Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

9) Kindness in Darkness

Ken checked the time on his phone after he managed to pull himself together, and he found that it was a few minutes after one in the morning. He still had to go to school the following morning, but he was more than happy to step away from his slumber to stop whatever new Digimon had managed to pass through the barrier with the help of the unknown figures that Yamato, Takeru, and Hikari had described. 

Sneaking out of the Ichijouji apartment was much easier than Ken had been anticipating, and he closed the door behind himself carefully after slipping into a pair of shoes. Wormmon was pressed between his arms and chest, hanging on for dear life as Ken focused on running towards their target. It was difficult to move quickly while still remaining quiet enough to not wake the others in the apartment building, but Ken managed to find a healthy balance regardless. 

"I wonder what's going on," Wormmon whispered as Ken stopped at a crosswalk. Once he was sure that it was safe to proceed, Ken kept moving. It appeared as if the Digimon in question could be found in a nearby park. It wasn't a long journey, but he still wasn't looking forward to going there in the dead of night. 

"We'll have to see," Ken told Wormmon breathlessly. His hair was beating relentlessly against his neck, and Ken hated that he hadn't been given enough time to tie it back or brush through it. It was already starting to drive him up the wall, and he found himself yearning to return home just to keep it from bothering him. He could already feel the tangles that had formed since he was asleep earlier, and Ken decided that he wanted to finish things as quickly as possible to keep from having to run around while looking so unpresentable. It wasn't something that usually bothered him to this degree, but Ken supposed that it was easier to think about how his hair was a mess as opposed to the attack taking place nearby. 

When Ken finally arrived at the park, he slid to a halt as his shoes complained from his sudden lack of momentum. He reached for his phone, happy that he had remembered to shove the device into his pocket on the way out of his apartment. He somehow doubted that anyone was going to be awake at such a ridiculous hour, but he was going to try and call for help anyways. Ken sent out a quick message to the group chat containing other members of the group, praying that at least one of them noticed what was happening. Ken was happy that he was such a light sleeper since it had led to him waking up to take care of the Digimon attack, but he wished that some of his other friends fell into the same category. 

Ken could hear something rushing overhead, and when he glanced up, he could see a shadow shifting among the darkened skies above. Ken tried to identify the specific source, but it was too hard for him to see given the late hour and how dark it was. He was too tired for this. Wormmon tried to look as well, panic appearing as a sheen in his bright eyes. 

After a few moments, Wormmon let out a gasp and pointed above. "There!" he cried out. Ken followed his gesture and realized that, as a matter of fact, his partner had managed to pinpoint the location of their foe. It was a draconic Digimon that was covered in metal, and due to the low lighting, it was almost impossible to pick it out of the darkness without having some clue as to where it could be found. 

"What is that?" Ken questioned of Wormmon quietly, not daring to take his eyes off the Digimon in question. He feared that he wouldn't be able to find the creature again if he dared to focus on anything else for even a few precious moments. 

Wormmon took a few moments to figure out the answer before offering a reply. "That's Jazarichmon," he explained. "It's a metallic Digimon that attacks from above thanks to its abilities of flight. We need to be careful. It's at the Perfect level."

There was something that Ken didn't want to hear. He couldn't help Wormmon reach the Perfect level without Daisuke, and Ken was confident that Daisuke was the least likely to answer his pleas for aid. Once Daisuke fell asleep for the night, he never woke up until morning came, something that Ken had learned a thousand times over thanks to their various sleepovers throughout the years. There wasn't a way for them to access Paildramon without Daisuke, and that was certainly going to skew the results of the coming battle. Stingmon could only reach his Adult form as long as ExVeemon wasn't present, and the realization acted as yet another punch to the stomach as far as Ken was concerned.