Daichi: This is the part that will strain the team the most, if not outright break it. And in front of their visitors from America, too.
Verity: She doesn't own this.
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T.K. hadn't exactly thought this one through all the way. He had told Kari that he and Ken would go to help them deal with the Golemon, but that left one little detail that he hadn't noticed at the time.
He would have to show up to the battle with Ken. That meant that he couldn't avoid certain explanations any longer, although he might have been able to maneuver around the more sensitive parts of it. But he wasn't sure about how the others would most likely react.
Kari and Mimi would already know, and wouldn't be too shocked about it. Mimi's friends were a definite wild card there, depending on what Mimi had told them. Davis, hopefully, would still be open to the idea.
It was Yolei and Cody that T.K. was really worried about. Their vehement denials whenever anyone brought up the subject of Ken joining the group certainly showed, as well as anything, how they felt about their former enemy. And he would be walking up to them and admitting that he had befriended said enemy.
This was going to be a long day. He could tell.
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Upon arrival in the Digital World, T.K. quickly activated his Digi-Egg of Hope, allowing Pegasusmon to take the field. They had a lot of ground to cover. He knew that area had a village downstream of the dam, and he didn't want to see what would happen if it flooded.
"We need to hurry," he stated, gesturing for Ken to join him. Ken hesitated for a moment, unsure.
"You said your friends didn't know."
"They'd find out eventually. It's probably better to get it out of the way now. Kari's been on the fence, but it looks like she'll agree, and once we get a majority, Davis will give you an invitation. I can't hide it then." A momentary pause, and Ken joined T.K. on Pegasusmon.
"Wormmon, if you Digivolve, can you keep up with us?"
"Of course!"
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When had it all gone wrong? Cody had only wanted to see some DigiDestined from another country, maybe learn a bit about just why there were DigiDestined in America, and then this had to happen. The Golemon wouldn't be stopped, and he couldn't do anything about it. Ankylomon was too big, Digmon's attacks would most likely break the dam, and Submarimon wouldn't be able to get anywhere near there.
Seadramon couldn't do anything, either, although Willis' Gargomon was more than willing to help, and without Pegasusmon, Nefertimon couldn't restrain it. There was nothing they could do, short of Flamedramon, Gargomon, or the newly Digivolved Aquilamon killing it, and that was not an option. It would never be an option.
Kari had sent for T.K., so they at least had that one small shard of hope… literally, in this case. Pegasusmon and Nefertimon could drag the Golemon off of the dam, and they could sort everything out from there, right?
Oh, how wrong he was.
It started going even farther downhill when T.K. arrived. Not the dam, that was fine. Pegasusmon landed, as did the Digimon beside him. One they all recognized, just as much as the second boy dismounting from T.K.'s Digimon.
Why? Why would T.K. associate himself with Ken Ichijouji, Digimon Emperor? Cody just stared, unable to reconcile what he knew with what he saw.
T.K. turned to Ken. "So, should Stingmon or Pegasusmon take this one?"
"Stingmon got the last one, so it's only fair. We should probably soften it up for you, though. You look like you're about to fall over." The last one… what did he mean by that? What was going on? Why were T.K. and Ken working together?
He didn't know what was going on anymore.
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"I guess it's our turn, then," T.K. gave a small smile, but this wasn't one of his normal, hopeful ones. This was one of the smiles he'd force, to convince others that everything was fine. He felt they could all use a bit of convincing. Even himself. He was unsure for how long his partner could maintain a Digivolved form.
Digivolving had always increased the sensitivity of their bond, increased the distance and decreased the effectiveness of mental barriers. And he could tell that Pegasusmon was exhausted, through no fault of his own. T.K. had been the one to open the gate a bit farther away than he had to, had exhausted himself to the point that even Armor was a stretch to maintain.
They were both tired, so they had to end it quickly. Pegasusmon understood, and the results were immediate, his moving in as soon as Stingmon had retreated. It wasn't even the attack that had destroyed it, but its collision with the ground that had ensured its demise.
Brutal, but an effective tactic, when one hadn't the mental capabilities to waste on a long lasting Digivolution. He breathed out, and released his hold on his power, standing still as Patamon returned to his normal position.
None of the others had said anything in this time. Even Kari and Mimi, who had known of this beforehand, seemed to have been stunned by what had just happened. The other Digimon returned to their Rookie states as well, but most likely for a better reason than mental strain.
The boy he didn't recognize found his voice first. "Mimi said that your group mostly tried to avoid killing."
"Why?" Cody asked, and T.K. could see the same question on everyone else's faces. He was sure that, if he turned to Ken, he would see the same thing, because no matter what he told him, there was only one way for him to fully understand, and he still couldn't bear to bring up those memories.
"There's a village, just downstream. Did you know that?"
"Don't try to change the subject." Yolei's voice was cold, and a similar feeling began to grow in his chest. "Why are you with Ken? Why did you kill that Digimon? Just… why?" What could he say but the truth? He almost wanted to laugh at the situation, but he just couldn't find anything funny about it.
"I… I can't really answer the first question. You wouldn't understand." Wouldn't understand what it is to have a piece of you ripped away, and he wouldn't want them to. "But, the second question… the village. That Golemon wouldn't have stopped, and eventually, the dam would have broken. So many lives, gone in an instant." Wasn't that the point of a DigiDestined? To prevent such tragedies from occurring?
"So you killed the Golemon before he could drown anybody." Michael nodded, seemingly taking in more of the conversation than the rest of them.
"Well, whatever you were thinking, it worked," Davis admitted. In a flash, Cody turned on him.
"How can you say that? You saw-" It was breaking. The team was on the verge of collapse and Mimi and Kari weren't saying anything. Perhaps they didn't have anything to say, or, at least, nothing that would help.
"Cody. Think about this." He'd never had to think about it before. He'd never had a need to justify these actions, and even when he had a reason… there was so much he could have said, should have said, so many possibilities. "Which is worse? Deleting one evil Digimon… or letting that Digimon live, and allow hundreds of good Digimon to be slaughtered? A death you directly cause… or hundreds, because you weren't willing to take action?"
He'd thought on it, before. How, if he'd had prior notice, he would have seen if he could convince the other Digimon to lend power to Magnamon as well, to keep Wormmon alive. If he'd been able to call Patamon, he'd have tried to save Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon.
...If anyone had had the power, he would have begged for them to fight Devimon, so that Angemon wouldn't have had to die.
He was so tired. He didn't have the energy to say anything more, to even try to get them to listen. He turned to leave. "Ken, can you get home by yourself?" Ken nodded, and T.K. started moving. There would be repercussions for this, he knew. But he had twisted his mind into knots the whole day, and he needed rest.
He wasn't entirely sure where, but he was almost certain he'd messed up somewhere.
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Daichi: I'll be entirely honest, I'm pretty sure he needs therapy. Scratch that, everyone definitely needs therapy.
Tsukaimon: In other news, she published a story to go along with this one, featuring Mimi's rise to glory as leader of the American DigiDestined. A bit less serious than this, given that the majority of the kids aren't so traumatized.