Author's note: Hi, all. Sorry about the wait. I can't promise it'll be shorter, though I'll try. AND I don't think this story will have major cliffhangers. so there's that, at least.

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Ah, no. I don't technically own digimon. Or un-technically. I just don't.

Chapter two:

Ken scrolled through the list of video clips on his screen. It seemed that the program he'd set up, to list and compile the video of every disappearance of a control spire, worked. He was glad, he'd only started working on it the night before, but he wanted to be able to tell when and where a spire vanished, in case it was that- woman? Was she a woman, or a digimon, or something more? In any case, it seemed the video feeds had done an even better job than he'd hoped, recording the previous day's data as well as today's, before it could delete itself.

"I'm glad I set the camera's to keep everything for a day before deleting, but I wish I'd had it keep more, Wormmon. What if that Turionmon wasn't the first?"

Wormmon nibbled at the dessert on a plate before him. "We'll never know, I guess. But surely we'd have seen if there were digimon on rampage."

Ken shook his head ruefully. "I can't see everything, and tear down spires, and do my homework." Ken had found that it was harder to do his math assignments, though he still understood the questions. Maybe it was the stress.

Wormmon looked at the silently playing video, of the battle with Turionmmon and smiled. "Ken may still think he's bad, but he's not. He saved those little digimon, when so many Digimon would have run," he thought. Aloud, he said, "Ken, try this, it's good! What did your mom call it again?"

"Panna Cotta. It means 'cooked cream'- it's Italian."

"It's really very good. C'mon, try some!"

"In a minute." Ken's eyes were fixed on the screen. A group of tiny digimon - Koromon mostly, took out a spire in section 54. In section 32, he watched the same Agumon he'd once captured fire pepper breaths until s spire crumbled. Ken's heart clenched. He'd caused so my pain, and for what?

Wormmon seemed to sense Ken's thoughts. "You didn't know." the green digimon whispered, leaping up onto the boy's lap.

"I should have, though. I should have." Ken said bitterly, ducking his head.

It was an old conversation, and Wormmon sighed, leaning against his partner, pushing his head into the crook of his arm. If he'd been a cat, he might have purred.

Only a few videos remained, all from that afternoon. Two of Ken and Stingmon in the western desert and by the shores of a lake. The thumbnails of those that remained showed children.

"It's them," Ken murmured. "The Digidestined. Not her, not that woman." He moved to close the window- somehow it seemed wrong to spy on them, as he had done for so long. But at the same time, he wanted to see them destroy what he'd thought of as his life's goal.

The first clip played, a familiar forest, the very one near the amusement park. He checked the other clips- all of spires he'd not destroyed near the amusement park. Ken allowed himself a smile. Once those spires were gone, Digimon would find the park, and use it, enjoy it; particularly if the Digidestined did. Davis led a silent charge across open ground to the park, and looked to be arguing with the older girl, Yolei. Ken forced himself to use their names in his mind, reminders that they were not interlopers who had interfered with a game, but people. People he'd almost killed. The thought was painful. "They belong in the Digital world. They're Digidestined. Not me, though. No matter what he said. Hang on. That's odd." He thought, then spoke out loud. "Why did the cameras save this? There's no more dark energy, no spires or rings, so why keep recording?"

I shouldn't be spying on them... but whatever the reason the feeds kept going, it must be important.

The clip jumped, the time stamp showing that a few minutes had passed. A stream of something dark came from the top of the screen. Ken was breathless, squeezing his hands- this was it- those things, but what had- Wormmon gave a squeak as the camera focused on the black, airborne stream. they were metal gears, matte and dark. Ken gripped the edge of the desk. "No." He knew those things, used some of their data to make the rings, the slave collars. But how? Shouldn't they be dormant? Shouldn't they be gone? He'd seen the lot of them destroyed by the older Digidestined, hadn't he?

The gears slammed into the ferris wheel, sending it crashing. Ken and wormmon watched, Horrified, glad that there was no sound. From the smoke came light as digimon Digivolved and carried the children to relative safety.

He watched as they ran into the trees, the cameras losing focus.

"Someone has to be controlling those gears." If it wasn't him, and it wasn't, that left- "That woman! It must be her, If only I'd stopped her!"

Ken could not look away. Another camera had picked up where the amusement park ones had left off. It followed the blond boy- "T.K." his mind corrected, running through the woods as quickly as he could. gears followed him- were they chasing him? the little digimon- Patamon?- shot bursts of air, deflecting the black, toothy disks. Digivices glowed, turning the gears into dust.

Suddenly, the Gears swerved. T.K. looked behind him, saw his brother, his mouth opened in a mute scream as the gears slammed into the older boy. He fell unmoving into the grass, and the feed ended.

Ken thought he might throw up.

"What do we do?" Asked Wormmon. "is there anything we even can?"

"I..I dunno. Get to the bottom of who did this. Where the gears came from. That woman's identity." Ken began to type. "I'll set the program to search for them both."

It was only an hour or two old. Surely there would be news, if- if-. Ken knew that Matt, that was his name, Matt Ishida- was some kind of rock musician, with a local fan base. If anyone knew what had happened to him- if he was dead, or how badly hurt, fanboards on the internet would. Ken hoped he would find nothing.

It was all over the websites. that week's concert was canceled. the lead singer was- Ken breathed a sigh of relief, "Not dead"- in a hospital, in a coma.

"Well?" Asked Wormmon.

"He's alive. Hurt, though. We've got to find a way to reverse the effects of those gears."

Wormmon took another bite of the white, jello like desert, and nodded. "Where do we start?"

"I have no idea." Ken frowned. He opened his desk, rummaging for a flashdrive, and his fingers caught on a thing cord. He drew out the necklace, the one that belonged to his former hostage, the one he'd tried to discover the secrets of, without success.

"I really ought to return it," he said. "But I can't see her- or any of them- ever wanting to see my face again, especially not where they live. They'll think I'm plotting something."

"Do you really think so? You've changed."

"They won't believe that." Ken snapped. " and, anyway, why should they? I was- a monster. Am."

"No. You were lost, confused."

"I can't lie to myself, Wormmon. I as good as killed them, over and over and over." Ken shook his head. "I'll think of a way to get it back to her. Somehow." He found the flashdrive he's almost destroyed, the one with his notes on the gears he'd used to make the dark rings.

"Time to get to work."


There! I'll try to get something posted next week, probably a one shot song fic about some of the parents, or else a chapter of the Izzy threeshot. I'll see if I can have the next chapter of this up in two weeks, but I have five picture books to get written by May 21( yay for my Advanced Creative Writing class) so yeah. I'll try.

As always, reviews are well loved- particularly if you have ideas for chapter titles.

Hedgi