Authors Note - This is a one shot. I actually wrote it a few months ago, but wasn't sure how good it was or how readers might react to it. Then yesterday I decided I didn't care and decided to put it up anyway. It's not my best work, but its certainly not my worst. It's alright. I'm not too sure of the title, I was having trouble picking one, but whatever. I'm sure some will enjoy it and that's all that's important to me, so enjoy guys (or don't).


The ground was flattened and charred where the battle had taken place. The chosen children had been trapped in a world of nightmares, but their 'leader', Daisuke, was able to garner enough courage to break them free. With a renewed passion, they fought bitterly against the demonic creature and with the power of the holy devices was able to defeat him.

"We...did it." Miyako whispered and drew her arms around herself. "We won!"

"It's a miracle." Takeru said breathlessly. "We were losing..."

"Ah, come on, don't be a spoil sport. We won because we were stronger!" Daisuke said happily.

"I don't know..." Hikari said lightly. "Something isn't right. I can feel him...his dark presence... He's still around here somewhere."

"Oh come on Kari." Daisuke muttered and started walking back and forth. Veemon's head followed his movements.

"No..." Ken said softly, glancing around. "I can feel it too. His darkness lingers..."

"But...but," Daisuke sputtered. "We blasted him! The black blob thing in the sky! He's DEAD!"

"No he's not." Tailmon whimpered. "I can smell him; his scent that has grown foul to me over the long years I lived under his wing..." She pointed hesitantly to a spot behind bushes a few feet away. "He's over there."

"What are we waiting for then?" Iori asked. "We have to kill him! Finish him off!"

"No!" Miyako exclaimed. "I'm sick of fighting! I'm sick of killing! Is it really necessary! Maybe he'll surrender..."

Takeru sighed. "I don't think so. This is Vamdemon, Miyako. He is a cruel monster and a menace to both worlds..."

Patamon flew over to the place where Tailmon had pointed at quietly and peered over the bushes. True to their suspicions, lying on the ground, face down, was Vamdemon. He was struggling to keep his head up; gaze fixated strongly on a group of butterflies fluttering in the distance. Patamon turned around in the air and nodded his head somberly. The group of eleven slowly walked over to his position and surrounded Vamdemon one by one.

He knew they would come, he could sense it, and so upon their arrival Vamdemon tried to push himself into a sitting position, intending to acknowledge them at an even level, but was unable too. On a shaky arm he pushed himself up weakly, but the appendage gave way out of weakness and slid forcefully back downwards and across sharp rocks, leaving a bloody trail on the ground and gouge in his arm and clothing. He emitted no sound of pain but closed his eyes and clenched his fist tightly as an obvious demonstration of control of discomfort.

Ken was speechless at the sight of the creature. 'This is him.' He thought. 'This is Vamdemon. This is the creature that led me to do the horrible things to others that I did.. No, he merely planted in me the oppurtunity. It is my own fault for acting upon it. Even so...he caused my predecessors a great deal of trouble and caused many casualties in the world. I wonder how that is? He doesn't look so powerful... He's just the size of a person. How can something so un-incredible cause so much pain?'

"Vamdemon." Tailmon spat and stepped towards him, flexing her claws.

He said nothing to her but finally reopened his eyes and whispered, "Do it."

"What?" She asked, voice shaky with evident surprise. Vamdemon laughed weakly at the cat's foolishness. "Kill me." He said to her. "Why do you hesitate, Tailmon? Isn't it what you want? What you all want? What you desire more than anything else?" He paused, and his gaze shifted to the bloody rocks. "Someone. Anyone. It doesn't matter to me...who does it."

"You want to die?" Hikari asked incredulously, a tremendous anger rearing inside of her. Vamdemon stared at her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "No one truly wants to die." He said softly. "But what choice do I have here...now... After what I've done it's surely to come."

"What you've done, that's right." She said coldly. "You are a killer. A cold blooded monster that takes joy in seeing harm befall others. You would have destroyed two worlds but for your own personal gain!"

"Not destroyed.' He said, smirk disappearing. "I didn't seek to destroy them. I am not that foolish. If I wished to live, survive after conquering the worlds, it would do no good to destroy my source of sustenance. I meant to unite them under my rule. Yukio wanted-"

"Don't you dare speak of him!" Iori yelled, rage evident in his face. "You killed him! Don't utter his name, you unworthy bastard!"

Vamdemon was silent as he watched the infuriated boy and absorbed the information. "Yukio is dead?" He asked quietly. Iori's narrowed eyes said yes. A frown planted itself upon Vamdemon's face and he looked down once more. "I did not intend-"

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Hikari asked. "You didn't want him to die? You lived as a parasite inside of him, drew on his energy so that you would live, and caused him to do terrible things just as you misled and tormented Ken!"

"You would be surprised just how much of all of this was his doing." Vamdemon said, watching the butterflies once more. "When I sought refuge in him I meant only to survive the beating I had been given. I wanted to return to the digital world, because I believed that since you defeated me the dark masters would also fall, which would mean a safer home to return to. They were a threat even to me. It wasn't until I heard his heart-broken plea that I decided once more to try and bring the worlds together."

"Heart broken?" Takeru asked. "What are you talking about."

"You all should know the story by now." Vamdemon said with annoyance. "The fool loved the boy's father. His heart was broken when they were forced apart, and even more so with the man's death. Despite the time they both spent interacting with the digital world, neither of them were selected as chosen. How cruel of the gods, for that would have allowed them to be together. The digital world can be a horrible place, you see? It wasn't fair, that Yukio couldn't go just because he didn't have a damned holy device that you children used so much. We both tried to change that." He paused in his explanation, and was vaguely amused by the looks of surprise on each of their faces. "You didn't know then. The only way to describe you then would be blind. It was more than obvious."

"Why would you care about someone else's plight?" Takeru demanded.

Vamdemon sent a cold glare in his direction. "I live and am governed by the same emotions as any other creature, brat. Just because I have been better at keeping them in check doesn't mean I am immune to their influence. If my old servant wasn't such a damned liar she would have been able to tell you that. She lives because of my weakness for those who suffer. Living on her own in the wilderness, running from wild digimon and bracing intense storms of my region - she would have died if not for me. She was weak and I made her strong. She could have never defeated me atop that building if it wasn't for my training. She yearned for her partner so I attempted to steer her away from that path so she wouldn't be affiliated with what I viewed as a biased group of killers. Furthermore, I sensed a great tragedy that would befall her if she followed that path. If she hadn't turned traitor she would never have had her fragile little heart broken. Everything I did to her I did out of pity, and blinded by my emotions I forgot what she was." Finally he managed to pull himself to a sitting position. "None the less, it was Yukio who devised most of the strategies we used to get here...to the digital world. My only thoughts were to utilize the dark spore in Ken and to use my key cards to try and open the gate." Vamdemon paused once more and was able to stand. "You say that I killed him but I don't think he is dead. Look there, in the distance." He pointed weakly to the dancing butterflies. "I can sense his aura from them. He's watching us. I think he's amused. You should kill me now." He finished oddly.

Hikari now backed away at the crazed digimon's words, but took advantage of his talkative mood. "Why did you do all of this? Why did you want to merge the two worlds? Why did you follow the prophecy to begin with?"

Vamdemon thought about her question for a long time before answering. "That is a very involved question for such a little girl. It started a long time ago when the reasons behind the existence of the chosen children were not yet clear. They paraded around the digital world destroying entire villages for no apparent reason but to inflict their own beliefs onto a foreign culture. Even back then I ruled the continent of server. My reign was supreme and unchallenged, and those in my control lived below me in peace. When the chosen children moved into my area my people grew uneasy, and with the destruction of a village inhabited by both holy and demonic digimon my hatred was spawned. Since that time I have resented your race for your inability to understand that different species do not follow the same moral principals than your own. When I traveled to Earth I intended to rule it so that I could force the ways of the digital world upon humans. It so happened that it was prophesized that the child of light would get in my way, and so I sought out to destroy her first. When I was defeated I had every intention of letting it be, satisfied that the children chosen were no longer as ruthless as they were then, but..." He trailed off, staring at the butterflies once more.

"Our predecessors would have never-"

"Then you are more naive then I thought possible." Vamdemon laughed coldly. "I am not a liar, child of hope. I have no reason to be. That is how things were. Digimon are different than humans, and historically your species has destroyed the things they fear. Gennai was careless with those he chose back then. It is obvious he is not so now, and I no longer have a reason to fight."

"Is that what we destroyed then?" Ken asked. "That black thing in the sky was your desire to fight?"

Vamdemon looked at him, appearing slightly confused. "I suppose so... It might also have been the left over energy I took from the dark spores."

Hikari let out a held breath and closed her eyes. She felt very confused having heard all that Vamdemon had said. 'I don't want to believe him. I don't want to believe that chosen ones did bad things...that he actually had a reason to fight...and yet... It's true that at this point he has no real reason to lie... What do we do?'

"I am displaced." He said, causing Hikari's attention to snap back to him. "It wouldn't feel right for me to return to the digital world after so long. I wonder if my followers are even still around. They have most likely moved on...found a new place to live and a new ruler to serve. Most likely I am no more than a memory...and with that I haven't a reason to continue to live." He paused, looking over each of the children but avoiding their partners. "Since none of you seem to want to do the deed I will have to do it myself..."

"Wait!" Hikari yelled as he started started to walk away. He paused only momentarily before continuing forwards. As he moved the darkness he had created began to wane, and soon the sun was bright and visible in the sky above. He grimaced slightly at the pain that had enveloped his body but made sure to make no sound. A good distance away from the children he stopped and surrendered to the natural force that was eating away at his being. Within a minute his body had started to flicker, signifying he was indeed dying.

"There's got to be another way!" She yelled again but he justed laughed at her.

"Just a few minutes ago you all wanted nothing more than my death. How amusing that now that its in your grasp you seem to change your mind. But no, there is no other way, child of light. This is how things must be..." His body flickered again, and slowly bits of data from his being began to break off and disappear into the air. He watched this with a somber eye. "Tailmon..." He said softly as the deletion began to increase in speed. Her ears perked at her name but she did not step forward. He glanced sideways, locking his eyes with hers. "You should follow your heart back to the place it was broken... He should be there, freed from his purgatory, after this is done."

Her eyes widened at his words. She stepped forward and extended her paw slightly. "Are you saying..."

He smiled slightly and bowed his head, and then was no more but specs of lingering data floating in the wind.