Hello all! Raptor Darkshadow here!
This is the first installment of my fic for Nemesi-chan's contest!
So far, I'm proud of how it's coming. But, I would still like some opinions before I continue, you know, tell me if you think I should keep at it or scrap the whole thing and start over (again).
At the moment there are only a couple of hints at a Daisuke/Ken relationship. It will get more obvious in the future, I promise!
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I do not own Digimon...Digimon belongs to a lot of rich people that I envy. I am making no money off this fic, and frankly I have no money so it would be pretty pointless to sue me.
This is an original fic by me, if you would like to use it or post it somewhere else, please let me know first...That's about all I can think of now...
A/N There is a short flashback in this part, separated from the rest of the fic by "******"
Warning-This fic is rated R for suggestive dialogue and scenes (it will not be a lemon by any stretch of the imagination, but it will be suggestive), as well as graphic violence and some language.
Be warned: All flames will be used to make smores!
--Of Young Love and Digimon--
He walked alone through the dark and empty hallways. Passing closed doors with glyphs, symbols and hieroglyphs indecipherable to any whom didn't know the secrets of this world. He could translate them in his sleep if he wanted. But now they could not have been farther from his mind. At the moment, he didn't care about the doors around him, the hallway, the rooms, the base, nothing. Only one thing mattered now. He strode past intersections that started out dark and deepened to velvet black in the distance.
He descended flight after flight of dark stairs. There was just enough ambient light for him to see where each step started and ended. Just enough light to keep the area around him visible, but not enough to make anything in the distance distinct.
He didn't hear the way his footfalls echoed, soft and hollow up and down the hall, or the way his cape rustled around his legs and whispered in the gentle wind he created with his brisk stride. Didn't notice, or didn't care, that as he walked down the hall on this lower level the walls darkened gradually, as if this part of the base was older than the rest of it. He was too focused on the one thing that seemed to matter anymore.
There was only one thing on his mind. One thing that occupied his every waking moment. One thing that had become all consuming as soon as he had discovered the possibilities. Dozens of possibilities. Hundreds of possibilities. Thousands of possibilities. The infinite possibilities that existed in the Megaverse.
He passed through several arches of black metal, thick black metal doors opened wide so he didn't even have to pause as he walked. He did have to stop once, at a door easily twice as large as the other doors he had passed. He stopped and looked at the door. Letting his eyes wander up the metal, around the top of the arch, then back down to eye level, looking at the glyph inscriptions on the door. Glyphs that he instantly translated as he had hundreds of times before, and would hundreds more. He reached out a single hand and touched a glyph at shoulder level, running his index finger around the curve and down the bisecting line. It glowed with a dim red light, flickering for a few seconds, then dimmed and extinguished itself. The door swung in silently, allowing him to continue. The double doors swung shut behind him equally as silently. He didn't notice.
The hall was brighter here, the lighting approaching what might be considered a normal level. He stopped in front of a door halfway down the corridor, and traced a new glyph at shoulder level, and waited for the door to swing open when the dim red light faded.
He stepped through the door into darkness, the only light in the room coming in through the open door. He walked through the darkness until he was right in front of the only object in the room. It was circular and stood about twenty feet tall, made of shining silver and black metal. The light from the open door glinted off the metal, reflecting off the edges and casting deep shadows on itself.
He ran his hand along the outer edge of the giant ring with a cold smile. This was it. This was everything. This was his ticket to absolute power. As soon as it was complete, as soon as it was working, there would be nothing in the Digital World or any other world in the Megaverse that could stand in his way. Nothing would be able to stop him. Nothing at all.
"Master?"
He turned to the door to see the source of the intruding voice. He glared at the speaker for a second, then turned back to looking at the ring, "What have I told you about coming here without my permission?"
The speaker bowed, "I'm sorry Master, but I thought you would want to know..."
"How many times have I told you not to think? I do all the thinking here."
"Yes Master, but..."
" `But' what?"
"They're back. And they're attacking again."
"All of them?"
"Yes Master."
"Very well. Go to the control room. I'll be there in plenty of time to repel this pathetic attempt on their part to storm my castle."
"Yes Master," he turned and scurried off.
He turned to watch his Digimon leave, wondering not for the first time why he kept Wormmon around.
He turned back to the giant black and silver ring with a smile. As soon as it was operational, none of this would matter. Such trivial things as the Digidestined would be no more important than what he chose to have for breakfast in the morning. Everything would be under control.
Ichijouji Ken, the Digimon Emperor turned with a swirl of his cape and flashed a cold grin. Everything would be under control.
His control.
----------
He held on tightly with both hands, holding on to the sides of the Digimon under him, clenching his muscular legs around it's body to keep from being thrown off as the ground thundered by beneath him. He squinted his deep chocolate colored eyes into the sun, shading his face with one hand from the setting sun of the Digital World as the Emperor's base grew closer with each of Raidramon's thundering footfalls.
He looked over his shoulder to check on the others. The golden form of Digmon was right behind him, running for all he was worth to keep up with the punishing pace Raidramon was setting. Above and to his right were Pegasusmon carrying Takashi Takeru and Hido Iori, and Halsemon with Miyako, and to above his left shoulder flew the graceful form of Nefertimon, with Kamiya Hikari sitting on her back just in front of her Digimon's white wings. And he was leading the pack, riding point on the black armored from of Raidramon.
He patted Raidramon's side as he turned back to the front to watch the base grow larger with every passing moment, "Come on Raidramon! I know you can go faster than this! You want them to pass us or something?"
He could almost feel Raidramon smile at the friendly jab, "You got it Daisuke!"
Motimiya Daisuke tightened his grip as Raidramon poured on the speed, leaping ahead of the others. Takeru smiled to himself as he watched Daisuke running ahead. He was just like that, always wanting to be the first one into the fray to prove himself to himself and the rest of them. But then again, if they were going to beat the Digimon Emperor, they needed that sort of mindless optimism.
Daisuke turned and waved at the others, a wide grin splitting his face, practically daring them to catch him. Iori yelped behind him and tightened his grip around Takeru's waist as the older Digidestined urged Pegasusmon to fly faster.
Daisuke thought back to what Miyako and Koushiro had told them before they came to the Digital World today.
******
They had all come to Koushiro's house at the request of the former keeper of Knowledge. Miyako had arrived before any of the others, and had helped set up the presentation he wanted to share with the new Digidestined.
They congregated in Koushiro's room and collected around the glowing computer screen. Koushiro settled into his usual, "I've figured everything out and I'll explain it all to you now" mode as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Daisuke hated it when people went into that mode.
"As you can see," Koushiro started, "This is a map of the section of the Digital World where the Emperor has his base. This map was created by my monitor program a few days ago," he tapped a key and a new map appeared, "This what it looks like today."
They all pressed forward to get a better look at the screen. The previous map had been the normal grid of white and black squares that they had become accustomed to. This new map was only white and black around the edges. The entire center portion of the grid was various shades of yellow, orange, and red.
Takeru gasped.
Iori's eyes widened until they looked like they would swallow the rest of his face.
Miyako and Hikari backed away from the screen.
Daisuke just stared. These were new colors. He turned to Koushiro, "Is this some kind of joke?"
Koushiro shook his head, "No. No joke. What you're seeing here is a manifestation of an incredible amount of power that has suddenly appeared in that area."
"What does it mean?" Takeru asked.
"I do have a theory," Koushiro started.
"I thought you might," Iori mumbled.
"As you know it takes a fantastic amount of energy to open a gateway to the Digital World, which we call a Digiport," Koushiro stood and started pacing-he said it helped his think sometimes.
Miyako sat on the table, "Yeah, so?"
"We also know that the real world and the Digital World are not the only two worlds out there. They're just a miniscule portion of what Gennai calls the Megaverse, millions and millions of parallel worlds all coexisting, interrelated and interdependent, in alternate dimensions."
Hikari crossed her arms, "Yeah, so?"
"And taking into account the immense amounts of raw power needed to open a gateway to a single alternate dimension, and therefore a single parallel world, its only logical to assume that even greater amounts of power would be needed to open gateways to more than one alternate world. In fact, my calculations show that as we move higher up in the worlds of the Megaverse, we also travel up the power gradient."
Daisuke leaned over to Iori and whispered, "What did he just say in simple Japanese?"
"It means it takes more power to open those gateways that lead to higher level dimensions," Iori whispered back.
Koushiro opened his mouth to continue, but before a single syllable could pass his lips, the new Digidestined all spoke in unison, "SO?"
Koushiro paused, then coughed into his hand as he walked back toward the computer, "So, I think that the Emperor is going to try to open a gateway, or several gateways to other worlds in hopes of finding even greater power."
Takeru motioned to the screen, "What? Isn't that enough for anything he could want?"
Koushiro shook his head, "No. By my calculations, it's not even enough power to conquer a small portion of the Digital World. But, it would appear to be almost enough power to open a gateway to a higher dimension that might have more than enough power to conquer both the Digital World and this one."
Daisuke looked at the serious faces around him, "That's a bad thing, right?"
Iori clenched his small hands into fists, "We have to go to the Digital World immediately to stop that monster!"
Miyako stepped up next to him, "I agree! Let's go!"
Koushiro held out his hands, "Now just wait a minute! It's already late, you wouldn't even get to his base before dusk, and then you'd just have to turn back!"
"Then we'll just have to stay the night," Takeru said, "We'll go in and we won't come back out until he can't open the gateway."
"What will you tell your parents?" Koushiro demanded as they picked up their Digimon from his bed where they had watched the entire conversation with growing concern.
Daisuke shrugged as Demiveemon crawled to the top of his head, "I'm sure you'll think of something!" he turned to the computer screen, holding his D-3 before the monitor at arms length, "Digiport open!"
Within seconds, Koushiro was alone in his room. He flopped limply into his chair and stared at the Digiport on the screen, " `I'm sure you'll think of something'? Gee thanks guys."
******
And that was how they had come to be storming the Emperor's base just before nightfall.
Daisuke smiled as the silhouette before him blotted out the sun of the Digital World. He scanned the area around him as he rode his Digimon farther into the shadow cast by the base. So far they hadn't seen a single Dark Ringed Digimon around. Nothing was standing in their way. It was almost too easy.
The ground before them erupted. Raidramon skid to a stop in a cloud of dust, leaping back as the ground humped up, then split as fissures spread across the parched ground. Daisuke screamed and tightened his grip on Raidramon's back as the black-armored Digimon jumped back from the fissures.
"Drimogemon!" He called out as the lavender and white Digimon poured forth from the cracks, creating a line between the Digidestined and the base.
Raidramon set his feet, claws digging into the ground beneath him for purchase as pure blue energy jumped and arced between the three lightning bolt-like spikes on his shoulders, "Blue Thunder!" Balls and lines of blue lightning leapt forth, halting the advance of the mole-like horde and shattering a few Dark Rings. Those that were free shook their heads, took one look at the situation, then ran for the hills.
"We could use some help here!" Daisuke yelled over his shoulder.
"Right behind you!" Takeru called back.
"Star Shower!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
Pegasusmon and Nefertimon swooped into the fray, blasting their own attacks into the slave Digimon. Dozens were freed, and the way to the base was cleared.
"Gold Rush!"
"We got `em on the run!" Miyako yelled from Halsemon's back.
"Look out!" Hikari screamed, pointing into the sky.
Iori gasped and pointed into the sky. Takeru followed his finger and ground his teeth as he saw the second wave.
Dozens upon dozens of Snimon and Airdramon dove out of the sun, routing the attack away from the base.
Daisuke grabbed the lighting bolt spikes before him to keep from being thrown as the first of the Twin Sickles and Spinning Needle attacks impacted the ground around him.
"Retreat!" He yelled to the others, "Let's get out of here! Now!"
Raidramon grunted as a blade of energy glanced off his flank, dinging the armor and throwing him off balance, "Right! Hold on tight!"
The Digidestined collected in the forest a few miles from the base, hiding under a snag of trees to avoid detection by the flights of Airdramon and other flying Digimon slaves that occasionally flew over.
Daisuke and Veemon crept out after a group passed, running swiftly but quietly to the edge of the forest where he could see the outline of the base against the stars, and the glaring light from the windows.
He leaned one hand against a tree and sighed as he imagined he saw a form move in the base's control room, "Ken...why? What are you doing in there, and why? Why won't you let us in? Why won't you let me in?"
"Um...Daisuke?" the dragon Digimon rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Yeah Veemon?"
"Can I borrow your D-Terminal for a few minutes?"
Daisuke pulled the device in question out of the pocket of his flame-emblazoned jacket and dropped it into Veemon's waiting hands. The Digimon ran off a little way and sat with his back against a tree giggling all the way.
Daisuke smiled as he watched his smiling Digimon tap at the keys slowly, eyes shining brightly as he looked at whatever it was he was typing. After about ten minutes, he hit the send key proudly, watched the send bar scale to 100%, then giggled and held the D-Terminal to him chest.
"Who'd you mail?" Daisuke asked with a smile.
The smile slipped for a second, then returned as if it had been there the whole time, "Just mailing Koushiro-san about how we're doing!" half true-that had been one of the messages.
Daisuke's smile widened as he shook his head with a chuckle. Veemon had asked him to teach him how to use the D-Terminal a few weeks ago, and he had. It had taken a few days for the eager dragon to learn everything, but when it had he had been the proudest Digimon alive, showing off to the others and remaining inanely giddy for the next several days. It took so little to make him happy.
Veemon looked down at the D-Terminal as it beeped against his chest and flipped it open. He held it up and waved the screen at his partner, "You've got mail from Hikari!"
Daisuke jumped up and ran for the Digimon, snatching the D-Terminal, "Really? Hikari sent me mail? Personally? To me?" he crowed and danced about a bit before dropping to the forest floor to read the message on the small glowing screen.
Veemon smiled to himself and slowly shook his head, gentle concern shining in his reddish-brown eyes. When was Daisuke going to realize someone else held his heart?
----------
The Emperor sat in his control center and ran his eyes over the monitors. No sign of the Digidestined. Nothing. Nowhere. He sat back and rested his chin on one hand, trying to think of where they could be hiding.
He closed his eyes, concentrating.
If he were the Digidestined, where would he go?
If he were Daisuke?
An image of Daisuke's face appeared before his closed eyes. His violet eyes snapped open. What was he thinking? Why was he always thinking of Daisuke, even when he wasn't around? Even when he wasn't interfering? Even when there were ten thousand things more important that demanded his attention?
He stood with a snarl, and deactivated the monitors with a fierce wave of one gloved hand. He stood alone in the dark, panting and trying to banish Daisuke's smiling face from his mind. There was only one thing that he could do now. One thing to exorcise the demons that seemed to haunt him. Only one way to stop the Digidestined.
Wormmon sat in a room not far from the control center and went through the screens, tapping a glyph with a single claw. He looked at another screen as a red light began blinking insistently.
He hopped off the chair and scrambled over to the light, activating the screen with a touch. He gasped as the message appeared on the screen.
"Veemon!"
He read the message quickly. It was a message asking for a meeting in the forest nearby the next day. It gave a time and location, and ended with the words, "Please come alone Worm-chan. It's important! --Veemon"
Wormmon smiled as a novel warmth spread in his heart. Veemon had sent him a private message asking for a private meeting in the middle of the night. It said he trusted him. And it said other things as well.
He hit the button that deleted the message as the door hissed open, allowing the Digimon Emperor entrance. He turned and bowed as he had been taught, "What's wrong Master? Is there something I can do?"
"Yes Wormmon, I want you to contact all my forces above Rookie in a three hundred kilometer radius. I want them here and ready for combat in three days."
"Why so many Master?" Wormmon asked, hoping the answer wasn't what he was thinking.
"It's time to eliminate the Digidestined once and for all. In three days, I want them all dead. Starting with Daisuke!" He turned on his heel and left Wormmon to follow his orders.
Wormmon shook his head sadly, this wasn't what Ken really wanted.
When would he realize that he had the right person, but the wrong reason?
-TBC-
This is the first installment of my fic for Nemesi-chan's contest!
So far, I'm proud of how it's coming. But, I would still like some opinions before I continue, you know, tell me if you think I should keep at it or scrap the whole thing and start over (again).
At the moment there are only a couple of hints at a Daisuke/Ken relationship. It will get more obvious in the future, I promise!
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I do not own Digimon...Digimon belongs to a lot of rich people that I envy. I am making no money off this fic, and frankly I have no money so it would be pretty pointless to sue me.
This is an original fic by me, if you would like to use it or post it somewhere else, please let me know first...That's about all I can think of now...
A/N There is a short flashback in this part, separated from the rest of the fic by "******"
Warning-This fic is rated R for suggestive dialogue and scenes (it will not be a lemon by any stretch of the imagination, but it will be suggestive), as well as graphic violence and some language.
Be warned: All flames will be used to make smores!
--Of Young Love and Digimon--
He walked alone through the dark and empty hallways. Passing closed doors with glyphs, symbols and hieroglyphs indecipherable to any whom didn't know the secrets of this world. He could translate them in his sleep if he wanted. But now they could not have been farther from his mind. At the moment, he didn't care about the doors around him, the hallway, the rooms, the base, nothing. Only one thing mattered now. He strode past intersections that started out dark and deepened to velvet black in the distance.
He descended flight after flight of dark stairs. There was just enough ambient light for him to see where each step started and ended. Just enough light to keep the area around him visible, but not enough to make anything in the distance distinct.
He didn't hear the way his footfalls echoed, soft and hollow up and down the hall, or the way his cape rustled around his legs and whispered in the gentle wind he created with his brisk stride. Didn't notice, or didn't care, that as he walked down the hall on this lower level the walls darkened gradually, as if this part of the base was older than the rest of it. He was too focused on the one thing that seemed to matter anymore.
There was only one thing on his mind. One thing that occupied his every waking moment. One thing that had become all consuming as soon as he had discovered the possibilities. Dozens of possibilities. Hundreds of possibilities. Thousands of possibilities. The infinite possibilities that existed in the Megaverse.
He passed through several arches of black metal, thick black metal doors opened wide so he didn't even have to pause as he walked. He did have to stop once, at a door easily twice as large as the other doors he had passed. He stopped and looked at the door. Letting his eyes wander up the metal, around the top of the arch, then back down to eye level, looking at the glyph inscriptions on the door. Glyphs that he instantly translated as he had hundreds of times before, and would hundreds more. He reached out a single hand and touched a glyph at shoulder level, running his index finger around the curve and down the bisecting line. It glowed with a dim red light, flickering for a few seconds, then dimmed and extinguished itself. The door swung in silently, allowing him to continue. The double doors swung shut behind him equally as silently. He didn't notice.
The hall was brighter here, the lighting approaching what might be considered a normal level. He stopped in front of a door halfway down the corridor, and traced a new glyph at shoulder level, and waited for the door to swing open when the dim red light faded.
He stepped through the door into darkness, the only light in the room coming in through the open door. He walked through the darkness until he was right in front of the only object in the room. It was circular and stood about twenty feet tall, made of shining silver and black metal. The light from the open door glinted off the metal, reflecting off the edges and casting deep shadows on itself.
He ran his hand along the outer edge of the giant ring with a cold smile. This was it. This was everything. This was his ticket to absolute power. As soon as it was complete, as soon as it was working, there would be nothing in the Digital World or any other world in the Megaverse that could stand in his way. Nothing would be able to stop him. Nothing at all.
"Master?"
He turned to the door to see the source of the intruding voice. He glared at the speaker for a second, then turned back to looking at the ring, "What have I told you about coming here without my permission?"
The speaker bowed, "I'm sorry Master, but I thought you would want to know..."
"How many times have I told you not to think? I do all the thinking here."
"Yes Master, but..."
" `But' what?"
"They're back. And they're attacking again."
"All of them?"
"Yes Master."
"Very well. Go to the control room. I'll be there in plenty of time to repel this pathetic attempt on their part to storm my castle."
"Yes Master," he turned and scurried off.
He turned to watch his Digimon leave, wondering not for the first time why he kept Wormmon around.
He turned back to the giant black and silver ring with a smile. As soon as it was operational, none of this would matter. Such trivial things as the Digidestined would be no more important than what he chose to have for breakfast in the morning. Everything would be under control.
Ichijouji Ken, the Digimon Emperor turned with a swirl of his cape and flashed a cold grin. Everything would be under control.
His control.
----------
He held on tightly with both hands, holding on to the sides of the Digimon under him, clenching his muscular legs around it's body to keep from being thrown off as the ground thundered by beneath him. He squinted his deep chocolate colored eyes into the sun, shading his face with one hand from the setting sun of the Digital World as the Emperor's base grew closer with each of Raidramon's thundering footfalls.
He looked over his shoulder to check on the others. The golden form of Digmon was right behind him, running for all he was worth to keep up with the punishing pace Raidramon was setting. Above and to his right were Pegasusmon carrying Takashi Takeru and Hido Iori, and Halsemon with Miyako, and to above his left shoulder flew the graceful form of Nefertimon, with Kamiya Hikari sitting on her back just in front of her Digimon's white wings. And he was leading the pack, riding point on the black armored from of Raidramon.
He patted Raidramon's side as he turned back to the front to watch the base grow larger with every passing moment, "Come on Raidramon! I know you can go faster than this! You want them to pass us or something?"
He could almost feel Raidramon smile at the friendly jab, "You got it Daisuke!"
Motimiya Daisuke tightened his grip as Raidramon poured on the speed, leaping ahead of the others. Takeru smiled to himself as he watched Daisuke running ahead. He was just like that, always wanting to be the first one into the fray to prove himself to himself and the rest of them. But then again, if they were going to beat the Digimon Emperor, they needed that sort of mindless optimism.
Daisuke turned and waved at the others, a wide grin splitting his face, practically daring them to catch him. Iori yelped behind him and tightened his grip around Takeru's waist as the older Digidestined urged Pegasusmon to fly faster.
Daisuke thought back to what Miyako and Koushiro had told them before they came to the Digital World today.
******
They had all come to Koushiro's house at the request of the former keeper of Knowledge. Miyako had arrived before any of the others, and had helped set up the presentation he wanted to share with the new Digidestined.
They congregated in Koushiro's room and collected around the glowing computer screen. Koushiro settled into his usual, "I've figured everything out and I'll explain it all to you now" mode as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Daisuke hated it when people went into that mode.
"As you can see," Koushiro started, "This is a map of the section of the Digital World where the Emperor has his base. This map was created by my monitor program a few days ago," he tapped a key and a new map appeared, "This what it looks like today."
They all pressed forward to get a better look at the screen. The previous map had been the normal grid of white and black squares that they had become accustomed to. This new map was only white and black around the edges. The entire center portion of the grid was various shades of yellow, orange, and red.
Takeru gasped.
Iori's eyes widened until they looked like they would swallow the rest of his face.
Miyako and Hikari backed away from the screen.
Daisuke just stared. These were new colors. He turned to Koushiro, "Is this some kind of joke?"
Koushiro shook his head, "No. No joke. What you're seeing here is a manifestation of an incredible amount of power that has suddenly appeared in that area."
"What does it mean?" Takeru asked.
"I do have a theory," Koushiro started.
"I thought you might," Iori mumbled.
"As you know it takes a fantastic amount of energy to open a gateway to the Digital World, which we call a Digiport," Koushiro stood and started pacing-he said it helped his think sometimes.
Miyako sat on the table, "Yeah, so?"
"We also know that the real world and the Digital World are not the only two worlds out there. They're just a miniscule portion of what Gennai calls the Megaverse, millions and millions of parallel worlds all coexisting, interrelated and interdependent, in alternate dimensions."
Hikari crossed her arms, "Yeah, so?"
"And taking into account the immense amounts of raw power needed to open a gateway to a single alternate dimension, and therefore a single parallel world, its only logical to assume that even greater amounts of power would be needed to open gateways to more than one alternate world. In fact, my calculations show that as we move higher up in the worlds of the Megaverse, we also travel up the power gradient."
Daisuke leaned over to Iori and whispered, "What did he just say in simple Japanese?"
"It means it takes more power to open those gateways that lead to higher level dimensions," Iori whispered back.
Koushiro opened his mouth to continue, but before a single syllable could pass his lips, the new Digidestined all spoke in unison, "SO?"
Koushiro paused, then coughed into his hand as he walked back toward the computer, "So, I think that the Emperor is going to try to open a gateway, or several gateways to other worlds in hopes of finding even greater power."
Takeru motioned to the screen, "What? Isn't that enough for anything he could want?"
Koushiro shook his head, "No. By my calculations, it's not even enough power to conquer a small portion of the Digital World. But, it would appear to be almost enough power to open a gateway to a higher dimension that might have more than enough power to conquer both the Digital World and this one."
Daisuke looked at the serious faces around him, "That's a bad thing, right?"
Iori clenched his small hands into fists, "We have to go to the Digital World immediately to stop that monster!"
Miyako stepped up next to him, "I agree! Let's go!"
Koushiro held out his hands, "Now just wait a minute! It's already late, you wouldn't even get to his base before dusk, and then you'd just have to turn back!"
"Then we'll just have to stay the night," Takeru said, "We'll go in and we won't come back out until he can't open the gateway."
"What will you tell your parents?" Koushiro demanded as they picked up their Digimon from his bed where they had watched the entire conversation with growing concern.
Daisuke shrugged as Demiveemon crawled to the top of his head, "I'm sure you'll think of something!" he turned to the computer screen, holding his D-3 before the monitor at arms length, "Digiport open!"
Within seconds, Koushiro was alone in his room. He flopped limply into his chair and stared at the Digiport on the screen, " `I'm sure you'll think of something'? Gee thanks guys."
******
And that was how they had come to be storming the Emperor's base just before nightfall.
Daisuke smiled as the silhouette before him blotted out the sun of the Digital World. He scanned the area around him as he rode his Digimon farther into the shadow cast by the base. So far they hadn't seen a single Dark Ringed Digimon around. Nothing was standing in their way. It was almost too easy.
The ground before them erupted. Raidramon skid to a stop in a cloud of dust, leaping back as the ground humped up, then split as fissures spread across the parched ground. Daisuke screamed and tightened his grip on Raidramon's back as the black-armored Digimon jumped back from the fissures.
"Drimogemon!" He called out as the lavender and white Digimon poured forth from the cracks, creating a line between the Digidestined and the base.
Raidramon set his feet, claws digging into the ground beneath him for purchase as pure blue energy jumped and arced between the three lightning bolt-like spikes on his shoulders, "Blue Thunder!" Balls and lines of blue lightning leapt forth, halting the advance of the mole-like horde and shattering a few Dark Rings. Those that were free shook their heads, took one look at the situation, then ran for the hills.
"We could use some help here!" Daisuke yelled over his shoulder.
"Right behind you!" Takeru called back.
"Star Shower!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
Pegasusmon and Nefertimon swooped into the fray, blasting their own attacks into the slave Digimon. Dozens were freed, and the way to the base was cleared.
"Gold Rush!"
"We got `em on the run!" Miyako yelled from Halsemon's back.
"Look out!" Hikari screamed, pointing into the sky.
Iori gasped and pointed into the sky. Takeru followed his finger and ground his teeth as he saw the second wave.
Dozens upon dozens of Snimon and Airdramon dove out of the sun, routing the attack away from the base.
Daisuke grabbed the lighting bolt spikes before him to keep from being thrown as the first of the Twin Sickles and Spinning Needle attacks impacted the ground around him.
"Retreat!" He yelled to the others, "Let's get out of here! Now!"
Raidramon grunted as a blade of energy glanced off his flank, dinging the armor and throwing him off balance, "Right! Hold on tight!"
The Digidestined collected in the forest a few miles from the base, hiding under a snag of trees to avoid detection by the flights of Airdramon and other flying Digimon slaves that occasionally flew over.
Daisuke and Veemon crept out after a group passed, running swiftly but quietly to the edge of the forest where he could see the outline of the base against the stars, and the glaring light from the windows.
He leaned one hand against a tree and sighed as he imagined he saw a form move in the base's control room, "Ken...why? What are you doing in there, and why? Why won't you let us in? Why won't you let me in?"
"Um...Daisuke?" the dragon Digimon rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Yeah Veemon?"
"Can I borrow your D-Terminal for a few minutes?"
Daisuke pulled the device in question out of the pocket of his flame-emblazoned jacket and dropped it into Veemon's waiting hands. The Digimon ran off a little way and sat with his back against a tree giggling all the way.
Daisuke smiled as he watched his smiling Digimon tap at the keys slowly, eyes shining brightly as he looked at whatever it was he was typing. After about ten minutes, he hit the send key proudly, watched the send bar scale to 100%, then giggled and held the D-Terminal to him chest.
"Who'd you mail?" Daisuke asked with a smile.
The smile slipped for a second, then returned as if it had been there the whole time, "Just mailing Koushiro-san about how we're doing!" half true-that had been one of the messages.
Daisuke's smile widened as he shook his head with a chuckle. Veemon had asked him to teach him how to use the D-Terminal a few weeks ago, and he had. It had taken a few days for the eager dragon to learn everything, but when it had he had been the proudest Digimon alive, showing off to the others and remaining inanely giddy for the next several days. It took so little to make him happy.
Veemon looked down at the D-Terminal as it beeped against his chest and flipped it open. He held it up and waved the screen at his partner, "You've got mail from Hikari!"
Daisuke jumped up and ran for the Digimon, snatching the D-Terminal, "Really? Hikari sent me mail? Personally? To me?" he crowed and danced about a bit before dropping to the forest floor to read the message on the small glowing screen.
Veemon smiled to himself and slowly shook his head, gentle concern shining in his reddish-brown eyes. When was Daisuke going to realize someone else held his heart?
----------
The Emperor sat in his control center and ran his eyes over the monitors. No sign of the Digidestined. Nothing. Nowhere. He sat back and rested his chin on one hand, trying to think of where they could be hiding.
He closed his eyes, concentrating.
If he were the Digidestined, where would he go?
If he were Daisuke?
An image of Daisuke's face appeared before his closed eyes. His violet eyes snapped open. What was he thinking? Why was he always thinking of Daisuke, even when he wasn't around? Even when he wasn't interfering? Even when there were ten thousand things more important that demanded his attention?
He stood with a snarl, and deactivated the monitors with a fierce wave of one gloved hand. He stood alone in the dark, panting and trying to banish Daisuke's smiling face from his mind. There was only one thing that he could do now. One thing to exorcise the demons that seemed to haunt him. Only one way to stop the Digidestined.
Wormmon sat in a room not far from the control center and went through the screens, tapping a glyph with a single claw. He looked at another screen as a red light began blinking insistently.
He hopped off the chair and scrambled over to the light, activating the screen with a touch. He gasped as the message appeared on the screen.
"Veemon!"
He read the message quickly. It was a message asking for a meeting in the forest nearby the next day. It gave a time and location, and ended with the words, "Please come alone Worm-chan. It's important! --Veemon"
Wormmon smiled as a novel warmth spread in his heart. Veemon had sent him a private message asking for a private meeting in the middle of the night. It said he trusted him. And it said other things as well.
He hit the button that deleted the message as the door hissed open, allowing the Digimon Emperor entrance. He turned and bowed as he had been taught, "What's wrong Master? Is there something I can do?"
"Yes Wormmon, I want you to contact all my forces above Rookie in a three hundred kilometer radius. I want them here and ready for combat in three days."
"Why so many Master?" Wormmon asked, hoping the answer wasn't what he was thinking.
"It's time to eliminate the Digidestined once and for all. In three days, I want them all dead. Starting with Daisuke!" He turned on his heel and left Wormmon to follow his orders.
Wormmon shook his head sadly, this wasn't what Ken really wanted.
When would he realize that he had the right person, but the wrong reason?
-TBC-