I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!
Speech Key:
"The" – Oral/Normal Speech
'The' – Thoughts
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE BEGINNING!
AN: Sorry for the late update, but life happens and I didn't really have much time to write anyway. This'll probably sound a bit weird, but just go along with it for now...
Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!
-The Ninth Child-
xX-Fall of the Emperor-Xx
"How long do we have to wait?" Davis griped. "We don't know how long we can keep the dude's base like this!"
The group watched as the scorched base moved sluggishly past their position on a mountaintop, their Digimon already Armour-Digivolved.
"Izzy told us that Kagome would be meeting us here, so I'm sure we can sit tight for a little longer," T.K tried reasoning with the maroon-haired preteen.
"Sorry we're late!" came Kagome's voice. The group of five looked back to find their sixth member coming towards them in Sorcermon's arms. "The DigiPort landed us a little farther than we thought it would."
"Great, so how do we get in?" Davis scratched his head.
"There's a small door right over there!" Cody exclaimed, pointing to a small opening on the side of the floating structure. "That's gotta be the entrance!"
"Well, we'd better go in while we can," Kagome nodded.
"Let's go, Raidramon," Davis exclaimed quietly.
One by one, each of the Digimon leapt for the doorway, their partner either on them or in their arms in some way. Once they landed, the group found that the doorway was actually an entrance into what seemed to be a long tunnel.
"I have a strange feeling about this place," Kagome muttered, looking around warily as she walked alongside Sorcermon behind everyone else.
"Is it evil?" the mage Digimon asked.
"No," Kagome admitted, "It feels powerful…almost kind, I suppose."
"Kind?" Sorcermon blinked. "Could this have something to do with what Wizardmon said?"
"Maybe," the raven-haired teen said, "But I don't know for sure. I didn't even have a vision today, so I don't really know."
"Then we must be cautious," Sorcermon nodded.
"Woah!" Davis exclaimed. "Look at that!"
T.K and the rest, bar Kagome and Kari gaped at the large room the tunnel had lead into. The room itself seemed to be composed just about entire of metal and had a slight curve shape to it, indicating that the structure must run in a circular or cylindrical shape; this lead to a large trapezoidal opening to look into what seemed a large shaft with a large antenna-like structure in the centre, stabilized by four prongs erupting from different areas along the antenna.
"This looks like something out of some SciFi movie!" T.K exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Davis agreed. "And I'm the hotshot pilot that rescues Princess Kari!"
Kagome and Sorcermon sweat-dropped at the maroon-haired boy's words. "He's rather blunt about his crush, isn't he?" Kagome murmured.
The mage Digimon stifled a sigh. 'At least he knows his feelings and is open about them, no matter how annoying it can get.'
"Davis," Kari giggled, "He said 'SciFi movie', not 'Deluded Fantasy'."
"Right!" Davis nodded. He stopped and blinked. "Hey…wait a minute…that's not funny!"
"That's one huge antenna," Yolei said in awe. "He must get all the stations up there and all the underground from down there!"
"We have to go down," T.K told them, "That's where the engine room is."
"Figures," Davis sighed, "Why can't the engine room ever be right in front of the entrance?"
"Because that would defeat the purpose of actually being able to protect your ship, or in this case, base," Kagome deadpanned. Suddenly, the raven-haired girl stiffened. "On your guard, something's coming!"
The group tensed, and as if on cue, a bidden door along the wall slid open to reveal a pack of Bakemon, much smaller than the ones that had appeared four years ago. However, what else was different was that these Bakemon also had Dark Rings around their torsos.
"Hey, look, Bakemon!" the maroon-haired boy exclaimed. "And…they're tiny, too…"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous," Cody pointed out, "And something tells me that they're not here just to say hello!"
"They don't have to," Davis shrugged before his face morphed into a determined look, "We'll bring the greetings to them!"
One by one, each of the Digimon rushed forward to attack the Bakemon headed their way.
"Blue Thunder!"
"Gold Rush!"
"Eagle Eye!"
"Crystal Barrage!"
"Queen's Paw!"
"Wild Mane!"
"Hurry!" Kagome called out, leading the rest of the group into the doorway that had been left open. Once the group and the Digimon were inside, the door snapped shut by itself.
Suddenly, Kagome gasped as she felt a pulse run through her body. With each pulse, she saw a small golden structure with what looked like a Crest marking on it. She closed her eyes for a moment before they snapped open again, this time, though she saw what seemed to be a faint golden aura leading off somewhere into the Digimon Emperor's base. "This way!"
"Cool!" David shouted when he saw the large room they'd run into, this one being a dead end on both sides, but led into the cylindrical shaft through a trapezoidal opening. "Do you think he plays soccer in here or something? It's definitely big enough!"
"Who would he play with?" Kari retorted. "He was so busy being the Digimon Emperor and Resident Genius that he forgot to make friends!"
"As true as that is, you probably shouldn't say things like that, Kari," Kagome scolded gently.
"Sorry," Kari flushed lightly.
Just then the ceiling began to crack. "Incoming!" Kagome shouted. "Look out!" The ceiling finally caved in only seconds later, to reveal Kimeramon growling at them as he floated before the group, a small pack of Bakemon floating by him.
"Quick," Kagome urged the preteens and Cody, "We need to find a place to hide."
"What?!" Davis burst out. "No way am I hiding from that thing like some crybaby!"
"Davis listen!" Kagome grabbed his shoulders. "Kimeramon isn't a normal Digimon and you know that he's beyond powerful! It'll take every one of our Digimon to fight him and if we stay here, they'll be caught between fighting it and protecting us! We need to hide, so they can focus of fighting and getting rid of that—that—whatever you want to call it!"
The maroon-haired boy looked shocked at the raven-haired teen's outburst, but nodded after a moment. Everyone took off for the large crates and hidden behind or between them as best as they could so they'd be out of the way, but at the same time would be able to watch what would happen.
Once they saw that their partners were out of harm's way, the Digimon all charged at the Bakemon and Kimeramon with a loud roar.
"Blue Thunder!"
"Eagle Eye!"
"Queen's Paw!"
"Crystal Barrage!"
"Wild Mane!"
Each of the attacks hit a small group of Bakemon, the targets getting knocked to the ground by the force of them.
"Look!" Cody pointed to a ring of Bakemon headed their way.
"I'm on it, Cody!" Digmon shouted. "Gold Rush!"
Digmon's drillheads were launched at the incoming ring of Bakemon. The group watched as the ghost Digimon all flew back from the force of the drillheads pushing them.
"Thanks Digmon!" Cody grinned.
"Dob betiom it," Digmon replied, his voice sound a bit nasally due to the largest drillhead on his face still being missing.
Meanwhile, the other five Digimon went on ahead to attack Kimeramon directly.
"Heat Viper!" Kimeramon opened his mouth to release a giant beam of swirling neon-green gas. The beam streaked forward, but it seemed to give off a strong shockwave as Sorcermon, Nerfertimon, Pegasusmon, Raidramon, and Halsemon all crashed into what was left of the ceiling while Digmon was bashed into the wall.
"They weren't even hit!" Kari said with wide eyes.
"He doesn't care who he hits," T.K spoke, "That thing's completely out of control!"
Kagome looked into Kimeramon's aura and found it to be a swirling mass of different colours, each one attempting to overpower the other, but at the same time coexisting to help the creature survive. 'Every person has something similar in each of their auras, the same goes for all Digimon, from what I've seen at least. But this Digimon, it doesn't even have that, it doesn't have a point of life in its aura!'
"Blue Thunder!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
"Star Shower!"
"Tempest Wing!"
"Drowning Serpents!"
(AN: This is an attack comprised of several large water dragons that can blast its target back, or if it doesn't, then it would only freeze wherever the water touched.)
"Gold Rush!"
The group, bar Kagome cheered for their Digimon as the attacks converged upon Kimeramon.
"It won't work," Kagome said softly.
"What do you mean?" Yolei asked, having been the one close enough to the older girl to hear what was said.
"From what I've seen," the raven-haired teen explained, "Armour Digivolution would equate to the Champion form of a normal Digivolution. If they're having trouble fighting Kimeramon, it just might not be completely because of the kind of Digimon it is." 'Or rather, what kind of Digimon it isn't.'
"Then," Yolei looked up at the mutated Digimon, "what level could Kimeramon be?"
"At least an Ultimate, I think," Kagome replied quietly, "Ultimate Digimon certainly are nothing to laugh at. You remember MetalGreymon, don't you? And SkullGreymon? Both were Ultimate Digimon and very powerful."
The lavender-haired girl grew worried and watched as the fog from the attack converge dissipated slowly. "You were right," she breathed out, "There's not even a scratch on him!"
"They used their best attacks, too!" Cody added. "So what do we do now?"
"There's nothing we can do, Cody," T.K replied, frustrated, "Except watch."
The DigiDestined watched as Kimeramon continuously used his Heat Viper attack, hitting the Armour Digimon back one by one, causing them to revert back to either their In-Training or their Rookie forms.
"Poromon!" Yolei cried out.
"Upamon, no!" Cody shouted.
"Patamon!" "Gatomon!" T.K and Kari called out at the same time.
"DemiVeemon!" Davis yelled.
"Kudamon!" Kagome hollered worriedly. Not caring about anything other than her fallen partner, the raven-haired girl ran across the room and picked up the fox-like Digimon into her arms. "Kudamon…"
"I'm sorry…I wasn't…strong enough…" Kudamon grinned weakly.
"You're not to blame, silly little fox," Kagome smiled gently.
"Hey, it stopped!" Davis exclaimed.
Kagome looked up and saw that the maroon-haired boy was right. Kimeramon was standing in place, still as a statue.
"Come on, now's our chance!" Kari said. And with that, the rest of the preteens and Cody ran across to their partners and cradled them in their arms.
"What do we do now?" Yolei asked sadly, looking at the weak Poromon in her arms.
"We leave," T.K said strongly, "Our Digimon lost because they weren't strong enough to face Kimeramon."
"What?!" David burst out. "No way! I'm not leaving until we do what we came for! Who knows when we'll get another chance like this?"
"Davis, I know how you feel," T.K tried reasoning with the maroon-haired boy, "But sometimes you need to fall back and regroup to make a better plan. Look at our Digimon, they're just about out of energy!"
Kagome felt a tingle run up her spine and tensed. Closing her eyes and snapping them open just as quickly, she saw the faint golden aura she'd been following earlier come from within the cylindrical shaft. But what had gotten her attention was that it was pulling at Davis' aura, almost as though it were trying to lead him to the source.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going on ahead!" Davis declared.
"Then I'm comin' with you!" DemiVeemon hopped up to sit atop his partner's head.
"You sure?" Davis asked.
"Do you really need to ask?" the small blue diigmon retorted.
"Is that even a good idea?" Yolei asked when Davis was gone.
"He needs to go," Kagome said quietly, "He's the only one that can do this."
"Another vision?" Kari inquired.
"A feeling," the raven-haired girl said evenly.
"Well, then, what're we waiting for?" Yolei announced. "Let's go after that doofus! He'd probably get into loads of trouble on his own!"
"He'd probably even take credit for the entire thing, too," T.K said jokingly.
"Yeah, he'd take credit for creating the wheel if he had the chance," Kari giggled.
"Kimeramon, don't let them get away!" they heard the Digimon Emperor order.
However, to their surprise, Kimermon didn't do as his creator had ordered. But rather, glanced at the DigiDestined just once before flying back through the hole in the ceiling he'd made only moments before.
"Where do you think you're going?!" the Digimon Emperor barked. "Kimeramon! Kimeramon!"
Suddenly a dark laugh rang through the air, sending shivers up everyone's spine. "What's with that noise?" Kari asked, unconsciously tightening her hold on Gatomon.
'I don't think it's a matter of what,' Kagome's eyes narrowed, as she fought off another shiver, 'But of who.' "That boy must've dabbled too far into the Powers of Darkness, thinking he could control them…" she muttered.
"Then I say we take this chance to get to the engine room and take this base out for good!" T.K nodded determinedly.
The rest only nodded as they ran after the blonde, he having been the only one along with Patamon to know the location they searched for. But all of a sudden, the lights went dark, signaling that the power had gone out.
'He's gotten to it, then,' Kagome smirked lightly.
"Awesome!" T.K cheered. "Davis must've done it!"
"Hey, what's that light?" Cody asked, pointing to the bright glow coming from the cylindrical shaft and filtering into the hall through yet another trapezoidal window.
The group ran over to the opening, stopped just short of the edge as they looked down. "Is—Istant what I think it is?" Yolei stuttered out.
"If you think that's a golden DigiEgg," Kagome replied, "Then, yes, it's exactly what you think it is."
"Golden Armour: Energize!" they heard Davis shout.
The golden glow just seemed to get brighter, if that was even possible. "Veemon Golden Armour-Digivolve to: Magnamon!"
The~Ninth~Child
The Digimon that took the place of Veemon was one they'd never seen before. The Digimon seemed to take on the more matured form of Veemon that Flamedramon would become, but with a little more muscle.
His legs from the knee down were encased in large golden-armoured boots, from elbows to wrists his arms were covered in the very same golden armour where it led out to three-fingered hands. His lower half was covered in golden armour as well with a symbol etched on the front, but the two lower side-wings attached to the lower-body armour seemed to have boosters on the underside. His upper torso was also covered in the same gold armour that attached to two long golden spaulders with thrusters on their undersides. His head was covered by a golden helmet with spikes, leaving only the back of his head and his eyes visible.
The~Ninth~Child
"Hey," Poromon commented excitedly, "I feel like I'm getting my strength back!"
"Me, too!" Upamon bounced out of Cody's arms.
"Poromon Digivolve to: Hawkmon!"
"Upamon Digivolve to: Armadillomon!"
"That's an interesting development," Kudamon blinked.
"The balance of power has shifted," the golden-armoured Digimon spoke loudly in a deep voice. "I am Magnamon, a Golden Armor Digimon that attacks with my Magna Blaster, and I look so good doing it too."
"Well, he doesn't look like he's got a modest bone in his body," Kagome sweat-dropped along with Kudamon, who nodded in agreement. 'But that's an intense amount of power coming off of Magnamon, and it's not the bad kind, either!'
"But how'd Davis do that?" Cody asked.
"It must've been from that golden DigiEgg," T.K replied, eyes wide in awe, "Davis must've unleashed its power somehow."
"This changes everything!" Kari breathed out.
"I wonder if our Digimon can Golden Armour Digivolve, too…" Yolei pondered.
"I don't think it works that way, Yolei," Kagome told the lavender-haired girl, to which she just pouted.
"Did you really think this new Digimon cold defeat me, DigiFools?" the Digimon Emperor taunted.
"Sticks and stone could break my bones, you loser!" Davis shouted back. "But when Magnamon gets a hold of you and your jigsaw Digimon, he'll kick your—"
"Ah ah ah," the spiky-haired boy tisked, "But you didn't let me finish! Even if he couldn't defeat me, he could still be useful as my new nightlight!"
Suddenly there was a dull thud and a tremor rocked through the vessel. "What was that?" T.K asked, feeling the vibrations run through the floor.
"Not good is what it is," Kagome said grimly, feeling whose aura it was just moments before.
"Kimeramon!" the Digimon Emperor said triumphantly.
'He still doesn't understand,' Kagome shook her head, 'Kimeramon may have been created to obey, but his aura is so out of control that I can tell that he will follow only his own agenda and no one else's…'
They watched as Kimeramon shot an attack at Davis, only for the boy to be pushed out of the way by Magnamon. "We need to get out of here," Kagome ordered, "Kimeramon will stop at nothing and in doing so he'll tear this place apart! We have to get out while we can!"
"Wait up, you guys!" they heard Davis calling out to them.
"Come on!" T.K shouted to the Maroon-haired boy who was running at them. "We have to get out of here!"
"But—" Davis cut himself off when he narrowly dodged one of Kimeramon's elbows that had dug straight in through the wall.
"We don't have a lot of time!" Gatomon urged. "We've gotta ditch this place before it takes a nosedive!"
"But it would be nice to take the Digimon Emperor along as a souvenir, don't ya think?" Armadillomon said with a glint in his eyes.
"Then let's do it while we have the chance!" Davis shouted.
"This way!" Kagome ordered, leading them as she followed the trail where the Digimon Emperor's aura led.
""Listen you little nightcrawler," they heard the Digimon Emperor hiss, "It certainly wouldn't be you!" there was a yelp of pain and soft thud.
"Ken!" Davis shouted. "Stop it!"
"Well, if it isn't the DigiDestined," the spiky-haired boy smirked at the group and their Digimon, "I see you've come to your sense and are ready to bow down to Kimeramon and I!"
"In your dreams!" the maroon-haired boy retorted. "I think you used too much hairspray again, 'cause it's probably leaked into your brain!"
"And who said it was okay for you to create a Digimon, anyway?" Cody asked. "You're not Dr. Frankenstein or anything, Ken! It's not the Digimon that are the monsters, YOU are! You're the real monster here and everyone knows it!"
The blue-haired preteen was taken aback at this, but snapped out of it and only growled at the statement.
"Okay, that's it," Kagome said ominously, "I've had enough of your holier-than-thou attitude, you brat! Take a good look at these Digimon; do they look like they're just data? Data shouldn't be able to feel apparently, and yet you see living, breathing Digimon; creatures that feel pain, happiness and just about every human emotion you can think of! They're not toys for whatever sick game you think you're playing!"
"Since you have a Digivice, that means that you're a DigiDestined just like us," T.K spoke up.
"And that means that you have a responsibility to both worlds," Kari added. "It's the same with Wormmon; I'm willing to bet that he's your true partner and because he's your partner and your friend, he's stuck by you through everything you've done no matter what the consequences were! He's someone you should care for and not kick around like you've been doing!"
Ken was silent for a few moments, the only noises during that time being the sounds of the fight between Kimeramon and Magnamon. "There's only one Digimon that's suitable to be my partner," he said quietly as Wormmon perked up a little, "And that's Kimeramon!"
Suddenly a violent tremor rocked the base, causing some of the DigiDestined to fall to the ground or grasp at the wall for stability.
"Don't feel too proud about destroying by home base," the spiky-haired boy sneered, "because I'll make sure that you all go down with it!"
"Wait up, Ken!" Davis called out. "Listen, we just want to help you!"
"Is it me," Hawkmon said, "Or is it getting a little hot down here?"
"We know that we have to get out of here," Yolei nodded, "But do you guys have enough energy left to Digivolve again?"
"After that boost Magnamon's Digivolution gave us," Armadillomon spoke up, "We're ready for just about anything!"
"Yes, now let's leave before I become a fried chicken!" Hawkmon squawked.
"The let's do it!" T.K said determinedly.
"Digi-Armour: Energize!" the group called out in unison.
"Armadillomon Armour-Digivolve to: Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge!"
"Hawkmon Armour-Digivolve to: Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"
"Patamon Armour-Digivolve to: Pegasusmon, the Soaring Hope!"
"Gatomon Armour-Digivolve to: Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"
"Kudamon Armour-Digivolve to: Sorcermon, the Mage of Compassion!"
"Gold Rush!" Digmon shot his drillheads at the wall, creaking apart the metal coating to reveal solid dirt beneath. "Gold Rush!" he shot another set of drillheads at the same patch in the wall he'd uncovered, this time, though the attack went all the way through, leaving the DigiDestined with a path to go through.
"Now why don't we play a little game of 'Follow the Leader'?" Digmon announced, jumping out of the tunnel with Cody in his arms.
"I'll follow him!" Pegasusmon said.
"I'm following them!" Nefertimon spoke.
"I'm following you!" Halsemon called out.
"And I suppose we'll be going after you!" Sorcermon chuckled, carrying Kagome in his arms.
"Now that's what I call following orders," Digmon nodded with a wink.
"That was a close one!" Davis exclaimed from his place behind T.K on Pegasusmon's back.
It was only moments later after the group witnessed a Digimon taking off from the base did they see the vessel crash into the desert, sending out a shockwave of sand out in a large cloud that spanned in all directions.
"I wouldn't look now, Davis, but Magnamon looks like he needs help!" Yolei shouted to the maroon-haired boy.
The group looked to see Kimeramon with Magnamon clutched within the arm that belonged to SkullGreymon. "No! Magnamon!" Davis cried out.
"There's got to be something we can do!" T.K bit his lip worriedly.
"But what?" Cody asked. "The last time our Digimon tried fighting Kimeramon, they didn't even stand a chance!"
'A…power spike?' Kagome looked around for the source and saw down below where Ken stood on the back of a Devidramon, Wormmon seemed to be glowing a golden hue that glowed brighter with each passing second. 'No, it's not an energy spike, but a power within that's surfacing…It looks like the compliant will be that no more.'
"What the—" Kari's eyes widened when Wormmon knocked Ken off of the Devidramon and directed it to hit the arm holding Magnamon captive.
"Wormmon, what are you doing?" they heard Magnamon ask.
"Please, Magnamon, you're the only one that can stop him now!" the insect Digimon pleaded, right before he and the Devidramon were both kocked away by Kimeramon.
"Wormmon!" Magnamon and the DigiDestined called out in worry.
"Please, take this last bit of my strength to defeat that monster!" Wormmon shouted, a bolt of golden light erupting from his body to streak straight into Magnamon.
"Sorcermon!" Kagome spoke clearly, looking at the falling Digimon.
"Right!" the mage Digimon nodded, taking off for Wormmon.
Kagome grunted softly as the green bug Digimon made impact with her, but smiled softly down at the withering Digimon nevertheless. "Everything will be all right, don't worry."
Wormmon knew he didn't have much time left and just buried his face into Kagome's chest, tired sobs racking his body.
"Magna Elimination!" Magnamon shouted as a bright light erupted from where she stood in the air. The light enveloped both him and Kimeramon, everntually bursting out into a large explosion, the bright light causing everyone to shield their eyes.
By the time the glow was gone, they saw that Kimeramon had been disintegrated into nothing while DemiVeemon was tumbling down to the sandy ground. Davis ran forward, hoping to catch his partner before the small Digimon could hit the ground and potentially injure himself even further.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group headed towards Ken, who's fallen to his knees and was banging the ground with his fist (their Digimon having returned to their Rookie forms just after the explosion). "I failed! How could they have beaten me? I was flawless! There's no way anyone could have defeated me without cheating!" He lifted his head just a bit, not noticing the rest of the DigiDestined behind him yet. "That's it, they must have cheated! Then, I have no choice but to cheat myself; I'll start over, that's what I'll do! I'll reset the Digital World!"
"'Reset the Digital World'?" T.K parroted. "Ken, what the heck are you talking about?"
"I'll just go home, delete all of the information of the Digital World off of my Computer and create a new program," the spiky-haired boy said, sounding near hysteria, "I'll create a new Digital World! One that doesn't cheat!"
"That's impossible, Ken," Davis spoke up, "Why don't you understand?"
'Did everything I said earlier go in through on ear and out the other?' Kagome wondered.
"The Digital World is a completely real place with real creatures, Ken!" Yolei tried reasoning with the boy. "It's not just a program on your computer to do with whatever you want whenever you want to!"
"We all tried telling you before," T.K added, "But you just wouldn't listen! You thought we were playing a trick on you!"
"Lies!" the blue-haired preteen hissed at the group, backing away a step.
"They're…not…lying," Wormmon said hoarsely from Kagome's arms. "Just…listen…"
"This isn't some videogame, Ken," Cody spoke up, "The Digital World is a real place and the Digimon are real creatures, too!"
"You're been hurting innocent creatures," Kari pleaded, "Don't you understand?"
"T-That can't be!" Ken stumbled aback a few more paces.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "That's it; no more Miss Nice Girl." She handed Wormmon over to a blinking Kari and stalked over to the navy-haired boy.
"Oh boy," Kari's eyes widened, "She's definitely not playing around…"
"Is this annoyed Kagome, or angry Kagome?" Yolei whispered.
"Definitely angry," the light-brown-haired girl winced, "A quiet and calm Kagome is scarier than a loud and expressive one…"
"I'll say," T.K nodded apprehensively, "I've only seen Kagome like this once, and believe me, even though she's quick, she definitely gets the point across!"
They watched as Kagome quickly caught the fleeing preteen by the scruff of his neck before grabbing his arms and holding his wrists to his back as she frog-marched him back to where the rest of the DigiDestined stood, the Digimon Emperor struggling all the way.
"Did everything I tell you slip in through on ear and out the other?" Kagome asked coldly. "You see living, breathing creatures right before you and you still don't believe that this isn't just some game?! Ever since you gave yourself that self-absorbed title, you've been abusing and using Digimon left and right without cause or reason! Look at them and tell me that they aren't real! Look!"
And look he did. The DigiDestined watched as the navy-haired boy's eyes widened when his eyes fell on DemiVeemon, Patamon, and Gatomon. "I remember! T-They were at the soccer game? But then, that would mean…that would mean, that you are real!" he went slack in the raven-haired teen's grip.
Kagome let the boy go and watched as he took a few shaky steps towards the Digimon before falling to his knees once again. "Do you understand now?" She asked gently.
"I do," Ken said shakily, "You're all real, and not just data! How could I have forgotten that?!"
"You know," DemiVeemon squeaked, getting the navy-haired preteen's attention, "for a genius, you're a pretty slow learner, Ken!"
The preteen looked a little shocked at the small Digimon's words before falling silent. All of a sudden, after a few moments, Ken started sobbing loudly. "I'm a monster!" he ripped off his gloves, his glasses, and his cloak, the rest of his jumpsuit dissolving soon after, returning him to the outfit he was usually seen wearing on Earth.
"Wormmon!" Kari exclaimed.
"He's still breathing," Kagome said quietly, "But just barely."
"Worm…mon?" Ken asked, stumbling close to them.
"You've…returned…" the bug Digimon gave a small smile, "I…knew you…could…do it…"
"I'm so sorry, Wormmon," Ken wept, "But it's too late for me!"
"It's…never…too late…to…be sorry…" Wormmon rasped.
"He's right," Davis nodded. The boy gasped when he opened his fist and a small object glowing purple lifted out of his hands and hovered over to Ken.
"Where did you get that, Davis?" T.K asked urgently.
"In the sand, why?" Davis looked clueless.
"Because that looks a lot like the Crests T.K, Kagome, and I had before they were destroyed by Apocalymon," Kari answered, eyes wide.
"And if you look close," Kagome added, "It has the Crest of Kindness on it."
"But…why is it coming to me?" Ken asked, cupping the crest in his hands. "I've been everything but kind!"
"That must've been what Wizardmon meant!" Gatomon's ears perked in realization. "He said that Kindness would release the Golden Radiance. Ken must be the key to unlocking its power!"
"I knew…deep…inside…you were kind…" Wormmon nodded weakly.
Ken knelt down and took his partner into his arms. "Please, don't go! You really were my best friend, please don't go!"
"And…you were…mine…Ken…" Wormmon said, voice hitching with sobs, "Goodbye…" And with that, the insect Digimon shattered into thousands of tiny particles in the wind.
No one bothered to hide their tears at the melancholy scene. "Wormmon, NO!"
"He's gone, Ken," T.K said gently, knowing how he felt due to Angemon's sacrifice four years before. But this time, no one knew if Wormmon would be reverted back to a DigiEgg.
"It's all my fault," Ken muttered to himself, tears cascading down his cheeks, "Just like my brother! I couldn't save them! Why do I have to keep losing everyone I care about? I can here to get away from all of that, but I just can't!" he tried wiping away the tears, but to no avail as more just kept leaking down his face.
"You're wrong, Ken," Davis spoke, "You're not alone; you still have people that love you!"
"Just—Just leave me alone," Ken wept, stumbling away from the DigiDestined.
"Wait, Ken, you—" Davis was stopped by Kagome, who put are arm out to stop the maroon-haired boy from following the grieving boy.
"Leave him be," Kagome said quietly, "he needs this time alone, it's more than just Wormmon's passing he's trying to cope with. He'll come to us when he wants to, don't pressure him." 'And so begins the healing…' Kagome watched Ken with weary eyes. "Come on, it's time we go back home."
-Earth; The Campsite-
"Oh man," Izzy groaned, walking into the forest with his laptop, "What am I supposed to do?!" Suddenly a small ping went off from his laptop. "Hey, it's the DigiPort!" He suddenly blanched. "Wait, the DigiP—WOAH!"
In three seconds flat, the DigiDestined lay on top of Izzy in a groaning heap, thankfully, though, Izzy had enough sense to hold his laptop away in order to save it from being squished.
"Nice of you to drop in," Izzy managed to get out.
"No…problem…" T.K said dazedly.
"Okay, I really don't have any time to explain," Izzy said quickly, "But I need you guys to come back to campsite with me NOW!" He started off into a quick speed-walk, laptop closed and held under his arm securely.
"He seems awfully anxious, don't you think?" Kagome leered at the auburn-haired boy.
The rest of the group shrugged and followed after the genius. "Hey! Who invited you here, June?!" Davis asked.
"Matt did, of course," June replied as if it were obvious, missing the groans from Tai and Matt.
'So that's why…' T.K and Kagome thought amusedly. The raven-haired girl frowned, though, when she felt a pang go through her. 'What was that about?'
The~Ninth~Child
"Hey, would it be okay if I got a ride back with you all?" June asked when everyone was piling into Hiroto Ishida's minivan.
"No way!" Davis scoffed. "Take the bus!"
"But that's not fair!" June whined.
"Kids, that's not very nice," Hiroto frowned, "One of you go and ride the bus back with June."
"That's very thoughtful of you, Sir," the auburn-haired girl nodded, "And I have the perfect candidate!"
"Who is evidently T.K!" Matt stated quickly.
"Matt, you go take the bus with June," his father ordered.
"But—I'm broke!" he floundered for a good excuse.
"There's enough right here," Hiroto handed his son a few notes.
"Oh come on, can't one of you trade?" Matt begged.
"Have fun, lover boy," Tai teased.
"Have her back before curfew," Izzy added.
"Don't worry, Matt," June took a hold of his arm and snuggled into it, "We'll be sitting right next to each other!"
Matt only screamed in horror, though the girl attached to him didn't seem to hear it. The group only laughed as Hiroto drove off.
The only one that hadn't said a word was Kagome, who had a strange look on her face. 'I wonder what's wrong?' Kudamon looked up at his partner through the flap of her bag.
'He was…setting them up?' Kagome glanced at Hiroto before looking back ahead. 'It's only a bus ride and Matt doesn't like June, he said so himself! So why do I feel like something's twisting me on the inside?' She thought back to the conversation she had with Mimi a long while back. 'Wait…do I—am I…jealous? But if I'm jealous of June spending time with Matt, that would mean—' her eyes widened.
'Oh my—I'm in love with him! I'm in love with Matt!'
Ciao,
TsukiyoTenshi