Author's Note: Man, I was sure I'd provoke a response with that last chapter! Ah well, I'm going with you read so you like. ^^ Also, I'm back on the fence about these sorter parts. On the one hand, they feel a little unfulfilling, but on the other they're more manageable to read. This was written as a continuous, 32 pg piece, so maybe it just doesn't work well in this format. But upcoming (once this is done it will go up) fic Aftermath is written in 8-12 pg chapters. If anyone has an opinion about posting this in 3-6 pg increments, but updating like 3 times a week, let me know! And also enjoy the revelation!
They both stared at the wound for what felt like an eternity. At first Koji just looked shocked. He raised one hand to feel, fingers curling around Koichi's broken wing. A shaky breath hung suspended between them. Then the pain hit him full force and he yelled, trying to pull the hook-like bone from his flesh. Koichi obliged, ripping it out with an awful, squishy noise, and Koji collapsed onto his knees, hand pressed over the wound in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. His eyes were filled with confusion and… was it fear? Did it matter? He'd wanted to come between Koichi and his power, to reduce him back to a weak human. But without his power he'd be unable to protect his brother. This was necessary to subdue him, for his own good.
The blood was for his own good…
Koichi inhaled sharply, blinking away the vision and holding himself perfectly still. Koji stood before him, whole and pleading. He hadn't actually struck him, but that changed so little. The wings wanted to do it; he could feel their need. Their aching hunger for pain and destruction. They longed to spread, to move across the world and kill everything, hoarding all life for them alone. That included him. That included Koji.
Some broken thing inside his mind snapped back into place. A jolt of pain and comprehension shot through his skull and, in an agonizing instant, he was lucid.
"No," Koichi cried, pressing both hands over his face shaking. "No. You can't. I won't let you! You said I could keep him safe! You said I could protect him if I did what you wanted! And I believed you! Why? Why! What have you done to me!"
"Koichi," Koji called, concern lacing his voice. That was when the wind started, powerful, vortexing around the dark twin. It whipped his hair and clothing, threatening to drown out Koji's voice. Behind him the dark, deformed wings stretched wide. They encircled him, cradling their host, defending their possession from anything that might try to take it away. Koji felt himself harden, resolve giving him strength he wouldn't otherwise have had. "Fight it Koichi!"
He heard the words from a long ways away, and even then they were muffled, as if shouted from under water. The forest around him had come alive with phantoms, each more gruesome than the last. To his left, Koji lay battered on the ground, his fractal code exposed. It arched over him, shimmering in the half-light of the forest, until some monster called it away. Koji's body shriveled as it left, desiccating, his skin shrinking against his bones as life abandoned him. Until he fell apart into dust and blew away.
And as soon as he was gone Koji reappeared, holding burnt hands before him. His flesh was a mess of char and boils and blood. Trembling. He'd never be whole again. There was no sound, but as Koichi watched his mouth formed words. "Takuya… why?" Of course, the Warrior of Flame. He was responsible! Maybe it was a loss of control, or perhaps it was intentional. It didn't matter. Koji was suffering and the one he called best friend was the cause. They were all dangerous, each a hazard in their own right. How could he allow his brother to be around such people?
Then there was Koji, holding his gut closed as brilliantly red blood flowed between his fingers. A faceless enemy stood before him, someone with a blade. Koji looked at him, pleading, unable to fight or flee. The blood was so red, so wet, it splashed at his feet. Curved steel glinted, wet in its own right, raised above the attacker's head. His brother opened his mouth to scream, but when his throat fell open only a faint gurgling sound emerged.
And before him Koji was on his knees, beaten. Cuts and bruises marred his flesh and, when he tried to speak, Koichi added more. His darkness lashed out as a physical force, opening his brother's cheek. Need churned within him, a desperation to cause pain and spread suffering. He wanted it so badly it stung. He craved power like a biological imperative. He needed to strike Koji down, needed to make him submit. Yet the need wasn't his.
"You can't make me! You can't use me for this!"
"Do as you're told," the air hissed, so loud Koji could hear it clearly. The wings pulsed, black energy feeding the storm, whipping through the trees and forming a physical barrier between the twins. "Do as you're told or your brother dies!"
"Don't listen to it! If you can't trust yourself then trust me; everything it says is a lie!"
"Didn't you say you'd do anything to protect him? Don't you care? You have come this far, you cannot stop now."
Koichi retched, falling forward onto his hands and knees and spitting more blood into the dust. Koji felt his stomach clench, a cruel mixture of fear and rage making him sick.
"You cannot deny what you are, no matter how you struggle to be something else. Surrender. You know what you must do. Kill those people you called friends and bring your twin in line. You know it's the only way."
"You're wrong! I… remember now. We're a team; we look out for each other, all of us. They're good people, they aren't dangerous. You said they were a threat but they're not! They never were… I will not hurt my brother and I won't hurt our friends anymore."
"You will if you want to keep him safe. So do what needs to be done to protect him, even from himself. You are a servant of Darkness, do your duty."
"But I'm not…" Koichi looked up, bright red lips contrasting vividly with skin that was too pale. He found Koji's eye and the younger twin's breath caught. His eyes… they were navy. "I'm not a servant."
"Of course you are! You desired the power to keep your brother from harm and I granted it."
"I don't care! I never asked for this! I never asked to be a monster…"
"Semantics. Cease this, now!"
"No, I won't." Koichi tucked his chin to he chest, fingers curling in the dirt. Above him the parasitic wings spread wide, flexed and suddenly faint. Like they were made of smoke rather than bone. "Koji's right; everything you say is a lie. He's not as fragile as you think. He doesn't need me to protect him. He's not so easily broken and neither am I!"
There was a scream like wind through broken glass and Koichi gasped, arching his back upwards. Flesh puckered, doming around the wings as the base of purple energy lengthened. Like a splinter being pushed out.
"Get out!" Koichi choked, hacking up more blood. His spine twisted and cracked as he writhed, knees and hands pressed firmly into the ground. The wings collapsed, concentrating down into a pair of spikes between his shoulder blades. For a single, terrifying moment the two seemed to be at an impasse. Koji tried to call out, to encourage or reassure or something, but his voice was stuck. All he could do was wait, standing on the sidelines as his twin fought for his soul. Another scream tore from Koichi's throat and, squeezing his eyes shut, he tensed his entire body. Lucemon's corruption was expelled, dissolved into a fog around the dark twin, then, finally, dissipated.
The wind stopped and suddenly there was nothing between the brothers. Nothing to keep them apart. Koichi's arms and legs trembled, giving Koji enough warning to slide in before he collapsed. Gingerly, Koji maneuvered his brother so he could cradle him against his chest. His head lulled back and, for a moment, Koji was pretty sure he'd lost consciousness. Then his eyes twitched, a weak frown creasing his brow. Slowly, an exhausted navy gaze met its twin.
"Koji," he asked, voice raw and confused. "Koji… what… happened?"