Started: April 29, 2001
Finished: May 7, 2001
Part 19:
Reunions
For the umpteenth time in less than a week, Yolei Inoue screamed bloody
murder.
It took all of her strength to keep from turning around and running
away from where she had been standing next to Kari Kamiya and Cody Hida,
twitching nervously as the glowing eyes narrowed on them.
"Move away. . .," Kari whispered, her body as stiff and rigid as her
friends'. "Move away . . . very . . . slowly. . ."
Surprisingly, one pair of glowing eyes softened at the sound of her
voice. "Kari?" came a familiar voice, hopeful and confused at the same
time.
The Digidestined of Light blinked, not noticing the wary looks on her
companions' faces as she squinted at the eyes in the dark. "Is that who
I think it is. . .?"
"Kari!!"
A white blur sped out of the shadows, leaping up at the brunette and
nearly knocking her off her feet. "Gatomon!" Kari hugged the feline
digimon to her chest, sharing the tears that fell from especially-bright
eyes.
Following the cat was a familiar, winged digimon with human-like features
and a helmet that covered its eyes. T.K. Takaishi stared at the digimon,
then smiled widely. "Angemon!"
"Angemon?" Yolei and Cody queried, eyes shifting from Gatomon to the
angel in blue and white.
"Patamon's Champion form," Davis Motomiya explained, sounding absolutely
jealous of the Digidestined of Hope's six-winged digimon. "Are all the
others here, too?"
Angemon nodded, standing next to his partner with a close-lipped smile.
"We were all worried," he said. "We could tell when you were all in trouble.
. ." He turned his head to T.K. "When I digivolved, I knew you were in
a dangerous situation. What happened?"
"Everything," sighed T.K., his Silver Cloak rolled up under one arm
as he rubbed his cold hands against his shorts in an attempt to absorb
warmth.
There was a rustling from within the forest. ". . . Is it really them,
Angemon?" came a deep voice.
Davis recognized the scratchy voice immediately, a bright smile creasing
his face. "Veemon? Hey, Veemon, c'mon out!"
The earth trembled as steps were taken, causing the Digidestined to
gasp and stare at the shadows in horror. A huge, blue dragon-like digimon
lumbered up, a pair of leathery white wings sprouting from its back.
Everyone watched as Davis' eyes became as big as dinner plates. "Veemon!?!"
A toothy grin appeared on the digimon's face. "Ex-Veemon, actually."
Davis whooped and cheered, running up to the Champion and scaling the
tall creature as everyone began to sweatdrop. "In your face, T.V.!!" he
yelled, pumping his fist as he sat on Ex-Veemon's head. "My partner's a
kickass flying dragon! Woooo hooooo!"
"I'm guessing Davis won't be bothering you about Angemon anymore," Kari
murmured to T.K., grinning as she held Gatomon.
". . . So all of them digivolved?" Yolei queried, looking from her friends'
digimon to the two pairs of eyes left in the shadows. "Hawkmon? Did you
digivolve??"
An eagle-like digimon that rivaled Ex-Veemon in height came into view,
followed closely by a dinosaur digimon with a shell covered with spikes.
Waving a spiked tail, the dinosaur digimon spoke. "Ya guys sure took yer
sweet time. . ."
Cody smiled at the familiar, western drawl, running to meet his digimon
partner. "What am I supposed to call you now?" he asked, looking up at
those huge, green eyes.
"Ankylomon. I missed ya, Cody." Ankylomon lowered his head and nudged
the little boy happily.
The Digidestined of Knowledge and Reliability chuckled quietly as he
was almost knocked off his feet. "I think I liked you more as Armadillomon.
. . At least I didn't have to worry about getting stepped on. . ." Ankylomon
smiled, allowing Cody to climb up on top of him before he moved to join
the rest of the group.
Yolei stared at Hawkmon's Champion form in awe, taking a few steps forward
and touching one gnarled leg. "Wow. . . Geez, and I thought you were big
as Halsemon. What's your name in this form, Hawkmon?"
"Aquilamon."
". . . Can you guys de-digivolve?" asked Yolei, still staring up at
the huge bird. "I mean, I'm not insulting your Champion forms or anything,
but you're not exactly huggable in this form. . ."
Without any complaint, Aquilamon began to glow a bright gold. The children
watched as the other digimon -- excluding Gatomon -- followed suit, shrinking
into forms that they recognized more readily. Yolei ran up to Hawkmon,
picking him up and nearly suffocating the poor bird.
"I had forgotten your death-grip hugs, Yolei," Hawkmon chuckled, hugging
his partner back. Patamon was also caught up in a hug from T.K, squealing
at the coldness of his hands.
Veemon had that goofy grin of his pasted on his face as he looked at
Davis. "So, what happened? Makusumon didn't tell us anything except that
you guys were being tested. Did ya see the Digimon Emperor?"
Davis blinked in surprise. "Makusumon didn't tell you Ken was involved?"
he queried. Veemon shook his head, staring back dolefully at the mentioning
of the Digimon Emperor. "Ken's on our side now!"
The digimon looked at each other skeptically, then to the other Digidestined
for a confirmation -- it wasn't uncommon for Davis to shoot off at the
mouth without a single though. T.K. cleared his throat and spoke up. "It's
true. We've spent the last four days playing a real-life Donkey Madness
game."
As soon as those words left T.K.'s lips, Davis cringed and shook his
head. "Donkey Madness wasn't half as freaky as this whole experience."
"You didn't get that far, Davis," reminded Yolei.
"I got farther than you!" shot back Davis.
"At least I heard about the game!" Yolei argued back, glancing at Kari.
Kari stared, exchanging glances with Gatomon. ". . . Why're you dragging
me into your fight?" she asked.
"I think they're trying to get you to fight for leadership," Cody answered,
clearly amused by the scene that was unfolding before him. Yolei had begun
to pull at Davis' goggles as Davis grabbed at her helmet, Hawkmon and Veemon
trying -- and failing -- to break the two adolescents apart before they
ripped each other into shreds.
". . . I leave you guys alone for an hour and you degenerate into a
mass of raving lunatics."
Yolei and Davis immediately untangled themselves, looking in the direction
of the voice. Ken was walking up from the same path the other Digidestined
had, carrying Wormmon in his arms.
"Ken!" Yolei waved as Ken approached, joining the others to greet him.
The digimon hung back nervously, eyes flitting from their respective partners
to the boy that had been their enemy up until this point.
"Hey, what happened back there?" demanded Davis. "Why'd Makusumon hold
you back for awhile?"
Ken grinned slightly at Davis' bluntness, raising one hand to hold up
the pendant around his neck. "He wanted to give me this," he replied.
T.K. and Kari stared at the familiar object. "A tag and crest!" gasped
T.K. "I haven't seen one of those in years!"
"What kind of crest is that?" queried Kari, looking curiously at the
flower symbol imprinted on the crest.
"The Crest of Kindness," Wormmon announced, eyes shining with pride.
Meanwhile, the other digimon were simply listening to the excited chatter
of their partners. Slightly braver than any of her companions, Gatomon
strode forward, took her place at Kari's side, and looked Ken over. Unlike
before, his dark hair fell around his face, giving him a much more passive
appearance. His eyes, a brilliant violet, were freed from the restraints
of those enigmatic, tinted glasses. Breathing shakily, the Champion digimon
kept her eyes to that face; she could almost imagine this boy was not the
Digimon Emperor if she did not look at the imperial garbs he wore.
"I see you're still in one piece, emperor," she said coldly. She winced
immediately. There goes that whole idea!
Ken looked down at Gatomon's blue eyes hesitantly, barely noticing the
other digimon line up next to their partners. Wormmon turned his head and
offered his friend a supportive look. The boy exhaled tiredly, then looked
to all the assembled digimon. "I . . . really should apologize for everything
I've done," he began. "I don't want to sound as if I'm expecting your forgiveness;
I already know that redemption will be hard--"
"What makes you think we won't forgive you?"
The indigo-haired ex-emperor straightened, looking to the flying digimon
that had spoken. Patamon slow in slow circles around him for a short while,
then lighted on T.K.'s head. "You know, for a genius, you sure do assume
too much," the orange digimon remarked. "We're digimon, not programmed
robots; we have hearts and brains. We know a lot of things and feel a lot
of things; we're like humans in a sense!"
Hawkmon rubbed his temples, sighing as he shook his head. ". . . I must
say, Patamon, that you're rambling."
"Huh?"
"You're not making any sense; I think you'll confuse the poor boy before
you actually get to the point," translated the red-plumaged bird. He bowed
in apology to Ken, whose face held a mixture of confusion, surprise, and
shock. "I do believe that Patamon is trying to say that we forgive you.
He's just a bit long-winded."
The other digimon nodded to Hawkmon's statement. Gatomon cleared her
throat and waited until Ken looked to her again. "My greeting was a little
. . . cold," she admitted. She lifted her gloved paw to Ken and smiled
as best she could. "Hi, I'm Gatomon. Glad to hear you're joining us. Finally."
Ken flushed with relief, kneeling down and accepting Gatomon's hand
into his own. He shook her paw, taking to mind that Gatomon held a seriousness
and coldness that the other Destined Digimon seemed to lack. He made a
note to ask about that at a later date. Once he finished shaking Gatomon's
hand, Ken shook hands with the other digimon.
"This is great!" Davis crowed, slapping Ken on the back as soon as the
taller boy had stood up again. "The Digimon Emperor's gone, we're outta
that hell maze, and we're going home!"
"I thank you all for your cooperation."
Everyone quieted at the unfamiliar voice, eyes widening simultaneously.
Ken looked upward. "Makusumon!?"
"Makusumon is presently away, Ken Ichijouji, and can't say goodbye.
I wanted to see you all off."
Cody frowned deeply. "Who are you? Another Game Lord we weren't aware
of?"
"No, no; simply a friend. We'll meet in the future, Digidestined.
Count on that. For now, however, we must say farewell."
The next thing the children and their digimon knew, they were being
drawn into a vortex that had appeared out of thin air. . .
* * * * *
Izzy Izumi stared at the screen in shock as the familiar Digital Gate
program loaded, his black eyes widening in shock as glowing forms appeared
through it and shot out at him. The poor Digidestined of Knowledge ended
up at the bottom of a pile consisting of children and digimon. He screamed
for air, battling his way through Davis and Cody before he was sure he
had enough breathing space.
"We're back!" cried Kari, clambering into a sitting position and gazing
at the familiar computer room of Odaiba Elementary. Her eyes fell on the
redhead a few feet away, and she tackled him. "Izzy!"
Downed for the second time in one day, Izzy sighed and waited for Kari
to release him before climbing to his feet. ". . . I'm glad to see you
so enthusiastic, Kari," he began in a strained tone, "but I don't appreciate
nearly suffocating twice in a day." Kari blushed in embarrassment at the
remark, apologizing quickly and standing up. Izzy looked to the other Digidestined,
slowly regaining his calm and collected look. "That was a bit quick. Did
you find the Digimon Emperor?"
Yolei blinked in shock, holding an agitated-looking Poromon. "'Quick?'"
she repeated. "Izzy, we were gone for four days!!"
Izzy frowned, lifting his arm to check his watch. "According to my watch,
you were only gone seventeen minutes."
"Seventeen minutes!?!"
The red-haired computer genius was nearly blown away from the resounding
screams of disbelief, but he managed to regain his balance. ". . . I take
it that something happened, then?" he queried.
"Many things, actually."
Izzy spun around on his heels, his gaze falling on a boy that he hadn't
realized had come through the portal with the other Digidestined. "Ken
Ichijouji? The Digimon Emperor?!"
Ken carefully placed space between him and the older boy, clutching
Minomon to his chest. T.K. grabbed Izzy's arm as he began to move towards
the former emperor. "A lot's happened, Izzy," he said seriously. "Ken's
a Digidestined now. We've all been through hell together."
The Digidestined of Knowledge stared at T.K.'s hand, then shifted his
gaze to the indigo-haired child. He crossed the space between them and
looked Ken up and down. His eyes fell on an object hanging around Ken's
neck. "A tag and crest!" he whispered in awe, taking hold of it and examining
it carefully. "When did you--? How--?"
Yolei hooked arms with Ken, smiling brightly. "Ken's the Digidestined
of Kindness. Isn't that something??"
Izzy sweatdropped profusely. "I'm getting the feeling I missed out on
something important here. . ."
Davis took it upon himself to explain the entire situation, beginning
with the introduction of the Game Lords and ending with Ken's final test.
The older Digidestined took in the information silently, glancing at Ken
every now and then. Once Davis was done explaining, and the others had
elaborated at key moments in their ordeal, Izzy looked seriously at the
former Digimon Emperor.
"I believe we got off on the wrong foot," he remarked. He held out his
hand to the indigo-haired boy. "I'm Koushiro Izumi, but my friends call
me Izzy."
The other boy smiled gratefully, bowing before taking Izzy's hand. "I'm
Ken Ichijouji . . . and I believe you're the brains behind this group's
operations."
A fair, red brow shot up. "Why do you say that?"
Ken smirked a bit. "Well, with the way this group of Digidestined acts,
I figured someone had to be holding them together most of the time."
He heard an indignant snort from Yolei, at which he laughed. Before he
knew it, Izzy was laughing as well.
* * * * *
The news had blared through half the prefecture, startling and surprising
many listeners and watchers. Ken Ichijouji, the boy genius that had been
missing for over two months, had returned home as mysteriously as he had
disappeared. According to the shaken boy, he had no idea where he had been
for the last two months. The police had interrogated the boy until he had
burst into tears, after which his parents brought the distraught child
back home and refused more interrogations.
But a chosen few people knew the truth.
Two days after Ken's return, the boy walked out onto school grounds
of Odaiba Elementary, glancing at the glistening trees and ignoring the
stares from children the passed. At long last, a familiar group of kids
came into view, waving and calling out to him.
"Hi, Ken!" Kari greeted, smiling brightly as she waved.
T.K. grinned and slapped Ken's shoulder playfully. "Nice to see ya again,"
he remarked. "Great alibi, by the way; the tears looked real."
Ken smiled thinly. "Well, considering I was driving a pencil into my
thigh during the questioning, they were real."
Cody's green eyes widened. "Really?"
In reply, Ken flattened out the fabric of his pants along the right
thigh. The outline of a bandage could be seen against the material. "Dang,
that had to hurt," whistled Davis.
"It's not so bad that I'm limping," shrugged Ken. He brushed at his
school uniform and adjusted the backpack he had brought with him for the
day. "Well, it's a Saturday now; we don't have school again until Monday.
I thought you all wanted to do something. . ."
"Of course!" confirmed Yolei, nodding genially. "We wouldn't drag you
out of Tamachi without a reason, would we? Let's go grab something to eat!"
The day was spent happily, the six children enjoying the pleasures of
walking around the city and such that they had taken for granted before.
They even went into Decks, the local mall, where T.K. and Davis battled
it out at the video arcade, Joypolis. After a long day of reckless antics
and much-needed fun, the Digidestined began to disperse.
". . . Yolei? Can I talk to you?"
Yolei looked back, blinking at the boy that stood alone on the sidewalk.
T.K. and Cody glanced back as well, confused. Smiling weakly, Yolei waved
the two boys off. "I'll see you guys later, okay?" Cody and T.K. slowly
nodded, a small grin appearing on the elder's face as they walked off.
"What's up, Ken?"
Pushing back a lock of indigo, Ken met her gaze. "Would you . . . walk
with me? I'd like to bring you somewhere."
The older girl consented immediately, walking beside the boy genius
as the sun began to set. ". . . Don't you have to catch a bus, Ken?" she
queried, suddenly concerned about the time.
Ken waved off the question, his eyes aimed at the beach that sloped
to the right of the sidewalk. Yolei quieted and followed, wondering where
they were heading the whole while. A few moments passed before Ken turned
and slid down the slope, taking the time to dust himself off before continuing
his walk. Now utterly confused, Yolei slid down as well and hurried after
the gray-suited boy.
"Ken? Ken, where are we going?" she asked, wishing she had a bandana
to hold down her hair. The sea breeze lifted and played with her lavender
hair, sending strands into her eyes.
"I found out from Makusumon what your prize was."
Yolei blinked at the sudden statement, staring at Ken. "I actually had
a prize?"
Ken nodded, finally looking at the girl. A faint smile danced on his
lips. "My heart."
Yolei stopped dead in her tracks, blushing madly at the declaration.
She didn't have much time to think about her prize however, as Ken hadn't
stopped from his walking and she had to play catch-up.
It didn't even occur to Yolei where they were going until they were
right in front of it. She stared up at a large tree on the very edge of
the beach, full of broad limbs and green leaves that appeared dark blue
in the growing semi-darkness. Gaping, she lowered her gaze back to the
one that had led her to the site.
"Ken. . ."
Ken responded by beginning to climb the tree, tossing his pack onto
the lowest limb and scaling. He offered the girl his hand and hoisted her
up, helping her climb higher up before settling on a broad branch near
the top of the tree. Yolei carefully sat next to the Digidestined of Kindness,
suddenly glad that she had left Poromon at home.
". . . I really missed this," Ken murmured, his voice breaking the silence.
Yolei leaned against him, sighing into his shoulder. "Me too." She took
Ken's hand into her own and clutched it, smiling as the younger boy squeezed
back. ". . . Ken? How're you going to get back home?"
The boy pulled up his bag and opened it up, revealing a sleepy-eyed
Wormmon. "Wormmon can digivolve and fly me across the river, can't you,
Wormmon?"
"Of course, Ken-chan," mumbled the Rookie digimon, crawling out and
curling up on Ken's lap. The violet-eyed boy smiled gently and put one
arm around his best friend, then looked upwards. "Look, Yolei."
She lifted her golden-brown eyes to the now-dark sky, smiling brightly
at the sight of glittering stars that shone like sapphires. "I was afraid
that . . . after the Forgotten Pentagon . . . I'd never be able to do this
again."
"We'll always be able to do this," Ken replied softly. ". . . As long
as you want to, Yolei."
He turned to look fully at the girl at his side, waiting until she looked
at him as well. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, patiently
allowing Yolei to regain her wits and kiss back before deepening it.
An eternity later, the two adolescents broke apart for air.
"Can we do this forever, then?" Yolei queried dreamily, remembering
Ken's last statement.
Ken looped his arm around Yolei's waist, resting his chin on top of
her head as she leaned against his shoulder again.
". . . I'd like that."
* * * * *
"Geez, Davis, I can't believe how fast you're beating that game," remarked
Jun Motomiya, looking up from her magazine to watch her little brother
storm through another level of Donkey Madness. "You've never gotten past
level three before. . ."
Davis shrugged, guiding his lead character through the last level. "After
what I've been through, this is a piece of cake," he said nonchalantly.
He had never gotten so far in Donkey Madness before, especially in one
night. The group of twelve had been cut down to six, all of which had names
that struck chords deep inside the boy. Monshou, the last leader, along
with Kokoro, Kyuutai, Mika, Yaiba, and Uwagi.
Crest. Heart. Orb. Vase. Sword. Jacket.
Their prizes hadn't been given at random; there had been a method to
Makusumon's madness afterall.
Smiling wryly, Davis continued with his game. Monshou confronted the
witch at long last, battling her down in a duel of strange sorcery that
Davis couldn't help but be in awe of. Defeating the witch proved to be
the toughest part of the game, taking the goggle-wearing boy nearly twenty
minutes -- even when, at halfway through, the other children had been released
from their cursed donkey forms to help.
Davis threw himself onto the couch in relief, watching the credits fly
by. Jun glanced at him, then turned to watch the credits as well. "'Can't
believe you beat it," she sighed. "What happened? You finally asked Ken
Ichijouji for tips?"
The younger Motomiya scowled at the grin his sister gave him, hitting
her with a nearby pillow and getting off the couch before she could hit
him back. He watched, entranced, as the credits ended and the screen came
back to life.
The surviving children walked away from the witch's domain together,
clutching at each other. In the background, the witch could be seen with
each and every single boss that Davis had beaten in the last four hours.
He swallowed hard, dark brown eyes wide with horror as the witch's cackle
echoed through his ears.
Was it possible that the other Game Lords. . .?
The End.
The cackling continued on even as the screen faded.
*sobs* Only the epilogue left. *catches Ken and Osamu in a hug and cries*
Ken -- *stiffly tries to comfort Athena* Uh . . . there's no reason to cry, Athena.
I DON'T WANT THIS STORY TO END! It was so GOOD!
Osamu -- "All good things come to an end."
*whacks Osamu* Don't say that!
Ken -- You don't have to hit nii-chan. . .
Osamu -- *mumbles something obscene*
*sighs* This is kinda getting depressing. Anyway, only the epilogue left! What's gonna happen in it? . . . I'm not gonna tell you! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Onto the Epilogue
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