk about them,” TK observed, hesitantly. He was trying to tread carefully. “I… get what it’s like. To have a complicated family.”

Unable to help himself, Ken scoffs, “There’s hardly anything complicated about it.” His parents loved Sam and he was here because they couldn’t have known that Sam would be a genius until after Ken was born. By then, they were stuck with him.

After a moment to consider that, TK replied, “Sometimes family is hard even when it’s straight forward. Most of the time, families are that way.”

Ken didn’t know what TK was trying to get at. What he was trying to pry out from Ken. He just didn’t see how his family was important, not when he’d been so careful to not say much about them. So why did he even care? Was he looking for something to hold over his head?

TK looks like he wants to say something more, but is interrupted, the form of Nefertimon flying overhead. “Kari!” He called out.

Looking the direction that Kari and Nefertimon came from, Ken suggests, “We should probably follow them.” They had the attention of more than a few Guardromon’s on them, and that attention would probably be on Ken, TK, Wormmon, and Patamon, soon enough.

Following his gaze, TK replied, “Yeah, we should.” He pulled out his D-Terminal, Ken doing the same. “Digi Armor energize!”

“Patamon Armor Digivolve to… Pegasusmon! Flying Hope!”

“Wormmon Armor Digivolve to… Shadramon! The Flames of Courage!”

TK wasted little time hopping onto Pegasusmon, settling on his back. Shadramon, in kind, picked Ken up in his arms, and the two Digimon began to fly, chasing after Nefertimon. Hopefully Kari had some plan as to where she was going, otherwise they might just run around in circles.

Shadramon and Pegasusmon manage to catch up with Nefertimon and Kari easily, “Kari!” TK called out once more.

“TK! Ken! Where are the others?” Kari called back, glancing back at them.

“Home!” TK replied, “It’s just us. We made a hole in the wall to get in, if you can make it there, we can get out!”

Kari made a face, “It’s just you four?”

“This is different from usual,”

Shadramon then asks, “What about the Dark Spire? If we leave it, this area will stay under the Emperor’s control.”

“I don’t think we’ll be able to break it with just the six of us. Not with this many Guardromon around.” Kari shook her head. “We can try again another day.”

As much as Ken hated it, she was probably right. With this many Digimon around, it would be hard to destroy the Dark Spire. Strategy, they could get out of here and come up with a better plan to try again when they were all together. With the TV here destroyed, they’d still have to get in from the outside, but that was a problem for another day.

TK calls out directions to Nefertimon, trying to guide her back the way they came. And just when Ken thinks he can see the hole they put in the wall, he realizes just as quickly that there’s something in the way of it. “Digimon!” He called, though by that point, Nefertimon, Pegasusmon, and Shadramon had already seen and were responding accordingly.

They diverted to the sides, coming to a stop. The Digimon that blocked their way was different from the Guardromon, taller and humanoid in appearance. Just barely, Ken can see a flash of recognition in Kari’s expression.

“Andromon!” She said, a fond familiarity in her voice.

Andromon tilted his head, eyeing Kari, who slid off of Nefertimon’s back. “Careful, Kari,” Nefertimon warned, wariness in her voice.

“Something seems off with Andromon,” TK noted, leaning forward on Pegasusmon’s back.

Ken glanced up at Shadramon, “Let me down,” he said quietly. Shadramon shot him a concerned look, but complied, gently setting him on the ground.

Kari approached Andromon, “It’s good to see you,” She smiled. Still, Andromon only stared.

Finally, Andromon spoke, “Target found,” his arm reached out.

“Hey!” Ken yelled, rushing forward, but not fast enough to stop Andromon from grabbing Kari and lifting her up, his hand wrapped around her arms, her feet dangling off the ground. The Guardromon around them stilled. Then Ken sees – there’s a Dark Ring around Andromon’s neck, how had they missed it?

“Kari!” TK leaped off of Pegasusmon, hurrying closer.

What could they even do, though? With Andromon holding Kari, there was no way to attack him without risking hurting her. Ken doubted they could pry her out of his grasp without risk of her or them getting hurt, either.

“Andromon!” Kari cried out, “It’s me! It’s Kari! We’re friends, remember?”

There’s a twitch in Andromon’s arm, so small Ken almost wouldn’t have noticed it, if he hadn’t been watching Andromon so intently. Just what was that?

“I know you’re in there, Andromon,” Kari pleaded, though Ken supposed it wasn’t so much a plea as a breathless insistence.

Andromon’s arm lowered, though Kari’s feet still hovered above the ground. Something was flickering in his eyes, almost like he was fighting himself. Was he… somehow fighting the Emperor’s control?

Another pause, and then finally, “…Kari?”

Kari’s smile returned, “Yes! Andromon!”

Finally, he set her back on the ground. The Dark Ring around his neck snapped in two, falling to the ground. It seems there were some further flaws in the Dark Rings, if an intense emotional reaction could shatter it. Or maybe it was just something about Kari, Digi Destined of Light.

That was something Ken could explore at a later date.

“Now,” TK began, “Let’s do something about that Dark Spire.”

Andromon looked at him, then towards the Dark Spire, looming in the center of the city. “Allow me to terminate the Dark Spire,” He turned towards the Spire, his chest opening to reveal many missiles. “Gattling Missiles!” They flew at the Dark Spire, destroying it into many pieces.

“That’s that taken care of,” Pegasusmon comments.

Turning his attention to the Guardromon, Andromon said, “I’ll reset the Guardromon’s programming. You kids head home.”

Their Digimon return to their Rookie forms, and Ken smiles. Mission accomplished, better than they’d planned, even. Kari and Gatomon were safe, and the Dark Spire was destroyed. This area was free of the Emperor’s control.

“Great work, everyone,” Kari smiled, “And… TK, Ken, thank you for coming for me.”

Smiling in return, TK replies, “You know I’d never leave you behind.”

It was obvious to Ken that TK and Kari were close. It was easy to tell even from early on, but now… it was smacking Ken straight in the face. He supposed that was what happened when you went on big adventures with people, especially as the only ones around the same.

Maybe he and Ryo could have been good friends like this, if Ryo hadn’t disappeared. The thought leaves a bitter taste in Ken’s mouth and an ache in the back of his neck.

Then he remembers he should probably say something, at least out of politeness. “I… wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“You’re shaping up to be more reliable than I’d at first thought,” Kari replied, “And I’m glad.”

Unable to help himself, Ken smiled, small but true, “That… I’m grateful.”

---

“He broke the Dark Ring,” The Emperor observed, annoyance obvious in his voice. “How the hell did he break it?”

“Well,” Sea Angel began, dryly, “the Dark Rings do seem to struggle with Digimon above Champion level. And Andromon is an Ultimate level Digimon.” He’d lean back, if there were anything to lean back on. But on Airdramon’s back, the only way to exist was either straddling its back or standing on it.

Airdramon hovered well above the city, watching events unfold beneath them. Somehow, Takaishi and Ichijouji had broke into the city to retrieve Kamiya. And it ended with them losing the city. What an annoyance.

“Stupid Takaishi,” The Emperor grumbles, “Trying to steal Kari away… and Ichijouji…” His face lit up, “Say, Angel… have I told you about the Ichijouji plan?” His smile was sly, nearly devious.

Sea Angel narrowed his eyes, “No,” He said slowly, “You haven’t.”

---

Ken gets back home and the smell of dinner leaks into his room from the kitchen. Immediately, this raised questions. Ken’s parents shouldn’t be home yet, so who was cooking dinner? He confirms that it should just be him and Sam by double checking the time.

That left… Sam, he supposed. Yes, that makes sense. Sam is cooking dinner for himself, something he is perfectly capable of doing. This shouldn’t feel so strange. No, instead, Ken would bask in the success of the day for a little bit, get some studying in, and then grab food for Minomon and himself once Sam was done. Nothing truly unusual.

“You’re really starting to get along with the others,” Minomon comments as Ken sets him on his bed.

“I’m glad they feel they can put some trust in me,” Ken replied. Teamwork worked best when the members could at least somewhat trust each other. Even Ken knew that.

Cheerfully, Minomon said, “One day, I think you’ll all be able to call each other friends!”

His limbs stiffened, unbidden, and Ken’s voice stuck in his through, for a moment. Once he can get any sound out, he responded, “I… we’ll see.” He doesn’t have the heart to strike down the idea entirely. Minomon would be sad. But Ken just couldn’t imagine the other Digi Desitned wanting to be his friend.

He sits down at his desk, turning off the computer for the time being. He’d get some studying in, until Sam was done cooking. He could use it, all the time in the Digital World had him falling behind where he wanted to be. Which wasn’t all that behind in class, but he tried to keep up a buffer for this exact reason.

After a while, there’s a knock at his door again. Ken doesn’t know why Sam is bothering him for a second time in one day, but he begrudgingly stands and makes his way to the door. “I’m studying,” He said as he opened the door.

Sam gave him a small, polite smile. “I made dinner.” He said, then added, “For both of us.”

“Why?” What, was he attempting to bribe Ken now, or something? Maybe their parents wanted to force Ken to sit around while Sam had one of his interviews again. They’d stopped doing that a couple years ago, but he wouldn’t put it past them to try to start doing that again, to rub Sam’s greatness in his face.

“I wanted to do something nice,” Sam answered, “Since mom and dad are out.”

He was just cooking anyway, Ken tells himself. That’s all. “Fine, alright.” As much as he didn’t want to, the idea of not having to cook for himself was tantalizing. He’d sneak leftovers for Minomon later.

The two of them sit at the table and eat in awkward silence. Occasionally, Sam tries to break up the silence by asking Ken questions, about his day, about school, about soccer, but Ken only gave short answers. He doesn’t know why Sam bothers with politeness, anymore. It’s better than anger, he supposed, but that was about it. Dinner can’t go fast enough.

Ken does his due diligence to help with dishes, and just before he’s able to retreat back to his room, there’s a knock at the apartment door. Sam sighed, probably figuring just as Ken was that it was some reporter or weirdo who had tracked down their address. That’s usually what it was. Being a famous genius, at least in Tamachi, had those kinds of disadvantages. Ken just hurries in putting away the dishes.

“Hello?” He hears Sam open the door, and Ken is just about ready to tune out the ensuing conversation for the next minute or so it took for him to finish and hide into his room.

But then he hears a familiar voice, one he seems to keep encountering, recently, “Hi, is Ken home?”

Ohwada.

Why does he know where Ken lives?

“Yeah…” Sam trailed off, confusion obvious in his voice. He looks back at Ken, face scrunched. Ken sets the plate he was about to put away down and walks towards the door. Unsurprisingly, Ohwada stood there, hands nonchalantly in the pockets of his jacket, a bag slung over his shoulder.

“Ohwada,” Ken greeted, though he hoped the other part, the question of “why are you here?” got across in the single word.

Ohwada just smiled, “We go to the same school,” He explained to Sam, then looked at Ken, “I was hoping you could help me with some homework.”

Sam’s face looked skeptical, but he stepped away from the door and went back to the dishes in the kitchen. At least he was minding his own business.

“Homework?” Ken raised an eyebrow.

Smile falling, Ohwada leaned in, saying in a hushed voice, “There’s something I want to talk to you about. In private.”

The logical part of Ken told him this was an awful idea. Another logical part told him that if Ohwada was going to try to hurt him, he wouldn’t do it in his own apartment, while his older brother was present. That would be plain stupid. But he’d admit, as strange and unsettling as Ohwada could be… Ken was curious.

“Okay,” He said, “I’ll help you with your ‘homework’.”

He stepped aside, letting Ohwada into the apartment. Ohwada gave a casual look around, but Ken paid it little mind.

Sam glanced towards them, “I’ll finish putting the dishes away,”

“We’ll be in my room.” With that, Ken led Ohwada to his room, shutting the door behind him. Minomon should be smart enough to either hide or pretend to be a stuffed animal or something.

Again, Ohwada took stock of the room, eyes roving across every little detail. It was almost unnerving, but Ken brushed it off. Then his eyes landed on Minomon, holding still on Ken’s bed. They held there, before moving away and back to Ken.

Ken turns to face him, “So what is this about?”

Pulling his hand out of his pocket, Ohwada holds his palm out, “I think we have something in common.”

In his open palm was a Digivice, like the older Digi Destined had, like Ken, Kari, and TK once had. Except, a chunk of it was missing from the top right corner, a crack webbing out from it across the screen.

“You’re… a Digi Destined?” Ken managed to say, somehow a struggle to get those words alone out.

Ohwada nodded, “Or I was, I guess. My partner’s dead.”

“Oh,” Ken’s throat felt tight. Even the thought of losing Minomon felt too awful to even consider.

Minomon hops up on his spot on the bed, “They weren’t reborn as a Digi Egg in Primary Village?”

Ohwada made a face, something like confusion, “…What?”

“When a Digimon dies, they’re often reborn as a Digi Egg in Primary Village, a special village in the Digital World,” Minomon explained. “Haven’t you looked?”

Shaking his head, Ohwada replied, “I… I’ve never been to the Digital World, actually. I know a friend who’s gone once, but… that’s it.”

“Another Digi Destined?” Ken asked.

“...Yeah, but he doesn’t live in Tamachi”

Something about all of this didn’t sit right with Ken. “How did you know I was one?”

There’s a pause, Ohwada seemed to be searching for an answer. Finally, he said, “I saw your Digimon there in your bag at the convivence store the other day.”

“And you’ve never been to the Digital World?”

“Never,” Ohwada insisted, “Do you think I’m lying to you?” There’s a sharpness in his voice. It felt… familiar. Too much about Ohwada felt familiar. Ice prickled at Ken’s neck.

Coldly, Ken replied, “Maybe I do. I definitely think you’re suspicious.”

In response, Ohwada raised his hands placatingly, cracked Digivice still in hand. “I’m sorry if I come off that way… I’m not exactly the greatest with people, either.”

“Who are you?” Ken asked, hoping in vain for some other, new, answer.

With a polite smile, Ohwada answered, “Lui Ohwada, the first Digi Destined.”

Ken finds himself speechless again.

“The first?” Minomon echoed, eyes wide.

“February 29th, 1996, an egg appeared on my family’s porch.” Ohwada added.

Quickly doing the math, Ken comments, “You’re younger than me,” Not as much as Cody was, but still. If he was a Digi Destined that long… “you would have been… three?”

“Four,” Ohwada quickly corrected.

“What happened to your partner, then?” Minomon asked, his head tilted in curiosity.

Quickly, Ohwada replied, “He’d dead. It doesn’t matter how.” It was sharp, something jagged underneath his attempts to remain polite.

“Why tell us all this?” Ken asked. What reason could there be? Especially out of the blue like this? And when he had no partner and had never been to the Digital World.

“I don’t know,” Ohwada shrugged, “it just felt… right.”

Narrowing his eyes at Ohwada, Ken tried to figure it out the truth in that. Somehow, he doubted it was so straightforward. Though he already knew the answer, on surface, he asked “Who are you.”

With a smile, Ohwada answered, “Lui Ohwada, the first Digi Destined.”

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6: Dangerous Picnic

The Digi Destined have a picnic, though like most things, it doesn't go according to plan.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/173916934

Kari, basket full of plates, utensils, and a couple blankets on her arm, stepped out of the Kamiya apartment, holding Gatomon in her arms. It was a nice day, hopefully the weather in the Digital World was just as nice, or else the picnic she and the others had planned wouldn’t be such a nice time. As she walked towards the elevator, a door opens, revealing Davis.

“Kari, hey!” He greeted, a not quite full smile on his face. Kari can’t recall the last time she saw a smile on him that didn’t seem fake. His eyes fall on Gatomon, first, “Oh, that’s a cute stuffed animal. I guess you’ve always been the kind to like cute things, looks familiar though…”

Could Davis had seen Gatomon around the school? Or somewhere else? But it did sound like he thought she was a stuffed animal, so he must not suspect her to be anything else. Just familiar. That didn’t mean much.

Returning the smile, certainly more genuine than Davis’, Kari said, “She was a gift from… a friend.”

Then Davis’ gaze fell to the basket, “You got plans today?” He asked.

“Some friends and I are going on a picnic,” She said, though as she spoke she felt bad. She wished she could have invited him, he really did deserve to have friendship, to do things with others. Even if he’d probably find an excuse. It used to be she could get him to do anything, it was no secret he used to have a crush on her, but then the accident happened and everything changed. Still, she wished she could do more.

“Today’s a good day for it,” Davis agreed, “Actually, I’m meeting up with a friend, too, but he doesn’t live here. He lives in Tamachi, so I don’t get to see him as much.”

Kari blinked, “Oh, Tamachi is a ways away from here,”

Davis nodded, “He used to live in Hikarigaoka, actually, but a year or so ago his parents passed so he moved in with his relatives over there.”

Maybe Davis still had someone, other than Tai and herself. She’d never heard of this other friend before, and while she wished he’d tell her more about himself… she was glad. He had a friend, someone he clearly seemed to be somewhat excited to spend time with. “I know someone over there, too. Not very well, because of the distance but…” She shook her head, this had nothing to do with Ken. “Well, I hope you have fun. If your friend ever comes over here to visit, you should introduce him to me.”

For a moment, Davis’ eyes widened, his smile falling, until it returned again, “Maybe I will. Usually I go to see him, though. Well, see ya!” Davis ducked back into the apartment, shutting the door gently.

Kari stared at the door for a moment, then began to walk again. Didn’t want to keep the others waiting, after all. They’d meet up outside the school, sneak into the computer lab together, and then enter the Digital World and find somewhere nice to have their picnic.

---

Ken listens to the clunk of the front door closing. Sam had an interview today, so he and their parents had just left. The whole thing would take hours, Ken was just glad he was old enough they left him behind instead of dragging him. Especially today.

The Digi Destined had invited him to a picnic with them in the Digital World. Ken had never really gone on a picnic before, certainly not with other kids his own age. He’d admit, some part of him was a bit excited by the prospect, but he squished it down so as to not get his hopes up. They could always change their mind, after all.

His family would ask questions if they noticed he was gone without leaving the front door, so he had to wait for them to leave, then they’d just think he left sometime after them. And as long as he got back before them… or at least they don’t notice he’d ever left at all, he’d be okay. It wasn’t the perfect plan, but he really doubted they’d realize he was gone, if they beat him home.

“Do people bring things when they’re invited to a picnic?” Minomon asked, sat on Ken’s desk. He tilted his head, about as sure about what to do as Ken was.

Ken considered that, “I… don’t know. But we probably should, just to be safe.” He picks up Minomon, setting him into a bag. “Let’s run to the convenience store and get something, food’s always good.”

Minomon nodded, “Alright! I’m sure you’ll pick something great.”

So Ken and Minomon set out for the convenience store. A few minutes later, they’re wandering the store, Ken feeling uncertainty sitting in his chest. What did you even bring to the picnic? Fruit? Candy? Junk food snacks? Water? He had absolutely no idea.

Something easy to split between people, definitely. So maybe some kind of snack, since he’d probably be especially late if he took the time to slice up fruit. Ken makes his way to where all the snacks were located, looking through the options. Candy seemed too sweet, and chips seemed a bit too unhealthy, not to mention it got your fingers all dirty.

His thoughts are cut off by a somewhat familiar voice, “Ichijouji, looking for something?”

Turning, Ken is faced with the boy he’d ran into a few days ago after school, Ohwada, he thinks his name was. “Um…” He began, unsure of how to respond.

Silently, Ohwada reached beside Ken, grabbing a couple bags of fruit snacks, “These are pretty good. My friend likes them too.”

“Right…” He responded, still not sure what all to say. He hadn’t been expecting anyone to recognize him, let alone bother talking to him.

Ohwada smiled, then looked him straight in the eye, “Have a nice picnic,” before he swiftly turned and left.

It took Ken a moment to realize what he’d said. How had Ohwada known that Ken was going to a picnic? There was nothing to give that indication. Was it dumb luck? Or something else? What else could it be?

“Ken?” Minomon called out quietly from the bag. “Is something wrong?”

That snapped Ken’s out of his thoughts, “It’s nothing,” It had to be. There wasn’t any way it could be something. He swipes a few packets of fruit snacks and then turns towards the counter, “Let’s get going.”

---

Mimi Tachikawa was so very cool. Effortlessly beautiful and amazing, so genuine in every moment. And to think, Yolei almost didn’t get to know her, if it weren’t for the Digital World.

She’d slipped into the school after them, intending to have a little walk of nostalgia on her sudden and surprise visit back to Japan. When she’d found them in the computer lab and Kari and TK confirmed she was one of their friends, they invited her to the Digital World. And now she had joined them on their picnic and was the shining light of the whole thing.

They’d found a nice spot, pretty and in a not too dense part of the forest. Most importantly, there wasn’t a Dark Spire in sight, so the area must not be under the Emperor’s control. That meant it was pretty darn safe, the perfect place for a picnic.

Yolei was a bit disappointed that Ken wasn’t there. They’d invited him, and he’d said he would be, but they’d been in the Digital World for a while, and sat down and having their picnic for several minutes, and there wasn’t a sign of him, or even an email. She’d been hoping to get to talk to him more, and she thinks that he’d like Mimi. Not that she was exactly sure how he felt about anyone…

For all that he was mysterious, brave, and cute, the mystery made it hard to figure out what he was thinking or feeling. She’d seen his worry for Wormmon, after Wormmon tried to fight RedVeggiemon, and he’d seemed to get angry at Sea Angel when they first encountered him, but beyond that, Yolei wasn’t sure what he thought of people. Did he even like any of them? She hoped so, and he did promise to try to keep in better contact with them, so obviously he didn’t hate them.

Maybe he was just running late. They hadn’t known where exactly in the Digital World they wanted to set up for their picnic, either, so he could just be trying to find them. Even with Shadramon being able to fly, it still took time to traverse the Digital World. Yes, he’s probably just running late.

“Your head is in the clouds, Yolei,” Hawkmon’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. He always seemed to know when she was getting lost in her own head. Yolei had come to a sort of understanding about Digimon partners, that they seemed to compliment their human partner wonderfully. Hawkmon kept her from getting all stuck in her head, Gatomon helped Kari with leading them.

Yolei smiled, “Don’t mind me, just thinking. Say, do you think Ken’s running late?”

TK considered that, “Could be. Maybe we should have planned to meet up with him before we started our picnic.”

“That’s your other friend, right?” Mimi asked, “The one with the Digi Egg of Courage.”

“He got the Digi Egg before any of us realized the Digital World was open again.” Kari answered Mimi, then turned her attention to Yolei, “He could have changed his mind and not be coming.”

That seemed unlikely, though, “He said he was going to,” Yolei frowned, “I hope he wouldn’t change his mind without saying anything.”

Mimi gave Yolei a reassuring smile, “I’m sure he’ll get here soon.”

With that kind of confidence, how could Yolei argue? Even if Ken didn’t make it, as disappointing as it would be, she could still enjoy the fun of this picnic. She didn’t bring all that food for nothing!

Armadillomon munched on some gourd rolls, clearly enjoying himself. Cody quietly reminds him not too eat too fast, which he seemed to heed, at least for the moment. Hawkmon gestured towards him, “Pass one to me, please,”

“You got it!” Somehow, Armadillomon manages to pick up a roll on his foot, then tossed it towards Hawkmon.

The roll flies past Hawkmon, landing on the ground behind him and rolling. Hopping to his feet, Hawkmon turned around to chase it. “Oh, come back here!”

Scrambling up, Yolei turned around and followed him, “Hey, Hawkmon!”

Behind her, she can hear Mimi call out, “Yolei, Hawkmon! Wait, don’t run off!”

After a few seconds of chasing, Hawkmon manages to scoop up the roll. Yolei catches up easily, “Great, now let’s head ba-“ the ground beneath their feet shifted.

“Yolei! Hawkmon!” Mimi’s voice came right up beside them.

“Wait, wait-!” Yolei tried to turn and tell Mimi not to get close, but before she could get the words out, the ground underneath them disappeared entirely. A trio of yells is their signal and down they fall.

---

“They should be nearby, according to the Digivice,” Ken commented, Wormmon cradled in one arm, his Digivice held in his other hand. “But why have a picnic here? Where there must be a Dark Spire…”

“Well, it’s not like we’ve seen one around here…” Wormmon replied, looking around.

That was true. Usually Dark Spire were hard to miss, big and black, often in great contrast to the rest of the world. “But we know there is one here, why else would you be forced out of being Stingmon?” Wormmon had wanted to be in his Champion form, and they’d both agreed it would be a pretty good way to get around and get to the rest of the Digi Destined. But he’d been forced out of it, and now they were on foot again.

Wormmon considered that, then answered, “Maybe none of the Digimon have tried Digivolving. Hawkmon and Armadillomon might not even be able to.”

Gatomon and Patamon should be able to, from what Ken had heard about the other Digi Destined it would make sense. But he’d never seen or heard of Hawkmon and Armadillomon being able to Digivolve any other way than Armor Digivolution, so maybe  they couldn’t. It wasn’t impossible that the other Digi Destined had been lured into a false sense of security, since they couldn’t see the Dark Spire.

“Yolei!” He heard Kari’s voice call out.

“Mimi!” Came TK’s.

“Hawkmon!” Came Cody’s.

That wasn’t a good sign. Ken sprints towards the voices, finding the three Digi Destined and their partners, searching around. “What’s going on?” He asked.

Kari paused a moment, turning to look at him. “Yolei, Hawkmon, and Mimi ran off, and now we can’t find them.”

Gatomon frowned, “They shouldn’t have gotten that far…”

“It’s possible that Digimon under the Emperor’s control found them,” Ken suggested, setting Wormmon down.

Armadillomon shook his head, “There’s no Dark Spire here.”

“If there wasn’t,” Wormmon bowed his head, antenna drooping as he thought about it, “I would still be in my Champion form.” He sounded a bit like he was pouting.

Patamon glides over, giving Wormmon a surprised look, “Wormmon, you can Digivolve?”

Head peeking up, Wormmon replied, “Of course, when I’m when Ken, I can become quite strong as Stingmon. More than I am like this, at least…”

“Let’s focus on finding the others,” Ken suggested, moving to join the other Digi Destined, “I think if we find them, we’ll find the Dark Spire.”

---

“Ugh,” Yolei rubbed her side, still recovering from the fall, “Great, where are we?” Above them was a single source of light, a seeming hole in the ceiling. Around them there was dense, dark forest.

“I don’t know,” Hawkmon said as he stood up, “But we’ve found a Dark Spire.” He points, bringing her attention to the offending object.

Mimi, standing up herself, glares at the Dark Spire, “So that’s what the Digimon Emperor has been putting all over.”

Finally, Yolei stands up, feeling a certain energy, “We’ll just have to destroy it, right Hawkmon?”

“Of course,” Hawkmon agreed.

They begin to walk through the forest, towards the tower. It was always getting to the Dark Spires that always felt like it took so long. Maybe it was because they were usually closing the distance on foot. Yolei figured that Hawkmon could Armor Digivolve into FlyBeemon and get there faster, but she wanted him to save his energy, in case something happened. The odds were, the Emperor would have someone protecting the Dark Spire, as that’s how it often seemed to be.

“Princess Mimi!” A chorus of voices cried out, immediately preceding a stampede of Digimon. A large group, all chanting out “Princess Mimi!”

“It’s the Otamamon and Gekomon!” Mimi observed, “They’re friends of mine.”

She takes a step towards the group of Digimon, before Hawkmon steps forward, holding an arm out to stop her. “They’re also under the control of the Digimon Emperor! Look, Dark Rings!” He gestured with his other arm at the Digimon.

“Oh,” Mimi said, surprised.

Yolei gives a quick tug on her wrist and then turns, “I think we should run.”

The Otamamon and Gekomon gain a sinister aura, and Mimi looked over to Yolei and nodded. “I think you’re right.”

The three turn around and run, the thumping of the Otamamon and Gekomon behind them keeping their motivation high. Hawkmon could probably deal with them if he Digivolve, but it would be better to play it safe. And one would think they could out run the Digimon. Although that was proving to be a bit difficult.

When vines suddenly wrapped around them, Yolei immediately began to struggle, recalling the incident with the Veggiemon. The last thing she needed was to be unable to reach her D-Terminal again, meaning that Hawkmon wouldn’t be able to Digivolve. Not when the Emperor’s Digimon were around. The vines pull them back behind some bushes, the thuds of the hoard of Digimon continuing on like they hadn’t seen it.

“Palmon!” Mimi cheered, the vines setting the three of them down gently. They belonged to a green Digimon with a flower on her head.

“Mimi!” Palmon cheered in response, “I knew you’d come and save me!”

Mimi blinked for a moment, sheepish, “Oh, well, we were here on a picnic… but I’m glad we were able to find you.”

Watching as Digi Destined and Digimon partner reunited, Yolei pulled out her D-Terminal. As cool as it would be for them to handle this on their own, she’d admit that it was probably going to be far more effective if they had the help of the others. She types out an email, planning to send it to Kari, only to realize part way through that the D-Terminal seemed to lack any connection. And if it was anything like a computer, it wouldn’t be able to send an email without connection.

So they were on their own here. Palmon wouldn’t be able to Digivolve until they got rid of the Dark Spire, which meant that would have to be her and Hawkmon’s responsibility. Hawkmon was the only one who would be able to Digivolve, so long as the Dark Spire stood.

---

“One of the Digi Destined has found the Dark Spire,” Sea Angel notes, looking over at the Emperor. He clicked and typed away at some computer, making faces all the while. That’s how it always was, when he “worked”. The Emperor wasn’t very good with computers, so how he managed to create things like the Dark Spires or Dark Rings was beyond Sea Angel’s understanding. It probably had to do with those emails, though, from that mysterious sender. The Emperor didn’t like when he asked about them, and Sea Angel didn’t think it mattered much.

The Emperor pauses for a moment, then leans back, “Ugh, they’re so nosy. The challenge was kind of fun at first, but now it’s kinda annoying.”

Sea Angel rolled his eyes, “We’ve got plenty of powerful Digimon, throw enough at them and they won’t stand a chance.”

“Sooner or later. The fun of this game is really wearing off…” The Emperor grumbled, “I mean, what’s the fun when you’re always losing?”

“Some game this is,” Sea Angel muttered. The way that the Emperor viewed this all as a game baffled him, it almost made him worry, in some ways. Worry that the Emperor maybe wasn’t keeping himself as grounded in reality as he should be. Sometimes it seemed fine, but here, in the Digital World… it was different. The Emperor was different. So maybe Sea Angel worried, a little.

Sometimes, he wondered if it would be kinder to just start threatening those Digi Destined physically, but Sea Angel didn’t think he could deal with five Digimon, either. Or four, if he struck when Ichijouji was separated from the others. Maybe that would be the plan, strike Ichijouji first, when it was just him and his stupid worm. It was obvious he didn’t quite have a place with the others, yet.

“Who is it who found the Spire?” The Emperor asked, his prior annoyance lessened a little.

“Inoue,” Sea Angel answered, filing his other thoughts away for later. “And one of the older Digi Destined, I think, but obviously her Digimon can’t Digivolve with the Spire there.”

The Emperor hummed, “Not Kari then, that’s good.” He drums his fingers on the keyboard, before beginning to type again. “How about those Roachmon? There’s two of them, and they’re pretty good at causing trouble.”

Trouble was a light way of putting it, Sea Angel thought the Roachmon brothers were more annoying than anything else. “I guess,” He answered, “As long as they can agree long enough to take out the Digimon.”

“Siblings never agree,” It sounds like it should be a joke, but the Emperor’s tone makes it anything but. Sour, maybe even morose. Sea Angel understands why, a near year old wound still jagged and bleeding. And while Sea Angel could take out his anger on those who had something to do with his pain, the Emperor could not. “but I think they should be able to pull it off.

“Speaking of brothers, that reminds me, what about Ichijouji?” Sea Angel would happily try to steer the subject somewhere more useful and well away from lingering memories.

The Emperor grinned, “I’m still working on that, so just keep up what you’ve been doing. I think we’ll be able to show him what the winning side is.”

---

Now joined by Palmon, Yolei, Mimi, and Hawkmon continue their trek towards the Dark Spire. Hopefully they could make it there before any other Digimon intercept them, but Yolei wouldn’t get too hopeful. Not enough to let her guard down, at least. Not until the Dark Spire was destroyed.

“We’ve got to be careful, there’s more than just those Otamamon and Gekomon around here,” Palmon said, looking around warily.

“Well, Hawkmon can always Armor Digivolve and deal with them, if it’s needed,” Yolei replied. It was also possible that they could use any enemy Digimon to damage the Dark Spire, too, as that had worked before with RedVeggiemon.

The trees above them rustle, Yolei’s reminded of a bird in a tree, or maybe a bug. Down falls two Digimon, then, resembling roaches. “There they are!” One said.

Hawkmon frowned, “Those are Roachmon, they’re brothers.” He said, “They have Dark Rings.”

“You know the orders,” The younger Roachmon said.

“We stop those Digi Destiend!” The older Roachmon finished.

Mimi takes a step towards the pair, “Or,” She began, “You could let us by?”

“No!” The two said.

The older Roachmon grumbled, “We have orders, y’know.”

“From the Emperor and Sea Angel,” The younger one adds. “You can go first.”

“No,” The older one countered, “You go first, you’re the youngest.”

“No you, you’re the oldest.”

Apparently, like all siblings seem to, these two like to bicker. Yolei hoped this would somehow be to their advantage. Maybe catch them while they’re off guard. Or maybe it would just keep them a bit more distracted than other Digimon might be.

“My, you’re such close brothers,” Mimi observed curiously.

“Of course we are!” The older Roachmon said.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“No, no,” Mimi insists, waving her hands, “I just think it’s nice.”

“I know!” The younger Roachmon said, “Let’s attack together!”

Nodding, the older one agrees, “That’s a great idea.”

“I think that’s our cue,” Hawkmon said.

Palmon nodded, “Let’s get out of here!”

The four turn and run, Mimi grabbing onto Yolei’s hand to keep them together. It was such a nice gesture – Yolei didn’t think any of her sisters would actually do that. It would be so cool if Mimi was her sister instead, she thinks Mimi would be a way better big sister than Momoe and Chizuru were.

Yolei stumbles for a moment, breaking her out of her thoughts. Right, running from the Roachmon.

“Yolei!” Hawkmon called, “Let’s Digivolve and fight them!”

Reaching into her pocket and pulling out her D-Terminal again, Yolei nodded, “Right! Digi Armor energize!”

“Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to…FlyBeemon! The Needles of Knowledge!”

Spinning on her heel, Yolei turns and leaps onto FlyBeemon’s back. Not quite as comfortable of a way of riding on a Digimon’s back as Nefertimon or Pegasusmon, but it was good enough. FlyBeemon would need his arms free to fight, after all.

“Electro-sting!” FlyBeemon pointed his tail towards the brothers, lightning arcing out from his stinger towards the Roachmon.

The two yelp, stopping their attack and splitting for a moment, before regrouping once the lightning was gone. The older Roachmon looked the younger one over, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, what about you?”

“Fine, now let’s show them!” The two nod at each other, then turns their attention back towards Yolei and FlyBeemon.

Together, they first speed towards FlyBeemon, chopping with their arms. FlyBeemon drops below them, avoiding their attack. Then they both kicked, which FlyBeemon dodged by moving to the side. With all these attacks, it was hard to get one of their own in.

“Yolei! FlyBeemon!” Mimi called out from the ground, “If you can get them to attack the Dark Spire…!”

Of course! FlyBeemon seemed to understand, too, swiftly flying over so that they were located between the Dark Spire and the Roachmon. A smarter Digimon might be careful about attacking in that direction, but it was clear that, for all this sibling niceties, the Roachmon were not the brightest.

The Roachmon push themselves together and throw themselves at FlyBeemon and Yolei. At the last moment, FlyBeemon drops, letting the two soar past them and go crashing into the Dark Spire. A familiar crack echoes through the dense forest, hopefully that would be enough.

Palmon cheered from the ground, “Yay! Now let’s Digivolve, Mimi!”

Mimi nodded, raising her Digivice, “Let’s show them what we can do!”

“Palmon Digivolve to… Togemon!” Togemon was a large cactus Digimon, with bright red boxing gloves on her hands.

Even with the Dark Spire damage, it was still plenty for the Roachmon brothers to still be under the Emperor’s control. They’d have to break the Dark Rings to put a stop to that. Not that Yolei thought that would be difficult, now.

“Electro-sting!” This time, FlyBeemon beats his wings rapidly, sending out a net of electricity towards the Roachmon.

“Needle Spray!” Togemon spun, launching needles from her body.

The two attacks strike the Roachmon, shattering their Dark Rings. The two looked around, seeming confused for a moment. Togemon’s attack had the bonus effect of also toppling the Dark Spire, sending it crashing to the ground.

“Hey, why are we wasting our time here?” The younger one asked.

“Let’s get out of here.” The older one suggested. The younger seemed to agree and the two flew off.

FlyBeemon landed on the ground, beside Togemon and Mimi. Yolei grinned as she slid off, cheering, “We did it!”

Mimi nodded, “Now let’s find a way back to the others.”

“I can fly us back up,” FlyBeemon said, “Nothing to keep us down here still, after all.”

“I’m going to stay here,” Togemon said, “To protect this area from the Digimon Emperor.”

Smiling, Mimi replied, “I’m sure you’ll do wonderful.”

She and Yolei get on FlyBeemon and he takes them up, back to the hole made by the initial fall.

---

“I wouldn’t call the Roachmon brothers the most reliable,” Sea Angel said, trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject of their obvious failure.

The Emperor groaned, “Ugh! Of course they couldn’t stop one Digimon. What do I even pay these guys for?”

Sea Angel rolled his eyes, “You don’t pay them. Technically, the Dark Rings are enslavement.” A fate he generally thought was excessive, but with the Digimon, that was a different story.

“Yeah, yeah,” The Emperor groused, “I’ll come up with something better next time.” He stands, stretching.

For not the first time, Sea Angel is struck by the reminder that the efficiency of the Emperor’s empire truly only came along when Sea Angel himself had gotten involved. Before, it was slow, and Emperor wasn’t quite willing to commit to everything. It was Sea Angel who had sped up the takeover of the Digital World, going out instead of the Emperor to take over areas. He had no qualms putting himself in the crossfire of disgruntled and rebellious Digimon, either.

The Emperor approached it all with such a casual manner. It was all a game, to him, a game where he was supposed to win. But it wasn’t like one of his soccer games, either, as he wasn’t so competitive. Now that there were opponents that could actually challenge him though… Sea Angel wouldn’t be surprised if some things changed.

“Let’s head home for the day,” The Emperor said, shooting Sea Angel a grin, “I’m over at your place anyway, you can show me that ice cream place you like.”

Sea Angel blinked, then nodded, “Of course, just remember you have to get home before your parents begin to worry.”

The easy-going grin faltered, for a moment, before coming back again. “It’ll be fine.” He said.

Also not for the first time, Sea Angel is struck with this strange feeling, some acknowledgement of their youth. They were only kids, they should be enjoying their lives, their days off from school, all the things kids had and enjoyed. Not this. Not protecting other kids from monsters. Not ensuring those monsters can’t hurt others.

“What’s ice cream?” Asked that annoying rabbit Digimon, Lunamon.

“It’s this cold sweet food,” Veemon replied, sounding like he was imagining ice cream. “It’s soooo good!”

The Emperor paused, shooting a glare their way, “Well you’re not getting any.” Then he continued walking away.

Served them right, Sea Angel held no particular care for either Digimon. Or any Digimon, for that matter.

---

“Hey guys!” Yolei called, catching everyone’s attention. She and another girl, who Ken assumed was Mimi, were held in FlyBeemon’s arms. She waved at them.

“Yolei! Mimi!” TK called, “You two are okay!”

FlyBeemon lands, setting Yolei and Mimi down before he returns to being Hawkmon. Grinning, Yolei replies, “We had a bit of a run in with the Emperor’s Digimon, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

“So there was a Dark Spire,” Cody observed.

Wormmon huffed, his antenna perking up in annoyance in a manner Ken couldn’t help but find somewhat cute, “As if I’d make up not being able to Digivolve!”

Yolei blinked, “Huh?” She then scooped Wormmon up, looking at him closely, “Wait, Wormmon, can you Digivolve without a Digi Egg?”

Startled by being picked up by Yolei, Wormmon called out, “Ken! Ken!” as she rotated him around and inspected him.

“Um, Yolei!” Ken called, approaching her, “I’m, um, glad you’re okay. And I’m sorry about being late to the picnic…” Which he at this point pretty much missed entirely. He couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed at that.

“Oh, thanks. You’ll just have to show up on time, next time,” She grinned, providing little push back when Ken gently takes Wormmon from her.

With Wormmon perched in one arm, he reached into his bag and pulled out the bags of fruit snacks he’d gotten earlier. “I, uh, got these for the picnic, for you guys.” Despite telling himself this was normal and there was nothing to be embarrassed about, Ken’s face felt a bit hot. He hoped he wasn’t too red.

Smiling, Yolei takes the bags from him, “Wow, thanks Ken!” She takes the initiative to divvy out the fruit snacks between the Digi Destined and their partners. Ken couldn’t help but smile, Yolei, for all her boisterous personality, was nice.

Mimi approaches him, all smiles, “So you’re Ken? It’s great to finally meet you!”

Ken blinked, unsure, once more, what to say. But manners were something he knew well, at least, “It’s nice to meet you too. Kari and TK were telling me about you while we searched.”

“It’s a shame the picnic got cancelled early because of all of this,” She sighed.

“I think it’ll be… hard to be in the Digital World and be entirely safe, as long as the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel are around.” Goodness knows he and Wormmon ran into enough trouble when they were here on their own. Some places were protected enough, unlikely to easily fall to the Emperor and his forces again, but you couldn’t rule out stumbling into an area under their control. Or a Digimon that simply isn’t that fond of others.

Her gaze fell to Wormmon, “So this cutey can Digivolve, huh?” She reached out and pinched Wormmon’s cheeks.

“No!” Wormmon cried, “My face!”

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 5)

Chapter 5: Old Reliable

While Ken tries to uncover secrets of the Dark Spire, the other Digi Destined, join by Joe, go to help Gomamon.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/173761339

Tamachi elementary felt as drab as ever, or maybe Ken just saw no excitement at school, anymore. He’s not sure he has in a long time, not since he had just started and realized that his grades would never have been as good as Sam’s and so their parents wouldn’t have cared. At this point, he was well past caring about it.

Instead, he did his best to hurry out, so he could get home sooner and go to the Digital World sooner too.

Turning a corner, he skids to an abrupt stop, keeping himself from running into another boy. He gives a quick apology, but the boy’s expression remained neutral, which gave Ken pause. Usually, people were surprised, or sometimes even annoyed or angry, when someone nearly runs into them.

The boy studies him. He has messy lavender hair, and though his bangs partially obscured his right eye, it was pulled back enough that Ken could see he wore an eyepatch over that eye. The eye he could see, a dark blue or greyish color, raked over Ken, like he was trying to pry some hidden secret out of him.

Finally, the other boy said, “You play soccer, don’t you?”

Ken blinked, surprised. It was an odd observation, he doesn’t think he’s really seen this boy before, judging by his height, a fair bit shorter than Ken, so probably younger and definitely in a different class. Nor does he think he’s seen him watching at practice, either. Maybe he’d caught a passing glance, though, and simply managed to remember Ken, perhaps for his resemblance to his own brother.

“I do,” Ken finally answered, trying his best to hide his confusion with politeness.

Tilting his head and shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets, the boy replied, “Thought I saw you, the other day. I’ve got a friend at another school who plays and asked me to ‘scope out the competition’.” He then shrugged, “Whatever that means.”

“Maybe look elsewhere,” Ken said, “There are players I’m sure he’d rather know more about.”

“Maybe,” The boy agreed, “Ichijouji, right?”

Again, surprised, Ken blinked before nodding, “Yes,” he probably heard someone say it, or knew it because of Sam. There wasn’t anything that unusual about it.

“Lui Ohwada,” The boy gives a terribly fake smile, before flipping his hood up and turning around. “I think I’ll keep an eye on you.” He adds, then keeps walking down the hall, towards the exit.

He leaves Ken there, confused. Why would he care about Ken? Or was he just trying to get to him? Shaking the confusion away, he remembers his previous hurry and restarts his journey home.

---

The Dark Spires were a piece of work, Ken decides, and whoever the Digimon Emperor was, he must have been some kind of genius. Of course, his attempts to figure out how they work weren’t exactly in the most efficient manner. He didn’t have any kind of portable computer, so the best he could do was try to use his D-Terminal as a makeshift handheld computer and take notes. What data he could gather he could look into more at home, on his computer.

He and Wormmon had come back to the Gotsumon village several times since they’d broken the Dark Spire, trying to figure out any of the Spire’s secrets. His progress was slow, but with the others mostly focused on freeing Digimon from Dark Rings and breaking Dark Spires elsewhere, he didn’t feel too guilty using his time to study it. It could help them better get rid of the towers in the future, and they hadn’t seemed in need of his help recently, anyway. There was still four of them, all able to Digivolve.

Truthfully, working on his own was just easier for him, anyway. He didn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing or not being good enough. If he did, there was no one around to care. He knew Wormmon wouldn’t judge him like that. Wormmon wasn’t like that.

“You always work so hard, Ken,” Wormmon said from his place beside Ken. “Maybe some of the others could help you?”

Ken didn’t work nearly as hard as Sam. Sam spent pretty much every waking moment in school, studying, or playing soccer. Ken didn’t do that, even before he had the Digital World dividing his attention. He got good enough grades in school and he studied when he needed to, but he spent plenty of time on his computer, when he wasn’t at his soccer practice.

The computer had always been a gateway for him, to things far more interesting and amazing than himself. At first, it was through the things Sam showed him, games he was allowed to play when Sam was gone or too busy to play with him but not using the computer. Then it was the Digital World, though that was a short-lived sensation. Still, just knowing what laid on the other side of the screen was enough to pique his interest. And now the Digital World was back in his life again, and what things he knew how to do with his computer seemed more and more relevant.

It's not even that he didn’t think the other Digi Destined had any of those skills, he’s sure they had plenty. Because of that, he doubts they need his help, specifically. He probably wasn’t doing anything they hadn’t already done, which he supposed made the whole effort pointless.

“I’m sure they have other things they could be doing,” He answered. “And anyway, you know me, I… prefer it to just be me and you.”

Wormmon frowned, “Oh…” His antennas drooped, just a little, “But don’t you miss…?”

For a moment, Wormmon’s unfinished question calls to mind his first adventure into the Digital World. The Digimon who’d joined Ken to try to fix the Digital World and defeat Milleniumon. He’d enjoyed those times, being relied upon for something important. Being special, being the one who could help Ryo save the day. He missed Ryo too, but tried to think less of that, the uncertainty constantly nagging at him. If only he hadn’t gotten sick…

He shook his head, before remembering how that might look to Wormmon, who still stared up at him, “I do, but… things have changed,” He chose to say, looking down at Wormmon and stroking his back, “And I’m happy just to have you at my side again.”

A blush spread across Wormmon’s face as his eyes closed happily, “Ken! I’m so happy to be your partner again!”

---

To: Kari Kamiya

From: Joe Kido

Subject: Gomamon’s in Trouble!

Dear Kari,

I’ll meet you guys at the computer lab after school, because I got a message from Gomamon and he’s in trouble! We’ve got to go save him, before something terrible happens to him.

See you soon,

Joe Kido

The email had come in while Kari was in the middle of class, so she was only able to sneak out her D-Terminal to read it afterwards. Despite Joe’s clear attempt to remain somewhat proper in the email, his urgency and concern was evident. Looking over at TK, she says, “We’re meeting Joe in the computer lab.”

“That’s not good news,” TK replied, knowing just as well as her that something this sudden from Joe, who was always very busy and scheduled his free time, had to mean something had happened, even without the email.

From the other side of TK, Davis looks over at them and pouts, “You two are always spending so much time in that computer lab,” he said, “I didn’t take either of you for computer nerds.”

“We’re… helping Yolei,” TK told him, though Kari isn’t entirely sure that would dissuade Davis. He could be very stubborn, when he wanted to be, it always caused him to fight with his sister, before.

“Yolei?” Davis tilted his head, before smacking his fist into his open palm in recognition. “Oh, Inoue! I used to see her sister around, before…” Immediately, his expression soured, “Well, whatever. Guess she’s into computers, but you guys know there are other cool things to do.”

Kari laughed a little, “Tai and I still go to your soccer games all the time, Davis,” It was always a relief to just know that he was still playing. She couldn’t help but worry about him, the past couple of years.

Davis blinked, then looked away, “I know, I know. Guess I just miss hanging out as much.”

That wasn’t exactly a surprise to hear, but it certainly felt strange for Davis to say it out loud. She and Tai had always tried to stick with him, make sure he at least had someone willing to stay by his side, even when things were bad. Because they were friends and Davis has gone through a time where he really needed support. Except, during that time, he’d pushed them away, refused their attempts to help in anyway.

Mimi said she thought it was just a part of his grieving process, but Kari wished it wasn’t.

Still, some part of her was excited that he felt this way. That he’d missed spending time with them, when he was the one who had started turning them down. Unable to help herself, Kari smiled, “I’ll make sure to tell Tai.”

With a big grin, Davis gathers up his stuff and leaves, though Kari would admit something about his smile felt a bit… off. “See ya!” She decides she’s probably over thinking it, because Davis was always too earnest to ever lie or hide things.

Joe is already waiting for them at the computer lab. Kari and TK arrive first, but it didn’t take Yolei and Cody long to catch up, a bag from I-Mart on Yolei’s arm. Unsurprisingly, Upamon, Poromon, Patamon, and even Gatomon run up and are ready to get into the food. In Training Digimon are always so hungry, but even Gatomon and Patamon get hungry when they’ve been in the human world long enough.

Cody’s gaze makes its way to Joe, “You’re one of the other Digi Destined?” He asked.

Joe nods, “My partner, Gomamon, is in trouble.”

“We’ll show the Emperor’s lackies – Sea Angel too, if he’s there – what happens when you mess with the Digi Destined!” Yolei proclaims, then adds, “And maybe Ken will be there to help, too.”

“He’s usually pretty good about showing up when we need the extra hand,” TK said, “kind of wish he was better at communicating with us, though.”

Kari understood that, Ken’s tendency towards radio silence did make it more difficult. And still, Kari wasn’t entirely sure what to make of him. TK was right that he was good about showing up when they needed his help, but they still didn’t know a whole lot about him and it didn’t really feel like he had much interest in getting to know him. There was still a lot they didn’t know, no matter how much she really just wanted to trust him.

Still, it wasn’t like having a loner in the group was that unusual… “He’ll come around, after all, Matt did.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” TK agreed, not sounding particularly like he felt one way or another on the matter.

Kari turns her attention to the computer, “Now that we’re all here, we should head in. Remember, this is still the Emperor’s territory, so keep an eye out.”

Grinning, Yolei gave a thumbs up, “You got it.”

They’re deposited in the cold and Kari starts to regret not bringing a coat. The whole place is cold, ice and snow on the ground and even more snow falling from the sky. It does make sense that Gomamon would be here, though, as this was certainly his preferred habitat.

As they all detangle themselves from each other, Joe began to call out, “Gomamon! Gomamon!” He looks around, before getting to his knees and digging through the snow, pulling out an injured Gomamon. “Gomamon!”

Blearily, Gomamon opened his eyes, “Joe?”

“Thank goodness, how are you feeling? What hurts?” As he asked that, Gomamon laid on his lap, Joe began to dig through his bag. It seems he was as prepared as always.

“Uh… well there’s two of you…” Gomamon squints at Joe, “And… I think most of me hurts.”

Joe examines Gomamon, muttering to himself, “Hopefully you’re not concussed. Wait, can Digimon get concussed?” Then he asks more loudly, “What happened to you? Was it a Digimon?”

Gomamon paused, then answered, “It was that Sea Angel! He had a baseball bat and he convinced all the Digimon to beat me up when I tried to stop him!”

That was about the sort of thing Kari had expected to hear. Most of the problems they’d encountered in the Digital World were because of the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel. They were still the main threat to the Digital World, even if they were strangely human in comparison to the threats presented in their previous adventure.

“Well, we knew there was a Dark Tower around here,” TK said, “So it seems we just have more reason to break it down.”

Yolei nodded, “Then Gomamon could Digivolve and help us show Sea Angel what he’s messing with! Again!”

They’d been able to defeat Sea Angel before, but he’d clearly been expecting them to put up less of a fight, and given the Dark Rings, it seemed likely any fight they had with him this time would be against different Digimon. He had the upper hand, in that regard, as he could try to plan around their Digimon. Having help from other Digimon that Sea Angel hadn’t faced, even if it was just one, could be an advantage. Of course, to get that far they’d still have to get to the Dark Tower and destroy it.

It was easy to see, as this segment of the Digital World opened up onto frozen ocean, allowing a wide area of view. The Dark Spire, even in the low lighting of this area, stood out like a sore thumb, rising into the sky. But such a wide open area also meant they were sitting ducks for any Digimon that might see them, and given those Digimon were almost certainly under the Emperor’s control… No cover would make things more difficult, but not impossible, especially if they’re careful.

“Yeah!” Gomamon cheered, “We’ll show ‘em, right Joe?”

“Once we get there, at least.” Joe agreed, though with notably less enthusiasm.

Cody rubbed his hands against his arms, quietly shivering. While none of them were really dressed for the cold, Cody was the smallest of them. Truthfully, Kari’s own arms felt the cold of the snow and ice, she regretted not bringing a coat, but the weather in the real world had been much warmer.

Joe, taking notice, pulls the bag off his shoulder, “Here, I’ve got some hand warmers here,” he rummages around, before passing the hand warmers out. “And some spare gloves and some hats…”

“Geeze, you sure do come prepared,” Yolei said, taking the offered hand warmers, but ignoring the gloves and hats, likely due to the fact she already wore some.

Kari smiled, slipping on a pair of proper gloves and pulling a hat on. That alone was better than what she was already wearing. “That’s Joe for you,”

“Always reliable,” TK adds, pulling his own hat down further, as if to make it cover his ears more.

With a little more cold weather preparation, the Digi Destined set out, walking across the snow and ice. There was a certain tenseness – Yolei and Cody had spent enough time in the Digital World to know it can be dangerous, know to be wary. Especially with the Emperor and Sea Angel in control of this area, they had to be careful. Kari wished, one day, they wouldn’t have to be so cautious in the Digital World.

---

Ken stared at his D-Terminal, like it could somehow get it to give him answers. To explain anything. About the Dark Spires, about the Digimon Emperor, about Sea Angel… The screen remained the same. He knew it couldn’t really do much about the data he got off the tower, no matter how much he wished it to be different, not with the D-Terminal at least. Maybe he should just head home and look through the data there. Not that it had gotten him anywhere so far.

If only he was smart, like Sam. Or at least good with computers, like Ryo.

“Ken,” Wormmon’s voice called out, prompting Ken to look away from his D-Terminal and down at him. He’d been curled up on Ken’s discarded jacket, the picture of caterpillar comfort, now looking up at Ken with those big, sincere eyes. “You should take a break, you’ve been working so hard for so long.”

Setting his D-Terminal in his lap, Ken considered that. It had been… at least a couple hours, and despite his best efforts, he felt like he made no progress. Maybe Wormmon was right, he usually was about these sort of things. Nodding to himself, Ken stands, which causes Wormmon to also get up, moving off of his jacket.

Pulling the jacket back on and slipping his D-Terminal in his pocket, “How about a walk? This part of the Digital World is free from the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel, so… we can enjoy it, for a little while.”

Wormmon smiled, “That sounds wonderful!”

---

The Digi Destined walked in relative silence, only broken up by the crunching of their steps on the snow and ice. The tension hadn’t faded as they walked, if anything, they were probably more on edge.

In front of them, ice creaked, groaning like it strained against something. They stop, watching the space in front of them carefully. The last thing they wanted was for someone to fall into the ice, and they had no way of knowing if the creaking was natural or not.

Bursting from the ice, a shattering, cracking sound announcing its arrival, came Shellmon, sending shards of ice and near freezing cold water all around it. They all scrambled, in a bid to avoid the water, save for Cody who quickly slid and fell, the fall at least softened by the snow.

Kari winced for him, but knew there wasn’t time to waste, especially with Shellmon so close, “Gatomon!”

Gatomon nodded, already in stance for a fight, “Ready when you are!”

Pulling out her D-Terminal, Kari holds it up, “Digi Armor energize!”

“Gatomon Armor Digivolve to… Nefertimon! The Angel of Light!” Nefertimon wasted no time in attacking Shellmon, in an attempt to drive it away from Cody, who was still pulling himself up.

Hurrying over to Cody, Joe pulled him up, Gomamon and Armadillomon at their feet. From there, TK and Yolei move in front of the two, raising their own D-Terminals. “Digi Armor energize!”

“Patamon Armor Digivolve to… Pegasusmon! Flying Hope!”

“Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to…Flybeemon! The Needles of Knowledge!”

Nefertimon launched her Rosetta Stone at Shellmon, giving Flybeemon an opportunity to swoop in, jabbing at Shellmon with his stingers. Pegasusmon stays back, at first, letting the two move away from Shellmon before attacking with his Equis Beam.

Shellmon shirks back, lowering somewhat back into the water. Nefertimon and Pegasusmon fly by, attacking once more and causing it to fully retreat back into the water. The three Digimon land as Kari rejoins the other Digi Destined.

After watching the hole in the ice for a moment, Nefertimon said, “I think we drove it off, but the Sea Angel definitely knows we’re here, now.”

“We’ll just have to work fast, then,” TK said, fixing his gaze on the Dark Tower in the distance, “Get to the tower and destroy it.”

Cody, wet from the spray from Shellmon’s entrance, shivered. Joe frowned, “We need to find somewhere to start a fire and dry Cody out, or else he could get hypothermia.” He rests one hand on Cody’s shoulder, while the other digs around his bag, “I have some matches in here, but we’ll still need fuel and preferably someplace a bit more sheltered from the weather.”

“There’s that cave over there,” Yolei pointed, directing their sights towards an opening in the icy walls that surrounded the water. It appeared to be a regular cave, the rock around it simply covered in ice. That would hopefully be enough shelter.

---

“Have you been keeping an eye out for any emails from the other Digi Destined?” Wormmon asked, slowly scuttling down a path in the woods outside of the Gotsumon village. Normally, Ken would walk faster, but he wanted to match Wormmon’s pace, so he moved at a slower pace. He didn’t mind, not for Wormmon, at least.

“Oh,” Ken frowned, realizing he really hadn’t been paying it much mind, like usual. “Not really.” He admitted.

Wormmon paused, looking up at him once more, “You should check, then. That way you can know if they need your help.”

Ken really doubted that the other Digi Destined would ever really need his help, but he’d check his D-Terminal, to appease Wormmon, if nothing else. The other Digi Destined were more than competent enough to handle themselves, and he and Wormmon only added another fighter to the situation. But Wormmon was… well, he’d hate to say it, but it was no secret Wormmon was weak. With Ken, at least, he could Digivolve, become stronger than he was on his own.

The Digi Egg of Courage helped, yes, though some part of Ken wished it had been Kindness, like his old Crest, instead of a virtue which belonged to someone as amazing as Tai Kamiya and his partner Agumon. Though Ken had limited interaction with the two, Ryo spoke well of them, and he’d seen what WarGreymon was able to become with MetalGarurumon, through the power of their partners. Ken would never forget the wonder of Omegamon, even if how two Digimon could fuse together like that was some power beyond both Ken and Ryo’s understanding.

Maybe that was something to add to the list of things to ask Gennai, whenever Ken could bring himself to go to the old man to ask anything. The list seemed to only get longer and longer, but Ken supposed that was how lists of questions tended to go, when you don’t end up asking those questions in the meantime.

The D-Terminal’s email program showed he had a few emails, making something in him twinge with a bit of guilt. He didn’t mean to ignore them or miss when they sent him an email… he just… it was new. That’s why he’d noticed Veemon’s email so easily, because he didn’t really email people. Most of the emails were a couple days old, at the most. Here and there – Tai inviting him to play soccer with him and some friends (Ken couldn’t take that long of a trip out, surely someone would notice he was gone and realize that he didn’t have an excuse, and Ken had no friends), Yolei reminding him to stop by I-Mart if he was in Odaiba, Izzy asking about the portal to the Digital World he used and if he could come by and look at it (the idea of having someone over gave Ken a funny feeling, he considers it some kind of unease). Then lastly, the most recent email, from Kari, today.

To: Ken Ichijouji

From: Kari Kamiya

Subject: Going to the Digital World

Hello,

I know it’s a little harder to coordinate with you, and I suspect you don’t check your emails much, but I wanted to let you know we’re heading into the Digital World after school today. Joe got a message from Gomamon asking for help, so we’re going to head to where he is.

Sincerely,

Kari Kamiya

Attached to the email were coordinates – one of the colder places in the Digital World, Ken recalled. In a place like that, probably with Digimon of a more ice and water inclination, having Shadramon’s flames would probably be useful. No wonder Kari had emailed him, it made sense that having him, or Shadramon, rather, would be useful. They could probably handle it without him, but at times like these, with threats to the Digital World… it was better not to take that chance.

Looking away from his D-Terminal, he looks back down at Wormmon, who had been watching him. Wormmon tilted his head, “Any emails, Ken?”

“Yeah,” Ken nodded, picking Wormmon up, “Hope you don’t mind the cold too much.”

“Oh,” Wormmon frown, “The cold’s so… cold.”

---

They’d managed to get a pretty good fire going, Cody near it as Joe did his best to help him dry off, wrapping a small blanket he’d brought around Cody to help keep him warm. Between the fire and the supplies Joe brought, Kari wasn’t too worried about Cody, but she was worried about time.

“It’ll take a while for Cody to dry,” She said, glancing outside the cave. They couldn’t stay in the Digital World all day, and the longer they took, the longer the Digimon Emperor had control over these Digimon.

Joe looked between them and Cody, “You guys should head out to try to destroy the Dark Tower. I can stay here with Cody, Gomamon and I won’t be much help, anyway.” At his words, Cody seemed to shrink on himself a little.

“Are you sure?” TK asked. With Cody there, they’d at least be protected, as Armadillomon can Armor Digivolve.

“We’ll be fine, and we can catch up with you once Cody’s dried off more. By then, hopefully you’ll have destroyed the Dark Tower.” Joe assured.

Kari smiled, “You should be safe here, we’ll try to be quick.” Splitting up wasn’t the worst idea, but it always made her uneasy. Still, this cave was out of the way and there was only one way in and out. Even if a Digimon burrowed through the walls, they’d know before it got to them.

So the three of them and their partners make a quick sled out of some extra wood. With some makeshift rope, their partners Armor Digivolve and begin to pull the sled. That would be the quickest way to the Dark Spire.

---

Cody watched the fire intently, as the flames danced, casting light in the otherwise dark cave. He was less cold now, at least, his clothes much dryer than they were when they’d first gotten into the cave. Joe sat beside him, rummaging through his bag of supplies, while Armadillomon sat on his other side, curled up. Some part of Cody always admired Armadillomon’s ability to curl up like that, it looked rather comfortable.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit useless, though. If he hadn’t slipped, he and Joe could be with the others, and he could be helping them. Or Pteranomon could, at least. Not that he didn’t think that they couldn’t handle it without him, but… he knew he could contribute, and if there was a chance of Sea Angel showing up, who knew what he had in store.

Silence was filled with the crackle of the fire, Cody wonders if maybe he should say something. But he doesn’t know what he should say, and he doesn’t think filling the air with nothing is good, either. It wouldn’t change anything about the situation.

Looking around the cave, Cody’s eyes land on Joe’s bag and he finally knows what to say. “You’re very prepared,”

Joe turned to look at him with an awkward smile, “Well, since Gomamon can’t Digivolve until the Dark Spire is destroyed, I figured it would be good to help in other ways.”

It was a sensible enough reason, so Cody nods, and before he even realized it said, “I wish I could be more helpful right now.”

“You’re doing plenty, it’s important to take care of ourselves,” Joe told him, doing his best to make his smile reassuring. “And you are doing something, the others are trusting you and Armadillomon to keep us safe if something happens. Gomamon and I have to rely on you guys a lot right now.”

Cody considered that, turning Joe’s words around in his head. Being the youngest in the group, it was hard to feel like he was doing as much as the others. It was harder still to feel like he was anywhere near their equal, due to his younger age and smaller stature. He did his best to prove himself, but it sometimes it felt like it wasn’t enough.

But Joe was right, they were trusting him and Armadillomon to protect Joe and Gomamon if something happened and they were attacked. And he did feel that they weren’t trying to look down on him or anything, he supposed it was hard to view younger children the same way you did ones closer to your own age. He didn’t think they thought much less of him, because of his age, he just sometimes felt they forgot he could contribute as much as them.

He liked being trusted like this, and he liked that Joe seemed to trust him and Armadillomon to protect them, if that was needed. He didn’t know Joe very well, this was their first time meeting and either of them would have known about the other was from other Digi Destined. Despite that, Joe was willing to trust him, and maybe that was because the others did, and he trusted them. Or Kari and TK, at least.

Cody shrugged the blanket off his shoulders, feeling warm enough. His clothes were much drier than they’d been before, barely even damp in a few spots. Trying to catch up with the others wouldn’t be worth the trouble, but they could go keep an eye out for the Dark Spire falling. Once Gomamon could Digivolve, they could probably catch up fairly quickly.

“Have you dried off?” Joe asked, watching Cody.

Nodding, Cody replied, “I’m much warmer, too.”

There’s a cracking sound from outside, like the ice from before. Cody and Armadillomon jump to their feet, Joe soon to follow. Silently, they creep towards the entrance of the cave, only for the ice of the frozen lake not far from it to burst open again, revealing the return of Shellmon. This time, they were at least far enough away they didn’t run the risk of getting wet.

“It’s Shellmon again!” Joe said, Gomamon moving to stand in front of him.

Armadillomon narrowed his eyes, “I reckon we’ll have to chase off or free Shellmon if we want to get out of here.”

Nodding, Cody pulled out his D-Terminal, “Then let’s Digivolve and try to break the Dark Ring on him. Digi Armor energize!”

“Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to… Pteranomon! The Wings of Love!”

Surging forward, out of the cave, Pteranomon flew towards Shellmon, then circled around, searching for the Dark Ring. There was one wrapped around Shellmon’s tentacle, which Pteranomon quickly honed in on. From his wings, he launched missiles, aimed at the ring. The ring shattered, prompting Shellmon to look around confused, for a moment, before ducking back into the water.

Pteranomon flies back toward them, landing on the ground. “Climb on, you three, we’ll catch up with the others in no time.”

Joe scoops up Gomamon, “Don’t worry, Gomamon, I’ll make sure you stay on.” He waits for Cody to get onto Pteranomon’s back, then follows suit, Gomamon still in his arms.

---

“Rosetta Stone!” Nefertimon’s attack flies past Ebidramon and towards the Dark Spire. The Spire cracked further, spreading from the ones they’d already made before Ebidramon appeared. Then, with an even loud crack, the Dark Spire falls, crashing into the snow and ice, then falling into the water beneath.

Yolei cheered, “Yeah! With the tower destroyed, Gomamon will be able to Digivolve now.”

“Once they get here,” TK added.

“Hey guys!” Cody’s voice called out, prompting everyone to look up at the source. In the sky, there was Pteranomon, with Cody, Joe, and Gomamon on his back.

Gomamon jumps a little, “The Dark Spire’s gone!”

Joe nods, “That means you can Digivolve,”

Gleefully, Gomamon jumps off of Pteranomon’s back, “Gomamon, Digivolve too… Ikkakumon!”

Falling towards Ebidramon, Ikkakumon aims his horn at the Dark Ring, “Harpoon Torpedo!” A missile launches from Ikkakumon’s horn, crashing into the Dark Ring and shattering it.

Ebidramon looks around for a moment, seeming confused, before disappearing back into the water. Ikkakumon lands on the ground, not far from Kari, TK, and Yolei, their own partners soon following, and Pteranomon arriving moments after. Joe and Cody hop off of Pteranomon.

“That’s the Dark Spire taken care of,” Cody said, looking at where the tower once stood.

TK frowned, his gaze also on the stump of the Dark Spire, “That seemed almost… too easy.”

“We did have to get past a bunch of Digimon to get to it,” Yolei reminded, “I think we’re just stronger than the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel give us credit for.” She seemed pleased with herself.

Boots crunched in the snow and a cold voice cut through them, “Don’t pat yourself on the back just yet. You haven’t taken this place from us entirely.” Kari turned, seeing Sea Angel not too far away from them, leaning against a baseball bat, both glaring and seeming somewhat smug.

Ikkakumon stepped forward, “We won’t let you control or hurt the Digimon here anymore.”

Sea Angel scoffed, pushing up from his baseball bat, “We’ll see about that,” his eye then roamed over the Digi Destined, taking note of each other them and their partners. “One of you is missing. Ichijouji and his cowardly worm.”

“Hey! Wormmon can actually Digivolve into a pretty strong Digimon! You’re just upset that Ken wasn’t afraid of you, last time!” Yolei yelled, seeming upset about Sea Angel’s words.

“I don’t really care,” Sea Angel rolled his eye, “it just means you’re going to have a harder time. I’ve come even more prepared than last time.” The hand that wasn’t resting on the baseball raised up, then with a snap of his fingers, he called out, “Paledramon! Drimogemon!”

The two Digimon jumped out behind him, rushing towards the Digi Destined. Their partners quickly intercepted, FlyBeemon jabs at Paledramon, with Nefertimon launching another Rosetta Stone towards the Digimon. Ikkakumon locks horns with Drimogemon, Pegasusmon and Pternomon taking a further back approach, attacking from afar.

Kari felt good about the fight, two Champion level Digimon should be easy to defeat with five Digimon with power either equivalent to or at Champion level. Despite this seeming to be an obvious fact, Sea Angel seemed unbothered. In fact, he appeared to be preoccupied with another Digimon, a Rookie sized light pink and blue bunny Digimon.

“Let me at them! I told you I’m real strong!” The bunny Digimon cried, hopping up and down with great irritation.

Sea Angel glared at her, “I don’t care what you do, just leave me alone!”

“Well I’m not going to do that,” The bunny Digimon shoots back, “But I’m gonna keep you safe, even if that means fighting Digi Destined because you’re too dumb to bring any stronger Digimon.”

His grip on his baseball bat changed, and he picked it up, taking it in his other hand and raising it up. He gritted his teeth, “I don’t need a Digimon”- he says the word with venom-“to protect me! Now go away or I’ll make you!”

Their argument was cut short by flames soaring over their head and hitting Paledramon. “Flare Buster!” Shadramon buzzes overhead, then swoops low enough for Ken to hop off, before Shadramon joined FlyBeemon and Nefertimon in fighting Paledramon.

Turning to look at the others, Ken’s gaze landed on Kari, then said, “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you’re email sooner, but Shadramon and I came as fast as we could.”

“You’re here now,” TK said, “And we’re happy for the help.”

With a groan of annoyance cutting across the snow and ice, Sea Angel pointed his bat towards them, “Just get rid of them!”

“You got it! Finally, I get to fight!” The bunny Digimon cackled, leaping in the direction of Paledramon. “Lop-ear Ripple!” Her ears twirled, sending a stream of spinning bubbles, clearly aimed at Shadramon.

While Shadramon and Nefertimon fought Paledramon, FlyBeemon flies up, “Electro-sting!” At great speed, his wings vibrated, sending out a wave of electricity towards the bunny Digimon. Bubbles doing little to stop the attack, the bunny Digimon flops to the ground with a groan.

“Ow,” She grumbles, pulling herself up. “Ugh, fine. Be that way! I still have plenty more!” Again, she launched herself, this time towards FlyBeemon, “Luna Claw!” Bearing her small, but sharp looking claws, she scratched at FlyBeemon.

---

On the nearby cliffs, two Digimon were sat. One a white dragon like Digimon with a bright red, though tattered, cloak, the other a small In Training Digimon, shaped like a flame, nestled in the hood of the other Digimon’s cloak. They watched the fight intently, focused on the bunny Digimon.

“Wow…” Said the flame Digimon, “Lunamon’s so cool!”

The cloaked Digimon tilted his head, “She’s doing… okay.” He said. “I still think she needs more training, though Digimon are like Champion level and she’s only a Rookie.”

The flame Digimon pouted, “But we have to protect him. And she’s finally strong enough, she’ll only get stronger. And one day I’m gonna be as strong as her!” He bounced a bit, before settling back on the hood of the cloak.

“Not this dream friend again,” The cloaked Digimon groaned, “I know you’re still young, but you’re too old for imaginary friends. Especially, if you’re going to become strong enough to Digivolve.”

“Don’t act like you’re so much older, big bro!” The flame Digimon huffed, “You’re only a Rookie too! And you’ve been a Rookie since before Lunamon and I hatched!”

That seemed to especially annoy the cloaked Digimon, “I have to get really strong, so I’m just spending more time training!” he grumbled, “Plus, I’m stronger than Lunamon. And I’ll be stronger than you when you Digivolve too, Sunmon.”

“We’ll just have to see,” Sunmon said, sounding unconvinced. “I think Lunamon and I are gonna be stronger than you, one day.”

The cloaked Digimon scoffed, “Yeah right,”

A third Digimon appeared, humanoid in a black dress and a black hat. “Now, now, you two still have plenty of training left.” She said.

“And then I’ll be real strong,” Sunmon insisted again.

“If you can make it through the Sistermons’ training…” The cloaked Digimon grumbled under his breath.

---

“Flare Buster!” Shadramon sent another burst of fire towards Paledramon, this time aimed at the Dark Ring on his arm. The ring shattered, freeing Paledramon. Meanwhile, with Ikkakumon, Pegasusmon, and Pternomon fighting against Drimogemon, Ikkakumon jabbed at the Dark Ring on Drimogemon’s own arm, shattering it.

Lunamon jumped back from her skirmish, now with Nefertimon. “Uh oh…” She said, looking at the sight before her. Six Digimon and no more back up. “Hey, uh, what should I do?” She called back to Sea Angel.

Sea Angel gritted his teeth, “Wonderful. Just. Wonderful.” His hand held his baseball bat tightly. “Well. It seems I underestimated you Digi Destined once again. Well, you know what they say, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me three times…”

“And I’ll start throwing hands!” Lunamon declared, jumping up. “Nobody hurts him on my watch!”

“Will you quit it with that, you annoying little-!” Sea Angel sucked in a breath, stopping himself. “I’m not wasting anymore of my time.” He turned away.

Yolei called out, “You know, you should really just give up, we’re just going to keep beating you.”

That caused Sea Angel to pause, glancing back at them. “Ha, as if. The Emperor’s got a great plan, just wait.” Then he took off in a sprint, before an Airdramon appeared and he hopped on.

Lunamon turned back towards him, “Hey! Don’t you dare ditch me!”

As Lunamon chased after Sea Angel, the Digi Destined just watched, their partners returning to their Rookie form. Wormmon watched Lunamon intently, before turning to Ken and saying, “That Lunamon… she doesn’t have a Dark Ring.”

Ken blinked, looking down towards him, “She… didn’t?”

“No,” Wormmon replied, shaking his head, “But they’re unusual Digimon, or so I’ve heard.”

Slowly, Ken picked Wormmon up. Then he turned to look at the others again, unsure of what to say. There were things he wanted to say, sure, but he didn’t know how to say it at all without it sounding too awkward or odd. So he opened his mouth, then closed it again, before finally saying, “I’ll do my best to check my emails more often.”

With a small laugh, TK replied, “That would be good, your help’s always appreciated.”

He wasn’t sure about always, but he appreciated they were at least pretending to be nice to him, even if they had no real reason to be.

“Maybe you guys will get to know each other a bit better,” Joe said, “Digi Destined do make good teams.”

“Well I wouldn’t mind getting to know Ken a bit more,” Yolei said, “he seems pretty interesting.”

The statement made Ken’s heart race and he quickly blurted out, “I’m not. And I’m not used to working with other Digi Destined.” His time with Ryo was spent primarily separate from Ryo. That time they spent together on that adventure was short, in comparison. He didn’t know how to be a good team member. He didn’t know if he could be.

“I think you’ll learn,” Kari said, though there was something studious in her gaze, like she was searching his soul. “You already are.”

“Oh,”

---

“Alright, Izzy, so what have you been finding while looking at our Digivices?” Yolei asked, the Digi Destined, minus Ken, having just left the school. When they weren’t in the Digital World, she’d been loaning Izzy her Digivice so he could try to learn more about it. He’d told her earlier that he’d found something, but they hadn’t had a chance to talk about it before heading to the Digital World.

Izzy nodded, “An American friend and I were able to find out that there are three primary functions to your Digivices. Digital, detect, and discover. Thus, I propose we call this model of Digivice ‘D-3’.”

“Oookay,” TK began, “So… I assume ‘detect’ has to do with the Digivices- er, D-3s ability to locate other D-3s and Digi Eggs.”

With a nod, Izzy replied, “It seems so. The ‘digital’ likely refers both to the ability to enter the Digital World and to Digivolve Digimon.” He began to type on the computer that the portal program was one, “And the last one, ‘discover’ I believe has to do with this.” A map of the Digital World appeared on the screen, divided into squares. Some of the squares were black, covering a good portion of the Digital World.

“A map of the Digital World?”

“Not just that,” Izzy continued, “See those black spots?”

Yolei smacked her fist into her open palm, “Those are areas controlled by the Digimon Emperor, right?”

“Correct, this gives us an easy way of seeing how much progress we’ve made, and where to look next.”

---

Ken sat at his computer, pulling data off of his D-Terminal, like he had the past few times he’d been studying the Dark Spires. Maybe this time he’d be able to figure things out. Maybe he’d finally just sneak into Sam’s room and borrow one of his old computer science books. If Sam found out he’d be furious, but Ken didn’t think he’d notice, as he had books that he hadn’t looked at in forever. For the Digital World, Ken thinks it’s a risk he’s willing to take, it’s not like San had noticed the Digivice was gone, after all.

Dinner had gone the same as ever, his parents asking Sam all about his day and no one paying any mind to Ken. Ken quickly excused himself to his room and he knows his presence wasn’t missed. Sam was all that mattered. It was probably better that way.

Minomon had settled in Ken’s bed, curled up on a pillow underneath the blankets, one Ken had put there specially for him. At least someone could live in this place and feel peaceful, and Ken was glad that it was Minomon. Rubbing his eyes, Ken leaned back from the computer, having stared at the screen a little too long and too intently. The code on the screen hadn’t begun to make any more sense than before.

And then there came a foreign sound, knocking at his door. Ken couldn’t even guess who it would be, his parents never bothered him, even if he had skipped dinner. Which he hadn’t, so he hadn’t done anything to draw any attention to himself. Then, a voice called out, almost softly, “Ken?” That was Sam’s voice.

Why was Sam knocking on the door?

Quickly, Ken put the computer into sleep mode, so that Sam couldn’t question what he was doing, and flipped open his textbook and notebook. He’d say he was studying, but his parents would only yell at him if they found out he ignored Sam. Then he hurried over to the door, hoping that Sam wouldn’t notice Minomon, who at least was mostly obscured by blankets.

Opening the door, he was greeted with Sam, hair as spiked and messy as always. He studied Ken for a moment, then spoke again, tone seeming uncertain. “Hey,”

Ken blinked, “Do you need something?” He answered, his neck feeling suddenly cold and his tone equally so.

“Just… checking in on you.” Sam replied, “You’ve seemed… different, recently.”

“I’m the same as I always have been,” Ken lied, because the Digital World was what made Sam hate him in the first place, he wouldn’t reveal it again and risk being outright despised.

Carefully, Sam said, “Oh, okay. That’s good.” He nodded, almost more to himself that to Ken. “What were you up to?”

“Studying,” Ken answered, gesturing towards his desk and the textbook and notebook open on it. “Like you probably should be.”

Frowning, Sam said, “I was. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

There were a lot of things Ken wanted to say to that. He wanted to say that he had faced multiple terrifying Digimon. He wanted to say that he had the Digi Egg of Courage, so obviously that meant something. He wanted to say that he didn’t need Sam’s concern. He wanted to say he wasn’t a little kid anymore. He wanted to say that he wished Sam would just go away.

Ken bites his tongue, instead, and said, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

With a frown, Sam sighed, then turned away, “Good night,” He said.

In response, Ken simply closed the door, his mood soured horribly.

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4: The Power of the Towers

The Digi Destined go to the Digital World to help Gabumon rescue a town of Digimon. Ken meets Matt, and Wormmon gets put through the wringer.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/172124920

A whole town under the control of the Digimon Emperor and those who wouldn’t submit were imprisoned until they could have a Dark Ring put on them.

It sickened Kari.

“I was able to break out the hard way,” Gabumon said, “But I couldn’t do much for the Digimon that already had rings on them.”

Looking just as annoyed as Kari felt, Matt replied, “We’ll free those Digimon, Gabumon.”

Once again, it was just the Odaiba Digi Destined, they hadn’t run into Ken yet, and while they could email him, he wasn’t always the best at responding. Usually, they were short and sometimes it took him a bit to respond, even during the time that he almost certainly wasn’t at school. While Kari would have felt better to have them all together for this, she’d accepted that Ken’s presence was going to generally be a wildcard, at least for the time being. At least Matt was here, today, mostly because Gabumon had asked him to be.

Matt stood out, in a way, among the five of them. Much like TK and Kari had been previously, he remained in the clothes he was wearing when he entered the Digital World. Though now he was the only one, as TK and Kari’s outfits would now change, though not as much as the other three’s. Kari now gained white feathers across her shoulders and her shoes had changed to more of boots. TK now had a green long sleeve shirts with the sleeves rolled up and a green and white vest. The rest of his outfit seemed mostly the same, including his hat.

“The question is,” Gatomon wondered, “How? There’s too many under the Emperor’s control for us to fight.”

“If we could find a way in,” Cody mused, “We could maybe free the captured Digimon from the inside. They could at least help us in trying to break the Rings.”

While that would be a better plan than an all-out attack, Kari did worry what would happen if someone caught on to their ruse. Then again, it didn’t sound like the RedVeggiemon in charge was necessarily all that bright. Even if they couldn’t free all of the Digimon that had them from the Dark Rings, from what Gabumon said, they were taking plenty of Digimon captive and not immediately putting Rings on them. Maybe they didn’t have enough? Whatever the reason, those would prove far easier to rescue.

Yolei tapped a finger on her cheek, “But how would we get in without drawing attention?”

“Maybe it’s less so avoiding attention,” Hawkmon suggested, “but convincing them we should be there anyway.”

“Hey,” TK said, “That could be something.”

---

Ken had soccer practice today. He didn’t mind, he liked soccer, even if he was far from good at it. But it got him out, gave him something to do other than studying, and most of his teammates tolerated him. No one was singing his praises, but at least they didn’t hate him. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered, though, as he felt like he never really improved, just like with everything else. He never got better at soccer, just as he never got better at school, no matter how hard he tried.

With his ability to return to the Digital World now, too, he found himself antsy to finish his practice even more than before. When he didn’t have practice, he’d rush home from school, ready to head to his room and go to the Digital World with Minomon. Even when he did have practice, all it did was delay the time he could get home and get to the Digital World. It wasn’t like anyone would notice he wasn’t home, after all. Sam was always busy with something, usually studying, and their parents barely paid him any mind anyway.

He wasn’t as smart as Sam, he wasn’t even that good at sports, so what did he matter? When they had a genius for a son, Ken might as well have been an afterthought.

The moment he gets back to his room, he lets Minomon out of his bag. Minomon springs out, hopping from the bag to the bed where he’d sat his bag. “Your soccer practice is always so long, Ken.”

Ken grimaced, “Sorry, I’m sure it’s not fun being in there for hours.”

“At least there’s snacks,” Minomon said. Ken was always sure to leave a bunch of snacks in his bag with Minomon, since he had such a big appetite. “I ate all the snacks, by the way.’

“I’ll make sure to add more tomorrow,” Unable to help himself, Ken smiled. He never spent time with Minomon outside of the Digital World until recently, but somehow the quirks of an In Training Digimon didn’t bother him much. Instead, he found it pretty endearing, not that Minomon wasn’t already his best friend.

Grabbing his Digivice, he scoops up Minomon with his other arm and heads towards his computer. Most likely, the other Digi Destined had already been in the Digital World for a while, they usually beat him there even when he didn’t have practice and the days he did it was even more so. Hopefully they were doing alright, Ken really wished he could run into them when there wasn’t trouble, but truthfully things rarely ever seemed to be all that “safe” in the Digital World right now.

He just hoped they didn’t think he was too much of a nuisance. He didn’t expect them to trust him all that much, since they still didn’t know each other well, but he hoped that at least they didn’t want to avoid him.

Ken had made sure that they’d come out in the part of the Digital World that he’d been able to locate the signals of other Digivices in (the portal program itself didn’t have that functionality, but Ken was only slightly afraid to hook his Digivice up to his computer and see what he could do from there, with the aid of some books and the internet). His Digivice gave him an idea of the direction to go to catch up with them, so he begins to make his way towards them, Wormmon in his arms.

Wormmon tilts his head up to look at Ken, “What do you think the others have gotten up to?” He glanced at Ken’s Digivice, still in his hand.

“Hopefully trying to free more Digimon from the Emperor,” That’s what they’d all been trying to do, since finding their Digi Eggs. It was the only real way they had of fighting back, since they still hadn’t quite figured out what it was that kept Digimon from Digivolving.

“It feels a lot better, now that you’re all here,” Wormmon replied, “things were so awful and miserable… I always like when humans come to the Digital World, because they always make things better.”

That caused Ken to look away from his Digivice and at Wormmon instead, “Except for when the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel showed up.” He frowned.

Antennas drooping, Wormmon agreed, “It didn’t seem bad, at first. No one really noticed, until he started conquering Digimon. And then Sea Angel came along, and he’s always been more… ruthless, than the Emperor.”

The mention of Sea Angel and his actions made Ken’s blood boil, just a little, contrasted by a chilly ache flaring up in the back of his neck. He tries to ignore it, grit his teeth and pretend that he wasn’t bothered – now wasn’t the time to let it get the better of him. It never was, but especially now.

When the back of his neck ached, Ken always became… well, more like Sam. Angier and with a shorter temper, at times rude and cruel, even. He never liked it, always felt awful. It came out the most, these years, with his parents and Sam. The few times his parents acknowledged him, the few times he and Sam even talked, anymore. Sam didn’t have the time to talk to him and much like Ken, generally didn’t want to talk to him anyway. Because Sam has hated Ken since Ken came back from the Digital World. It had hurt him, at the time, but now Ken understood that it would always have happened.

Maybe that was what worried him the most about the other Digi Destined. That they’d realize he was the sort of person you could never really care about for very long, only hate.

“Ken?” Wormmon’s voice knocked Ken out of his thoughts, “Are you alright?”

The ache faded, with Ken pulled out of his thoughts, and he quickly looked back at his Digivice. “Sorry, I was just… thinking. About what the others are up to.” He didn’t want to worry Wormmon.

The signals brought Ken to a town, only for him to duck into the bushes when he realized that it was filled with Digimon wearing Dark Rings. The whole town was probably under the Emperor’s control. Most of them didn’t seem too strong, but even with that, they had sheer numbers over Wormmon, regardless of if he Digivolved into Shadramon.

Looking at the Digivice again, it appeared as though the other Digi Destined were in the town, though. So either they were trying to sneak in or they were captured. Either way, catching up with them would be for the best – if a fought broke out, that would give them better numbers.

“It looks like the others are in there,” Ken said to Wormmon, setting him down. “We’re going to need to sneak in to find them.”

“That sounds dangerous…” Wormmon frowned, beginning to shake.

Ken nodded, “I know, but we need to find the others.” He reached down, giving Wormmon a few reassuring pats.

That seemed to give Wormmon the bravery he needed to stop quivering so much, at least. “O-okay. Yes, we can… we’re pretty small. Or, well, I am. I guess you’ve gotten tall.”

Smiling, Ken reached his arm down to let Wormmon climb up and onto his shoulders. He’d feel better trying to sneak around with his hands free, at least, his Digivice going into his jacket pocket. They circle around the town until Ken spots an opening where he thinks they can slip in without being seen. There were Digimon all over the town, not a single one without a Dark Ring, but they at least seemed to… going about their business, so to speak. Not all looking too closely for intruders, at least.

Wedged between some barrels and a building, Ken peeks over the barrels, looking for any signs of the other Digi Destined. Instead of the Digi Destined, his eyes landed on a clear captive of the Emperor’s Digimon, a Gotsumon without a Dark Ring, being led through the town by two other Gotsumon, these ones with Rings on their arms.

It nagged at Ken, seeing this sight. But to try to do anything about it, they’d be seen and recognized for what they were. Saving that Gotsumon would get the rest of the town’s attention and Ken knows that they can’t fight that. No matter how much he hated seeing this, seeing a Digimon taken captive.

“Ken?” Wormmon whispered, “Do you… do you want to save the Gotsumon?”

“Of course,” He replied, but shook his head, gently, “but it’s too dangerous.”

Wormmon nudged Ken’s head with his own, “If we move fast, we could probably get to safety with Gotsumon. I could carry the both of you.”

Ken reached up, placing a hand on Wormmon, “I’m not sure you’re going to be able to be fast enough…” As appealing as the idea was, “and they’ll be on the lookout if they know we’re here, and we still have to find the others.”

“Whatever you choose, Ken, I’ll be with you,” As it so often was, Wormmon’s voice was warm. Reassuring.

In a way, Ken wished that Wormmon hadn’t said that, though, as it filled him with a reckless courage he knew he was going to regret in a few minutes.

---

“It’s a good thing they didn’t notice that our ‘Dark Rings’ are really just plastic,” Gatomon comments as the Digi Destined and their partners slip into where the captured Digimon were kept.

“Let’s just be glad they’re not that bright,” TK replied, “it saves us a lot of trouble.”

Grinning, Yolei pumped her fist, “Now let’s get these Digimon out of here!”

“Yolei, don’t be so loud,” Cody quickly replied, “the Emperor’s Digimon could hear us.”

TK approached the bars, finding the door and giving it a tug. Unsurprisingly, it only rattled, locked shut. “The hard part will be getting past these bars.”

Gabumon frowned, “I guess blowing a hole in the wall won’t work this time.” He scratched the back of his head, “Plus, running with all these Gotsumon would be hard.”

“All we’ve got to do is get the door open,” Matt said, “even without Digivolving, I think we can pull that off.”

Right, Digivolving itself wouldn’t be a problem, with the Digi Eggs, but anything they could do to break open the door would probably cause too much attention. Then again, metal bars were noisy to begin with, there was no way they weren’t making noise. It was just making sure that it wasn’t so much that it drew attention from the Emperor’s Digimon.

Nodding, Kari looked down to Gatomon, “Let’s break open this cage. Then we can get the Gotsumon out of here.” Though she’d admit they still lacked a plan for where to take the Gotsumon once they were freed. They were still surrounded by the Emperor’s Digimon.

As their Digimon began to attack the metal bars, Kari could hear another commotion, outside of the room, far away it sounded like, but still barely audible over the attacks. She wasn’t the only one, given how Cody and Matt turned their heads towards the door to the room too. Carefully, Kari opened the door, slowly as to make sure that it didn’t make too much noise or could otherwise be easily noticeable.

Footsteps come, two sets it sounded like. One was pretty heavy and sounded a bit like dropping rocks on the floor, the other far lighter. Ken comes rushing by the door, Wormmon in his arms and a Gotsumon beside him.

“Ken!” She called out, trying to be both not too loud but also audible over the Gotsumon’s footsteps. Quickly, Ken stopped running, coming to a halt and then turning on his foot to face towards the door.

“Kari,” He said, his voice not quite ragged but still audibly breathing harder than if he were just walking. Opening the door further, Kari beckoned him inside. The three entered, eyes quickly falling on the Gotsumon in the cage. “So this is where the Emperor’s Digimon are keeping their captives.”

Nodding, Kari turned her attention back to the cage, where the Digimon had finally bent the bars enough for the Gotsumon to squeeze out, although it was a tight fit. “Now we just need to figure out where to take them.”

Looking towards Ken, TK asked, “Say, do you know what that commotion was about? We couldn’t hear much, but…” Right, there was a lot of noise the preceded Ken’s arrival, not to mention how he and the Gotsumon were running.

Seeming sheepish, Ken glanced to the side and replied, “Well… we were… rescuing Gotsumon here.” He gestures to the Gotsumon beside him. “It got a bit… noisy.”

“So the Emperor’s Digimon know you’re here,” Matt said.

Whipping his head over to look at Matt, Ken was quiet for a moment before nodding, “We were able to ditch them, though.”

“Great,” Matt didn’t sound too thrilled about that. Kari couldn’t entirely blame him, having the Emperor’s Digimon know that there was at least one Digi Destined there wasn’t ideal.

Yolei looked at all of the Gotsumon, “Maybe with all these Digimon to help us it won’t matter? We could break all the rings.”

Matt shook his head and Gabumon replied, “Without being able to Digivolve, it would be dangerous.”

“Then we figure out how to let the other Digimon Digivolve,” Ken said, holding Wormmon just a little tighter. “When I first arrived in the Digital World, a friend told me that it was possible the Dark Spires are what were stopping Digimon from Digivolving. If he’s right, then if we could destroy the Spire…”

“Then Gabumon would be able to Digivolve,” Cody finished.

Ken nodded, “He could be wrong, but we don’t have a lot of options. We can’t sneak back through the town with all these Gotsumon, but I think we could make it up to the Spire without being noticed.”

“But,” TK began, “If your friend is wrong, then we’d be at a dead end. If it was just us, our Digimon could fly us away, but with the Gotsumon…” He thought on it.

For a moment, Ken seemed unsure, a frown dancing on his lips. He looked down, looking at Wormmon instead of them. After another moment, he looked back up, “Then we’d have to fight, if any of the Emperor’s Digimon caught up with us.” He looked less unsure, then, more determined. “My friend would never knowingly lie to me, but you’re right that he could be wrong.”

“Sometimes he doesn’t think what he says through,” Wormmon sighed.

Again, Ken nodded in agreement, “And even if he’s wrong, it’s probably better not to let the Spires stay standing.”

Matt shoved his hands into his pockets, “Well, that’s something I think we can all agree on.”

The others nodded in agreement, even Kari herself. It seemed like they were decided, then, though Kari didn’t entirely feel like she could put that kind of faith in Ken’s plan, quite yet. They really didn’t know him well, only ever meeting him while in the Digital World, and that was only when they managed to meet up. More often than not, they met up more at times like this, when they were already in the thick of things. That all limited her ability to really get to know him, to be able to place the kind of trust in him she wished she could.

There were things she knew about Ken. He was quiet and soft spoken, almost seeming a bit afraid to risk rocking the boat. He adored Wormmon just as they all did their partners, maybe even more, in his own quiet and subtle ways. He lived in Tamachi and he had some kind of practice after school, probably some kind of sport given he sometimes seemed a bit tired when he’d arrive late to the Digital World. Though he was quiet and polite, he also was capable of being brave, sometimes to the point of recklessness.

And sometimes, on very rare occasions, he became very, very, different. Like when they encountered Sea Angel, and he became someone else, someone much more confident and daring. But there were other times, when it was less obvious. Where he seemed just a bit harsher, less nice and kind. But just as quickly, he went back to how he was, if perhaps more quiet and sheepish than before.

But everyone else seemed to think it was an okay enough idea, and goodness knows that’s better than they had sometimes. Better than they’d had sometimes in the past too. Maybe being leader, at least in some capacity, was going to mean putting some faith into Ken, even if she couldn’t do it full heartedly. Trust that he wouldn’t purposely do something stupid.

She takes a deep breath and then said, “Alright, then that’s our plan. Let’s go to the Spire.”

---

They manage to make it out of the town without too much trouble, save a single broken Dark Ring and one Veggiemon Sticky Webbed to a wall with its mouth covered up. From there, it was just an uphill walk, which Ken would take over any kind of battle. He just hoped Veemon’s idea was correct and that the tower was responsible for preventing Digimon from Digivolving.

Kari led, with Yolei and Cody at her side. TK hung back, behind the Gotsumon, with the other blond, Matt, while Ken himself lagged at the very back of the group, watching them. They were all joined by their partners, mostly walking with them, though Patamon was once again perched on TK’s head, and Wormmon had climbed from Ken’s arms and onto Ken’s shoulders.

He can see rather than hear Kari, Yolei, and Cody all talking to each other, but all the footsteps from the Gotsumon drown out any of the words, from this far away. As he was much closer to TK and Matt, he could actually hear them talking, pleasant and joyful.

“Say, Ken,” TK looked back at him, grinning, “you getting used to the Digital World? I know it can be a lot, sometimes.”

Ken blinked for a moment, unsure what to say. “I… I suppose, it’s really not… that different.” Definitely not the same as when he’d first ended up there, but still recognizable as the same world.

“It can be pretty strange, and you were all on your own when you first came here,” TK continued, “but I’m glad you weren’t too freaked out.”

“I wasn’t alone, when I first came to the Digital World,” Ken replied, a bit of awkwardness seeping into his voice. He wasn’t entirely sure how much he should say about his first trip into the Digital World. It’s not that he didn’t trust them or thought it would be trouble, he just… didn’t want them getting any wrong ideas about him. After all, Ryo was the hero of that adventure, not him. He just played a supporting role.

Grinning, TK replied, “Oh yeah, that friend you mentioned… is he a Digi Destined too?”

Oh no, and now TK was getting Veemon and Ryo confused. Not that Ken could blame him, he’s been really vague about a lot of things… “Well, I mean, no, it’s really more like, um…”

Thankfully throwing him a bone, Matt changed the topic, “TK mentioned you’re from Tamachi, I take it that’s why you were late?”

“Not exactly,” Ken replied, relief filling him. “I had practice and then I had to get home to the portal…”

Raising an eyebrow, TK asked, “Yours isn’t in your school?”

“No?” His brow furrowed, “Is that where the portal in Odaiba is?”

In response, TK nodded. How… strange. Then again, Veemon had asked him specifically to come, which probably wasn’t the case for the other Digi Destined. It was probably… well probably Gennai, if Ken had to guess. That had been the case when he’d first come to the Digital World with Ryo. Though Veemon was the one who’d done most of the work, it was at Gennai’s request.

“You play a sport or something?” Matt asked, again steering the conversation away from the Digital World and back into the real one. In some ways, Ken was grateful. In others, he wished he’d stop. The last thing Ken really wanted to talk about was himself, especially the him in the real world. The real him.

“Soccer,” Ken answered.

Grinning, TK added, “Tai plays soccer too, I bet he’d love to talk with you.”

Tai was too much better at everything than Ken, so Ken doubted he’d be worth Tai talking to. “I’m… not very good at it.” While he loved to play and he loved trying to figure out what to do to make a goal in the heat of the moment, there were plenty of people on the team who were better than him. “Anyway, do you two do any extra curriculars?” He hoped to change the subject away from him.

“None for me,” TK told him, “but Matt here has a band. Pretty cool, huh? Not a lot of kids can say their big brother’s apart of a band that people even slightly like.” Oh, that explained it. TK and Matt looked a lot alike, so it wasn’t entirely surprising to hear that they were brothers.

Thinking about how happy TK seemed when he was talking with Matt earlier, Ken wondered why the back of his neck began to ache again. Dull, chilly pulsing.

“It… must be nice to be so close with your brother,” Ken couldn’t help but say. He couldn’t remember the last time that he and Sam had interacted and seemed so… happy.

Grinning again, TK said, “We’ve had our ups and downs, but Matt’s always been here for me.”

Matt studied Ken, for a moment, before asking, “You got a brother or something?”

It was Ken’s own fault for bringing up the subject at all. Of course with a comment like that, someone might get curious. Ken hated talking about Sam. Because the moment he told anyone that his brother was Sam Ichijouji, they always became more concerned with him than Ken. He doubted the Digi Destined would be any different, it’s just how people were. Sam was a genius, one that their parents made sure everyone knew about and saw. And Ken… Ken was nothing in comparison. He got middling grades and was only okay at soccer, he wasn’t even good with people, really. There was nothing he had that Sam didn’t.

He bit his lip, knowing he’d have to answer, though. It would be too suspicious if he didn’t. Wormmon crawled towards his from, sliding down into his arms. Finally, Ken answered, “I have an older brother, but we’re not very close.” That was enough. They wouldn’t come to the conclusion that he was the same Ichijouji as Sam Ichijouji, not with that miniscule amount of information.

“That sucks,” TK said, “but hey, things can change.”

Ken wished that he was right, but the pragmatic part of him knew it wouldn’t be the case. Sam hated him, that wasn’t going to just change. Still, Ken wouldn’t say that, because hope was TK’s thing, right? And even if he could be convinced to give up on that hope, Ken doesn’t see much point in trying.

Again, that chill in the back of his neck – he almost wished that Wormmon was still perched back there, so maybe it at least felt less exposed. He just tried not to think about it, it and the fact that TK and Matt were happy, loving brothers, the one thing that Ken knew he’d never have with Sam. He didn’t hold it against him, but thinking too much of it made his neck ache and he hated that.

“We’re almost there,” Ken tried his best to change the subject, looking up at how little cliff was left above them. At the top, it flattened out into a plateau, where the Dark Spire had been erected. Whatever it really was, whatever it was made out of, he felt confident they could destroy it with five Digimon that could Digivolve. Although having to keep all the Gotsumon safe would be difficult if any of the Emperor’s Digimon caught up with them. Hopefully it wouldn’t end up that way.

When they reach the top of the hill, Ken makes his way past the others and the Gotsumon to examine the tower. It appeared to be made in a similar fashion to the Dark Rings, though far larger. Ken had a couple theories about what the purpose could be – something this size was for something that needed a lot of power, there were only so many things that could fit that description. It could be what Veemon suggested, that they were what was keeping Digimon from Digivolving. Since this was something that the Dark Rings obviously weren’t doing, but they knew the Emperor was accomplishing somehow, this didn’t seem like an unreasonable assumption. The other theory that he had was that they were acting like radio towers, transmitting the orders from the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel to the Dark Rings. It was possible, even, that both were true, or that there was something else at play entirely.

Truthfully, Ken doubted it would be easy to learn much about the Dark Spires without having a lot of time to examine it and try to break down its code, which Ken was sure was possible but there certainly wasn’t the time for right now. But whatever the purpose of the Spires were, they couldn’t be good.

He glanced down to Wormmon, “Do you think you can destroy it as Shadramon?” He’d prefer if it could stay mostly intact so he could come back to examine it further later, but who knew how much destruction was needed to keep it from operating.

Wormmon’s antennas drooped, “Well… I’ll be honest Ken, I’m kind of hungry.”

“Oh,” Ken knew it was hard for Wormmon to Digivolve if he got too hungry. Digivolving into Shadramon earlier must have taken most of his energy, even with all the snacking he’d been doing throughout Ken’s soccer practice. Maybe they’d have to start having a snack before leaving for the Digital World.

He glanced back at the others, to see Yolei bounding up towards him, Hawkmon not far behind. “So you think destroying this Dark Spire will let Gabumon Digivolve?” She asked, grinning.

“That’s my theory, right now.” He answered, “Though that’s easier said than done…”

She pulled out her Digivice, “Then let’s get rid of this Dark Spire!”

Ken takes a step back, intending to give Hawkmon and Yolei room, only for something to wrap around his legs, causing him to drop Wormmon. Likewise, something yellow and vine like wrapped around Yolei’s wrist, resulting in her dropping her Digivice. More vines wrapped around her legs and Hawkmon, as well as around Ken’s arms.

Eyes searching the plateau, it became obvious that the others were in about as good of a predicament as he and Yolei were. The source were many a Veggiemon, restraining them and their Digimon so they couldn’t fight back. It seems the Emperor’s Digimon had caught up with them, just a little too soon for them to be able to stop it.

Up the hill appeared RedVeggiemon, clearly the leader in this operation. “Well look what we’ve got here, a whole bunch of Digi Destined.” As RedVeggimon spoke, Ken tried to pull free of the vines. Even if he could get ahold of his Digivice, Wormmon would still be too tired to Digivolve, but if Ken could do something to buy the others some time to get ahold of their own Digivices… it was worth a shot, at least.

Prying his eyes off of RedVeggiemon, he searched for Wormmon among all the Veggiemon arms. Despite Wormmon’s bright green color, which would stand out among the rocky area they were in, as well as the Veggiemon, Ken couldn’t see any sight of him. Hopefully he was hiding, since it seemed the Veggiemon hadn’t captured him.

Yolei shouts something at RedVeggiemon, Ken doesn’t catch what though, over his own concerns for Wormmon. Wormmon was smart, he’d knew he couldn’t Digivolve, so there was no reason for him to do anything other than take cover and wait it out. They weren’t in too much danger, yet. Someone just had to get ahold of their Digivice and then their partner could Armor Digivolve…

“Sticky Net!” A web flings itself at RedVeggiemon, wrapping around him and sticking to him, causing one of his arms to get stuck to the rest of his body. Wormmon stood on top of a rock, the source of the web.

“W-Wormmon?!” Ken was shocked to see that Wormmon had come out of hiding. Why would he do that? It was dangerous and Wormmon wasn’t all that strong without being able to Digivolve, not like any of the other Rookie Digimon that they’d seen partnered with the Digi Destined.

Determination in his eyes, Wormmon hopped down from the rock and ran towards RedVeggiemon. He leaped into the air, throwing his whole body at RedVeggiemon, only for RedVeggiemon to use his free arm to swing at Wormmon, knocking him to the ground hard. Prying the other arm free of Wormmon’s Sticky Net, RedVeggiemon began to wail on poor Wormmon. With one particularly hard whip, Wormmon is sent past Ken and Yolei, crashing into the side of the Dark Spire.

Again, struggling against his restraints, Ken cried, “Wormmon!” He wished he could pull free and pick up Wormmon, protect him from the RedVeggiemon.

Instead, he could only watch as Wormmon got back up, seemed to steady himself, and set his attention back on RedVeggiemon. “It’s okay, Ken. I’m going to protect you.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t get hurt!” His heart beats too fast and Ken thinks he might be getting a little lightheaded. Panic, he thinks, he’s panicking. Nothing filled Ken with more dread than the possibility of losing Wormmon, of losing his best friend.

Wormmon charged at RedVeggiemon again, this time managing to make contact before getting thrown into the Spire again. Pieces of the Dark Spire crumbled off, the entire structure creaking. Almost as if it were in slow motion, the Dark Spire cracked further, falling the growing hole in its side caving in and causing the Spire to fall forward.

“Gabumon!” Matt called out, having managed to reach into his pocket and retrieve his Digivice.

Beginning to glow, Gabumon managed to break free of the Veggiemon. “Gabumon Digivolve to… Garurumon!”

It seemed that theory was right, then, that the Dark Spires were what prevented Digimon from Digivolving. Good information, though Ken was really more preoccupied with Wormmon, even now. He was so close to Ken, now laying on the ground beside the spire, but the Veggiemon kept him from reaching him.

Garurumon made quick work of the Dark Ring on RedVeggiemon and then the other Veggiemon. The moment Ken felt the Veggiemon’s grip loosen, he pulled free, stumbling a little as his feet landed on the ground. He slid to his knees and picked up Wormmon, cradling him in his arms.

“You scared me,” Ken whispered, gently stroking Wormmon’s head but worried he might brush over an injury.

Nuzzling against Ken, Wormmon replied, “I wanted to keep you safe, like I always have.”

“You’re my best friend, Wormmon. I can’t lose you.” The thought alone terrified him. It was bad enough that his brother hated him, that Ryo disappeared, that he was alone in the real world. At least when he had Wormmon, he had a friend. If something happened to Wormmon… he’d be truly alone.

Slowly, Ken stands, seeing the Veggiemon slowly filing out with the Gotsumon behind them. It seemed things would be alright in the village, at least, and that Ken was glad for. Looking around, everyone seemed to be doing well, at least. Wormmon was really the only one who had been free to fight, so the rest of the Digimon were fine.

Matt and Garurumon stood beside each other, it sounded like Matt was congratulating Garurumon. In response, Garurumon said, “I’ll stay here and make sure the Emperor can’t take control again.”

Nodding, Matt replied, “Just make sure to let us know if something happens.”

All’s well that ends well, Ken supposed. He looked back down to Wormmon, “I’ll make sure to sneak you some leftovers from dinner, okay? I think we have some cookies, too.” His hand stalled, midway through caressing Wormmon’s back. He moves back up to his head and patted gently again, “You deserve it for being so brave today.”

His words did nothing to quell the fear in his own heart, but he wanted Wormmon to feel good about himself. He had been brave today, Ken knew he must have been frightened, but he’d still done all he could to protect Ken. The last thing Ken wanted to do was scold Wormmon for it, as much as he wanted to make sure that Wormmon understood the fear he’d been in.

“If something happened to you, mom and dad would blame me!”

No, Ken would rather die than get angry at Wormmon for worrying him. Especially when Wormmon clearly meant so well. They could talk more about it later, but they both needed time – Wormmon needed rest and Ken needed a bit more time to calm down and let his fear go away.

“If you don’t mind,” Ken called out to the others, “I think I’m going to head home. Wormmon needs to rest.”

“He did take a beating from RedVeggiemon,” Cody agreed, thoughtfully.

Kari nodded, “We’ll be heading home soon ourselves. Can’t miss dinner after all.”

[writingpaperghost]

i cant believe none of you bastards told me about the ex aid burger episode, The best episode of television ever aired

[writingpaperghost]

Standin' By Your Side (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3: Armored Upgrade

The Digi Destined find Digi Eggs bearing the Crests of Light and Hope, along with Agumon, Ken, and Wormmon. And then Sea Angel makes his appearance.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66149626/chapters/171512854

“It’s been a while since we were here, huh?” Nonchalantly, Tai stretched his arms as he walked with the group. He’d joined Kari, TK, Yolei, and Cody on their visit into the Digital World today, hoping to see Agumon.

“Don’t forget, we still have to worry about the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel,” Gatomon said.

Tai hummed in assent, aware if not all that bothered.

Three dots had appeared on Cody and Yolei’s Digivices, so they were following them. At least now, they knew that the dots were either Digi Eggs, or Digivices like Cody, Yolei, and Ken’s. Given they didn’t arrive with Ken, they can’t rule out that one of the dots was him, either. Likely the moving one, assuming there weren’t any other Digi Destined that might have Digivices like theirs.

“Looks like Ken reached the other signals,” Yolei declared, “hopefully.”

“Hopefully?” Cody asked, looking up at her. She held her Digivice in one hand and had her other arm wrapped around Hawkmon.

“Well, it’s not like we know for sure that it’s Ken,”

Dryly, TK comments, “It would be useful if those Digivices could label the signals a bit better.”

“At least we have somewhere to look,” Kari sighs, “Maybe one of these days we’ll get some idea of what to do about the Emperor.”

Tai gave Kari a pat on her shoulder, “Don’t get too worried, Kari. The adventure’s just starting, I’m sure things will make more sense soon enough.”

Kari frowned, “This is different from before, though. Myotismon, the Dark Masters, and Apocalymon were Digimon. The Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel are humans, like us.” They couldn’t just… destroy them, like they could with Digimon. But how much could they reason with someone already willing to go this far…?

Once more, Yolei declares, “We’re almost there!” She leads them to a cave. Kari can just faintly make out voices, one more so than the others.

“Agumon!” Tai lit up, hurrying into the cave, quickly followed by the others.

Standing beside Agumon in the cave was Ken, in the same purple jacket he wore the last time they saw him – much like Yolei and Cody, the Digital World must give him a change of clothes when he was there. Wormmon was perched on the back of his shoulders, and the three stand beside two Digi Eggs.

Turning to see Tai, Agumon lit up, waving excitedly, “Tai! You’re here!”

Ken took a step back as Tai ran up to Agumon. He watched the two for a moment, a small smile on his face, before looking at the rest of them and gesturing towards the Digi Eggs. “There’s two more Digi Eggs here,”

Following his gesture, Kari takes a better look at the two Digi Eggs. “They have the Crests of Hope and Light.” She noticed.

“Our Crests,” TK observed. Except unlike last time, they didn’t have any new Digi Destined with them. While they’d been searching for Digi Eggs with the hope that it could give them more of an edge against the Emperor, there was no telling if any of them could even lift the Digi Eggs. After all… they clearly only let themselves be moved by certain people, and having had the Crest associated with the Digi Egg before clearly wasn’t enough.

As Kari approached the Digi Eggs, joined by TK, she could feel Ken’s gaze on them. He remained silent, even as Yolei and Cody discussed who might be able to pick up the Digi Eggs and Tai and Agumon chatted excitedly about what Tai had been up to and what had been happening in the Digital World. If Kari were being honest, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be able to pick up the Digi Egg of Light or not. On one hand, it had her Crest, and it would let Gatomon Digivolve, which meant she could help the others fight. On the other hand… some part of Kari wasn’t sure if she was ready to have the fate of the Digital World on her shoulders again.

Yet she knew as surely as she knew herself that she would try anyway.

TK looks over to her, a confident smile on his face, “You ready to give it a try?”

It helped to have him with her, someone she knew and trusted, who might even have similar thoughts going through his head. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

Together, they reached out, grabbed the Digi Eggs and pulled. They budged easily, a light flying out of each and making a beeline to their Digivices. Digi Eggs in one hand, they both pulled out their Digivices, which had changed to match Yolei, Cody, and Ken’s.

“You’re Digivices changed too,” Ken observed, eyes widened just a little in surprise and… maybe recognition, but Kari couldn’t be sure.

“Wow!” Tai cheered, “Guess that was easy. Hey, that means Gatomon and Patamon will be able to Digivolve too, right?”

Patamon glided a small circle around TK, before landing on his head, “We should be able to.”

Ken gave a nod, “There’s no reason for that not to be the case.”

“Alright!” Yolei grinned, “With five Digimon, we can probably beat whatever the Emperor or that Sea Angel throws out way.”

Cody, instead, frowned, “Don’t forget, we haven’t even seen either of them.”

“You really don’t want to…” Wormmon said, “They’re so very cruel…” He seemed to quiver, prompting Ken to reach up and rest a hand on his head, giving a few gentle pats.

Tilting his head, Agumon asked, “So what now? There could be more of those Digi Eggs, but we still have the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel to worry about.”

Kari thought about that. What even were their courses of action? Given every Digi Egg they’d found so far had a Crest associated it, that meant there were eight Digi Eggs, so that left three unaccounted for, now. But could any one of them use more than one Digi Egg? Or would a different Digi Destined have to be the one to pick it up? Knowing, now, that previous Digi Destined could pick up the Digi Eggs at least broadened their options without having to search for new Digi Destined.

Then there was the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel. Though they’d yet to meet either of them, the effect they’d left on the Digital World had been obvious everywhere they’d gone. Digimon controlled by those Dark Rings, the Dark Spires that seemed to be everywhere, and the fear that the still free Digimon had of them. Even their own partners were wary of the pair, though that could be attributed in part to their inability to Digivolve. Somehow the Digi Eggs at least got around that.

“I say,” Yolei began, interrupting Kari’s thoughts, “That we go find this Digimon Emperor or that Sea Angel, and we go and give them a piece of our minds!”

“What?” Ken startled, “That sounds…”

“Somehow, Yolei, I don’t think that will be so easy,” Cody replied.

Grinning, Tai suggests, “What about freeing some of the Digimon around here from the Dark Rings? I bet if we free enough of them, even without being able to Digivolve, there’s enough strong Digimon around here that they could fend off the Emperor or his forces if they show up here again.”

That was a better idea than trying to find and fight the Digimon Emperor and Sea Angel, at least. As much as Kari would love to just put a stop to all of this at its source, she highly doubted that would be so easy. Starting smaller seemed like a good idea.

“I agree with Tai,” She said, “It’ll be easier if we have more allies on our side. Not to mention, if we cause enough of a commotion…”

“The Digimon Emperor or Sea Angel might show themselves,” TK finished with a snap of his fingers, “That sounds like a great idea.”

Yolei hummed, “I guess that probably would work better…”

“I agree,” Cody nodded.

That only left… Ken. He seemed to stiffen as their gazes all turned to him, eyes widening for just a moment. “Well… um, yes. I think that would be for the best,” He quickly answered, turning his gaze away.

He must be shy, Kari thinks. He had seemed a bit uneasy around them last time, too, though at least seemed to be good at keeping himself mostly together in the heat of the moment. Hopefully he’d warm up to them a bit, at least.

A silence falls, for just a moment, in the air after Ken’s reply. Enough that Gatomon’s ears twitch, prompting her to turn her attention to the entrance of the cave. And then she gasped, “Sea Angel!”

That caused everyone to turn their heads and look in that direction. Standing, casually, at the mouth of the cave was a boy. Lavender hair that fell over his right eye, a long, grey jacket covering most of his body, with a dark blue and white cape draped over his shoulders. He tossed something in his hand, for a moment, before swiftly returning it to his pocket – at this distance, Kari couldn’t make out what it was, just that it was no bigger than his hand.

“Oh, don’t stop your conversation on my account,” He said, “it’s entertaining to listen to you think of ways to try to stop us. Not that any of them will work.”

“You’re one of the ones that have been controlling the Digimon!” Yolei shouted, her anger at him already obvious.

Tilting his head, Sea Angel replied, “And you… you’re the kids that have been ruining the game for the Emperor. That’s very rude.” He takes a step back, aside from the entrance of the cave, “But I tell you what. If you leave and never come back, we can forget all about this.”

Kari takes a step forward, joined by Gatomon, “We’re not going to let you hurt innocent Digimon.”

At that, he scowled, “Innocent? I’d hardly call them innocent. But if that’s the fight you want to have, then so be it. Why don’t you all come out here and we’ll see if your friends-“ there was something about how he said it, something awful and snarling. Angry? Accusatory? Bitter? Kari couldn’t quite tell. “-are as strong as you seem to think.”

Quiet, for a moment, as they all thought it over. Who knew what Digimon Sea Angel had waiting. But this didn’t feel much like a challenge they could turn down, and they had five who could Digivolve now, plus Agumon. That was far better odds than if they couldn’t Digivolve at all.

It’s Ken who breaks the silence, voice even, “If you think the Digimon you’re forcing to fight for you are so strong, then why not a wager?”

“What?” Yolei yelped, “What are you doing?”

Sea Angel’s expression turned amused, “Oh, confident are we? I’m sure you have something in mind.”

“If we win, you tell us how the Digimon Emperor keeps Digimon from Digivolving.” Ken replied, not a trace of the shy boy from earlier there.

“And when I win?”

“I’ll tell you and the Digimon Emperor a way you can have the entire Digital World under your control with ease,” Though there wasn’t the least bit of uncertainty in Ken’s voice and he’d replied with such speed and ease that made it seem like he was telling all the truth, Kari had to wonder if that was the case. The idea of him having any information that the Emperor and Sea Angel might find useful wasn’t unbelievable, but it did seem unlikely. That he knew something like what he claimed seemed even more unlikely. But would he really make such a big bluff?

Sea Angel seemed to consider his words, turning them over in his head. After a few moments of thought, he answered, “Sure, I’ll take you up on that. Not that you’re going to win, so it isn’t as if I have anything to lose…” He then levels Ken with a threatening gaze, “But the Emperor doesn’t like liars.”

Ken doesn’t seem bothered by Sea Angel’s gaze, instead somehow almost amused himself. A smile curls onto his lips, “That won’t be a problem.”

Disappearing out of their view, Sea Angel steps away from the mouth of the cave. He probably won’t go far, but it’s clear he wants them to come out, and if they’re going to fight whatever Digimon he might have, they’d have to. Ken begins to walk first, hand reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out his Digivice as he approaches the entrance.

Making her decision, Kari and Gatomon follow, with TK and Patamon soon after. Yolei, Hawkmon, Cody, and Armidillomon follow quickly, while Tai and Agumon lag back. That was fine, they probably wouldn’t do much fighting unless they were really needed, anyway. Reaching the outside shows them Sea Angel’s chosen fighter, Tyrannomon, with Sea Angel standing by his legs.

Grinning, he said, “Are you sure you want to fight Tyrannomon? You could save yourself the trouble and just give up now.”

Kari shook her head, “We’re going to set Tyrannomon free and then you’ll have lost.”

“If that’s what you think will happen, then let’s stop wasting time.” Sea Angel jumps back with the sort of agility you only really got used to if you spent a lot of time in the Digital World. An understanding of how physics sometimes bent in odd ways. He snapped, gesturing towards them, “Teach them a lesson, Tyrannomon.”

She spares a glance at the other four, getting a nod in agreement. Together, they all call out, “Digi Armor Energize!”

Wormmon leaps off of Ken’s shoulders, Digivolving into Shadramon. Hawkmon and Armidillomon, who had been on the ground anyway, simply put some distance between themselves and their partners, to accommodate for the change in size as FlyBeemon and Pteranomon. Gatomon leaps forward as she begins to glow, while Patamon flew towards the rest of them when his Digivolution began.

“Gatomon Armor Digivolve to… Nefertimon! The Angel of Light!” True to her name, Nerfertimon was a winged cat, her head resembling Egyptian art.

“Patamon Armor Digivolve to… Pegasusmon! Flying Hope!” Pegasusmon looked every bit like his name implied, now very horse like in appearance, but with wings and armor as well.

Since all of their Digimon could fly, they could attack Tyrannomon from all levels, not just the ground. Sea Angel kept his distance, watching the fight intently. When it seemed like they were going to be able to break the Dark Ring, Sea Angel gestures again and thudding footsteps foretell the arrival of a second Tyrannomon.

That would make things more difficult, of course that was probably the point. Sea Angel looked pretty pleased with himself.

“What’s your deal, anyway?” Yolei yelled at Sea Angel, “I mean, what, is this some kind of power trip?”

Sea Angel looked her way, appearing more annoyed than anything else. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.” He replied, just loud enough to be heard over the commotion.

Pegasusmon and Nefertimon are able to hold one of the Tyrannomon still, while Shadramon and Pteranomon kept the other’s attention on them. This gave FlyBeemon the opening to break both of their Dark Rings, one at a time, freeing the Tyrannomon from Sea Angel’s control.

Though he looked surprised, Sea Angel tried to laugh it off, “I suppose you’re better than I gave you credit for,” He said, “Too bad, I suppose we’ll have to pick this up some other time.”

“I seem to recall we made a little deal,” Ken said, though now his tone sounded a bit less certain, at least compared to earlier.

“Whoever said I was really going to keep up my end?”

Ken seemed to weigh that, for a moment, before he replied, “That’s fine, I think I already know. I’ll just have to get around to testing my theory.”

Sea Angel scowled, then gestured once more. Swooping down from the skies, Airdramon appeared and he hops onto its back, flying off. The Tyrannomon didn’t stick around much longer either, now that they were freed of the Dark Rings. Just said some thanks and left, not that it was a big deal.

As they all calmed from the fight, Kari couldn’t help but steal a glance of Ken, who scooped Wormmon up, quietly muttering praise as he inspected Wormmon for any injuries. Wormmon, not quite as quietly, assured him he was alright. It was sweet, certainly, but felt a far cry from the demeanor he’d had in the cave after Sea Angel showed up. And then there was that wager…

“I have to ask, but what do you know that might be able to help the Emperor?” TK asked, voicing Kari’s own thoughts.

Ken looked up from Wormmon, “Oh, well… nothing,” He answered, “It was a bluff, I knew we wouldn’t lose. So I just had to entice him to see if I could get any information out of him… not that that worked.” He looked back down, frowning.

“It was a convincing bluff,” Cody added, “You seemed like another person entirely, during that time.”

Again, Ken looked up, a surprised expression on his face. One arm moved from holding Wormmon to rest on the back of his neck, gently rubbing there, “I… I guess I was.”

Kari shook her head, she just hoped Ken wouldn’t try too many things like that. It could have backfired badly if they hadn’t been able to free the Tyrannomon. She didn’t think it would stop being all hands on deck anytime soon, so they needed every Digimon that could somehow Digivolve that they could find.

Tai wanders up to her, Agumon beside him. “Some day it’s been, huh?”

“You could say that,” She looked down at her new Digivice, “At least Gatomon and Patamon can fight now.”

“Yeah, and you’ve got a new team, now.” Tai looked over all of them. TK was still near Ken, appearing to be attempting to strike up some conversation, which Ken at least was responding to. Yolei and Cody were a couple feet away, talking about something else. “But they’re going to need someone to lead.”

She tilted her head, thinking, “Well, TK and I have the most experience in the Digital World, so we’ll probably be taking the lead more often than not.”

Her brother nodded in agreement, reaching up for his goggles, “So you should take these.”

At first, she stares at the goggles, before looking up to stare at Tai instead, “What? Why?”

“Think of it like a… passing of the torch, yeah? Every good team leader needs a pair of goggles.” Tai grinned, like he didn’t say something that wouldn’t make any real sense in pretty much any context.

Staring for a moment longer, Kari replied, “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s like, symbolic. Just take ‘em, okay? I’m sure they’ll be in good hands.” He holds them out again.

“This is weird,” She said, but awkwardly takes the goggles anyway. “I’m not putting these on my head or my face, though.”

Tai shrugged, “Stick them around your neck or something. I think they’ll suit you well enough.”

---

“My injury hurt a bit, today,” Ken said as he stood in his room, Minomon sat on his bed.

“The one from…?” Minomon nervously asked.

Ken nodded, knowing they were both on the same page. “From when we fought Millieniumon.”

Minomon seemed troubled by that, “I wonder why…”

“I don’t know, it just… did. Not a lot, but… well, it does this, sometimes. Usually just makes my mood worse.” It had a tendency to start aching when he was upset. And Ken didn’t like being upset, but he’d be the first to say his life wasn’t exactly idyllic and there was plenty to be upset about. When Sea Angel acted so awful, it had just made him very… annoyed.

“Oh,” Minomon frowned, “That’s… not good.”

Setting down next to Minomon, Ken sighed, “It doesn’t happen too often and it doesn’t hurt much, but… well, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” Which might not have been entirely true, but it would hopefully keep Minomon from worrying too much.

---

“There’s five of them, now?” The Digimon Emperor asked, lounging in his chair. He leaned his back against one arm of the chair and had his legs hanging over the other. Sea Angel was used to seeing him in these sorts of ways, he didn’t like sitting in chairs normally, especially not while they were in his empire.

Sea Angel nodded, “Two of them just got the power today. They were able to break the Dark Rings off of two Tyrannomon.”

The Emperor grinned, “So they’ll be a challenge, then.”

“Opposition.”

“We’ll show ‘em how strong we are,” The Emperor declared, “I mean, I’m sure you can handle them, Angel, ‘cause you’re real good at commanding Digimon.”

While the Emperor seemed unbothered by them, Angel didn’t think it’d be so simple. “They could easily mess with our plans if not dealt with quickly.”

From underneath his glasses – Angel had always thought it was ridiculous that the Emperor wore those sunglasses over his eyes and then also wore goggles on his head – the Emperor looks between Angel and his monitors. “We still control most of the Digital World, five kids can’t undo all that work that quickly. So we’ll take care of them, but there’s no point in ruining the fun too soon.”

Angel sighed, “If that’s what you want, Emperor.” Sometimes he really wondered how the Emperor conquered anything before he came along. He was so unserious about even his own goals. It all really was a game to him, though Angel supposed this was the first time they’d ever really faced opposition that could possibly stand a chance against them.

“Heeeeey!” That nuisance of the Emperor’s partner, Veemon, called out. “I’m hungry.”

The Emperor sighed, “Then get some food. There’s plenty here.”

“You should eat with me,”

“I’m busy.”

“But Da-“ Before Veemon could get the Emperor’s name out, the Emperor cut him off.

“I’m busy! Go eat on your own!”