Chapter 4: Night Eyes

Notes: This chapter will contain some references to Digimon 03…which I hadn't really planned, but they helped me bring the story to a good close, so I'm not fighting them.  It's only fair, what with various reminders of 02 scattered throughout nearly every episode of 03.  Although I was a little disappointed that Davis's voice turned out to be Takato's cousin and not the REAL Davis.  Ah, well.  I didn't plan for the story to end this way.  Enjoy…and be weirded out. 

TK took a deep breath and dialed.  "No pressure.  Just gotta get this over with."

On the third ring, he heard the phone being answered.

"Hey, TK."

"Hey, Tai."  He paused.  "I need to tell you something…about Kari."

"Don't bother.  She told me about the Digimon Emperor."

"She…she did?!"

"Yeah."  Tai paused.  "Thanks for calling, though.  It's good to know there's someone else looking out for Kari."

"Wait, Tai.  I'm…worried about her.  She's…changing, somehow.  And I think it's got something to do with her having two Gatomon."

"I suspected as much, TK.  But she seems to be enjoying herself, however she's changed."

"That's what worries me.  If she has a problem, she either won't or can't admit it."

"You have a point, but what is it exactly she's done to worry you?"

"Besides the Digimon Emperor's…permanent defeat, there's…well, how should I say this?  I think she's turning into a cat."

* * * * *

Very rarely does a child become any sort of ruler, much less a tyrant.  But the Digimon Emperor, however he had come upon that title, had been both.

But for all intents and purposes, he was dead.

Ken Ichijouji was not…although, considering they'd been one and the same, he was perhaps a bit closer to death than he would've preferred.

The nurses kept saying he'd been attacked by some sort of animals and was lucky to be alive, much less conscious.  All that meant to Ken was that he was alive to feel the incredible pain that constantly tortured his body.  Of course, considering how much pain his other self had caused, maybe he was meant to hurt for it all.

They kept him on painkillers twenty-four hours a day.  He'd heard a doctor say that if he were to feel the extent of his injuries, even for a moment, the agony might drive him into a state of permanent shock, or make him lose his mind. 

But that was not the kind of pain Ken was worried about.

He was worried about the kind that came from deep inside, the kind that originated from his heart.  It was a sharp, searing pain that struck whenever he remembered a Digimon he'd enslaved, tortured, or deleted.  The ironic thing being that his photographic memory helped him remember each and every one.

Never before had Ken considered his intelligence such a curse.  But considering how broken and scarred his body was, his mind was all he had left.  He knew he would never walk again, no matter what the doctors said.  Even if he had the strength, he would never again try.  There was no point.  Where would he go?  What would he do?  What COULD he do now, aside from curse the day he'd ever found his digivice?  Even that he had to do silently, with his mouth hurting like it did.

Just then, one of the nurses came in.  "Ken?  There's someone here to see you."

Probably his mother again.  He didn't even feel like seeing her just then.

"She says her name is Kari Motamiya."

* * * * *

Yolei sighed and shook her head.  "NO, Davis.  You have to carry the seven before adding these numbers, remember?"

Davis moaned in frustration.  "Yolei, we've been at this for an hour now.  Can't you just accept that I suck at math?"

"Davis, it has only been TEN MINUTES!!!  That is EXACTLY why you need to learn math, so you can TELL TIME!" Yolei shouted.

Suddenly, both their D-3s began to warble.

"Saved by the e-mail!" Davis cheered, flipping his open.  "Hey, from Kari!  I bet it's a love letter…wow!  She's inviting me to a secret location!  I knew it!"

"No, it's probably not that secret." 

"How do YOU know?"

"Because I just got the same message, dummy."

"NOOO!  Why, Kari?!?!"

"Oh, shut up and grab your bag.  You are not making us LATE again.  Do you even HAVE a watch?!"

* * * * * 

Ken didn't know why he said yes.

He did know that the girl who had ordered his defeat was standing at the foot of his bed, a Salamon purring softly in her arms.

Ken's throat went dry all of a sudden.  Maybe she'd come to finish him off.  Any minute, the Salamon would digivolve into Gatomon—or maybe DarkGatomon—and then digivolve into Angewomon—or LadyDevimon.  Then the Celestial Arrow—or the Darkness Wave.  He wondered if the attacks would feel any different outside the digital world.

"I won't hurt you anymore," Kari stated.  "I promise."

He believed her.  He didn't want to, but he did.  Something in her eyes told him she was being truthful.

"Do you know why I'm here, Ken?"

He licked his dry lips.  "You wanted to be sure.  That I could never hurt anyone else."

She looked…sad, and hurt, more than anything else.  "No.  I came because I was worried about you."

"What?!  That's not…you can't…"

"Why can't I worry about you?  You're a boy, just like Tai or TK or Davis, and I worry about them."

"But…I did so many horrible things…"

"I've done one or two myself."

He trembled, recalling how the DarkTyrannamon had closed in so quickly.  He hadn't known they could move so fast…

"Ken?  Ken???  Can you hear me?"

She was leaning over him, shaking his shoulders, gently. 

Sweat trickled down his face, mixing with his tears.  "Why didn't I die?" he whispered.  "Why couldn't I?  I tried, I really did…"

"No."  She cupped his face in her hands, staring into his bleary eyes.  "You are not going to talk about dying."

"Stop it," he pleaded desperately.  "Stop…CARING…go away…stoppit!"

"No," Kari said quietly.  "I won't.  I can't."

"WHY?!" he nearly screamed.

"Because then you'd already be dead," she replied truthfully.  "I want you to live."

His eyes darkened.  "As a cripple, you mean.  Is that your revenge?"

"Of course not.  Would it matter?  It's your mind that allowed you to do evil, not your body."

"Then pull that IV out of my arm.  Let the pain kick in so my mind will be erased in a heartbeat."

Kari stared at him.  "I'm not going to take your mind, I'm going to change it."

"How?" he spat.

"Like this."  She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his.

His blood ran cold, and he could feel what was left of his legs turning to mush.

Still, she didn't stop.  She kissed the cuts on his chin, his newly redesigned nose, the hideous scar cruelly stenciled into the side of his face.  Her soft lips brushed his cheeks, coming away wet with tears.  He wasn't quite sure if they were his, hers, or both.  The salty tears stung his wounds, but for the first time, he didn't care.

"You don't have to care about yourself," she whispered, kissing his eyelids.  "I'll do it for you."

He wanted to cry, but there were no tears left in him.  Then he felt warm wetness on his face again, and realized she'd done that for him, too.

* * * * *

"Welcome, Digidestined."

Davis spun around, his eyes widening.  "LadyDevimon?!  Veemon, let's do it!  Digi-Armor Ener-"

"NO!" TK shouted, diving in front of her.  "Don't, Davis!  STOP!"

"Have you lost it, TJ?!  Get out of the way!"

"It's TK, and NO!  Look, I know it sounds crazy, but this place is Angewomon's home, and LadyDevimon's welcome here!  I'll even vouch for her!  She's…kinda sorta with us now.  Okay?!"

Yolei looked uncomfortable, but nodded.  Cody didn't move, and Davis…well, Davis looked mad.  Apparently, he'd had his heart set on Veemon blasting something.

Just then, another person stepped through the portal behind them.

Tai shook his head, then noticed LadyDevimon.  "Air's a little thin up here."

She shrugged.  "You get used to it."

Tai turned to the others, whom were all gaping at him.  "Hey, guys."

"The digital world has just officially gone mad," Davis muttered.

"Maybe it's just us," Veemon suggested.

Angewomon suddenly appeared.  "Welcome to my home, everyone…and thank you for not attacking LadyDevimon.  She…means well."

"Most of the time," LadyDevimon added with a wicked grin.

"It's NOT just us," Cody stated firmly.

"Ditto," Armadillomon agreed, looking a bit shaken.

"This way, please," Angewomon directed, leading them down the hall.

LadyDevimon held TK back.  "You…vouched for me.  Why?"

TK stared up at her.  "It's what Kari would want," he said at last.  "She'd be upset if you got hurt when I could've stopped it."

"Oh.  Well."  She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  "Thanks."

TK went pale.  "Where did THAT come from?"

She shrugged, smiling brightly as she flew past him.  "We can all change, can't we?"

TK paused, then hurried after the others.  He was starting to think that Davis was right…

They caught up to the rest of the group in what appeared to be a large arena.  The others were crowded around a railing, looking down.

"What are we looking at?" TK began to ask as he walked over to Yolei, but the words died in his throat at what he saw.

In the center of the arena, talking quietly, were Kari and Ken Ichijouji.  Even from that distance, they could tell Ken was covered in bruises.  He sat in a sturdy-looking wheelchair, seeming to be unsure of himself—the exact opposite of the Digimon Emperor.  Sally the Salamon was purring contentedly in his lap.

Angewomon and LadyDevimon glanced at each other before gliding down to where Kari stood and de-digivolving.

"You've seen what humans can do by working against Digimon," Kari said, kneeling to scratch both cats behind their ears.  "Now I want to show you the power of humans and Digimon working together…the power of light."

"What are you going to do?" Ken asked.

"Show you how much of a cat person I really am."  Kari raised her D-3, gripping it tightly.  "Digivolve!"

The D-3 began to glow, and a column of white light appeared around Kari and her cats.

Ken was forced to look away as the brightness washed over him.

"Open your eyes, Ken," said a gentle, unfamiliar voice.

He found a light gray-furred, humanoid cat leaning over him, her amber eyes shining.  There was a heavy, golden necklace draped around her neck, and she wore a pink toga.  "Kari?  Is that you in there…?"

"I am Isismon," she replied, "but Kari is a part of me, just as Gatomon and DarkGatomon are."

"Why are you here?"

"Because I can heal you, Ken."

"No!  I don't deserve to be healed…"

"It's not about what you deserve, but what I—no, we—can do for you."

"Then I don't WANT to be healed!" Ken snapped.  "If you just patch me up and send me out into the world again, there's a good chance I'll go right back to being evil.  But if I actually experience some of the pain I dealt out…if I have to live it…then…maybe that'll be enough to keep me from hurting anyone else."

"Very well," Isismon said.  "But if you won't accept that gift, I have another that is…more fitting."  She reached out and brushed her fingers over Sally's head.  "This Salamon will guard you in the human world, as well as the digital world.  She will follow wherever you go, do whatever you ask."

Ken looked heartbroken.  "No.  You…can't make her do that.  I don't want another slave."

"She is not a slave, Ken.  This is her choice.  She is your companion now, your friend."

Sally purred and pressed her front paws against his chest, licking his chin gently.

Ken smiled weakly and rubbed her head.  "Thank you, Isismon.  She's beautiful."

"As she was always meant to be."  Isismon placed her D-3 in Ken's lap, smiling as it went from pink to dark blue.  "I no longer have a need for this.  I'm sure you can find something to do with it."

Sally yowled playfully and pounced on the D-3, batting it with her paws.

"So," said a quiet voice behind them.

Ken turned to see Davis staring at him stonily.  "Hello, Davis," he said hesitantly.

Davis stepped closer…and broke into a wide grin.  "Welcome to the team, Ken."

Ken smiled.  "Thank you, Davis."

The rest of the Digidestined slowly crowded around.  Cody seemed a bit wary, but welcomed Ken like everyone else.

"We should go," Isismon said.  "It's getting late."  Huge, snow white wings suddenly sprouted from her back and folded around the group.  In an instant, they were all gone.

There was darkness for a few moments, before a small, blindingly white orb appeared in the air, shining with power and hope.

* * * * *

It was not a place where Digimon typically traveled.  But then, there are some places, even in the real world, that one would be very wise to avoid.  This was definitely one of those places. 

There was one Digimon there, though.  But only because he, without really meaning to, had created it in the first place.  He was exceptional that way, but also in many others as well.

It was dark there, for the most part, the only light provided by the Digimon himself.  It was a blue, soft, ethereal light, fit for candlelight vigils, séances, and heavenly visions.  In any case, it fit him just fine.

And then, without warning, there was another light in the place: a warm, friendly, bouncy light, like an innocent child's laughter.

The Digimon watched with some interest as the new light wandered around his home, zipping around excitedly.  Anything else he might've shooed away at once, but this light seemed to think it belonged here, and he wholly agreed with it.

"So," The Digimon said at length, "you are The Gift of the Digimon Queen."

The light paused, realizing it was being addressed, and brightened questioningly. 

"Come closer, child.  You are needed."

The light, seeing no real reason to disagree, floated closer, shining curiously.

The Digimon gasped as almost painful warmth flowed through him, filling him with pure, undeniable power.  He began to change, grow, evolve…Digivolve.

The light looked on in surprise, wondering why The Digimon was getting bigger and longer.

The Digimon sighed, his new form completed, and waved his thick, long tail experimentally.  "Hmm.  Truly you are The Gift of the Digimon Queen."

The light beamed happily and tickled his mustache, wondering if all playmates were this funny looking.

* * * * *

In her bedroom, Kari Kamiya slept peacefully, a small smile on her face.  Immediately to her left, curled up on a very comfy pillow, were two cats with long tails: one black, one white.

In his hospital bed, Ken Ichijouji moaned restlessly, his face dripping with sweat.  His eyes were shut tightly, and he appeared to be trying to escape from something or someone.  Then a small, tan kitten crawled up his chest and licked his chin gently.  Ken sighed and relaxed, absently stroking the kitten's head as he feel into a deeper sleep.  The kitten purred happily and tucked its fuzzy head under his chin.

Deep in the core of the digital world, a newly evolved Digimon (once simply known as The Digimon) watched over his home.  Within his white, serpentine coils, a light, The Gift of the Digimon Queen, The Light of Digivolution, slept in comfort, and dream of one day becoming a Digimon with an endless supply of playmates.

* * * * *

Concluded in Chapter 5: Sally's Pet Human – Sally takes her new boy to the park, and Kari gets some powerful guests.