All Seasons: Wisemon’s Actual Ending Series
Part 5: Waffle King
By Wisemon
Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can’t satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you’ll have to find it yourself this time around.
Last time, I finally got into a few of the Season 1 and Season 2 characters, namely Daisuke, Miyako, Takeru, and Hikari. The story you’re about to read will touch on the “what they’ve been up to’s” of the others. You also got a glimpse of Henry and Kenta’s definitive rooftop training session. My engineering students will be out of the picture for a little while, but they’ll come back. This story requires the greatest disclaimer of any in the series. We’ve got sexual suggestions, drug references (marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine), explicit language, and violence. If you’re under 18, get your fix elsewhere.
“…Something or other, possibly oregano, but it doesn’t smell right.” Izumi inspected the greenery, but she wasn’t a botanist. Her only real clue was that the seeds meant something to Takuya, but that was more than enough of a clue. “Cannabis…I should’ve known. I planned on trying this stuff when I got to college, but since I’m never going to college, I guess now’s as good a time as any. Then again, Junpei probably wouldn’t be too happy about it. I seem to recall him giving a speech about how his parents loaded him with antidepressants, and drugs aren’t the answer, and all that other shit. Yeah, that’s great, but I’m not looking for an answer. I’m just looking for a distraction, something to fill the time while Junpei meets with the mini militia of remaining Mega level digimon. I don’t know why everybody’s so on edge about this Azulongmon thing. I’ve gotten thousands of power bonuses from our birth control method. It won’t matter if he can become Wisemon, Lucemon, or a cute little Pabumon. No digimon is more powerful than my Mega form, and I don’t even know what my Mega form is, because thus far, JetSylphymon has been able to handle anything.” Izumi was nagged with a memory of her battle against Kerpymon. “Okay, almost anything, but I was still new to the fusion evolution thing back then; things have changed.” Izumi began to harvest her crops. “Now I’m old enough to experiment.”
As Izumi separated the leaves from the stems and seeds, an incognito Mushroomon looked on in disgust.
“Okay, now I just
need some paper and a way to light it.”
Izumi reached into her jumpsuit pocket and took out her D-Tector. “Execute:
Beast Spirit Evolution!” Izumi became
the armored feminine canary, “Zephyrmon!” Zephyrmon flew over
to
The incognito Mushroomon was irate. “She’s defiling the mung tree, and she’s using the power of a legendary warrior to do it!”
Zephyrmon minced the leaves with her claws and spread them onto the paper. Then she wrapped the joint and ignited the end with a “Plasma Punch!” Izumi reverted back to her purple jumpsuit human form. Following a mental drum roll, she lifted her concoction to her lips. She took her first puff, and she immediately coughed. “Is this supposed to be doing something? I don’t feel any different.” She took a few more hits, and then the distortions set in. The giant mung tree seemed to vibrate, like it was shivering. The grass suddenly got higher all around her, as if she were entrenched in jungle savanna, or perhaps, she had shrunk to a fifth of her usual size. It was so hard to distinguish. “Seriously, this is pretty fucked up right here. Not to mention that my head is all swimmy, and I’m barely able to stand. Junpei was right; it’s the same as when I got that concussion. I don’t think I’ll be trying this again…so I might as well get the most of it.” Izumi puffed until her joint was half gone. Then a familiar feeling hit her, a sudden itchy, burning, screaming craving for… “Sex, I need sex.” Izumi dropped her joint, put it out with the sole of her sneaker, and went to find her husband.
The incognito Mushroomon followed, but he kept his distance. Wisemon was behind
in his schedule. He still lacked
warriors of wood, water, and light. Due
to an unforeseen firewall, he was unable to directly contact his chosen
warriors in the alternate dimension. He
had been forced to send emails, and his emails were automatically flagged as
spam. So, Wisemon
had asked his indebted warrior to tell the others to open their emails, but
thus far, the emails still remained unopened.
As soon as an email was opened, Wisemon would
be instantly ripped across the cosmos, right into the chosen warrior’s computer
screen. It wasn’t the most pleasant
contingency to attach to an email, but it was a necessary one. Wisemon had planned
to recruit the warriors of thunder and wind as his finale, the coup of Xuanwumon’s sentimentalities. Since the emails in the alternate dimension
were ignored, Wisemon had to abandon his preferred
order. He had taken the form of a
Mushroomon, lying low in
On the other side of the mung tree, Junpei (accompanied by young Tomoki) was having a meeting with the legion of remaining Megas. He didn’t particularly want to have the meeting, but the Megas insisted that Azulongmon was a problem that required his immediate attention:
“I told you about this over a month ago,” Ophanimon recalled. “What have you done? I’ll tell you what you’ve done. You’ve done jack squat!”
KingEtemon had another way of putting it. “It takes a king to know a king, and I know that it’s a king’s job to protect his subjects.”
Gallantmon used the desperation approach. “Please, we can’t fight him without you.”
Polkamon, a purple ShogunGekomon with accordion halves on his shoulders rather than tubas, felt no need to kneel to his old friend. “We have known each other a long time, and I have given you a lot of free advice and free music in that time, while asking very little in return. Junpei, I am calling in that favor you owe me.”
Junpei leaned back against the mung tree’s bark, with young Tomoki at his side, and several Mega digimon surrounding him in intimidating fashion. “Polkamon, what are you doing in this group? You’re not a Mega.”
“As always, I want to help in any way I can,” Polkamon explained. “A king should have the same attitude.”
Piedmon frowned disapprovingly at Junpei. “Yes, you should be ashamed of yourself for the way you’ve shirked your duties.”
Junpei pushed off of the mung tree and stood upright. “What the fuck are you talking about? Whatever I’ve done to piss you off, it hasn’t been intentional. Whatever you need me to do to fix it, I’ll do it.”
Izumi arrived on the scene, stumbling somewhat in her steps towards Junpei, not even noticing the Mega level digimon surrounding him. “Junpei, I need you now.” She hugged her husband tightly, pressing as much of her well-developed seventeen-year-old frame into him as she could.
“Bitch, take a number!” Ophanimon hollered. “Junpei’s meeting with us right now.”
As much as Junpei disliked hearing insults thrown at his wife, and as much as he hated to keep her waiting, he really did not want to anger the Mega level digimon any further. “If you could just wait half an hour–”
“–I said now.” Izumi broke from the embrace and began to unzip her jumpsuit.
“Hey, don’t even think about it! I’m in the middle of a meeting, and Tomoki’s right here, and…” Junpei smelled something odd on Izumi’s breath, something familiar. It took him a while to recall the scent, but when he did, he was absolutely horrified. “…Takuya…You smell like…That’s it; this meeting is adjourned!”
“You can’t do that! We’re not finished here!” Piedmon complained.
“The queen is…not well, and she’s the only one who can defeat Azulongmon.” Junpei hugged Izumi tightly, covering up the cleavage she exposed when unzipping. “I have to take care of her, and everybody needs to leave.” Junpei looked down at his son. “I mean everybody.”
Ophanimon, KingEtemon, Polkamon, Gallantmon, Piedmon, young Tomoki, and a Mushroomon walked out of earshot and visual range while making muffled grumbles along the way.
Junpei scooped Izumi into his arms and set her down on the grass by the mung tree. “Why did you do it? It’s not like we have any inhibitions to kill. We’re still averaging five times per day. You knew this would upset me, so tell me why.”
“I…I don’t know,” Izumi answered. “I guess I just wanted to try it. Now that I know what it’s all about, I swear I’ll never do it again.” Izumi pulled her zipper the rest of the way down. “But for now, my mind is stuck on this, and I need your help…Please help me.” Izumi’s tone was uncharacteristically vulnerable.
Junpei wanted to be angry, but as he looked down at his wife’s immaculate form, as the digital world’s most powerful warrior begged for his assistance, Junpei could feel only sympathy and lust. The lust was so heavy; it could make his best decisions waffle and his strongest convictions crumble.
The Mega militia reassembled
by
“I believe this is all of the remaining Mega level digimon…all in one spot. It is almost as if they want me to take their data. Very well, it shall come to pass.” Just as Wisemon was preparing to replace himself with the puppeteer (Azulongmon), he was suddenly whisked away by the opening of an email in the alternate dimension.
“Hey, wait, what happened to that Mushroomon that was standing here two seconds ago?” Ophanimon asked.
KingEtemon shrugged. “Forget about that little toadstool; Azulongmon is the problem. We have to get the king to take action.”
Polkamon stomped a webbed foot. “Of all the lame excuses, I can’t believe he sent us away saying that Izumi was ‘not well.’”
Piedmon drew a sword and raised it. “I’d like to see him adjourn a revolution!”
Gallantmon nudged Piedmon with his lance. “Please, the king is on our side. Save your weapons for Azulongmon.
“Yeah, I agree with the knight digimon,” young Tomoki seconded.
The Mega level digimon stared at young Tomoki, and Ophanimon uttered what they all were thinking. “Nobody asked you.”
In the alternate dimension, in a public school dorm room, Miyako sat at her laptop desk, and Daisuke stood next to her. The room was just as large as Daisuke’s, but Miyako was its only tenant, and the room was more recently renovated. Miyako had a fresh coat of off-white paint, ten electrical outlets, and windows that actually opened. Naturally, Daisuke was jealous. “Dude, your room is nice. I wish I could live in a room like this.” Though farfetched, Daisuke hoped that this would lead to a conversation about Miyako taking in a roommate.
“I suppose you would. I’m rather fond of this room myself.” Miyako opened her web browser and logged into her school’s email account. “The sender’s name is Wisemon?” Miyako looked through her email trash bin and found Wisemon’s last email. “Are you sure about this? From what Tomoki told you, this sounds like a time-consuming activity, and I really don’t have a lot of free–”
“–Miyako, Tomoki is our friend, and he needs our help.” Daisuke implemented a persuasion strategy. “You want to be a scientist, right? Well, what kind of scientist do you want to be: the kind who helps people out of a sense of duty, or the kind who helps people if the price is right?”
Miyako paused. She was reminded of Koushiro’s change in attitude back in high school. She knew that money was important, but she didn’t want to be like Koushiro. “Definitely not the latter…fine, I’ll open the email.” There was a delay, signified by an hourglass, caused by the distance of inter-dimensional electronic postage.
Wisemon arrived on Miyako's screen in the form of Imperialdramon. “You finally opened the email…better late than never. Greetings, Daisuke, Miyako, and…where is your teammate, the warrior of light? I must have forgotten to tell Tomoki to contact my chosen warrior. Come to think of it, I never gave Tomoki the Digivice code for the warrior of light. Never mind, I will settle that business later. For now, I must hand out the spirits of wood and water. I assume Tomoki already told you about the D-Reaper and spirit suits.” Two penlight-sized beams passed through the computer screen and connected with Daisuke and Miyako's D-3’s, changing them into chocolate brown and periwinkle D-Tectors, respectively. “Daisuke, no matter what happens around you, you remain true to your nature. You will have the spirit of wood. Miyako, you are fluid in your ability to solve eclectic problems. You will have the spirit of water.”
“Wood and water, those sound like spirits that work well together.” Daisuke winked at Miyako.
“The designation of the spirits is irrelevant when they’re suits, according to Tomoki,” Miyako countered. “The spirits of wood and water might as well be the spirits of celery and cottage cheese.”
“That reminds me; I didn’t eat breakfast. You got anything in here I can snack on?” Daisuke asked.
“That depends; can you eat bran flakes straight from the bag?” Miyako reached into her computer desk and took out a twist-tied bag of bran flakes.
Daisuke took the bag. “No problem, I learned to drink cereal from my dad. On weekends, he drinks his lunch out of a bag.”
Miyako shook her head. “He prefers the fermented cereal.”
“Miyako, I’m not like my father. Just give me a chance, and you’ll find that I’m–”
“–Ahem, I was not
finished assigning your tasks,” the Imperialdramon
told Daisuke and Miyako. “The D-Reaper is rapidly assimilating
Daisuke liked giving orders a lot better than taking them. “Well, since you put it that way, maybe we’ll just sit this one out. The whole ‘war’ thing is a bit of a turnoff, and we don’t even know how to get to the other dimension.”
“My colleague makes an excellent point. We cannot ameliorate the situation without access to your dimension.”
“Would you please let me finish?” The Imperialdramon pressed its face against Miyako's screen in an intimidating manner.
“Sorry,” Daisuke and Miyako said in unison.
“You will enlist the services of a Digimon who can travel between dimensions. He will open up a portal for you—in exchange for his freedom from the dimension in which you trapped him.”
“You don’t mean…” Daisuke looked to Miyako, and she nodded to confirm that Wisemon probably did have in mind the undefeatable enemy.
Miyako didn’t like the concept either. “Releasing Daemon from containment could be extraordinarily bad. We have no idea what he will do if he is allowed back into an Earth or a Digital World. The last time we met, much like Myotismon, his goal was the conquest of both worlds. If his goal has remained unchanged, he is still an adversary, and not someone with whom we should be aligning ourselves. Besides, we couldn’t free him even if we wanted to; we’re unable to open the Dark Gate.”
“You had teammates who could perform that feat,” Wisemon reminded Miyako.
“They’re not
exactly our friends anymore,” Daisuke explained. “Hikari and Ken
were the only ones who could get into the
Miyako finished the excuse. “…And I said the same thing to Ken.”
The Imperialdramon let out an exasperated sigh. “Could you swallow your pride for the sake of the planet? And if you are so worried about Daemon’s intentions, why not give him what he wants? The Digital World that was already conquered by the D-Reaper serves no purpose; allow Daemon to be its overlord as part of the bargain. In your spirit suits, you are immune to Daemon’s attacks, so you need not fear him while you negotiate. Just make sure that the warrior of light is with you when you enter the other dimension. I will have Tomoki arrange for the rendezvous.”
“Hypothetically, the suits will protect us, but how are we going to fight the D-Reaper?” Miyako asked.
“That is an excellent question. Ask it again during the team meeting on May 6th, at , at Henry Wong’s apartment. You, Miyako, will find the answer particularly interesting.” Then the Imperialdramon disappeared from Miyako’s screen.
Daisuke looked to Miyako for the final call. “What do you think? Should we take the job?”
Miyako’s smile was bittersweet; her new project would have to wait. “You know how I hate not having an answer.”
That night, in Junpei and Izumi’s
“So you learned your lesson, and you’re not going to do it again, right?”
“Yeah, but you’re not my mother, and you can’t tell me what to do. If I wanted to smoke pot again, I would do it.”
Junpei treaded lightly. “But you don’t want to, do you?”
Izumi was angry at herself, and she was doing her best not to take it out on her husband, and not just because the punching bag wasn’t nearly as soft as it used to be. “No, I don’t.”
Junpei kissed Izumi on the forehead. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
Izumi rolled the other way. “It’s just that simple? I do something stupid, ruin your meeting, and I’m immediately forgiven?”
“Yeah, that’s how it works.”
Izumi wasn’t satisfied with Junpei’s response. “You didn’t start out as perfect. How did you do it? How do you keep it up? How is it that this hasn’t turned into a huge argument? Couples are supposed to fight; that’s the way it goes. We haven’t had a major fight yet. I can’t help but wonder if we would survive it. Junpei, that’s how you measure the strength of a relationship. It’s not how often you fuck, or how often you laugh at each others’ jokes. It’s how you rebound from the yelling, the slammed doors, and the burned clothing. How is it that every stand you take is the same one that I take?”
Junpei ran his fingers through Izumi’s hair. “When couples fight, they’re putting other issues before their own happiness. I can’t do that. Your happiness with me is my highest priority. Maybe you’re right about arguments being the true test, but I’d rather not know. I’d rather go the rest of my life without that sort of test than risk losing you. Yeah, I admit it; I’m still afraid of losing you. I still have my insecurities, but I can’t help it. I know I’ve said it before, but this world, this situation, it’s all too perfect. So please, don’t wake me up from this dream.”
Izumi rolled back to Junpei, and her lips met his for thirty solid seconds. “…If you don’t wake me, I won’t wake you; I promise.”
“You think he’s still carrying his D-3?”
“In theory, if he is, we ought to be able to track him,” Miyako proposed.
The DigiDestined of the alternate dimension had gone on to diverse fields. Some fields were greener than others.
Taichi had connections, and he had been given a cushy government job straight out of college. He was a diplomat to the Digital World, and his day-to-day work was nearly nonexistent. He had insisted on an assistant, a technical advisor with expertise on everything digital. In truth, ever since the high stakes card trick in Myotismon’s castle, Taichi knew that he couldn’t make a sound decision without Koushiro. Fortunately, Koushiro made a great impression with the department during his interview, and they adopted the tech expert.
Matt’s band, the
Teenage Wolves, became rather successful.
In fact, they became the most successful teenage rock band in
Sora went to college, and she graduated with a horticulture degree. Then she became a waitress. She never could make up her mind.
Jyou completed the plan that his parents laid out for him, but he made a few detours along the way.
Mimi tried to find
success as a pop star in
Takeru and Hikari became Abercrombie/beer pong/whiny pop-punk stereotypes.
Cody joined the police academy. Because his father was killed in service, he received special privileges. Despite only being fifteen, he was given a license to drive a squad car, and he was given lessons at a shooting range. The officers figured that it ran in the blood; Cody was a natural.
Ken dropped out of high school, assuming that he could rest on his natural intelligence. He planned to start a software business, but he needed money for entrepreneurship. So, he got a job as an IT guy at a small company, but he didn’t accumulate any money. He spent it all on booze, cigarettes, women, and other people’s software (video games).
Around , Daisuke and Miyako found themselves in front of an apartment building in the red light district. The area made Daisuke nervous, and he was somewhat hoping that it wasn’t the home of an old friend:
“Miyako, are you sure that Ken lives here?”
“The tracking function on this D-Tector works analogously to the one on our D-3’s (after all, the D-Tectors were our D-3’s). I am absolutely positive that there’s a DigiDestined’s Digivice in there; it just might not be Ken’s. If it isn’t, since you already know where to find Hikari–”
“–Ken’s in there; I’m sure of it. The dot on your D-Tector screen is black, the same color as Ken’s D-3.”
Of course, Miyako knew that all of the pixels were either unfilled or black on her D-Tector. “See, this is why I can’t take you seriously.”
Daisuke sighed. “Come on, let’s go in.” Daisuke and Miyako entered through the front doors of the building. Then they started to walk up the building’s staircase. “Why can’t we take the elevator?”
“It would be too hard to distinguish the relative strength of the signal.” When they reached the fifth story, Miyako grabbed Daisuke’s wrist to prevent him from ascending farther.
“Dude, what’s the big idea?”
“This is our floor.” Miyako opened the door to the hallway and stepped through.
“Right…I knew that.” Daisuke followed Miyako.
Another unfulfilling day at work, and another bottle of sake was ready for Ken when he came home. He used to get wasted by going out to the bars, but he wasn’t able to do that anymore. He couldn’t risk infecting anybody else. His disease kept him in his apartment. He had a bedroom that doubled as a living room, and a tiny mildewed bathroom that doubled as a kitchen. He stared at the bottle of fermented rice as he smoked an unfiltered cigarette. It made him wonder:
“How’s it going to end? Will it be the lungs? Will it be the liver? Will it be the throat? I’m not going to live long enough to find out, and that suits me just fine.” There was a knock at Ken’s door. Ken kept on puffing. “I must be hearing things.” There was a second knock, followed by a third. “That’s not in my head; I’m still sober.” Ken put out his cigarette and went to the door.
The door flew open, and Daisuke nearly passed out. He quickly held his nose. Miyako wasn’t as quick to respond, but fortunately, Daisuke caught her (with the non-nose holding arm) before she hit the floor. “Ken, nice to see you…not so nice to smell you. Can we talk outside for a while?”
“Daisuke, is that you?” Ken blinked a few times. “I guess…what do you want to talk about?”
“I was thinking we
could catch up on old times. Then maybe
we could watch the complete first season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on
DVD. Then maybe we could go out to one
of those all-night diners, order up some waffles and scrambled eggs, and leave
a 10% tip. Then maybe we could take a
long walk on the beach…the beach of the
Ken nodded. He deciphered the modulations in Daisuke’s tone well enough to know that only the last part was to be taken seriously. “Let me grab my D-3, and I’ll meet you outside the apartment. I think Miyako could use some fresh air.”
Daisuke maintained the voluntary nasal congestion. “Actually, we could both use some fresh air. Dude, no offense, but your apartment reeks!”
It wasn’t easy for Daisuke to get Miyako to walk with him in her fainted state. He was essentially dragging her by the arm draped over the back of his neck, trying to make it look like she was still semi-conscious in case they ran into any local rapists. Fortunately, he could take the elevator on the way down, but there were still the steps after the front doors. Once they got outside, the wind blew, and it didn’t matter.
“What transpired while I was unconscious?” Miyako asked.
“We’re all
set.” The doors opened behind
Daisuke. “The DigiDestined
formerly known as Emperor is going to take us to the
“Would you mind
telling me why I’m going to take you
to the
“We need Daemon’s
assistance to travel between dimensions,” Miyako
explained. “In another dimension,
there’s this computer program that deletes data indiscriminately, and it’s
conquered half of
Ken stuck a fresh cigarette in his mouth and lit it. “Daemon tried to harvest the Dark Spore in my head. Do you know what that thing did to me?”
“I heard this story. The Dark Spore made you a genius.” Daisuke coughed. “I guess the geniuses didn’t get the memo. This generation is the one that doesn’t smoke.”
Ken put away his lighter. “Cigarettes don’t make any difference, aside from the fact that they take away from my liquor fund. I’ve got a terminal disease, and only about five years to live, ten if I’m lucky.”
“The Dark Spore gave you a terminal disease?” Miyako hypothesized.
Ken took a long drag, as if he were trying to decide on something critical. “That’s right.”
“Dude, that totally sucks!” Daisuke commented.
Ken tapped his ashes. “It sure does, but I’ve accepted it. On the plus side, I’ve got more than enough darkness to get the Dark Gate open for you. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“I suppose, but we were told to wait for the warrior of light,” Miyako recalled. “The fundamental flaw with that logic: how does the warrior of light know where to find us?”
Ken flashed a yellow smile. “How do you know that I’m not the warrior of light? Darkness and light are opposites, but you can’t have one without the other. The one who opens the Dark Gate might just be the warrior of light.”
“But you’re not the warrior of light,” a voice in the distance called out, “Because I’m the warrior of light. No denying that we’re opposites, and seeing what you’ve become, I’m proud to stand where I stand.” A young man stepped under a streetlight’s glow, allowing his old teammates to view his face. He was dressed in faded blue jeans and an indigo t-shirt. He was somewhat buff; his chest and arms looked like they had been through regimens of pushups and pull-ups.
Miyako stared for a while at her former sidekick. This was not the androgynous boy that she remembered, not that she found him remotely attractive, but she assumed that some girls were attracted to the crew cuts and muscles. “Cody, how did you find us?”
Cody held up a pale blue D-Tector. “Tomoki told me about the tracking function.”
Daisuke knew his old team’s dynamics, and he feared an argument between Cody and Ken. “Cody’s the warrior of light, mystery solved, let’s be on our way. We don’t want to keep the nice demon waiting.”
With half of its original length gone, Ken dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. “Fine, but I’m warning you, Daemon might not be all that cooperative. The only reason I’m not telling you that you’re crazy is because I’ve seen him do it before. A long time ago, Wormmon and I were traveling with this kid named Ryo…Wait a second, where are your Digimon? You’re not going to fight this D-Reaper thing without your Digimon, are you?”
“That’s precisely what we’re going to do,” Miyako answered. “The D-Reaper isn’t a Digimon, and our Digimon’s attacks won’t work on it. We have to devise a special strategy.
“I wish I were still interested in that sort of thing, but I killed all of my motivational nerves. Now I’m just a lump, a shell of a man.” Ken held up his D-3, and the Dark Gate began to appear. “Before you guys go, just in case you don’t come back, or just in case I die before you come back, there’s something that I want you to know.”
“Is this about how the three of us punched you?” Daisuke asked. “Since you’re dying and all, if you want, we’ll let you have a free shot, as long as it’s above the belt.”
Ken ignored Daisuke’s offer. “Since we parted ways, I’ve been to a lot of bars, I’ve tried a lot of drugs, and I’ve slept with a lot of women. The time that I spent as a DigiDestined, fighting by your side, or rather, giving orders to my Digimon by your side, that’s still the best time I ever had. That’s the time that no amount of alcohol can make me forget. All the other shit went away, like a hangover, but you guys were friends through thick and thin, like…like…”
“…Like an addiction,” Daisuke offered.
“Right, just like an addiction. I wish you guys the best of luck, even you…” Ken smiled at Cody. “…No hard feelings. I’ve got only kindness right now, sober kindness.”
“Yet, you don’t sound all that sober. Instead of preoccupying yourself with how much time you have left, and what you can do to make it go by faster, you could try doing something productive with what you have left. It’s just an idea.” Daisuke stepped through the Dark Gate.”
“Ken, what we had was…it wasn’t anything, but you were still a friend, and I hate seeing you like this. Daisuke’s right; it’s not too late to contribute something to this world. How about a Kimeramon that attacks Spyware?” Miyako paused as she refocused her argument. “Being a genius doesn’t give you the right to indolence. If anything, you have a responsibility to use your gift. For me, please try.” Miyako stepped through the Dark Gate.
Cody didn’t say anything. He just followed his teammates through the Dark Gate.
Ken watched as the Dark Gate began to close. When the portal was 25% gone, he saw Daisuke, Miyako, and Cody running back through to his side. “Back so soon? I don’t blame you for waffling. It doesn’t take a genius to know that Daemon’s likely to barbecue you.”
Daisuke ran his hand through the back of his hair. “Dude, we’re still going, but we…we need you to come with us.”
“How come?” Ken inquired.
Daisuke curled a lock around his index finger. “Well, the thing is…Miyako, could you explain it to him?”
“It’s really quite
simple. We are unable to open the Dark
Gate. Despite being able to shift
between dimensions, Daemon is also unable to open the Dark Gate. If you recall, that was the reason you put
him in the
“Please don’t compare Ken to a police officer,” Cody requested. “I take that as an insult.”
“Fine, I’ll come with you. It’s not like I’ve got anything to lose.” Ken held up his D-3 and opened the Dark Gate to approximately two meters in diameter. Then he walked through, and Daisuke, Miyako, and Cody followed.
That night, in Junpei and Izumi’s mung tree cabin, there was no talk of living dreams. As usual, Junpei and Izumi lay in bed, completely naked. On this night, the conversation of the sexual intermissions overshadowed the pleasure. The day had brought another meeting with the Mega level digimon, and a renewed sense of danger:
“I’m worried,” Junpei admitted.
“The Mega level digimon are refusing to leave
Izumi reached out and began rubbing Junpei’s chest. “There’s nothing to worry about. Yeah, he’s got the data of a hundred Mega level digimon, probably closer to two hundred now, but I’ve got thousands of power bonuses. Seriously, I can handle this.” Izumi knew that Junpei wouldn’t let her fight alone. “We can handle this.”
Junpei returned the tactile favor. “I’m worried about what Bokomon said. Azulongmon controls Wisemon, and you remember Wisemon? He appeared as that man, and that man threw down lightning bolts and took our spare spirits. Then he opened a portal and sent Tomoki home. We’re talking shape-shifting, teleportation, and quite possibly dream invasion, and now we’re talking god-like power. If we try to fight something like that…we’ll get crushed.”
“Remember what the prophecy said? Now you’re a god too.” Izumi rubbed Junpei’s pectorals more fervently. “At least, you’re built like a Roman god.”
Junpei continued to reciprocate his wife’s caresses. “Hey, you’re not bad yourself.” Junpei’s other hand reached under his pillow and pulled out a book. “I know your birthday is not until tomorrow, but I wanted to give you this now, just in case tomorrow doesn’t go so well. I found this book in Nefertimon’s library, and she said I could keep it. This book is a collection of Petrarchan sonnets in their original Italian, allegedly some of the greatest love poems ever written. I wouldn’t know, because I don’t speak Italian, but I know someone who does.”
Izumi took the book from Junpei’s hands. “It’s a nice thought, really, but after all these years, I’ve forgotten most of the Italian that I learned. This wasn’t the kind of gift that I was expecting for my eighteenth birthday, but I guess surprises are your trademark.” Izumi put on a smile for her husband.
“True, there’s a lot more to me than meets the eye…and you can’t judge a book by its cover. Do me a favor and open it.”
Izumi opened the front cover and found a gold necklace connected to an emerald pendant. Then her smile became wholehearted. “Now that’s a birthday gift! Are you going to tell me how you got this?”
“You don’t want to know the details, but it involved Whamon’s digestive tract.”
“Yeah, that’s already too much information.” Izumi gave her husband a quick kiss. “Still, I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me. You always have a trick up your sleeve.”
“That doesn’t make me a god.” There was noticeable anxiety in Junpei’s voice.
Izumi went back to rubbing Junpei’s chest. “It makes you the next best thing.”
“Then you would be the god of a god, the deity to whom I willingly sacrifice.” Junpei slid his body down into the ocean of their sheets, and his face anchored into a harbor. Then he went to shore to request a blessing. “Before I begin, could you try on the necklace for me?”
Izumi hooked the gold chain around her neck, and the emerald pendant dropped delicately into her cleavage. The rubies contrasted majestically with the emerald, like a three-bulb string of Christmas lights. “Does it look good?”
Junpei began to cry. “Absolutely…divine…my savior.”
Author’s Notes:
Musical Inspirations:
Daisuke and Miyako's excursion: “Torches” by Rise Against
Junpei’s marijuana lecture: “Bad Magick” by Godsmack
Ken’s lifestyle: “The Science of Selling Yourself Short” by Less Than Jake
Ken’s “Load” theme: “The House Jack Built” by Metallica
Cody under the streetlight: “Proud” by Korn
Junpei’s agreement: “What If I Do?” by Foo Fighters
Television Inspirations:
I’ll admit it; the Junpei and Izumi “dream” lines were partially inspired by Cowboy Bebop. Subconsciously, it might have something to do with the versatile Steven Blum being the voice actor for Junpei and Spike Spiegel.
Personal Inspirations:
I often eat bran flakes straight from the bag. They’re quite possibly my favorite food (among the foods that I allow myself to eat).
I haven’t read any Petrarchan sonnets, but I wrote a pretty good one about
©2005 by Benjamin Wiseman
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