by NetRaptor
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All characters in this story are copyrighted by the writers of Digimon. Velocimon copyrighted by NetRaptor. All events in this story are based on speculation about behind-the-scenes events of the Digimon show.
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This story takes place after the fall of the Digimon Emperor, but before Ken joined the Digidestined, and before the beginning of the Dark War Greymon story arc in Season 2. Please excuse all inaccuracies.
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A girl lay in a hospital bed, her face and arms bandaged. A network of tubes hung above the bed, feeding her body, keeping it alive. Her face was ghastly pale under the swirl of brown hair, and her eyes were closed.
A man and a woman entered the room, followed by a teenaged boy in a green school uniform. The drawn, sickened look on his face showed he was much more upset than his parents were. His mother leaned over the girl, smoothed her hair and kissed the bloodless cheek.
The girl's eyes fluttered open. "Mom!" she said weakly, looking around as if she didn't know where she was. "And Dad! Where am I?"
"Everything is all right, Kari," said her mother. "You're in the hospital."
Kari's eyes circled the room and came to rest on Tai. He was staring at her, unable to speak. He could guess what had happened to her. At the sight of him, what color there was in Kari's face left it.
"What happened?" asked their father.
Kari looked at him and said hesitantly, "It was a kid--with a knife. I was walking to study hall, and--and--" Her eyes filled with tears, but not because of her injuries. Tai knew how much she hated to lie.
Her parents comforted her and promised it wouldn't happen again. Kari endured it, but she was desperate to talk to her brother. At last she asked timidly to speak to Tai alone. Her parents agreed, but promised they would be back in five minutes.
Tai moved up beside the bed, eyeing the equipment hooked to his sister. "What happened?" he whispered.
Kari's unbandaged left hand gripped the sheets. "Tai," she whispered back, "I went to the Digital World, because Gatomon thought the digiport was open where she had lost her tailring. I was only there a few minutes--" Her eyes were filling with tears again, tears of fear.
Tai put his hand over hers. "What happened? Where's Gatomon?"
"We got there, and we were looking around," said Kari, beginning to shake, "when a digimon attacked us. I had never seen it before. It was so fast! I tried to armor digivolve Gatomon, because it's faster, but it blocked the digivolve somehow and--and it hurt Gatomon! It had her in its mouth and was shaking her--then it dropped her and attacked me and--Tai, I never knew that could happen! I only barely got back through the digiport, and somebody saw me and called an ambulance ... that's all I remember." She gripped his hand and tried to sit up, but couldn't. "You've got to find Gatomon. She might die! I had to leave her--" Kari's voice broke in a sob.
Tai's fear was turning to rage. "What digimon was it?"
"There wasn't time for a D3 readout. It was dinosaur type, maybe dragon. It had some metal on it."
"What was it's attack?" Tai's voice was completely flat. They might have been discussing turnips.
"I think it was Saber Claw," Kari replied after a moment's hesitation. "It was saying it over and over, along with ..." She swallowed. "Death to the Digidestined."
Tai looked horrified, then drew a breath. "I'll tell the others. Where's your D3?"
Kari blanched. "I think I dropped it. If that thing wanted it--"
The door opened, and their parents returned. "Time's up," said their father.
Tai smiled a huge fake smile and patted his sister's shoulder. "Get well soon, Kari!" He bowed a little and excused himself. He had a batch of email to send.
* * *
The Digidestined met in the school's computer lab, as they always did. These were a group of children, who, for some reason, could enter a place called the Digital World through a computer. Each carried a small, egg-shaped object called a digivice (or D3), and a palmtop computer. In each child's backpack, or in their arms, were creatures that looked like big stuffed animals.
"I came as soon as I heard," said an older girl with glasses and long violet hair.
"Me too," said a young boy with grey-brown hair and a yellow ball with eyes in his arms.
Another boy with blond hair mostly hidden under a floppy sailor hat slumped in a chair. "I can't believe it."
"Believe what?" asked another boy with brown hair and a candy bar in one hand. "I thought we were just going to the Digital World, like usual."
"You idiot," snapped the older girl. "Didn't you check your email?"
The boy pretended to ignore her. "Should we wait for Kari?" He promptly received a glare from the whole group.
"She's in the hospital, Davis," said the blond-haired boy with as much sarcasm as he could pack into the words.
"Maybe you should check your email?" suggested the blue creature in Davis's backpack.
Davis didn't reply until he had returned everyone's glare. "Fine. Demiveemon, hold this." He handed his candy bar to the creature, who promptly bit off a large section.
There was silence for a moment as everyone waited for Davis to pick up and read Tai's letter. They watched his eyes widen. "Kari's in the hospital!" he exclaimed.
The girl with glasses put her hands on her hips. "Well duh, Davis, I'm glad you finally figured it out!"
Davis spun around in the chair. "I didn't have time to check, Yolei! I had soccer practice this afternoon!" He reached back to Demiveemon, who placed the empty candy wrapper in his hand.
"We're wasting time," said the youngest boy of the group in a soft, raspy voice. He never said much in school, and talked his most to the other Digidestined. "Gatomon may be seriously hurt. We've got to get to the Digital World and find her."
"My thoughts exactly, Cody," said the blond-haired boy. He stood up and pulled his digivice from his shirt pocket. He held it up to the computer screen, pressed a button and said, "Digiport open."
"I'm the one who should do that, T.A.," grumbled Davis, folding his arms and clenching his digivice in one hand.
"That's T.K.!" said the blond boy's digimon, an orange pig-like creature with bat ears. It would have said more, but it and its master's bodies vanished into the computer in a flash of light. Cody, Yolei and Davis also held up their digivices, and phased through the digiport.
They emerged from the portal in their Digital World clothes and gear. They were standing on a thin path through a wood. The sky was brilliant blue, and a breeze rustled through the leaves about them.
"Is this the right place?" asked Cody, resting one hand on the back of the armadillo-creature beside him. Armadillomon had grown to his Rookie form in transit, as had Veemon and Hawkmon.
"I set it to open to the last location," said T.K., shading his eyes and looking around. "Spread out, everybody. We're looking for Kari's digivice and computer."
"And Gatomon!" added Patamon, the orange and white digimon with bat ears. He flapped them and flew off into the brush.
"Watch out for that creature, too," called Hawkmon. He looked like a bald eagle, but with an Indian feather sticking out of the top of his head.
The kids and their digimon spread out, calling Gatomon's name and peering under bushes for the missing equipment. Aside from the chirping of birds here and there, the woods were quiet. There was no sign of a big, ferocious digimon.
"Davis," said Veemon to his sulky master, "use your digivice to find Gatomon! She'll show up, right?"
Davis looked down at his blue bipedal dinosaur and grinned. "Good thinking, Veemon! Kari will be thrilled with me." He pulled out his digivice and set it to tracking mode. He had beat T.K. in thinking of this! he congratulated himself, already forgetting it had been Veemon's idea.
The red arrows led him away from the others. Veemon paced beside him, listening for trouble. So far there was nothing.
Davis had drawn quite close to the red dot on his digivice's screen when there came a distant shout. "Gatomon! Here she is!"
The boy reversed directions at once, and ran back toward the others. Veemon hesitated a fraction of a second--what had his master been tracking, anyway?--then galloped after him.
Yolei had come upon Gatomon squeezed in a narrow crevice under a rock. The white cat was curled in as small a ball as she could manage, her gloved forepaws clenched together. She hissed at Hawkmon before she recognized him. The bird called his mistress, who ran up and dropped to her knees in the grass beside the rock.
"Yolei!" whimpered Gatomon. "Can I come out? Will he get me?"
"No, it's okay," replied Yolei. She extended a helping hand. "Come out, are you hurt?"
Gatomon crawled out of the hole, her paws still clenched together. Her white fur was stained crimson, and a chunk of fur was missing from the center of her back. Her blue eyes darted here and there as she emerged, as if expecting attack at any second. "Kari," she said. "Where's Kari?" Then she toppled forward, and Yolei caught her. From her limp paws dropped three objects--Kari's digivice, Kari's palmtop, and the gold tailring Gatomon had lost months ago.
The other Digidestined ran up from different directions, panting. "She's hurt, we've got to get her to a hospital or a vet or something," said Yolei, her glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose.
"There's a hospital in Primary Village," said Davis, eager to help, "and it's not far away!"
"Who can get her there the fastest?" asked T.K., looking at the digimon.
"I can fly," volunteered Patamon, flapping his ears for emphasis.
"So can I," said Hawkmon. "If I digivolve normally, I am quite fast."
"Okay," said Davis before T.K. could respond. "Take her and go. We'll follow you on foot."
The digivolve sequence was fun to watch, but not as quick as an armor digivolve. Yolei held up her digivice to Hawkmon, who vanished in a spiral of light. "Hawkmon digivolve to," came his voice from the center of the spiral. This was a signal for everyone to move back. "Aquillamon!" roared Hawkmon's voice in a deeper key, and a pair of wings burst out of the spiral. The light vanished, and there stood an enormous bald eagle with a pair of curled horns on his head.
The great bird gently lifted the limp Gatomon in a massive claw, spread his wings, and swept skyward. "I'll come back as soon as I drop her off!" screeched Aquillamon, and departed like a winged dart.
T.K. and Davis fell to arguing over who should carry Kari's missing equipment. They grew so loud and so absorbed in their debate, neither noticed when Cody picked up the digivice and computer and put them in his own backpack. Armadillomon did, and snickered with Veemon and Patamon.
Yolei was almost to the point of banging the boys' heads together, when she heard a faint hiss from the brush behind her. She turned, and found herself face to face with Kari's attacker.
It was fortunate for Yolei she was not alone. She screamed and stumbled backward, arms raised to fend off the attack.
T.K. and Davis whirled and forgot their argument at once. A dark shape had pounced on Yolei.
"Quick! Quick! Flamedramon!" cried Veemon to Davis. "No time for normal digivolve!"
Davis whipped out his digivice and pointed it at Veemon, who was running toward the enemy. "Digiarmor energize!" A beam of light flashed from the digivice and Veemon's form enlarged into an allosaur-like shape with armored claws and an orange helmet. Veemon didn't so much as blink at his transformation to Flamedramon. T.K. and Cody had acted at the same time as Davis. Patamon became Pegasusmon, a golden winged horse, and Armadillomon became Digmon, an insect-digimon with metal drill bits for a snout and forepaws.
Flamedramon knocked the creature away from Yolei. "Get it away!" he roared to his teammates. "No energy attacks, it might hit her!"
Pegasusmon swooped down and planted himself between Yolei and the beast, and the boys ran up to help her away from danger. Her clothing was torn and her glasses knocked askew, but she was unhurt.
"Flaming rocket!" yelled Flamedramon in the custom of all battling digimon. An aura of fire appeared around him, and he shot at the newcomer, claws extended.
"Silver shield," hissed the reptilian shape. It raised its steel forearms, and a white shell appeared over its claws. Flamedramon struck it and bounced off. Before he could regain his feet, the stranger's voice came in a venomous hiss: "Saber claw!" Metal talons ripped into Flamedramon's back. "Death to the Digidestined! Death! Death!"
"That does it!" whinnied Pegasusmon, leaping skyward. "Star shower!" He beat his golden wings, and a burst of super-heated energy flashed downward.
"Silver shield flash!" snarled their enemy. The shield created this time not only deflected the star shower attack, it sent part of it back at Pegasusmon, who was taken by surprise.
"Death to the Digidestined!"
It was upon Digmon before he could react, inflicted a saber claw attack upon him, then raced away at blinding speed.
As the digimon returned to their rookie forms, Davis whipped out his palmtop before T.K. could and looked for a bio on their attacker. A screenshot appeared with a remarkably clear image. "Velocimon," Davis read aloud. "'An android-type digimon, Velocimon is known for his speed in delivering the Saber Claw attack. Ultimate level.'?" Here Davis couldn't help but yell in outrage. "That thing is an Ultimate?"
"No wonder we couldn't beat him," whimpered Veemon, who had a nasty scratch on his back.
The image showed a jungle-green dinosaur with steel forearms. It looked like a velociraptor, with a long, narrow head, yellow eyes, and long sickle claws on its back feet.
"Why does it want to kill us?" asked Yolei in bewilderment. "We didn't hurt it. It wasn't under a dark spiral--what does it want?"
"We should ask Ken if he knows anything," suggested Davis, stroking Veemon's head. "Maybe he's seen it."
Cody's face darkened to a scowl, and so did Yolei's. "No," she snarled, clenching her fists. "I am NOT asking HIM for help. He probably sicked it on us."
"Lighten up," said T.K.. This was one of the few issues he agreed with Davis on. "Ken's one of us now. He's not the Digimon Emperor anymore--he's Digidestined, too."
"I don't care," said Yolei, folding her arms and turning her back. "I don't like him and I don't want his help."
"That's a first," muttered Cody to Armadillomon, who snickered. It was well known that Yolei liked any cute boy, whether he was a jerk or not.
"Look, let's just get out of here," said Davis. "What if Velocimon attacks us again? Aquillamon will spot us on his way back."
"I can carry you and Yolei," offered Veemon. "If I use the other digiegg, I can go to Raidramon. I still have some energy left."
"All right," said Davis, holding up his digivice. "Digiarmor energize." Veemon grew into his allosaur shape again, but this time stood on all fours, and wore black armor on his head and body. He crouched to let Davis and Yolei climb on his back, as the other digimon returned to their armor-digivolved selves and picked up their masters.
"I'll beat you there!" roared Raidramon, and sprang away down the path.
"If I was an egg, you might," replied Pegasusmon, bounding into the sky with T.K. on his back.
"They'll be bushed before they go a mile," said Digmon smugly to Cody, plodding after his companions.
"I hope we don't get attacked," said the boy, looking nervously over his shoulder. "Did you notice that Velocimon only attacked people who were alone?"
"I noticed that," said Digmon, the drill on his snout giving a spin. "I'll bet you he attacked Yolei because Hawkmon wasn't here."
"Death to the Digidestined," said Cody, looking down at the hard yellow insect shell under him. "Do you think it's harmed anyone else?"
"We'll have to wait and see," said Digmon.
* * *
It was four-thirty in the afternoon in the real world. The sun slanted through the windows in the hall as a tall boy trudged toward his apartment door. His backpack hung on his shoulder by one strap, and sagged with the weight of its contents. His footsteps began to drag as he neared his door. Another funfilled evening of homework awaited him. He raised his hand to the doorknob and hesitated. For one wild instant he considered going to the Digital World and just hanging out, doing something other than homework, maybe going swimming. Despair clamped over his heart as his hand closed on the doorknob. They didn't want him there. He sighed, turned the knob and entered.
"Mom, I'm home," he called, not caring if she answered him.
"Hi Ken, how was school?" came his mother's fluttery voice.
"Fine," he said, trudging to his room.
"I'll bring you a snack in a bit," she called as he unlocked his door. "I know how busy you are and everything."
"Yeah, I'm so busy," Ken muttered bitterly, stepping into his dark room and letting his backpack slide to the floor. He walked to the window and pulled open the shade, letting the light stream in. That where was he wanted to be, he thought, staring down at the street, where several kids were riding their bikes.
He picked up his backpack and extracted the twenty or so books that accompanied him to school every day. Half of them were arithmetic. He stacked them according to subject and turned on his computer. There was enough time to check his email before he ploughed into his homework.
There were two spams advertising ways to get rich quick, five newsletters he subscribed to, and two from addresses he didn't recognize. He opened the first on cautiously; you could never tell about unsolicited email. Tai. That was one of the Digidestined kids. His eyes flicked over the letter's contents, and a sick feeling spread through his stomach. Kari, that little girl, had been hurt so badly she was in the hospital.
He closed the email as his mother entered the room, carrying a tray of cookies and milk. He eyed the food as she set it down. "Thanks Mom." He was certain he wouldn't be able to eat anything. "I have tons of homework, try not to disturb me."
"Okay Ken," she said, and departed, closing the door behind her.
A round, green head peeked over the top of the guardrail on the top bunk a few feet away. "Hi Ken," said the creature in a trembly voice. "Are you going to eat that?"
"Help yourself, Wormmon," said Ken without looking up. "Kari's in the hospital. Tai said she was attacked."
Wormmon crawled to the floor, a caterpillar with many little round feet, and huge liquid digimon eyes. He looked up at his master and blinked. "Do you think it was one of ours?"
Ken rubbed his face with both hands, a gesture of despair. "I don't know. I had so many slaves I've lost track." In the aftermath of his reign of terror, the ex-Digimon Emperor wished he hadn't done it.
As Wormmon munched a cookie, Ken opened his second unsolicited email. This one was from T.K.
"Ken, I'm emailing you for Davis. We met the digimon who hurt Kari and Gatomon. Here's it's bio. We need your help. T.K."
* * *
Five o'clock. Tai sat in the hospital waiting room, clutching a palmtop computer in one hand and a digivice in the other. "C'mon, I want ten minutes," he muttered, watching the clock and tapping a sneaker. "Ten lousy minutes would be enough, come on ..." The secretary beckoned to him, and he was through the door in a flash.
Kari was watching television, a look of scorn coloring her pale face. "Tai!" she exclaimed as he entered, and switched off the TV with a remote. "All they have on are those American anime shows, I'm about to go nuts. What's up?"
Her brother held up her digivice and palmtop. Kari's face lit like a lantern. "You found them!"
Tai explained about Gatomon keeping them safe, and repeated Davis's report on Velocimon.
"So Gatomon's safe?" asked Kari in relief.
"Yeah, she'll be out of the hospital before you will." Tai looked down and knotted his fingers together. "We think it's one of Ken's lackeys run amuck."
Kari looked at him, brow furrowed in a frown. "But that isn't right. He's not controlling anybody anymore."
"Chimeramon wouldn't have stopped after Ken went down," said Tai. "I'm afraid this is the same thing."
Kari looked away. She always pitied the underdog, and she didn't think the boy who had watched his digimon die, then staggered away, crying his heart out, would return to his old ways. She looked at Tai again. "Was Velocimon a virus type?"
Tai checked the digivice. He hadn't thought to look at the thing's type, assuming that all digimon who attacked the Digidestined were virus or data type. In information on the digivice, however, made his hair stand a few inches higher than usual. "No," he said, wondering if he dared say it aloud. "It's ... vaccine type." He met his sister's eyes. Only friendly digimon were vaccine type--in fact, many of their own digimon were vaccine-types.
"That rules out Ken," said Kari cheerfully. "Do you think it's gone crazy?"
"Might have," said Tai, still staring at the digivice. He handed it to her. "There's a jack over here so you can send and pick up email. We'll keep you posted, okay?"
"Okay," said Kari, looking better than when he had arrived. "See if you can smuggle Gatomon in here sometime, too."
* * *
Night fell on the Digital World and the real world. The Digidestined went home to eat dinner and complete their neglected homework. T.K. checked his email, hoping for a reply from Ken, but there was nothing. "Maybe Ken hasn't checked his email," he thought.
In the Digital World, Gatomon lay in a bed in Primary Village, her injuries bandaged. At least her tailring was back on. She felt complete, for now she could finish her attacks in Rookie form. The others had told her about Velocimon before they left, and she was determined to ask about him. But for the moment, crickets were chirping, the room was dark, and she was safe.
Near midnight a nurse entered to check on her. Gatomon yawned and stretched her white-cat length. "I'm fine," she replied to the nurse's question. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," said the nurse.
"Have you ever met Velocimon?"
"Sadly, yes," sighed the nurse. "He used to be the sweetest digimon you could hope to meet, little Rookie Raptormon. He would come to Primary Village to play with the hatchlings, bring them treats and things. Velocimon is his Ultimate, you know."
"I heard," said Gatomon. Her ears were pricked as high as they would go. "What happened to make him go bad?"
"I believe he met the Digimon Emperor. He's been out of his head ever since. We hoped he would recover after the Emperor fell, but ..." The nurse shook her head.
"What a shame," said Gatomon.
"You're the first person he's really hurt," said the nurse. "I think he's made a turn for the worse."
"Well, when I get better I'm going to show him a thing or two," said the cat fiercely. "Just wait."
Outside the building, silvered by the moonlight, stood Velocimon. He had overheard and was panting with rage. "Death, death, all is death," he hissed through his long teeth. "They must all die. All of them. Death to the Digidestined!"
* * *
Saturday. The kids rose early, as do most kids who adore a free day from school. T.K. called up Davis after breakfast. "Let's spend the day in the Digital World!"
"Can't." Davis sounded glum. "I have a soccer game today at nine."
"Well then, we'll go afterward," said T.K., automatically lowering his voice as his older brother, Matt, walked into the kitchen. Matt eyed him with a smirk, then opened the refrigerator. "We could make it a--a victory celebration!"
"I wish." Davis still sounded unhappy. "We're playing the JV's, they're tough. Man, I wish Ken was on our team."
T.K. took that to mean both the soccer team and the Digidestined. "Yeah, me too."
"Oops, gotta go, my evil sister's up," whispered Davis. "Bye!" Click.
T.K. sat down as Matt poured himself a bowl of cereal. "We can talk," said Matt. "Dad worked late last night, we won't see him for a while." Matt's blond hair stuck up in unruly tufts, not yet tamed by gel and furious combing. He looked like he had when he had been in the main set of Digidestined kids, before real life caught up with him.
T.K. told him the reason Kari was in the hospital, and what they had learned about Velocimon. Matt ate in silence, listening. When T.K. finished, Matt said, "If digimon can go crazy like people can, then you guys will have to hunt it down and kill it. It's a menace; there's nothing else you can do."
"I don't mind beating evil digimon," said T.K., tracing a pattern on the tabletop, "but this is vaccine type. It's friendly, or it was."
"It might be sick, too," said Matt, chewing his spoon thoughtfully. "Like it has rabies."
"I emailed Ken about it, but he hasn't replied. I even sent him the bio and a picture."
Matt shook his head and rose to his feet. "I have to work today, but if you need any help, I'll come in tonight."
"Okay," said T.K.. "Tell Dad where I went. I'm going to let Patamon run around at the park."
* * *
The sun peeked through the blinds in Kari's hospital room. She was bored, her cuts ached, and there was nothing on TV. She tried to sleep, but she had laid in the same position for so long it was impossible to get comfortable. She shut her eyes anyway and wondered what the other Digidestined were doing.
The cry seemed to come from the hall. "Help! Help! Kari, help!"
She gasped and sat up, eyes searching the room. "Gatomon?" she whispered. No, Gatomon was in trouble in the Digital World. In times of extreme stress, the digimon could alert their masters of peril by crying their names. Kari snatched her digivice from under her pillow and saw its lights were blinking red.
She grabbed her palmtop off the bedside table and typed a panicked message, which she forwarded to all the Digidestined in her address book. "Gatomon's in trouble! Somebody help her! It's 10:43. Kari." Hopefully someone would be on-line and get her message ... somebody would respond.
* * *
Gatomon was perched in the top of the tallest tree she could scale, the branches bending dangerously under her weight. Below, a green reptilian figure crouched, slavering, for another spring. The tree's trunk hung in white fuzzy strips for twenty feet up its height.
She had gone for a walk, as tired of lying in bed as her mistress was, when Velocimon sprang out of nowhere with murder in his yellow eyes. Remembering what had happened the last time she tangled with him, Gatomon climbed the nearest tree. Velocimon could not fly or breathe fire, fortunately for her, but he could jump like a grasshopper, and his slashing claws had already torn off several branches in his frenzy to reach her. She had screamed for help, and several digimon came running, but stopped when Velocimon snarled at them.
She peered down at her enemy, ears pinned flat to her head. He was crouching, looking up at her, sides heaving. "What's the matter with you?" she called down. "Why do you want to get me?"
"Because you have one," snarled Velocimon, his tail lashing back and forth. "I want mine back, and you have one! You all have one!"
"One what?" asked Gatomon. At least he wasn't jumping. "A digivice? A crest?"
Velocimon gnashed his teeth and didn't answer. A second later he sprang into the air, snapped his jaws a foot below her paws, and fell, claws tearing all the way down the tree's trunk. "Death ... to the Digidestined," he panted, eyes ringed with white.
Remembering what the nurse had told her the night before, Gatomon called down, "Did the Digimon Emperor hurt you?"
Velocimon froze and stared up at her, a maniac sparkle in his eyes. "Did Ken hurt me? Did Ken hurt me? He has no idea what he did to me! Ken and Wormmon, Ken the Digimon Emperor, he has no idea what he DID!" The last word was a roar as he leaped at her again. Gatomon slapped him across the face, and he fell back hissing in hideous fury.
"You can't jump high enough," said Gatomon.
Velocimon was tiring. He leaped again, but came nowhere near the cat. "Tell Ken ... I want him," he panted. "Tell him I'll kill you all if he doesn't come to me."
"I can't contact him HERE," said Gatomon, waving to the mutilated tree.
The green dinosaur showed her his teeth. "Too bad." He lay down at the foot of the tree to rest. Gatomon spat at him--she had hoped he would go away.
This was how they found them when the Digidestined entered the Digital World after Davis's soccer game.
"Do we have to kill it?" asked Cody, gazing at the dark shape under the damaged tree. "I don't want to kill anything. That's what Ken did."
"It might be kinder than letting it live," said T.K., resting a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "It's data has gone bad. It's suffering."
"Couldn't we capture it?" asked Yolei, wringing her hands. "Put it in jail or something?"
"Who do I look like, Ash?" snapped Davis. "He won't die, he'll get reconfigured and show up as an egg in Primary Village over there."
"Pity," muttered Veemon, who still sported a scratch on his back from the previous day's encounter.
"Let's give it our best shot," squeaked Patamon from his perch on T.K.'s head.
"All together," said Davis, holding up his digivice. "Digiarmor energize!" Four digivices blazed to life, and four digimon grew to their armor-digivolved selves.
In the distance Velocimon jumped to his feet and stood waiting.
Today Veemon went to Raidramon, who was slower than Flamedramon, but had a bigger arsenal. Hawkmon, who also had two digiarmor forms, went to Shurimon, a ninja-digimon armed with circular blades that could tear the heck out of anything. These two, along with Digmon and Pegasusmon, charged their enemy.
The battle was vicious and fast-paced. Velocimon blocked the initial attack with his silver shield flash defense, which rebounded the attacks upon the attackers. Then he went after Raidramon, as if he knew it was Veemon underneath. Raidramon hit him with a lightning attack that stunned him, and Digmon followed this up by launching his three drill-bits at Velocimon like daggers. They struck home, but didn't hurt Velocimon much. Infuriated, he tore into Digmon with three Saber Claw attacks in quick succession. Unfortunately for Velocimon, Shurimon was as quick moving as he was. Velocimon found himself pinned to the shredded tree trunk by three sawblades.
After that, the battle went downhill for Velocimon.
A bare five minutes later, Velocimon lay on the grass, exhausted and gasping for breath, bleeding from a dozen places. The four digimon stood over him, waiting for a command from their masters to finish him off. At a distance, T.K., Davis, Cody and Yolei exchanged a glance. "Don't do it," said Yolei. "Please. He's whipped. Let's let him go."
"He's going to die anyway now," said T.K., scowling. "It would be cruel to let him suffer."
"He's an Ultimate," said Cody. "Isn't it true that the higher level a digimon is, the harder they are to kill?"
Davis and T.K. looked at each other. "Well?" said T.K. "You're the leader. What do we do?"
Davis looked toward the digimon, standing in a circle around Velocimon. As he watched, Velocimon struggled to his feet and dragged himself toward the forest. Their digimon watched him, still waiting for a command.
"Let him go," said Davis.
* * *
That night, as four subdued children went to bed, a green dinosaur lay in the woods, licking his wounds.
A fifth child lay in a bed, surrounded by hospital instruments, and pitied the creature no one had had the heart to kill.
A sixth child slumped in a swivel chair in front of a glowing computer screen, chin resting on his chest. In his lap lay a green caterpillar creature, hoping to comfort his master by being near. On the screen was a list of emails from the other Digidestined, each repeating what Gatomon had said. "Velocimon asked for you by name and threatened to kill us if you don't come. Signed" one of the five.
Ken stroked Wormmon's head, feeling a faint pride in owning a creature so loyal to him. Wormmon blinked at him, nearly asleep in the dark room. "Ken, are we going to bed now? I'm tired."
"Not yet," said Ken wearily. "I have to decide what to do."
"About Velocimon?"
"Yes." Ken's right hand tapped the mouse, pulling up the bio of the rogue digimon.
He had thought he would never see Raptormon again. The little rookie who came to see him, lonely and afraid. The things he had said frightened Ken more than he cared to be frightened, and he had had Raptormon thrown out. There was a gap somewhere. There was something he had never known, something he had overlooked. He didn't know if he had the strength to face Velocimon. He was afraid the old wound would be torn open again, and he would lose it in front of Davis and the others. He had done it once, and swore he would never do it again.
Hours later, Wormmon spread a blanket over his master, who had fallen asleep sitting up in the chair.
* * *
Morning of the third day. Davis padded to his computer in his socks, blinking in the light pouring through his bedroom window. He flipped it on, checked his email, and found one from Ken. "I'll be in the Digital World at ten o'clock this morning. Be there." It had been sent to the other kids, too.
Davis dashed on tiptoe for the shower.
* * *
Ten o'clock. Ken waited on the path to Primary Village, checking his watch every few seconds. He had already been there half an hour.
"Maybe they aren't coming, Ken," said Wormmon.
"I was sure somebody would show," said Ken, hanging his head. "I guess they really do hate me." He looked around for the thousandth time, but he and Wormmon were alone. The prospect of hunting down the vicious Velocimon was looking less inviting every second. Ken kicked a pebble in the path and shoved his hands in his pockets. "You've better digivolve before we go looking," he said to Wormmon. "He likes to block the sequence. It's one of his attacks."
Footsteps. Ken looked up and felt a surge of relief. Davis, Cody, Yolei and T.K. were running down the path toward him, flanked by their armor-digivolved digimon. "Sorry we're late," panted Davis. "The computer lab was locked."
For a moment there was a stiff silence. Davis looked around at Yolei and Cody, checking their faces. Ice. Not good. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, anyway Ken, Velocimon ran off this way." He walked toward the shredded tree, Flamedramon padding at his heels. Ken followed him, trying to ignore the waves of hatred radiating off Yolei and Cody.
Velocimon had left a clear trail into the woods, leaving blood and scrape marks in the grass and leaves. The group followed it without a word, the digimon sensing their tension and keeping quiet. Ken walked beside Davis, biting his lip and beginning to feel sick. He had seen how digimon acted when in pain. This would not be a friendly meeting. His only comfort was Wormmon, who kept close beside him.
They rounded a tree trunk and came upon their quarry. Velocimon was lying in the pine needles, head up, steel forepaws stretched out in front. He was covered in dried blood, but was no longer bleeding, and looked capable of murder. He did not get up, but watched them with shifty yellow eyes.
Ken bowed. "I'm Ken. You wanted to see me?"
"I did, yes," growled Velocimon. He shifted his gaze from Ken to Wormmon, and his steel claws spasmed. "You have one, too."
Wormmon looked at him in confusion. "One what?"
"I have everything you have but that," said Velocimon. "I have a crest, I have a tag, I have a digivice--I have all those things, but I have no master." He looked at Ken again. "You know where my master is. He left the Digital World six years ago and never came back." Velocimon had said the same thing when he faced Ken before, but as little Raptormon. It had the same effect of chilling Ken to the bone.
The other Digidestined gaped. What was going on here? A masterless digimon run amuck?
Velocimon was more lucid than they had ever seen him. He lay on the ground, waiting for Ken's reply, his yellow eyes as cool as butter. Ken cleared his throat. "What--what was your master's name?" Perhaps he had guessed wrong. Maybe Velocimon had him confused with someone else.
"Sam Ichijoji," said Velocimon.
Ken was hit with such a wave of mixed emotion he couldn't speak. After a moment he swallowed and said, "Sam is dead."
The dinosaur didn't even blink. "How did he die?"
Ken looked furtively at the others. He would have preferred to done this alone, but the others were mesmerized, waiting unashamedly for the story. He bit his lip and said, "It was an accident. He got hit by a car when we were riding our bikes."
He had worshipped his older brother. They did everything together. The shock and horror of seeing Sam's crumpled body on the sidewalk had never left Ken, although he tried to escape it in a thousand ways, one of which was becoming the Digimon Emperor. But it seemed he would never escape Sam--he had been Digidestined, too. No wonder he had scolded Ken about the digivice that came out of the computer. He had one himself. "I'm sorry," he said to Velocimon. "I didn't know my brother was Digidestined. He never told me."
Velocimon rose to his feet, bracing himself against a nearby tree. His fury was past. His master would not return to him. There was no need to fret that Sam hated him and was avoiding him on purpose. Sam was dead. He lowered his head for a moment, grieved, then held out one hand to Ken. In it was a crest, a tag and a silver digivice. "I don't need these anymore."
Ken took them and looked at the crest. He didn't know how to read it, but the others did. "That's the Crest of Encouragement," said Tk quietly.
"And I, as a digimon, am unworthy of it," said Velocimon. "I never encouraged anyone. Keep those in memory of Sam. He was a good master. I'm sorry he died."
With that the dinosaur turned and crashed away into the brush.
* * *
"And that's it, Kari," said Davis, hands in his pockets.
The whole group of Digidestined had come to visit Kari, who was much better. She was sitting up in bed now, and her hair was freshly brushed. "That's sad," she said, looking down. "I didn't know Ken had a brother."
"Yeah, he was pretty shaken up by the whole thing," said T.K.. "He was white as a sheet." He looked at Yolei, who was twisting the hem of her shirt. She glared at him. "What? So I felt sorry for him. Who wouldn't?"
"You like him," grinned Davis, ribbing her.
"Better not do that, she'll explode," warned T.K., as Yolei turned red.
"The only problem now is forgiving him," said Cody in his raspy voice. "I don't know if I'm ready to do that."
"Better do it now," said Kari. "If only gets harder the longer you wait."
Davis's backpack twitched, and Kari stared at it. "Hey, what's in there?"
He looked at the others, grinned sheepishly and opened it. Gatomon's white head popped out. "Gatomon!" exclaimed Kari, holding out her arms.
The cat leaped into her arms. "Kari! You're okay! You can't believe what a time I had!"
Kari grinned. "What happened?"
"Well," said Gatomon, blue eyes sparkling mischievously, "first he came at me with a hard right, and I got him with an uppercut to the jaw, but then he saber clawed me, so I ..."
While all was glad in the real world, in the Digital World, an abandoned digimon grieved over his dead master, but he was glad even as he wept, for at last he was certain that he had been abandoned through no fault of his own.
Back in his room, Ken brooded as he did his math homework. He had never known Sam was a Digidestined. Sam would have been furious if he knew Ken was the Digimon Emperor. Ken heaved a sigh no one heard but Wormmon. Somehow, some way, he must atone for his awful deeds ...
The End
