Chapter 2:
The Other Keys
Wormmon's weeks of searching were about to pay off.
He'd been following one lead after another, but now he was finally close to finding Talya's latest hideout, deep in a swampy forest at the base of Mount Zmeya.
He spotted Hebimon, alone. She seemed to be patrolling. He gulped down his nervousness and emerged from the shadows.
"You told me," he said, startling her, "that you don't want to be my enemy. Prove it now by listening to me."
She stared at him with her unblinking eyes. "What do you want, Wormmon?" The question sounded less unkind than she'd been trying for. Unkindness didn't come naturally to her.
Wormmon had been asking himself that same question. They were supposed to find Hebimon and Talya so they could retrieve the Key they stole, but after Talya spared their lives when she could have destroyed them, Wormmom wondered if it was really necessary. He knew what an evil human was like, and Talya didn't seem evil to him. But it was Hebimon who really caught his interest. He couldn't get her out of his mind, and he wanted to see her again without knowing why. He was beginning to understand how Ken felt about Yolei a little bit better.
"I just want to talk," Wormmon finally answered.
Hebimon thought it might have been a trick, but her natural curiosity compelled her to hear what he had to say. "About what?"
"Just because our partners are enemies doesn't mean we can't be friends. Or at least I think we should try talking out our disagreements before resorting to fighting."
"I agree. Talya doesn't want to fight, and I don't think your partner really wants to fight, either."
"Right. So let's talk."
Hebimon cautiously approached him. Her green scales glittered like emeralds in the patches of sunlight. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?"
"The digidestined think Talya should return the Key."
Hebimon turned away. "I should have known you would start there. The Rainbow Key belongs to Talya now."
"She stole it. And it's very dangerous for a human to have that much power."
Hebimon gave him a strange look. "You're partner seems able to handle it."
"You know that hasn't always been true. When he was the digimon emperor, Ken used his genius for evil. I'm not saying Talya will use the power of the Key for evil, but that's what the digidestined are worried about."
"And I wasn't talking about his 'genius'," Hebimon said.
Wormmon drew back. "What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.
"Has Ken ever done things that others humans can't do?"
"No..." But now that he thought about it, Wormmon did remember a few things Ken did as the digimon emperor that hadn't seemed possible.
Hebimon continued. "Have evil digimon taken a particular interest in him?"
"A few, I guess. Myotismon, Daemon, Balaammon...What are you getting at?"
"An inscription we found with the Rainbow Key said there were other Keys, including two that somehow found their way into humans on Earth—the Dark Key and the Light Key."
"And you think Ken has one of them?"
"That's what my partner thinks. We have no idea who might have the other." She began to slither away. "Just thought you should take that into consideration," she said before disappearing into a muddy pool.
