Memory Lapse
part 4~

The caterpillar squealed, overjoyed. "Ken-chan! Where have you been!? I've been so worried! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Ken stared at the little creature in shock. So this is a Digimon. But Daisuke said that V-mon was blue...who is this little guy? How does he know me?

The insect seemed to take Ken's silence as a bad sign. "I'm sorry, I got too excited. I'm sure that you were out on a mission or something, and I shouldn't have been worried." He cocked his green head to the side. "What happened to your clothes? And why are you wearing those goggles?"

He seems friendly enough... "I was in a small--" what was the word? "--accident. The goggles are keeping the bandage on tight." Ken hesitated slightly, wondering whether or not to reveal himself to the little creature. "Actually, I'm suffering from amnesia as well. May I ask who you are?"

The insect stared at him. "Am-what?"

"Amnesia. I've lost my memory temporarily."

"Oh." To Ken's surprise, the Digimon seemed to be considering whether that was a good or bad thing. "Well, I'm Wormmon." Ken waited for an explanation of exactly who Wormmon was, but none came. Instead the Digimon gasped and flung himself off the bed. "Wait, a bandage? You're hurt?"

"Yeah." Ken gingerly touched the strip of cloth.

The insect scurried towards him, pods clicking on the stone floor. "Oh Ken-chan! Does it hurt? Will you be okay?" Touched by the Digimon's show of affection, Ken smiled and nodded. Wormmon stopped suddenly. "Ken-chan...are you all right? I haven't seen you smile in so long..." he cringed. "I spoke out of turn again. I'm sorry...Please don't hit me."

"Hit you?" Ken looked at the Digimon confusedly. "Why would I? You're just concerned for me, aren't you?"

The extent of Ken's injuries had finally sunk in for the little virus-type. "You've forgotten...everything?"

"So it seems."

"So..." the Digimon realized aloud, "you're like the old Ken-chan, just with no memories, right?" The green monster's mandibles clicked in excitement. Ken nodded. "Oh, Ken-chan! I'm so glad!" He flung himself into the surprised boy's arms and nuzzled against the spandex-clad chest.

Ken was still terribly, terribly confused. But this feels....right, somehow. Familiar. He held Wormmon gently, tenderly as the little insect's body was wracked with sobs of joy.

@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@

To Daisuke's delight, he had come upon V-mon's cell almost immediately. "V-mon! Hey, buddy, wake up!"

The blue dragon sprung to life. "Daisuke! I knew you'd come! I couldn't bust outta here without you! Should I go to Fladramon?"

"No need, little guy." Daisuke tapped in the same password he had seen Ken use to open the doors to the base. "I've got someone helping me out."

"Hikari?" V-mon asked hopefully.

"Iie. Ken."

V-mon cocked his head to one side. "Wait a minute. Ken, as in the Digimon Kaiser Ken?"

"One and the same. Listen, V-mon, there's a story here. Ken hit his head while we were fighting and now he's lost his memory. He doesn't remember who he is, or being the Kaiser." V-mon nodded slowly. "He's a nice guy, really he is! But the others can't know I'm helping him--it was my fault he nearly got killed, so I have to help him. And the weirdest thing is, we're becomeing really good friends. I've never had a friend like that, except for you, V-mon.

"Anyway, I have to keep him away from the others. If his memory comes back it's a lost cause, and he'll go Kaiser again, right? But if he never gets his memory back...we're down one enemy, and I keep a good friend."

"It makes sense," V-mon agreed. "Just be careful, Daisuke. Don't get hurt."

"I won't," Dai promised. "Don't mention anything about the Kaiser to Ken, okay? He's helping us, and I feel bad keeping his past from him, but I don't want to see him hurt--or worse, right back where he started."

"Agreed."

@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@

"Let me get this straight. You're my Digimon partner? I didn't realize I had one."

Wormmon nodded happily. "Uh-huh. We've been together since you were only little, and we used to fight with another boy named Ryo. How did you know about Digimon if you lost your memory, Ken-chan?"

"I had help," Ken admitted. "There's another boy here with me, named Daisuke."

"Oh! One of the Chosen Children? I'm glad you're making friends with them, Ken-chan." Wormmon beamed. "You never got along before."

"Daisuke said we used to fight a lot," Ken said sheepishly. "I don't see how, I think he's a really great person."

"I think so too," Wormmon agreed happily. "It's nice to have a friend."

Ken smiled, hugging the virus-type Digimon to his chest. "Definitely."

"Ken-chan, I'm your friend too, right?"

"Of course, Wormmon. Friends for life."

@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@~*~@

The two boys and their Digimon met in the staircase, eager to escape the oppressive structure. Daisuke looked at the newcomer. "Hello, who's this?"

"This is Wormmon, my Digimon partner," Ken said proudly. Wormmon beamed.

Ken...since when does he have a Digimon partner? What does this mean? "Well, looks like you've got one after all! Nice to meet you, Wormmon. I'm Motomiya Daisuke, and this is my partner V-mon."

"Nice to meet you," Wormmon replied. He looked carefully at V-mon. "Aren't you the Chosen Digimon that got captured?"

"Yeah..." V-mon admitted.

"We came here to break him out," said Ken helpfully. "To save him from the Digimon Kaiser."

"But Ken-chan, you're--"

Daisuke cut him off. "--putting yourself in danger for my partner's sake! Let's get out of here."

Ken nodded, cutting the introductions short. "Right. We'll catch up on everything later. Wormmon got us some supplies as well--food, a blanket, tools to fix your little computer, and some matches."

"Where are we going?" Wormmon asked worriedly.

Daisuke grinned. "I know a place not too far from here. We can find shelter and maybe fix up my D-Terminal, and talk." The others will be looking for me soon, so we should go to an area that doesn't have any Digital Gates. The longer Takeru and the others look, the better chance that I can figure out what's going on in Ichijouji Ken's messed-up brain.

"Sounds good." The four travelers left the desolate Kaiser's base and headed across the sandy desert, intent on leaving the looming rock as far behind as possible.

Please, everyone, you barely notice when I'm around anyway...would you realize I'm gone? I just need a little more time, and I know I can fix this so everyone's happy.

Just a little more...

~to be continued...

wah! what plot! could ken be...*gasp*...a CHOSEN CHILD!?

"i don't think I've been giving davis enough credit...he's the bravest person i know." ~tk