A/N: Shorter wait period than last time! I'm improving :D
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"I… I don't understand, Wormmon."
When Davis had returned to the Digital World that evening to retrieve Wormmon, he'd been quite surprised to hear that Wormmon refused to go back with him. Now, the next day, everyone else had joined Davis in the Digital World, and Wormmon was forced to give them all the same explanation he'd already given their leader.
"Why do you want to move back here?" TK went on, he and the other children gathered around Wormmon. "I thought you liked living with Davis. And it's a lot safer over there for you, especially now that…" He furrowed his brow. "This doesn't have anything to do with Ken, does it?"
Wormmon tried to ignore the pang in his heart. Yes, it did. It had everything to do with Ken. But the others couldn't know that. As much as it was tearing him apart, if he wanted a shot at saving his partner… he had to betray them. He had to lie.
"Well, you see… the day Davis had his soccer game, and Bearmon and I were talking…" he began uneasily. "He said that the rebels all want me to come live with them, and I… I said I would do it."
Start with the truth, he thought. Make the lie easier to swallow. He really had spoken to Bearmon and agreed to his request. Unfortunately for everyone, the rebel leader had given him the perfect excuse to stay behind.
"But Wormmon… Ken's run away to the Digital World," said Kari. "He's going to be here twenty-four seven now. You know that, don't you?"
"I'm sure Bearmon will get it if you say no. I mean, things just got a lot different," said Yolei.
Wormmon just shut his eyes and shook his head. Why, why can't they understand, why are they making this so hard? "But that's just it," he said. "If he's really going to be here forever… what's going to happen when all of you have to leave every night? What are all the Digimon who live here going to do?" He opened his eyes slightly, gazing at the ground. "Bearmon said it himself…everyone feels better when I'm here. I might be their last hope."
"Well then screw their hope!" Davis snapped, shocking everyone as he stomped forward angrily. "How the heck can Bearmon ask you to do this?! Doesn't he get you're going to be in danger?"
"Davis, calm down," TK said softly, reaching out and placing a hand on the gogglehead's arm. "I know you don't like this, but… Wormmon's as much a part of this group as all of us. We need to trust him to make his own decision."
Davis turned to stare at him. "What?" he said, sounding outraged. "You actually think this is a good idea?"
"I don't know. Nothing like this has ever happened before. But maybe Wormmon's right. Maybe the Digital World does need someone watching over it when we're not here." TK sighed. "It's true we can't be here all day. We still have school and everything else… of course, so does Ken, but I guess he doesn't care about that anymore."
"Seriously. What kid in their right mind just drops everything and moves here forever?" Davis muttered, ruffling his hair in agitation. "I mean, I wouldn't miss Jun, but… I couldn't just leave my parents and everybody else. This guy's even crazier than we thought."
He turned back to Wormmon, still looking uneasy. "Wormmon… you really wanna do this?"
It would be so easy to just confess to everything right there. He didn't want to hurt them. He didn't want to shoulder this burden alone.
"Yes. I do."
Davis sighed and turned away while TK nodded. "Okay then. If this is really your decision, Wormmon, then I want you to have this."
He pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the ground, nudging it toward Wormmon with his foot. Wormmon looked at it in surprise.
"…Your D-Terminal?" he said. "But… why? Don't you need this?"
"Well, I'll be wanting it back whenever we come back here," TK chuckled softly. "But as long as we're away, you should have it, Wormmon. That way you can contact us if anything bad happens. Promise me, all right?"
Wormmon stared at the D-Terminal on the ground for a long moment, overcome with guilt. Finally he remembered the others were still watching him, and so he did what they were expecting him to do and shuffled up to it, pushing it behind himself.
"All right… thank you, TK. Thank you, everyone… I'm sorry for making you all worry."
"I still don't like this one bit," Davis muttered, arms folded tightly against his chest. "But if you really think this is for the best, Wormmon… me and Veemon are gonna miss you."
"We'll still see each other every day," Kari reminded him. "And we'll keep fighting together. Like we've always done."
––
The Emperor leaned back in his chair, sneering to himself as he held up TK's D-Terminal, toying with it between his fingers. Behind him, cowering in the shadows, Wormmon could only gaze up at him silently and hopelessly.
"Now this," said the Emperor, never taking his eyes off of the D-Terminal, "this is what I call results."
––
"EVERYBODY LOOK OUT!"
The inhabitants of the quiet and peaceful Digimon village began shrieking and fleeing in all directions as an entire army of Tuskmon came crashing through the gates. Each and every one of them had a Dark Ring clamped around its neck, and each one's eyes burned blood red. Standing on the shoulder of their leader was the Digimon Emperor, in higher spirits than he'd been in a long time.
"Say your prayers, Digidestined fools!" he cackled. "Didn't I tell you this wasn't over?"
The five children all spun around where they stood together and stared in shock. "No – it can't be – " TK gasped. "How did he know we were going to be meeting here?!"
"Less talking, more running!" Yolei snapped, scooping the loudly protesting Cody under her arm and fleeing the scene.
The Tuskmon went rampaging through the village, smashing though every house and building they came across and trampling the poor innocent Digimon who couldn't flee fast enough. One Geckomon found himself scooped up in the jaws of the lead Tuskmon, screaming in pain as its fangs dug into his body before he finally exploded into data. Then from behind the stampede came flying a sea of Dark Rings, one for each of the fleeing villagers.
"W-what's goin' on here?!" cried Bearmon as a frantic mob of Geckomon and Floramon went racing past him. He hadn't brought any of his rebels with him. They'd all been sure this place would be safe without them.
"Come on, guys! We can't let him get away with this!" Davis shouted, throwing up the Digiegg of Courage. The others all followed suit, and in an instant the five Armor Digimon surged forward to meet the Emperor in battle while their partners could do nothing but continue to run.
Wormmon was with them too, of course. He was there at Davis's side as they all fled from the destruction. But no one was there to notice the look of guilt and shame on his face as he ran.
"I don't understand… why would Ken even think to come here?" Kari whispered as she and the other children huddled behind the ruins of a building and watched the chaos. "Didn't we choose this place because it was far away from his other conquered lands?"
"He must have known we'd be here… but how?" Cody said in a low voice. "Can he see everything that goes on in this world, now that he never leaves?"
It was rapidly becoming clear that Flamedramon and the others weren't winning this fight. They were suffering savage blows from the Tuskmon, who fought tirelessly without showing any signs of slowing, the Dark Rings forcing them to continue no matter how tired they were. Finally the children's Digimon were each knocked out of the fight one by one, shrinking back to their Rookie levels as their strength left them.
"Veemon! Guys!" Davis screamed, racing back out of hiding and into the middle of the street where his partner was lying helplessly. He briefly locked up in terror as he stared up at the Tuskmon stampede descending upon him, then snapped out of it, grabbed Veemon and dived to safety seconds before he could be flattened.
"Guys, it's no use! We have to run!" TK shouted, grabbing an exhausted Patamon as he came dropping out of the air.
"But – " Davis looked around and realized with a sinking stomach that TK was right. The Dark Rings had all found their targets, and all the villagers who hadn't been destroyed were now servants of the Emperor. Bearmon was backed against a wall, trying to fight off six of them at once. The village had already been destroyed, leveled to nothing but rubble and dust.
The Emperor had won.
"Grr… this isn't over," he muttered, his blood boiling with hatred toward the one who had caused all this. "C'mon, Veemon, we gotta get out of here."
"Hey! Wait for me!" shouted Bearmon, shoving his way out from between two Geckomon slaves as he scrambled after the children.
The Emperor watched after his enemies as they all ran for their lives. He lifted his chin and smirked in triumph. He could easily follow after them and destroy them if he really wanted… but why bother? They needed to be punished for defying him. And that punishment needed to be absolute. Ending it prematurely wouldn't do at all.
Far better to make them squirm.
Wormmon was at the back of the group, the last one to escape the wreckage. It was all he could do to briefly glance behind his shoulder, getting one last look at his partner… and then, in a shimmer of binary, the Control Spire fading into existence behind him.
––
This was Wormmon's life now, day after agonizing day. Every day after school, he would meet up with the Digidestined as they tried and failed to fight back against the Emperor's latest counterattack, watching in dismay along with the rest of them as more and more Control Spires began to cover the land. Every evening once the children had gone, he'd go back to the rebel camp with Bearmon and the others, commiserating with their failure, trying to encourage them, trying to be the symbol of hope he was meant to be.
And every night once they'd all gone to sleep, he would sneak off to the Emperor's fortress and spill every last secret they had.
He hated it. He hated it so much, but… what if Ken found out he was withholding something? Anything at all? He'd be killed on the spot… and the Ken that Wormmon loved would be gone forever.
Perhaps the only good thing that had come of these past few days was that Wormmon was starting to remember more of Ken.
Ever since he'd first remembered who Ken was, that horrible night, his dreams had begun to reveal more of their past. Bit by bit, the fog was clearing. He still hadn't remembered anything substantial, just him and Ken playing and talking together, but he cherished every memory with all his heart. Amidst everything that had gone wrong, his dreams gave him hope; if he could regain his memories, so could Ken.
Wormmon just had to help him.
Several nights after everything had changed, Wormmon was lying curled up in the cell where he'd first found himself after being captured. The Emperor had him kept under lock and key during the night; he didn't want Wormmon sneaking off anywhere he didn't know about, running away from their deal. He was fast asleep, lost in his dreams.
Just as they always did, Wormmon and his partner were playing and laughing about something, without a care in the world. Everything was peaceful, everything was perfect. Then Ken suddenly leaned over and pulled Wormmon into a hug.
"You're my best friend, Wormmon. Nobody else cares about me. Not even Mama and Papa. They just care about Sam."
"Who's Sam?"
"He's my big brother. He's really smart… he's a super genius. Everybody loves him…"
Ken looked so sad all of a sudden. Wormmon knew he had to cheer him up, even if he had no idea what a "brother" was. "Don't be sad, Ken. I don't care how smart you are. I like you just the way you are."
"Really?" Ken looked back at him in surprise. "Even though I'm not special like Sam?"
"I don't care about that, Ken! You'll always be the perfect partner for me."
Wormmon woke up from his dream in astonishment.
Ken had a brother… and thanks to Davis, of course, Wormmon now knew exactly what a brother was.
Ken would have to remember this.
The next time the Goblimon came patrolling through the cell block, Wormmon called them over and told them he had something important to tell the Emperor. The guards glanced at each other skeptically for a moment, but after they seemed to realize there really wasn't anywhere for Wormmon to run, they reluctantly unlocked his cell and escorted him back through the fortress to the control room.
Wormmon cautiously craned his head around the corner and peered into the room. Ken was hunched in his chair, lost to the world, focusing single-mindedly on the computer screen in front of him as his fingers flew over the keyboard. It was clear he'd been sitting there for hours. He hadn't been getting much sleep at all since he'd moved to the Digital World… just one more reason Wormmon had to help him.
"Ken?" he said timidly.
Ken immediately froze, and his glare slowly traveled over to rest on Wormmon.
"What do you want?" he said dangerously.
Wormmon swallowed hard, slowly crawling into the room. "I… I was just wondering… can you… can you remember anything yet?"
Ken's glare somehow got even icier. "Remember what?"
"About us? Back when we were partners?"
The Emperor tightly gripped the arms of his chair. "You… you're still going on about that nonsense?" he growled, the threat very obvious in his voice. "You came over here to waste my time with this?!"
As much as he wanted to, Wormmon didn't avert his eyes from Ken. Be brave, he thought. Be strong. "I'm telling the truth, Ken. We were partners… we still are. I'll prove it to you." He braced himself. "You told me about Sam. Your older brother? You told me he – "
Wormmon never could have prepared himself for what happened next.
Faster than should have been possible, the Emperor leapt from his chair, grabbed Wormmon by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Wormmon's head exploded in pain, but Ken had such a death grip on his windpipe that he couldn't even cry out, and a choking gasp was all that came out. His legs started flailing around in a panic as he struggled to breathe, tried desperately to break free.
"What did you just say?!" Ken's eyes were bulging. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, YOU PIECE OF FILTH?!"
He didn't just look angry, he looked… deranged. He looked almost frightened. Like Wormmon was some sort of threat, and he was just defending himself.
"Ken… please… stop…" Wormmon's voice was the faintest wheeze. His vision was starting to tunnel. But Ken didn't stop, continuing to dig his fingers into Wormmon's throat as a rapid-fire series of emotions flickered across his face. He was trembling all over, his free hand clutching the handle of his whip, but he didn't move, looking like he was trying to figure out what to do –
And then suddenly he dropped Wormmon to the floor. Wormmon landed in an ungraceful heap, coughing and ravenously gulping down air, but he looked up in time to see Ken's hand had flown to the back of his neck. He was clenching his teeth, shaking and straining in what looked like terrible pain. His breath came in gasps, and his face looked even paler than normal.
Then before Wormmon could do or say a thing, Ken suddenly turned and dragged himself out of the room.
"Ken?" Wormmon cried in alarm. "Ken! Where are you – " But Ken was gone before he could even finish.
––
The Emperor staggered almost drunkenly down the hall, his head spinning, dangerously close to losing his balance entirely. He collapsed against the right wall, sliding against it as he struggled to stay upright.
It can't be – he – he mentioned Sam, he –
Forget.
How could he know about him? How? Unless I – I've been –
FORGET.
The pain in his neck rose to an unbearable pitch, and then with it came an overwhelming wave of drowsiness. Ken suddenly felt his eyes growing heavy, his muscles growing weak. His thoughts began blurring together, and in a moment he couldn't remember anything he'd just been thinking about…
Couldn't remember… anything…
He'd barely made it into the room where he'd moved his bed before he slid to the floor, unconscious.
––
Several hours later, Wormmon hadn't slept a wink. It was almost sunrise, he knew, and he couldn't have Bearmon and the others waking up to find he was missing – but more than that, he couldn't leave until he knew Ken was all right.
He had spent nearly the whole time worriedly pacing up and down the hallway, waiting for Ken to show some sign of life. What had happened to him? Why had just hearing about his brother caused all that?
Ken… I want to help you, but I don't know what to do…
Finally he heard a sound coming from behind him, and he turned around to see the Emperor come stepping out of the room where he'd been lying unconscious. He was swaying lightly on his feet and still looked pale, but otherwise he seemed to be back to normal. Wormmon's heart soared in relief.
"Ken! Are you okay?"
Ken didn't answer him, of course, just came to a stop and gave him his usual cold look. "What are you still doing here?"
Wormmon fidgeted a bit. He should have known by now just to keep his mouth shut around Ken, but he couldn't help himself. "I… I just wanted to say I'm sorry," he said softly. "About last night…"
The Emperor went very still, staring down at him with an unreadable expression.
"What do you mean, last night?" he demanded. "What did you do?"
Wormmon blinked in surprise. "I – well – we were talking, and… you got angry, and… it looked like you had hurt yourself…" He trailed off slowly as Ken continued to stare at him uncomprehendingly. "You… you really don't…?"
The Emperor stared at him for a moment longer before brusquely turning away. "Stop talking nonsense," he said shortly. "Get out of here. Before those damned rebels know where you've been."
He turned on his heel, striding away without another sound. Wormmon watched after him as he vanished, silent and astonished.
He… doesn't even remember? he thought. But he was so angry… how could he have forgotten? He must have –
And then ice flooded Wormmon's veins as he slowly realized what this must mean.
Whatever it was that had made Ken forget everything… hadn't gone away.