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Shi-chan: Chapter 2, coming right up! I'm on a roll.
Duo: You're on hyper pills is more like it. This is the fourth fic tonight.
Shi-chan: Ha! I'm not done yet! I've got more writing in me!
Seki: *sweatdrop*
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In Your Shoes
Part 2
~By Shimegami-chan
Music: "Tobira," (Acoustic version--Yamato)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another Digimon serial. Body-snatching, and weird stuff...
Warnings: Some language in this chapter. Nothing too bad.
I wondered why, too
You were so cold, and you wouldn't turn around
I thought I couldn't be with you
But I didn't know the reason why
I couldn't leave you
//Damn.// Ken groaned and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling tiles. //What happened? I feel like I've broken every bone in my body.// The room was white, unfamiliar. This wasn't his room. Where was he?
"Oh...my God..." Someone else was in here too. A female voice?
Blinking in surprise, he broaked out a name. "Inoue...Miyako?" It couldn't be. What was she doing here? Where was 'here?'
"Shh, don't try to talk," she whispered, touching his cheek lightly. "Did he throw you out of the digital world? You're in terrible shape!" she declared. "That bastard. I probably shouldn't be doing this, but I'll help you."
"Who?" Ken managed to gasp, his throat on fire. His voice sounded lower, lighter than usual. Like he was talking through a pane of glass.
"I'll take care of you," Miyako repeated. "I just need to...Koushirou...lab...Ken." Ken caught snatches of the words, drifting in and out of consciousness. Sleep was looking really good.
//Don't, you idiot. You've got a concussion for sure.//
But he was so drowsy...and everything was so warm...
Ken closed his eyes and let sleep take him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When he awoke Ken found himself in a small room of pink and purple, in a huge bed. They didn't make beds this big, did they? Was he dreaming? He was alone, now--that Inoue girl had left, if she was ever even there. Ken's body felt heavy, protesting with every move. His arms and legs were so numb he couldn't feel them.
Growling in frustration, Ken squirmed out from under the blankets and collapsed on the monsterous pillow in sheer exhaustion. There was something terribly wrong with his body, he realized, staring at the limbs spread out before him. "I must be dreaming." His hands had turned into pincers, several sets of them. His legs were incredibly short. Turning his head, Ken caught sight of a tail-like segment with two sharp points atop it.
//Not a dream, a nightmare. I'm turning into that worm.//
The Digimon Kaiser hissed in fury, trying to puzzle out what was going on. //This can't be a dream. Shit. Did something go wrong when we came through the digital gate? If I'm here, where's the worm?//
"Wormmon!" Miyako cried, rushing into the room. "You're awake...are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Ken snapped, embarassed.
"Poor thing! I found you in the Odaiba Elementary computer room, half conscious. Do you remember what happened? Did Ken throw you out?"
Odaiba? What the hell was he doing in Odaiba? He should have come through the gate in his room in Tamachi! None of the other gates should have been working! //Of course,// Ken thought, //it might be useful having such a naive enemy right here...// His mind whirled frantically. //Can I fake this?// "Yes. He threw me out.//
"I'll kill him," Miyako seethed. "He just ditched you in the real world? God!"
Ken drew back from the anger practically radiating from the lavender-haired girl. "H-hai..."
Sighing, Miyako sat down and patted Ken's head, touching his anntennae with her thumb in a way that shot thrills through his insectoid body. "Sorry, I know you're loyal to him. He's your partner, after all...and I just can't seem to stay mad, even after everything he's done."
Ken did not speak for a moment. "You liked him."
"Yeah." She smiled sadly. "I did. Maybe I still do."
//Fool. I could have gained her trust even in my own body. Dammit, where's Wormmon? That idiot's likely to get me killed or captured, and then what will I do? I suppose I should stay long enough for this body to heal, and milk some information out of the girl. I'll figure out a way to destroy them, all of them.// Grinning inwardly, the Digimon Kaiser resigned himself to plotting once again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
//Human.//
//Human.//
"Impossible," Wormmon said in his soft alto voice, touching his left hand with the fingers of his right. "How can this happen?" It had to have been the gate, he decided. Ken shouldn't have been messing with the gates, look what had happened! Where was Ken anyway? Wormmon couldn't help but worry about his human master, possibly in a predicament very similar to his own.
A lock of indigo hair fell into his eyes, and the digimon-turned-human swept it away clumsily. His hands didn't function very well yet, but he was trying. He had managed to get himself into a sitting position on the carpet sometime in the past hour. He was in Ken's room, the computer glowing on the desk. "Where are you, Ken?"
Inching over to the desk, Wormmon flexed his fingers and grasped it as tightly as he could. "Stand up, onegai..." he pleaded under his breath, willing his shaky legs to hold his weight. It felt off-balance, of course, only having two legs, but with the help of the sturdy desk he managed to stay upright. After a long moment he let go, using his arms to balance. Gingerly he took one step, then another. This body knew how to stand. How to walk. To this human it was nothing. And he could do it, Wormmon realized. He was walking just like a human should! Wobbling from terror and fear, but walking just the same.
He stumbled out of the bedroom and into the bathroom, thanking his lucky stars that it wasn't far away. Once inside he closed the door and looked into the mirror, getting his second world-jarring shock that day.
Indigo hair. Violet eyes. A smooth, pale face with a tiny nose and high cheekbones. Wormmon's mouth dropped open in surprise. He was in Ken's body! The stunned boy gingerly touched his face, neck, and arms, not beleiving what had happened to him.
"If I'm in Ken-chan's body..." he whispered aloud, "...then he must be...in mine...I've got to find him! But how?"
Suddenly, being alone and lost in a world of humans sounded a lot scarier...
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Shi-chan: On to Sandglass!