A/N: It's my birthday so you all have to give this chapter glowing reviews!

––

Everything changed after the defeat of Omnimon Zwart. Not even just Tai and Matt, though of course, they changed the most. Wormmon didn't see much of them, but based on what he heard from TK and Kari, the life had basically gone from them. They were just… empty. Like they couldn't feel happiness anymore. Tai was acting out more in school, and Matt had to take a leave of absence from his band. He didn't have it in him to play anymore.

Wormmon hadn't been familiar with the concept of partner Digimon for very long, and he had never even considered how much it would hurt a human to be without their partner. It was a selfish thing to think, but he wondered if Tai and Matt were now feeling the way he felt all the time.

He knew, of course, that death among Digimon wasn't permanent. Everyone knew that. The first thing their team did every day now was visit Primary Village, combing through the countless Digieggs lying in the grass, looking for the ones that would bring back Agumon and Gabumon. But they never appeared.

"I don't know why, but… I get the feeling they won't come back until Ken's gone," TK said one day. "It won't be safe for them until then. It's not safe for anyone."

Of course, now that it was clear that the Digimon Emperor would even go after the other children's partners, the Digidestined had immediately brought the survivors to the real world – Biyomon, Tentomon, Gomamon and Palmon. The latter had been a difficult case, since her partner apparently lived somewhere far away. "America" or something. But the Digidestined had been able to open a Digital Gate for her that sent her to the right place.

"Mimi knows about what happened, right?" TK asked as they were preparing to send Palmon away.

"Yes. I emailed her and told her everything," said Kari. "And I told her not to worry, that we'd take care of things over here. Otherwise she would hop the next plane and fly down here right this minute. I know she would."

Wormmon barely knew any of the four Digimon, and didn't really exchange words with them, so all he could do was reassure himself that they were all staying with their human partners, safe and sound. The Emperor couldn't reach them.

But none of that was any comfort to him.

Kari knew his secret now. She had to. Or at the very least, she had to suspect something. She was the one who had told him about Omnimon, and the very next day, Ken had gone about trying to create it again. There was no way she would dismiss that as a coincidence.

He was more on edge than ever. His time as a Digidestined was about to run out. It was only a matter of time before she came forth and accused him.

But it never happened. As it was, Kari quickly found herself involved in other things.

"Where's Kari today?" Yolei asked one day soon after. Everyone had traveled to the Digital World after school, just like they always did, and Wormmon had gone to meet them. But Kari wasn't there with them, and neither was Gatomon.

"Yeah, for real. She's been gone all day. She wasn't in class either," said Davis. "This isn't about yesterday, is it?"

"Kari's staying home today," said TK, and everyone turned to look at him. He always seemed to be the one who knew her the best. "Gatomon's there keeping an eye on her."

"Why? Did something happen to her?" Wormmon said worriedly. Once again, he seemed to be out of the loop. Everyone else cast knowing looks amongst each other.

"You could say that, yeah. Yesterday after school, Kari… disappeared," TK said solemnly. "I mean literally. She got teleported some place called the Dark Ocean."

Wormmon had no idea what to make of this. "The dark… what?" he said. "Where's that? Is it part of the Digital World?"

"I don't think so. I mean, there were Digimon, but… everything about that place was just wrong. There was no light anywhere… Patamon and Gatomon and I all followed after her and found her in time, but I don't know what would've happened if we hadn't."

"Was it really that serious?" asked Yolei, eyes filled with concern for her friend. "Why would something like that happen to Kari?"

"I've got no idea," TK sighed. "Maybe just being the Digidestined of Light makes her… vulnerable to darkness. Anyway, she's still shook up, so nobody talk to her about it."

"This is the Digimon Emperor's doing, isn't it," Cody said softly. He had gone stiff with rage. "First he targeted our Digimon partners, and now he's going after us."

"Maybe. Maybe not. We're not exactly in a position to ask him about it," said TK.

No one noticed it, but Wormmon looked horrified at Cody's words. Was it true? Had Ken done this to Kari? Was he trying to hurt the other human children?

He had to find out.

That evening, he was running down one of the many dark hallways of the Emperor's fortress. He wanted to catch Ken before he even made it to the computer room. This was important.

He rounded a corner just to find the Emperor about to turn it from the opposite direction, and they nearly crashed into each other. Wormmon panicked and skidded to a stop. He didn't need any reason for his partner to get angry at him.

The Emperor hissed and drew his cape back in disgust. "Watch where you're going, insect! Who gave you permission to be here? Get back to your cell!"

"Ken. I need to ask you something," Wormmon said firmly. "Have you ever heard of the Dark Ocean?"

Ken actually looked surprised at the question, but he quickly covered it up with his usual look of neutral contempt.

"Of course I've heard of it," he said shortly. It's just another part of the Digital World… one that houses an incredible dark power."

Wormmon looked skeptical. "Are… are you sure it's really part of the Digital World?"

"There are Digimon there. What else would it be?" The Emperor snapped at him. "I constructed a Control Spire there, and I enslaved the Digimon with my Dark Spirals. I told you, I won't rest until I've conquered every corner of this world."

He was about to go marching off to the computer room, but it was only then that he seemed to realize the obvious question. He turned back to Wormmon. "How has a useless thing like you ever heard of that place?"

"I… I just heard about it from the Digidestined today. Kari went there, somehow. And it sounds like she's not doing well." Wormmon fidgeted. "I'm just worried about her."

Once again, Ken looked surprised. "What are you saying?" he asked. "One of those kids was trapped there?"

Wormmon went very still. Oh, no… what had he done?

"Ken? You… you didn't know about this?"

But Ken wasn't listening anymore. He was in deep thought about something. So he hadn't been responsible… but Wormmon had just given him an idea. That couldn't be good.

"Ken? What are you planning now?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Ken said dismissively. "Now get out of here, until you have something else useful to tell me."

And he stalked off down the hallway, leaving Wormmon alone once again.

––

Bearmon had been working a lot more closely with the Digidestined ever since they had lost their two most powerful Digimon. Everyone seemed to understood that they all had to work together if they wanted to stand a chance. If they tried to do things on their own, the Digimon Emperor would lay waste to all of them.

Today he was helping the Digidestined knock down a swathe of Control Spires that were all crowded close by other, while his rebels were off in the wilderness fighting the Emperor's slaves who were meant to be guarding the area.

"You guys shoulda called me over," he said as he was punching a Control Spire, trying to crack it. "I woulda beat up that Omnimon Zwart thing, no problem."

"No, Bearmon, you wouldn't have. Trust me," said TK.

Wormmon had been keeping a close eye on TK this whole time. He was worried about him… well, really he was worried about Matt, but TK had clearly been affected by the loss of Gabumon as well. He'd gotten more withdrawn, and more serious. He reacted even more negatively to Ken's name than he had before.

As Wormmon thought about this, he noticed that Patamon was lounging a little ways away, munching on some snacks from the human world. He'd knocked over a lot of Control Spires already today, and now he was resting.

Wormmon was too nervous to talk to TK about this. Hopefully his partner would be more approachable.

"Patamon… I wanted to ask you something," he said, crawling over, hoping he wasn't overstepping his boundaries. "When Omnimon… when we defeated Omnimon, I remember TK was talking to Matt, and…"

Patamon looked concerned at him as he trailed off. "Hmm? What is it, Wormmon?"

"Well, it's just… he was saying that Gabumon would come back one day. And it sounded like he knew. Like he was speaking from experience." He looked long and hard at the other Rookie, hoping that he would understand the question that was hanging in the air.

Patamon gave a weak little smile. "You're smarter than you look, Wormmon," he said. "But you're right. I died too, once before."

This was brand new information. Wormmon couldn't even look at Patamon the same way now. He was so cute and innocent… how could he have died? What could have happened to him?

"Oh, Patamon. I'm so sorry… I never knew."

"Don't be sorry." Patamon shook his head. "It happened years ago, just after TK and the old Digidestined came here. It's all in the past now."

"Can I ask… how it happened?"

"Well. There was this really evil Digimon named Devimon who was trying to take over File Island. He got huge. The other Digimon had all digivolved to Champion level, but even all of them together weren't strong enough to beat him. And then…" Patamon seemed to shrink a little bit, like he was wilting away at some bad memory. "He was going to kill TK. I had to protect him. I had to do something. If TK died, I would…"

He couldn't finish, but he didn't have to. Wormmon didn't want to think about what would happen if Ken died either. It was unconscionable.

"But that was when I digivolved for the first time. Into Angemon," Patamon went on. He puffed out his chest a little; he seemed to be proud of this part of the story, anyway. "I used up all my power to destroy Devimon once and for all, and I… well, I guess the humans would say that was when I was deleted."

"But you came back."

"Yep! I reformed as a Digiegg, and I hatched again. I couldn't leave TK forever! He still needed me."

Well, at the very least, Patamon seemed none the worse for wear after dying once. Maybe it would be the same for Agumon and Gabumon. Wormmon wanted to ask what it felt like, but… that seemed a little bit personal.

"Well… I'm glad you're still here, Patamon. You're a good friend. And a good partner."

"You don't need to worry about me. I worry more about TK. It was a long time ago, I don't know how long in human world years, but he was very little when it happened." His large ears drooped in sadness. "He has still has nightmares about it, actually. He doesn't like to talk about it, but I know. I think he blames himself."

Wormmon considered this. Actually… this explained a lot about TK, too. Wormmon had always been wary around him, but he'd never really known why. But it turned out TK had been through a lot. That experience must have hardened him.

"I'm sorry that happened to both of you," he finally said.

Patamon didn't look perturbed, though. "I'm not sorry. I'd do it again. I'd do anything for TK. That's what partners are for."

That was true, Wormmon thought. He'd die for Ken in a heartbeat, if given the chance… but the way things were, he didn't think that would be helpful at all.

With that, the conversation seemed to be over. Patamon looked more rested than he had before, so he flapped over to rejoin his partner beneath the Control Spire, and Wormmon crawled after him without really thinking about it.

"That dumb human brat," Bearmon was growling to himself. "And we were so close to bringin' back the Harmonious Ones. Now it'll probably never happen."

"We can't give up, Bearmon," Cody said sternly. "The Harmonious Ones are counting on us, aren't they? We're the only ones who can help them."

Wormmon tried to think of something useful to say. "That's right, Bearmon. Didn't you say they were imprisoned once before? By the Dark Masters? We can't lose hope."

"Yeah, the Dark Masters… that was a fun time," TK sighed as he leaned against the Control Spire, cracking open a can of lemonade. "But we defeated them back then, so I guess we've got no excuse now."

Bearmon scoffed at him. "Sheesh, you think you guys had it bad? Us Digimon were stuck here in the Digital World for their whole reign! You think that was fun?"

"I've never heard of these Dark Masters. Davis and Yolei and I weren't there for that," said Cody.

"Yeah, were they worse than the Emperor?" asked Davis, he and Yolei walking over at the sound of their names.

"Before, I would have said they were a lot worse," said TK. "But… I don't know. Ken's just not going down."

"Can you tell us about them?" asked Yolei.

TK and Bearmon glanced at each other, silently agreeing that they would be tag teaming this one. So the two of them started telling the other Digidestined about the four evil Digimon – Metalseadramon, Puppetmon, Machinedramon, and Piedmon – who had enslaved the Digital World years ago. It was only by sealing away the Harmonious Ones after a long battle that they were able to do so. But the eight original Digidestined had harnessed the power of their Crests to set the Harmonious Ones free, and after that the Digital World had been peaceful again… for a little while, anyway.

"Sheesh. Those guys sound like they were bad news," said Davis. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, listening to the story in rapt attention. "You guys had to beat four Mega-level Digimon? We couldn't even beat one!"

Wormmon suddenly blurted something out. "Do you think the Digimon Emperor knows about them?"

He regretted it as soon as the words had left his mouth. The last thing he needed was to draw more attention to himself. But no one seemed to find his question suspicious, and Bearmon just waved a paw dismissively.

"Who knows, and who cares," he said. "Those Dark Masters are dead and gone. We got other stuff to worry about now."

Now that storytime was over, everyone else went back to work, while Wormmon simply crawled off to a deserted part of the clearing to be alone. He thought about everything TK and Bearmon had told him, and what Patamon had told him too. He'd just learned so much… and he sorely wished he hadn't.

Ken would want to hear all of it.

I can't keep spilling all of their secrets like this, he thought. I just can't. I don't care if Ken hates me. I can't do it anymore.

Tears started to fill his eyes. As much as he wanted to believe that the boy he loved was in there somewhere… he just couldn't get through to Ken, no matter what he did. Staying by his side, helping him destroy the Digidestined, wasn't helping him. Wormmon was trying so hard, but he'd done nothing but hurt people.

I'm going to confess, he said to himself. I'm going to tell the Digidestined everything. And then… then I'll do everything I can to stop Ken.

That's the only thing left I can do.

––

That night, Wormmon was fast asleep in his cell, having another dream… another memory. He and Ken were walking along together, off on some adventure. They were chatting happily with each other, eager to get to… wherever it was they were going.

But they weren't alone.

There was another Digimon with them. A little blue Rookie with a pointed nose and a big smile on his face. He was bouncing along next to them, laughing and sharing in the adventure.

Wormmon startled himself awake.

Veemon!

Was that really him? The very same Digimon? Wormmon had never seen anyone else like him… but how could it be? How could he and Ken have known Veemon before? Veemon had never said anything to him…

He would have said something… right?

Unless he forgot too.

He suddenly remembered his first night with Davis and his partner. Demiveemon had said, so flippantly, that he had no memories before meeting Davis. And it hadn't bothered him at all.

Why did none of them remember? Was there someone out there who wanted them to forget?

He lay curled up in his cell for a long while after that, trying to make sense of this new information. Slowly, a new plan started to form in his mind. He would never have thought himself a schemer before, but maybe just being around the Emperor was bringing out his devious side.

Maybe it wasn't time to confess yet.

If he could force Ken to listen to him… if he could make him remember… maybe he could still save him. And then the Digidestined would never have to know what he'd done.

Later that night, the Goblimon escorted him into the Emperor's computer room for his nightly debriefing, and he had already rehearsed what he was about to say.

"I have some things to tell you, Ken. A lot of things, actually," he said. "I know they'll help you defeat the Digidestined."

If Wormmon sounded more eager than usual to be a villain, Ken took no notice of it at all. He just looked annoyed. "Well? Spill it, then."

"Wait. Before I can tell you, I need you to do something for me."

Ken snarled at him. "You're in no position to bargain, you little maggot."

"Then I just won't tell you anything," Wormmon said stubbornly. "What are you going to do then? Kill me?" He glared defiantly up at the Emperor. "The Digidestined were about to defeat you without me."

Just a week ago, Wormmon would have been shocked that he could be so mean to his partner. But things just kept getting worse, and he was getting desperate. He couldn't be soft like he used to be.

To his surprise, his words actually seemed to work. Ken, didn't hit him, or even yell at him. He just drew back in his chair, looking disgusted at Wormmon, but it seemed like he had acquiesced.

"Fine, then. What is it that's so important. This had better not be a waste of my time."

"There's something else from our past," said Wormmon. "I want you to hear about it. And I want you to believe me."

Ken's glower only got deeper. He obviously hated it when Wormmon tried to dredge up their past. But he didn't interrupt, and Wormmon seized his chance.

"Davis's partner. Veemon," he said. "You knew him too. He was your friend."

Ken looked stunned. At least he didn't lash out and hurt Wormmon like last time. He seemed to actually be considering his partner's words… and then a smug, triumphant grin appeared on his face.

Oh, Wormmon hated that look. It always meant Ken was about to do something awful.

"Is that so."

"Ken…? What is it?" Wormmon said timidly. "I told you, you have to believe me… please, Ken. I need you to remember. This is important."

"Oh, indeed it is," said the Emperor, though it looked more like he was ignoring Wormmon and formulating some other evil plan. Wormmon didn't know what this meant. He couldn't tell if Ken had actually remembered anything.

He had a feeling he wouldn't find out.

Then the Emperor glared back down at him, drawing his whip. "And now it's time for your end of the bargain."

Wormmon swallowed hard. Right. He had to tell Ken the truth. He was still banking on the hope that somehow… maybe… Ken would still remember. And then nothing bad would happen.

Nothing bad.

He took a deep breath, and spilled everything.