Note: This story has been brewing in my head for a long time, and it was originally inspired by one of the best Digimon stories I have ever read. I've tried high and low to find it (If you remember it and can find it or know the author, I will write you a story of at least 1,000 words and any pairing!) but I'm fairly sure it's been deleted from the site. The Waste Land was a five-chapter Kensuke/Kaisuke fic based around T.S. Eliot's poem of the same name and the Kaiser returning to destroy Daisuke.

Thinking of poetry, the Digimon Kaiser, and Daisuke (admittedly my favorite character), this idea was born. Please note that this is not a Kensuke story, but will be a Takesuke, Kaisuke, Kenyako, and one-sided Kensuke story with a few other pairings. The poem featured is The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats. Please note that Takeru and Miyako are 18, Daisuke, Ken, and Hikari are 17, Iori is 15, Koushiro and Mimi are 19, and Yamato, Sora, Jou, and Taichi are 20. Jun is around 23 in this story and since Shuu Kido isn't really given an age, let's say he's also 23.


The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

"Brothers, welcome. Do you recognize this place? Welcome to the world of wishes and dreams. But changed, changed to match the wills of those who can rule with true power." The digimon's fanged teeth glinted as he spoke to unknown others, assembled in a vast, dark realm, hidden in shadow and cloud. He turned to look at his companions, who seemed not to be listening. They stood in silence and suspicion, flexing fingers and limbs, uncertain. Fools. They would soon see that not only were they alive and powerful, but that of all of them, he, Belialvamdemon was the god that they should bow before.

After all, only he had unlocked the secrets of death, creation, and regeneration. Only he had searched tirelessly, little more than vapor, for this mysterious world connecting the Digital World and Earth through dreams, wishes, and power. More power than anyone could imagine. Power that needed to be directed and wielded only by those righteous and worthy. Power that should never have been touched by disgusting, weak beings like humans. It was a karmic injustice that their spirits had the ability to create wishes and dreams in the first place. And it was an injustice he intended to correct.

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

"How many times have we been defeated by mere trifles, by meaningless vanities, brothers? Are we not ashamed to let powerless beings take control of the Digital World?" The dark digimon raised his voice into a fearsome cry, and finally one of the shadowy figures stepped forward, narrowing its eyes into slits. "Knowledge, Purity, Honesty, Love, Kindness, Miracles, Light, Hope," Here Piemon stepped out of the shadows, hissing. Belialvamdemon smiled and nodded before continuing, "Friendship. Courage. Why do we allow such insignificant creatures to determine the destiny of the lords of the digital world?!"

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;

Others stepped forward: MetalSeadramon, Dagomon, Apocalymon all formed a circle around Belialvamdemon. "I have freed you from nothingness, from lost dimensions and time, from the circles of holy protection, from the Dark Ocean, from death. Wouldn't you agree that this deserves some thanks?" Piemon sneered at him, "What is it that you want? Skip these melodramatics and get to the point."

Once he achieved his goal, Belialvamdemon swore to himself that he would teach this minstrel to respect those with power over him. And the best teaching, he believed, was through the proper application of pain. He smiled graciously, though it could be seen as a grimace. "Now, now, Piemon, let's not be hasty. You must learn my methods before we advance to the point. First, you must exercise your power and show me that you have been fully restored."

LadyDevimon stepped forward slowly, "You want us to fight you?" He turned to her, "Of course not, what a waste of time and power that would be. I would have you cast your power on that creature as I transform him." He hesitated, not wanting the other dark digimon to know that he had been unable to cast this spell on his power alone. And most likely it was because he was wasted so much of his own energy dredging this digimon from across time, space, and worlds.

He pointed at a colorless shadow, writhing in bondage. "Do you recognize it?" LadyDevimon paused before responding, "A Bakemon, without its cloth." "That is only its original form, brothers. We are going to change it into a puppet which will shake the core of the Chosen Children, and destroy them once and for all. Now," he turned his attention to the digimon at the sides that had not yet come to him, "Have you fools decided to join my cause of freeing us from human control yet?" Devimon stepped forward and joined the group.

Belialvamdemon smiled and pointed at the Virus and Variable types who hadn't been quick enough to decide. Puppetmon stood among the others in the shadows, a grim look on his face. "Very well, your indecision has made the choice for you. You should all be grateful to die at the hands of a digital god." He clenched his fist and a wave of energy and red light smashed into them, creating a cacophony of screams and a violent blast of hot wind. He pulled the remnants of their data into a glowing orb and cast it onto the quivering Bakemon.

He turned and saw a look exchanged between LadyDevimon and Piemon. "No, they will never be able to regenerate. But you have chosen the better part and joined with me. You have nothing to fear. Now, cast your power onto that Bakemon and I will show you how to create." The digimon raised their hands and a dark light streamed forward, creating a purple glow that surrounded the creature.

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

A wind whipped up around the small group and Belialvamdemon focused his energy on an orb of light in his hands. Slowly, an object appeared, a pair of golden shades, quickly followed by a partially destroyed pink crest. The last object that appeared was a long, black whip. He threw these down onto the Bakemon and with a final blast of energy, the orb disappeared onto the shape. The Bakemon was changing, the color turning into a pale peach from a nebulous gray. It grew limbs and shook as it changed and reformed into the image of the Digimon Kaiser, but older and somehow lacking a human look in its eyes.

The darkness drops again but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Shaking, Vamdemon stepped back from his creation; he was unable to sustain his digivolution and use that much power at the same time. The other digimon moved to lower their hands and he hissed, short of breath, "Don't stop now, there is one more step." He moved closer to the newly formed digital-human hybrid while keeping the stream of dark light focused towards it. With his other hand, he tore a hole in the dark shadows surrounding them, forming a silver circle. It rippled like water for a minute before reflecting an image of a human boy with golden skin, dark red hair, and amber eyes gazing out the window of a school classroom.

The dark digimon trembled with a fury so keen and a hatred so fierce that he lost his focus for a moment. "Motomiya Daisuke…. Through some accident you found a way to overthrow me when I had already won. This time, you will be the first to lose. You will taste despair and degradation and madness before I am finished with you. As for the rest of the Chosen Children, once you cut off the head, the body cannot stand." He created a dark glowing orb in his hand that crackled with lightning and spun madly.

Vamdemon shouted and focused his hands on both the boy and the digimon-boy, "Give me your power now! Mind Illusion!" An explosion of light rocked the group and in the mirror, the boy named Daisuke collapsed onto the floor. The thing that resembled the Digimon Kaiser was now enrobed in the familiar dark purple and gold clothing. It blinked blank violet eyes and turned to Vamdemon, crouching shakily on one knee.

Feeling thrills of revenge and deep joy, Vamdemon smiled terribly and spoke to his creation. "Go to your base and use the powers I have given you to destroy Motomiya Daisuke. Search your data for memories to gain an advantage. If any digimon or Chosen Child gets in your way, kill them."