BlackGatomon: Nothing owned here, move along.

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After the second generation group had broken up their meeting, T.K. called a second one, with only the first eight in attendance. He'd actually considered not inviting Kari, but decided that it would be better to have her thoughts on the matter.

They would, of course, be meeting at his apartment, because he called the meeting and did not want any of the new kids to stumble across them if they met in, say, a public area. He'd rather not deal with drawn out explanations, and it seemed like there would already be at least one.

Mimi would be participating in the meeting via speakerphone, so they'd have her input as well. That was good.

"So, why did you call us here, anyway?" Tai asked, getting right to the point. T.K. sighed. It was now or never.

Never looked to be a pretty appealing option, actually, but he knew it would only make things worse. He couldn't tell the new kids about this, because it would dredge up too many memories. Here he could at least try and skirt around the topic. The others, for the most part, understood, and he was pretty sure that Kari was an empath, so she'd know to avoid it.

"Well… I… You got the report from that thing yesterday, right, Izzy?"

"The incident with the Thunderballmon? It's strange. I didn't think that wild Digimon would attack the ones who defeated the Digimon Emperor. Not so soon, anyway."

"It wasn't a Digimon." This got heads to turn. "Do you remember how the Control Spire disappeared just before the attack? There's somebody out there turning them into Digimon."

The others regarded him cautiously. "How do you know this?" Joe finally asked.

"I saw one being created, a while ago."

"And you never told anyone about it?" Matt sounded incredulous, and for good reason. "Why wouldn't you tell anyone about- ...you were with Ken, weren't you?" His voice held no surprise at this realization, and T.K. wondered if he had perhaps known about those meetings.

"Ken? You mean the Digimon Emperor?" Mimi asked, reminding everyone just how far out of the loop she was. He nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see him, and continued.

"We came to a sort of… understanding. And Matt, you said you wouldn't tell anyone." He tried pouting, but the kicked puppy look had stopped functioning for him long ago, and his older brother did not cave.

"Why?" That was the only thing Sora said. And, perhaps, the thing that was on most everyone's mind. Perhaps a diversion, but a related one, could help.

"Did anyone tell you about the dark whirlpool?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Cody said it was full of dark spirits, and that Ken got data for Kimeramon from there," Kari volunteered.

"Yes, well… being there brought up memories, is all. I got upset, and for some reason decided that beating up Ken would solve the problem. It didn't."

"Devimon's arms…" Izzy realized, and five others quickly came to the correct conclusion.

"Devimon? Who's that?" T.K. paused, not certain how to answer Gatomon.

"Old enemy. Our first, actually. But that's not the issue here. Continue." So many times, everyone had wondered why an idiot like Tai had become their leader. There were no longer any doubts.

"Right. Well… After the fight, there was a lot to deal with. The attack on the base on everything, and… who, besides Matt and Kari, knows how Kimeramon was defeated?" Nobody raised there hands. Mimi didn't speak up. Not that there would have been any reason for her to know.

"Magnamon, right?" Izzy ventured.

"He did deal the final blow, yes, but… it wasn't all his power. Wormmon… Ken's partner… gave him the energy he needed."

"But a Rookie Digimon doesn't have that much power to give, right? That's why they can Digivolve…" Joe seemed to realize what Izzy was getting at, and there was a gasp over the phone.

"There is a great bond that connects us to our Digimon. Who knows what someone cut off from that might do?" Izzy's input reminded him of something. He'd overlooked it before, but… it was about time that the delayed effects would kick in, right?

"I… I couldn't leave things like that. How could I?" He glanced at the slightly ajar door to his bedroom, where Patamon was asleep after a long day. Had it been time or Digivolution that triggered it? Or maybe his age? If it was the latter, maybe he didn't have to worry… of course he'd worry.

"He was devastated, when he was leaving," Kari remembered, and he was glad he didn't have to go any further. He didn't want to mention his other concern, either.

A faint nudge at the back of his mind. Suddenly, he realized just how tired he was. "I don't want the new kids learning anything about this, yet. It's good that they don't want to kill Digimon, but…" He wondered, not for the first time, why he hadn't called the meeting later, once he had actually rested. Still, it had helped him come to another decision, one that had definitely been necessary. "I think you deserve to know why you'll all get confused emails and phone calls tomorrow."

He wasn't going to answer the question of why. Not just yet.

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Ken shook his head, trying to remove the faint buzzing that he had heard ever since that first Control Spire incident. He had ignored it, thinking it nothing, but it had only grown louder, and he was forced to admit that there actually was something going on there.

It felt similar to when he was sick, after his first trip to the Digital World, but while that illness had been painful, this sensation was almost welcome.

Almost. He still didn't know what it was.

"Ken, are you okay?" Wormmon asked. He could tell that his partner was concerned, but didn't quite know what to say.

"I'm not sure. I'd say my head hurts, but…" But it wasn't pain, it was just strange.

"Is it one of those things where it feels like a Flymon is in the back of your brain and won't stop buzzing?" Those words weren't exactly how he would describe it, but it was pretty close. "Because I've been getting those a lot since we went back."

They were feeling the exact same thing, then. He wasn't sure if he should have been concerned. It wasn't like he could show up at a hospital and ask for a brain scan for himself and his digital caterpillar.

"Why can't you?"

"Because nobody would believe it, Wormmon." It took him a moment to realize what he had just said, and what he hadn't. But Wormmon had responded to it, anyway.

He wasn't, by any means, an expert on the Digital World, but he was pretty sure that that wasn't normal. He'd ask T.K. the next time he came to visit.

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Daichi: Basically, the explanation for T.K. and Patamon, and now Ken and Wormmon having a mental connection is their bonds overcompensating after being temporarily severed. It's meant to help, but… shortly after the next Digivolution to Champion is really not the most convenient time for them to kick in, because by that point, they don't need it as much.