Chapter 42 - The Crest of Kindness (pt.2)

The Digimon Emperor laughed, "That's right, Kimeramon! Let them have it!"
"You can do it, Magnamon and Harmonimon!" Wormmon called.
"Silence!" The Digimon Emperor snapped, smacking the poor digimon's head with his whip.
"I hope you're finally proud of yourself. You've officially become worse than the monsters you've created." Wormmon turned around, tears in his blue eyes, "What happened to that sweet little kid I met a few years ago who had a dream to take over the Digital World? Okay, sure, it was a sick and twisted dream, but still- we had a lot of laughs together. What happened to the boy that I was proud to call master? Of course, you made me call you that."
Kimeramon was busy squeezing Harmonimon and Magnamon. No matter how hard the struggled, they couldn't get free.
"Hey, take it easy!" Magnamon cried, "We're not melons."
"You've changed, Ken," Wormmon continued, "but it's not too late for you. For some reason, you started capturing digimon, you even captured that girl, and you turned them into your slaves instead of your friends. I didn't agree, but I stuck by your side because I was your digimon. And then...you started being cruel to me, the one who knows the true you. The others may know and fear you as the Digimon Emperor, but never forget I know the real you."
Then something strange happened: Wormmon started to glow. At the same time, the two golden armor digimon started to glow, too.
"What's happening?" Magnamon asked.
"I believe Wormmon is transferring his energy to us." Harmonimon said.
"I'll always think of you for your kindness, Ken," said Wormmon, "No matter what. I hope one day you'll realize the real Ken isn't the Digimon Emperor, but the Ken that's my friend. And only a real friend would do this."
The shining catapiller launched himself at the Digimon Emperor and knocked him to the ground. The large black digimon they had been standing out flew into the air towards Kimeramon with Wormmon perched atop his head. It hit Kimeramon and caused him to release Harmonimon and Magnamon.
"Wormmon!" Magnamon exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"
"It's up to you two now!" Wormmon called, tears overflowing onto his cheeks. Kimeramon roared and smashed Wormmon into the air, "Please! Save Ken for me! Here's what little energy I have left. Use it!"
His body froze in the air and a bright beam of light shot from it and hit the two other digimon. Fully enegized and glowing like a character from Dragon Ball Z, they turned back to Kimeramon.
"Harmonic Magna Explosion!" They shouted together. An enormous blast of light shout of their bodies and encompassed Kimeramon entirely. The Digi-Destined blow watched, mouths agape, and then realized the battle had been won. With an alimighty cheered, they leapt into the air and Davis and Ashlyn ran towards their digimon.
"I can't believe they defeated me..." The Digimon Emperor said as he fell to his knees, "How could this happen?"
Woofmon and Demiveemon were lieing motionless on the ground as Davis and Ashlyn ran to them.
"Are you okay?" Davis asked, kneeling beside them. Demiveemon blearily opened his eyes.
"Hey." was all he said.
"What about you?" Ashlyn asked, stroking Woofmon's soft ears.
"Mmm..." Woofmon murmured. The teenagers took the in-training digimon into their arms.
"You were awesome!" Davis told them.
"Totally." Ashlyn agreed.
"Huh...what's that?" Davis asked, spotting a pink something buried in the sand a few inches away. He picked it up.
"I lost..." The Digimon Emperor moaned, huddled on the ground and on the verge of tears, "I'm a failure. This isn't what was supposed to happen. I was flawless. My plans were supposed to work out perfectly. It couldn't happen! They must have cheated somehow! That's the only possible explination. I have only one choice left and that's just to cheat myself. I'll start over. I just have to reset the Digital World!"
"Reset the Digital World?" TK asked, announcing the fact the group had gathered around the shaking boy, "What are you talking about Ken?"
"It's simple. I'll just go home and delete all the Digital World date off my computer and create a new program. That way I can start a new Digital World that doesn't cheat!"
"You can't be serious." Azukia said, shuffling forward with Nekomon.
"The Digital World is a completely real place!" Yolei told him, "It's just something that's programmed into your computer."
"And even if it was...how could you not feel for all the creatures here?" Ashlee said, reminded of the first time she had come to the Digital World.
"We tried to tell you before," said Casey, "But you thought we were trying to pull some kind of a trick on you."
"This isn't some kind of a video game." Cody snapped.
"Digimon are real, Ken," said Ashi, "And it's about time you realize what you've been doing."
"What?" the Digimon Emperor asked, turning to look at them.
"You've been hurting innocent creatures, Ken," Kari explained. He gasped.
"Your digimon were all at the soccor game in the real world. I remember now. You are real, not just computer data. I can't believe that I never figured that out."
"Yeah, some kind of genius." Emi said coldly, "Did you think this was some giant roleplay board?"
"As if." Coronamon huffed.
"And you've constantly been abusing digimon ever since you CLAIMED to be the Digimon Emperor," said Davis.
"I had no idea. What have I done?! I thought my dark rings were a stroke of genius. I never realized I was causing pain. I made them work for me tirelessly, without ever giving them a break and I was cruel to them beyond imagination." He screamed, tearing at his hair, "I'm a monster! I can't believe what I've done!"
"It's hard to argue with you there," said TK, "You've done some pretty terrible stuff."
"The important thing is you've realized what you've done." Kari said, "And it's not too late to make a fresh start."
"What have a I done?!" Ken (notice how I just started calling him Ken right now.) screamed and then began to bawl. Emi took a step back, looking worried. He threw his gloves to the ground, where the dissolved. Still crying at the top of his lungs, he ripped off his cape, and the glasses. He got up and started walking away, still crying, took a few steps, and then fell prostrate to the ground again, where the rest of his outfit disolved, leaving Ken just as he was in the real world.
"Wormmon!" Emi suddenly cried.
"Wormmon?" Ken looked up. Kari and Emi were sitting on the ground. Wormmon had his head in Emi's lap and the rest of the ground, including their digimon, were crowded around and looking sad.
"He's still breathing." Gatomon announced. Ken slowly walked over, looking dazed and confused.
"You've returned to you old self," Wormmon said in a quavering voice, "I knew you could do it, Ken."
"I'm sorry," Ken sobbed, "It's too late for me."
"It's never too late to be sorry." Wormmon said gently.
"Wormmon's absolutely right, Ken." said Davis. Then he looked at the object in his hand that had started to glow. It slowly rose out of his hand and flew towards Ken.
"Where'd you get that thing, Davis?" asked Azukia.
"We found it near our digimon," Ashlyn explained. Ken, meanwhile, stared sadly at the object, "Why?"
"It looks like one of the crests we used to have in the old days," Casey said.
"You're right, Casey." said Tara, "And it has the crest of Kindness on it."
"And we know that...how?" asked Ashi.
"But why's it coming to me?" Ken asked, holding his hands out towards the crest.
"Because it belongs to you, Ken." Wormmon said, and then groaned with pain, "It's the crest of kindness."
"There must be some mistake. I've been anything but kind."
"That's what Wizardmon meant when he told us that kindness will release the golden radiance," Nekomon said, eyes widening, "Ken must be the key to unlocking the power!"
"I told you that deep inside you were kind," Wormmon moaned. Ken walked to his digimon and then fell to his knees beside him. He picked the worm up and craddeled him in his arms.
"Wormmon..." He said, once again crying, "I'm sorry. Don't go. You're my best friend." (Cue the waterworks)
"You're my best friend, too. Good-bye, Ken." Wormmmon closed his eyes and his head slumped onto Ken's chest. With that, he disentagrated.
"Wormmon! NO!"
"He's gone, Ken." Wmi said gently, touching his shoulder.
"He can't be! Not again! Wormmon is gone! Just like my brother...I was helpless to save him and now I can't save Wormmon either." He got on his hands and knees, tears falling into the grand. Emi sat beside him, looking sadly at him, "Why do I keep losing people?! I came to the Digital World to get away from all those feelings but I just can't escape."
"There's still people who love you." said Davis. Ken staggered to his feet and took several steps forward.
"I gotta go."
"Don't walk away from your problems!" Davis called after him, "Let us help you Ken! You're a Digi-Destined! Join us!" Ken didn't turn around, and soon he was out of sight.
"I wonder...where he's going." said Cody.
"I hope he'll be okay." Ashi said quietly.

"Hey Matt!" June shouted happily as she ran, waving, into the campsite, "I made it!"
"Oh no!" Matt cried, "She found us! She's like a boomarang: she keeps coming back!"
"But when you drove off with your tires screeching, you didn't realize you'd left me behind." June said once she made it to the table the three boys were sitting at.
"Uh...my bad. Sorry about that. Must have forgot."
"Where are Davis and the others?"
"Um...I think Tai knows. Hey Tai! Do you know where the others went?"
"Lemmee think about that for a sec...Izzy! Weren't you the last one to see them?"
"Uh...um...of course!" Izzy stood up, "I'll go find them right now!" He ran into the woods, lap-top still in his hands. Once in the forest, he asked himself, "Now what am I supposed to do?" The computer made a loud beeping sound and he looked at the screen, "The Digi-Port is opening!" Out tumbled the Digi-Destined, all on top of Izzy.
"Did you guys hear that noise?" June asked, back at the camp with Matt and Tai.
"It...could be a wild animal." said Tai.
"Yeah," Matt hurriedly agreed, "The woods are a dangerous place. You better leave quick."
"I'll tell Davis you stopped...by," Tai said, but as he turned around, he saw Davis and the others marching towards him.
"Uh...there they are." said Matt.
"Who invited you to come camping, June?" Davis demanded.
"Matt did!" June cheered.

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