Sorry for another long delay, curse my short attention span! *Shakes fist*
Anyways, shout out to blackshadow340 for the follow and MadDogLucario96 and DigimonAT0318 for the reviews.
I've delayed this long enough... so enjoy what's next.
Chapter 21: Reclaiming History! Stingmon!
Digital World. July 24th, 2002. 1539 Hours.
P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery
"Two more Airdramon to the left!" I shouted to Miyako who was riding on Holsmon. We were in quite the aerial fur ball today. Today was the day we would break through the dreaded Imperial Line and have a clear route to the areas where the Digimon Kaiser's secret base was believed to be hidden. All Chosen Children were in the Digital World today for this fight as we knew freeing an area with over seven Dark Towers in it was going to be difficult. One thing is for sure, the Kaiser was pulling out all the stops.
"I see them! Ken-kun, you've got one behind you!" Miyako called out to Ken and Tetermon.
"Not to worry! Tetermon!"
"Precision Sting!" Tetermon fired out a stinger while still moving forward that struck the Airdramon in the face and sent him falling to the ground.
"They almost done taking out that last tower?" Waibanmon questioned. He was referring to the others on the ground who were approaching the last tower.
"Almost, we've just got to give them a bit more time." I told him. "Oh, great! Flymon on our six!"
"I'll lose him." I held on tight as Waibanmon made some sharp turns and spins and he eventually lost the pursuit. "Was that a Split-S or an Immelmann, Ross?"
"That's was just you making crazy spins and making me sick!"
"Digmon and Fladramon have a clear shot for the tower!" Sora shouted as she looked down to the grassy fields below us.
"Come on, you guys! Take it down!" Takeru cheered.
"Big Crack!" "Fire Knuckle!" The two Digimon launched their attacks and the tower soon began toppling down.
"Yeah!" All of us cheered. With the destruction of the final tower, the Digimon that were under the control of the Evil Rings soon returned to normal, and we already took care of any Digimon with an Evil Spiral so it meant that we had won the day. Any Digimon still under the Kaiser's control like some of the Airdramon began fleeing north… back to the area where they were deployed from: the Kaiser's base. We were getting close, we could all feel it.
"If where they're going is any indication, then I feel the Kaiser's headquarters is indeed in the area I suspected." Koushiro informed.
"Yeah… we just need one more big push…" I said.
"And then we will be able to end all this suffering once and for all." Hikari finished my sentence. All of us in the air nodded with her before turning around and heading for the nearest TV on our trip home.
"~O'er azure skies and emerald plains, where freedom and justice prevail!" I began to sing before Ken, Tetermon and Waibanmon soon joined in. "With courage and strength, we'll fight to the end; for liberty in our land!" I couldn't help but laugh after that. Ken singing the USEA National Anthem from Ace Combat with me… I knew there was a reason I really liked him.
"Great work, everyone." Taichi gave us some words of encouragement once we got back to Chosen HQ. "Today was a tough one for all of us but with that area now freed, we can now focus on trying to find where the Kaiser is hiding and end this war once and for all."
"It's not going to be easy." Iori said.
"Nor will it be easy to fight him and defeat him once we do find him." Yamato admitted.
"You kidding? We'll have him crying so fast once we kick his ass." bragged Daisuke.
"I think feeling overconfident about facing him is a bad idea." Mimi warned.
"Agreed, Daisuke-kun. We have no idea what kind of tricks he still has up his sleeve." Takeru added.
"Come on, as long as we're all together, we can't lose." Daisuke claimed, which explained his reasoning on why he was feeling pretty cocky. I couldn't help but kinda of agree with him about that. As long as we stay together, we should be fine. I mean, it's not like the Dark Masters or Apoclymon, the Kaiser is nowhere as strong as them. All we have to do is get through his controlled Digimon guards and all that remains is kid with delusions of grandeur. Delusions that will be shattered when his face meets my fist.
"Everyone should go home right now and get a good night's sleep; I think we've earned it. Besides, I've got studying to do." Jou said.
"Really?" "Jeez…" "Come on, man!" We all playfully joked with him as we all started heading out.
"So, Ross… you all ready for our date tomorrow?" Mimi asked me.
"You're kidding? I wouldn't miss it." I told her. Hard to believe I asked her out a month ago and only now we're going on a date. All the fighting kinda distracted me from planning it out with her but now that had all been taken care of. We were going to go to a local restaurant tomorrow night; that way, in case there's trouble in the Digital World, it can be handled before.
"Well, I hope you two have a good day tomorrow. It's gonna be a pretty solemn day for me and my parents." Ken stated as he walked past us.
"What's the problem, Ken-kun?" Mimi wondered.
"Tomorrow is the twenty-fifth… which is Osamu's birthday…" Ah, that makes sense. We didn't say anything after he said that. He then quickly put on an apologetic smile. "Sorry, not your problem. Don't let my mood ruin yours. See you all tomorrow." He then hopped on his bike and headed back to Tamachi.
Ichijouji Residence, Tamachi District, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan. July 25th, 2002. 0845 Hours.
P.O.V. - Ken Ichijouji
I got up and ready early before I was planning to head out to help the others in the Digital World. After what happened yesterday, we needed to find the Kaiser's headquarters soon before we end up reaching our limit. I began walking into the hall with Wormmon quietly placed in my duffel bag before I ended up hearing some light sobbing. I stepped back and looked into the living room where I saw Mom with her hands in her face as she was crying. I sighed. Sometimes I wonder if I should just tell them the truth… but I keep telling myself that it would probably make it worse. Better to let them think that Osamu just ran away from home and is missing rather than tell them that he's in the Digital World and a maniac. But I wonder sometimes… Osamu… the one I remember… is he still out there? Is the Kaiser just some sort of personality that's taken him over? Or was he always this twisted?
P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery
"Are you sure about that?" Takeru asked me. When we had returned to the Chosen HQ this morning, we found that the Kaiser had given us a bit of a gift for what we did to him yesterday.
"No doubt about it. There are three towers in an all too familiar place." I told him as I looked at the screen.
"Hard to believe that he's extended his reach out that far…"
"I'm more worried about our friends who are still there." Hikari was concerned and for good reason.
"What's going on?" Ken questioned as he walked in.
"The Kaiser has been a bit busy last night." Miyako explained. "He's placed a bunch of towers across the Digital World. Clearly, this has to be a response to what we did yesterday."
"It's probably meant to distract us. To keep us from searching for his headquarters… which means Koushiro-san was right. The Kaiser has to be hiding somewhere around there." Iori said.
"All the more reason to prove that he's scared of us. He knows he's in trouble and is now doing all this just to buy himself some time." Daisuke claimed.
"I don't know if he's scared. I somewhat get the feeling he's less worried about us and more about just giving himself more time to finish what he's been working on." I feared. "What I do know is… we need to free this location now." I pointed to the screen.
"What's the big deal with this place? It just seems like a large island." Miyako observed.
"It's more than just a large island. That's File Island." Takeru told the others. "It was where we first ended up in the Digital World and met our Digimon." The others slowly came to an understanding about the importance of the island.
"We've got a lot of old friends there, and I sure don't want them to suffer for much longer." said Hikari.
"Well what are we waiting for? You heard Hikari-chan! We've got some Digimon to save!" Daisuke shouted. Some of us just shook our heads before heading over to the computer.
"Digital Gate, open! Chosen Children, let's roll!" Miyako shouted.
Once the light died down, we found ourselves in the middle of a forest, but it was for sure on File Island.
"Alright, let's get to work. Now, judging from the map, we have three towers to deal with. We got to hit these things fast to prevent Herr Kaiser from digging in. First one is near Toy Town, Hikari, Miyako-kun, you two handle that one." I ordered.
"Right." The girls nodded and took off for Toy Town. Hopefully, Monzaemon hasn't fallen victim to an Evil Spiral.
"Takeru-kun, take Daisuke-kun and Iori-kun to the Gear Savannah and deal with that tower there."
"On it." They said. Soon, the guys also headed out leaving Ken and I with our Digimon.
"What about me?" Ken asked.
"You're sticking with me. There's a tower at the end of a canyon right by us. We fly hard and fast through it, we can catch the Kaiser off guard. That tower is also near a village that I especially don't want the Kaiser touching."
"Got it, lead the way."
Nothing beats the feeling of having the wind blow through your hair as you soar at high speeds. Tetermon and Waibanmon were having a bit of a friendly race through the canyon when Waibanmon spotted a familiar area.
"Hey, Ross! Down there!" I looked down and saw the small creek in the canyon. "That was when I first evolved into Growmon."
"And perfect timing too I might add, I was a goner at that moment."
"From the stories you guys have told, I can see why you are so headstrong about dealing with the Kaiser today." Ken observed.
"We wouldn't be the people we were today if it wasn't for our first adventures on File Island. The lessons we learned here helped prepare us for the much harder villains that we later faced."
"Hey, guys?" Tetermon interrupted. "I don't mean to interrupt the memories but we've got trouble up ahead!" We looked forward to see five Airdramon coming towards us down the canyon.
"Tally-ho, got a heads up on some bandits! Break and engage!" I shouted.
"Copy, Rogue Leader!" teased Ken.
I think we're probably getting better at fighting the Kaiser. Those Airdramon were easily dealt with in short order. Now there was almost nothing standing in between us and the tower… of course, sometimes fate likes to play a bit of a joke, because the guardian of the tower was an old friend of ours. Once more, poor Raptordramon was under the influence of a vile object.
"It's Raptordramon!" Waibanmon alerted. "He was under the control of Devimon in our last adventures. I finally evolved into Growmon and defeated him that day."
"Looks like history is repeating itself, then." Tetermon noticed. Both our Digimon broke into two different directions so Raptordramon couldn't get a bead on us. However, it looked like he may had learned some new tricks as he took off and began chasing Ken and Tetermon.
"Oh, shoot! He's on us!" Ken cried.
"Not for long! Precision Sting!" Just like yesterday, Tetermon launched a stinger that hit Raptordramon in the face which threw him off course and crashing into the forest below, leaving Waibanmon clear to take out the tower.
"Finish it, Waibanmon!" I ordered.
"Steel Swipe!" Waibanmon dived on the tower, slicing it and causing it to topple over. Practically just another day in the office.
"You'd think I'd not fall for that same trick twice." Raptordramon groaned when we regrouped with him. "I mean, being a slave to Devimon was once too many, I didn't need to serve the Digimon Kaiser as well."
"Well, you don't need to worry about all that. I think we've shown the Kaiser that File Island is off limits to him." Guilmon claimed.
"Looks like the others took care of their towers. File Island has been freed." Ken told us.
"And the Kaiser didn't even keep it before lunch. That'll probably make him mad, Ken-chan." Wormmon believed.
"You may be right. So, shall we regroup with the others, Ross-san?"
"Not yet… there's one place I want to check out. I was hoping that it wasn't affected by all this." I explained.
"The Kaiser showed up not too long ago so I think the village is safe." Raptordramon informed. "I'm going to check out the surrounding area; help with clearing up some of the mess."
"Alright, good luck. Come on, Ken-kun. You're gonna want to see this."
P.O.V. – Ken Ichijouji
Ross said I wasn't going to believe what I saw and he was right. This village had buildings made out of baby blocks, the ground was like a giant trampoline, and there were baby cradles everywhere.
"What is this place?" I asked.
"This is the Village of Beginnings. It's the place where all Digimon are born and reborn when they're killed." Ross explained.
"All Digimon are born here?"
"That's right. Digimon start out as eggs here and hatch. Speaking of which… Hey, Elecmon!" Guilmon yelled out.
"Elecmon?"
"He's the caretaker of this place. When we were all separated by Devimon, Takeru and I ended up finding this place. It was also the first place restored when Apoclymon and the Dark Masters were finally defeated." Ross gave me a quick history lesson.
"Come on, Wormmon. Let's see if we can go find him." Guilmon motioned.
"Right behind you." The two of them soon walked off.
"I'm just glad the Kaiser didn't get this place. Putting Evil Rings on Baby-Level Digimon… it's… it's completely unforgivable." Ross said as he sat down. I took a seat next to him. "You know… all these memories reminded me of something. You having any luck with your head?" Ross referred to my missing memories of the Digital World. I shook my head.
"No… I'm sorry. I still can't seem to remember anything. All I know is that I went to the Digital World, I met Wormmon, and with everything going on, I'm fairly certain that Onii-san came with me but I can't recall. It's all still a haze in my mind."
"I still can't believe that he's the Kaiser. The two times I talked to him, he seemed all…"
"All what?"
"Normal. That's the best way I can think to describe it. Certainly not a crazed psycho who's trying to take over the Digital World and be a vile dictator."
"If I have to be honest with you, Ross-san… I've been kinda holding back."
"Holding back?"
"I haven't been fully on point when it comes to fighting him. I mean, I fully understand we need to defeat him but…"
"You just can't trust yourself to take him on face to face." I nodded in agreement with Ross said.
"You want to hear something crazy? I actually…" I sighed. I guess I might as well tell him the truth. "I know I said that recently we weren't getting along before discovering that Osamu was the Kaiser… but things were worse than that sometime before."
"What do you mean?"
"When we were younger… Osamu was the only smart one in the family; I was just regular old Ken. See, I always looked up to Osamu because he was always able to do anything. I told this part of the story to Miyako-san, but there was a time when we were young and we blew bubbles and I was able to blow bigger ones than him because I was more kind and gentler with the blowing bubbles. I was proud that I finally did something better than Osamu."
"Because you were kind? Boy, that fits you well."
"I know… but…" I sighed once more. "Osamu was still better at other things… and it didn't take long for others to realized that."
"Uh-oh. I think I got an idea about what you're going to say."
"Look, I love my parents, I really do… but when the media and the neighbors all started to say all these amazing things about Osamu… it went to their heads. Suddenly, Onii-san could no wrong… he was just too perfect. And that meant that something had to give… and what was given was lack of attention. Mom and Dad started paying less attention to me; selfish, I know how it sounds, but I was just a little kid. I was practically becoming a forgotten child, and things… soon got dark."
"Jealousy is unbecoming of all of us."
"I know. The more and more Mom and Dad gave their attention to Osamu and ignored me slowly built up a dark feeling inside of me. I soon began to grow to resent Osamu… to despise him. And then the real dark thoughts began to show up. An idea began to grow in my mind. Mom and Dad paid all of their attention to Osamu and not to me… so what if Osamu wasn't around? I wished that he would just disappear. Of course… you can understand the context with all that."
"You wanted him dead." Ross took a long pause. "Jesus. I had a feeling it was bad, but I didn't expect that.
"Yeah… I had these feelings even on the day we met you… when you ended up saving our lives."
"I'm sure it would've been fine, you guys probably would've avoided it."
"I get the feeling that we wouldn't. Anyways, we met and talked and did all that but I remember that piece of advice you gave me."
"Ah, I remember. I told you that you shouldn't be afraid to speak your mind. Not to be all bottled up, which is actually something you still need to do today. You don't need to be so withdrawn, you know? Be a bit more forward and outgoing."
"Yeah, that's always been a problem of mine. That day Osamu revealed himself to be the Kaiser, he said when threatening to feed the others to Deltamon 'You're not worthy of friends… Just like it's always been…'"
"There's a story to that?"
"I don't have many friends… most of the time I feel like I've been used. Most guys in my school only want to be my friend because I'm good at school work so they want me to do their work or something. The girls chase me because I'm famous on the local news and want the fame too."
"Gold digging is still alive and well. Bunch of Anna Nicole Smiths by the sound of it."
"Uh… yeah." I have no idea who that is. "The only other people I can think of is my soccer team, but I get the feeling that if I wasn't amazing, they'd probably not care."
"Well, you know…"
"You don't need to say it, Ross-san. You guys are true friends to me. You guys don't really care who I am to the outside world, but rather the real me." He gave me a pat on the back.
"Nice to hear that."
"But like I was saying before, when you gave me that advice, I took it to heart… and that's what's confusing me about all this."
"How come?"
"See, I think there might be something wrong with my brother. I know, I know, but I mean, I was shocked about all his actions as the Kaiser considering what he did for me. It's like… I feel he's got some sort of split personality or something, that the Kaiser has taken full control but that my brother is still somewhere inside."
"What did he do for you?"
"A few weeks after we met… something happened in his room when I was in there and I just snapped. I let it all out, I told him how I felt ignored, how I was jealous; just everything. And you want to know what he did? He said nothing. He waited until Mom and Dad got home, let them get comfortable… and then he let loose on them. That was the only time I had ever seen calm, collected Onii-san so angry. He was screaming and yelling at Mom and Dad about my feelings and how they should be ashamed for practically making me feel like I didn't exist. At the time I felt so alone in the world… my brother came in… and defended me."
"Wow… so after that, that's when things got better for the time?"
"Yeah, Mom and Dad apologized and things have been fine with them ever since. As for Onii-san and me, we got closer than we had in a long time. It was shortly after that when my own intellect began showing…"
"And the Boy Geniuses of Tamachi were born."
"Yeah… that day when Osamu stood up for me, all those dark feelings just suddenly vanished and never returned. And that's why I'm so hesitant to truly fight him, because I believe that Osamu is still out there… somewhere. You know… I've been thinking… if he never defended me or maybe if he had been hit by that car… I think there would've been a chance that I would've ended up being the Kaiser."
"What!? You? The Kaiser? No way! I couldn't see that!"
"Who knows."
"Hey, thanks for telling me all this, Ken-kun. I really appreciate it." He gave me a pat on the back.
"You're welcome, Ross-san."
Our conversation was soon interrupted when the ground suddenly began to shake.
"What the?" "What is that?" We said. We then began hearing screams coming towards us and soon saw Guilmon and Wormmon with panicked looks on their faces as they ran back to us.
"Run! It's…!" They screamed before they were silenced by a large beast-man Digimon that landed in front of us.
"Leomon!" Ross shouted. Sounded like they know him… the only problem was… he had an Evil Spiral on his arm.
"The Digimon Kaiser's orders… exterminate… the false Chosen Children." The lion-man growled.
"Ken-kun! Run!" Ross ordered. "Guilmon!"
"Right! Guilmon, Evolve! GROWMON!" Growmon moved in front of Leomon and began grappling with him. "Come on, Leomon; don't make me do this again!" I don't know exactly what had happened before but Leomon quickly overpowered Growmon and threw him to the ground.
"Grrr… just like last time." Ross growled.
"What?" I asked.
"Last time, Leomon was under the influence of Devimon's Black Gears and tried to kill Takeru and I here. We couldn't hold him off but thankfully the others arrived in time and we discovered the power of our Digivices which helped free him… something that I don't think will work this time."
"Hang on, Growmon!" Wormmon jumped forward to assist.
"Wait, Wormmon!" I tried to chase after him while Ross shouted for us to stop. I foolishly followed and got too close to Leomon. With Growmon pinned down, Leomon turned his sights to me.
"Juuouken!" The attack flew towards me and all time just stopped. Suddenly, Wormmon appeared in front of me and took the attack full force. He was then blown back into my arms while Growmon got back up and tackled Leomon.
"Wormmon!" I cried as I held him in my arms. Damnit! This is my fault! He jumped in the way to save me! What happened next I really can't understand but maybe because of the situation that happened and the way I was holding Wormmon… many of my previously foggy memories soon became clear.
Digital World. Date Unknown. Time Unknown.
I began to remember that I was walking in the desert with Wormmon. And not just him, but Osamu as well and his Digimon partner, Monodramon. Things were a bit too quite for our liking when all of a sudden a Gazimon jumped out of the sand to ambush us.
"Ken-chan, watch out!" Wormmon jumped in the way and both Digimon tackled each other. The Gazimon turned tail and ran while Wormmon laid on the ground.
"Wormmon!" I picked him up. "Wormmon… Wormmon!"
"I'm okay… that was nothing."
"Wormmon…"
"I'm really glad I'm your Digimon partner, Ken-chan… Because you're so kind…"
"Kind?"
"You're the best at blowing bubbles because you blow kindly." I recalled Osamu's words that day I blew bigger bubbles than him.
"But kindness alone isn't enough. You have to become stronger, or…"
"Or…?"
"Or you'll be overwhelmed by your own kindness. Ken-chan… The Digivice you have is yours." I remembered expressing my doubts about being a Chosen Child, that the Digivice wasn't for a someone who wasn't special like me. "Not anyone else's, just yours. Just like you heart is yours, don't forget that."
Village of Beginnings, Digital World. July 25th, 2002. 1153 Hours.
"Wormmon!" I shouted as loud as I could.
"Ugh… are you okay, Ken-chan?" I heard Wormmon groan in pain.
"Wormmon! I'm sorry!"
"Don't be, Ken-chan. I'll always be here to protect you." I sighed in relief. We then looked up to see Leomon overpowering Growmon once more. "He needs help, now."
"And I know how. Wormmon, much of that fog in my mind has cleared."
"Me too." He replied.
"Then let's say hello to an old friend!"
"Wormmon, Evolve! STINGMON!"
Stingmon… how long has it been? He was a unique looking Digimon as he was a humanoid insect but he packed quite the punch.
"Go get him, Stingmon!"
"Right!" Stingmon took off and he moved even faster than Tetermon ever could. Leomon was about to strike his sword down on Growmon but soon found himself tackled and picked up and lifted him into the sky.
"Get rid of the Evil Spiral, you guys!" Ross called out. Stingmon nodded in understanding and let Leomon go. He fell to the ground and left a large crater where he landed. He clearly was immobilized for a moment which was all the time we needed.
"Spiking Finish!" One of the sharp points above Stingmon's hands shot forward and glowed purple and he dived on Leomon where he stabbed his stinger right into the Evil Spiral; destroying it!
"Way to go, Stingmon!" I cheered.
"Man… I didn't know Wormmon had it in him." Ross was impressed.
"I actually didn't either until a minute ago. Those memories flooded in at the best possible time."
"So… you remember everything now?"
"No… there's still a fog on a few more of them but I remember much of my original journey through the Digital World. And I remember Osamu being the person I thought he was."
"All the more reason for you to try and save him…"
"He's my brother… I have to try."
"Ugh… the darkness has faded." Leomon slowly got back up.
"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, Leomon. Those Evil Spirals really drain you." Ross tried to slow him down.
"Thanks for the warning. First Devimon and now the Digimon Kaiser… the forces of darkness seem to like to play the same tricks."
"Yeah, the more things change, the more they stay the same." Guilmon admitted.
"Thank you for all that you've done, Chosen Children. You've continued to give the Digital World a debt it can never truly pay."
"It's no problem, Leomon. We're always happy to help, right, Wormmon?" I said as I looked down to him in my arms.
"Right, Ken-chan!"
"Besides, I'm sure Jou-san, Mimi-kun and the others will all be happy to see you again." Ross smiled. However his smile soon faded. "Oh, shoot! I've got to go!"
"Where?" I asked.
"My date! I got to get ready!"
"It's a little early, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to be prepared." He turned around and began walking towards the nearest TV where we would regroup with the others. "Try not to blow it!" I teased. He turned around and gave me a glare.
"Remember how I said you shouldn't be afraid to speak your mind? Turn that down just a notch there." I laughed when he said that and after a moment so did he. I truly am thankfully for my friends. Now, if I can just get back my brother…
Odaiba District, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan. July 25th, 2002. 1923 Hours.
P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery
I walked Mimi back to her home like a true gentleman after we finished our date. I have to say that it went practically without a hitch. We laughed and had a good time at dinner; I say that is what constitutes a great date.
"I had a really fun time tonight." Mimi said.
"Really? I was completely nervous the entire time." I admitted which made her laugh.
"Well, you shouldn't be, you were great." We were soon right outside her apartment door. "Would you like to come in? Hang out for little while longer?"
"No thank you. Call me old-fashioned, but I'd rather go on a few more dates before going inside, you know?"
"Southern Charm, right?" She laughed once more. "Well, alright, I'll see you around. Thank you for tonight." She opened the door before she turned around. "I almost forgot!" She gave me a peck on the lips. "Good night." She said as she closed the door, leaving me outside still in shock from the kiss. After a moment, I recomposed myself and walked for home… with the biggest grin on my face before I began singing.
"~Because your kiss, you kiss is on my list! Because you kiss, you kiss in on my list! Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in life…"
I'm a sucker for Hall and Oates, I can't help it. Better than most of the crap on the radio these days.
So yeah, Ken's memories are coming back and Wormmon evolved into Stingmon once more.
Next chapter we get right back into the show. Take care everyone.
"Push the button, Frank."