"Of all the things that you could say to me, after the years that you've been gone... after how much We've worried about you and missed you." Ken shook. He wanted so badly to tell his brother that he should have been at home with them too, but he bit back the words.
"I left you and your pathetic mother and father behind for good. What were you expecting from me now, a hug and some tears? Get over yourself."
"So you abandoned us to come here? Without even saying goodbye?"
"Obviously. I didn't care about any of you anymore," a wicked smile grew over the Emperor's face. "But since you're somehow resourceful enough to make it here on your own, and you're so willing to surrender, I guess I can make a place for you as my servant instead of sending you back to that world of irksome simpletons."
Ken had planned to flatter the Emperor, to submit himself, gain the Emperor's trust, and then strike. This flood of pent-up emotion was making that plan very difficult to stick to. Ken couldn't tell if he felt rage or sorrow or revulsion, but it made him sick inside.
"I've heard you built up quite a reputation here," Ken bowed deeply to his brother, trying not to let him see his eyes. The controlled digimon were keeping the others busy, and even Cody was just doing all he could to stand his ground against the attackers. "These children brought me here in the hopes that I could outwit you," Ken offered, "Of course, none of us knew who you really were."
The Digimon Emperor scoffed, "There is no trace left of the mere child you knew. I'm only the Digimon Emperor now, and you should address me as such or be punished. I don't have time for explanations now. Just follow me, and we'll discuss the terms of your servitude at my headquarters."
"Of course, Emperor." said Ken, following the figure in the deep blue cape onto the back of the flying digimon slave.
Wormmon crawled up next to the Airdramon and struggled in vain to climb aboard.
The digimon emperor looked down with a cruel laugh, "Oh, how precious. That's your digimon, isn't it, Ken? HAHAHAHAHA! How fitting! A worm for a worm!"
Ken smiled warmly, helping wormmon onto the Airdramon's back. "Yes, Emperor." The Emperor, Sam, rather, was underestimating him just as planned. The trouble brewing in the pit of his stomach was that he might not be able to follow through with it. As many times as he had rehearsed in his mind how he might assassinate an evil dictator like Kim Jong Il or something, doing it to his brother was not something he was sure he could go through with. Ken wasn't sure if it was due to Wormmon's distraction or not, but Sam hadn't bothered to search him for weapons upon his surrender.
Of course, attacking Sam atop this digimon flying at least 100 feet above the ground would have been a very foolish idea in any case. He didn't know for sure how the control rings worked, and at that height, taking a risk could be a fatal mistake.
Though it did make it much easier to grovel, to submit, when Ken knew that he had an advantage hiding just beneath his jacket. For a moment he wondered if Wormmon had been only acting clueless about his plan. It's what Ken would have done in such a situation. If so, he excelled at the task, but the thought didn't linger.
Then the voice of the Digimon Emperor rang through the sky as an invisible stone base hovering above the ground materialized before them. "Impressed? You should be."
He actually was, "Most impressed, Emperor. How does it work?"
"Perhaps if you serve me well in the days to come, I'll let you in on some of my secrets."
Ken had little intention of spending much time as a captive. "I'd like that," he looked up as they passed through a small entrance.
A small voice inside of Ken was telling him this was the time. As they dismounted the Airdramon, Ken reached into his jacket, taking a deep breath, hoping that he wouldn't regret what he was about to do.
"What's that?!" The Emperor turned on his heel and faced him. Ken froze.
And, then, there it was, his way out, "I felt something strange in my jacket just now," he said, pulling the white D-3 Digivice from its folds, "Something that wasn't there before."
"Hmm," the Emperor looked put off, "It seems that the digital world would recognize my new servant with some small power of his own. But, just a precaution, I'm going to need you to take off your jacket and shirt, and hand over your pack of supplies to be searched. You understand of course."
Damn. This would be more difficult than Ken had hoped. He tried to look calm.
"I have a few things in the jacket for self-protection," he said casually, "And even more in the bag. Coming to a world full of monsters with no form of self defense isn't something I would ever do."
A couple of ring-clad servants watched Ken while another rabbit-looking one went through his belongings, tossing each one haphazardly out onto the floor of the base.
"Hey!" Ken clenched his teeth, "Be careful with those things!"
Among the items in Ken's jacket were a switchblade and a tiny can of pepper spray. In his pack were several chemicals that, while harmless on their own, could be used to make powerful explosives.
The Digimon Emperor raised an eyebrow. "You've grown up more than I would have expected of you."
Ken leaned back against a wall, beckoning Wormmon to his side, "I suppose someone had to try to fill your shoes back home."
"Don't you ever speak of that place as home again," the Emperor chided, "Or that family. We are here now. This is my world, and you are loyal to me, not to them. If that's hard for you to understand, I have ways of teaching you that you won't find pleasant."
"No, I was wrong to put it that way. What's past is past." The Emperor may have taken away Ken's weapons, but he hadn't discovered what Ken held within that was more deadly than any of these: the intellect that he had developed, and the cunning he was thrilled to finally flex.
Wormmon held onto Ken's leg, patting his calf sympathetically.
"And we'll have to do something about those clothes, if you're going to be seen with me," Sam said, "They're far too plain, and they don't fit with my color scheme. Maybe something in gold and black."
And at the back of Ken's mind, it ate at him that this was still Sam, even if Sam didn't admit it. Sam didn't need to, Ken saw it clearly. He would do his best to find a way to save his brother from himself, but if he could not, there was a world to save.
The Digimon Emperor eyed the white D-3 in his sights like a raptor. Glancing at his own black digivice in hand, it reminded him far too much of a game of chess.
