Day 23

"You've got a boy," sang Matt slowly as he strummed his acoustic guitar. "You got a girl, sitting underneath a tree. They sit there everyday. And even though, you may think that this is the way things should be... It may not always be that way."

Matt stood up from his chair, suddenly filled with vigor.

"You can't take nuthin' for granted," sang Matt a little louder and faster. "You've gotta' live life today! I turn around, I can see what's behind me! I turn back around, I can see what's ahead! And if you don't believe I've been here all along, just turn around... just turn around."

Matt strummed a few more chords. He was actually pretty happy with how his acoustic version of "I Turn Around" was coming along. It was sure to be a hit; he just knew it. Hey looked over at the clock on his bedroom wall. It was four in the morning, and his dad still wasn't home.

"Man, dad," said Matt to himself. "You work too hard. You gotta' learn to take a break every now and then."

One benefit of having his dad working all the time was that Matt rarely got yelled at for practicing into the wee hours of the morning, except of course for when his neighbors started beating on the apartment door that is. Fortunately, this was not one of those nights. After he finished with his practice, Matt decided to see if there was anything on TV before heading off to bed for what remained of the night. As would be expected, he found very little. He flipped past some infomercials, the occasional early morning news report, and reruns of shows that had been popular at one time or another before finally coming to a movie that was twenty years old if it was a day. Still, Matt felt like catching a bit of it before heading off to bed. He laid way back in the couch with his feet up on the coffee table. He absentmindedly brushed a few strands of hair from his eyes as the two samurai on the TV began their poorly choreographed fight scene. Soon, Matt was yawning. His eyes grew heavier with every passing second. Unable to stave off sleep any longer, Matt succumbed to his exhaustion.

As Matt's consciousness completely disintegrated around him, he began to descend into a deep dream. Before he knew what was happening he was underwater. He forced himself to the surface, bursting out into the open air. When he looked around he saw that he was at the beach on a sunny day. He was fully dressed in his school uniform, which remained perfectly dry, and along the rocky shore he could see group of people wearing similar uniforms, but of different colors. All seemed perfectly natural to him though, given as it was a dream. Of course, this dream was unusually vivid. The coloration of everything was much more intense than it should have been. Matt could even smell the salty sea air. Moving swiftly, Matt swam to shore and pulled himself from the water. His clothes and hair remained perfectly dry and he walked swiftly and confidently over to the group of people on the beach. The first was Tai, who wore a school uniform which was white rather than green. Oddly enough, he had four eyes, all of which were purple. Beside him stood Sora, who wore an orange uniform. Like Tai, she had four eyes, but they were fiery red. Next to them stood Izzy and TK. Izzy's uniform was still green, but a slightly brighter shade. TK also wore a uniform, but it was blue. They both possessed a set of four eyes, Izzy's being green and TK's being blue. The four of them quickly moved in, surrounding Matt on all sides.

"You can-" started Tai.

"-hear our voices," finished Sora.

"Wait a minute," responded Matt.

"The battle-" said Izzy.

"-is far from-" continued Sora.

"-being complete," finished TK.

"The table has-" said Tai.

"-been prepared. And-" continued Sora.

"-the stage is-" said Izzy.

"-made ready," said TK.

"I said hold on!" shouted Matt. "Who are you guys? What do you want?"

"Our time-" started Tai.

"-is short," finished Sora.

"You need-" said TK.

"-only listen," said Izzy.

"We have called you to us," said the four of them simultaneously. "We need your aid immediately. At the present time we are unable to save ourselves."

"Why do you need me?" asked Matt.

"Not just you," said the four. "We need all of the DigiDestined. If you do not come to the Digital World in time, our greatest fear may yet be realized."

"You need us in the DigiWorld?" asked Matt. "Wait a minute, are you guys responsible for Mimi's disappearance."

"No," said the four. "That was the doing of the evil one. It has already stolen away another in your order; a particularly valuable one. Within that child lies one of the tools the creature needs to complete its mission."

"Its mission?" asked Matt.

"Please, there is not enough time to explain that," said the four. "All you need to know is that the more time you take and the more of you that are seized by the creature, the more likely it is that the creature will succeed. You must not let that happen."

"But the Digiport is sealed!" said Matt. "There's no way through!"

"You must find a way," said the four. "We are unable to help you for the time being. Come to the Digital World and free us from our captivity. Once that is done, we can take care of the rest. You must not fail us."

"How do I know I can trust you?" asked Matt.

"You have no choice," said the four.

"That's not good enough," said Matt. "For all I know you four could be the ones responsible for whatever's going on."

"Look in your heart, warrior," said the four. "You know what must be done. You know that the Digital World is in grave danger. We are not lying to you."

"Alright, I'll trust you for now," said Matt. "But you're going to have to explain exactly what is going on here."

"It is… too late now," said the four, looking suddenly weakened. "It has sensed us! Beware DigiDestined! It will come for you soon if you do not come for it…!"

Matt was unceremoniously thrust back into reality. He rolled off the couch onto the floor. The sun shone in through the windows at about nine o'clock in the morning.

"Well that was certainly a new experience…" said Matt, rubbing a bump on his head. "How long was I-"

At that very moment the phone began to ring. Matt walked over to the phone and picked it up off the receiver.

"Hello?" asked Matt.

"Matt!" shouted Tai on the other end. "We've got some bad news! It looks like whatever happened to Mimi is starting to spread and fast!"

"What's going on?" asked Matt.

"Meet in the park in five minutes!" said Tai. "And Matt… watch yourself."

"Right," said Matt, hanging up the phone.

Several minutes later, the DigiDestined had convened in the park. They all stood in a circle. Ken and Wormmon were nowhere to be seen. Matt had just finished relating the story about his dream.

"…It was really weird," said Matt. "I've never had a dream anywhere near that vivid."

"It doesn't sound like a dream to me," said Izzy. "Someone, or something in the Digital World is trying to contact us."

"Sounds to me like we don't have a second to waste," said Sora. "If Matt's right, those guys could really use our help."

"It's not that simple," said Izzy. "Not only is Ken gone, but I haven't heard a word from Willis and Michael since Mimi disappeared. I've tried emailing them both, but not a word. I think we need to assume the worst."

"Who could be doing this?!" asked Davis. "Who's out there that we haven't taken care of?"

"There's a lot of possibilities," said Yolei. "Any number of evil digimon would be happy to get rid of us."

"But why would they want to kidnap us one at a time?" asked Hawkmon.

"Those things in my dream said something about one of the others having something," said Matt. "They said that someone who's already been taken had one of the tools our enemy needs."

"What do you suppose that means?" asked Patamon.

"It could mean anything," said Cody. "But I'm willing to bet it won't be good news for us."

"So who's the one that they were referring to?" asked Joe. "Who had the most to offer our enemy?"

"What do you mean?" asked Davis.

"Well this thing obviously wanted something from one of the people that's already disappeared," said Joe. "So who has the most to offer?"

"Well," said Tai. "Unless our enemy wants to learn how to color-coordinate its lair, it's probably not Mimi."

"It might be Willis," suggested TK. "This thing might want him for a lot of reasons. He's really smart, he created a digimon once, and he has twin digimon, something that's pretty unique."

"I don't know," said Izzy. "It seems to me that our enemy is smart enough as is, I don't really see any way for knowledge of twin digimon being an important tool, and Willis' experience with making a digimon was a terrific flop."

"It could be Michael," said Kari.

"I don't see anything so special about him," said Gatomon. "At least not anything some mysterious evil force would be very interested in."

"It's gotta' be Ken!" said Veemon. "I mean, think about it! Ken was the emperor! Ken created the control spires! Ken even made Kimeramon!"

"I don't know about that," said Davis. "Ken's changed a lot. And why would this mysterious evil guy want him? It's not like we'd have any trouble beating another Kimeramon. It's not like the control spires are much of a threat any more."

"Also, Ken didn't even make the control spires himself," said Yolei. "Remember? Oikawa said that they came from the dark ocean."

"We're back to square one," said Gatomon.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," said Izzy. "Maybe we should-"

"Hey!" shouted Davis in a moment of sudden realization. "I've got it!"

Everyone else looked at him expectantly.

"It's got to be Ken!" shouted Davis. "Just think about it! What did Malo Myotismon want with him? What did Daemon want with him?"

Everyone just kept on looking at Davis.

"Do I have to spell it out for you guys?" asked Davis. "They both wanted the same thing! They both wanted what turned Ken into the emperor! They both wanted the dark spore!"

"Of course!" exclaimed Izzy. "How could I have been so blind? It's been the spore all along!"

"Nice work Davis!" said Yolei. "I guess you're not as dumb as you seem."

"Well, you know… Hey!" said Davis.

"Fantastic," said Tai unenthusiastically. "We've figured out what our enemy wanted. Now all we have to do is figure out who it is, how to avoid getting kidnapped by him, how to get past his seal, where he is, and how to beat him. We're on a roll now."

"Okay, there's a few details left to figure out," said Izzy. "But at least it's a start."

"Hold on," said Matt. "If this guy only wanted the dark spore, then why did he take Mimi, Michael, and Willis too? That doesn't make any sense."

"That's a tough one," said Sora. "Something tells me we're not going to find the answer until we're on the other side of that gate."

"Izzy," said Joe. "You've got to find us a way around the seal."

"I've been trying," said Izzy. "But with Ken and Willis gone, It's down to just Yolei and I trying to solve this mystery."

"Isn't there anything the rest of us can do?" asked Matt.

"Not really," said Izzy. "Since I have no idea how or why our friends are disappearing I have no advice on how to stay safe. Just be careful."

"Well that's certainly reassuring," said Davis sarcastically.

"Well it's the only advice I can offer," said Izzy. "So you can either take it or leave it."

"Well, I guess I'll take it," said Davis. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Fine then," said Izzy. "Suit yourself."

One by one, the DigiDestined dispersed, trying to go about their business as normally as possible. Of course, they all ended up looking over their shoulders constantly for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, Ken was somewhere very far away. He was alone in a sea swirling gray. He walked forward aimlessly in a trance-like state. As he proceeded, the mass around him slowly began to form into shapes. Before he realized what was even going on, he was in the midst of a city. It was a bright, sunny day with only a few small clouds in the sky. People busily walked up and down the sidewalks as cars passed by. On Ken's right was a large, brick apartment complex. On the other side of the street lay a two-story, gray building next to a series of shops. People passed by Ken on either side, seeming to take no notice of him.

"What is this place?" asked Ken aloud. "How did I get here? Hey, where did Wormmon go?"

Suddenly realizing his friend's absence, Ken looked about frantically. His efforts quickly proved fruitless though. Ken began to run over what had happened in his mind. One minute he had been sitting at his computer, talking to what he could only assume was the force behind this latest plot, and the next minute he found himself here, in this place. Seeing few options, Ken decided to proceed forward. Perhaps he could find some indication of what had happened or where he was.

As Ken continued to walk, he began to realize that this place was very familiar. It was only a few blocks from where he lived, but it seemed somehow different. Not having any other ideas, Ken opted to head back to his house as quickly as possible; hopefully he would find answers there. Ken broke into a run, dodging around people as he passed them on the sidewalk. Finally, he was almost back home. His apartment building was on the very next block. Ken waited patiently for the light to change, but as he waited, something caught his eye. Waiting on the other side of the street was a pair of boys whom Ken recognized immediately. The first was himself, except a great deal younger, and the second was his brother.

A moment of sudden realization washed over Ken like a tidal wave. Blinded by desperation, Ken started to run, fearless of the traffic around him. The light changed when he was nearly halfway across the street. He ran faster than he ever had before in his life as Sam stepped off the curb. Ken could see the approaching car out of the corner of his eye, apparently ignorant of the red light. He threw himself forward with all his might at Sam while his brother stood frozen, like a deer in headlights. Ken thrust all his might into pushing Sam out of harm's way as he slammed his eyes tight and clenched his teeth. But the feeling did not come. Instead, Ken passed right through Sam without as much as stirring up a gentle breeze. He landed hard on the pavement next to his younger self. Both were terror-stricken as they watched the car plow through Sam with such force that he was thrown thirty feet into the air before landing behind the car that had struck him.

"Noooooooooo!!!" shrieked Ken.

Ken fought through his emotions and pushed himself forward to where his brother lay. A crowd of onlookers had quickly gathered as the stunned driver stumbled from his car. Ken kneeled over his brother. He was a truly wretched sight. His clothes were ripped and soaked in blood, his shattered glasses hung loosely from his face, his neck had been broken, and he was missing a shoe. In this case, instant death had been a blessing. The younger Ken meanwhile stood back behind the crowd, completely paralyzed by dread. As Ken knelt over his brother, everything began to fade away into total darkness. Within a few seconds, everything around him was completely black. Ken got to his feet, clearly still shaken by the experience.

"I tried to warn you," said a voice from the darkness. "Don't interfere, Kenny boy."

Slowly, the battered, bleeding, and bruised figure of Sam materialized before Ken's eyes. He stood confidently before him with a little evil sneer on his face.