"He clearly doesn't have a Dark Ring or a Dark Spiral on him," Cody said, staring at Thunderballmon in confusion.
"Cody, what should we do?" Digmon asked, seeking his partner's decision.
"What should we do…? Should we fight?" Cody hesitated, his mind filled with uncertainty and fear.
"Rapid Lightning!" Before Cody could decide, Thunderballmon had already attacked. The current in its hands slammed into Digmon's head, knocking him off balance. The shockwave kicked up a massive cloud of dust that shot skyward, taking a long time before it finally settled.
The kids who were working in the town spotted the plume of dust from far away. They immediately dropped what they were doing and ran toward it.
When the dust cleared, Digmon had de-Digivolved back into Armadillomon from the hit. Cody was hugging Armadillomon, crouched amid a pile of broken rocks, dodging chunks of debris that kept falling from above.
"Cody, why is he attacking us for no reason?" Armadillomon asked, baffled.
"Why are you attacking us?!" Cody shouted at Thunderballmon, who burst up from the ground after punching a huge hole through it.
But instead of an answer, another attack came flying at him. Thunderballmon's lightning gathered again, forming a sphere of electricity that shot straight toward Cody.
Cody squeezed his eyes shut, trembling all over from fear. "Damn it… I can't fight!" Just as a huge rock fell from above, about to crush Cody, the D-3 Digivice on him flashed with white light and shone onto Armadillomon.
"Armadillomon Digivolve to Ankylomon!"
A massive body appeared beneath the falling rock and easily knocked it away. Meanwhile, Thunderballmon was uselessly ramming at Ankylomon's horn—Ankylomon only had to flick an arm to swat Thunderballmon flying.
Ankylomon was an Ankylosaur Digimon covered head-to-toe in hardened armor plating. That armor wasn't just hard—spikes jutted out all over, giving its charging attacks incredible destructive power. It was basically a herbivore-type Digimon so it wasn't ferocious-looking, but it wasn't timid at all, and had a bold, courageous personality. Its finishers were Megaton Press, leaping so high it vanished from sight and then crushing the enemy with its enormous body, and Tail Hammer, smashing the enemy with the iron ball at the tip of its tail. Anyone who took that hit would have their whole skeleton shattered.
"I-It Digivolved…" Cody said in disbelief, standing in Ankylomon's palm and staring up at him in amazement.
"Cody, I'll get you out of here." Ankylomon looked at Cody in his hand, stood up, and set him down. "Cody, hurry—hide first!"
"Are you going to fight?" Cody asked anxiously, staring at Ankylomon.
"I'm going to find a way to drive him off," Ankylomon said as he turned his huge body to face Thunderballmon.
Hearing that, Cody finally felt a little steadier and hurried behind a building to hide.
But when Ankylomon looked back, all he saw was an empty hole. The Thunderballmon that had been there was gone. Ankylomon's gut sank—he spun around, and what he saw made his blood run cold.
Thunderballmon had whipped up a cyclone, sweeping Cody up along with chunks of stone and carrying him toward a height Ankylomon couldn't reach.
Cody had thought Thunderballmon was going to attack him—but halfway up, he slammed into a warm embrace instead.
Cody looked up and saw a Digimon he had never seen before.
That Digimon dove downward, delivered Cody safely into Ankylomon's hand, then pulled up again and drew Thunderballmon away from the area.
"Cody! Cody!" At that moment, the other kids arrived too. Seeing Cody safe, they let out a relieved breath—only to flinch when they noticed the huge Digimon. When they learned it was Armadillomon's Digivolved form, they were thrilled. Another Digimon had Digivolved.
The unfamiliar Digimon was locked in a fierce struggle with Thunderballmon, trading blows back and forth like neither could get enough.
"T-Then who's that green Digimon?" Patamon asked curiously, tugging at the brim of T.K.'s hat.
"I don't know," T.K. admitted. "But…"
"I don't know either, but that green Digimon saved me," Cody said honestly.
By then, the battle had shifted. The two combatants pulled apart, each gathering power for their strongest move.
"Spiking Strike!"
The green Digimon's right arm extended a translucent pink energy blade as it crashed straight into Thunderballmon. Thunderballmon couldn't withstand the attack—it shattered, broke apart into data, and vanished.
"What is he doing?!" Davis said angrily, glaring at the green Digimon who had just killed Thunderballmon.
"That's terrifying…" Yolei said, staring at the Digimon with fear in her eyes.
Right then, a child's figure appeared atop a building. It was Ken Ichijoji—someone the kids knew all too well. The green Digimon immediately dove toward Ken.
The kids' hearts shot into their throats. That Digimon had just killed another Digimon—how could they not be scared?
But Ken didn't show even a flicker of fear. He bent one arm across his chest as the Digimon reached him—then its body turned into a streak of golden light, condensing into Wormmon in Ken's arms.
"Wormmon?!"
"Wormmon can Digivolve too?!" the kids cried, stunned.
Ken glanced at them once, hugged Wormmon close, jumped down—and disappeared.
"Ken Ichijoji… saved Cody?!" Davis blurted out in shock.
"Uh… y-yeah," Cody said, nodding blankly.
Ken carried Wormmon as they walked into the sunset, chatting as they went—just like back when they'd traveled in the Digital World together. The same warmth. The same ease.
"Are you okay, Wormmon?"
"Yeah! It's just… too bad that guy got away," Wormmon said, disappointed.
"There's nothing we could do about that," Ken said, gently reassuring him. "We'll get another chance next time."
"You're right, Ken," Wormmon said happily, nestling against him.
"Men! Men! Men!" Inside the dojo, Cody was practicing kendo with his grandfather, but his strikes were noticeably sloppy. Cody's mind was a mess—because the Digimon Emperor, the person he'd always hated, had saved him this time. On top of that, he'd been attacked out of nowhere by a Digimon, and that Digimon had been killed. Most importantly, it had been killed to save him. Cody's thoughts were in knots.
Cody wasn't the only one who felt that way. All the kids couldn't figure Ken out anymore. If he was bad, then why did he save Cody? If he was good, then setting aside everything he'd done as the Digimon Emperor—just yesterday he'd killed that Digimon without hesitation. The kids didn't know what kind of eyes they were supposed to look at Ken with now.
"Looks like Ken Ichijoji has some good points, at least," Davis said, carrying the school lunch tray as he walked.
Kari, on the other hand, looked weighed down with worry. She answered distractedly, "Does he?"
"He saved us," Davis insisted.
"That's true. But I still want to watch him for a little longer."
"Is it because you think Ken shouldn't have killed that Digimon?"
"I'm not focused on that," Kari said quietly. "I just think you can't judge whether someone is good or bad based on only one thing."
Unable to convince Kari, Davis went to Cody instead, trying to use the fact that Ken had saved him as proof. "Yeah, he made a lot of mistakes before, but that was in the past."
Cody swung his bamboo sword with stiff precision, as if he hadn't heard a word.
"So that doesn't work either… sigh." Davis slumped and left, discouraged yet again.
Cody stared at his bamboo sword, far from as calm as he looked on the outside. "I want to say that too… but when I think about Nisia, and the Digimon who were tortured by the Digimon Emperor… how am I supposed to forgive him?"
"But he isn't the Ken Ichijoji from before!" Davis refused to give up. He went to Yolei next, still trying to convince someone.
"Is he?" Yolei replied, her tone unreadable.
"He is!" Davis hurried to emphasize it.
"But when Wormmon died back then, he should've realized Digimon have lives too," Yolei said, firing question after question. "So why did he kill that Digimon again? Are we really supposed to believe he's changed just because he saved Cody?"
Davis had no answer. Once again, he could only leave.
"What's up with Davis?" T.K. asked, arriving just in time to see Davis trudge away.
"He wants Ken Ichijoji to become our ally," Yolei said truthfully.
"I'm against that," T.K. said without hesitation.
"I'm against it too," Yolei added. "And I don't think Ken even wants to join us. People don't just change that easily."
By evening, school was already out, but students still hadn't left. They crowded around the posted score sheet, chattering nonstop—mostly about the genius boy Ken Ichijoji, whose grades had taken a sudden nosedive. Ever since he enrolled, he'd always been first, but now he'd dropped to somewhere in the middle.
"What happened to Ichijoji?"
"His grades fell off a cliff!"
"Doesn't he usually not even care about school tests?"
"Are you saying he did it on purpose?"
"That's so weird…"
"…"
Ken stood on the stairs, listening to everyone talk about him. He didn't say anything—he just quietly walked away.
On the way home, traffic streamed past, and Ken's heart was just as unsettled as the road beside him.
"Ichijoji! Ichijoji!" A familiar voice called from behind.
Ken turned and saw Davis waving as he ran over.
The two of them ended up by the river, facing the sunset, watching the flowing water reflect shimmering ripples—each of them filled with different thoughts, different views, different disagreements.
Davis hurled a rock into the river, breaking the silence.
"Did you need something from me?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, um…," Davis began, then immediately felt like he'd said it wrong. "I mean… are you really never going to apologize to everyone—and to the Digimon?"
He rushed to add, "I mean, if you actually want to apologize, I can help create a chance for you. How about it?"
"I understand," Ken replied flatly.
"Seriously?! I'm glad I brought it up," Davis said, springing to his feet in excitement.
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