June 27, 2011

AN: Quick update to make up for waiting over a year last time! I'm on a roll with this story – just finished writing chapter 9. Woo!

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Chapter 6

Odaiba had been experiencing incredibly strange weather over the last week. It started off rather warm, especially for winter, but then quickly went to gloomy – not exactly a wintery cold, but an ugly, sad, gloomy cold. It was constantly foggy and cloudy. The weather reporters on every news station in Odaiba were all extremely confused by it and would continually promise to have clear skies the following day – however, it had yet to happen.

After school on the Friday following Kari's visit, Ken was at home, eating a snack in his living room while watching television. Most kids his age went out to lunch or to the movies with their friends on Fridays to celebrate the weekend, but Ken didn't have any friends to go out with. He didn't mind much, though. After all, it wasn't just friends he wanted – it was certain friends he wanted back.

As he flipped through the stations, he stopped on the local news channel, which had just begun airing the five o' clock news segment. He figured all they would talk about was the strange weather, but the intro to the headlining story caught his attention.

"Yesterday evening, formal missing persons reports were filed for two Odaiba teenagers, Davis Motomiya and Kari Kamiya," the female news anchor said, as school photos of both Davis and Kari appeared behind her. "The two teens have been missing since Wednesday morning. Families said they left their homes in the early hours of the morning to walk to school; however, neither teen showed up for any of their classes that day or have been seen since. The two are reported as having been friends for years and are suspected to be together. Family members do not believe that any foul play has been committed, theorizing that the kids likely ran away. You may recognize these kids as having been involved in the terrorist attack in Odaiba four years ago. According to Akiko Kamiya, Kari's mother, her children spiraled into a depression following those events and haven't been the same since. She believes her daughter has run away to, and we quote, 'escape it all.' However, she is begging her daughter to return, as is the Motomiya family of Davis."

Throughout the news report, Ken had slowly stopped eating his food and set the plate down next to him. His eyes were wide, his mouth an O-shape, and his heart racing. For a second, he almost enjoyed seeing this report, because it reminded him of the old days. But then he pushed the thought from his mind. Davis and Kari's disappearance could have absolutely nothing to do with the Digital World.

And then he remembered. It hit him like a car hitting a brick wall: his and Kari's conversation about her using her Digivice to get to the Dark Ocean.

He jumped up, his adrenaline pumping. He had to tell someone. But – who?

Obviously, calling Tai would be the best option. He tore into his room and opened his phonebook, praying to the high heavens that the Kamiyas still had the same phone number. He was nervous to be calling Tai, as the two of them were never exactly close, but he knew he needed to do it. He dialed with shaking fingers and held the phone up to his ear, his heart pounding in his throat.

Tai's mother answered after the first ring. "Hello?" she said in a rush.

She thinks it is Kari. Ken swallowed. "Hello, Mrs. Kamiya. Is Tai there? I'm a friend from school."

He heard her exhale. "Yes," she said, disappointment coating her tone. "Hold on a second."

Ken heard her call for her son and a moment later, his familiar voice answered. "Hello?"

"Tai? Hi... it's Ken Ichijouji." He waited for Tai to say something, but he didn't. "I don't know if you remember me –"

"I remember you," said Tai shortly, and Ken was taken aback by his tone. "What do you want?"

"I saw the report about Kari," he said, suddenly regretting his decision to call. He cleared his throat and continued, "I'm sorry. But I need to tell you something. I think that her disappearance... well, I think it might be related to the Digital World."

Tai didn't say anything and after about a full minute Ken thought that he had lost the connection. "Are you there?"

"Don't ever call here again," Tai said menacingly and Ken flinched. "I don't want you to come near me and my family, ever." Ken heard him slam down the phone and then the dial tone.

He slowly set down his phone, frowning deeply. Now what? If Tai wouldn't listen to him, then who else could he call? Davis and Tai had always been the two leaders.

He thought of who he would consider one peg down from them when it came to leadership. Probably... Matt and Izzy. They had always been good at taking charge.

His heart leapt in fear, though. What if they didn't believe him either? What if he talked to every single Digidestined and not one of them believed him or wanted to listen to him? What would he do then?

Ken took a deep breath to calm himself down and clear his mind. "I'll worry about that later," he mumbled to himself. For now, he needed to focus on contacting the others and trying to get their support.

He decided that Matt would be a good candidate to start with. He said a quick prayer that Matt would listen to him to the heavens even higher than the aforementioned high heavens before dialing the number he had for Matt in his phone book.

Matt answered after the sixth ring, just as Ken was about to hang up. "Hello?" he said groggily, sounding as if he had just woken up.

"Hello. Is this Matt?"

"Who wants to know?"

"Hi. Um, this is Ken Ichijouji. I don't know if you remember me—"

"Hey Ken. Of course I remember you. What's going on?"

Ken relaxed; his tone was much more casual than Tai's had been. "Oh, good. Well, I wanted to talk to you about something. Did you hear that Kari and Davis are missing?"

Matt exhaled deeply. "Yeah, I heard about that. Sad stuff."

"I think I know where they are," Ken said in a rush. "Please don't hang up on me," he added.

"Wait, you do? And why would I hang up on you?"

"'Cause Tai did when I told him that I think it's related to the Digital World."

Matt didn't say anything for a moment, just as with Tai. "Ken..." he began, his voice tired.

"You have to hear me out," Ken said. "I have good reasons to believe so."

Sighing, Matt said, "Fine. But I don't think this is a conversation to have other the phone. Can you come over to my place?"

He didn't really want to, because it was across town, but he didn't have much of a choice. He scribbled down Matt's address and hung up. He put on his shoes and coat, wrote a quick note for his mother to read when she got back from the market explaining his whereabouts, and departed.

Ken rang the doorbell three times before Matt finally came to the door. He was surprised by the older boy's appearance; his hair was a mess, he was dressed in a pair of very ripped jeans and an extremely faded black T-shirt emblazoned with his old band's logo, and his face was pale. "Hey there," he said, smiling, and Ken noticed his eyes were bloodshot. "Come on in. Sorry it's a mess..."

Mess was an understatement. There were dirty dishes and old pizza boxes, food cartons, and bags littered all over the living room, with flies buzzing around some of them. It was dusty and dirty - surely no one had vacuumed in weeks, maybe months. In the kitchen, the sink was filled with filthy plates, bowls, and cups, and on the stove were pots with what looked like ancient food still sitting in them. In the corner of the living room was a piece of food that had been there so long it was nearly covered in mold. Ken wrinkled his nose in disgust but said nothing.

"This'a way." Matt led him through the hallway into his room. The first thing Ken noticed was that the shades were drawn so that it was fairly dark inside and the second thing was that it smelled very strongly of marijuana. Matt sat down on his bed, which was actually just a mattress on the floor, and reached for a hand-rolled blunt that was smoking on an ashtray next to his bed. He brought it to his lips and inhaled deeply. "Want some?" he asked, keeping the smoke in his lungs.

Ken shook his head. "Um, no thank you." He glanced around for a place to sit. The room had clothes and papers littering the entire floor; Ken couldn't even tell what color the carpet was. There was a red bean bag chair in the corner of the room, albeit filled with what Ken assumed was dirty laundry. He approached cautiously. "Can I move these clothes?"

Exhaling finally, Matt said, "Yeah, go ahead."

Ken very cautiously picked up the ball of clothing, as if afraid something would jump out of it, and dumped it onto the floor. He sat down in the bean bag chair and instantly sank. He fidgeted and adjusted himself for about thirty seconds until he was sitting up straight enough for comfort.

"So, Ken," began Matt. "What makes you think that Kari and Davis are in the Digiworld?"

"I don't think they're in the Digital World," Ken corrected him. "I think they're in the Dark Ocean."

Matt frowned. "The Dark Ocean? That sounds familiar."

"Kari and I have both been there before," he explained. "Kari was transported there once, back when I was the Digimon Emperor."

Snapping his fingers in realization, Matt exclaimed, "I remember that! But why would they be there? How did they get there? And how do you know?"

"I don't know why," said Ken, "but a couple days ago Kari came to my school and asked me about the Dark Ocean and how I got there when I went. I told her I used my Digivice. She wanted to know if she could get to the Dark Ocean using her Digivice since she had been there before and I told her I wasn't sure. I asked her why she would want to go back and she said she was asking a hypothetical question."

"Hm," was all Matt said.

Ken waited for him to say more, but he didn't. "Well, what do you think?"

Matt just shrugged, which slightly annoyed Ken.

"I think they're in the Dark Ocean," he said again. "I don't know why they would go there, because Cody was taken to the Digiworld, but –"

"Don't say that name," Matt said warningly.

Ken stopped and frowned. "Why not?"

"Just, don't," he said.

"But Matt... I think that's why they went," Ken persisted. "I really do. Why else –"

"I don't care," Matt growled.

Ken had always been more passive than anything, but he felt himself needing to stand up to Matt in this instance. "Are you really going to sit here and do nothing when Kari and Davis might be on to something? What if they find Cody but need all of us?"

"I said, enough!" he roared, standing up.

Ken stood up as well and held his ground. He wasn't going to let this one go. "You're being a baby!" he snapped. "Everyone feels guilty, we all do! I was there, too, remember? But you can't let your guilt overcome you and prevent you from setting things right!"

"You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about!" Matt shouted. Instead of cowering, his words only made Ken angrier.

"I don't?" he challenged. "What about this experience is worse for you than it was for me? If anything, it's worse for me because I knew Cody better than you did!"

Ken felt triumphant when it took Matt longer to reply. He was winning this argument. "It's too late," he spat.

"It's never too late," Ken said in a low voice. Before Matt could attempt to counter that, he turned on his heel and stomped out of Matt's filthy apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Ken thought of where to go next. He had been rebuffed by both Tai and Matt, the two guys that were most like leaders. He wanted to try Izzy next, although he was slightly afraid that Izzy would reject him too. But he had to go. Ken owed it to Cody to go. He had to do everything he could. If none of the other Digidestined would listen to him, he would just figure it out himself.

He had been to Izzy's place before so he decided that since he was on this side of town already, it would be faster to just go to his house instead of going back his own house and looking up Izzy's number to call. He just hoped that he was home.

Upon arriving at Izzy's apartment, Ken took a deep breath before knocking three, solid times. A woman that Ken recognized as Izzy's mother answered the door. "How can I help you?" she asked kindly, clearly not remembering him.

"Hi, Mrs. Izzumi. I'm a friend of Izzy's from school. Is he home?"

"Why, yes he is," she said. "Come on in, I'll show you to his room."

He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, following Izzy's mother down the hall to her son's room. She knocked on the door twice and called through it, "Izzy? Someone's here to see you. What's your name, hon?" she asked of Ken.

He cleared his throat. "Um, Ken."

"It's Ken from school."

As soon as Izzy heard his name, Ken could hear him scrambling around. The door flew open and an older, more mature Izzy than Ken remembered stood in the threshold. "Ken!"

"I'll leave you two," said Izzy's mother cheerfully and departed down the hall, toward the kitchen.

"Hi, Izzy," Ken greeted. "How have you been?"

He shrugged. "I've been better. What are you – well, why don't you come in first?" He stepped aside so that Ken could enter and then shut the door behind him. His room was much cleaner than Matt's, which made Ken feel more comfortable. He sat down on Izzy's bed while the older boy took his spot at his desk. "So, now I ask of you – what are you doing here?"

Ken had to think carefully on how to phrase everything to Izzy so that he would believe him. Perhaps third time's the charm. "I don't really know how to say this… well, I guess I should start with Kari and Davis. I'm sure you've heard?"

Izzy nodded slowly. "Yes, I have. It's very strange."

Ken's heart jumped. "Strange how?"

"Strange that the two of them are both missing and went missing at the same time," he said thoughtfully. "You agree with me, right? That's why you're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, exactly!" cried Ken. "I think I know where they are."

Izzy sat up straight. "Where?"

Ken paused. "Will you kick me out if it has to do with the Digital World?"

"Of course not," said Izzy, leaning forward with an insatiable desire to hear more.

Ken proceeded to tell Izzy the same story he had told Matt, about Kari asking him about the Dark Ocean. Izzy scratched his chin thoughtfully throughout the whole story and, once Ken had finished, asked, "But why would they want to go to the Dark Ocean?"

"That's what I thought," said Ken. "If I'm correct in what they were trying to achieve, I would think they would try to go to the Digital World, not the Dark Ocean."

"And what do you think they were trying to achieve?" asked Izzy.

Ken hesitated. "To find Cody."

Nodding, Izzy said, "Precisely what I was thinking."

Ken breathed a sigh of relief at Izzy's acceptance. Finally, he wasn't alone. "I tried to tell Tai where Kari was, but he hung up on me. Matt didn't believe me – he said it was too late."

"Matt and Tai both tend to take full responsibility of everything that happens to them," Izzy said. "I think they may have taken what happened to Cody a lot harder than the rest of us, solely because they feel like leaders and they are, in a sense, their own worst enemies. I'm sure that they'll come around if they have to, with time."

"I hope so," said Ken. "And I hope it is sooner rather than later, because I think I can take us to the Dark Ocean."

Izzy narrowed his eyes at Ken. "How?"

"With my Digivice," he explained. "It took me there before, and clearly Kari was able to use hers to get her there. She must have been able to take Davis, so I would be able to take others, too."

"But where is the portal?" asked Izzy curiously.

Ken frowned. "I don't know. Last time I went, I went through my computer, but I have pointed my Digivice at my computer countless times and never opened any portal."

"As have I..." mumbled Izzy. "Well, maybe when we have everyone else here, we'll think of something. The only thing..."

"What?"

"Why the Dark Ocean?" he mused. "Why there? It's just another plane, a completely separate one from this world and the Digital World. Why would they go there?"

Ken shrugged. "I don't know..."

They spent a few moments pondering in silence, Ken searching the very reaches of his brain to try and figure out where the portal to the Dark Ocean would be and why Kari and Davis would choose to go there. Maybe they got through with a computer? But how? What did they do to get them through?

"Unless..."

Ken's head snapped up. "Unless what?"

"We pretty much all but know for a fact that the portal between this world and the Digital World has been permanently sealed," Izzy explained. "But that doesn't mean that the portal between the Digital World and the Dark Ocean has been closed."

Realization festered within Ken's brain. "So... you're saying –"

"That if we can get to the Dark Ocean," Izzy began, excitement growing in his voice, "then maybe we can get to the Digital World through there!"

Izzy and Ken were silent for a long time. They had just reached a magnificent breakthrough.

"What do we do now?" Ken asked. "Go to them?"

Izzy was thoughtful. "Well," he said finally, "We should let the others know that we've found out."

Ken nodded. "I already tried to tell Matt and Tai, though."

"If we can get the others to go with us," said Izzy, "then I'm sure Matt and Tai will come around." He checked his clock. "It's six-thirty. Let's get started… we've wasted enough time already."

Izzy pulled out his phone and began calling. Unfortunately, all of the calls went to voicemail. "Hey Sora, it's Izzy," he said. "I'm with Ken right now and we just figured something out about…" he hesitated, "Cody. It also involves Kari and Davis, whom I'm sure you've heard have gone missing. Please, please call me back as soon as you can." Ken listened to him repeat these messages for Mimi, Joe, Yolei, and T.K.

"Do you think they'll call you back?" Ken asked, feeling worried that Izzy hadn't been able to get in touch with any of them.

"I sure hope so," he said gravely. "I know that everyone feels guilty about what happened four years ago, but I hope that doesn't hinder them from doing anything about it now."

Ken frowned. "It stopped Matt. He said it was too late."

"We'll deal with them later," Izzy said. "Like I said, we'll get through to the others and then work on those two."

Izzy and Ken talked for another fifteen minutes, reeling from finally making a discovery. Even though they hadn't exactly done anything yet, they were closer than ever to saving Cody, and for the first time in four long years their lives actually seemed to be taking a positive turn.

"Well, I'd better get going," Ken said, standing up at last. "My mother will want me home for dinner."

Izzy nodded and stood up as well, holding out his hand to shake. "Thanks for coming to me, Ken," he said. "We're going to save Cody."

Ken wasn't sure if Izzy was saying that to reassure himself or Ken, but he appreciated it nonetheless. He nodded before leaving Izzy's apartment.

Izzy couldn't concentrate on homework; he was still feeling a rush of adrenaline at the breakthrough he and Ken had reached. He opened up a blank document on his desktop and began typing, listing out ideas and theories he had on what to do next. He and Ken would have to recruit as many Digidestined as they could – as much as he hated to admit it, he felt as through their group had separated so much that they might not all return. He was hopeful that they all would, but at this point there were no guarantees.

He was just thinking that he wanted someone to call him back when his phone rang. He snatched up and answered mid-first ring. "Hello?"

"Izzy?" came a soft voice on the other end.

"Mimi," Izzy said in relief. "It's so good to hear from you." He checked his watch. "What time is there? Aren't we sixteen hours ahead of you?"

"Yeah," she said. "It's two in the morning. I… couldn't sleep, though. When you called, I thought I was dreaming or something."

"I know we haven't kept in touch over the years," Izzy said. "I'm sorry. You got my message, though, right?"

She paused. "Yes."

"You probably hadn't heard, but Kari and Davis went missing, and I'm ninety-five percent positive they're in the Dark Ocean," he explained to her. "Ken and I are going to go after them. We want to get everyone together again."

Mimi didn't speak for a moment. "Izzy… I'm on the other side of the world."

"I know, but –"

"Why did you all stop calling me?" she said, and there was something strange about her voice. "I thought – I still wanted us to be friends. We all went through it together, so why did no one want to keep in touch? Or was it just me? Do you guys all hang out without me?"

"Mimi, of course not," Izzy said quietly. "None of us… we all just –"

He then realized why her voice sounded so strange; she was crying. "I had to go through this all alone, so far away from you all, and it was so hard. I just don't know why you all abandoned each other. Did you guys even think how hard this was on everyone else? But no, no one thinks about each other anymore. After Cody, everyone became so self-involved."

Izzy was frowning deeply and felt sick. He knew she was right; he assumed everyone felt the same way – guilty and wanting to escape the memories. He hadn't considered the alternative: the ones that wanted to heal together. "Mimi…" he tried, but he had no words. "I'm… I'm so sorry."

But she was crying too hard by this point and a moment later hung up. Izzy held the phone out and stared at it, swallowing thickly. He knew this was going to be hard, but he hadn't expected it to hurt so badly.

About thirty minutes later, his phone rang again. It was Sora.

"Izzy," she said warmly in greeting. "It's great to hear from you, although under the circumstances…"

"I know," he said. "You got my message?"

She sighed. "Yes, I did. What did you guys figure out?"

Izzy repeated to her what he and Ken had discovered together, and Sora was silent for a moment.

"Wow. You guys really are on to something," she said. "Are you gonna go to the Dark Ocean, too?"

"That's the plan," said Izzy. "We were hoping to get everyone else to go, too."

Again, Sora hesitated. "Well… count me in."

"Really?" said Izzy in surprise. "You'll come with us?"

"Of course," said Sora. "I am so consumed with guilt over what happened and I know I'll never forgive myself for what happened, but… that doesn't mean I can't help try to fix it, right?" She sounded like she was trying to convince herself instead of Izzy.

"Will you come over tomorrow?" Izzy asked. "Around noon?"

"I'll be there."

"You remember where I live?"

Izzy could almost hear her smiling on the other line. "Of course, Izzy. I'll see you tomorrow."