Woo hoo! Wow. I didn't think I'd get chapter 8 out so soon after chapter 7. I have once again held off revealing who the evil mastermind is that has caused the celestial digimon to summon all these DigiDestined due to two reasons: 1. I do not know who it is myself yet (still deciding whether I wanna go with a powered up villain from a past season or come up with one of my own). and 2. because it's more fun this way to draw it out into more of a quest type of story (which is my favorite kind). This story is kinda just writing itself now. I have introduced one of the villain's evil toadies, Aiyokumon, and mentioned another. There are seven total and they all have some relation to one of the 7 deadly sins. I will admit that the inspiration for the idea originated from the series Fullmetal Alchemist. I haven't quite decided whether I want to expand on this idea yet, but we'll see. Like I said this story has kinda begun to write itself. Not even I know how it's going to end. I do have an idea of the means to it's end though. It will be tragic, but it will also be happy. I can't stand non-happy endings. Enjoy and please review!
I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02, TAMERS, FRONTIER OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
Updated 01/06/15
Chapter 8: Mind Control
The Digital World: Location: Unknown
While everyone else was comfortably falling asleep in the clearing, Takuya was waking up. His entire body ached and his vision was blurred. Not that it mattered. There wasn't much to see anyways. He was in a dimly lit cavern, his hands chained high above his head, and his legs were chained to the wall, limiting his movements.
"Ah," a woman's voice mused softly. "He is awake."
Takuya had been expecting Arukenimon, but instead a beautiful young woman in her late teens or early twenties stepped out of the shadows. She had long golden hair hanging over her left shoulder, large dark green eyes, and the most beautifully perfect face and body that any model would have been envious of. In fact she was so beautiful that it was obvious that she wasn't human.
"Who are you?" Takuya choked.
"Who am I?" she repeated with an enchanting smile. "I am Aiyokumon."
"Aiyokumon?" Takuya repeated. "Aiyoku as in 'lust' in Japanese?"
"You got it," she grinned. "I am the result of all the desires of the Digimon in this world, your digital world, and the other DigiDestined's digital worlds. And right now I desire something of yours."
She approached Takuya and laid a hand over his heart. Suddenly his chest was ablaze with pain. He cried out in agony, his heart throbbing painfully under her touch and the tumor in his left lung seemed to pulse inside his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. She smiled sweetly before removing her hand, taking the pain away with it. Takuya panted heavily with sweat trailing down his face. What had she done to him?
"Aww," she cooed. "Poor baby."
She ran a long delicately slim finger down the side of his face, stopping under his chin. Tilting his face up to her own she examined him.
"You'll do quite nicely, my new pet," she mused. "That Arukenimon has her uses after all. What the master could possibly want with her I'll never know. Especially when he has me and the other six Zaigou Digimon and Crusademon, who has his own practical uses at least. Anyway, DigiDestined Takuya Kanbara, human host to the Flame Warrior's spirit, I have something delicious planed for you and your little friends. I have been ordered to keep my eye on you, but I'm allowed a little fun as well."
Takuya didn't like the sound of that. She'd nearly made his chest explode for amusement. What could she possibly do to him that would be 'fun?' He got his answer.
"Oh! I know!" she squealed delightedly like a little girl who had been given free reign of a toy store and has finally decided what she's going to do first. "I'm going to turn you into my next playmate! Netamashiimon won't approve of it, but he won't be able to help himself if I let him have a turn with you. He is the essence of 'envy' after all."
Then she smiled sinisterly, tapped Takuya in the center of his forehead, and all went black again…
Aiyokumon stepped back and stared at her new "boy-toy." He was rather good looking for a human. His body was well toned from playing sports, well kept, and completed with an angelic face, looking even more angelic in sleep. It was faces like this that really got her blood boiling once they were contorted with pain. She'd have her fun with this one for sure. It was simply a bonus for her that he was the possessor of the Warrior of Flame's spirit. She unchained the boy from the wall and had her minions – little gray rabbit looking Digimon called Gazimon – carry him to her inner chambers.
She had them set him down on the low table where she worked. She stared at his face while she decided how she was going to proceed with making him her puppet. There were so many ways to do a possession: potions, spells, charms, forceful possession… Oh, she hadn't done a forceful possession in a while. It was so crude to have to do it that way, but was oh so fun. Potions were boringly simple and by far the easiest since spells and charms took time and endless patience. While her mind was fiddling with the idea of doing a forceful possession, on a whim she lowered her face to Takuya's and was about to kiss him when a shield of flame erupted around him.
"Interesting," she grinned gleefully. "It appears that the warrior's spirit is in control when the human soul has shut down. This is going to be fun."
She finally knew how to proceed. She was going to be forceful in her possession and have her fun with the boy, but first she needed to break down that barrier and as a result subdue the warrior's spirit. She grabbed a couple of her long blond strands of hair, made sure they were relatively equal in length, and knotted them into an elegantly braided ball. Then she skipped over to her potions cupboards and carefully selected a blue vile. She dropped the hairball into the solution, watching it fizz. It turned purple, then sparked into a flaming red, perfect for the Warrior of Flame. Being very careful not to spill her concoction, she tilted the boy's face upwards again, ignored the flame barrier that activated when she pried his mouth open and drizzled the solution down his throat, so as not to drown the host body. The flame barrier around Takuya weakened when more of the potion entered his system and soon it fizzled out completely.
"Nighty night guardian spirit," Aiyokumon squealed delightedly. "I'll make sure to take real good care of your host's body."
She snapped her unburnt fingers and the Gazimon lifted the boy off the table and brought him into her inner sanctum, laying him on the carpeted floor. While they were placing Takuya in her room, Aiyokumon healed her burned hand and changed her attire. Instead of her usual flowing black dress, she opted for her black tightly fitted leather pants and black tube top. She pulled her long tresses back in a tight braid and wound it around her head like a crown, pinning it firmly in place. It wouldn't do if the boy was somehow able to move after drinking the potion and put up enough of a struggle to yank her hair out. Her hair was her life in a way. Next she fingered through her collection of torture devices, selecting an old favorite, her fang encrusted snake whip.
"Time for our guest to wake up," she smiled to herself as she cracked the whip experimentally. She loved the way it hissed through the air just before she twisted her wrist to make the loud cracking sound that echoed through the chambers like lightening.
She paused for a moment, looking at the serenely blissful expression on Takuya's face. Soon it would be contorted in sweet agony. She couldn't wait anymore. She knelt over him, prodding him in the same spot she had used to knock him out. Takuya moaned slightly, slowly opening his eyes.
He did not like the position he now found himself in. Takuya was helpless, unable to move effectively due to the potion's side effects. It was meant to knock out the fire spirit within him, but it had also drained most of his body's energy in order to do so. It took a lot to knock out Agunimon's spirit, so there was little energy left inside of Takuya himself since he was only a simple human boy.
Aiyokumon stroked his cheek absently, wondering where to begin. She decided that she liked how uncomfortable her proximity made him, so she leaned in closer, her rather large bosom pressing against his chest, and ran her fingers through his hair, down his neck and then his spine. Takuya shivered involuntarily. She liked that. Wondering what other sort of reactions she could get out of him, Aiyokumon began to toy even further with the adolescent youth. He didn't like it when she played with the collar and buttons of his red shirt so she decided to take it off, only to be confronted with the yellow one underneath, but she found it no fun to toy with this shirt because it didn't get any reaction out of Takuya so she let it be. He had quickly realized she only did something if she thought it'd get a reaction out of him. By staying calm while she toyed with his remaining shirt, he had avoided loosing it with his red one.
She ran her tongue along his neck, lightly nipping him every now and then. He tensed and shivered once again in spite of trying to repress the internal tremors. She ran her lips along his jaw line but halted at the chin. Takuya had reflexively pursed his lips. She had found her entry point. Tilting his head up to hers, she ran her lips over his tightly closed ones. He would not open them no matter what she did, so she decided that the intimate stage was over. It was time to get rough.
She jabbed her knee into his side and he let out an involuntary gasp for air, allowing her access. She latched on to his mouth before he could close it again and ran her tongue over his, but unlike a human tongue, hers was more like a snake, slithering down his throat. He couldn't breathe as she exhaled, releasing a noxious gas inside of him. Takuya thrashed about underneath, trying to throw her off, but she held fast like a predator that had found it's prey, caught it, and was about to consume it. One moment she was effortlessly pinning him to the floor and then the next moment she was gone.
Takuya choked and spluttered now that he was free from her grasp. He actually threw up after the realization of what had just happened registered in his thought process. That woman had kissed him! It had been his first kiss too!
"Aww," her voice sighed rather angrily. "I liked that carpet. Now it's soiled."
Takuya jerked up, looking around the room to find the source of her voice. She had just disappeared into thin air and was nowhere to be seen.
Aiyokumon's voice giggled, the sound resounding inside his head. His head…
"Ah, so you've noticed," she purred.
Takuya slumped rigidly against the nearest wall. She was inside of him!
She giggled again, delighted by his horror.
"Now come join me."
Takuya felt a shocking jolt rake through his body and his vision of the room around him began to fade. He was still awake, still conscious, but not in any real sense. His body was slumped against the wall where the Gazimon were retrieving it and cleaning up his vomit. He could still feel, smell and hear them, but those sensations quickly faded until he was left with nothing. One by one his senses left him until there was nothing left to feel but his emotions.
Suddenly Takuya could see again, but it wasn't the room he had been in. It was a pitch-black space, yet he could see himself clearly, his body aglow in a light orange color. He wasn't alone there either. Somehow Agunimon was there too, but he didn't look right. He was standing erect, frozen, eyes closed, and his skin and armor were glowing a pale ice blue instead of a fiery orange like Takuya's.
"Welcome to the inner sanctum of your mind," Aiyokumon's voice spoke. "This is the place where you house Agunimon's spirit inside of you. You only visit here within the deepest of dreams or when you transform into the Digimon Warrior of Flame himself. But from now on you will remain here for the rest of your stay in this digital world or the rest of your short life. Depends on which ends first," she cackled. "But don't worry. I won't leave you without some sort of entertainment. I'll chat with you regularly. Isn't that nice of me?"
She became visible to him, glowing a pale green, making her look even more snake-like than she had before when she was "kissing" him. Her attire looked even more sinister than it had before as well, especially now that she was wielding the whip. With a flick of her wrist and a loud crack she had Takuya by the throat. Because this was all inside his mind he had no need to breath, but the crack of the whip and the accompanying burn against his "skin" still hurt. He cried out as she whirled him around and planted a spiked heel in the center of his back.
She had knocked the Fire Spirit into submission with a quick and easy potion, so now she wanted to take her time dominating the true possessor of the body. Hearing his cries of agony was bliss to her. This is what she had wanted from him; the sounds of his pain, his agony, his suffering. He had a strong mind though so he didn't go down easy, which was just the way Aiyokumon preferred them. It thrilled her. She let loose with the whip and lashed out at him with the fanged butt of the pommel, cutting him. He may have had the "home field advantage" as it were, but he had never fought a mental battle before so she had experience on her side, wearing him down little by little until finally his glowing aura was so faded he looked like a ghost. His mental form was just barely there. He lay crumpled on the floor of his mind waiting for her to end it.
"I'm not going to kill you," she laughed, reading his mind. "If I kill you, my master would be very put out. That and I wouldn't be able to use your body for my little games. I can't animate the dead you know."
With a wave of her hand, wispy silver chains snaked around his body, dragging him into a standing position and left him hanging limply as if he were a pathetic scarecrow.
"Good-bye for now, Takuya," Aiyokumon smiled. "It's been real fun."
Aiyokumon was rummaging around in her potions cupboards again. Now that she had forced Takuya's mind into submission she needed a particular brew to keep him that way. A potion that was too strong would kill him and one that was too weak could allow him to recover enough to break free of the spell she was preparing to cast on his body. Finally she found what she required. She didn't want Takuya to be under completely. No, she wanted him to be conscious enough to see what she was going to make him do to his friends. For this she would need another potion that she'd have to be give the boy regularly, but she had plenty of it on hand already.
The pain of vulnerability was one of her favorite types of pain. When she had been inside Takuya's mind, she knew that she could get him to experience that pain easily. He cared for his friends too much for his own good. She would exploit that weakness, but first she needed to make him hers.
She skipped back to the unconscious body that once again looked peacefully angelic now that it was no longer suffering. She unstopped the tiny bottle she held and poured its contents down Takuya's throat. She knew she had to wait at least five minutes before its full power would take effect so she left to go terrorize the Gazimon for a little while.
Takuya couldn't believe it. He was chained in the confines on his own mind. Agunimon had remained unresponsive to his calls and it was then that he realized that he was truly alone. No one could reach him here. He'd never felt so helpless before in his life. His "body" felt weak and he couldn't even begin to imagine how he would find a way out of his situation. This wasn't the physical world. This wasn't a problem that had even occurred to him before.
If it was possible he felt himself getting even weaker. Aiyokumon had no doubt forced another potion into his body. He had read her thoughts when she had been battling him inside this weird dimension that was his mind and knew what she had done to him and what she was planning to do in the future. She was going to gain control over his body and set him loose on his friends, but leave him with enough consciousness to feel everything. This thought made him despair. He'd feel everything that she would make him do. He'd feel the blows he'd soon trade with his friends, hear their voices call out to him but would be unable to respond, and see their looks of betrayal when he attacked them.
This was quite possibly the lowest moment in Takuya's life.
Aiyokumon was delighted. The boy was now under her complete control. Her combination of spells and potions had worked perfectly as always. She had her new puppet dancing around the room with her. With just one thought in her mind, Takuya's body instantly responded to her whim, while deep inside the recesses of his mind Takuya's true consciousness was forced to watch and felt deeply annoyed. She could speak to him directly with her mind due to some kind of synchronization potion she had forced him to drink.
She had made him do simple little tasks at first like getting her a glass of water to test out her control over the body. Then she'd wanted to test his battle capabilities. Takuya was frustrated by how easily his body responded to her demands without any resistance at all. He had even Spirit Evolved without being in control much to his despair and Aiyokumon's delight. It was only a matter of time before she would set him loose on his friends. When that happened, Takuya sincerely hoped that his lung cancer would come into play and that it wasn't already part of Aiyokumon's calculated plans. He couldn't attack anyone if his body couldn't function. But she must have given him a strengthening potion of some kind because if he had been in control, his body wouldn't have been able to handle all of the dancing she was now making him do. He could only hope a battle with his friends would quickly tax his body's energy and prevent him from seriously hurting anyone.
The Digital World: Location: Clearing in the Woods
Zoe awoke with a yawn. She hadn't slept well and thoroughly blamed Kari. It was Kari who had woken her up and it was Kari's one-sided argument with Koichi last night that had prevented her from going to sleep until after her shift change with JP. She was sorely tempted to kick the brunet awake now, but decided against it. Others were waking all around her and she'd get caught for sure.
Instead, she rose from her spot next to Rika and Mimi and stretched. She noticed JP leaning against the tree where they had taken their watch position and joined him.
"Morning, Zo," he grinned tiredly.
"Morning," she mumbled.
"Some night," he sighed, running a hand through his tousled brown hair.
She nodded. They both knew what he meant.
"How was he?" she asked.
JP and Tommy had been sleeping in a spot close to where Koichi had slept with Tai and some of the other boys. She'd forgotten to ask JP this when they had changed shifts four hours earlier.
"He appeared fine," JP shrugged. "They were pretty nice to him from what I could see. Tommy swears they were laughing about something."
Zoe smiled. She hoped that was the case. Koichi wasn't one to make a fuss and rarely spoke out loud. He kept too many things bottled up inside so it was nice to think that he had begun to open up a little.
"How'd you sleep?" JP asked.
Zoe made a face.
"That bad huh?" he chuckled then sighed. "Me neither. Barely slept a wink."
Zoe looked at him, realizing how beat he looked.
"Why don't you get some rest now?" she suggested. "I don't think we'll be moving out any time soon."
JP shrugged, but made no move to lie down.
"I don't think I can, Zo," he said softly. "I keep seeing Takuya. Every time I close my eyes I see his shocked face. The light just leaves his eyes and they close."
Zoe knelt next to him and closed her eyes. She could picture it too, the last haunting image of her friend before he was spirited away by Arukenimon and Crusademon.
JP sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.
"Don't you two look like the waking dead," they heard Koji's voice chuckle.
They looked up. Koji was standing before them with Koichi and Tommy, none of them looking much better. Koji had seen JP and Zoe in the distance and decided to grab Tommy on his way over with Koichi. He figured it was time for a group meeting.
"You're one to talk," JP yawned, resting his arms behind his head.
The corner of Koji's mouth twitched into a smile, but it never reached his eyes. No one had slept well, not even Tommy who'd had a full night's sleep with no watch responsibilities.
"We all know why we need to talk," Koji started. "One of us is missing. I doubt anyone had any pleasant dreams last night."
Tommy sniffled and Koichi – being the nearest to him – rested a hand on his shoulder. Zoe looked at the ground allowing her hair to fall forward forming a curtain, hiding her face. JP stared up at the tree's branches and a sky that couldn't be seen. Koji sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"We need to get him back somehow," Tommy whimpered. "Who knows what that creepy lady and that bully are doing to him."
"I'm sure he's fine, Tommy," Koichi assured him. "This is Takuya we're talking about. He's the strongest in our group aside from Koji. I'm sure he's all right. He wouldn't go down without a fight."
"He's right," Koji agreed. "He's even stronger then me sometimes. If any of us were in trouble, it'd be Takuya who'd get us out of it."
'But who's going to get him out of trouble?' Zoe wondered.
JP looked like he was thinking along those same lines.
"Don't worry," Koji assured Tommy once more. "We'll get him back."
"Hell yes we will!" a voice said behind him.
They were all startled to see Davis with Ken hanging back a few feet.
"Sorry to butt in," Davis grinned, "but I couldn't help overhearing. It's a bad habit, I know, but I just wanted you guys to know that Tai is organizing everyone to get ready to leave in five minutes."
"Thanks, Davis," Koichi smiled back.
"No prob!" the goggle-head nodded. "And don't worry about your friend. We'll find him for sure! We'll make it our number one priority. We need to stick together if we're all going to make it through this. And I mean all of us."
He cast a meaningful look at Koichi, grinned, and set off with Ken to let others who were just waking up know what was going on.
"Quite the optimist," JP grumbled.
"Someone has to be," Zoe smiled sadly.
"Could you imagine him getting along with Takuya?" Koichi chuckled.
"Oh God," Zoe laughed. "This world wouldn't stand a chance. We'd end up maiming one of them just to get them to shut up."
They all laughed at the thought, but it ended too quickly.
They helped others pack up the camp, which didn't take long since no one had any real supplies. Food was scarce that morning as well so breakfast was really short lived, most of it was given to the younger ones and Guilmon who couldn't do without. While most were eating, Tai and Izzi were sitting off to the side determining what to do and where to go next. They tried getting in touch with Gennai, their guide from their Digital world, but they couldn't get a connection. They then went through the possibilities of looking for a more populated area where they could get some adequate supplies. Luckily Izzi's laptop detected what appeared to be a nearby city area that was half a day's walk east of their current position. When Tai announced this idea many instantly agreed, but Koji and his group really wanted to go looking for Takuya.
"I know that this is rough on you guys," Tai told them, "but we need to be practical. At least in this city we may be able to find a lead. Maybe someone there knows something about Crusademon or Arukenimon's location or who they're working for. Besides, Joe needs more medical supplies. If Takuya is hurt, Joe will need the right equipment to help him. I know that you'd love nothing more than to go off and find him, but we're going to need to stick together on this. You saw how easily Crusademon held us off. Separated we can't do anything, but together we stand a chance. "There's strength in numbers" as the saying goes."
They agreed, but only because what Tai said made sense. None of them had any medical knowledge and Joe had proven himself to be useful so far. How they had survived their adventures in their Digital World without serious injury was a miracle now that they thought about it.
As the whole group moved out, Tai once again took the lead with Izzi and this time Matt joined them. Koji thought about joining them at the front to find out more about what their plans were once they reached the city, but he was more concerned about Koichi. Kari had been avoiding them that morning but now she was approaching them. Koichi hadn't noticed this yet because he was engaged in a conversation with Ken while Davis simply walked beside them. Koji tense as she drew nearer, but that was it. She didn't look like she was going to hit his twin again. In fact, she looked rather embarrassed.
"Uh… Koichi?" she muttered.
Koichi started and turned to face her. Davis looked curiously over at Kari, but his eyes betrayed how worried he really was. He didn't want another fight to break out between her and his new friend. Ken's face remained neutral, which was probably best since he didn't really know how to feel either. Tai was looked over at them out of the corner of his eye up ahead with Matt, but didn't look as if he was going to intervene this time around. …At least not yet. Others in the group were watching the exchange with wary expressions as well.
"Yes?" Koichi replied, smiling politely and disengaging from his conversation with Ken and Davis.
"Ah-," she blinked, not expecting the polite smile after what she had said to the boy last night. She certainly didn't deserve it. "I-I… I'm sorry. I said some rather rash things last night that I shouldn't have said. I made a bigger deal out of it than it really was."
"That's all right," Koichi said, his smile widening. "I'm not really surprised either. You're not the first to react this way."
Kari's face fell.
"Really?"
Koichi shook his head with a weary edge to his smile now.
"I get it a lot. Though I have to say you're probably the first one to hit me for it," he said, laughing to lighten the mood.
"But it's not your fault," Kari muttered. "We can't help what crest or spirit chooses us. Last night I certainly didn't deserve the Crest of Light."
Koichi chuckled. "I don't think it really matters what crest or spirit we have. It's how we use them that makes us who we are."
Kari nodded, now feeling horrible for the way she had treated Koichi. She didn't know why she had lashed out that night. It had just… happened. She usually didn't judge a person until after she had gotten to know them. Ken had been an exception to that rule. She had known him as the Digimon Emperor before she had gotten to know the real Ken, so in a way she had already judged him. But Koichi was someone she had never met before. She'd felt sorry for him in the cave, but last night she didn't know what had gotten into her. She'd gone so far overboard that Tai, her own brother, had hit her in order to knock some sense into her. It seemed to have worked. The next morning she had felt terrible for what she had said and done.
"I'm sorry," she repeated.
Koichi just smiled and held out his hand in reply. Kari shook it gratefully. She then caught Tai's eye. He winked at her, smiled, and returned his attention to the path ahead of them. Koji let out a quiet sigh of relief and relaxed his posture. Koichi had noticed of course and chuckled a little at him, making his face feel hot. In order to avoid further embarrassment, he moved forward to catch up with Tai and the other older DigiDestined. It was time he found out what was going to happen once they got to the city.
What is Tai's plan? Will Koji go along with it? (Probably.) And what of Takuya? Will he be able to overcome Aiyokumon's mind control? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!
I couldn't allow myself to make Kari out as the bad guy for long, so I felt that this had to be resolved. I mean she is Light after all. It didn't feel right. So Koichi has won over Kari, but TK and Cody will prove to be a little harder to crack. I also added in a Zoe and JP scene for those Izupei fans out there. I'm thinking of writing a scene in a Tamer's POV next time. What do you guys think? Let me know if you have a specific character you'd like to see the POV of. Obviously Takuya and Koji are going to continue as main POV's in the story (just because they're my favs to write for), but I'd like to know what you guys are thinking. I mean this is a fan fic for pete's sake! Lets hear what the fans have to say! This story is in for the long haul so feel free to let me know which character I should use to hold the next POV in. I hope you enjoy reading my work and please review!
Ok, this revised chapter this didn't see too much work (again) either aside from the added sentence or two. Although in the end i just ended up taking out all of the back and forth Location titles for when the perspective switched between Takuya's and Aiyokumon's. They were pointless since it was in the same location the whole time and the line breaks serve the purpose of breaking off POV coverage and time shifts anyway.
For those of you wondering, when writing this chapter i hadn't known about the Digimon Demon Lords, so... yeah. I decided to make up my own seven-deadly-sin-themed villains for the story. XD
