Daichi: Today's order is such- more Ken focus. The team drama meant he had to be shafted for a bit, but he is still one of the main characters.

BlackGatomon: I think that's why you didn't want to break the team in the first place. And look what ended up happening.

Vee-Vee: We own nothing.

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If someone had, once upon a time, asked Ken who, among the other DigiDestined, he had the most in common with, T.K. would not have been all that high on the list. He would have compared himself to Matt, or maybe Izzy, but never the Child of Hope.

First impressions could be misleading that way. But Ken knew what it was like to have a lot to hide, even if T.K. seemed more open with him than anyone else.

And it was strange, that he, a powerful enemy, was the one chosen as confidant, over the other boy's own brother or classmates. He'd questioned it, several times. Never received a proper answer, just cryptic comments that reinforced the feeling that he didn't actually want to know.

It was also clear that, of the entire group, it was Ken and T.K. who had the most issues. A good amount of which were recent, and the result of bad decisions, but not all of them.

"You're thinking too hard again," Wormmon complained. "It's making my head hurt."

"R-right. Sorry…" He turned his focus back to his homework, because if he was going to be thinking enough to give Wormmon a headache, it could at least be for something productive.

Homework wasn't quite as easy as it used to be, though it wasn't like he'd forgotten everything he knew. The information just didn't appear as readily as it used to, but that just meant he had to actually think to remember it.

It was kind of nice, actually. When he needed to focus on something, it was harder for him to get lost in his own head. Which was easier on Wormmon, too.

He didn't think he could forgive himself if his issues inadvertently ended up messing up Wormmon. The little Rookie insect was one of the few people that didn't harbor any distrust for him whatsoever. Davis and T.K. were the others.

Ken hoped he could prove that trust was well-placed.

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After BlackWarGreymon's appearance, certain precautions had to be put in place while in the Digital World. Nobody wanted to be on the wrong end of a Mega, after all, especially since Tai and Matt still couldn't use their Crests.

Every time anyone entered the Digital World, there had to be at least two Ultimates, and either Tai or Matt there. It was for their own safety.

Ken supposed that the two Ultimates part of the rule benefited him more than anyone. It didn't pull him in if he didn't want to, but it also meant that Yolei and Cody, who were admittedly much better than they used to be, couldn't make excuses not to bring him.

In fact, they would have to ask him most of the time, because while Izzy did try to at least provide support when possible, the redhead also had responsibilities. Honestly, the hardest part was organizing the trips in the first place.

It was Tai, Kari, and Ken filling those roles the day it happened. T.K. had seemed to be meaning to say something as they wandered the desert, noting that there were almost no Control Spires left. Given how many had been there just the day before, they had to keep watch.

Whatever the Child of Hope had been meaning to say, however, Ken didn't find out that day. All BlackWarGreymon's fault, of course. Well, maybe not all of it.

Part of the blame had to go to Agumon. He was, after all, the one that had slipped off and came back five minutes later with an artificial Mega Digimon in tow. One that wasn't attacking them, because he wanted to ask them something.

"Earlier, I came across a little flower. Some artificial Mammothmon were about to trample it, and that upset me. I wish to know why." Ken wasn't sure why he was asking them. There were probably thousands of Digimon out there better qualified to answer these questions than them.

"I think that's called having a conscience," Tai suggested.

"What is a conscience?" No, none of them were qualified for this in the slightest. Except, apparently, for Agumon, because he was the one who answered.

"That's what makes you know if you're doing the right thing." Not that it always worked, and Ken was surprised to find how bitter he could be about his own mistakes. It was all his fault after all.

It would have been so much easier if Wormmon had survived Kimeramon in the first place. He could have just taken his partner and left the Digital World forever. Instead he had to deal with lingering grief and his fellow DigiDestined, very few of whom were particularly friendly.

Well, maybe it wasn't just Wormmon. He'd had the chance to back out, when T.K. offered. But now that it was back, his conscience seemed to be working on overdrive. Which was probably unhealthy for an entirely different reason, but Ken thought he liked it better this way.

"...I see. I would like to learn more about this 'conscience'."

Yolei grinned. "Oh, you can learn with Ken, then!" Hawkmon sighed.

"Do you think she'll ever learn the meaning of the word 'tact'?" Armadimon asked.

"Only if Davis does… So no, not likely." Which was really everything wrong with those two in a nutshell. Even if nobody outright said so. They just knew better than to provoke Yolei's temper. It was a very important rule for survival.

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Of course, the happy feeling couldn't last. It was Arukenimon's fault, as per usual. Apparently she and Mummymon thought that messing with a Destiny Stone, of all things, was a good idea. Even he'd known better than to do so, if only because he didn't want to destabilize the world while he was still in it. Self-preservation was a thing.

Ken was pretty sure that none of them had expected BlackWarGreymon to be especially affected by it. Or to go on a rampage. Which was sad, given that they'd actually seemed to be making progress.

They hadn't stayed in the Digital World long after that. Things were starting to get serious again- had for a while, but it was finally beginning to sink in now.

"So, if the Destiny Stones are all broken, the Digital World is destroyed, right?" Yolei asked, like she hadn't been there when it was explained. "In that case, what happens to the Digimon?"

That… that was a scary thought. Ken almost immediately tightened his grip on Minomon. T.K. seemed to be having a similar reaction. Perhaps the others did as well, albeit less noticeably.

"Let's- let's not dwell on that for now," Tai decided, glancing at the both of them. "It's probably not going to matter, really, once I figure out the Crest of Courage again."

It wasn't that easy. As far as Ken could tell, Izzy was the only one who'd made any progress with his Crest, and that was a fairly straightforward one.

...Come to that, he still had no idea how Kari's Crest had reactivated. Not that he thought he'd understand if he did- Light was very much an abstract concept. And it wasn't really his business anyway. Crests were a personal thing, and all that mattered to anyone else was that they had been activated.

Ken wondered what it would be like to have a normal life. As far as he could tell, it would probably be less stressful, what with not having to worry about the apocalypse… but he also wouldn't have these people as his friends.

More than that, he wouldn't have Wormmon. And that alone would make it not worth it.

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Daichi: I'm sure we'll get to some actual plot next chapter… if only due to burning up all the episodes between them. I'm not even sure when it became episodic.

Verity: About the same time Control Spire Digimon became a thing.

Daichi: Right. Arukenimon ruined everything.

Tsukaimon: ...I don't think that's how it works.

Daichi: I don't care! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!