Ruri, Ken and Ryo
The mystery that plagued the family for years is finally solved.
Not only that, Reborn has something for Ruri.
Its something bad but he felt that if she gets any form of closure, she might get her voice back.
'Ruri...about Akiyama Ryo...' Reborn certainly got her wide-eyed attention. 'He's in Shinjuku with an entirely different problem.' upon seeing her questioning look, 'He's now a middle-aged man. In a bad state. Wanna see him?'
Dumb question.
Of course she'll go.
xxx
In his home, Ichijouji Ken received a message from a name he never thought he'd see again.
'Go to my house now. I have given you my DigiGate Coordinates. We'll go to Shinjuku General Hospital. Bring partner as a baby.' he read aloud. 'W-why're we going to a hospital...?' he wondered. "And Ruri-nee..."
He was surprised to hear from the others that Ruri worked nonstop in both protecting the Digimon World while looking for her partners and found a cure for his situation.
She felt that whatever Millenniummon shot Ryo with that Ken got in the way of, had EVERYTHING to do with him being a Kaiser and hopes to cure him so he would be free from being 'infected into doing bad things for the enemy' and to stop blaming himself for what was NOT his fault. Because he did not consciously or wanted to do what his Kaiser self did.
She will destroy the Kaiser in him.
He felt relieved that he's not alone, and he would finally be free of his sins.
His big sister found him but she lost her voice out of trauma of 'that day'. And she was now his teammate again since she gained a D-3 like he had.
Its now his turn to protect her. 'Minomon, we're seeing nee-san.' said Ken.
'Ruri? Its been a while Ken-chan!' Minomon lit up in glee, jumping down from his bed and crawled towards him. 'Let's go!'
Ken set up the coordinates to travel to where Ruri was and it was a reunion in her bedroom.
'Ruri-nee, its been three years!' Ken cried while Ruri twitched as she typed a message to his D-Terminal.
'For me it was six years. Blame Millenniummon.' she said. 'I'm just glad we're in the same dimension with Ryo-niichan but...he's an old man in his mid forties now with a severe illness.'
Ken looked at her in horror.
'S-severe illness?'
'Yeah...he is in rehab from severe alcoholism that did a number on his body.' came the messaged reply. 'He apparently got into binge drinking.' Ken's eyes bulged at the words onscreen. 'When investigated, its revealed that his son's into...unsavory illegal things while lying to his face for years and got the family in massive debt. I can easily waive the debt away but the damage is already done. I can save his family from debt by pinning it to the idiot while absolving them of responsibility but the rest is up to him.'
'O-OK...let's go to Shinjuku!'
'I made contact with people close to him. I contacted a Ri Jenrya who's his lawyer...who was also a Digi-destined in his era and Ryo-niichan worked with them before he met us. I opened a Gate through his computer that we can use. Let's go.'
xxx
Ri Law Office...
46 years old Ri Jenrya waited in his office.
He's now a tall man with slicked back hair and a severe countenance. For a Lawyer that chose Finance and Criminal Laws as their fields, danger comes with the job it was good he's a master of martial arts.
And now he got contact from a girl who knew his client...and found out what he is thus contacted him for his client and would go straight to his office using a DigiGate.
Things sure change fast these days!
And now here they are.
'Ooh that's how it works?!' he gasped out as the computer let out a blinding flash and here they are. Two kids with their digimon!
'W-where are we?' Ken gasped out.
'My Law Office,' said Jenrya. 'Sawada Ruri and Ichijouji Ken, right?'
'Yes...you know where Ryo-nii is?' Ken asked him hopefully.
'Well, you should be calling him 'oji-san' you know.' Jenrya chuckled. 'But I suppose he's your big brother since you met him when he was 11...time sure works in funny ways.' he said. 'I'll drive you to the Rehab Center. Maybe Ryo will cheer up upon seeing you two.'
'How bad?' Ken asked nervously.
'He flies off the handle at seeing his own wife and children, barely restrains himself when its us, his fellow Tamers.' said Jenrya, shaking his head. 'His wife coddles the errant boy too much and always defends him when he's clearly in the wrong that got their family in that debt that'd take great-grandchildren in bailing them out of. His daughter is stressed in trying to manage the family company and her real job while he's on rehab.'
'Yikes.'
'Yup, yikes.' said Jenrya agreed grimly. 'We'll gather our old gang. He's always happy seeing us. We'd also like to hear what changed since we were gone.'
'OK...but we'll do the talking.' said Koromon. 'Ruri lost her voice since our final battle...she'll communicate through chat I'll read aloud for her.'
'OK.' Jenrya took out his phone. 'I'll call the others while we walk to the Parking Lot.'
And so...
'Its been a while since we last saw Digimon!' said Matsuda Takato, now married to Matsuda Juri nee Katou as the couple, and Nonaka Rika who's now a famous actress fawned over the two digimon that were currently in their baby forms for convenience.
'Yeah, I miss my Renamon too.' Rika sighed. 'I wonder what happened now...well let's go see him. I just hope its not bad luck like last time!'
'Last time?' Ken blinked with Ruri.
The group winced.
'His wife.' said Rika flatly. 'Gawd, isn't he divorcing her yet? She's living in a delusional fantasy world when their son got their company in hot water with Loan Sharks to fund his gambling addiction and they're heaping insane pressure on his daughter Maemi!'
'Er, Ruri-nee has an idea but whether Ryo-nii accepts it is up to him.' said Ken. 'And how much was it Ruri-nee?'
'Its 920 million yen.' Rika snarked in the answer, answering for the girl as Ken paled while Ruri shuddered. 'Big money no?'
'Well, he shoulda married you.' said Takato wryly.
'He got engaged to her, nothing I can do about that.' Rika sighed. 'We broke off amicably.'
'Speaking...'
'Its just not in me to marry since we broke up and I'm 46. Who'll marry an old hag like me waaay past her prime?' Rika sighed. 'Besides, its hard to find a guy who'd marry me as a woman not because I'm an easy money ticket.'
'Yeah, you're a really rich actress.' said Juri.
Upon arriving to a room...
Ruri and Ken saw that their big brother changed oh-so-much when they took a peek.
He's in his forties yet looked older than he should!
'Hey guys!' Ryo greeted. He has more wrinkles and his hair was greying, wearing hospital pajamas.
'Heya! We got a surprise for you!' said Takato with a grin. 'Come in you guys!' Ryo blinked in wonder because his friends were being weird.
Sure enough, two familiar faces showed up to his delight. 'Its a surprise alright!' he laughed in delight. 'Ken! Ruri!'
'Ryo-nii!' the kids jumped on him.
'Good to see ya again Ryo!' Koromon chirped happily.
'Yes, its been years indeed!' Minomon chimed cheerfully.
'Ohh yeah, its been ages! Hahaha!'
'Y'know, this is the happiest we've seen him.' said Juri, seeing Ryo was delighted with the kids and the digimon.
'Yeah, good thing they came on our usual visit day.' said Jenrya in relief. 'Ruri's been looking for Ryo and Ken for years because of the time gap between them caused by Millenniumon even if she wasn't sure they're on the same Earth as she was due to existences of Parallel Worlds.' he told his friends. 'She had that theory when they were taken from different time periods.'
'Heee...'
After things calmed down...
'So, still digidestined huh?' Ryo mused. 'In my time, you weren't born then so it was pointless looking for you guys.' he told the kids. 'But by the time I had children, you were already born and later, you'd meet young me in a time loop meeting and battle against that guy. Now what's going on lately, chibis?'
'Ruri-nee lost her voice since 'that day'.' said Ken. 'But she found a way to cure me of my illness after three years of work.'
'Illness...you mean you haven't recovered since that day?' Ryo frowned.
He recalled that Millenniummon shot out black balls of some sort that Ken pushed them away from.
'Yes...as long as we are in the Digimon World, we are converted into data, becoming Data-Humans.' Koromon piped up, reading from Ruri's laptop. 'We're prone to being affected by attacks of evil Digimon who are Virus-Types as opposed to the Vaccine and Data-Type of our partners. Ken's virus manifested as a program that creates an evil alter-ego controlled into doing what he'd never do. Sure, he was granted super-intelligence and athletic prowess but at the cost of his humanity the more he uses it until finally, the 'bad personality' is the dominant one and Ken-chan himself suppressed. We can cure him in the Digital World as its impossible to cure him in our world.'
'Yes...when I realized that...I was able to suppress it and I became a normal, average boy again.' said Ken. 'I'm no longer a genius everyone praised in school. It took so much from me and I lost a lot because of it and committed crimes in the Digimon World even...' said Ken remorsefully. 'My only hope is Ruri-nee's program.'
'Yeah, she worked on it for years.' said Koromon. 'Bought a lot of stuff just to make it.'
'I see...I'd like to see this with my own eyes.' said Ryo. 'That worries me...what happened to you would have happened to us if you didn't push us away.'
'We can go to the Digital World now if you like.' said Jenrya. 'I brought my laptop with me complete with a strong WiFi, all we need is our Digivices and we're good to go.'
'Alright, we got it.' Rika took out her own Digivice. Takato, Juri and Ryo took out theirs too.
'We'll go to Primary Village.' said Koromon as Ruri set up the gate. 'Its where DigiEggs fall to to be reborn after Digimon die.'
'Reborn...could my Leomon be reborn?' Juri asked, hopeful as she lost her partner too soon.
'Who knows...I hope we see ours too.' said Takato hopefully. Guilmon is practically his child since he created him, then his Digivice brought him to life!...hence his very child-like personality of an innocent toddler that was a handful but Takato wouldn't trade him for anything else.
'DigiGate Open!' Ken commanded as they faced their Digivices at the Gate, thus all of them getting sucked in.
Only Ruri had a costume change.
'W-wow...so many eggs...' Juri gasped out. 'And cribs of baby Digimon!' she exclaimed. 'So cute!'
'Incredible...this didn't exist in our time!' Ryo moaned. 'In my time stuck here, its nothing but a wasteland and rare few villages! Now I see trees and a river not far from here!'
'Well, as long as programs develop fast and internet speed increases, so does this world's growth Ryo-nii.' said Ken. 'If a few days passed by back home, months to years pass by here to keep up with it all.'
'Heee...'
'Well, its time to save Ken now.' said Rika as they remembered what they came here for.
'Oh yeah! Ruri-chan do it!' Ryo said eagerly as Ruri took out her D-Terminal and materialized a red and white pill and a bottle of water.
'...medicine?' they all sweatdropped.
'Well, Ken-chan got infected by a disease, its only common sense to make his antibiotic look like medicine, no?' Minomon pointed out as Ruri handed the items to Ken for consumption.
'At least its nothing weird...' Ken sweatdropped as he banked his self on the medicine to be saved. He took the pill and the quite-chilly water, finishing it all up because it was a program, he can't load programs unfinished!
When the last drop was gone, the bottle became data too and went inside his body.
He then sported what looked like black roots attached to his head that was linked to a black seedling with a spiked head. It wiggled before thrashing around as if in pain, and went about to leave Ken as it retreated its roots from his head...then it wilted and turned to dust.
'Its gone now...so its a black plant...whatever that was?' Jenrya croaked out, wide-eyed.
Ruri rapidly typed in her D-Terminal, looking quite shaken and had Koromon read it.
'It looked like a spore that will flower soon.' said Koromon. 'It grew on the days Ken was the Kaiser. But since the new generation stopped him and changed him back, its growth stopped. Had it bore fruit or had it flowered...it will release more spores to infect as many as possible. I'm glad I worked on that program now...eep!' Koromon yelped.
'That bastard...using Ken to spread his germs to other children...' Ryo growled at the idea. 'That's not right at all!' he swore, holding Ken protectively.
Ken was just as horrified with the idea. More children just like him?
'Well, I'm glad its gone...now I just have to destroy the Control Spires I made as the Kaiser.' said Ken. 'I practically took over Digimon World using those Spires as the Kaiser to prevent evolution while committing crimes...'
'You won't be alone Ken.' Ryo reassured him. 'I'm no longer a Digidestined but Ruri-chan's still with you. You'll be OK.'
'Un.'
'But still, a programmer eh?' Ryo chuckled.
'On the day we returned, Ruri suddenly gained immense computer knowledge.' said Koromon. 'To the point she can block the whole world by herself to keep them away from this world by closing Data Gateways while Data Humans deleted what the government and scientists managed to scrounge. Only Chosen Children with Digivices can access this world on their free will, not under duress. You can come here anytime you like being Chosen. As long as we have Digivices, age really doesn't matter, you're welcome here.'
'Ohhh...that means I can relax here when work gets too hectic!' Rika sighed in relief. 'And no paparazzi stalking me!'
'Me too...you wouldn't believe what I put up with by being a Lawyer specializing in Criminal Law, not just financial issues...' Jenrya grumbled.
'Well, its you who chose Criminal Law when you could be just a Financial Lawyer.' Takato pointed out.
'Yes but hey, dad tells me the more fields I chose that are in demand the better and I'm the dumb one who listened and chose two big headaches.' Jenrya sighed.
'You mean you're hounded by criminals from trying to Prosecute them?' Juri squeaked as Jenrya nodded in annoyance.
'Uhm...about that...' Ken piped up. 'Ryo-nii, Ruri-nee is a Stock Trader.'
'What?!'
'But she's only 13!' Ryo sputtered. 'What're you on about, Ken?' Ruri gave her D-Terminal to Koromon as they looked at the pair.
'Ryo, Ruri's gonna wipe away your company's debt, or hack by making sure only one guy pays for it and not drag your entire family to it.' said Koromon. 'Ruri's rich from Stock Trading 920 million is just a gulp of water to her.'
'ABSOLUTELY NOT!' was Ryo's horrified cry. 'Ruri thank you but asking a kid to wipe my issues away is a crime...' he choked out.
'It won't look good to public ears.' Jenrya agreed. 'But if Ryo gets financial help from a friend, it won't look so bad.'
'Does that mean she can hand over the 920 million plus interest to one of you and pretend to lend it to niichan?' Ken pointed out.
'That'd work,' said Rika.
'I said no!' Ryo moaned.
He didn't get a choice, its six against one. So he reluctantly accepted the money from his Ex-Girlfriend when Ruri forwarded the money to her.
Granted, his company was saved but in utter vexation, ensured his son won't inherit a dime from him and gave what's his to his daughter and gave her a month-long vacation. He still wasn't happy with his wife as he took to drinking fruit and vegetable smoothies in his office since.
In Magazines a week from now, Rika was indeed, followed by stalkers as shown in an article.
'NONAKA RIKA, SEEN VISITING A REHABILITATION CENTER WITH FRIENDS AND KIDS'
The paparazzi even got wind who they visited but thankfully, while the name is censored out, the reason why 'this person was in', was aired out and the fact that Rika used to be his girlfriend before he got engaged by his parents to somebody else, hence they broke off amicably.
Rika just about nearly strangled who wrote the article within hours of reading the magazine had numerous people not pulled her off from the writer.
xxx
Namimori...
'Okaeri, Ruri.' said Reborn. 'How's he doing?'
'Well, we managed to make him accept her help.' said Koromon. 'But due to legal issues, she used her other identities just to forward 920-something million to Rika-san so she can ahem, 'lend' it to Ryo and 'forget charging him back'. Well, its voluntarily-given not borrowed.'
If Koromon had limbs, he would have shrugged.
'Well, its OK now and Ryo-nii cheered up again.' Ruri spoke before pausing, looking surprised with herself. 'Eh?'
'Looks like seeing him got your voice back and I was right.' Reborn smirked. 'I'll tell maman to make Sekihan, shall I?'