Thank you so much for your patience! But honestly this chapter killed me. I didn't realize how long it was getting and then I just kinda burned myself out by the end. I mean of course there is important developments concerning Kouki's relationship with the rest of the 02 crew, and one in particular, but I also am going to start weaving in a bit of foreshadowing concerning the adventures of Kouki's group so even while I post origin chapters you should be able to do some guesswork using both chapters to piece together the total story before I make the ultimate reveal about Kouki's Digimon journey. That was really long sentence, sorry. I am so tired from family troubles and missing a week of college. Just don't miss school, for anything, seriously. Anyway enough of me ranting um I don't own Digimon but all the same please enjoy this story and a special thanks to star eyes pendulum dragon for their support and help. Don't forget to follow, favorite and review. Oh! Also the next two chapters will be the beginning of Kouki's group's Digimon journey so I hope you'll like them as much as the chapters based off actual episodes.


Chapter 4:

Iron Vegiemon


Kouki would be the first to say the Digiworld was a strange place. Each event only supported this point, from the existence of Digimon themselves to the fact that human children were probably the highly desired saviors of a world filled with Digital beasts the size of sky scrapers.

From freeing Owryumon to the grumpy Gomamon who had taken care of Kouki's group, he'd truly thought that he had seen all that there was to be seen in the Digiworld. Never did he expect to be breaking two Gatsumon out of the Digimon Emperor's prison with an orange dinosaur and a group of friends.

"Pepper breath!" A ball of fiery energy flew out of Agumon's mouth hitting the cell bars and breaking most of them.

"Veeheadbut!" Veemon used his attack to get rid of jagged bar edges.

After hearing word of the Gatsumon's imprisonment, the Digidestined had decided to act while they worked on destroying the nearby Control Spires. Since they began their adventures into the Digiworld they had begun to work well as a team, able to easily take out the Digimon Emperor's forces most of the time, and destroy spires quickly.

"Come on let's work!" Veemon ordered pushing the two Gatsumon out of their cell, Saemon sniffed them as they passed her, keeping a careful eye out for Dark Rings—something the group had only learned to look out for after a bad incident involving an Aegiomon

"Hurry, this way!" Davis ordered, taking point as he led the group out of the arena. Veemon and Gatomon followed behind him, urging the four Gatsumon forward. Agumon, Cody and Armadillomon followed closely behind, making sure none of the Gatsumon were left behind. Then TK and Patamon guided three more Gatsumon forward with the help of Kari and Tai. Finally, Kouki and Saemon brought up the lead.

Is it just me, or is this getting easier? Saemon questioned, watching the skies in the case of an attack from above. No sign of Ken, but I doubt us breaking out seven Gatsumon out is really his main concern, Kouki commented. That was another thing, the whole Ken issue. He'd known for a few days now, but he didn't know how or if he should bring it up to the others. What would they even do with the new information? And if they found out he knew and didn't tell him, what would happen?

Maybe you should tell Davis or Kari, Saemon recommended. Maybe, I mean I probably am the closest to them. I'll think about it. Sorry to stress you out any Saemon.

His Digimon's annoyance bled through their link, Saemon was willing to handle anything he needed help with, Kouki knew that, but having faith in someone else and not worrying about the consequences of confiding in them was just too… Well, it was a mind-blowing concept all in itself.

In a matter of minutes, the large group made it a safe distance from the arena, the Gatsumon collapsing in exhaustion, undoubtfully brought on from their days of imprisonment. "You guys are officially fugitives," Agumon joked.

"If that's the kind of puny defense that the Digimon Emperor is gonna put up then this fight will be over in the first round!" Davis said. It's already been the first round though, Saemon told Kouki. Don't spoil it for him, Saemon, Kouki replied, rolling his eyes.

"Did you ever doubt it, Davis? We are quite a powerful team now," Kouki pointed out aloud. The Gatsumon all grumbled their agreement beginning to comment to each other about the strength of the Digidestined.

"Something was weird though," TK said.

"What was weird?" Patamon asked flying into his partner's arms.

"Well the fact that it was so easy for us to break out of that prison. There wasn't a single guard anywhere around. It's like he wanted us to do it. I think he's up to something," TK pointed out. It was getting easy, hopefully Ken wasn't planning something big.

"No way he took one look at our awesome skills and he hit the road! Isn't that right Kari?" Davis asked turning towards the girl.

"Uhh actually Davis, I'm gonna have to agree with TK," Kari said, "This guy is not gonna let us get away that easily without some kind of reason."

"We'll worry about it later. Let's get back to the real world. I'm starving, I can practically smell the cafeteria from here," Tai said, the group chatting nonchalantly as they started towards the café.

Kouki began following but stopped to look at the dark spiral. Saemon noticed the absence of her partner, turning to make sure he was still there, "Kouki come on or you'll get left behind." Kouki blinked then followed the rest of the group glancing at the tower every once and a while. Maybe it was nothing, but he suddenly had a very bad feeling about it.


"This Control Spire is the most powerful object in the Digiworld! Where ever I build one that area will be under my control and all those around it will be my slaves! It's useless to try and escape! Those who do will have to answer to my soldiers!" the Digimon Emperor proclaimed, standing over the crowd of Digimon before him, his servants watching the gathered crowd for any sign of resistance.

Curibmon frowned, how did I get myself into this? The dark and fire attribute Digimon had merely stopped to rest in the town for a few days before continuing his search. Bearmon had found him, explaining to him about the Digimon Emperor and this new group of Digidestined that Saemon was now working with; however, the main problem would be finding the Emperor's base, a task of which the black fox like Digimon was prepared to take on.

If Saemon and Kouki were already fighting this villain he would try to help in any way he could, especially since this threat effected his world too. Curibmon's bat like ears twitched as the Gabumon beside him began to whisper to the Gazimon of the village. Maybe the other Rookie could help him, once they got away from the Emperor. For now, looking complaint would be his best bow.

So, he bowed his head to the Emperor, gaining a few quiet gasps from the other Digimon at his open show of submitting. The Vegiemon guards around him quietly jested with each other as the Digimon Emperor continued his speech with renewed confidence. Hopefully there was a way to escape.


"Are you crazy bringing the Gatsumon back from the Digiworld?" Izzy yelled.

Kouki flinched, this was the first time Izzy had ever yelled at the group of Digidestined. Hopefully this didn't become a routine.

"But we couldn't just leave them there for the Digimon Emperor to make into slaves. Right?" Tai asked turning to Kari for support. Well at least it was good to know Kouki wasn't the only one scared of the angered Izzy.

"Yeah," Kari agreed. Ever since the incident with the Tyrannomon incident she had worked on befriending Kouki, seemingly dedicated to bringing her peer out of his shell. It was a matter of luck that Davis was doing it—probably unknowingly—and Saemon was devoted to befriending the other Digimon, drawing Kouki further into the group dynamic. The two's relationship was so close that Kari doubted Kouki would do anything to

"But how are we going to explain it if Mister Fugoma happens to come in here?" Yolei asked.

"Don't worry, I'll tell him I'm taking a sculpting class, and these are some of my early master pieces," Cody reassured, "Hit it boys!" All the Gatsumon struck a pose, looking like fairly bad humanoid sculptures.

"Are you sure they're master pieces?' Kouki voiced skeptically. Kari giggled at the comment while Saemon barked out a laugh.

Izzy sighed, rubbing his temples and seemingly trying to move past the Gatsumon to the next subject. There were, after all, more important things to worry about—unless the new generation decided to make a habit out of bringing Digimon to the real world besides their own partners. "Yolei, I've got a big favor to ask. Would it be alright with you if I borrowed your Digivice?" Izzy implored.

"But what for?" Yolei questioned standing up. Kouki knew what she felt about giving up her Digivice. "Well it's obvious that the power from your Digivice opens up the gate to the Digiworld. Our old Digivices seen to work," Izzy answered. "Izzy's right. I've tried using mine but no luck. The only way we can get into the Digiworld is if one of you opens the gate for us," Tai threw in his two cents.

Shimon kept listening as Kouki started rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't know when he had developed it as a habit but now he found himself tuning out when he did it and had to trust his partner to listen in for him.


"All right, he's leaving. Time to escape," Gabumon muttered, looking around the cell at the collection of Digimon as the Digimon Emperor left on his platform carried by Vegiemon. Well himself, a few Gazimon and the one rather strange looking Digimon who Gabumon had never seen before.

After the Vegiemon had pushed their unfortunate prisoners into the cell, the fox like Digimon had taken to one of the dark corners of the cell, it's obsidian fur almost allowing the dark Digimon to disappear completely. Blood red fur highlighted the underside of its muzzle, tip of its tail and about half way up its legs. Black bands of metal dangled around the Digimon's lower legs and as Gabumon spoke, one of its bright, crimson eyes cracked open.

To say Gabumon was afraid of this foreign Digimon was an understatement. Sure, he had battled many powerful Digimon before, but the sheer aura of the Digimon made him want to run away as fast as possible. Gabumon could knew the Gazimon felt the same way, they avoided the powerful Digimon like a plague, staying at the opposite side of the cell and shifted when they felt its attention focus on them. Why such a powerful Digimon had willingly submitted to the Digimon Emperor so quickly, Gabumon didn't know.

"If you are so keen to leave, allow me to help," the Digimon offered nonchalantly, stretching as he stood. The Gazimon flinched, looking at each other, anxious to get away from the Digimon causing them such distress.

"Thank you, um…" Gabumon trailed off, unsure of how to address the fox Digimon as it trotted towards the door of the cell, lifting its nose up in the air as if it smelt something.

"Curibmon. There's a guard outside, only one. Are you all ready?" Curibmon questioned. With a glance towards Gabumon, the Gazimon rose from their seated positions, still attempting to put Gabumon between them and Curibmon. If nothing else, knowing the strange Digimon's name did something to soothe Gabumon's nerves.

"Blue Blaster!"

"Shadow Flame!"

The two attacks hit the bars door hard knocking it down on the Vegiemon outside. Gabumon led the group of Gazimon out while Curibmon took the rear as insurance for the Gazimon to run faster. Well that and his nose was suddenly clogged with an utterly dreadful scent. Curibmon couldn't tell where it was coming from, but he didn't want to get any closer to it. Distracted by the smell of rotting Curibmon was unable to avoid the spiked vine that knocked him off his feet.

"Apparently you don't listen to orders!"

The group had stopped in their tracks, Gabumon pushing the Gazimon away from the new foe. Curibmon struggled to his feet, pain throbbing through his body from the Champion's attack. But as soon as he could stand on unsteady legs the Digimon attacked again, knocking Curibmon flat on his side.

"Stay down!"

"Who are you?" Gabumon growled menacingly, casting a worried glance towards Curibmon. Well it was nice to know someone cared, but Curibmon sincerely doubted the fellow Rookie could stand up to a Champion. Gabumon should really be using the chance to escape with the Gazimon

"I'm the Digiworld's biggest salad bar, RedVegiemon!" the red veggie spat.

"Try and stop us stinky!" Gabumon countered.

"I'd like to see you try," Curibmon snarled, slowly pushing himself up.

But the Champion wasn't worried, and Curibmon doubted he would be in RedVegiemon's position. "For trying to escape you get to smell my roots and I ROOT ROT!" the RedVegiemon slammed down his spiked vine into Gabumon's side, knocking the horned Digimon into Curibmon. The Gazimon watched in horror as their saviors were beaten by RedVegiemon, but didn't step forward to help, not that they would be of much assistance, still Curibmon wanted to yell at them for just standing around instead of escaping.

"If you can't stand the smell get out of the kitchen!" With those words the RedVegiemon used his roots to push Curibmon and Gabumon off the cliff and into the swift flowing river beneath. The two Digimon landed with a splash. Desperately, Curibmon clawed his way to the surface, gasping for air and spitting out water. After reorienting himself the fox Digimon frantically scanned the water's surface, catching only a glimpse of Gabumon before a current swept him underwater again.

Katsuo.


Kouki took in a deep breath of fresh air, sliding his coins into the school's vending machine. The other Digidestined were inside the computer lab, talking about the Dark Spires that were popping up overnight. They were planning to take a trip to the Digiworld today, now they were waiting on TK who had apologized for his brother's concert running over and explained that he would be there as soon as he could.

"What are you thinking about, Kouki?" Shimon inquired. The petite in training Digimon had joined her partner outside, eager to get fresh air and figure out what was on his mind. Well, Shimon knew he was having trouble with the whole Ken thing, but maybe he would be willing to talk about it more in depth.

"And here I thought you could read my mind, Shimon," Kouki teased lightly, popping open the can of juice he bought. Sure, he knew how important it was that the Digidestined know exactly who they were facing, but it was hard to come to terms with the fact that one of his friends was the Digimon Emperor. And if it was hard for him to shift his perspective, then would the others even believe him?

"It's about Ken. I don't know if I should… If I can tell everyone."

"Then maybe you should start a bit slower. Davis already sees you as a friend, Kari seems to want to get to know you better and the others are just waiting for you to open up. Maybe start telling them about our adventures in the Digiworld, if you start there then-!"

"I can't tell them about that. If they figured out what happened, who knows what they'd say. I can't do it Shimon, it's impossible," Kouki snapped. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he attempted to calm his mind. Kouki wasn't proud of what he'd done in the Digiworld, even if the others forgave him he didn't know if he could let it go that easy.

"That wasn't your fault, Kouki. It wasn't either of our faults. Fujinmon was, is the one at fault," Shimon protested after a moment. Surely Kouki must realize he wasn't the only one who felt bad for what happened, after all it was Shimon that allowed…

"Don't blame yourself," Kouki muttered, gingerly picking up his partner. Aren't we a pair?

"Is everything okay?"

Kouki turned in an instant to face the newest arrival to the scene. Panic coursed through his veins at the sight of Kari. How much had she heard? "Everything is fine. Is there something wrong?" Shimon stated, tilting her head curiously.

"We received an SOS from Gabumon, he's one of the old Digidestined's partners. TK is on his way, so Izzy wants us all back at the computer lab, so we can leave," Kari informed. Shimon and Kouki looked at each other before nodding the small Digimon jumping out of her partner's arms.

"I'll race you there!" she called, running ahead towards the computer lab.

Kouki grinned, watching his icy Digimon bound off. "You know, if there's anything bothering you, you can always talk to me," Kari offered. Perhaps this was her opportunity to get closer to Kouki, something about him was captivating, but she didn't know what. If his talk with Shimon was anything to go by, something had happened to him in the Digiworld.

"Thank you, Kari. That means a lot. Maybe we should go join the others for now."

Katsuo ran through the streets, towards Odaiba Middle School. His Digivice beeped and vibrated in his pocket. Since school had ended, the message Curibmon sent him through their mind link played over in his head. The voice had been tired, panicked and in pain. Katsuo needed to find Kouki and get to the Digiworld. Now.

But he had been the one to warn Kouki against going to the Digiworld again in the first place. It wasn't a safe place like his fellow Digidestined wanted to believe, especially with Fujinmon still out there. They had sealed the Digimon away after their last battle, but it was only a matter of time before he escaped and went after them. A process which would only be sped up if they were in the Digiworld at the time.

Kouki should know that better than anyone. Katsuo should have listened to his own words. But the thought of Curibmon alone and suffering… Well that was too much to handle.

It took only moments for Katsuo to navigate his way through the school to the computer lab. He paused outside the door, catching his breath.

"Back off Davis you're making me nervous!" a voice snapped.

"Can't you go any faster?" another pleaded.

Katsuo whipped open the sliding door and stepped in, surprising the many occupants. Kouki and Shimon were a few feet away from the computer talking to a girl with short brown hair. The other members of the group hung over a purple haired girl who worked at one of the computers.

"Kouki, we're going, now," Katsuo announced, approaching his old teammate. Kouki looked surprised to say the least, even as Katsuo grabbed his hand intent on dragging him to the computer to open up the Digigate. He needed to get to Curibmon. Right now.

"Katsuo?" Kouki questioned tugging his wrist, a half-hearted attempt to free himself. But a mere moment later, Kouki nodded in understanding, perhaps it was Katsuo's desperation, he really couldn't care less until he knew Curibmon was safe.

"I-We should go. He, Katsuo, went to the Digiworld with me," Kouki explained quickly to the other occupants of the room. And for heaven's sake could they hurry up already?

The boy wearing goggles nodded and held up his Digivice to the computer opening the gate. Finally.


Katsuo's landing in the Digiworld was less than graceful, but that didn't stop him from scrambling over the rocky riverbed at the sight of his drenched partner. Rocks clattered away as he clambered over, gathering his partner in his arms. "Curibmon!"

"Katsuo? Kouki, Saemon?" Crubimon murmured weakly, his crimson eyes opening slightly. Relief echoed throughout his features at the appearance of his partner and friends, a deep sigh rattling its way through his body.

"Are you okay?" Katsuo questioned as his partner slowly squirmed out of his arms. The dark and fire attribute Digimon was obviously waterlogged, gingerly licking his fur in attempts to dry it quickly.

"We won't ever look at veggies the same way," Gabumon threw in, standing up. Water dripped from his fur instantly, douse the rocks below him with water. His movements were slow and stiff, wrought with pain.

"What happened?" Saemon asked nudging her friend lightly with her nose. Even though Saemon was a light and ice attribute Digimon she got along well with her opposite dark and fire Digimon. They had taken to each other the moment Kouki had joined up with Katsuo and the rest. By the end of the journey they seemed inseparable, and Kouki couldn't help but wonder why they were split up when he first came back to the Digiworld.

As Gabumon undertook the task of telling their story, the hateful glares of TK aimed at Curibmon were too disturbing to brush off. Saemon had taken to sitting next to her friend, her ice blue and white fur a stark contrast to the black and blood red. Two halves of a whole, huh?

As Gabumon finished purposing his plan to reclaim the village and free the Vegiemon Katsuo spoke up eyeing TK cautiously. "Do you have a problem with my Digimon?" Katsuo inquired softly.

"Katsuo stop it this isn't the place," Kouki murmured, afraid of the confrontation that would undoubtedly occur. When it came to Curibmon, Katsuo had no sense of self restraint. "Maybe we should discuss strategy," Kouki meekly suggested.

"Yeah, I do. He's a dark Digimon!" TK spat, completely ignoring Kouki. TK's glare intensified but turned to Katsuo. Kari frowned wondering if this was something she should jump into or leave the two boys to figure it out themselves. Sure, she disliked Dark Digimon too, but Kouki hadn't betrayed their trust and she doubted Katsuo would if he had been a Digidestined.

"TK," Patamon berated. Even though he understood why his partner was mad, he wasn't so sure he could approve at the rage directed towards the Digimon who had helped Gabumon's attempted escape. It wasn't like all dark attribute Digimon were bad, after all Kageiomon was one and he had helped to save the Digiworld all those years ago.

"So? Dark Digimon aren't always the bad ones here! Our enemy was a light Digimon. There are countless light Digimon that are bad! Don't be an idiot!" Katsuo retaliated.

"Hey maybe we should all just calm down," Davis suggested. Stepping between the two in hopes of ending the fight. The dueling duo glared at each other for a moment more before turning away to pout.

Matt wearily sighed at his brother's antics but brushed them off, there was little he could do when Curibmon made him feel uneasy. For now, he'd have faith in his partner and hope everything turned out for the best. If Curibmon was really an evil Digimon it wasn't like he could evolve with the Dark Spires around, the Armor Digimon would be able to handle him easily. "Let's go I have a plan to sneak into the village," Matt proclaimed.

"Wait a minute! It's too dangerous we can't take the chance that any of us—especially Kari—might be attacked," Davis protested. And for a minute I thought Davis' leadership had improved, Saemon mused.

"It's no big deal," Kari remarked, rolling her eyes in annoyance at Davis' words. She'd been a Digidestined much longer than he had, if anything he should be more worried about himself.

"I bet you've been attacked by a lot of worse things than Digisludge on your adventures?" Kouki reckoned lightheartedly.

"Yup," Kar agreed with a warm smile. At least someone understood her with TK still pouting.

"Try lot worse things than Digisludge," TK added, avoiding looking at Curibmon and Katsuo, still cooling down from his earlier disagreement. He hoped they were right to trust the Dark Digimon.

"Ah! I can't even believe you're not worried about Kari's wellbeing TA!" Davis exclaimed.

"TA?" Kouki puzzled, brows furrowing to further his confusion.

"He forgot how to spell TK!" Cody jested with a mock gasp, evoking laughter from his fellow Digidestined. Davis fumed instantly, barking out protests, all but drowned out by laughter. It was good to feel like a group again, even with the short spat that had taken place. On second thought, maybe Davis is becoming a good leader.


"Stop right there," Vegiemon hollered as the group came to the gate. After the laughter had died down, Matt began to discuss his plan of the humans acting like captives to get into the city. Honestly, Kouki hadn't been very fond on this plan but if it got them in it was okay.

"It's okay we're one of you. We just captured these Digimon that escaped and their friends," Gatomon said holding up a paw with a dark ring on it.

The Vegiemon inspected the group for a few moments, looking at each of the humans closely before nodding approvingly. "Go right ahead," Vegiemon approved. As they ran forward the surrounding Vegiemon taunted then, chucking Digisludge at the Digidestined as they passed by.

Patamon halted the group as the made it further into the city, landing on the stone steps they had previously been climbing. "They didn't notice they were fake rings," the Rookie remarked happily.

"We can't let out guard down," Gatomon warned from the rear of the group, surveying the area around them carefully.

"That's right, we're deep in enemy territory!" Saemon added. She shook herself, the fake dark ring around her neck quickly becoming an annoyance. "But can't we take these off?"

"We still have a long way to go, Saemon," Curibmon replied, nodding towards the Dark Spire. The ice and light Digimon sighed tiredly but nodded.

It seemed to take forever for them to get to the small prison where they reconvened with the Gazimon Gabumon and Curibmon had attempted to save earlier. In moments the Vegiemon guards were defeated and the group began to quietly make their way through town.

This was the part of the plan Kouki didn't like. Sure, they'd been able to rescue the Gazimon, but they had never discussed their escape. "I don't think we should be going this way," Katsuo grumbled. He had begun walking towards the front of the group after they'd almost ran into Vegiemon guards for the second time, attempting to guide them safely through the town as he and Curibmon discussed the Vegiemon's positions through their link. Because god, did these Digimon stink.

"We don't really have a choice now. If anything happens we can always fight our way out," Curibmon assured. He cast a weary look around, lifting his nose to sniff the air and immediately cringing. "There's a group close by," he informed the group quietly.

From the back of the group someone let out a loud yelp. "Kari! Are you okay?"

"I heard something! This way!"

"Come on!"

Katsuo pulled the two closest people, the purple-haired girl and short brown-haired boy into the nearest building. Others rushed in and after a moment he closed the door as the voices of the Vegiemon drew closer. "Nice thinking," Matt complimented softly, peering out one of the windows.

"Did everyone make it?" the purple-haired girl, Yolei, questioned. The room was dark, the only light source was the dim sunlight from the space Matt was using to survey the streets. Even then, Katsuo could barely see the others' silhouette.

Suddenly a warm glow filled the room, Curibmon's paws lit up with a dark orange energy illuminating the room enough to make out the faces of the others. "Thank you, Curibmon," Katsuo smirked. He glanced around the room to each Digidestined and Digimon before frowning. "Kouki?" he called out, waiting for the Digidestined of Dream to respond. Katsuo swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry with worry and he staggered towards the door, grabbing the handle.

"What are you doing?" Matt hissed, planting himself in front of the door so Katsuo couldn't open it.

"What do you mean? Kouki and Kari aren't in here! We have to find them!" Davis barked. At least Katsuo wasn't alone in this.

"If we go out now we'll get caught. They'll be okay on their own," TK warned objected.

No. No way was Katsuo going to leave Kouki out there with some girl. There were controlled Vegiemon swarming around this town, as well as a RedVegiemon somewhere. And Kouki only had Saemon to defend him? No, he wasn't going to let this happen. What if Kouki and Kari were attacked? What if they were separated from their own Digimon?

"Get out of my way," Katsuo demanded, trying to yank the door open despite Matt's weight being pressed up against it. The older teen shook his head, prying Katsuo's hand off the handle.

"We can't risk being caught with the Gazimon. They can't fight these guys," Matt pointed out. Yes, okay it made sense, it really did. But Katsuo couldn't, wouldn't leave Kouki out there alone. There was no way.

"You guys, I got a message from Kari," Yolei interjected. She waited for the attention of both boys to turn to her before she began to read. "I am with Kouki, Gatomon and Saemon. We are all okay, but we can't meet back up with you guys right now, there are too many Vegiemon. Kouki says we probably won't be able to get back to the town entrance but meet up at the Control Spire, is that okay?"

"Tell Kari that's fine. We'll be there as soon as possible. Now that we know they're okay," he shot a glare at Davis and Katsuo, "Let's see if there's a back door." Neither teen responded, tension still hanging in the air.

Everything is going to be okay Katsuo. Saemon won't let anything happen to Kouki, Curibmon thought, nudging Katsuo's leg lightly with his head. "Fine," Katsuo agreed, taking a deep breath. Reluctantly, he withdrew from the door.

Davis, on the other hand, remained more resistant, "I'm tired of sneaking around, let's fight." The google wearing teenager was still hesitant about leaving Kouki and Kari out there, that much was obvious. But he stood alone now, fighting a loosing battle. Maybe without Curibmon, Katsuo would still feel the same.

"Majority rules, Davis," Yolei taunted lightheartedly. The others nodded, Matt leading them towards the back of the building to locate a door.

"No one listens to me," Davis groaned with a deep sigh.

"Yeah, well you're going to have to prove that you got a better plan first. Look Kouki and Kari should be able to take care of themselves for now. We can't do anything about that until we meet up with them," Katsuo explained.

While he still looked unhappy about the decision, Davis nodded following the others into the back of the structure with Katsuo following close behind.


"Have the others replied yet?" Kouki whispered. After Vegiemon had heard Kari's yelp after she had tripped they had been separated from the others. But at least they'd gotten away safely. That was good? Right?

"They'll meet us at the Control Spire," Kari informed, pocketing the messenger. Kouki sighed in relief, hopefully they'd be able to meet up without anymore incidents.

"Are you okay to walk?" Kouki questioned. Relief once again flooded his sense when Kari nodded. Honestly, carrying the girl that you like would be really embarrassing.

Really? That's what you're thinking about right now? Saemon mentally clipped.

Kouki blushed, looking absolutely mortified. Sometimes sharing a mental link with your Digimon really just made situations worse. "Kouki, is everything okay?" Kari asked, her head tilting in confusion.

Turning around in hopes of hiding his blush the nearly overwhelming urge to cry about his predicament surged forward. "I'm fine," Kouki spluttered after a moment, taking a deep breath to regain some sense of confidence, "Let's go to the Control Spire."

I was just joking, Saemon chuckled after a moment of silence. Hey, you know this would be the perfect time to tell her about Ken!

The Digidestined of Dreams let his head hang at that. Leave it to Saemon to attempt to get him to open up about Ken when they were trapped in a village full of controlled Vegiemon. Well, maybe this was the best for that. Kari was probably the best person to come to about this after all.

"Um, Kari? I-!"

"When we had class together last year, I didn't think we would ever be in a situation like this," Kari began, with a short giggled, "Even when I found out you were a Digidestined I didn't think you would open up to the rest of us like you have. I'm really glad that you did." Kari smiled at him warmly at they walked through the town with Gatomon and Saemon a few feet in front of them looking out for Vegiemon and deep in their own discussion.

"I um, I'm glad too. I mean I'm glad that I get to know you like this," Kouki replied softly. What an intelligent response, he thought dryly.

"But um I-!"

Kouki was interrupted yet again as the quartet heard a loud shout from the top of the hill where the Control Spire was. "That must be the others! Let's hurry!" Kari exclaimed, running up the hill. The world was against Kouki, wasn't it? All the same he followed Kari up the hill, making in time to see the Control Spire tumble to the ground and the Vegiemon awake from their controlled state.

"Wasn't there something you were going to ask me, Kouki?" Kari implored as the group was heading back down to the closest TV to leave the Digiworld for the day. The other members of the group turned to him expectantly.

With a nervous laugh, Kouki shook his head, changing the topic and hoping that maybe one day, it'd be easier to talk to his friends.