DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. I just like to torture them. Please don't sue.
A/N: Since there are only 4 chapters left counting this one, I'll be posting them one each time instead of three. Recap: Kari, Cody, and T.K....
The threesome that had gone through Mummymon's portal stood up in a dark room.
"Anyone see a lightswitch?" Kari asked. "Gatomon, cats see good in the dark."
"Not this dark," Gatomon said. "But there's a wall here, and a doorframe...Kari, run your arm over the wall and see if you can find it."
Kari did and found one next to the door. She turned it on and flooded the room with light. It was small with white cinderblock walls. There was no furniture, nothing to indicate what it was used for. "It must not have a purpose yet," Kari mused.
"The light makes a difference," T.K. said, blinking, getting used to the brightness.
"Yeah," Cody agreed. "Now, I bet this is that Arukenimon's headquarters. So Ken must be in here somewhere."
Kari nodded. "So let's get looking." She stepped out into the hall, and gasped. "I think I know why she isn't using this room..."
"What is it?" T.K. asked, joining her in the hall. "Gah!"
There was row after row of blank walls. It was a veritable labyrinth.
"This could take a while," Gatomon said, flatly.
"Too bad they aren't cubicles instead," T.K. said. "Then Patamon could fly above us and see what kind of pattern they're in."
Cody grimaced. "Well, let's start walking."
Yolei slumped against a wall in the stairwell. They were trying to hide from their antagonists in a dark spiral stairwell near the main engine. Wormmon knew the base inside and out, and had directed them to it. They had gone through a barely noticeable door into another main part of the base. They were still fairly out in the open, but Arukenimon would have to find the *door* first. "I hope we're far enough away from them here," she whimpered. Halsemon had de-digivolved to Hawkmon, and the group was huddled in a small pile against a wall. Davis and Yolei were trying to let their digimon and Wormmon sleep.
Davis cocked an eyebrow. "I think they'll be too busy chasing T.K., Cody, and my *wife* to worry about us for a while."
"She might have sent that Mummymon dude after us while she went after the others, or vice versa."
"Don't be such a downer."
"Well, Davis, have you forgotten that we, T.K., Cody, and your wife are all trying to save *my* husband?!"
Davis looked down. "Sorry. But I'm as worried about Kari as you are about Ken."
It upset Yolei a little, and she wasn't sure why. "At least you and Kari have had time together. You've had five years together, and a few months married. I've never even been kissed on the lips by my own husband!"
"What?" Davis blinked in shock. How was it possible that Ken had refrained from kissing the one he loved? It would have killed him to never kiss Kari.
"Yeah. He has this little habit of kissing me on the top of my head, and he did it even when Elecmon said he could kiss me during the ceremony. We were sitting on the bed, and he took me in his arms," --and here Yolei began to break down with every phrase-- "And he was about to kiss me--when Arukenimon showed up and ruined everything. Ruined absolutely everything."
"Oh...I'm sorry." Davis had started a quarrel for the first time since they'd been battling, and for the first time ever, he was apologizing.
"It's okay," Yolei said, "You didn't know."
"But I still feel bad about making you feel bad. Forgive me?"
"Sure, why not?" Yolei stuck out a hand, and Davis shook it.
Twenty minutes passed, and the group on Arukenimon's turf had not figured out the pattern of the rooms.
"Hey, does it seem like we're going in circles?" Upamon asked.
"It all looks the same, so of course it seems like that," Cody explained.
"No, he's right," Gatomon said. "The path, the way the hallway is, is curved." She stopped and scratched what she meant on the floor. "Kind of like a circle."
"And all these crossing halls are spokes?" Kari asked. "Hey! Could that be it? Like a wheel?"
"Duh! We're slow today!" T.K. cried. "It's a spider's web pattern!"
"Of course!" Cody said, bopping himself on the forehead. "She's a spider, remember? It makes perfect sense, and I bet that Ken's in the room in the center!"
"How long are we going to wait here?" Yolei asked.
Davis shrugged, but she heard it more than saw it in the dimness. "I dunknow. We can't feed them, so they need as much sleep as we can let them have."
"I guess," Yolei said, her voice wavery.
A few minutes passed in silence.
"Davis?"
"Yeah?" Davis opened his eyes halfway. He was almost asleep himself with the boredom of waiting--although he preferred it to the dangers of battle.
"Do you suppose they're all right? Cody and Kari and T.K., I mean. And their digimon."
"Why wouldn't they be?"
"Well, I was thinking. Mummymon didn't necessarily come from Arukenimon's world, dimension, wherever it is that she's keeping Ken."
"So?"
"So they went where he came from. If he came from somewhere else, they won't find Ken because he won't be there."
"Yolei, we'll worry about that when we have a way to get to Arukenimon's HQ."
She nodded, but it didn't reassure her or keep her from wondering.
They had reached the round room at the base's center, and T.K. was the one to find the door on the far side. "Over here, guys!"
Kari, Cody, and the respective Digimon joined him and Patamon.
"Shall we?" Kari asked.
"We'll never know anything until we find out," Cody said sagely.
T.K. put his hand on the knob, and was surprised when it wouldn't open under his touch. "Aw, damn it, it's locked."
Ken heard voices, and forced himself to consciousness. Arukenimon was nowhere to be seen. "Hello?" he called.
The only response he got was to hear an attack.
"Lightning Paw!" The door to the room crashed apart and fell inward, Gatomon standing atop its wreckage. She turned to the group waiting outside. "Anyone ask for a lock-picker?"
Kari laughed. "Gatomon lock-picking service. What doors can we destroy for *you*?"
Ken sighed in relief. Kari. Kari was the one Yolei told her secrets to, he knew. If anyone would sympathize and help him out, it would be Kari. "Hey! Help me down! I'm over here."
Kari rushed in, and T.K. and Cody were not far behind. "Ken!"
Oh, peachy. Cody. His biggest adversary. Cody would not accept him, even now, when he was trying to go back and fix his past mistakes and atone for the wrong he'd done.
"Kari, please...help me off of here. And, help me find Yolei." He kept his tone low and quiet. He didn't want the proud-sounding voice of the Emperor to slip through. As far as he was concerned, he was finally, once again, just Ken.
Kari stared, wide-eyed. "This is terrible," she said. There were tears in her voice. "Yolei told us all what your plans were. I'm glad." She immediately came close and started unbuckling his right foot from the wall.
"Glad of what?" Ken asked as his foot came free. He bent his toe downward and was pleased that the toe of his shoe hit the floor. He wasn't going to fall and pull his arm out of its socket when she undid one of his hands.
"That you're sorry. That you're fixing everything back how it was."
He almost blushed, but he managed to control it. He was surprised at how fast the unconsciousness wore off, and he realized that most of it was induced by Arukenimon, and that when she wasn't around to make him stay in it, there was no reason for him to do so naturally.
By now Kari was on the last buckle on his arm. As soon as his wrist was free, his feet moved to be flat on the floor, and he reached for his arm to rub it. Having his arms above his head for a long period of time had done its share to make them fall asleep, and they were still so dead, there was little or no feeling. And then, the rush of pinpricks. It hurt like hell to move so much as a millimeter. He held his hands out straight until they subsided.
The first matter of concern was his new wife. "Where's Yolei?" he asked again.
"She's fine, the last we saw," Cody said.
"Last you saw?"
"We don't know where she is now or what she's doing. Davis is with her, though. And Wormmon."
Ken sighed. "Wormmon? He can't do much for her, but he'll give everything he's got." He hoped it wouldn't come down to Wormmon giving his life to save Yolei.
"Au contraire," T.K. said, "He has an attack that beats Arukenimon's."
Ken's eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding."
Kari shook her head. "No. We all saw it work."
Ken shook his own head. He kept his eyes on the floor. "And all this time I..." His voice cracked, hard as he willed it not to. "I've been so terrible."
T.K. reminded them of the circumstances, his jaw set determinedly. "It doesn't matter right now. We need to worry about getting back to your base. I don't think Arukenimon is as strong here, but we have an advantage. She'll battle us wherever we are, and if we're there..."
Ken caught on. "I'm sure I can hack into her computers and find us a way there."
Yolei shivered. Sleep had claimed her for a while, but cold had creeped in strong enough to wake her. She realized that everyone else was awake. "Davis..."
"I know it's cold," he snapped.
"I think it's an ill omen."
"How so?"
She was about to answer when the sound of metal against metal was heard. Everyone froze.
"Kuso!" Davis cursed under his breath.
Suddenly, the air that had seemed too still for so long was ripped apart with the sound of Mummymon's machine gun. "Arukenimon, darling, over here!" The door fell to the floor, having been shot open.
Hawkmon and Veemon became Shurimon and Flamedramon--better fighters than Halsemon and Raidramon.
Davis tried to calm Yolei. "Calm down. We're uphill from them, it's easier for us to attack than *be* attacked."
Yolei just stood, tensed, waiting for them to show.
She waited only seconds.
"Spider Thread!"
"Snake Bandage!"
"Double Star!"
"Fire Rocket!"
"Sticky Web!"
The first firing of attacks went in the DigiDestined's favor.
But they both knew that they couldn't keep up this fight-hide-fight-hide routine forever. Arukenimon needed to be defeated--soon!
Kari watched Ken intensely over his shoulder. She understood little of what he was doing, but he assured them that he was inside Arukenimon's files and would have it any minute.
"Ah! I think we've got something here!" he said, and T.K., Cody, and the digimon all leaned over his chair.
"What is it?" Cody asked.
"I think I've found the portal program." He brought it up and typed quite a bit. "Is everyone ready to get back to the base?"
Normally, in the old days, they all would have shouted in the affirmative, but now the most enthusiastic response they dared to give was a somber nod.
Ken hit one last key and the wild ride began. Within minutes, they were back in the Control Room, but no one else was there.
"This is where Davis and Yolei were," Cody said, distraught.
"The battle has moved elsewhere," Ken figured out. "Wormmon will have taken them to the stairs near the main power room. It's easily defensible there, and he knows that. Come on, let's go."
The three digimon Armor digivolved. Kari pulled Cody up behind her on Nefertimon, and T.K. grudgingly let Ken behind him on Pegasusmon. Digmon would have to be pretty fast to keep up, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
Ken gave the directions, and planned their attack. They would soon defeat Arukenimon, he was sure.
Yolei shrunk back from the battle in fear. Things were not going good. They would soon be running again, she knew.
Davis pulled her to her feet. "If we have to run, I want you to be *ready* to run," he insisted. She frowned, but nodded.
"Snake Bandage!"
"Fire Rocket!"
"Sticky Web!"
A pause.
"Spider Thread!"
"Equus Beam!"
"Nande kuso?" Davis and Yolei cried simultaneously.
Yolei looked up. Her face immediately brightened, and she raised her arms and shouted in delight, "It's T.K. and Kari! And Cody! And *KEN*!"
"Yolei!" Ken called. "It's okay!"
Pegasusmon and Nefertimon landed on the steps above Davis, Yolei, and the raging struggle. Cody and Ken both got off, and Davis ran to join his wife aboard Nefertimon. He hugged Kari snugly around her waist and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, but there wasn't really time to show what he was really feeling. The digimon took back to the air to battle. In the midst of the inferno, Cody and Ken ran to Yolei. Cody beat Ken and bear-hugged her. "I was so worried about you!" he cried.
"That's funny, I was going to say the same thing," she laughed. It felt good to be happy.
Ken knelt next to Wormmon. "I...am...*so* sorry any of this ever happened." Wormmon looked up, tears threatening. Ken continued. "And I'm sorry I was such a bakayaro to you all this time. As badly as I always treated you, you still saved...my precious Yolei...and for that I'll always be in your debt..." He scooped up the digimon in his arms and hugged him.
"I forgive you, Master," Wormmon said.
"No. No. It's Ken. I am Ken. I don't want to ever hear you call me Master again."
"All right...Ken."
Ken wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeve, and realized he was still in his gray pajamas. At least they didn't look like pajamas. Now that he had settled things (for the moment, anyway, he still had a lot to do to make up to Wormmon)--the next order of business was to make sure for himself that Yolei was all right. As soon as Cody backed away from Yolei, Ken came close and slipped his arms around her waist. "I was so scared...that bakayaro bitch threatened to kill you right before my eyes..."
"I'm all right," she whispered, hugging his neck.
He might have kissed her if there had been time, but just then, Digmon exploded through the steps below Arukenimon and Mummymon. "Rock Crackin'!"
Ken smiled, and let go of Yolei. "I told him where the weak points were, and where to drill..."
A portion if the steps caved in, taking Arukenimon and Mummymon with it. "Back! Back!" Arukenimon cried, and both she and Mummymon vanished before they ever hit the bottom hundreds of feet below.
"Kuso!" Ken cursed. "If they would've fallen, there's no way they would have survived! There's no way that they won't be back."
Davis repeated Ken's cuss from up in the air. "I guess we have to go somewhere else. We can't stay here. The steps are too weak."
Ken nodded his agreement. "Let's go."
Digmon de-digivolved to Armadillomon, and Pegasusmon flew down to where he was so T.K. could pick him up and bring him back to join the others.
"Everyone! Up the stairs!" Ken said. He picked Wormmon up again, and started carrying him, his free hand entwined in his wife's. Cody got up behind T.K., and Flamedramon de-digivolved to Veemon so he could ride Nefertimon with Davis and Kari. The only ones walking were Ken, Yolei, Wormmon, and Hawkmon, who had also de-digivolved from Shurimon.
There was not a room at the top, or rather, not a floor. There was a multi-level drop down to the bottom of the basement floor.
"This is the main engine," Ken told them. "I don't know when she's going to show but I know she will. I suggest everyone make themselves comfortable."
"Wait!" Davis said. "One more thing." The flying digimon had alighted on the stairs, and he dismounted Nefertimon and walked over to Ken. Looking at Ken with as serious of a look as he could muster, Davis said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We're both fighting Arukenimon, and you've said that you're going to dismantle the Empire. You're on the good side. You have a digivice and digimon. You must be a DigiDestined. So, join us."
Ken blinked. "You really think I'm a true DigiDestined, just like the rest of you?"
"That would be my guess." Davis stuck out a hand. "Well?"
Ken blinked again.
"What's it gonna be?" Davis asked.
Yolei squeezed Ken's left hand. "I'll be by your side no matter what. But I hope it never has to be a decision for me."
Ken blinked yet again, and slowly reached out his own hand. He moved it all the way to Davis's palm and finally grasped his hand. "I'm doing it."
"All right!" Davis cried. "Score one for the good guys!"
Ken blushed as the rest made a big thing of congratulating him. When things had settled down, everyone sat on the steps in their own spot to get comfortable. They were in for a potentially long wait.
Wormmon came and put his head in Ken's lap, a picture of perfect trust.
Kari sat one step in front of Davis, between his legs, and he slipped his arms around her from behind and just held her. For once they were content to display their affection in a calm and steady manner. They were quiet, and still. They were comfortable in the stillness as well as the fever.
T.K. and Cody each sat with their digimon, and in fact, all the digimon save Wormmon flocked near them, somehow sensing that the two couples needed to be alone for the time being.
Yolei scooted over to Ken and leaned against his side.
"Yolei, I'm not in the mood to be--"
"I'm not in the mood for romance or affection, either. I just think you need to know that I'm here for you." She moved her hand to the other side behind him, thereby placing her arm across his back, around his waist. She laid her head on his shoulder and sat in complete silence.
"Thanks," he whispered. He wanted silence, he wanted to think. He'd just officially become a DigiDestined, and he was fighting for the other side. He had to use his knowledge of the base he'd built for evil to defeat evil.
He sighed. Things were so complicated.
But things finally seemed right.
And Yolei was right. Her very presence and her promise to stand by his side forever was a very comforting thought.
A/N: Aww! That's kawaii! I know it's a bit short. Oh well.
A/N: Since there are only 4 chapters left counting this one, I'll be posting them one each time instead of three. Recap: Kari, Cody, and T.K....
The threesome that had gone through Mummymon's portal stood up in a dark room.
"Anyone see a lightswitch?" Kari asked. "Gatomon, cats see good in the dark."
"Not this dark," Gatomon said. "But there's a wall here, and a doorframe...Kari, run your arm over the wall and see if you can find it."
Kari did and found one next to the door. She turned it on and flooded the room with light. It was small with white cinderblock walls. There was no furniture, nothing to indicate what it was used for. "It must not have a purpose yet," Kari mused.
"The light makes a difference," T.K. said, blinking, getting used to the brightness.
"Yeah," Cody agreed. "Now, I bet this is that Arukenimon's headquarters. So Ken must be in here somewhere."
Kari nodded. "So let's get looking." She stepped out into the hall, and gasped. "I think I know why she isn't using this room..."
"What is it?" T.K. asked, joining her in the hall. "Gah!"
There was row after row of blank walls. It was a veritable labyrinth.
"This could take a while," Gatomon said, flatly.
"Too bad they aren't cubicles instead," T.K. said. "Then Patamon could fly above us and see what kind of pattern they're in."
Cody grimaced. "Well, let's start walking."
Yolei slumped against a wall in the stairwell. They were trying to hide from their antagonists in a dark spiral stairwell near the main engine. Wormmon knew the base inside and out, and had directed them to it. They had gone through a barely noticeable door into another main part of the base. They were still fairly out in the open, but Arukenimon would have to find the *door* first. "I hope we're far enough away from them here," she whimpered. Halsemon had de-digivolved to Hawkmon, and the group was huddled in a small pile against a wall. Davis and Yolei were trying to let their digimon and Wormmon sleep.
Davis cocked an eyebrow. "I think they'll be too busy chasing T.K., Cody, and my *wife* to worry about us for a while."
"She might have sent that Mummymon dude after us while she went after the others, or vice versa."
"Don't be such a downer."
"Well, Davis, have you forgotten that we, T.K., Cody, and your wife are all trying to save *my* husband?!"
Davis looked down. "Sorry. But I'm as worried about Kari as you are about Ken."
It upset Yolei a little, and she wasn't sure why. "At least you and Kari have had time together. You've had five years together, and a few months married. I've never even been kissed on the lips by my own husband!"
"What?" Davis blinked in shock. How was it possible that Ken had refrained from kissing the one he loved? It would have killed him to never kiss Kari.
"Yeah. He has this little habit of kissing me on the top of my head, and he did it even when Elecmon said he could kiss me during the ceremony. We were sitting on the bed, and he took me in his arms," --and here Yolei began to break down with every phrase-- "And he was about to kiss me--when Arukenimon showed up and ruined everything. Ruined absolutely everything."
"Oh...I'm sorry." Davis had started a quarrel for the first time since they'd been battling, and for the first time ever, he was apologizing.
"It's okay," Yolei said, "You didn't know."
"But I still feel bad about making you feel bad. Forgive me?"
"Sure, why not?" Yolei stuck out a hand, and Davis shook it.
Twenty minutes passed, and the group on Arukenimon's turf had not figured out the pattern of the rooms.
"Hey, does it seem like we're going in circles?" Upamon asked.
"It all looks the same, so of course it seems like that," Cody explained.
"No, he's right," Gatomon said. "The path, the way the hallway is, is curved." She stopped and scratched what she meant on the floor. "Kind of like a circle."
"And all these crossing halls are spokes?" Kari asked. "Hey! Could that be it? Like a wheel?"
"Duh! We're slow today!" T.K. cried. "It's a spider's web pattern!"
"Of course!" Cody said, bopping himself on the forehead. "She's a spider, remember? It makes perfect sense, and I bet that Ken's in the room in the center!"
"How long are we going to wait here?" Yolei asked.
Davis shrugged, but she heard it more than saw it in the dimness. "I dunknow. We can't feed them, so they need as much sleep as we can let them have."
"I guess," Yolei said, her voice wavery.
A few minutes passed in silence.
"Davis?"
"Yeah?" Davis opened his eyes halfway. He was almost asleep himself with the boredom of waiting--although he preferred it to the dangers of battle.
"Do you suppose they're all right? Cody and Kari and T.K., I mean. And their digimon."
"Why wouldn't they be?"
"Well, I was thinking. Mummymon didn't necessarily come from Arukenimon's world, dimension, wherever it is that she's keeping Ken."
"So?"
"So they went where he came from. If he came from somewhere else, they won't find Ken because he won't be there."
"Yolei, we'll worry about that when we have a way to get to Arukenimon's HQ."
She nodded, but it didn't reassure her or keep her from wondering.
They had reached the round room at the base's center, and T.K. was the one to find the door on the far side. "Over here, guys!"
Kari, Cody, and the respective Digimon joined him and Patamon.
"Shall we?" Kari asked.
"We'll never know anything until we find out," Cody said sagely.
T.K. put his hand on the knob, and was surprised when it wouldn't open under his touch. "Aw, damn it, it's locked."
Ken heard voices, and forced himself to consciousness. Arukenimon was nowhere to be seen. "Hello?" he called.
The only response he got was to hear an attack.
"Lightning Paw!" The door to the room crashed apart and fell inward, Gatomon standing atop its wreckage. She turned to the group waiting outside. "Anyone ask for a lock-picker?"
Kari laughed. "Gatomon lock-picking service. What doors can we destroy for *you*?"
Ken sighed in relief. Kari. Kari was the one Yolei told her secrets to, he knew. If anyone would sympathize and help him out, it would be Kari. "Hey! Help me down! I'm over here."
Kari rushed in, and T.K. and Cody were not far behind. "Ken!"
Oh, peachy. Cody. His biggest adversary. Cody would not accept him, even now, when he was trying to go back and fix his past mistakes and atone for the wrong he'd done.
"Kari, please...help me off of here. And, help me find Yolei." He kept his tone low and quiet. He didn't want the proud-sounding voice of the Emperor to slip through. As far as he was concerned, he was finally, once again, just Ken.
Kari stared, wide-eyed. "This is terrible," she said. There were tears in her voice. "Yolei told us all what your plans were. I'm glad." She immediately came close and started unbuckling his right foot from the wall.
"Glad of what?" Ken asked as his foot came free. He bent his toe downward and was pleased that the toe of his shoe hit the floor. He wasn't going to fall and pull his arm out of its socket when she undid one of his hands.
"That you're sorry. That you're fixing everything back how it was."
He almost blushed, but he managed to control it. He was surprised at how fast the unconsciousness wore off, and he realized that most of it was induced by Arukenimon, and that when she wasn't around to make him stay in it, there was no reason for him to do so naturally.
By now Kari was on the last buckle on his arm. As soon as his wrist was free, his feet moved to be flat on the floor, and he reached for his arm to rub it. Having his arms above his head for a long period of time had done its share to make them fall asleep, and they were still so dead, there was little or no feeling. And then, the rush of pinpricks. It hurt like hell to move so much as a millimeter. He held his hands out straight until they subsided.
The first matter of concern was his new wife. "Where's Yolei?" he asked again.
"She's fine, the last we saw," Cody said.
"Last you saw?"
"We don't know where she is now or what she's doing. Davis is with her, though. And Wormmon."
Ken sighed. "Wormmon? He can't do much for her, but he'll give everything he's got." He hoped it wouldn't come down to Wormmon giving his life to save Yolei.
"Au contraire," T.K. said, "He has an attack that beats Arukenimon's."
Ken's eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding."
Kari shook her head. "No. We all saw it work."
Ken shook his own head. He kept his eyes on the floor. "And all this time I..." His voice cracked, hard as he willed it not to. "I've been so terrible."
T.K. reminded them of the circumstances, his jaw set determinedly. "It doesn't matter right now. We need to worry about getting back to your base. I don't think Arukenimon is as strong here, but we have an advantage. She'll battle us wherever we are, and if we're there..."
Ken caught on. "I'm sure I can hack into her computers and find us a way there."
Yolei shivered. Sleep had claimed her for a while, but cold had creeped in strong enough to wake her. She realized that everyone else was awake. "Davis..."
"I know it's cold," he snapped.
"I think it's an ill omen."
"How so?"
She was about to answer when the sound of metal against metal was heard. Everyone froze.
"Kuso!" Davis cursed under his breath.
Suddenly, the air that had seemed too still for so long was ripped apart with the sound of Mummymon's machine gun. "Arukenimon, darling, over here!" The door fell to the floor, having been shot open.
Hawkmon and Veemon became Shurimon and Flamedramon--better fighters than Halsemon and Raidramon.
Davis tried to calm Yolei. "Calm down. We're uphill from them, it's easier for us to attack than *be* attacked."
Yolei just stood, tensed, waiting for them to show.
She waited only seconds.
"Spider Thread!"
"Snake Bandage!"
"Double Star!"
"Fire Rocket!"
"Sticky Web!"
The first firing of attacks went in the DigiDestined's favor.
But they both knew that they couldn't keep up this fight-hide-fight-hide routine forever. Arukenimon needed to be defeated--soon!
Kari watched Ken intensely over his shoulder. She understood little of what he was doing, but he assured them that he was inside Arukenimon's files and would have it any minute.
"Ah! I think we've got something here!" he said, and T.K., Cody, and the digimon all leaned over his chair.
"What is it?" Cody asked.
"I think I've found the portal program." He brought it up and typed quite a bit. "Is everyone ready to get back to the base?"
Normally, in the old days, they all would have shouted in the affirmative, but now the most enthusiastic response they dared to give was a somber nod.
Ken hit one last key and the wild ride began. Within minutes, they were back in the Control Room, but no one else was there.
"This is where Davis and Yolei were," Cody said, distraught.
"The battle has moved elsewhere," Ken figured out. "Wormmon will have taken them to the stairs near the main power room. It's easily defensible there, and he knows that. Come on, let's go."
The three digimon Armor digivolved. Kari pulled Cody up behind her on Nefertimon, and T.K. grudgingly let Ken behind him on Pegasusmon. Digmon would have to be pretty fast to keep up, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
Ken gave the directions, and planned their attack. They would soon defeat Arukenimon, he was sure.
Yolei shrunk back from the battle in fear. Things were not going good. They would soon be running again, she knew.
Davis pulled her to her feet. "If we have to run, I want you to be *ready* to run," he insisted. She frowned, but nodded.
"Snake Bandage!"
"Fire Rocket!"
"Sticky Web!"
A pause.
"Spider Thread!"
"Equus Beam!"
"Nande kuso?" Davis and Yolei cried simultaneously.
Yolei looked up. Her face immediately brightened, and she raised her arms and shouted in delight, "It's T.K. and Kari! And Cody! And *KEN*!"
"Yolei!" Ken called. "It's okay!"
Pegasusmon and Nefertimon landed on the steps above Davis, Yolei, and the raging struggle. Cody and Ken both got off, and Davis ran to join his wife aboard Nefertimon. He hugged Kari snugly around her waist and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, but there wasn't really time to show what he was really feeling. The digimon took back to the air to battle. In the midst of the inferno, Cody and Ken ran to Yolei. Cody beat Ken and bear-hugged her. "I was so worried about you!" he cried.
"That's funny, I was going to say the same thing," she laughed. It felt good to be happy.
Ken knelt next to Wormmon. "I...am...*so* sorry any of this ever happened." Wormmon looked up, tears threatening. Ken continued. "And I'm sorry I was such a bakayaro to you all this time. As badly as I always treated you, you still saved...my precious Yolei...and for that I'll always be in your debt..." He scooped up the digimon in his arms and hugged him.
"I forgive you, Master," Wormmon said.
"No. No. It's Ken. I am Ken. I don't want to ever hear you call me Master again."
"All right...Ken."
Ken wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeve, and realized he was still in his gray pajamas. At least they didn't look like pajamas. Now that he had settled things (for the moment, anyway, he still had a lot to do to make up to Wormmon)--the next order of business was to make sure for himself that Yolei was all right. As soon as Cody backed away from Yolei, Ken came close and slipped his arms around her waist. "I was so scared...that bakayaro bitch threatened to kill you right before my eyes..."
"I'm all right," she whispered, hugging his neck.
He might have kissed her if there had been time, but just then, Digmon exploded through the steps below Arukenimon and Mummymon. "Rock Crackin'!"
Ken smiled, and let go of Yolei. "I told him where the weak points were, and where to drill..."
A portion if the steps caved in, taking Arukenimon and Mummymon with it. "Back! Back!" Arukenimon cried, and both she and Mummymon vanished before they ever hit the bottom hundreds of feet below.
"Kuso!" Ken cursed. "If they would've fallen, there's no way they would have survived! There's no way that they won't be back."
Davis repeated Ken's cuss from up in the air. "I guess we have to go somewhere else. We can't stay here. The steps are too weak."
Ken nodded his agreement. "Let's go."
Digmon de-digivolved to Armadillomon, and Pegasusmon flew down to where he was so T.K. could pick him up and bring him back to join the others.
"Everyone! Up the stairs!" Ken said. He picked Wormmon up again, and started carrying him, his free hand entwined in his wife's. Cody got up behind T.K., and Flamedramon de-digivolved to Veemon so he could ride Nefertimon with Davis and Kari. The only ones walking were Ken, Yolei, Wormmon, and Hawkmon, who had also de-digivolved from Shurimon.
There was not a room at the top, or rather, not a floor. There was a multi-level drop down to the bottom of the basement floor.
"This is the main engine," Ken told them. "I don't know when she's going to show but I know she will. I suggest everyone make themselves comfortable."
"Wait!" Davis said. "One more thing." The flying digimon had alighted on the stairs, and he dismounted Nefertimon and walked over to Ken. Looking at Ken with as serious of a look as he could muster, Davis said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We're both fighting Arukenimon, and you've said that you're going to dismantle the Empire. You're on the good side. You have a digivice and digimon. You must be a DigiDestined. So, join us."
Ken blinked. "You really think I'm a true DigiDestined, just like the rest of you?"
"That would be my guess." Davis stuck out a hand. "Well?"
Ken blinked again.
"What's it gonna be?" Davis asked.
Yolei squeezed Ken's left hand. "I'll be by your side no matter what. But I hope it never has to be a decision for me."
Ken blinked yet again, and slowly reached out his own hand. He moved it all the way to Davis's palm and finally grasped his hand. "I'm doing it."
"All right!" Davis cried. "Score one for the good guys!"
Ken blushed as the rest made a big thing of congratulating him. When things had settled down, everyone sat on the steps in their own spot to get comfortable. They were in for a potentially long wait.
Wormmon came and put his head in Ken's lap, a picture of perfect trust.
Kari sat one step in front of Davis, between his legs, and he slipped his arms around her from behind and just held her. For once they were content to display their affection in a calm and steady manner. They were quiet, and still. They were comfortable in the stillness as well as the fever.
T.K. and Cody each sat with their digimon, and in fact, all the digimon save Wormmon flocked near them, somehow sensing that the two couples needed to be alone for the time being.
Yolei scooted over to Ken and leaned against his side.
"Yolei, I'm not in the mood to be--"
"I'm not in the mood for romance or affection, either. I just think you need to know that I'm here for you." She moved her hand to the other side behind him, thereby placing her arm across his back, around his waist. She laid her head on his shoulder and sat in complete silence.
"Thanks," he whispered. He wanted silence, he wanted to think. He'd just officially become a DigiDestined, and he was fighting for the other side. He had to use his knowledge of the base he'd built for evil to defeat evil.
He sighed. Things were so complicated.
But things finally seemed right.
And Yolei was right. Her very presence and her promise to stand by his side forever was a very comforting thought.
A/N: Aww! That's kawaii! I know it's a bit short. Oh well.