Spirits were high knowing that they had two Digimon that could digivolve they felt safer. Whatever monster came to attack them they knew they wouldn't have to be afraid because Angemon and Strikedramon would protect them. Maybe they were a little overconfident but they didn't care, they were happy.
They decided to hold a vote on which direction they should go. It had to be a unanimous decision not to upset anyone. It wasn't difficult for everyone to agree on a direction because no one knew where anything was, and it was nothing but ocean as far as the eye could see. Ryo suggested that they go straight from Candlelight City and everyone agreed.
As they were sailing to who knows where the Digidestined were doing work around the ship. Tired from the Gesomon attack, both Monodramon and Ryo decided to take a nap, which no one objected to. TK took over the fishing with the help of both Floramon and Penguinmon, Chloe and Patamon were up in the crow's nest looking out for any islands, while Catherine, Willis, Terriermon, and Lopmon were inside steering the ship.
Ken was cleaning the ship far away from the others and unlike them, he did not share the same sense of cheerfulness they felt. His mind kept wandering back to the Gesomon attack and how little he did to help. Sure, he pulled Ryo away to safety but he didn't help with the actual fight. He knows that he wouldn't have been able to do anything against the giant squid but it didn't stop Ryo from running after his partner.
What if Wormmon was in the same position as Monodramon, would he run in to save him? He would like to say yes, but he wasn't entirely sure. Digimon are powerful and could easily kill him if they tried, but TK and Ryo know this and that didn't stop them from putting their lives in danger to help the group and their partners. Ken doesn't know if he has the courage that they have.
He suddenly heard the sound of buzzing, making him jump. He looked around and noticed that he wasn't on the ship anymore but in a hot desert. He felt a heavy wind as sand blinded him. He quickly covered his eyes and ran in a random direction, not caring where he was going just as long as he got out of this sandstorm.
"Ken!"
Someone shouted his name, but he didn't stop. He had to get out of this storm. He kept going, ignoring the stinging pain from the sandstorm, ignoring his aching feet, ignoring everything that was telling him to stop. He didn't slow down until he stopped feeling sand scrape against his skin. He opened his eyes and saw that he was out of the storm, feeling great relief.
He wanted to cheer but he noticed that he was by himself, his friends were missing and so was Wormmon. He called out to them hoping for a response, but all he heard was the sound of a light wind blowing through. He walked around, calling out to his friends every few seconds, listening for some type of response. He kept going until he saw something that terrified him, it was the sandstorm.
He was about to run away when he quickly noticed the sandstorm wasn't blowing anywhere, it stayed in one place. Ken placed his hand through it and quickly pulled it out when he felt the stinging pain from earlier. It was like the sandstorm was some kind of barrier meant to keep him out. Not seeing any reason for him to stay, Ken turned to leave to go look for his friends.
"Ken!"
He froze in place. It was Wormmon's voice calling out to him, and it was coming from the sandstorm. Ken faced the storm unable to move because he was scared of getting hurt, but Wormmon was in there and he had to save his friend. But he kept pulling away, not wanting to get hurt from the storm.
The buzzing sound from earlier was getting louder as Ken kept trying to break through the barrier. But he couldn't, the sand hurt too much and the buzzing was louder than before. He was about to do a running start when suddenly a giant gray dragonfly broke through the barrier and flew straight towards him.
"KEN!"
He was back on the ship with no giant dragonfly in sight. It was just him and Wormmon out on the deck as everyone ran inside due to the heavy rain.
"Are you ok? You wouldn't respond to me earlier," a worried Wormmon said and Ken hugged the bug Digimon.
"Don't worry about it, pal. I was just lost in my thoughts," Ken told him. The rain started to come down harder than before and Ken noticed how soaked he was. "Let's hurry inside before the rain washes the color out of my clothes."
The two rushed through the kitchen door to find everyone, minus Ryo and Monodramon, sitting at the kitchen table bored out of their minds. Willis had his head in the book he got from Candlelight City, Chloe and Catherine were talking with each other, and TK was staring at the ceiling waiting for time to go by quickly. Ken put Wormmon down and urged the insect Digimon to go join the other Digimon in the corner. Wormmon reluctantly wiggled over to the other Digimon as Ken joined the others at the table.
"Get enough water?" TK jokingly asked after Ken sat down. He just brushed off the blond boy's joke and put his head down.
"Do you guys think we're close to an island?" Ken asked. After being cooped up on the ship for a day he was ready to be on land again.
"Closer than we were a few hours ago," Willis responded, not turning his head away from his book.
Ken checked at his Digivice for the time. He groaned when he saw that it was a few minutes past noon. Seeing that the rain wasn't going to let up soon, Ken decided to go take a nap to pass the time.
"I'm gonna go take a nap," Ken told the others as he got up from the table.
"Don't get my hammock wet," TK told him and he responded with a thumbs up.
Ken quickly climbed into his hammock and allowed the rocking of the ship to lull him to sleep.
He was back in the desert again, but this time there was no sandstorm. He was in the middle of nowhere with the hot sun baking him alive. He wanted to move but the heat wouldn't let him. He laid back accepting his fate when suddenly he felt something poke at his foot.
It was a giant green caterpillar with a look of pure joy on its face.
"It's you! I've been waiting so long to meet you and you're finally here!" It said with pure joy.
"Wormmon?" Ken asked. He slowly sat up and Wormmon quickly jumped into his chest.
"I've dreamed of this day my whole life and you're here!" Wormmon snuggled into his chest. Ken got up and pulled Wormmon away from his chest and looked the bug Digimon in the eye.
"Y-You don't remember me?" Ken asked, feeling a little confused as to why his partner doesn't know who he is.
"What do you mean? This is the first time we're meeting," Wormmon told him, surprising the boy. How did Wormmon not remember him after everything they've been through? All of a sudden, Ken was hit with a huge sense of nostalgia, he's been in this desert before and not when he was daydreaming earlier, but when he was younger.
It was a year ago, he and his brother were hanging in their room when a strange device came out of his computer. He thought it was meant for his brother Osamu, or Sam as he sometimes likes to be called, but he felt like it was calling for him. Sam put the device in a drawer and told him not to touch it. Ken agreed, but he kept feeling the call of the device.
One day when Sam was out, Ken opened the drawer to look at the device. Sam never said he wasn't allowed to look at the device, he just couldn't touch it. Ken wanted to follow his brother's wishes, he really did, but the device's call was too strong. It wouldn't hurt if he just held it for a few seconds, would it?
He grasped the device in his hand, feeling its metallic casing and its shape. Even though he knew he was doing something wrong, disobeying his brother's wishes, he felt that he was supposed to do this. He was so engrossed with the device that he didn't notice he was being engulfed by a bright light. However, he did notice being sucked into the computer and landing in the desert.
"Are you ao, Ken?" Wormmon asked and Ken nodded.
He got up and carried Wormmon in the same direction that he went when he was younger. Why was he going this way he didn't know, but if he was reliving a memory then he should do the same thing he did the first time.
"Where are we going, Ken?" Wormmon asked. Ken didn't answer his partner, he just kept walking.
Ken's been walking for what seems like hours now and he feels like he's walked further than he did the first time he was here. Was he looking for an answer to a question that he didn't remember or was he looking for a way to go back home? Maybe he was looking for a way to get out of this heat, as he started to see his skin turn red from sunburn.
"Wormmon, do you know if there's any shade close by like a cave or mountain?" Ken asked after being silent for so long.
"I don't know anything about caves or cliffs, but I've heard rumors of there being a giant cactus somewhere," Wormmon answered and Ken groaned. The only form of shade that Wormmon knows about is a rumor and it might not even be in the desert they're in.
Out of nowhere, the sandstorm came back. Ken quickly covered his eyes and ran in a random direction, hoping to find a way out of the storm. Ken seethed in pain as he felt the sand cut his skin which didn't help his sunburn at all. It was also getting harder to breathe because the strong winds were making it harder to take in oxygen but he couldn't give up, he had to get out.
Ken kept running until he couldn't feel the sand scratching against his skin anymore. He opened his eyes and saw that he was out of the storm, but before he could celebrate he realized that Wormmon wasn't with him. He called out to his partner but he didn't get a response. They must've been separated during the storm.
Ken looked for his partner, hoping that he was close by but he couldn't spot the small caterpillar Digimon. He kept going until he saw something that froze him in place, the sandstorm. Ken was about to run when he noticed the storm wasn't moving but staying in one place. Ken was going to disregard the storm, seeing that it wasn't a threat to him anymore, but froze in his tracks when he heard someone call out to him.
"KEN!"
It was Wormmon. His friend wasn't able to make it out and he abandoned him there. Ken sprinted to the storm with every purpose of saving his friend but froze when he reached the edge of the storm. He reached his hand in and seethed in pain as he felt the sand scratch him.
Ken quickly pulled his hand out, not being able to take the pain anymore. He couldn't go into the storm to save his friend unless he wanted to get hurt. He was scared because he couldn't do anything to save his friend.
"KEN!" Wormmon cried out again and Ken started to cry. He was useless.
He soon heard a buzzing noise coming from inside the storm and it was getting louder and louder. Ken covered his ears to block it out, but he could still hear it. It kept getting louder until a giant gray dragonfly burst through the sandstorm and flew straight at him.
Ken shot up, breathing heavily from his nightmare, though it wasn't just a nightmare but a memory. He considers it one of the best days of his life the day he met Wormmon and came into this amazing world. Being transported in the middle of a desert and being caught up in a Sandstorm wasn't amazing, but you had to take the good with the bad.
He heard a loud buzzing noise, similar to the one from his dream echoing throughout his head. He covered his ears to block out the noise but it still echoed throughout his head. He wasn't the only one to hear the buzzing.
"I don't remember setting an alarm!" Ryo seethed after being rudely awakened. Monodramon woke up growling, showing his displeasure of being woken up. Soon Chloe entered the room with a look of urgency on her face.
"Wake up, boys! We got trouble!" She told them and they all raced after her.
The trio ran out onto the deck to see the others watching the sky. Ken, Ryo, and Monodramon followed their gaze and they saw Angemon fighting a swarm of giant bees with four purple wings.
"Who are they?!" Ryo asked.
"They're Flymon: The buzzing from their wings can be heard for miles!" Floramon explained. Flymon shot a brown stinger and everyone dodged the oncoming attack. "Watch out for their stingers as well, they can paralyze you!"
Angemon was struggling with the swarm, not being able to hit a direct attack because he had to keep dodging the oncoming stingers. Angemon was getting tired and he didn't know how long he could hold off the swarm. Ryo gripped his digivice and turned to Monodramon.
"You ready?" Ryo said determinedly and Monodramon nodded. "Then let's do this!"
"Wait!" Willis stopped them before Monodramon could digivolve.
"What?" Ryo asked.
"They're too high up, Strikedramon can't fly! And before you suggest he jump up there, we don't know how high he can jump, and even if he could he might land in the water or worse, accidentally put a hole through our ship," Willis said and Ryo balled his fists in frustration.
"So you're saying we should do nothing!?" Willis shook his head and looked at his partners.
"No, we try to distract some of the Flymon to help out Angemon!" Willis stated and Terriermon and Lopmon started firing off their attacks at the bee Digimon.
"Terrier Tornado!"
"Tiny Twister!"
Terriermon and Lopmon started to spin as small tornadoes formed from their ears. The small tornadoes flew up and hit one of the Flymon, but it didn't seem to faze it. Not wasting any time the rest of the Digimon joined in on the attack.
"Ice Prism!" Penguinmon shot ice shards at a Flymon.
"Rain of Pollen!"
"Sticky Net!"
Terriermon and Lopmon also sent out their attacks and they all landed a direct hit. That got one of the Flymon's attention because it flew straight at them. Angemon tried to stop it but he was swarmed by the rest of the Flymon. The DigiDestined spread out when the Flymon flying towards them shot its stinger.
Ken landed hard when he dove out of the way, he was separated from the others and Wormmon. The rain started to get heavier, making it hard to see in front of him. He thought he was safe from the Flymon until he saw it through the rain heading straight for him. He tried to get up but he slipped and hit the ground hard.
Suddenly, he was back in the desert and a different bug Digimon was flying at him. He couldn't move; he was frozen with fear. He started to cry because no one was going to save him, not his parents, not Sam, and not even Wormmon. He was all alone and about to be eaten by a giant dragonfly in a strange world.
He was blinded by his tears and couldn't see his Digivice light up or the emergence of another bug Digimon coming through the sandstorm. It didn't look like a bug but more like a human wearing a green and black exoskeleton. It had pincers on its feet, claws on its hand, two long antennae on its head, and two giant insect wings. It tackled the giant dragonfly to the ground, saving Ken's life.
Ken was back on the ship and before him was the same bug Digimon tackling Flymon to the ground. A pink blade made of light emerged from his knuckle and he slashed the bee Digimon. Ken felt a hand on his shoulder and saw TK pull him away from the fight. Ken let the blond drag him to others.
"What happened to Wormmon?" Chloe asked and TK pointed at the insectoid Digimon who was currently cutting the Flymon. "Who's he know then?"
"That's Stingmon: They say his blade can cut you like a blade through hot butter!" Monodramon explained as Stingmon defeated the Flymon that attacked the ship. He then flew up to help Angemon defeat the rest of the Flymon.
"Mind if I buzz in?" Stingmon quipped as he sliced at the Stingmon that was behind Angemon's back.
"You don't hear me complaining," Angemon said with a smirk. They both flew back to back with Angemon gripping his staff and Stingmon having his blade drawn.
The Flymon charged at them but they were ready as Stingmon managed to parry their stingers with his blade while Angemon knocked them back with his staff. Stingmon slashed a few Flymon causing them to flee while Angemon used his staff to make the rest of the Flymon join the other retreating Flymon. There was one Flymon left shooting its stinger at the two but they didn't let it affect them.
"Can I have the honors?" Stingmon asked and Angemon nodded.
Stingmon called out his blade and flew straight at the remaining Flymon.
"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon sliced the side of the Flymon's body causing it to cry out in pain. Not being able to withstand any more pain, the Flymon left and joined its swarm. Sighing in relief both Angemon and Stingmon descended back onto the ship and turned back into Patamon and Wormmon, who soon jumped into their partners' embrace.
"Did I do good, TK?" Patamon asked and the blond smiled and rubbed the top of his head.
"You were amazing, Patamon!" TK told his partner.
"How about me, Ken?" Wormmon asked and Ken had a blank stare.
He was back in the desert, the giant dragonfly was retreating as Stingmon reverted back into Wormmon. Ken was speechless, his small caterpillar friend jumped in to save his life.
"Is everything ok, Ken?" Wormmon asked him and he hugged the bug Digimon with tears in his eyes.
"Thank you!" Ken said between sobs.
"It's ok, I'll always be there to protect you!" Wormmon told him.
Ken was back on the ship and he gave Wormmon a big hug.
"You were awesome, Wormmon!"