Chapter Seven: Ken Helps While Hikari Fights Ken
Taichi sat down with a sigh on a nearby rock. "This is just horrible," he grumbled, burying his face in his hands.
"Hey, guys?" a voice called, questioning, from a distance.
Takeru looked around. "Koushiro?" he asked.
"There's a TV over there, I think," Patamon offered, pointing. Takeru and Iori located the television in the woods nearby.
"Hi Koushiro," Takeru and Iori both greeted.
"Hey guys," Koushiro said again. "Tell Taichi that there's nothing wrong with his computer. No problems, viruses, or whatever here." He grinned happily.
"That's great, Koushiro-sempai," Iori replied. "But I don't know if Taichi-san is going to be as happy as you are about it."
"Why not?" Koushiro asked.
"We haven't had any luck finding Hikari-chan," Takeru replied. "Though we have had a few new developments." He quickly recounted the events of the past hour to the computer whiz.
"Wow, you certainly have been busy," Koushiro agreed.
Taichi wandered his way out of his lost confusion (with some help from Miyako and Daisuke) and over to the television.
"Koushiro, we still have no sign of her," he reported. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure, Taichi," the other answered. "Maybe you all should come back for a bit. I could use Miyako's help trying to figure out what happened."
"Sure thing," Miyako piped up from behind Taichi.
"Okay," Taichi agreed with a sigh. "I guess there's no point looking here if she's not here."
***
"Blue Meramon! Attack!" Ken - er - the Kaiser shouted.
"BLUE Meramon?" Hikari asked Nefertimon.
A tall digimon appeared, dark ring clearly visible around its neck. It looked almost exactly like a regular Meramon, except that it was blue.
"Blue Meramon is a higher evolved form of Meramon," Nefertimon reported. "His attacks are Ice Phantom and Cold Flame."
"I'm guessing he's not as hot as a regular Meramon," Hikari thought aloud.
Nefertimon flew out of the Blue Meramon's range as she replied. "No, his attacks are more like ice."
"Cold Flame," the Blue Meramon mumbled in a low voice, wasting no time obeying his orders.
Hikari held tight to Nefertimon as she swerved out of the way. "That was close," she commented.
"Too close," Nefertimon agreed. "Rosetta Stone!" she shouted. A pink light shined above her head, and a stone tablet appeared in that light, which then hurtled towards the fire-y digimon.
"Cold Flame," the Meramon replied simply, destroying the tablet with little effort.
"He's too strong for us," Hikari gasped. "We need help!"
***
"So there's nothing wrong with the computer?" Taichi asked.
"Nope," Koushiro replied. "I ran a virus scan twice and checked for errors in the digital gate, but I didn't find any."
"That's great," Taichi grumbled sarcastically as he sat down on the bed. "Great news, Mama. The computer's not broken. Oh, but Hikari-chan is missing. No clue where she is. Could be hurt. Bad." He sighed and flopped down. "They'll love that."
"Could there have been a problem with Hikari-chan's digivice?" Daisuke questioned.
"Maybe," Koushiro replied.
"Can we get some food, Daisuke?" Chibimon requested from his perch on his partner's head. "I'm hungry."
"You're hungry?" Upamon asked from his spot in Iori's arms. "You didn't even fight."
"Yeah, well, I had to run," Chibimon answered.
"I don't know, guys. We'll have to ask Taichi-san. It is his house," Iori replied.
"You guys hungry?" Taichi asked. He shrugged. "There's food in the fridge. Help yourself. I dunno how much is edible, though, so watch out."
"I've still got some snacks left," Miyako offered, pulling a few candy bars out of her backpack.
"Let's go look for food. C'mon Iori," Daisuke suggested. He, Iori, Taichi, and Takeru headed for the kitchen with their respective digimon.
Ken remained behind, awkwardly wondering whether he should have followed or if he should offer to help Miyako and Koushiro, who were now involved in a detailed conversation suggesting possible explanations.
Minomon seemed content to stay with Poromon and eat the offered candy bars. So he decided to stay for the moment.
"I'm not understanding it either," Miyako told Koushiro as she moved into the seat in front of the computer. "It's working fine now, but before - ."
"It doesn't make sense," Koushiro agreed. "Everything is exactly the same."
"Except for that," Miyako realized suddenly, pointing to something on the screen.
***
"Cold Flame," the Blue Meramon stated in a somewhat bored voice.
Nefertimon was tiring, as she dived out of the way of the attack. Blue Meramon was hardly moving a muscle, and she'd only gotten in two useless attacks.
"Thunder Cloud," Wizarmon shouted, aiming his attack for the Dark Ring around the Blue Meramon's neck.
"Gatling Missile," Andromon announced meanwhile, aiming for the dark spire in the distance. His attack was interrupted by a few fortunate Flymon, who were promptly freed, but left a bit dazed.
"Magical Fire," Piyomon announced, aiming her swirling attack at the Monochromon.
"Angry Rock!" a few of the freed Gotsumon joined in.
"Baby Flame!" Agumon chimed in.
Between the combined assaults, the dark ring didn't stand a chance. However, all of them working on one left them vulnerable to attacks from the other three Monochromon.
The Gotsumon were nearly all freed now, and were helping to free the others as well as to help their rescuers. Slowly, the tide was turning against the Kaiser.
But Ken wasn't worried. Sure, the Monochromon, Flymon, and Gotsumon were being freed. But it wouldn't last. Not with Blue Meramon on his side. He was very pleased, actually, with having succeeded in controlling such an evolved digimon.
Some part of him, deep in the very bottom of his stomach, and what was left of his heart and/or soul, he felt bad about hurting the girl. Confused, about why she was still here. Hadn't he left her to the elements? It had been a tough decision. But he couldn't keep her there all the time. It would be a nuisance. And he couldn't send her back. That was out of the question.
But for some reason he'd been unable to kill her. Still, shouldn't she be dead? She'd been left, weakened, in the worst part of the desert. She was stronger now, when she should have been weakened.
And what of this - Wormmon - that she had mentioned? Why did that name strike such a chord within him when he knew that he had never heard it before? Wormmon. It sounded like a useless digimon, why would he have one of those? There was no point in having a useless digimon around. Efficiency was the order of the day. Only digimon that were useful were ever used.
Though he had to admit he had missed the challenge of battle since those meddling kids had left. Truth be told, he missed capturing wild digimon and forcing them to do his will. Nothing was being harmed, it was all just a game. But he was getting bored, he confessed. He'd have to make a few changes soon.
But - what was this? Wizarmon and Andromon? Meddling fools. Helping that girl. What was her name? He knew he'd heard it, but he didn't know what it was. Not that it was important. She'd soon be no more of a threat. Maybe this time he'd keep her around for amusement. She wasn't the most attractive of girls, at least not to his taste. He preferred them a little less sickly. But she'd do for his entertainment.
What was that now? Sparks? Flying from Blue Meramon's dark ring? Could that be a malfunction? Blast it. He'd have to work on the program. That would be something to do. It was the second malfunction after the problem with that blasted Andromon. He should have tried to fix it then, but no. He hadn't. Why? He mentally kicked himself for his procrastination.
***
"I'm not sure what that is," Koushiro replied, dumbfounded.
Curious (and bored), Ken slipped behind Koushiro to peer over Miyako's other shoulder. The digital gate screen was up, and the area Miyako was pointing to was indeed different from what he had ever seen, either on his own computer or any other.
"They're numbers," Miyako noted. "But I'm not sure what they mean."
Koushiro didn't reply. There was silence for a few moments as both thought.
"Coordinates," Ken spoke softly. Miyako and Koushiro both turned to him. At the awareness of their sudden interest in him, he looked down, pretending to suddenly find his shoes fascinating.
"Coordinates?" Miyako questioned, confused.
"Coordinates for what?" Koushiro chimed in.
"For the digital world," Ken replied softly, barely looking at the other two. "Those coordinates are usually two different numbers. Those are the digital world's location. The numbers below it," he added, pointing towards the two numbers below them, "are the coordinates within the digital world."
"The digital world's location?" Miyako repeated.
Ken nodded, pulling his eyes away from the computer and glancing briefly at her face to confirm his suspicion of her confusion. "I'm not sure what they mean exactly. But those numbers make certain that we go to the digital world and no where else."
"Then if the numbers were to change -," Koushiro began.
"We'd go somewhere else other than Digiworld," Ken finished. "At least, I think. It's only a theory."
"That could be what happened to Hikari-chan," Miyako spoke up, comprehending finally. "If the numbers were changed, then she could have been transported to any other place."
"But where?" Koushiro wondered.
"Maybe a different digital world," Ken suggested. He reached to the keyboard and began to type. Miyako shifted slightly, but he made no move to take her seat. A moment later, a file filled with numbers appeared on the screen. Most of the numbers were the same.
"What are those?" Miyako asked.
"They're the coordinates that this digital gate has ever sent anyone to," Koushiro realized.
"But that one's different." She pointed to two numbers on the screen.
"That must be the coordinates we're looking for then," Koushiro stated. His eyes were wide, his jaw hanging open. He was impressed.
"That means we can go to other worlds through the digital gate?" Miyako asked, shocked.
Ken merely nodded. His eyes shifted back to his shoes, and he moved away from the computer, indicating that there was more the situation than he was explaining, but he didn't elaborate.
"This means that we know where Hikari-chan is!" Koushiro answered for Miyako. "That's more important than going to other universes or worlds or whatever."
"I know, Koushiro-sempai," Miyako replied, half apologetic. "But I just never considered - ."
"Yum, this is good food," Chibimon commented to the others as he slurped yogurt from Daisuke's arms. His voice brought the three "computer nerds" back to the real world.
"Taichi-san, I think we've made progress," Miyako spoke up.
***
"Do you see that?" Hikari asked Nefertimon. "I think the dark ring is malfunctioning."
"I think so too," her partner agreed. She nodded in the Kaiser's direction. "Looks like he's splitting."
"Ken! Wait! Come back!" Hikari shouted.
Summoning his Airdramon and what ever digimon he still controlled,(at this point only one lone Monochromon) Ken prepared to retreat. "Until we meet again, worthy adversary," he told her with a mocking grin.
With a massive explosion and a groan of pain, Blue Meramon reached up and snapped the dark ring from around his neck. "That's better," he growled. He glanced around at the group of digimon now gathered. "So,"
he asked. "What'd I miss while I was out?"
(to be continued...)
***
Apologies if the Kaiser version of Ken seems a bit OOC in this. I'm a million times more adept and understanding Ken than his alter-ego. I just think that he (especially as the Kaiser) craves excitement in his life and that simply ruling over a bunch of mindless digimon would leave him bored. He seems to enjoy his fights with the Chosen, even when he looses. Part of his sadistic personality, I guess?
Also, I have no idea if the whole going-to-other-worlds/coordinates-on-the-digital-gate thing is anything near possible, but I thought that it was the most reasonable explanation. ^_^
Thanks again to the reviewers. I appreciate you all.
Taichi sat down with a sigh on a nearby rock. "This is just horrible," he grumbled, burying his face in his hands.
"Hey, guys?" a voice called, questioning, from a distance.
Takeru looked around. "Koushiro?" he asked.
"There's a TV over there, I think," Patamon offered, pointing. Takeru and Iori located the television in the woods nearby.
"Hi Koushiro," Takeru and Iori both greeted.
"Hey guys," Koushiro said again. "Tell Taichi that there's nothing wrong with his computer. No problems, viruses, or whatever here." He grinned happily.
"That's great, Koushiro-sempai," Iori replied. "But I don't know if Taichi-san is going to be as happy as you are about it."
"Why not?" Koushiro asked.
"We haven't had any luck finding Hikari-chan," Takeru replied. "Though we have had a few new developments." He quickly recounted the events of the past hour to the computer whiz.
"Wow, you certainly have been busy," Koushiro agreed.
Taichi wandered his way out of his lost confusion (with some help from Miyako and Daisuke) and over to the television.
"Koushiro, we still have no sign of her," he reported. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure, Taichi," the other answered. "Maybe you all should come back for a bit. I could use Miyako's help trying to figure out what happened."
"Sure thing," Miyako piped up from behind Taichi.
"Okay," Taichi agreed with a sigh. "I guess there's no point looking here if she's not here."
***
"Blue Meramon! Attack!" Ken - er - the Kaiser shouted.
"BLUE Meramon?" Hikari asked Nefertimon.
A tall digimon appeared, dark ring clearly visible around its neck. It looked almost exactly like a regular Meramon, except that it was blue.
"Blue Meramon is a higher evolved form of Meramon," Nefertimon reported. "His attacks are Ice Phantom and Cold Flame."
"I'm guessing he's not as hot as a regular Meramon," Hikari thought aloud.
Nefertimon flew out of the Blue Meramon's range as she replied. "No, his attacks are more like ice."
"Cold Flame," the Blue Meramon mumbled in a low voice, wasting no time obeying his orders.
Hikari held tight to Nefertimon as she swerved out of the way. "That was close," she commented.
"Too close," Nefertimon agreed. "Rosetta Stone!" she shouted. A pink light shined above her head, and a stone tablet appeared in that light, which then hurtled towards the fire-y digimon.
"Cold Flame," the Meramon replied simply, destroying the tablet with little effort.
"He's too strong for us," Hikari gasped. "We need help!"
***
"So there's nothing wrong with the computer?" Taichi asked.
"Nope," Koushiro replied. "I ran a virus scan twice and checked for errors in the digital gate, but I didn't find any."
"That's great," Taichi grumbled sarcastically as he sat down on the bed. "Great news, Mama. The computer's not broken. Oh, but Hikari-chan is missing. No clue where she is. Could be hurt. Bad." He sighed and flopped down. "They'll love that."
"Could there have been a problem with Hikari-chan's digivice?" Daisuke questioned.
"Maybe," Koushiro replied.
"Can we get some food, Daisuke?" Chibimon requested from his perch on his partner's head. "I'm hungry."
"You're hungry?" Upamon asked from his spot in Iori's arms. "You didn't even fight."
"Yeah, well, I had to run," Chibimon answered.
"I don't know, guys. We'll have to ask Taichi-san. It is his house," Iori replied.
"You guys hungry?" Taichi asked. He shrugged. "There's food in the fridge. Help yourself. I dunno how much is edible, though, so watch out."
"I've still got some snacks left," Miyako offered, pulling a few candy bars out of her backpack.
"Let's go look for food. C'mon Iori," Daisuke suggested. He, Iori, Taichi, and Takeru headed for the kitchen with their respective digimon.
Ken remained behind, awkwardly wondering whether he should have followed or if he should offer to help Miyako and Koushiro, who were now involved in a detailed conversation suggesting possible explanations.
Minomon seemed content to stay with Poromon and eat the offered candy bars. So he decided to stay for the moment.
"I'm not understanding it either," Miyako told Koushiro as she moved into the seat in front of the computer. "It's working fine now, but before - ."
"It doesn't make sense," Koushiro agreed. "Everything is exactly the same."
"Except for that," Miyako realized suddenly, pointing to something on the screen.
***
"Cold Flame," the Blue Meramon stated in a somewhat bored voice.
Nefertimon was tiring, as she dived out of the way of the attack. Blue Meramon was hardly moving a muscle, and she'd only gotten in two useless attacks.
"Thunder Cloud," Wizarmon shouted, aiming his attack for the Dark Ring around the Blue Meramon's neck.
"Gatling Missile," Andromon announced meanwhile, aiming for the dark spire in the distance. His attack was interrupted by a few fortunate Flymon, who were promptly freed, but left a bit dazed.
"Magical Fire," Piyomon announced, aiming her swirling attack at the Monochromon.
"Angry Rock!" a few of the freed Gotsumon joined in.
"Baby Flame!" Agumon chimed in.
Between the combined assaults, the dark ring didn't stand a chance. However, all of them working on one left them vulnerable to attacks from the other three Monochromon.
The Gotsumon were nearly all freed now, and were helping to free the others as well as to help their rescuers. Slowly, the tide was turning against the Kaiser.
But Ken wasn't worried. Sure, the Monochromon, Flymon, and Gotsumon were being freed. But it wouldn't last. Not with Blue Meramon on his side. He was very pleased, actually, with having succeeded in controlling such an evolved digimon.
Some part of him, deep in the very bottom of his stomach, and what was left of his heart and/or soul, he felt bad about hurting the girl. Confused, about why she was still here. Hadn't he left her to the elements? It had been a tough decision. But he couldn't keep her there all the time. It would be a nuisance. And he couldn't send her back. That was out of the question.
But for some reason he'd been unable to kill her. Still, shouldn't she be dead? She'd been left, weakened, in the worst part of the desert. She was stronger now, when she should have been weakened.
And what of this - Wormmon - that she had mentioned? Why did that name strike such a chord within him when he knew that he had never heard it before? Wormmon. It sounded like a useless digimon, why would he have one of those? There was no point in having a useless digimon around. Efficiency was the order of the day. Only digimon that were useful were ever used.
Though he had to admit he had missed the challenge of battle since those meddling kids had left. Truth be told, he missed capturing wild digimon and forcing them to do his will. Nothing was being harmed, it was all just a game. But he was getting bored, he confessed. He'd have to make a few changes soon.
But - what was this? Wizarmon and Andromon? Meddling fools. Helping that girl. What was her name? He knew he'd heard it, but he didn't know what it was. Not that it was important. She'd soon be no more of a threat. Maybe this time he'd keep her around for amusement. She wasn't the most attractive of girls, at least not to his taste. He preferred them a little less sickly. But she'd do for his entertainment.
What was that now? Sparks? Flying from Blue Meramon's dark ring? Could that be a malfunction? Blast it. He'd have to work on the program. That would be something to do. It was the second malfunction after the problem with that blasted Andromon. He should have tried to fix it then, but no. He hadn't. Why? He mentally kicked himself for his procrastination.
***
"I'm not sure what that is," Koushiro replied, dumbfounded.
Curious (and bored), Ken slipped behind Koushiro to peer over Miyako's other shoulder. The digital gate screen was up, and the area Miyako was pointing to was indeed different from what he had ever seen, either on his own computer or any other.
"They're numbers," Miyako noted. "But I'm not sure what they mean."
Koushiro didn't reply. There was silence for a few moments as both thought.
"Coordinates," Ken spoke softly. Miyako and Koushiro both turned to him. At the awareness of their sudden interest in him, he looked down, pretending to suddenly find his shoes fascinating.
"Coordinates?" Miyako questioned, confused.
"Coordinates for what?" Koushiro chimed in.
"For the digital world," Ken replied softly, barely looking at the other two. "Those coordinates are usually two different numbers. Those are the digital world's location. The numbers below it," he added, pointing towards the two numbers below them, "are the coordinates within the digital world."
"The digital world's location?" Miyako repeated.
Ken nodded, pulling his eyes away from the computer and glancing briefly at her face to confirm his suspicion of her confusion. "I'm not sure what they mean exactly. But those numbers make certain that we go to the digital world and no where else."
"Then if the numbers were to change -," Koushiro began.
"We'd go somewhere else other than Digiworld," Ken finished. "At least, I think. It's only a theory."
"That could be what happened to Hikari-chan," Miyako spoke up, comprehending finally. "If the numbers were changed, then she could have been transported to any other place."
"But where?" Koushiro wondered.
"Maybe a different digital world," Ken suggested. He reached to the keyboard and began to type. Miyako shifted slightly, but he made no move to take her seat. A moment later, a file filled with numbers appeared on the screen. Most of the numbers were the same.
"What are those?" Miyako asked.
"They're the coordinates that this digital gate has ever sent anyone to," Koushiro realized.
"But that one's different." She pointed to two numbers on the screen.
"That must be the coordinates we're looking for then," Koushiro stated. His eyes were wide, his jaw hanging open. He was impressed.
"That means we can go to other worlds through the digital gate?" Miyako asked, shocked.
Ken merely nodded. His eyes shifted back to his shoes, and he moved away from the computer, indicating that there was more the situation than he was explaining, but he didn't elaborate.
"This means that we know where Hikari-chan is!" Koushiro answered for Miyako. "That's more important than going to other universes or worlds or whatever."
"I know, Koushiro-sempai," Miyako replied, half apologetic. "But I just never considered - ."
"Yum, this is good food," Chibimon commented to the others as he slurped yogurt from Daisuke's arms. His voice brought the three "computer nerds" back to the real world.
"Taichi-san, I think we've made progress," Miyako spoke up.
***
"Do you see that?" Hikari asked Nefertimon. "I think the dark ring is malfunctioning."
"I think so too," her partner agreed. She nodded in the Kaiser's direction. "Looks like he's splitting."
"Ken! Wait! Come back!" Hikari shouted.
Summoning his Airdramon and what ever digimon he still controlled,(at this point only one lone Monochromon) Ken prepared to retreat. "Until we meet again, worthy adversary," he told her with a mocking grin.
With a massive explosion and a groan of pain, Blue Meramon reached up and snapped the dark ring from around his neck. "That's better," he growled. He glanced around at the group of digimon now gathered. "So,"
he asked. "What'd I miss while I was out?"
(to be continued...)
***
Apologies if the Kaiser version of Ken seems a bit OOC in this. I'm a million times more adept and understanding Ken than his alter-ego. I just think that he (especially as the Kaiser) craves excitement in his life and that simply ruling over a bunch of mindless digimon would leave him bored. He seems to enjoy his fights with the Chosen, even when he looses. Part of his sadistic personality, I guess?
Also, I have no idea if the whole going-to-other-worlds/coordinates-on-the-digital-gate thing is anything near possible, but I thought that it was the most reasonable explanation. ^_^
Thanks again to the reviewers. I appreciate you all.