Started: February 20, 2001
Finished: March 11, 2001
Part 15:
Delta Level ~ Danger Zone Affection
The next morning, spirits were higher than the day before. Yolei Inoue
was as perky as ever, flashing a brilliant smile at her friends as she
explained that she felt a lot better after a night's rest. The relief was
nearly tangible among the other Digidestined, who all noted the closeness
between Yolei and Ken Ichijouji upon waking up; the two had gone off and
fished while everyone else was still asleep, the aroma of fried fish causing
the others to stir.
After breakfast, the children packed up their blankets and walked off
into the woods together. Ken marched in the lead with Wormmon on his shoulder,
once again wrapped in his imperial garbs. His hair hung below his ears
again and billowed softly as he moved -- something Yolei noted with a quiet
sigh.
Ken had to know he was gorgeous -- drop-dead gorgeous.
Kari Kamiya noticed Yolei's gaze, quickening her pace to walk with her.
She followed her gaze silently for a minute, then split into a wide grin.
"Looking at Ken again, Yolei?" she teased quietly, as to not let the boys
hear their girl talk.
"Kari, isn't it a sin to look that good?" Yolei asked in response.
"I can't help but stare. . ."
"Do you like him, Yolei?" When the lavender-haired girl looked her way,
Kari decided to elaborate. "I mean, do you actually like Ken . .
. or is it just lust talking?"
The older girl sobered almost instantly, recalling the three nights
spent in that tree outside of the campsite. She reminisced back on those
exchanges under the stars, between both Ken and Wormmon. She felt her cheeks
begin to burn as she remembered his arms around her, keeping her warm as
she watched the stars sparkle in a daze of happiness and contentment.
If there were a heaven on Earth, she had found it for a short time.
"Yolei?"
Blinking back the memories, Yolei smiled at her friend and fellow Digidestined.
"Yeah, Kari . . . I do. I really, truly like him. In fact, I think I might.
. ." She trailed off, letting the silence speak in volumes.
"Love him?" Kari grinned. "I dunno, Yolei; it's a little too early to
be thinking that far. . ." Those were words that Kari repeated to herself
like a mantra.
Yolei nodded in agreement. "You're right . . . but in four years, who
knows?" She laughed good-naturedly, Kari joining her after a few seconds.
However, her gaze remained on Ken's back, watching those indigo locks
billow.
* * * * *
The group continued their walk until they came before a large door that
appeared to lead to nowhere. It was the same door the children had exited
the forest from, always ending up again in the Game Lords' maze. Ken stopped
in front of the door, turning to gaze evenly at his companions. "Uragirumon
and Utagaumon are both defeated," he declared. ". . . We'll more than likely
be fighting Makusumon next, and he'll be more of a challenge than the other
two -- there's no doubt in my mind about that." He clenched his hands into
fists. "If it gets too dangerous, promise me you'll back off and let Wormmon
and me handle it."
Davis Motomiya and the others stared. "Ken--"
"Promise me."
The Digidestined of Courage and Friendship slowly began to frown. "But
why?"
Ken shifted awkwardly, then let out a sigh. "You really want to know?
. . . I don't want to see you all risking your necks for my test. It's
become clear with the direction of these tests that I'm being tested more
than any of you. You've already put yourselves in danger too much for my
sake." His veiled eyes trailed over the five Digidestined, then rested
on Yolei.
"What makes you think this test is just yours?" shot back Cody Hida.
"We're allies now, Ken; we stand together."
The Digimon Emperor allowed his eyes to fall on the youngest of the
group. "Just . . . promise me."
When the others began to raise their voices in objection, Yolei planted
herself between Ken and her other friends. "Guys, Ken needs us to understand
his position. . . And he's right; we can't very well fight without weapons
or our digimon." She paused for a moment, remembering Hawkmon and wondering
what had happened to him and the others. ". . . If Ken doesn't want us
nearly killing ourselves for his sake, I think we should listen." She sniffed
dramatically and looked at the boy over her shoulder. "You could've said
something before I became a living Popsicle, though."
Ken coughed in embarrassment, looking away as those light brown eyes
tried to bore into his dark blue-violet ones.
* * * * *
After a few more minutes of talk, the six children braced themselves
and opened the door. Each went in cautiously, looking back at their friends
before entering. Ken watched the other children's backs as they disappeared
into the magic door, then entered himself.
And then he felt utterly alone, in the midst of pure blackness.
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Did I go blind or something?!!"
Well, almost.
Yolei flailed her arms wildly, smacking someone in the back of the head.
She winced when she heard a curse from the person she had just hit. "Umm
. . . who'd I hit?"
"That was me," seethed Ken, trying to rub at his head without knocking
Wormmon off his shoulders. "What's going on here? All I see is darkness."
"This is your fourth danger zone, little emperor."
"What?" Makusumon's words startled the boy. "But-- what happened to
the maze?"
"The mazes were extras put together by Utagaumon for his own amusement.
Seeing as you've defeated him, I have no reason to keep them."
"It's probably for the best, Ken-chan," Wormmon murmured from his perch.
"At least there isn't any pointless walking around now."
Ken looked around carefully, hating the fact that he couldn't even see
shadows. "Guys? . . . Yolei? Where are you?" He reached out blindly with
one hand.
He immediately found himself gripping someone's arm. A familiar voice
rang in his ear. "Ken, I really don't like this. . . I can't hear any of
the others." Yolei latched herself onto Ken, afraid of being alone in the
darkness.
"How about the D-3s?" queried the young emperor. He pulled his out,
listening as Yolei pulled her own from her pocket. Two tiny screens gleamed
in the dark, showing identical readings; two Digidestined standing close
together, their separate signals melding into an almost-perfectly circular,
singular signal. From the edge of the screens appeared the faintest signal
of four other people, approacing their position slowly.
"Those must be the others," Wormmon insighted, his antennae brushing
at Ken's forehead.
"That's a relief," Yolei sighed, smiling a smile that was felt more
than seen by Ken and Wormmon. The light of her D-3 disappeared as she brought
her hands up to cup her mouth. "Guys!! Cody, Davis, T.K., Kari!! We're
over here!"
Her voice echoed off unseen walls crazily, startling the girl. Ken caught
her as he backed up, holding her with one arm as she shook off her shock.
Then, a voice. "Yolei!" Cody's voice echoed back at the three, bouncing
strangely and sending shivers down their spines.
"They're getting closer," Ken murmured, indicating with a finger that
barely was outlined by the light that the signals were coming together.
"I still don't understand this test. . ."
"Well, let's think about this for a minute. . . We're in the dark, right?
To see around here, we'd either need something to see by or something that
would light up the whole room." Yolei's voice was quietly thoughtful.
". . . Which would either be fire or light -- Courage or Light. And
since we already have the Digimental of Courage open--"
"The only choice would be Light!" Yolei ended.
"It makes sense," came T.K.'s voice from beyond. "Kari, will you give
Ken your D-terminal?"
"Sure thing." There was a little shuffling, and then Ken saw an object
block out the light of his D-3. Ken took Kari's computer, watching the
lights of his friends' D-3s join with his.
"This isn't really a dangerous danger zone yet," noted Cody. "So far,
there hasn't been a distinct threat. What's going on?"
There was a brief silence, then a gasp from Yolei. Her D-3 moved around
wildly as she looked around. "I'm only counting five lights! Where's Davis??"
"Davis isn't here?" Kari cried, suddenly panicked. "He was with us a
minute ago!"
A second later, one of the D-3 lights disappeared upward. There was
a slight scream that was quickly muffled. "Cody!?" Wormmon shrieked in
horror.
"Stay together!" ordered Ken, grabbing Yolei's and T.K.'s arms and hooking
onto them. "Something grabbed both of them from above!"
"Oh God, oh God. . .!" Yolei shivered as she looked around in
the dark.
"Put away your D-3s and move!" The young emperor's D-3 disappeared back
into his cloak. The lights of Yolei's and Kari's digivices disappeared
as well within moments. "Hopefully it can't see in the--"
Ken stopped as he felt jerking on his right arm, yelling out as he was
almost pulled into the air forcefully. He let go of the person on his right
arm, falling to the ground and almost crushing Wormmon underneath him.
Someone was immediately at his side, crying his name softly.
"Ken, Ken. . .! They're gone! Both of them!" There was no doubt
in the boy's mind that his remaining companion was talking about Kari and
T.K.
Wincing, Ken lifted his aching arm and pulled Yolei to the ground, muffling
her cries as he heard the sounds of twisting appendages searching blindly
for something. He fumbled for Kari's D-terminal, his heart racing against
Yolei's. All of them are caught except for Yolei and me. . . How do
I open the Digimental here?
When no answer came to him, Ken pulled out his D-3 and did the first
thing that came to mind.
"Digi-Armor, energiz--"
He was suddenly yanked upward, something thick and long wrapping around
his leg and lifting him off the ground. Wormmon screamed his name as Yolei
clawed as his restrained leg. In his panic, Ken was unable to assist the
older girl in trying to free him from the monster's grasp. Both were lifted
from the ground, Yolei's cries piercing the darkness as she pulled at the
appendage wrapped around her friend.
"Yolei, let go!" Ken shouted, the blood rushing to his head as he struggled
against the folds of his cape.
The next thing Ken was aware of was a monstrous scream, and then the
appendage around his leg loosening. He fell at a terrible speed, landing
fully on his back and nearly cracking his head against the floor. Wormmon's
pods were immediately clamped on his shoulder, his concerned questions
ringing in his ears.
"Yolei?! Yolei!!" The boy pushed himself to his feet, cursing loudly
at the darkness that clouded everything around him.
A loud ringing sound was his answer, followed by a beam of light that
ran along the ground. Ken stared after it, watching a trace of Wormmon's
shadow appear along its path. He picked up the digimon and ran, gasping
as the swooping appendages snapped out at him again. God, is she okay?
What happened to her?! To all of them!? Did they get eaten?!
The beam of light, as it turned out, originated from a D-terminal that
had been discarded. Ken flipped it open and was stunned to find two brightly
glowing Digimental icons blinking back at him. He knelt down and stared
at the two egg-like pictures, barely registering Wormmon crawling up onto
his shoulder.
". . . Love is glowing," he whispered, awe carried in his words. "Ken-chan,
Love is glowing. . ."
My God. . .
I didn't even realize it was possible. . .
"Wormmon, I don't care what you have to do, but save the others!" Ken
request was quiet and quavering, but unbelieavably determined. Yolei.
. . Yolei. . . Is my heart aware of something that I'm not? Can I actually
be in love?
He clutched the D-terminal and his digivice in his hands and spun to
face his hidden adversary. There was only one way to find out if his heart
could hold love.
"Digi-Armor, energize!"
The darkness was split around Ken at those words, a red beam of light
shooting from the D-terminal and right into this D-3. Wormmon leapt from
his partner's shoulder, his feet hitting the ground audibly as he shouted
out the words that would be the warning to the digimon that had dared hurt
the other Digidestined.
"Wormmon Armor Digivolve to . . . Owlmon, the eyes of affection!"
Ken was again engulfed by darkness as Wormmon's words echoed throughout
the room. The fluttering of wings confirmed that Wormmon had transformed,
but the young boy genius couldn't see any sign of his friends or their
enemy.
"Infra Red Ray!"
Bright, twin beams of redness flashed out of nowhere, impacting on something
huge and solid with incredible force. Ken staggered back and shielded his
eyes from the sudden light, hissing as an inhuman screech pierced his ears.
"Root Stalactite!"
Everything seemed to rumble and tremor at those words, and Ken collapased
as pieces of tiling from the ceiling showered down on him. Light from beyond
the room spilled in through newly-made cracks in the ceiling, allowing
the Digimon Emperor his first look at the digimon Owlmon was up against.
Shock registed as he realized that the digimon on the ceiling of the room
was another Tendromon. In the dim lighting, Ken was unable to spot
any of his friends, but he was almost sure they would be tangled in the
plant digimon's long vines somewhere.
"Infra Red Ray!"
In the limited light, the boy was able to make out the gleaming, white
armor that made up Owlmon's helmet and bird legs. Wormmon's Armored form
using the Digimental of Love was relatively small -- it was perhaps only
a head bigger than Yolei's Hawkmon in size.
"Be careful, Owlmon!" warned Ken, his body tense as he watched his digimon
dodge vine after vine. "The others are up there somewhere!"
Owlmon circled the large digimon once on brown wings, ascending higher
and preparing to strike a lethal blow. His talons shone brightly as he
shouted out.
"Midnight Clutch!"
Ken would have watched his digimon finish off the Tendromon if he didn't
catch sight of something moving in the shadows that were still dominant
in the room. "Who's there?" he hissed, hands clenching into fists.
A familiar pair of goggles appeared before the actual person did, an
article of clothing that the indigo-haired boy had come to recognize as
Davis'. Davis approached him silently, glancing at the fight for a moment.
". . . Davis?" Ken straightened a bit, startled to see the Digidestined
of Courage and Friendship. If he was here, where were the others? Davis
continued walking, each step of his causing Ken to tense a little more.
"Davis, stop it. What's wrong with you?" Then, abruptly, the shorter boy
was running, his hands becoming fists before his veiled eyes. "Davis!!"
And then the boy was on him, a well-placed punch to the jaw stunning
Ken. Another fist landed on his stomach, taking his breath away even as
he tried to make sense of the situation.
Why is he hitting me?! What's going on here!?
Ken Ichijouji was unable to think any further, as a shocking blow to
the head sent him straight back into darkness' embrace. He was unconscious
before he hit the ground.
Davis Motomiya stood over his target, his face a mask of indifference
as he once again raised his head to the battle between Owlmon and Tendromon.
It would only be a matter of time before the armored digimon fell as
well.
Wormmon -- Uh . . . what just happened? That was pretty abrupt. . .
No kidding. I hated this chapter. I really, really screwed it over.
Ken -- I was expecting a huge Kenyako thing here. . .
I'm sure everyone was, but I couldn't deliver for once. This really, really sucked! *bangs head against nearby wall*
Wormmon -- She's only gonna destroy more brain cells. . . Aren't you going to stop her, Ken-chan?
Ken -- Who am I to say she doesn't deserve that punishment? If she wants to bash her head against a wall, I'm not gonna stop her.
Wormmon -- *thinks about it for second* She could always make this suddenly go yaoi. . .
Ken -- *stiffens* Uh . . . Athena, stop that! You need to keep writing! Who cares if this chapter was crap?! It just says that the next one will be better! C'mon, don't do anything rash. . .!
On a separate note, I'd like to say that "Makusu" (as in Makusumon) means "Defeat." So we've got three digimon named betrayal, doubt, and defeat. I was looking for fairly negative words when thinking of the Game Lords' names.
One Digimental left to open: the Digimental of Light. What's Ken going to have to do to open it? What's going to happen next?!
Onto Part 16
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