YIPPIEEEE!!! LAST CHAPTER LAST CHAPTER!!!
Hee hee. If anyone is still reading this, we've made it, whoo hoo! I'd like to thank those who have stuck with me, and those who haven't, well you aren't reading this anyway, are you? I apologize greatly for the long time it took to finish this fic. It was like having a little novel I couldn't quiet get right, then I had to take it back for some massive editing. Still...I'd feel better if this were finished, and everyone who enjoyed it could still pull up the page and say, hey, I remember when this was first posted. With good memories, because so many of our fansites die for lack of interest or personal problems. Sadness.
Ignore the fangirl use of Japanese. I'd been trying to stay away from it, and there's really no reason for the title to appear in Japanese here. I was just hoping for some luck writing the story, since my favorite chapter has a Japanese title (Again, for no reason. This one probably means: Inside the Forest, the Sun Shines Again…). Indulge me, I'm an artist.
I really hope all of this makes sense. Write me if you like, if you don't... too bad. It would behoove you to go back a few chapters (16 or 17) and reread because I made some changes that make the ending make sense (actually made changes all the way through, but you can finish reading without all of those). I wish I could have done more with some things, and I wish some things had come off smoother, but this is it. So, enjoy, if you can. Long live Digimon!
Peace bunnies,
Rae chan
Mooichido Taiyou wa Mori no Naka de Kagayakimasu yo…
Trembling fingers reached tentatively for the doorknob. As his fingertips pressed against the cold metal, nothing seemed to have felt more real to Takeru, more poignant, more intense.
Either that has to do with just having been dead, or I've lived a sad life.
He wasn't looking forward to entering that apartment. His face was scarred, but his soul was clean. The latter for which he was glad, but how could he expect anyone to believe that Hikari had cured him? Or, even worse, forgive him for what he'd been trying to do to them. It had all seemed so simple at the time. And even now, he was standing there only as a reprieve from what Anubis had called the Sunless Lands when she'd talked to him. She hadn't elaborated, just mentioned it, as though it were something he already knew.
She was one of the most wonderful people he had ever met, and he was looking forward to seeing her again when she came back.
"You're going back, Takeru chan." She smiled, caressing his cheek warmly. Death was supposed to be cold, wasn't she? But she was warm and vibrant. And happy for him.
"What? How…"
"One of the things people tell me all the time, is they wish they'd known. They wish they could have said goodbye." She smiled again, and faded.
"Come on, Take kun." Matt urged, his intense voice hushed as he placed his large hand onto his brother's shoulder gently, as though he might fade away from him as easily as that ideological manifestation had. "We don't have long."
"Hn." Takeru laughed softly. He took a deep breath and opened the door. He had also been looking forward to seeing them again, as much as he'd been dreading it. Takeru wanted the chance, at least, for redemption. His parents had hugged him fiercely, and protested when Taichi instructed them to head for shelter, and not to come out again until they were fetched for. Things were going to get bad, he'd informed them, and he didn't want civilians in the streets when they brought this guy down.
Ever since that day, I've never seen dad look at Tai kun with any thing but contempt… but he is our leader, and so strong… Today he looked as though he respected him. Stepping into the living room that he was very familiar with, Takeru looked around for the accusing faces of his friends.
"Takeru!!"
With a flying leap, Takeru found himself clobbered at the doorway by Daisuke, crying and hugging him. Kissing his face and neck greedily.
"Forgive me?" Takeru asked breathlessly. Daisuke sat up and looked at him with a quirk in his cheek as if pondering the meaning of the sentence. Hikari, Matt and Taichi attempted to edge around them out of the doorway.
"Hika chan!" Miyako looked visibly relieved as she came from the other room, holding Sam tightly. The little baby blinked her eyes owlishly and lifted an arm eagerly in Hikari's general direction.
"Un!" She protested. No words. Hikari could glean the understanding easily enough, and smiled widely as she took her daughter into her arms from the nervous Miyako.
"Soon you'll be a natural." She assured her friend. Miyako breathed heavily.
"I'll have to be. Sora chan's already begging Ken chan for babysitting rights."
"Forgive you?"
Hikari turned her head in the direction of the still open door and Daisuke's rapidly raising temperature.
"No, I don't forgive you, you idiot! You kept everything inside and you let it get awful and I dreamed that you died." Daisuke raged. He got up off of Takeru and put his hands on his hips. "I should be… throwing things, or something! I love you, you bastard!"
Takeru looked at him confusedly, placing one hand against the doorframe as he slowly raised himself to his feet. "I…"
He flushed, and looked down. "I wondered if you could try to forgive me for what I did to you. For cheating on you, for trying to kill you…" He could feel tears spilling down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I… all of you. I tried to kill you guys."
Daisuke was silent for a moment, again assessing the weight of Takeru's words. "Well, of course I forgive you for that. By that time you were under his control."
"It doesn't matter, Dai chan." Takeru snapped. "I still did it."
Daisuke took one big step and engulfed him in an unrelenting hug. "I told you I love you. I forgive you for that… duh."
Cupping Takeru's face with both hands, Daisuke didn't really care that they had a huge audience watching them. He rubbed the apples of his cheeks with his thumbs softly, savoring his lover's scarred, but somehow still intensely beautiful face. He leaned in and kissed him deeply, licking his bottom lip with the tip of his own tongue, then sliding his tongue against his. Takeru sighed inwardly and kissed back needfully.
Letting go, he took a deep breath and smiled at Takeru serenely. "I love you. We all love you. Don't ever doubt it."
Takeru looked in askance at the other Digidestine watching the scene tensely.
"Every one of us." Iori informed him stoically, rubbing the bandage at his neck. They all looked so tired. And they didn't have much time.
"Thank you." Gratefully, Takeru accepted Daisuke' steady embrace. "I was so scared that I gone too far…"
"You did." Daisuke said harshly. "And if you ever pull away from me like that again, I'm going to flay you like a bad pony."
Takeru grinned widely, but managed to stifle laughter.
"It was a deal with the devil. At least the way I understood it. He shared a lot with me, but not everything."
Takeru's voice rose over the silence in Yamato and Taichi's living room, where they had gathered, listening to Takeru, hoping to find the least destructive answer to their current problems. They knew where the Glanconer was located.
"Go ahead, Take kun." Taichi said gently. He was holding the little hand of his niece. Takeru had barely stopped himself from crying when he's gotten a good look at her, remembering how he'd nearly killed her along with her father. Who was resting in the other room.
"Ken chan… has some enemies. I have reason to believe the Glanconer, or, what he was before he was what he is now-"
"Huh?" Daisuke sat next to him, holding Takeru hand on his lap, stroking it calmly with his thumb.
"The Glanconer changed after we came. That's what he meant before about how we made him. We affected his development into something that could use the Dark Spore. Anyway, I think he was the reason we couldn't reach the Digital World for so long."
"Oh," Hikari said. "That makes sense."
"Does it really?" Miyako said in disbelief. This all seemed unnecessarily complicated. Sora smiled and kissed the back of her head.
"Only because of the dreams Ken chan and I were having before we got cut off. Something deliberately blocked us from visiting the Digital World." She explained. "What was that about the devil?"
"Yeah, what does Michael have to do with this?" Mimi giggled. Jyou shook his head in disbelief at her.
"Not Michael." Takeru could feel the corners of his mouth twitching. "One of Ken chan's old enemies. Daemon."
Sora tensed at the mention of that name. "Daemon helped the Glanconer?"
"He gave him the information he needed to cause a rift between the dimensions. His original plan was to simply come to our world and kill Ken chan, but he realized how hard that would be to actually do-"
"Without destroying the Dark Spore as well." Hikari finished succinctly. Takeru nodded sadly.
"The Darkling Force was an accident. But they came by of their own accord. He encouraged them, subconsciously, to use Sam chan's energy, because she was still connected to him."
"And that would make Ken kunweaker, and it would make it easier for him to do what he wanted." Iori concluded. Tokomon had fallen asleep next to Upamon, and he petted their soft fur. He could feel the sword itching on the edge of his skin. They were still in danger, but it wasn't close.
"What the fuck is wrong with this guy?" Ren spoke up. She sat lightly on the edge of one of the chair's arms, her thin body crumpled in exhaustion, crisscrosses of lines underneath her eyes. Her breaths ragged and hard won. "Ken was six when all this started. That's a hell of a long time, including the parts where time speeds up in the Digital World, for someone to hold a fucking grudge."
"Daemon wasn't originally a Digimon…. I don't think. Which could attribute to some of his… less comprehensible actions." Hikari said softly. "In any case, he isn't the first incarnation of Daemon. That one was destroyed by the Digidestine."
"So he's been holding this over several lifetimes." Ren sighed. Hikari nodded. She turned her head back to Takeru
"Can he be reasoned with?"
"What do you think?" He asked flatly, turning his head. Taichi stepped over to Hikari and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Alright then. We have something to go on. You guys, just try to rest up." Taichi turned to Matt and furrowed his brow. "I just wish I knew what Anubis was congratulating me about. You think it was about Sam chan?"
Yamato scratched the back of his head and grinned lopsidedly. Taichi secretly loved when he did that. He looked so sheepish and strangely wolf like at the same time. "No, it wasn't about Sam chan."
"What then?"
Yamato continued to grin secretively and raked his eyes around the room. There really couldn't have been a more inappropriate time for this. It couldn't have been any less romantic. Yamato loved it.
He dropped down on one knee and watched as Taichi's eyes began to bug out of his head. He cocked his head to the side and smiled. "Marry me?"
Taichi was silent for a moment, feeling the weight of everyone's eyes boring into him. No pressure there. He dropped to his knees too, and threw his arms around Yamato.
"You cheeseball. Of course I will." He laughed, burying his head against Yamato's shoulder. "So this is what you've been so nervous about."
"Yeah, I think my manager might just kill me. Oh, and I forgot the ring…" He pulled back and looked at Taichi apologetically. "I left it at the studio."
"I don't care." Taichi smooched his lips gently. "You didn't even have to get on your knees."
"I figured it was due considering all the times you're on your kn-"
"Oi! We have children present!"
Yamato actually blushed and looked over at Makoto, who was swinging his little legs playfully on the couch. "Sorry about that."
"Sokay. He hears worse from me." Mimi informed him, getting a frown from Jyou.
That kid is going to be so messed up… Yamato thought. Taichi was getting up, and pulled him forcibly with him, smiling all the way. He tilted his head approvingly at the other Digidestine and pulled Yamato closer to him.
"Get some rest. We'll be in the master bedroom." He informed them with a wink.
"Resting?" Yamato questioned mockingly. Taichi laughed merrily.
The Glanconer sat in perfect silence in the grand throne room of his castle. It had not always been his castle. He had only retrieved it after the horror. But in any case, the floors shined like mirrors, clean of all the blood that had been spilled. The cages, which had been situated to the right of the room, in the case that his compatriots wanted some entertainment… but they were all gone. And he was alone in the silence.
They had taken his friends. They had taken his Takeru.
It was time now, above all things. Above revenge, above love and lust, above his newfound desire for power. It was time to end everything. And it wouldn't be long before The Glanconer could arrange just that.
In his mind's eye, he could see a girl dancing, carefree of her memories, dipping and twirling to no partner but a glowing purple ball. He could see her laughing at nothing, repeating herself into infinity, living in complete avoidance of the real world. He remembered the intense insanity. And was quite beginning to long for it. He hadn't loved Takeru, but he had been his and it was certainly not fair that Daisuke would take him back. After all, he himself was little more than a perfected, elongated version of that idiot. Physically at least, in his own estimation. His hair a gentler burgundy, his eyes a deeper hue. He was beautiful, almost perfect. And yet, it hadn't been enough.
What bothered The Glanconer the most, that was under all of his controls, he could not force Takeru to kill his previous lover. He was beginning to doubt himself.
Takeru sat quietly on the edge of the sofa. Dinner had come and gone, with a few lighthearted jokes, but an overall feeling of tension. It was a strange mood. A lot of pressure and unresolved tension, but also the joyous fact that now two of their couples had decided on a life long commitment.
He had yet to drop in on Ken. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk to him. Ken knew too much about what he'd just been through. Maybe Takeru was simply afraid that someone would actually understand what had happened to him.
"Oi, Take kun." Taichi's voice entered the room softly. The others had found places to sleep, as it was a rather large apartment, and he had found himself alone for the first time… in a long time.
"Oi." He looked up, remembering. "Congratulations, by the way. He finally managed it."
"He was planning that for awhile, ne?" He sat lightly beside him.
"A long while. I'm surprised he actually did it. I guess doing it spontaneously was the only way he could manage."
Taichi nodded. Yamato was like that. Emotions, especially the deeper ones, were hard for him to admit to having. "Well, that, and we can't exactly do it legally."
"I don't think that matters. It didn't for Sora kun and Miyako chan."
"Yeah, but if Sora kun was a guy, they'd be common law by now. Besides… when the news gets out about this stuff Tanaka's been doing, it may not be long before it is." Taichi frowned a little. "In our lifetime, I mean, by not long. I figure, ten years at least, for the people to get used to the idea that same sex partners can have kids. After that, it's all politics."
"Which could logically take the rest of humankind's lifespan." Takeru grinned. It was difficult to see in the dark, but he thought that Taichi was wringing his hands a little bit. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair and looked up at Takeru meaningfully.
"Are you okay?"
"Okay?" Takeru replied despondently. Taichi sighed.
"With Yamato marrying me? With Ken kun in the other room, and Sam chan in Hika chan's arms? With the fact we're going to probably have to destroy the Glanconer."
"Yes, yes. And, I don't know. I really don't know if I can face him, Tai kun." Takeru answered softly. "I know the bond was broken by Hika chan, but I…"
He started as Taichi began to rub in even circles on his back.
"Whatever you have to do, just let us know, okay?" His eyes widened in compassion, looking at Takeru hard, trying to get across to him how much they were willing to give for him.
"I will. I'm just…"
"Scared?"
"Not of him… of the fact that I might betray you again."
Taichi shrugged and leaned back, crossing his arms. "I really don't think you will. But I understand how you must feeling. Ken chan was always afraid he might lose control again. Probably still is."
"I should talk to him…" Takeru sighed heavily.
"Whenever you're ready." Taichi replied lightly. "Now get some sleep. We're going to have to do some talking tomorrow, and figure out a way to stop the Glanconer without destroying our world in the process."
Takeru nodded as Taichi got up to leave. He slung his feet up on the other end of the couch, and tried to imagine what was going on in Ken's head at the moment. Whether he was awake and had heard that Takeru was back. Would he be angry, or relieved? Would he be hopeful for the day after tomorrow, when he went back to Anubis willingly?
Takeru closed his weary eyes on uncertainty. Though, at some point during the night, he awoke briefly to see Daisuke curled up next to him on the couch. He put his arms around him and went back to sleep.
Michael signed as he was pulled roughly by the woman child half his size to another street corner, where she was admiring the English written on the T-shirts in the windows.
"No Fucking!" She squealed in disbelief as she read the words off a juvenile's piece. Michael shrugged and vowed never to stray to the other side of the fence again.
"I'm of the opinion that the designers that sell to Japan are part of a conspiracy."
"Conspiracy?" Chicos looked at him questioningly, and Michael prayed for silence.
"We put dirty things on the shirts they buy in English, and they sell us shirts that say 'I'm a bloody stupid American' in kanji. Or something like that."
Chicos giggled. She whipped her head around. "Where did Ryo go?"
Michael shook his head. He'd been a little preoccupied. With Chicos dragging him all over to see the "sights" and trying to reconcile the fact that Tokyo was actually in ruins. It would take years to restore things to the way they were.
"You know, maybe all those sci fi movies were trying to warn them about something." He muttered, leaning down to pick up a piece of rock. That isn't a rock. He turned the small hard thing over in his hand and brushed it off with his other hand, frowning. Plastic… "A camera."
"A camera?" Chicos sat next to him as he looked it over. Michael nodded.
"A camera." Michael confirmed, looking it over. He licked his thumb and tried to wash the bottom of it off a little bit. There was some writing there. "Hi… that one's ya for sure...mi… damn. Why does this have to be in katakana?"
Chicos turned her head around and shrugged. "Ask Ryo."
"I could do that, I guess. But I still don't know the guy very well. Nobody I've known since Ken could open a portal out of nowhere, so I'm not too keen on trusting him until we see what he's up to."
"Then why are we following him?" Chicos asked, her eyes were still filling up with the scenery.
"Because I don't know where the others are. I mean, they could be anywhere."
"Email Ken." She said simply.
Michael sighed. "Do you really think the internet is up?"
"Well, probably not, but our Dterminals were created to access the internet… secondarily. Mostly, they access each other. And we can't be that far from them." She reasoned. Michael frowned.
"You've got a point there."
Chicos nodded and got up to brush herself off. Michael smiled halfheartedly as he dug his Dterminal out of his pocket and began typing. He was glad he'd decided to get one of these things. Ken had suggested that it might be a good idea for all Digidestine to have one, as they were now a sort of secret society over the entire planet.
"Hello! This is Michael. Guess what? I'm here in Tokyo with Chicos. Is everything alright? Where are you? We'd like to visit, and I'd like to get away from her for a little while. I'm sure you understand. Well, that's all. Oh, and we found this guy who claims to know you. A Ryo by name. I'm not sure what his angle is, but he's apparently here to set things up or whatever before you have to fight again. I hope you haven't faced as much fighting as we have! Anyho, let me know where you are, so we can meet up.
Ta ta~
Michael"
He breathed out heavily and turned to go find where Chicos had run off to.
"Oi!" Koushiro growled, jumping up form his sitting position on the windowsill. He glared at Wallace, who was grinning madly at him. "I see you're feeling better."
"Tons, thanks. How about you?"
"I wasn't injured, actually. I've just been trying to figure out how it's even possible for a castle to float midair."
"Does it really matter?" Wallace asked, leaning on the wall near him. "We can fly up there."
"So much for the element of surprise." Jyou muttered, entering the conversation.
"I doubt The Glanconer is foolish enough to think we won't be coming after him as soon as possible." Koushiro informed them. He set his Pineapple down gently and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is everyone else healing so well? How about Ken kun?"
"Nuriko san is pretty weak. So's Iori kun, but he's getting better. Sora kun and Mimi chan are going to have scars, but I think Mimi chan's found a way to market the "Look", unless she was joking with me." Jyou smiled softly. Wallace rolled his eyes.
"Dehabilitating scars, the new fall fashion!" He input.
"Better you than me." Koushiro chuckled.
"Oi, I kinda love her, so shut up." Jyou shot back jokingly. Wallace elbowed him.
"Yeah, whatever. So are you going to put the moves on Ren?"
Koushiro felt his eye twitching. "I'm not exactly interested in her in that way."
"Such a liar. You want her." Wallace accused. "I think I'm hurt. I thought we had something going."
"No, we don't. And… maybe. But this isn't a good time."
"When is a good time?" Wallace pressed. "When she's too sick to jump your bones?"
"Koushiro chan, I thought you said you wanted independence over a relationship?" Tentomon asked, buzzing over to the conversation.
Koushiro leveled his eyes at the beetle-like Digimon. "I did. But my libido has other ideas."
Jyou laughed. "That always happens. Don't let the Digicommentary bother you though, I had to deal with Gomamon harassing me to ask Mimi chan out for years."
Koushiro looked over to the group of girls by the couch anxiously. "Yeah, but this is complicated…. Do you ever get to play with your son?"
"He's okay."
"Another Kido doctor?"
"He can be a Broadway dragqueen for all I care. As long as he's happy." Jyou said seriously. Koushiro nodded.
In the other room, Hikari sat lightly on Ken's bed, watching him sleep, and collecting her own energies.
And Ken dreamed.
Black wings fluttered about him, but he did not move, and was not afraid. Ken knew he was dreaming and the child that he had seen before had died a very permanent death.
"Do you really think you can get out of this without some sort of sacrifice? That isn't how this works, Ichijoji."
"I don't know who I'm talking to, but you aren't scaring me." Ken looked up and suddenly found himself in Tanaka's lab. Vials were knocked over, their contents spilled.
"Do you really think she'll be safe from the Darkness?"
Ken's eyes darted over to the door. A dark cloaked figure glared at him with deep red eyes.
"I will protect her from you Daemon."
"Protect her all you want. It won't change the fact that no matter what you do, you owe her to me."
"I owe you nothing." He shot back. Walking forward, Ken realized he was in his lab coat. There were others around him in similar dress, all working studiously in the disheveled lab. Through the workers, Ken noticed another worker, with a shadowed face, walked directly into the lab with a specimen dish in his hand. He slipped through the others, took one dish from the counter, and replaced it with its own. "Oi!"
Ken stepped forward to grab him, but as his fingers touched the shadow, it disappeared. Ken stood for a moment, thinking it over, then looked back to the doorway. Daemon was gone. And he was somewhere else.
A run down apartment building in the worst part of town. A little black haired girl was lying in a pile of dirty blankets crying, scared. He walked over to her and sat down.
"Why are you crying?" He asked her. She looked up at him with large garnet eyes.
"I'm scared. He took me back here." She said, her voice shaking. Ken drew her close to his body. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he understood.
"You don't have to be scared anymore." He told her. The sobbing stopped, and there was silence.
Suddenly he was falling.
"Ahhh!!" Ken screamed as he woke up. His vision focused and he looked around, his eyes meeting with Hikari's as she grabbed hold of him. It had seemed like he was falling for such a long time.
"Ken, please hold still. You could still tear open your stitches and start bleeding again."
It took a moment to register who was speaking to him in that gentle, understanding voice. Who would talk to him like that? A mother? His mother? Am I who I am, or who I was? I can't seem to remember…
Collecting his thoughts he looked over at the fuzzy, somewhat familiar scene of the bedside in Yamato and Taichi's guestroom. Sitting beside him was a beautiful girl… no, woman now. With sharp cut locks hanging in her face from her short bob, sheered close in the back. He reached up his hand, and felt the soft bristles on the back of her neck. She smiled at him, a thin, strained smile.
"Are you okay now?"
"Yes." He whispered. "I'm… where's Sam?"
"She's sleeping… I think in Miya chan's arms in the living room. Do you want me to get her?"
"No… let her sleep." Ken tried to shift his weight, but winced, unable to make the effort. He felt so weak, even moreso than before she'd been born. Then it was more of a lingering fatigue that was more, a culmination of the months before. Now it was a sudden and complete loss of energy. "Hikari…"
"Yes, Ken chan." She answered, affectionately running her hands over the soft fabric on his chest. Stroking the smooth flesh around his neck. She wondered how she could feel so protective of someone and still be their lover.
Ken hesitated looking at her intensely. He felt lost suddenly. She simply smiled and petted his hair in a maternal fashion. "These are strange circumstances." He managed.
"Yes." She nodded and looked away suddenly. There was a crash in the other room. "I'll be back in a moment."
Hikari left the guest room and started in surprise. Jun was sitting tangled in the middle of the room, looking as though she had just lost a fight with the standing lamp. Hikari rushed over and offered her a hand. Daisuke was looking at her as though she were the biggest moron in the world.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just... ugh." Jun tried to straighten out her mass of hair and limbs in frustration. Hikari giggled. The woman looked over at Daisuke accusingly. "Okay. Now that I'm like the only person in your family that talks to you, why don't you tell me anything?"
"Huh?" Daisuke scratched the back of his head.
"Hello, you have a new boyfriend? What's up with that?" She demanded stomping over to him angrily. Hikari looked over at the strong willed woman with admiration. She was so strong, and protective of her younger brother, even if the two hadn't gotten along as children. Her attention was stolen, however, by Ken's wobbling entrance to the room. She immediately intercepted him and forced him to sit down.
"It's my business. I was gonna tell you."
"Yeah, like when? And what about Ken chan?"
Daisuke pouted. "Can we not do this now? Please?"
"Yes, we have other things we have to do now." A calmly clear voice rang over the fighting. The other Digidestine who had drifted into the room looked over at the window. "Time's up. One of you is coming with me." Anubis crossed her arms and her smile became sad. Takeru looked around the group. The last thing he wanted was for one of these people to die for him. They needed all the members of their team to beat the Glanconer, and he wasn't even sure that he could fight.
"I guess it's me. I'm just glad I got the chance to talk to everyone again."
"No, you're not going."
The room turned to look at Ren. She was standing small and frail behind them, her hair just as much a mess as it had always been. Her eyes grim and determined, and her right hand grasping the fabric over her heart.
"You can't!" Koushiro said in shock.
"Why not?" She licked her pale lips and stepped closer to the window.
"Because… we're the responsible ones here. We can take care of this. That's what it means to be a Digidestine." Koushiro reasoned. "We're the ones who have to make these choices."
"No, you're the ones who have to fight to keep our dimension and the digital dimension safe. Not me. I don't have anything." She said, her soft voice piercing the dead silence of the room. Jun looked around each as they spoke in confusion.
"You shouldn't have to do this, Ren san!" Hikari cried. Ken struggled to stand.
"Please don't leave." He whispered. Ren shook her head.
"Oh, come on. How long do I have left anyway?" Ren joked, reaching out for Anubis' hand. The woman shrugged, keeping her arms crossed.
"You might be surprised by that answer." She said noncommittally.
"Yeah…" Ren ran a hand through her hair. "But what kind of life is that anyway? I'm tired of it. And if I can make this all okay, I want to do it. It isn't right for any of these guys to go before their time. They have to stop this Glanconer guy. And Daemon if he comes back. And whatever fuckhead comes along next!"
She stepped closer to Anubis and looked her in the eyes seriously. "Besides, Ken is really the only friend I have. I have to protect him. I've always known that much."
Anubis cocked her head, lips playing into a wide, wise grin. "I sometimes think you guys who are closer to me most of your lives figure things out sooner. I guess that's to be expected if I follow you around all the time."
She closed the distance between her and Ren.
"Ren chan…" Ken whispered. Ren turned and blew a kiss at Ken.
"Tell Dr. Tanaka I'm sorry for letting her down. I bet she can find someone who doesn't need so many sick days, though."
Anubis enclosed her with in her dark embrace, and their bodies lit up from the inside out. It looked as though electricity were flowing through their bodies, and Anubis disappeared. Ren's body went limp and collapsed onto the floor. Ken sat weakly on the chair, as Jyou walked over and took her pulse though he knew it was futile.
Hikari rubbed his shoulder calmly. "It's okay."
Ken nodded absently. Hikari knelt down, leveling her face to his and kissed him gently on the lips. Takeru leaned back shakily against the wall in disbelief.
"I…"
"You're alive." Daisuke said, barely suppressing the jubilant look that was trying to over come his face. He reached forward and put his hands on Takeru shoulders possessively.
"I'm alive…" He nodded. Then impulsively leaned forward and kissed Daisuke hard. Daisuke' strong arms enveloped him and just held him there. "I feel like this is a dream."
"A dream?" Daisuke asked softly, not letting go.
"Yeah." Ken said, his voice hollow. "One of those where you suddenly find yourself without any ground to stand on."
Yamato was playing the harmonica in the other room. The melody was sad, in reverence. Ken sat weakly on the end of his bed. He had not cracked a smile since yesterday when Ren died He looked up blankly to see Takeru entering the room. The man sat on the bed next to him, hugged him to himself with one arm, and laid his head on Ken's shoulder.
"I'm sorry she died for me."
Hikari had put Ken to sleep an hour ago, and despite her protective bent lately, left the apartment to do some shopping, content that Daisuke would check in on him often. Takeru went into the bedroom and sat down on the bed.
He looked so beautiful laying there, his body ripe with child and his face serenely released from the pain he'd been experiencing the last few days. Takeru believed he was quite in love with him, somehow. Though how he had managed to fall in love with his rival was a mystery to him. He still loved Daisuke, of course, but he and Ken had always shared a connection, a bit like the one with Hikari, but deeper. An understanding of one another that went deeper than either could grasp.
Takeru laid down beside him, fully clothed, with Ken in his soft flannel pajamas draping over his burgeoning belly, and he began to kiss the side of his sleeping face gently. His hand reached under Ken's top and ran over the taut sensitive skin of his belly, and Ken let out a soft moan. He wouldn't wake. He couldn't. And for a long time, Takeru laid there holding him, wishing that Ken could make sense of his life for him, before it was too late.
"I feel as though I should not be sad for her. For the joy that you are still here." Ken said stiffly. He had shut down again, confused over how he should react.
"I didn't think you'd be that happy I was still here."
"On the contrary." Ken said looking at him. His fathomless blue eyes met Takeru's mismatched orbs. Takeru leaned in and pressed his lips to Ken's parched mouth. He was so drained of everything right now. How would he cope? Takeru imagined his own energy flowing into Ken's wearied body, healing his slow wounds and giving him strength.
Hikari's soft brown eyes peered into the room, and acknowledge the energy transference. She left as quietly as she came and went into the kitchen to start dinner. Jun was in there already, cutting a few things up.
"I'm glad you're here. I'm a lousy cook."
"Oh?" Hikari smiled. "Still?"
"Yep. I can do okay for myself, but I'm still no good. It's why I'm so skinny. Maybe I'll get some nice girl to teach me someday." Jun wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and looked over to Hikari. "That baby of yours is beautiful, you know. You and the father married?"
"No. We aren't." She said softly. "I don't think that's going to happen."
"Why not?"
"I'm not sure. I do love him. And I know he loves me. Maybe I'll give it some more time, but I'm starting to realize that physical attraction and maternal instinct might not be enough. And... there are other factors of responsibility that I have to deal with." Hikari began washing her hands and walked over to the stove to take over for Jun. "So, do you approve of Take chan?"
"I always liked him. I liked Dai kun with Ken chan more though." Jun twirled her dark hair around a finger. Her ears were heavily pierced, along with an eyebrow and tongue ring. Hikari wondered if she had any other piercings in more discreet locations.
"Hm." Hikari turned on the oven and looked into the refrigerator. She took out some chicken and a few other ingredients and began putting them together. "I think I might stay living with them, at least until Sam isn't nursing anymore. How are your shows going?"
"You don't look like you just had a baby." Jun noted, looking over the girl's slim figure. She had always admired this one when Daisuke brought his friends over. She was so pretty, and calm. Not like the crazy women she usually dated. It was wonderful to have throngs of crazy artistic friends. Her lovers just didn't seemed to be compatible that way. "Ano, I'm still working for that gallery in Odaiba, unfortunately. Nobody really cares about my work. Daisuke is better."
"I love your work. It's very soulful." Hikari replied. She wasn't lying either. It was gorgeous, to her eye, though she had to admit she didn't really understand it. "And I didn't have Sam."
Jun blinked. "So who did?"
"Ken chan did."
"Ken chan's a guy." Jun stated unnecessarily.
"I know. Do you find that's a problem when you're dating someone you care about?" Hikari asked suddenly, looking up at Jun. Jun grinned.
"Eto, yeah, I can honestly say that as a lesbian, the male factor would be a problem in a date of mine."
Hikari sighed and stirred pot.
"So, Ken chan had that baby?" Jun asked. She raised a brow, unbelieving.
"It's along story, but yes. He had Sam, and now he's very tired. He's a very pretty man, though, isn't he? It wasn't hard to pass him off as a woman when we were in public."
"I bet that's fun until you get his clothes off." Jun chuckled. Hikari frowned and put the lid on her stew.
"I don't know."
"Ohhh." Jun grinned and bobbed her head. Hikari nodded and lowered her lids. "I have to feed Sam. I'll be back in a minute. Watch the pot, would you?"
"Sure." Jun smiled as the girl left.
Your word and my word and your word is Tomorrow, today and yesterday But it's a necessary evil And you will find your way there
"Ken chan." Takeru kept his head forward as he watched the disintegrating skyline.
"Yes." Ken looked pale, his face sharp as a knife with it's angles. He'd lost so much weight over the past few days, but an inner strength seemed to be bursting forth from inside him. The two of them leaned on the ledge of Yamato and Taichi's window.
"I want to do well. I want us to win, but still. I feel…"
"Yes?"
"Responsible for how badly things have gone. I know I was under the Glanconer's control, but…"
"But it doesn't matter."
"No." Takeru felt the wind rustling his bangs underneath his hat. "It doesn't, does it?"
Ken furrowed his brow. "It doesn't matter, because you still did it. It happened, and you're responsible."
Takeru swallowed hard. This was what he hadn't wanted to hear.
"We all are. Everything is connected in such a way, that we are all responsible. So we must all do our best to make sure this is the kind of world we want to live in."
"There is always evil." Takeru said, remembering their discussions during their youth.
"And always good. Both are necessary. Inevitable." Ken looked at him intensely, but then smiled. "Both are in you."
Takeru took a deep breath, then smiled back. "Then I suppose we have no choice but to save the world."
"Damn, it's about time you two started getting along!" Daisuke cried, hugging them both from behind. They heard the loud snapping sound of a camera. Turning around, they saw Hikari smiling at them, with Jun cradling Sam off to the side.
"That one is winning an award." Hikari stated proudly. "I'm glad I keep a spare around Anichan's place."
"Wicked angel." Ken accused with a smile. He reached up for a kiss when she came over, but she dropped it on his forehead instead, and went back inside the kitchen. Jun looked over the three men for a moment and followed her inside.
Ken could feel it coming before he could see it, but this time, he was prepared.
"Ken chan!" Takeru ran over to him from the sofa, but stopped abruptly a few feet from him. Energy peeled off him in rivers, and Takeru knew his newly saved life would be over if he got too close to him at the moment. The man's eyes had gone completely white, either rolled back in his head or overwhelmed by the power he was using at the moment. Sam started to wail from the other room, and Hikari came rushing out to see what was wrong.
"What's with Ken chan!" Daisuke asked, nearly running passed the point of safety. Takeru grabbed the back of his shirt, holding him to his side.
"Don't go over there." He instructed. Hikari's eyes lit up and she handed Sam off to Sora and began to step forward. "Hika chan, no!"
"He can't hold it off on his own. He can contain it, but it's coming whether we stand against it or not!" Hikari cried. She ran over to him and encircled Ken's frail body in her arms.
"Hold off what!" Taichi cried. He'd run into the room half dressed.
"The Dark Ocean." Takeru replied, with sudden understanding.
Ken's face was livid with the strain of pushing the Dark Ocean back. Hikari, still holding him tightly was now glowing a fiery red all over, and the wind from it blew both of their hair around like a typhoon. Takeru clenched his scarred hand and dove into the mix.
At first the energy began to overwhelm him. It burned through every vein in his body, and he was sure that he would explode, but soon his mind began to work in synch with Ken and Hikari, and he felt the Dark Ocean lapping at their heels.
Take chan believe you can do it! If you don't believe that you can, then you can't! He couldn't tell whose thought it was. Ken's, Hikari's, or his own.
Hold it back, if it comes in contact with our world...
Push your energy this way...
Together! One, two...
The three of them fell on the floor exhausted. Their friends peered over them with concern.
"Whoa, are you guys alright?" Daisuke begged. He grabbed Takeru roughly and wouldn't let him go. Miyako was holding onto Hikari and shaking her.
"You crazy! What was that!"
"We have to go to the Glanconer now." Ken said softly. The others looked at him in shock.
"Ken kun, you can't do that yet." Jyou warned. He knelt beside them and started to feel over Ken's damaged midsection. He couldn't be strong enough yet to fight again.
"I have to. The Glanconer is pulling the Dark Ocean towards himself. If the it merges with our world, even if we separated them afterwards, nothing would ever be the same. You don't understand what the Darkness does to people who aren't ready to see it."
"It makes them crazy. It drives them to do things they wouldn't normally do." Hikari said, standing beside Ken and offering him a hand up.
"And it scars them irreparably. They're never the same, and not necessarily stronger. We have no choice. We're going now." Takeru put in. He walked across the room and grabbed his coat. "So either you guys can stand guard while we're gone, or you can come with us."
"I think maybe some of us should stay." Nuriko's small voice piped out of the crowed. She sat limply on the overstuffed chair. "Once you attack him, he's sure to start trouble in other places. We should leave someone to make sure nobody innocent gets hurt."
"That's a good idea." Iori said supportively. He sat next to her in the chair. She seemed so small.
"Alright." Taichi smacked his hands together. "Here's what we're going to do."
The pounding of Chicos' footfalls on the staircase could probably be heard back in Mexico.
"Ken! Where is my Ken chan!" She yelled through the apartment. "Kennyboy! Yoo hoo!"
Michael trudged up the stairs and once at the top, tried to fix his hair up a bit. It had been awhile, but he knew Ken would still appreciate the effort. Maybe when this was all over...
"KEN!!"
"For goodness sakes, Chicos. Do you have to yell?" Michael complained. He stepped inside the apartment. He heard a sort of loud whining sound. Not quite like crying, more a loud mewl of complaint. Suddenly a tall gangly woman with what appeared to be a knock off of Taichi's unruly hair stormed out, baby in arms, and stood in front of them angrily.
"Who the hell are you and why are you scaring Sam chan?"
"I am Chicos! I am Ken's friend." Chicos declared. She started to look around the apartment once again.
"If you're his friend, you can stop upsetting his baby. I just got her to sleep!" Jun complained. She tried rocking Sam in her arms a bit. The mewl had lessened as soon as Jun had come out, and the baby looked up at them with unfocused owlish eyes.
"Ken had a baby? With a woman?" Michael exclaimed. "How odd. I wonder why he didn't say anything."
"Some crazy shit has been going on around here lately. I'll let him explain it later." Jun eyed the attractive new man that padded unconcerned into the open door. "Who are you, and who is that?"
"I'm Akiyama Ryo. I'm Ken chan's friend from before... most of the unpleasantness. We were in the same group fighting in the Digital World, though I'm not sure how much he remembers."
Jun shifted Sam to one hip and looked over at him suspiciously. She extended a hand for him to shake. They did that in America, right?
Your feelings and mine are all holy and
You give me an inner sanctity
You feel the same way that I do for you, about her
"Ken chan..."
The castle in the sky loomed before them.
Ken turned around to face Daisuke. He still felt a bit weak, but knew that if they didn't go to stop the Glanconer now, they might not be able to keep the worlds apart.
"Daisuki yo, Daisuke." He stepped closer and hugged his dearest friend.
"I know." Daisuke sighed, torn. Takeru smiled suddenly and locked eyes with Hikari.
It's okay. I know. She smiled and walked over to her brother, holding onto him as she watched, and Taichi pressed his face into his little sister's soft hair. Ken looked back for a moment, confused. Then, Takeru came up to them, catching them in a three way embrace. His fingers grasped at the fabric of their shirts and their heads pressed together as the three of them took shaky breaths.
"Don't say goodbye, Dai chan." Ken whispered. Takeru leaned into Ken and began to kiss him gently. Daisuke began making soft kisses along the side of Takeru's face, until he turned to kiss him too, as Ken nibbled and licked along Takeru's neck.
"No goodbyes. We'll see you soon, Dai chan." Takeru said with a smile crinkling his scarred face. They took each other's hands.
"Ken chan, Take chan, I love you." Daisuke said, backing away, unwilling to let them go.
"Love you." Ken said to them.
"Love you." Takeru said, finally releasing Daisuke to go with Hikari. The two continued to walk backwards, until Hikari joined them and kissed each of them on the cheek.
"It's time. Let's go." She said, a bit sadly.
The Glanconer was feeling quite put upon. He closed his eyes and reached deep within himself.
"By the contract by which you are bound to me, come to me in my time of need."
Across the world, dark figures appeared, hunting down the glowing souls of the Digidestine.
"Come to me. And destroy them."
Taichi, Yamato, Sora and Miyako ran across the destroyed field that was once a highway. Miyako, with her sword drawn, took the rear and skewered a shadow-like person that tried to sneak up on them.
"This looks familiar." Miyako called to her group in the front. Sora looked back momentarily at her love.
"Be careful, Yo-yo chan!"
Miyako nodded and ran lithely backwards, hoping she wouldn't fall on her ass.
In another part of the city, Iori shadowed Mimi and Jyou through the ruins.
"Jyou san!"
"I know. Maybe the Glanconer is working with someone we know."
"You think Gally wasn't completely destroyed, Jyou chan?" Mimi asked worriedly. Rosemon glided past, listening to their debate.
"I don't know. Just wait for the signal."
Daisuke darted along with Koushiro and Wallace, worrying for his two loves.
This had better work.
A flare erupted into the sky.
All of the flying Digimon save for Miyako, Iori, and Daisuke's attacked the castle at once.
The Glanconer raised a hand, and a magical screen appeared in front of him. He could see the Digimon attacking his castle, battering themselves against his impregnable forces.
"You surely must jest." He positioned his hands in two separate pointing gestures. "This should end their foolishness."
Outside, Imperialdramon and Hououmon were met by a huge black dragon with six heads. Yamato and Tai stood strong, holding their Digivices resolutely.
"We have to hold off whatever he throws at us!" Taichi cried.
"I know that!" Yamato growled in frustration.
"Enough, children, let's just do this!"
"Umou chan!" Miyako ran up from her position dragging a man about their age with him. Sora looked over in surprise.
"Ano, hi. I'm Akiyama Ryo, and I really need to talk to Ken chan before you guys try to fix our worlds!"
Yamato glared at him. "Could your timing be any fucking worse?"
Your word and my word and her word is
Yesterday, today and tomorrow
And twilight gives me
An inner sanctity
"NO! No more dying. No more killing." Ken cried angrily. The other five looked at him in surprise. "Hikaru chan is gone..."
"And Tailmon followed him." Shinobu continued bitterly. She closed her large scarlet eyes to the world. She put her hand to her powder blue hair and tried to breath. Tried not to get angry and fight. Her partner Wizardmon looked up at her worriedly.
"Shi chan." Midori gazed at her sympathetically through large glasses, and pulled the girl closer to her, pressing her dark green head against hers. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anybody's... fault." Her voice cracked.
Ryo crossed his arms, cradling a small Digiegg. "It was my fault. I couldn't control Greymon. He killed her."
"His data was corrupted!" Jun yelled. Pidmon jumped at his partner's outburst. "He would have never done this to us on purpose."
"What do we do?" Ryo asked. "We're weaker than we've ever been, and we have to stop Apocalypmon."
"I'll tell you what you do." The deep voice chilled them. The five children and their partners turned to look at the tall, beautiful Digimon virus.
"Lady Devrimon. What do you want?" Jun demanded. Pidmon raised his scepter in warning.
"We don't need your kind of help."
She grinned, widely, slyly. "Without my help, Daemon would have surely killed Ken sama. You owe me, and yet for some reason, I feel compelled to come to your aid again."
Midori's eyes glazed over. "Your life as a virus is about to change dramatically."
Lady Devrimon reared her head back. "What? No it isn't."
"There must be balance between good and evil." The bearer of the Crest of Fate spoke in a flat monotone voice. This was a True Telling. "Tailmon has turned. Angewomon has turned, and thus, you must change as well. You will become her."
"No!" Lady Devrimon hissed. Flying backward, her silk hair swung out dramatically in front of her. "I will never be a angel!"
"You can be whatever you want to be." Stingmon said seriously. Her eyes caught his.
"I'm a demon."
"And I'm a virus. But that doesn't mean that I can't be by Ken chan's side."
Ken felt cold. Weaving in between the other Digidestine's Digimon, he, Hikari, and Takeru had slipped into the castle from underneath. The place was freezing. Hikari had started crying, the moment they entered.
"It's okay. I'll be okay. Let's just hurry."
The three took one another's hands, and walked briskly through the corridor.
"How are we going to find where the Glanconer is? I don't remember this palace..." Takeru asked uncertainly. Hikari shook her head.
"I know where it is."
Suddenly the whole castle shook, knocking them to the ground. In a pile, the three and their Digimon looked around for danger.
"What was that?" Angewomon asked. Angemon shook his head.
"I don't know, but I doubt it's good. We have to hurry. We can't leave the others to fight a losing battle."
The corridor suddenly flooded with hundreds of writhing black creatures, clawing and biting. The three Digimon began to attack them, trying to hold them off from their partners.
"Ken chan! GO!" Stingmon shouted.
"Stingmon!" Ken hesitated.
"He's right!" Angewomon insisted. "We'll hold them off. You go finish him!"
The three darted off in unison.
Only to run into a tall man covered in blood.
"Ryo..." Ken's eyes widened and he clutched the wall for support. His insides ached and he felt dizzy. "It can't... no..."
"Ken chan, I know I'm not supposed to talk to you, but this is business. There's something you have to know before you reset the worlds!"
"Who is this guy?" Takeru demanded. Hikari ran her eyes over him silently, and entered his mind.
"We know him." She said softly. "Hurry, Ryo san. We don't have much time. Can you feel it? He's going to make our worlds a hell."
Ryo turned to Ken and spoke gravely. "You're a pillar."
Lady Devrimon played with her ancient ring. "What I gave to you before... Ken sama..."
The small child looked up at her hopefully.
"I just showed you how. You're a pillar. You can do anything you put your mind to."
"A pillar?" He squeaked. "What's a pillar?"
"It's the support system for a world. You support the Dark Ocean, Ken chan! You make it exist! Without you, it would go out of control!" Ryo yelled across the distance. "Hikari san is a pillar, and so is Takeru, san to a lesser extent!"
"I..." Ken looked away and felt his temple.
"You could be the King of Darkness. You could control the powers of Darkness."
Ken frowned, uncertain of himself. "I did that once. But..."
"But he lost control. No one can be expected to do that on their own." Takeru argued. He stormed over to Ryo, wrested Ken out of his grasp and held onto him protectively. No one was separating them anymore.
"That's why there's three of us. I know what we have to do, Ryo san." Hikari looked up at the man. Ryo's eyes widened in alarm. Hikari took the Ring of Light out of her pocket and slipped the large ring onto her finger. She looked over to Takeru, who nodded and braced himself. The Chalice of Hope burst from his chest.
If I could be her...
But I'm not her and she's not me
And you're somewhere different
On a different planet
Lady Devrimon rolled the ancient ring between her hands. "It's what you are. It's why you can create something out of nothing."
"Nothing comes from nothing." Midori said wisely. "But to change things the way he can..."
"I don't want to see any more death either. If... if we can do this without destroying our enemies, then that's what we should do. I want to give him a chance." Jun admitted. Shinobu smiled wryly at the boisterous girl finally admitting to sensitivity. She herself could spare some human emotion, she knew.
"We give him a chance. What if he wastes it. What if it all turns out so dark?" Shinobu asked her, but without the usual edge. Midori leaned over and kissed the tomboy's cheek. Wendimon danced back in forth anxiously. Shinobu looked at her in askance. "But what if that's Fate?"
"I know that you are all skeptical, but I know that you will make the right choice, for the long run, if not the short." Wizardmon stated firmly. "Because you are the chosen children. You are the Digidestine, and I have faith."
Ken felt tears stinging his eyes. "I know what we can do. I know... how we can stop Apocalpmon. To keep him from hurting himself and others."
The five chosen children looked to Ichijoji Ken.
"There's a third relic." Ken looked to Ryo, who shook his head.
"There are many relics."
"Do you have one for me to use?" Ken asked. Again, Ryo shook his head.
"You have to find it for yourself."
Jun leaned over Nuriko's shoulder holding Sam and practically danced from foot to foot. "Damn, I wish I could help."
"So do I, but I can barely walk, let alone fight." Nuriko replied weakly. Her wounds were still healing. Betamon hopped in her lap anxiously.
"Where did all these creatures come from?" Jun asked.
Nuriko shrugged typing away at Koushiro's Pineapple. "I dunno. But I'm sending reports to Digidestine all over the worlds so they can fight them off."
"I just... do you think the Digital World will be open after this? I mean that we can get there? It makes me sad when people are... separated from their partners." Her voice got very quiet. Nuriko looked up at her.
"I'm sure the guys will fix things so we can see them again... do you have a partner Jun?"
"Not anymore."
The remaining five Digidestine stood resolutely in front of the billowing fires that engulfed Zhuqiamon as she flapped her wings angrily. They had never seen such a large creature, and truly, they knew they were standing in front of the most powerful creature in this world.
"I cannot reach Apocalpmon. I will not be able to stop him, should he begin to trouble us again!" Her voice boomed angrily.
"Oi!" Jun screamed at the Digigod. "If you wanted us to destroy him, you should have said something, and not just dropped us here in the middle of nowhere to fend for ourselves! It's pretty easy to criticize when you didn't do any of the work!"
"It will be well, Zhuqiamon." Midori spoke calmly. The others were a bit surprised, as they didn't know the creature's name, but she was mostly likely right. She usually was.
"No. I have foreseen that our efforts will be frustrated. Darkness will descend upon our world again."
"Darkness would have come anyway." Lady Devrimon informed her, flying close from where she had been holding back. Zhuqiamon raised her beak in her direction, and her data scattered.
"You killed her!" Shinobu cried angrily.
"I sent her to be reborn in the Primary Villiage. We will need her later in another function."
"I know." Midori said, stepping closer to the burning Digigod, her hands clasped together beggingly. "Please don't do what you feel you must do. In time, everything will come together!"
"I have spoken with the other three. We have made our decision."
"I don't like to talk about that." Jun muttered. "Can I email any Digidestine from here?"
"I didn't want to do it, Ken chan, you have to know that. You do know that right?" Ryo begged. Ken stepped forward and placed his hands on the older man's shoulders.
"None of you will ever return to the Digital World."
A death sentence.
"NO!" Ken cried, holding onto Stingmon. "I don't want to go back! I don't want to ever go back. Please! Let me stay here with Stingmon!"
"You can't separate us..." Shinobu said incredulously. Wizardmon took her hand and said nothing. This frightened her.
"Please... don't do this." Midori whispered.
"I know you didn't want this. But you had to. Talk about fate. What happened to me never coming to the Digital World again?"
Before their eyes Ryo split into two. One fell to his knees beside Agumon, the other...
The other stared at them from beneath Zhuqiamon, wearing a white robe. "You will leave now, and never return. We have to plan for Apocalpmon's return."
"No... nonono..." Ryo twined his fingers in his hair, watching himself open a portal in front of them.
"Ryo! How could you!" Jun yelled.
"It isn't me!"
"Not YOU, Ryo! That Ryo!"
"Call me Gennai, and I am sorry. I don't have a choice." He really did look sorry. Agumon refused to look at him, and held the first Ryo's leg.
"Ryo chan... please don't make me go back." Ken started to cry.
"It wasn't my call... But I was glad when they called you back to find Millenniummon. I don't think I could have done it without you. And Gennai isn't really me, so he couldn't take a partner."
Ken smiled softly. "I know what to do. Thank you, Ryo chan."
The two men released each other.
"Be careful, Ken chan." Ryo looked worried. Hikari waved to him.
"He's not alone." She told him, as she took Ken's hand and led him and Takeru into the Glanconer's throne room.
All around the world, the Digidestine were losing ground, but from the messages they were receiving from the main group in Japan, they knew that their responsibility in the battle was simple. Damage control. Preserve the world, so that if the others could save it, the rest of humanity would have something to go back to.
Michael leaned against the inside of a parking garage, bleeding heavily and watching the battle outside. He wasn't sure if he was going to make it. And he wasn't sure if he had done right by sending Ryo to Taichi, but all he could do now was hope.
"I trust you, Ken chan. Do the right thing."
And you still want it
The inner sanctity
And it's an evil
But the evil is necessary
"Yugo."
Takeru entered the throne room and recognized it immediately. His home, his world, his cage. But I'm free now, right?
"You are as beautiful as ever, Takeru." The Glanconer stared him down with his endless dark eyes. The beautiful version of Daisuke came closer to them. "You cannot stop me now. I am moments away from changing the world forever."
"But this isn't what you wanted."
"It's what I've wanted from the beginning of time." The Glanconer argued, calmly arching a brow.
"Yugo did not exist at the beginning of time."
"I am no longer Yugo. I am a force. I am a drive. I am all."
Takeru shivered as the Glanconer reached out for him. A pair of dry lips brushed his cheek, and Takeru turned to look into the adoring eyes of Ichijoji Ken. He suddenly felt grounded.
"I should have made you kill him."
"What could you have possibly done with the Dark Spore?" Hikari asked. The Glanconer shook his head disparagingly.
"Such a sought after little seed, isn't it? You yourself should know that not all is what it appears to be. The Dark Spore is, at first look, a means of changing a person. Of rewriting their program to handle dark powers. A human program couldn't handle all that dark power. But what if that program was already programed for that, eh?"
"Yes. What if?" Ken said, his hand on Takeru's shoulder. The Glanconer smiled. Gently at first, it slowly grew into a fierce evil thing twisted upon his dark face.
"What was once Yugo is no more. We are the same now. Give me the Crown of Darkness. Or I will make your precious haven of a dimension utter hell." Fangs were now visible in his sneer.
"Crown of Darkness?" Takeru looked to Ken for answers. Ken was silent.
"Partner bound. Ring, Chalice and Crown. One on hand, one in heart, one on brow." The Glanconer mocked, motioning to his temple at the last world. "Give it to me, Ken."
Ken touched his brow. Light erupted from his forehead. The back of his neck began to bleed thickly, and slowly the light scrawled and curly pattern around his hairline. Then, the light formed an ornate gold and silver crown with a deep black gem in the center.
"I am the King of Darkness. Long live the King." Ken snarked, standing firmly. The Glanconer move forward and Ken grabbed the hands of his companions.
"I am the Bringer of Hope." Takeru shot at him, no longer afraid of what he might do. He squeezed Ken's hand, while his remaining hand clutched the Chalice.
The Ring of Light burned brightly around Hikari's left hand ring finger, outstretched from her body. Tears began to stream down her face.
Follow my lead. I know what has to be done.
Hika chan?
Yes.
"I am the Pillar of Light."
Alll over the world, the dark creatures, the black beasts, disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Amazingly, the Digimon who had appeared randomly seemed to disappear as well, along with the extra hills, rivers, buildings, trees. Things appeared to be righting themselves, and the Digidestine were glad, because it seemed as though everything had gone back to how it had been before...
You had the right idea. But you are no pillar, Yugo, Glanconer. I may have inherited this position, but I will not allow our worlds to exist in constant peril.
The Glanconer could feel his body breaking away as the lecture reached his ears. "No! How!"
I was a bit squeamish about punishing enemies who did not truly wish us destruction. I know better with you. I suppose I should thank you for teaching me to be strong against evil.
Two souls broke free from one another, and one young spirit escaped into the world to be reborn. The Glanconer's body disintegrated, and the remains of the dark force pulsing within weakened.
Goodbye, Yugo.
Goodbye, Takeru. Thank you for freeing me!
A mangled voice of darkness cried out in drawn out howl, then was silence.
Slowly but surely, the worlds steadied. But they were not as they were before. Takeru and Ken could feel the energies shifting into a new form.
Hika chan... no...
I know what I'm doing, Ken chan, Take chan. Let me be who I am.
I love you.
I know.
Taichi waited out on the street. He'd seen the castle disappear. He'd seen the monsters disappear. Where was his sister? He paced back and forth on the street waiting. People had begun to come out, hoping the worst of this insanity was over. He wished he could tell them for certain that it was true.
Just then a car speed down the street, crunching over glass and debris. Dr. Tanaka stepped out.
"Okay, where is my patient. Where is my employee. What the FUCK just happened? Has been happening? I want some answers!"
Sora stepped forward. "Ano... well, we're not sure where Ken kun is..."
"Oh, so you just let a pregnant man wander wherever he will?"
Daisuke blinked. "He's not pregnant anymore. He had the baby a few days ago. When this first happened."
Dr. Tanaka started. She smoothed her suit trying to keep control, then lit up a cigarette. "Is he okay? How's the baby?"
"She's adorable." Miyako chuckled. "In fact, I'm going up there to steal her from Jun kun. Want to come see her? Jyou kun's been checking up on her, she should be okay."
"I bet she's hungry." Sora said and looked at her feet. "I'm coming with you. That kid needs some food."
Miyako raised her brows. Sora sighed.
"I have the Crest of Love. Don't ask."
Miyako giggled. Dr. Tanaka followed them, trying to make sense of the mess. In the apartment, Jyou was playing field medic once again. Nuriko and Iori were talking over in the corner and waiting. Jun was playing with the children, as well as two other women. A short haired woman with angry scarlet eyes and powder blue hair, and a long haired, softly curving woman with long green hair were there, chatting with Makoto and cooing over Sam.
"Where's Renee?" Dr. Tanaka demanded. "Or don't you know that either?"
Jyou paled and looked at Koushiro, who shook his head. He answered slowly.
Dr. Tanaka fell to her knees.
"My daughter..."
The Digidestine stayed at Taichi and Yamato's apartment for several weeks, while the city was being rebuild, resting and healing. The landscape of the Digital World had disappeared, although the damage of the last few weeks remained. Eventually the hospitals reopened, and several of them were able to go for treatment. The group slowly got to know Midori and Shinobu, who had been living together for most of their lives, and were very happy to have finally been allowed to see their friends again. They kept an eye on the news, and sent orders to other Digidestined around the world, who assured them that there were now stable and very visible gates to what had been the Digital World. Koushiro studied the new structure of their world and the Digital World, discovering that they were almost intertwined, with the Dark Ocean as a base, with all that entailed.
Mostly, they waited.
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