ELP :Okay, I'm back with another chapter! I don't own anything.
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Hikari and Taichi stared at Ken. No wonder Ken had problems. Ken opened his eyes and looked around. He looked over his shoulder and spotted Hikari and Taichi. Ken got up, not taking his eyes off of them. He stopped the music, and took off his headphones. Ken was not wearing the usual Tamachi suit. He was wearing a black sleeveless, with old grey jeans that had a hole in them, right at the knee.


" Hi," Ken said simply. Hikari smiled a bit.


"Hi. Um, Ken, this is my brother, Taichi..." Ken gave her a small smile, but that was about it. He turned to Taichi.


" Hello. Do you guys want anything to drink? I have some stuff in my mini-fridge, if you want. Just, give me a couple seconds to shut down my PC." Hikari and Taichi nodded, and Ken turned his PC off. But not before ejecting the Nickelback CD out of the disc drive. Ken put the Silver Side Up disk in its case, and turned around.

Hikari and Taichi were looking around. Ken turned on the big light. Bad Idea. When Taichi and Hikari turned around, they spotted the massive bruise on the side of Ken's head, right on the temple. It covered half of the side of his face, right down to his chin. They hadn't seen it before, because Ken had brushed his hair over it, so the DD didn't see. Hikari walked over to him, tilted his head, and examined the bruise. Ken stared a bit while she kept moving his head at different angles. Finally, she stopped and stepped back a bit. Ken stared a little more.


"Er, I think I can explain....."He tried, a little nervous under the careful watch of Taichi. Hikari puffed

.
" Ken, you should put something on that bruise. It'll only get worse." Ken raised an eyebrow, and then dropped it because it hurt a bit.


" Ken, I'm going to ask you what's going on here, and I hope you can answer honestly. So, what's going on here?" Taichi asked. Ken sighed. This was going to be long.


" Alright, let's see. First, my dad starts to get edgy around me, my mom, anyone. Then, my parents have a fight. Unfortunately, it also had something to do with punching, kicking, and slight screaming. So, I run out and try to stop it. I end up getting hit in the face by my dad really hard. I pass out, end up with a bruise, he runs out, and doesn't come back. That's the way it went, and it's probable going to stay that way. Is that good enough?" Ken explained, asking a question at the end. Taichi and Hikari stared. There was a knock at the door.


" Come in." Ken called out. Mrs.Ichijouji and Mrs.Yagami walked into the room.


" Okay, kids, change of plans. Me and Mrs.Yagami are going out for a while, so you're all free to go to the Digiworld for a while if you want. And Ken, if you guys are staying here, keep one ear out for your cell or the phone, Okay?" Mrs.Ichijouji explained. Ken nodded.


" K, Mom, I won't put the headphones on if I'm here." Mrs.Ichijouji smiled, and walked out of the room with Mrs.Yagami. When the door outside closed shut and locked, Ken sighed and looked at the ground. Then, it got bad. His cell phone rang. Ken tore it out of his pocket and answered it.


" Hello, Ken Ichijouji speaking." There was a muffled voice on the other side of the line, and Hikari and Taichi watched Ken as his eyes widened.


" DAD!?!?! Dad, where the hell are you?" More muffled sounds, and static. The line was breaking up. Hikari frowned. This wasn't good.


" Dad, wait, why not?" There was more static. Taichi went cold. This wasn't good at all.


" Dad, it's okay, I forgive you, but please, come home." The muffled voice and the static were a bad combo, and Mr.Ichijouji voice was breaking up. Ken went pale and cold as the line made hanging up noises.


"Dad? Dad? Dad? DAD!? WAIT!!!!!!"The sheer look of pain and guilt on Ken's face broke Hikari and Taichi's heart. Ken closed the phone, and placed it back in his pocket. Ken ran a shaking hand through his hair. Ken pulled his D-3 out of his other pocket. He pointed it at his PC, after turning it on again.


" Hey, so, want to go to the Digiworld? We can meet up with Daisuke and the rest." Hikari and Taichi nodded. They pointed their Digivices and D-3's to the screen.


" Digi-port open!" Hikari exclaimed, hiding her anger and sadness. They were sucked through the portal. Taichi and Hikari had shoved the Digimon, Agumon and Gatomon, in Hikari's backpack, just in case.

They landed right beside Daisuke, Miyako, Iori and Takeru. Wormmon jumped into Ken's arms. Ken hugged Wormmon and put him on his shoulder. He was still wearing the sleeveless and the ripped jeans. Daisuke stared a bit, then smiled.


" Hey Hikari! Hi Ken! Yo, Taichi, wazzup?" Daisuke walked over to them.


" Don't worry Ken, Wormmon didn't eat to much sugar. And I can't believe you actually have something ripped! I've never seen you with rips in your cloths! Amazing. So-HOLY SMOKES!!!" Daisuke exclaimed as he spotted the massive bruise. Ken looked away, and the DD were flocking him with questions, like how he got it, did it hurt, why he got it, you know, those kinds of questions. All except for Miyako. Ken stared over the heads of the DD, their questions not reaching him.

Miyako was asleep standing. But that wasn't it. Ken, for the first time, finally noticed the huge bruise under her ear. He was probable the only one able to see it. Miyako looked run down, even while sleeping, albeit standing up. Ken pushed through the DD, and walked over to Miyako, just as she fell sideways. He caught her in his arms, and laid her down on the ground, still sleeping. Miyako lazily rolled onto her side, and started to snore a bit. Ken smiled a bit, then got back up. Hawkmon hovered above him, still not convinced with the former emperor's changing. Hawkmon landed beside her, and sighed deeply. Ken stared at the bruise. Big, and the color of his hair was it's traits.


" Hawkmon." Ken said briskly. Hawkmon looked up.


" What?" Hawkmon snapped back. Ken kept his eyes on the bruise.


"She's been hit, am I correct?" Ken lowered his voice, so the other DD wouldn't hear. Ken's question sounded like a statement. All the other DD were talking to Taichi and Hikari, asking for explanations and all. Hawkmon gasped. How does he know?


" How did you know?" Hawkmon asked, very surprised to say the least. Ken pulled back his chin length black blue hair, and Hawkmon's eyes went to dish plates. The Bruise. The massive, black, blue and purple bruise covering half of the side of Ken's head gleamed at Hawkmon. It looked more terrible the Miyako's was.

" Is she afraid to go home?" Ken asked, this time with more anger and fear. Hawkmon nodded. Ken sighed.


" When she wakes up, and you two are alone, tell her to meet me and Wormmon at the Park. You should come. She needs you, so don't abandon her for the world." Ken looked down at Hawkmon, towering over the hawk because he was standing. Ken bent down and picked up Miyako in his arms, kind of like a child. She snuggled in a bit nonchalantly, and without knowing it. Ken walked over to the group, who fell silent as he neared earshot. He walked straight in front of them.


" Miyako fell asleep standing. She's pretty run down. Hawkmon, how many hours has she been putting in at that shop?" Ken spoke calmly, but was exploding with anger inside. Hawkmon thought for a moment.


" She starts right after school and Digiworld trips, and doesn't go home until the shop closes. She locks up, and then she climbs up the fire escape and crawls into her room. I have a feeling that she's in danger, but I don't know from whom the danger will come from.." Hikari stared for a moment.


" Okay, I've got one question, and Iori cover your ears." Iori grumbled a bit and cover his ears, but still could hear Daisuke. Daisuke turned to everyone else, a bit puffed up.


" Okay, what the f*ck is going on here?!!?!?!?!" Daisuke exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Ken raised an eyebrow, while Hikari slapped her hands over Iori's ears, really tight. Now, the kid couldn't hear anything.


" Please don't use bad words Daisuke. It's not right around younger children, you know. You're setting a bad example." She lifted her hands off of Iori's ears, and started to speak.


" If you heard what Daisuke said, I don't ever want to hear you say it, alright Iori?" Iori nodded, and Hikari smiled. She looked back up.


" What do you mean, Daisuke?" She asked. Daisuke sighed.


" Well, first, you, Taichi and Ken show up from the same port. Then, Miyako falls asleep standing. And before that, I see this massive bruise on Ken's face. I'd just like to get some things sorted out, that's all." Ken nodded slowly, not sure of himself. But then, it got worse then anyone could have thought. Ken's cell range, and Ken stared.


" Wormmon, can cell phones ring in the Digiworld?" He asked. Wormmon nodded.


" Our world is digital, so cell phones and anything like that can ring between the worlds. So, answer it." Ken nodded, and laid Miyako down in front of them. Taichi picked Miyako up, and Ken answered his cell.


" Hello, Ken Ichijouji speaking." The same muffled voice came from the end of the line, but it was more frantic and loud, and the others could hear it.


" Ken, Help! Don't come for me, run! Don't come back! Don't go anywhere that the witch tells you! Please, RUN! AAAAAHHHH!!!!" Mr.Ichijouji yelled and screamed on the other end.


"DAD!!! Dad, what do you mean? Dad!?!?!Run from what!??!?! What am I supposed to run from?!?!Dad?!?! DAD!?!?" Ken yelled in the receiver. Miyako groaned a bit, and woke up. Everyone stared at Ken, especially Iori. Ken listened as the line switched, and his father screamed in the background, Don't listen. Ken's eyes went wide.


" If you ever, want to see your father alive again, come to the old run down gas station in the Digiworld. And if you do not come alone, I will kill him. Good day." The line hung up, and Ken closed the cell. He looked at the ground, his hair falling around his face, his eyes shaded and unreadable. Miyako stood up, and walked over to Ken. The Dark circles under her eyes gleamed in the light. She put a hand on his chin, and tilted his head up to face her. Ken's eyes had created stress circles under his eyes, making him look more run down then she was. Miyako stared eye to eye with Ken, not even bothering to remove her hand from his chin. Ken's eyes flickered off to where the run down gas station would be. Miyako suddenly spoke.


" Ken, I'm not going to stop you from going to the station. I can promise you that. But, be prepared to lose control. So, I'll say this: Get some sort of weapon, and do kick some royal, stuffed to the rim ass. And that's an order. And if you don't, I'll throw you in a river, tired or not. Okay?" She perked up from her serious, dark tone at the end, and smiled. Ken nodded, and laughed a bit. This was going to be hell.

Have I gone all too far?
Have I been here before?
If I have let me know
How it goes
Take his place
And I will
See his face
No reason
Let it slide
And I will
Watch him die...
To run through fields
To find, and I will
Hold, then lead, then lie
And I will... no I won't

Is it now really time?
Can I just give mind, if
I can simply trade
Deal Made

Take his place
And I will
See his face
No reason
Let it slide
And I will
Watch him die...
To run through fields
To find, and I will
Hold, then lead, then lie
And I will... no I won't

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ELP: If you're wondering, all the lyrics are from Nickelback. Please, If anyone on earth could, could someone please send be the lyrics of Saliva's new song, Always? Please?
Sammy: R&R!