"I'm the only one that goes to the end of the sky to escape."
Ken Ichijouji/Digimon Kaiser—"Only One"
(Translated by Lintsister)
With Broken Wings
Prologue: "Only One"
Ken Ichijouji looked at the ground underneath his feet as the last of the glittering iridescent butterflies representing Yukio Oikawa's life force flew above the twelve Chosen, the twenty Dark Seed-infected children, and the oddly dressed digital human Gennai. The international Chosen Children had left: beautiful Catherine of France, adventurous Dingo of Australia, loyal Michael of America, crazy possessive little Chichos of Mexico—all of them gone, leaving behind the eleven Japanese Chosen, Gennai, Mimi Tachikawa (who'd moved to New York years ago), and the Chosen's young new recruits. Ken didn't know why, but he was crying. He was crying over Oikawa's sacrifice. Tears abandoned his eyes and struck the ground, staining the dark landscape with a sorrowful reminder of what had occurred. It was strange: This man had kidnapped Ken, implanted Dark Seeds into these twenty children, and nearly tried to destroy the Digital World, and yet they were still crying for him. Was this the curse of the Crest of Kindness?
It's no different from when Osamu died, Ken thought. In a way, it was true. His brother had been killed in a freak car accident when the car had pulled up onto the curb. He could still remember the pool of blood, the screeching ambulance, the numb feeling of shock, and the tears that came later, once the whole ordeal had set in. But for some reason, he couldn't think of Osamu's killer. He'd managed to block that image out of his mind. And seeing him in BelialVamdemon's Mind Illusion was almost too much to bear. His heart filled with rage as he remembered that moment—seeing the Digimon Kaiser on top of a wooden pole in the desert, the sky swirling with black and gray—as though something was coming out, the Digimon exacting their revenge for what he'd done to them, and worst of all, Osamu's appearance. It was hard not knowing whether the older Ichijouji boy forgave the younger. And why should he? After all the things Ken had done? Who would forgive the Digimon Kaiser? And yet somehow, the Chosen Children had. The Digital World had, eventually. Finally, Ken looked up into the sky, no longer seeing the Earth covered by a dark veil, but a beautiful blue sky with the sun shining through. Osamu was up there somewhere. Could he forgive his younger brother for all he had done?
"Ken, what are you thinking about?" his partner Digimon, Wormmon, asked.
"It's nothing," he assured. "I was just hoping that Osamu could forgive me for what I did as the Kaiser. I know the rest of you have forgiven me, but has he?"
Thirty-two children from the ages of nine to fifteen suddenly lost their voices and were unable to console Ken. The Chosen Children all knew of Ken's brother's death, and the new children would soon learn. Thirty-two Digimon also went silent for the same reason. What was there to say to an eleven-year-old boy who had been through just about every trial imaginable, and still make things all right for him? Finally, it was Gennai who spoke.
"Ken, whether your brother forgives you or not is something for you to believe for yourself. I can't imagine he wouldn't, considering that you had been so close in childhood."
"Yeah," Taichi Yagami added, the fourteen-year-old former leader suddenly finding his voice. "It would be just the same as if I couldn't forgive Hikari for something."
"Or if I couldn't forgive Takeru for something," agreed his best friend Yamato Ishida. "It's impossible for us, even if we may say we wouldn't be able to."
"Exactly," Gennai replied. "But you've repaid your debt to the Digital World a thousand times over, so there is no reason for anyone to hold resentment against you."
Ken nodded and looked around. Eleven-year-olds Takeru Takaishi and Daisuke Motomiya had managed to get a shocked Iori Hida out of the other world before the gateway to it closed. All of the people standing there felt sympathy for the nine-year-old, knowing that like Ken, he too had lost one too many people in his life. Miyako Inoue and Sora Takenouchi were trying to console the boy, but it hadn't been until Ken's comment about forgiveness that he'd actually come out of his near-catatonic state. How ironic was it that the one person he'd hated for the past few months was the only person that really understood what he was going through? What purpose did those feelings of hatred and anger serve? And as Iori's mind swam with uncertainties and ironies, he observed that the scenery around them had changed from black and gray to the beautiful swirls of color they'd all known. The world was healing, slowly but surely.
"Come on," fifteen-year-old Jyou Kido insisted. "We've got to see if anyone needs help in the Real World." There were varied answers of agreement from the other children and Digimon around him, until one of their own began looking around.
"Hikari, is something wrong?" Tailmon checked, noticing her human partner was scanning the area around her.
"The Darkness," she commented. "Can't you feel it? It's just as strong as when BelialVamdemon was here."
Like the last ominous note from a pipe organ, the feeling of evil reached everyone around.
"Where's it coming from?" thirteen-year-old Koushiro Izumi questioned.
"Not 'where from,'" Ken corrected. "'Where to' is a better question."
Sixty-five pairs of eyes gazed up into the sky, where a black, swirling hole had ripped open in the sky. In a single instant, the Mind Illusion played over and over in Ken's mind: the Kaiser being beaten by his own slaves, the sound of a shot going off—like a laser or something, Osamu lifting up the goggles from where they'd fallen in the sand…
Wait, Ken thought. Now he realized what had haunted him so much about that illusion. While the others had been distracted by fantasies, Ken had been tortured by nightmares, and why? Why didn't BelialVamdemon keep Ken distracted with a fantasy as well? The boy could think of a few dreams he'd had that he would have liked to see come true. But why torture him so much? And why did Osamu take the goggles? Had it been Ken, he'd have crushed those things immediately. But Osamu had carefully preserved them. What haunted him the most was the fact that—no matter what anyone said—Osamu was really there. He'd felt it, the same presence that had kept him searching for Leafmon's egg in the Village of Beginnings. Even if that physical form wasn't his brother, Ken knew that Osamu had been in there with him.
Osamu, what was the point in the goggles? Ken asked.
Finally, they were able to see where the portal had opened. A young boy around eleven was sitting on a beach, sifting through the sand. The same evil presence was with him already, but now it was increasing to its maximum output. Another boy ran in, trying to talk to him. But the first boy turned his head, revealing a sinister grin.
It was thirteen-year-old Mimi that noticed it first.
"Oh, God! Look!" she cried. "He looks exactly like Ken!"
"That means only one thing," Ken replied. The others all looked at him for an explanation. "The Digimon Kaiser is back."