Preview of Sequel Disclaimer: I have to do one for this too?  Aw, fudge it, just look at the one from the Epilogue. Gaia: Hi y’all.  Okay, this is just a rough draft of a scene in the sequel I’m leaning towards writing, so feel free to make any comments or anything while it’s still not a finished product.  G: Or bring her to her senses and tell her it’s not worth it now before she actually starts writing it. Gaia: *picks G up by the collar of her shirt and--* G: Hey, wait, this gag is getting old.  Can’t you think of anything new to do to me? Gaia: *thinks* Hmmm, you’re right.  Since this would be new story, I need something new to do. *thinks some more and light bulb turns on above her head* I know! *stuffs G into a cannon and blows her out the window* Gwen: Looks like someone’s been at the Secret of Mana again. Gaia: *glares at Gwen* Did I hear you say something? Gwen: *closes mouth and hurriedly exits* Gaia: Thought so.  So, anyway, yeah, tell me what you think, whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent.  Just to let you know, this is pretty much all I have as of now along with a rough outline my muses and I drew up, so it may be quite a while before I actually post a sequel if I do decide to write it.  By the way, to those of you who would prefer that I don’t write a sequel, I’m sorry in advance if I go through with this.  I know it might not be as good as “Reflection” was— G: (from far away) You call that good?! Gaia: *ignores her* but think of it as a challenge I’d like to attempt.  You don’t have to read the sequel if you don’t want to, but at least give it a chance.  It seems like it will be more action-oriented than Kenlei-centered, though, just to warn you. G: *walks in covered with soot* I think I speak for all readers when I say shut up and let them read this thing. Gaia:  Fine, fine, shutting up right now. (Untitled so far) Summary: He said he would return, and he did.  Now Daemon has kidnapped Yolei and demands that Ken come to him as the Digimon Emperor.  Is Ken willing to sacrifice his kindness to save her? (BTW, this will take place four years after “Reflection,” and Ken attends the same high school that Yolei, Davis, TK, and Kari go to.) *** Being struck by lightning would have felt good compared to this. Ken reread the e-mail for the billionth time since he had opened it.  It was almost as if he wanted to burn the message into his brain. Ken Ichijouji, I have taken the Digidestined, Yolei Inoue, hostage.  If you ever want to see her alive again, meet me in the Digital World twenty-four hours after this message was sent at the coordinates shown below.  Come alone and as the Digimon Emperor.  If you do not comply with any part of this, she will die, and I will simply keep taking Digidestineds until you do.  Remember, you have only until 24 hours after this message was sent. Daemon That monster! Ken would have punched a hole through his monitor if it weren’t his most convenient way of getting to the Digital World.  For the millionth time in a half hour, he looked at the time the e-mail was sent. 3:00 P.M. GMT That meant midnight in Tokyo time. Darnnit! He quickly darted his eyes once again to the clock on his desk. 6:06 P.M. Only five hours and fifty-four minutes left.  Why didn’t he figure out that something was wrong when Yolei failed to show up at school today?  How come he hadn’t heard about this until now? Finally, Ken tore his eyes away from the screen and began to pace his room. He couldn’t believe it.  Just yesterday, the light of his life was poking fun at him for doing worse than her on their last history test, and now she was gone in an instant. Oh, why he couldn’t he have read this e-mail earlier?! He stopped to pound a fist against the wall before resuming his pacing. ‘That’s right,’ he thought angrily, ‘Wormmon wanted me in bed by midnight last night, and I’ve been too busy with school and practice all day. Stupid soccer, stupid school, stupid, fussy, mothering worm…’ The Digidestined of Kindness halted in mid-step, his eyes wide.  ‘Wait, what am I thinking?  How could I think such things about Wormmon?’ As if on cue, the aforementioned digimon crawled into the room. “Ken, your mom needs your help in the kitchen.  Apparently a small digimon like me can’t—Ken, what’s wrong?” Wormmon questioned as soon as he saw his partner’s face. “Nothing, Wormmon,” he hastily said and headed for the door.  “I just need to step out for a few minutes that’s all.” The indigo-haired boy grabbed the sweater off his doorknob and made a dash for the front door as soon as he had exited the room. “Ken? Ken! Where are you going? It’ll be dark soon,” Wormmon cried after him. “I need some time alone to think.  Don’t worry about me,” he replied a bit curtly.  Then to his parents, he called, “I’m going for a walk in the park.  I’ll be back soon.”  With that, Ken was out the front door and down the hall before Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji could find anything to say. “Ken…?” whispered a worried Wormmon.  Curious, the rookie-level digimon, scurried over to his partner’s desk.  “Now what could have happened to make him so upset?” It didn’t take long for him to find out.  The moment he had crawled onto his partner’s chair Wormmon read the message left on the boy’s computer screen. Almost as shocked as the boy was by the e-mail, the only thing the little green digimon could manage to say was “Uh, oh.” ~~~ The cool spring breeze on the dark-haired boy’s sweaty face would have felt good if he didn’t have so much on his mind.  Above the district of Tamachi, the sun was dipping slowly down into the horizon, turning the sky a blazing orange-red, and children were already leaving the local park. Ken, on the other hand, wasn’t about to leave anytime soon. After sprinting all the way over here from his apartment to vent his anger, he decided to take a quiet walk along the pond to calm down. He silently kicked a pebble into the small body of water and caused the still surface to ripple. ‘What am I going to do?’ the Digidestined of Kindness thought despondently,  ‘It looks like I have no choice but to show up as the Digimon Emperor. But I’m not him anymore; Yolei and I made sure of that!  And Daemon’s no fool--he’d see right through me if I just posed as the Emperor.’ Ken let out a frustrated growl and punched a nearby tree, which shook under his forceful blow.  The boy’s knuckles began to sting and turn scarlet, but that was the least of his worries now.   Sighing, Ken leaned his back against the same tree and looked down at his feet.  ‘If I were the Emperor, maybe I would be able to think of a way out of this,’ he pondered wistfully, ‘but I can’t become him again.  He was a tyrant Yolei helped me put away for good.’ ‘Or so you think.’ Ken jerked his head up. “N-no, it could possibly…” ‘Oh yes it could my dear Emperor.’ The boy’s eyes landed on the pond, and, an idea forming in his mind, he instantly headed for it.  Once he reached the edge, he kneeled on the bank and fearfully peered into the reflecting waters. Shaded indigo eyes stared back at indigo. “Not again…” Ken gasped. “You took the words right out of my mouth,” his reflection commented, “literally and figuratively.” He smirked.  “Let’s see, recognition of me as a separate entity, check; dark emotions, check; possession of body by me, soon to be check.” “Oh, no you don’t.” The boy started to stand up to back away. “I made a promise with Yolei never to become you again.” “Not even to save her life?” That stopped Ken in his tracks.  The Digidestined of Kindness simply stood there, his head still looking down into the pond at the Emperor. “Face it.  This is the only way to get her back from Daemon.” “No!” Ken nearly shouted, luckily not drawing attention from the passersby.  “There’s got to be another way.” “Yeah, run like a scared coward and let the bimbo die; try to dress up as me and watch her die; have a Bakemon pose as me while you try to save her, utterly fail because you underestimate Daemon’s intelligence and watch her die anyway…ooo, didn’t think of that one did you?” the image of the Emperor toyed with him.  “Sure, there’s lots of other ways to solve your problem, but not all of them will be very pleasant.” Ken clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists in fury, but the Emperor simply continued to prod him.  “Come on--look at your options.  Your best chance is letting me take over.  What, you don’t think you’re strong enough to defeat me once you’ve satisfied Daemon? Oh yeah, that’s right, you probably aren’t, but didn’t you once say, ‘Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take!’?” he quoted in Ken’s own voice. Ken turned away from the pond, but the voice of his dark side continued to taunt him in his mind. ‘Will you stop being so stubborn and think for once?  What’s more important to you, a promise with that meddlesome girl or her life?’ Then a little less harshly, the voice in his head soothed, ‘Listen, Kenny boy, I’ll just take over for a little while—I swear.  You can always regain control again like you did last time; it’s not as if this will be permanent.  You know there’s no other way to save her.’  The Digidestined of Kindness didn’t want to admit it, but his dark side was right.  There was no other way. Sighing in surrender, he turned back to his reflection in the water and hissed, “Fine, I’ll let you take over—but only for a short time, you understand?” “Perfectly.” The Emperor smiled maliciously.  In the distance, the sun had just set, and the sky was turning a dark shade of midnight blue. “So, what do I have to do to give you control?” “That’s no problem.  One more dark emotion should do the trick.  How about experiencing hate?” Ken hesitated. “The one emotion you couldn’t evoke from me before?” The image in the water nodded.  “Come on.  We don’t have all night.  It’s the fastest and easiest emotion to experience.  Just think of someone to hate.” There was no hesitation on Ken’s part for this one.  “That’s simple.  I hate Daemon.”   That was all the Emperor needed to hear. *** A/N:  You know, I was just looking over the outline of this, and I’ve found that the sequel has a lot of holes to be filled up, not to mention a lot of research into the evolutions of the Digimon.  Then there’s school, which promises to be a bear when I get off from Winter Break…(G: What she’s trying to say is this sequel, if it does get written, won’t even be close to ready any sooner than Spring Break.)…er, yeah, what she said.  ^_^;;;.  Sorry, ‘bout that, but I’ll try to get it out ASAP, hopefully sooner than Easter, but I’m not making any guarantees.