The room was dark, with all the curtains pulled to block out the sun. Even the rays that attempted to sneak past the edges couldn't get much further than the floor itself, and certainly not as far as the grand and opulent bed of the Digimon Kaiser set on the opposite side of the lavish room.
Ken scarcely made use of his massive bed, or even its downy soft pillows to rest his weary head. Instead, he curled in on himself, buried in a cocoon of blankets to hide away from the world. With his arms wrapped around himself and his legs tucked in, he tried to make himself as small as possible in hopes that he might disappear - into the bed, from the world, wherever he needed to go to escape the suffocating sense of despair crushing the life from him.
Nearby, Wormmon sat on the bed with Ken's DT2 in his lap, constantly casting his Chosen Child worried glances. Through a tiny hole in the blankets, he could catch glimpses of dull gray eyes staring at the wall without seeing. He exhausted all means of offering comfort to Ken hours ago, leaving him with little to do but act as a barrier between his partner and the rest of the world as he scanned through Ken's messages.
There were emails from the people from the chatroom, with particularly vitriolic ones from some boy with an arrogant username, but Wormmon didn't hesitate to delete them without a second thought - they weren't Ken's friends, so their insults were worthless. The emails from Noriko, Kigaru, Jin, and anyone else associated with the Ryuzakis were far more difficult to deal with. They were worried, which Wormmon immediately relayed to Ken after reading, but the boy failed to react. He also had no idea what to say to these people, so he set the messages aside for Ken to look over later.
The worst emails, as expected, were those from the Chosen Children. Anger, confusion, hurt, and judgment reigned supreme in the emails, which had come from literally everyone in the group, including the Digimon themselves. Wormmon couldn't simply delete them like the members of the chatroom, but he couldn't show their words to Ken either, not now.
The most painful email of all came from Daisuke, who had sent a single message before promptly blocking Ken from responding.
I trusted you.
Wormmon flinched as his reply, his plea for understanding, was rejected automatically once again. He turned back to Ken, who couldn't even find the energy to do more than breathe heavily, having spent it all on tears that could no longer flow.
With drooping antenae and furrowed brow, Wormmon went to the email he saved for last, the only one he felt cautiously optimistic that it might contain something that would provide even a shred of comfort to Ken right now. Hikari was the only person who stood by both Ken and the Digimon Kaiser and she was their only hope.
I'm so sorry things ended up like they did yesterday. I just want you to know that Tailmon and I are still your friends. We're here for you. If you want to talk, let me know, and we'll be there right away. The others are still your friends too, even if they're upset with you right now. Just give them some time and they'll forgive you, I'm sure of it. None of us are going to abandon you.
Wormmon winced as he thought of Daisuke and checked again that the boy still had a block on Ken's address before he went back to Hikari's email.
We can try again to use the Digimental of Darkness. I'm sure that'll still help convince the others that you're sincere. They might not be sure of you right now, but I believe in you. We'll get through this together and then everything can go back to the way it was before yesterday happened. We'll fight together and save everyone, and then we'll all have another party and laugh and have fun together like we did before.
It's all going to be okay. I promise.
Wormmon felt relieved at Hikari's sincere and optimistic reply, even if he was too jaded to believe it would go as smoothly as she presented. Still, it was that kind of hope and compassion that Ken needed right now, which he was only too eager to share. "Ken-chan? Hikari sent you an email. Do you want me to read it to you?"
Ken was silent for several long moments. Just when it seemed like he wouldn't reply, he finally spoke, his voice weak and cracking. "What's the point? It's over."
Wormmon winced, his heart breaking from the absolute despair in Ken's voice. "It… it's not over, Ken-chan! Really! Hikari just says they need time to forgive… to adjust to everything and they'll all still want to be your friend."
"And then I'll get her and everyone else killed too," Ken said, softly. "Just like Kyoumon."
Wormmon's heart broke a little bit more. "Ken-chan…" He wanted to lie and promise that it could never happen, but a false friend had made a liar of him before. He didn't know what he could say to make his partner better.
Maybe someone else did.
Desperately, Wormmon typed out a reply.
The walk back to Koshiro's house seemed longer than it had before, despite being the exact same distance as always. The mood hanging over the Chosen Children was solemn and troubled, as the situation with Ken's parents weighed heavily on their minds. The Digimon had rejoined their partners once the children left the crowd behind, and all of them walked together in an uneasy parade of gloom.
"We really had no idea what Ken was going through, did we?" Takeru asked, more to himself than the others.
"Maybe if he had spent less time lying, we would have," Taichi said, his voice gruff as he glared down at the sidewalk.
"While it explains a few things, none of it excuses his actions," Yamato agreed as he glanced at Takeru.
"That's right," Jou said, wearily. "It doesn't really change anything."
After encountering Ken's parents and Jin, Hikari couldn't help but feel a little prickly that her brother and friends were going right back to damning the Digimon Kaiser again. She couldn't blame them for feeling betrayed, but she wouldn't allow them to lose sight of what was truly important.
"Right," she said, voice flat and rigid as the sidewalk beneath their feet. "Ken is still suffering from the taint, and the Dark Seed, and manipulation from two terrible sources of evil and death and desperately needs our help."
Takeru glanced over at Hikari, noting her annoyed expression, before he straightened up and returned his attention to the front. "We still have the Digimental of Darkness, so we-"
A chime interrupted Takeru, signalling that someone had received a message on their D-Terminals. However, as they all checked their DT2s, only Hikari found a new message waiting for her. The name of the sender sent her heart racing with dread and anticipation as she immediately opened it.
Ken-chan NEEDS friends right now. Please come quickly!
While the email had Ken's address, there was no doubt in her mind that the message was from Wormmon. As Hikari read the sentence a second time, followed by a third, she felt her stomach twist itself into complicated knots. She could only imagine the state Ken must have been in for Wormmon to write such a desperate plea.
Heart in her throat, Hikari turned to the others. "I have to go. I-"
"That's him, isn't it," Taichi accused as he narrowed his eyes at his sister. He didn't need her to reply to confirm his suspicion - the look in her eyes was proof enough. "I knew it. Hikari, I thought you promised you weren't going to be hiding stuff from me and sneaking around without letting me know about it anymore."
Takeru glanced at Yamato, who returned to look with one of his own. Both of them could see the storm that was brewing, and they unfortunately were helpless to prevent it. If anything, interfering would only make it worse. It was something they knew, as siblings themselves, that Taichi and Hikari would have to resolve themselves.
"That's not…!" Hikari blurted out before she reconsidered her words. "I was trying to help Ken tell everyone the truth himself. We were there that day to cure his taint and then he was going to apologize!"
Taichi rounded on his sister. "That's not the point! The point is you didn't tell anyone!"
"I knew about it," Tailmon said as she stared hard at Taichi. "She told me."
Taichi faltered for a moment before thrusting a finger at Tailmon. "You stay outta this!" He turned his attention back to Hikari. "The point is you promised me that you'd stop keeping these secrets from me!"
Hikari grimaced, but stood her ground. "It's not… It's not the same thing! You didn't see Ken when I told him I figured out his secret - he was terrified. If I told anyone else, he would've run away and then we might never have reached him!"
Taichi gawked at Hikari. "Wait, you told him?"
Hikari nodded, inwardly cringing that she might have said the wrong thing somehow. "I figured it out, and I knew that if there was any chance of reaching him, I had to tell him privately before I-"
"Are you nuts!?" Taichi shouted, nearly hysterical. "If you realized the Digimon Kaiser has been spying on us this entire time, why didn't you tell us? What if he decided to kill you or brainwash you to keep you quiet! You snuck off on your own and didn't tell anyone and no one would've known what happened to you if he did anything to you!"
Hikari, as well as the other children, flinched at Taichi's tone and the ghastly picture his words painted. "That wouldn't have happened."
"Hikari, wake up!" Taichi shouted as he threw his arms to the heavens. "Yeah, the guy is tainted and stuff, but that just means we can't trust he won't snap! Even Takeru attacked you when he got tainted, and the Kaiser did too, with a whip! He nearly killed us with his traps, beat our Digimon senseless, kidnapped them, tortured them, made them kill other Digimon, and you thought it was okay to just run off on your own to talk to him alone?"
Takeru felt a surge of anger, but also shame, at the reminder of how he struck Hikari. He looked about ready to cut in when Yamato reached over to grip his shoulder. The Chosen of Hope paused before he glanced at his brother, then returned his attention back to Hikari as he clenched his jaw tightly.
Hikari grimaced as she glanced at Takeru whose face contorted in pain. "Takeru didn't mean to-"
"That's the point!" Taichi snapped, not letting Hikari finish. "All of us wanna help Ken, but the fact is that he can't even control himself! He's been tainted a hell of a lot longer than Takeru ever was, and he's also got brainwashing from Millenniumon that turned Gennai traitor on us! Gennai! That orb he used to drain our energy could've killed you!"
A prickling pain bloomed in Hikari's heart as that incident stood out vividly as the source of so much that went horribly wrong with the Digital World and led to so much death. Her fingers twitched with the urge to cover her aching chest, but she kept her hands at her side with only the faintest of tremors. "That… that's why… we can't leave him alone. Jijimon and Babamon warned us that letting Takeru isolate himself was the worst thing we could do… and Ken has been alone since Ryo was kidnapped and Keiko… Keiko d…"
The word wouldn't come no matter how Hikari tried to force it, but the expression on her brother's face told her that he still understood anyway.
"You could've died!" Taichi yelled as his hands flew about him like frantic birds. "That's the whole point! You should've told us, like you promised, and then we could've talked to him together so no one would get hurt!"
Hikari's jaw clenched for a moment as a wave of bitterness burst forth before she stop to think about her words. "You mean like every other time we've tried to 'talk' to the Digimon Kaiser so far? That's worked out so well."
Taichi jerked slightly, so taken aback by Hikari's uncharacteristic show of snark. "Wh… well, that's…"
Hikari gave Taichi a moment before a short, hollow laugh escaped her. "I've been trying so long to reach him, and he's either run away because I remind him of his dead best friend or because people can't stop wanting to get back at him."
"We're not getting back at him," Taichi said. "We're trying to stop him."
"No you haven't!" Hikari snapped, her red eyes blazing as she stomped her foot. "If you were, you'd actually stop insulting him and damning him and actually treat him like Takeru when he got tainted! Ken is where Takeru was then, and he needs friends right now so badly I just want to cry for him."
"I wasn't," Taichi said. "I just-"
"Ken is our friend!" Hikari continued savagely. "He's been our friend all these months, and now that you know he's been the Digimon Kaiser too, all you see is our enemy and that's why I didn't tell you! If I had any chance of helping Ken, I couldn't tell anyone but Tailmon, and I was right!" She made a sweeping gesture to her side. "Look at what happened!"
For a moment, all Taichi could do was sputter, but his blood boiled hot and wouldn't let him simply admit defeat. "You almost got killed! The Devas were going to kill you because you were siding with the Digimon Kaiser!"
"So I should've let them kill Ken?" Hikari shot back.
"No!" Taichi blurted. "The Devas almost got you because you snuck off with Ken alone!"
Hikari threw her arms out to her sides. "All of you got there before the Devas came!"
"They invited you along to serve as a distraction," Tailmon agreed, crossing her arms.
"I said stay out of this!" Taichi snapped at Tailmon before his gaze went back to Hikari. "That doesn't make what you did any less stupid and dangerous!"
Agumon frowned as he watched his partner, then turned to Tailmon as the cat Digimon gave the Chosen of Courage a disapproving stare. "I've never seen them argue like this…"
"It's long overdue." Tailmon said, with a snap of her tail.
Hikari felt a twinge in her cheek muscles and took a heavy breath as she tried desperately to maintain some sense of composure. "You mean like everything we do involving the Digital World?"
Taichi faltered for a moment, off-kilter, but Hikari wasn't going to let him recover.
"Tailmon and I are going to help Ken," she said. "Now. Because he needs us."
Taichi's hands balled into fists. "Fine, then we're going with you!"
Hikari's eyes never wavered in their burning intensity. "No. You're staying here."
"No way-" Taichi began.
Hikari poked her brother's chest, startling him out of his reply. "Unless you can honestly, from the bottom of your heart, forgive Ken and be his friend right now, you're staying here." Her eyes bored holes into her brother for an endless eternity of a moment before she finally shook her head. "If you can't do that, then please just trust me-"
"How can I trust you when you've been lying to me about this?!" Taichi demanded, his anger flaring anew.
Hikari jerked as though slapped. "I… I didn't lie-"
"You promised you were going to tell me about this kind of stuff!" Taichi snapped as he threw his arms out. "And yet here we are!"
Hikari shook her head in silent denial. "I told you, I couldn't tell you because I promised Ken-"
"So a promise to Ken is more important than a promise to me?" Taichi shot back.
Hikari flinched as the accusation struck home, sending her reeling back a step away from her older brother. "No… I… that's not what I said!"
"That's what it sounds like!" Taichi pointed at Hikari, thrusting his finger in her direction. "Even now, he emails you and you alone, and you're all set to take off after him! If we hadn't been here when you got it, would you have even told us!?"
Hikari faltered as she felt her resolve begin to crack in front of her brother's wrath, knowing that this accusation at least was true. A part of her wailed at her to stop arguing with her brother, to acquiesce to him as always so as not to hurt him. However, just as she seemed tempted, she remembered the last time she had done that - when she had failed to protect Daisuke. She still remembered how hurt Daisuke had been by Taichi and Yamato, and while they eventually apologized, the Chosen of Tenacity had suffered terribly in the meantime.
She refused to back down again. Ken needed her, just like Daisuke had, and she wasn't going to fail a friend a second time.
"Fine!" Hikari snapped, bristling even as her eyes began to water. "Be angry with me!" She made a sweeping gesture with her hand, as if she were striking away the conversation. "You can yell at me all you like - after I make sure Ken doesn't hurt himself even more!"
With that, Hikari ended the argument by racing past Taichi and their friends before he could try to stop her. Tailmon lingered a moment longer to silently glare at Taichi before she gave chase,quickly catching up with her partner.
Taichi jerked and whirled about with wide eyes. "Hika-wait!"
Hikari didn't listen. Instead, she hurried down the sidewalk until she spotted a shop window filled with television screens, the images cheerfully displaying various ads - from electronics to video games. An idea struck her hard enough to slow her run to a grinding halt, and she whirled to extend her digivice to the largest of the television screens as she focused her thoughts on Wormmon and his email, and her desperate wish to find Ken. "Digital Gate open!"
"Hikari!" Taichi cried out as he ran after his sister, with the other Chosen close behind. "Hikari-!"
Taichi caught up just a moment too late, as Hikari and Tailmon disappeared in a burst of light. He only caught a glimpse of a Digital Gate, manifested apropos of nothing on the big television screen, before it winked out of existence along with his sister and her partner.
"Damn it!" Taichi cursed. "What the hell happened!?"
"She... she gated out," Sora said as she stared at the television screen, as if it could offer any hint as to where it had taken Hikari.
"She must've gone to see Ken," Yamato said, then frowned. "But without coordinates?"
Jou frantically glanced about, particularly at the passersby who stopped to stare and murmur to one another in confusion as a girl who had been there moments ago disappeared into thin air. He grimaced before he turned to the rest of the Chosen, waving his hands to get their attention. "W-we should get back to Koshiro's, quickly, and start from there…!"
Takeru glanced at the others as they panicked before he discreetly pulled out his DT2, turning the volume down before writing an email to Hikari to confirm she was safe. He didn't expect an answer right away, or at all, but he still held out hope that she was at least calm enough to send him some sign that she hadn't just gated into oblivion.
Gritting his teeth, Taichi fished his Digivice out of his pocket. "We're going after her. Let's go, Agumon."
"You got it, Taichi!" Agumon said as he hurried over to his partner.
"W-wait! Do you even know where she went?" Sora demanded, panic flooding her. "What if-"
"Digital Gate open!" Taichi declared as he dramatically held his Digivice to the television screen.
Silence lingered as the Chosen of Courage held his pose, his Digivice still outstretched at the screen. Passersby had stopped to stare, watching in confusion from across the street and further along the sidewalk, adding to the awkwardness as nothing happened. The television, for its part, seemed to completely ignore Taichi as it continued to flicker through the various ads on display.
After an increasingly awkward minute, Taichi thrust his Digivice towards the television again. "Digital Gate open!" He only waited ten seconds before shaking his Digivice almost violently. "I said open!"
Jou, his face a vivid shade of crimson, glanced about at the gawking crowd, wanting nothing more than to disappear into a Digital Gate himself, if it meant getting away from the embarrassment.
"It's not working," Yamato said, with a sigh. "Ken must've given her coordinates or something, assuming she didn't have them from the start."
A growl erupted from Taichi's throat as he brought his Digivice to his chest. "Like that's going to stop me." He closed his eyes and thought back to all the times he entered the Digital World without the use of a gate as well as when he dove into the internet to save WarGreymon. If he could focus on his sister with all of his might like he did back then, perhaps a miracle would occur once more.
"Hikari. Hikari. Hikari," Taichi repeated his sister's name like a mantra as he aimed his Digivice at the screen once more. "Hikari!" He glared defiantly at the screen as he threw his arm forward. "Digital - Gate - open!"
A bright light burst from the television screen as it responded to the impassioned command command, much to the surprise of everyone - Taichi included. In an instant, both the Chosen of Courage and his partner were sucked into the gate, which opened just long enough to snag them before disappearing as quickly as it came, leaving the rest of the Chosen Children gaping in surprise at the screen with the rest of the gawkers.
Digital code rushed past Taichi as he entered Digital World, before the gate promptly spat him out - right on top of the altar of Light. He let out a howl of surprise as he flipped through the air before landing roughly on his stomach, thankfully impacting with the solid and flat side of the altar rather than on anything sharp and pointed.
Agumon was less fortunate, as he hit the floor with a squawk before rolling across it like a soccer ball, right past the staring Jijimon and Babamon before hitting the far wall with a crunch.
Jijimon and Babamon glanced back after Agumon, then turned to each other before focusing on Taichi as he groaned, the Chosen of Courage painfully peeling himself away from the altar and stumbling to his feet.
"H-Hikari…?" Taichi gasped out as he glanced about, tentatively rubbing his stomach.
"Well, yer sorta right, I guess," Jijimon said with a sniff as he pointed his staff at the altar Taichi leaned against to remain upright. "That is Light."
"Are you alright, dear?" Babamon asked as she furrowed her brow.
"I-I'm fine, I just…" Taichi stumbled back before he gave a small shake to chase away the rest of his disorientation. "Where's Hikari!?"
"Not here," Jijimon said. "Seems yer the only one rude enough to bust in uninvited. Yer lucky you didn't show up earlier, or you would've received some adult education, let me tell you!"
Taichi jerked back, as if the mere idea burned him, before he looked about once more. Once it became abundantly clear that the elder Digimon was telling the truth, he let out a curse before he whipped out his DT2.
Hikari went after the Digimon Kaiser by herself!
I tried to follow her but I ended up at the god temple instead. I'll meet you all back at Koshiro's so we can get Ken's coordinates, and go save Hikari!
The Chosen of Courage sent the email after flagging it high importance, before he snapped the DT2 shut and grabbed his Digivice again. "Agumon! Let's go!"
"C-coming…!" Agumon said, dazed, as he fumbled to his feet.
"Leavin' already?" Jijimon asked, quirking an eyebrow. "You just got here, y'know."
"Can't talk, have to save Hikari from Ken!" Taichi said before he gestured with his Digivice again. "Digital Gate open!"
Jijimon and Babamon silently watched as Taichi disappeared as quickly as he came, taking his partner with him. After several long moments, the two elder Digimon slowly shook their heads as immense weariness settled in on both of them.
"I'd say that Ken's the one that needs saving." Babamon said, softly.
"You got that right." Jijimon agreed. He then straightened up, turning to look at the altar of Light. "Good luck, girlie. You're gonna need it."
The main foyer for the fortress of the Digimon Kaiser was dark and foreboding, with high walls of smooth gray stone that disappeared off into the darkness. There were no obvious light sources, but Hikari could clearly see the shiny dark floor and the strange but uniform patterns of lines along the walls that reminded her a little of circuitry.
Tailmon stood beside Hikari as she glanced about, her ears flicking as she scanned the room. Pillars lining the walls cast heavy shadows and lent a number of places for someone to hide, so she listened for any signs of life. The tapping of little, rapid feet made her turn around sharply to the massive stairwell not far behind them, connected to a shady walkway high above.
A small figure emerged from the gloom at the top of the staircase, clutching something in his foremost digits. Wormmon stopped at the top of the steps, smiling as best he could with his sideways mouth. He held close his precious cargo - Ken's tainted Digivice - as he carefully hopped down one step at a time.
"Thank you so much for coming," Wormmon said, his weary voice echoing off the high ceiling of the room.
"How is Ken doing?" Hikari asked, though she realized the answer was obvious.
Wormmon drooped a little as he paused on the steps about a third of the way down. "Not good. Not good at all."
Hikari felt her stomach twist. "Let's hurry up and go see him."
"Not yet," Wormmon muttered with a resigned sigh as he scanned the area and used his feelers to press a few buttons on Ken's Digivice. "We have to wait."
Hikari blinked. "Wait for what?"
A beep caught Hikari's attention, signalling she got an email. She hesitated, grimly certain her brother sent a demand that she return home. However, before she could make up her mind about reading it, a second beep came through. This one was piercingly loud, causing the DT2 to vibrate to get her attention.
"What was that?" Tailmon asked as she turned to stare at the DT2.
"Someone just used the emergency option to send a high priority email," Wormmon said upon recognizing the particular chime. "It's a feature Ken-chan added, and someone decided to use it." He sighed, feeling so very tired. "I'm sure they're going to chase after you, and I want to talk to them before they accuse Ken-chan of kidnapping you or something else awful like that."
With an unpleasant feeling of dread creeping up Hikari's spine, she flipped open her DT2 to find not one but two emails waiting for her - the expected one from her brother, which had been flagged as high priority, but also one from Takeru.
Hikari left her brother's message alone for the moment, checking Takeru's first. She was relieved to see that it wasn't an email condemning her, and instead wanting to verify that she was safe. She quickly responded, confirming her safe arrival to alleviate his worries as well as the others. After hitting send, she hastily followed it up with a second message.
Tell everyone not to follow me unless they'll be nice to Ken! I'm NOT in danger!
With that taken care off, Hikari reluctantly turned her attention to Taichi's email. Its brevity accented with too many exclamation marks along with the high priority flag made it seem far too urgent than it really was.
Hikari paused before she scowled, hot anger flickering through her. The email's wording made it abundantly clear that Taichi was treating Ken as an enemy. Even worse, the email had been sent to everyone - Ken included. It naturally hadn't been intentional, and more a case of Miyako and Koshiro not removing Ken's name from the contacts yet, but it confirmed that Ken received yet one more email where he was being condemned. It was the exact opposite of what she was trying to accomplish. "Brother…"
"He really can't stop, can he," Tailmon said with a heavy sigh. "That boy just doesn't think."
Hikari sighed and shook her head before she began typing. "I know he's just worried about me, but… he needs to trust me, and trust that you'll keep me safe."
Tailmon nodded as she crossed her arms. "And that he can't just turn his back on someone just because he's angry at them."
Hikari nodded sharply as her brow furrowed.
A flash of light signaled an arrival from the real world at the bottom of the staircase. Hikari tensed, fully expecting Taichi and Agumon, but was shocked to see Daisuke and V-mon instead.
Even Wormmon appeared surprised to see the Chosen of Tenacity, his eyes widening. "D… Daisuke?"
"Hikari!" Daisuke shouted, his frantic gaze whipping about in every direction in search of his friend - every direction but up. "Let her go, you jerk!"
Tailmon blinked slowly before her expression deadpanned. "She's right in front of you, Daisuke."
Daisuke blinked repeatedly before raising his gaze to the top of the stairs before frowning. "Hurry home, Hikari. I'll take care of this guy."
"No," Hikari said, voice tight. "Daisuke, please listen to me. Ken isn't our enemy, he's-"
"He's a liar and a spy and an evil dictator!" Daisuke snapped, pure venom dripping between his teeth. "And he's tricking you into doing his dirty work for him and maybe even brainwashing you!"
"That's right!" V-mon agreed as he clenched his fists and shook them vigorously.
"Daisuke, he's not-!" Hikari began to protest, only to gasp as a beam of black light shot past her. Before Daisuke could open his mouth again, the darkness struck him and V-mon and in the next instant they were gone.
Hikari stared at the empty space for a moment more before she turned to see Wormmon holding up Ken's Digivice with a solemn expression.
Wormmon shook his head as he lowered the Digivice. "I'm sorry, but Ken-chan doesn't need your anger right now."
Hikari hesitated a moment longer before letting out a sigh, shoulders sinking. "Sorry about that. It's… it's going to take a while for Daisuke to accept this. He's-"
Light appeared on the foyer and rendered two figures. Again, Hikari expected her brother and his partner, but found it to be Daisuke and V-mon once more.
"Hah!" Daisuke snapped as he held up his Digivice in triumph. "Can't get rid of me that easily anymo-"
Once more, a beam of darkness silenced Daisuke when Wormmon triggered the tainted Digivice and ejected the goggle boy and his partner from the Digital World.
"I know, it's going to take a lot of time…" Wormmon said, "but I'm more concerned about Ken-chan right now."
Hikari's mouth stretched out into a grim line as she nodded. "We should get going before anyone else-"
Light interrupted Hikari once more. Before she could even consider who was coming this time, Daisuke and V-mon rematerialized in the foyer before they took off running, trying to find cover.
"Can't get rid of us that easy!" Daisuke snapped as he waved his Digivice around. "I can come back all day, you-"
Wormmon lifted the Dark Digivice again, almost casually as he gave a weary sigh. "I know. And I can keep doing this all day, too. So, please just do yourself a favor and stay home."
The Dark Digivice obeyed Wormmon once more, sending its black rays at Daisuke and V-mon as the pair failed to find anything substantial in such a large, empty hall.
Hikari was already typing away on her DT2. "I'll send Daisuke an email to let him know to stay-"
A now familiar flash of light appeared in the the foyer once more. Immediately, Daisuke lunged bolted for the stairs with V-mon in his arms, zigging and zagging to make for a harder target, as he realized there was nothing else to use as cover in the otherwise empty room. "You're not gonna get me this time!"
Wormmon frowned when his first shot missed, fumbling to aim with such stubby digits and a comparatively cumbersome device. "Daisuke, please just stay away-"
"V-mon Head!" V-mon shouted as he sprung from Daisuke's arms and slammed his forehead into Wormmon's, sending the insect Digimon flying backwards away from Hikari and Tailmon.
"Wormmon-!?" Tailmon gasped as she whirled to stare, stunned by what had just happened.
"Daisuke, stop it right now!" Hikari snapped, her anger renewed. "You and V-mon are not helping-"
"Wormmon!"
Ken's wail boomed off the high ceiling like a clap of thunder, causing everyone to whirl just in time to see him arrive from one of the many hallways on the upper level. His appearance was bedraggled to say the very least, with heavy bags under his bloodshot eyes and the same clothes he wore yesterday when everything came crashing down around him. He didn't notice how Hikari and Daisuke reacted to seeing him in such a state, entirely focused on scooping Wormmon up and away from danger.
"Ken-chan," Wormmon said, softly as he rubbed where V-mon struck him. "It's fine, Ken-chan. I'm fine. You can just leave this to me."
After taking a moment to reassure himself that Wormmon was not visibly injured, Ken whirled to glare at Daisuke and V-mon, fire blazing in his eyes. "What do you think you're doing!?"
Daisuke ran up the final few steps to thrust an accusing finger towards the bedraggled kaiser. "Stopping you from brainwashing Hikari more than you already have!"
Hikari felt a twitch of anger in her breast. "I'm not brainwashed, Daisuke! Ken isn't our enemy!"
"That's just what someone who's brainwashed would say!" V-mon said as he glared at Ken, crouched aggressively.
"If you're angry at me, that's fine!" Ken snapped as he stood up, still cradling his partner. "But don't take it out on Wormmon! He hasn't done anything wrong!"
"He kept zapping me and V-mon away!" Daisuke retorted. "He's trying to stop me from saving Hikari, and so are you!"
"I don't need saving!" Hikari practically moaned as she covered her face. "Daisuke, please, just go home. We can talk about this later."
"Save Hikari from what!?" Ken demanded, sweeping his left hand about as he carefully set Wormmon down with his right. "I didn't ask her to come here!"
"Hikari wanted to come," Tailmon said.
"Ken is our friend, Daisuke," Hikari said earnestly.
"The Digimon Kaiser is no friend of mine!" Daisuke snapped before glaring at Ken. "You stay away from Hikari!"
Ken flinched at Daisuke's words before he straightened up, meeting Daisuke's glare with one of his own - despite how his eyes watered. "I… so what happened to everything you said!? Was that all a lie!?"
Daisuke jerked, blinking. "Huh?"
Ken swallowed the bile in his throat, even as he did his best to keep his piercing stare on Daisuke. "When you said… when you said that you were going to stop thinking about me… about the Digimon Kaiser as some psychotic bad guy… like in some work of fiction! Was that a lie!?"
Daisuke flinched as though struck, suddenly feeling off balance enough to take a step back. "Wh… no, I didn't lie, but I also didn't know you were lying to me this whole time!" He moved the same foot forward again, face twisting with anger. "I'll bet you got a good laugh after I spilled my guts out like that. You probably think you're so clever tricking all of us and dicking us around!"
"I didn't… I wasn't dicking you around!" Ken protested, shaking his head before he made another sweeping gesture with his left arm. "I was… I was about to tell you, but then I lost my nerve! It seems that was the right choice, considering how you're acting now! You… you would've probably…!" He dropped his arm bonelessly as his body gave a shudder. He knew he of all people had no right to feel betrayed, but the words kept coming in spite of himself. "God knows what you would have done, after telling me you considered me your best friend!"
"Yeah right!" Daisuke snarled. "That's what you wanted me to think, you liar! Spy! I'll bet you were feeling so smug using me like that, making me think we were friends just so you could use me just like you're using Hikari!"
"Ken isn't using me!" Hikari snapped, her voice going shrill at the edges. "Daisuke, Ken's behavior in all this is being influenced by the Dark Ocean and Millenniumon just like Takeru was!"
"That doesn't make what he did okay," Daisuke said, his gaze only focused on Ken. "I'll bet some of the crap that happened was because of him giving us the runaround! Like almost drowning us using Whamon while he just happened to be nice and high and dry and out of range!"
"You were never in any danger!" Ken protested. "The wall prevented you from being sucked out to sea! At most, you got wet and annoyed! If you had just gated back out like you were supposed to-!"
Daisuke thrust his finger at Ken. "So you admit it! You did set us up!"
Ken grimaced, flinching back. "I… what was I supposed to do!? Just let you waltz in!?"
Daisuke's glare never wavered. "If you wanted to do the right thing, you would've given up and quit being the Digimon Kaiser a long time ago!"
Hikari rubbed her forehead, as she felt like little more than part of the background scenery to the boys' argument. The fact that V-mon entered into in a quiet scuffle with Wormmon at the same time only made things worse. She held her hands up in a vain attempt to get the boys' attention. "Okay, everyone just please calm down. Daisuke, if you want to check me for brainwashing later, then fine, but please take V-mon home and let me talk to Ken right now. Alone. I promise that he won't hurt me, okay?"
Daisuke barely spared Hikari a glance. "He already hurt you, remember? He whipped you! And he kidnapped Miyako, and her partner plus all of your partners and almost killed Tailmon! He sent that psycho Gladimon after us and he nearly took off her head, and Iori's, and Jou's! Not to mention he's the reason why Takeru got tainted in the first place - he sent Takeru to the Dark Ocean! He's trying to spread the taint, and he's going to get you too if you keep trusting him!"
Ken trembled, reaching up to grab his collar. He couldn't respond to most of Daisuke's charges, as he was very much aware that he was guilty of each and every one - except one. "Gladimon ignored his orders! All of the Digimon were told specifically to never hurt any humans! He didn't care and-!" He shook his head again. "I didn't… they were supposed to scare you away!" He threw his arms forward, desperate. "You were supposed to run away!"
"Ken, ignore him," Tailmon said as she glanced at the Chosen of Kindness. "No one's listening, so you're wasting your time. If he won't back away, that means you'll have to."
Ken faltered at that before he sagged his shoulders, trembling. "I-I…"
Hikari moved to Ken's side and rested her hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Come on, let's go talk in another room and let Tailmon finish talking to Daisuke for us."
Ken hesitated before he turned to Hikari, offering her a weak smile that couldn't meet his eyes. Tentatively, he reached up to touch her hand with his right. "Alright, Hikari-"
Adrenaline shot through Daisuke like an arrow from a crossbow and he lunged to slap Ken's hand away. "Keep your hands off her!"
Ken yelped as he jerked back, startled by the sudden strike. He recoiled his hand instinctively as he whirled to stare at Daisuke. "What are you-!?"
Daisuke unleashed a bellow made of betrayal and vengeance as he lunged at Ken, knocking the other boy to the ground and away from Hikari.
Ken fell backwards, a cry of pain escaping him as the steps dug into his back. He then jerked as Daisuke was on him and his mind went blank, before instinct took over as he realized he was being attacked. His foot promptly shot out, slamming into the goggle boy's stomach with immense force before shoving him away.
Daisuke couldn't even cry out, the kick sending all his breath out in a violent exhale as he was sent tumbling down the steps.
The choked sound Daisuke uttered made Ken's blood run cold as he realized what he had done. A moment later he was racing down the stairs in pure panic. "D-Daisuke!?"
"Daisuke!?" Hikari cried out in shock, before she moved to follow Ken.
"Daisuke! Daisuke!" V-mon yelped, running down to steps to his Chosen Child's side, but not before Ken got to the crumbled goggle boy first.
"Daisuke!" Ken said as he knelt down, reaching to grab the boy's shoulders. "S-say something! Are you okay!?"
Ken was rewarded for his concern with a swift punch to the face, one that made him see stars as he fell backwards. He grimaced as he hit the ground, disoriented, and his hands instinctively reached up to verify that his nose hadn't been broken even as his head swam. "G-guh…"
Daisuke coughed to regain his breath, battered and bruised all over, but he didn't let that stop him from tackling Ken to the floor and throwing another punch that struck the other boy's cheek. "Bastard!"
"Daisuke!" Hikari shouted as she hurried down the stairs. "Stop it!"
Ken threw his arms up to shield his face from Daisuke's blow, before a flash of red hot anger surged through him. He reached up to grab Daisuke's arms before planting his feet firmly on the ground, using his leverage to throw Daisuke up over his head and face-first into the floor. "Get - off!"
"Daisuke!" V-mon cried out before he growled and lunged towards Ken. "Don't you-"
The attack never made it, as Wormmon slammed into V-mon's side, sending both tumbling over one another to the other side of the massive room. "Stay away from Ken-chan!" Wormmon shouted, his expression surprisingly fierce as he pinned V-mon to the ground.
From the shadows on the upper level, FlaWizarmon and Witchmon watched the scuffle in uncomfortable silence. After several moments, the scarecrow Digimon turned to look at his companion. "...Ya think we should cut in?"
Witchmon hesitated with indecision before she furrowed her brow. "I think… if we hope for any chance of a good outcome, we're going to have to sit this one out and leave it to Light Darling."
FlaWizarmon made a noise in the back of his throat before he turned to look down, just in time to see Daisuke lunge at Ken again, only to get punched solidly in the face for his efforts. "...Do yer best, Light Darlin'."
Hikari tried to get between the two boys as they threw punches back and forth, but simply wasn't quick enough or strong enough to pull them apart. "Tailmon! Help me separate them before they hurt each other anymore!"
Tailmon lunged forward, pushing Daisuke aside before she wrapped her arms around Ken and flung the boy over her shoulder - despite him being much larger than her. Before either boy could register what was happening, she was already leaping up the stairs, skipping steps in tens at a time, to widen the distance between them.
Hikari let out a sigh of relief and snatched Wormmon up before he and V-mon could continue their brawl, following after her partner at a much slower pace. "Daisuke, V-mon, please just go home. It'll be okay for us to stay here a little while, I promise."
V-mon clenched his fists. "Hikari! Can't you see he's just using you!? Just like all those controlled Digimon!"
"Ken couldn't control me, remember?" Tailmon said as she turned to stare down at V-mon and Daisuke, not quite setting Ken down just yet. "That means he can't control her, either."
It took Daisuke a moment to recover from the sudden change of the situation, a flicker of fear piercing through his outrage. "What if you're tainted too!?"
"What?" Hikari asked, staring at Daisuke. "I'm not-"
"You've said you've been to the Dark Ocean all the time," Daisuke said urgently as he climbed back to his feet. "You even said you drowned in it before! What if you're tainted and don't even know it? What if he did it to you while you were sleeping because he knows where we live and how to get us any time? You'd never know he was using you!"
Hikari hesitated, as Daisuke's words prodded the gnawing fears she had of the Dark Ocean and all its whispers and the nightmares it gave her. Slowly, she shook her head in denial and to clear away the uncertainty digging its fangs into her back. "N… no, I'm not tainted. Tailmon bathes with me. She would've noticed if any part of me was gray."
"What if he tainted her too?" Daisuke asked. "Think about it! She's the only one of all the Digimon that didn't get a collar on her. She could've been a plant from the start!"
Tailmon set Ken down before turning to Daisuke, stretching her arms out before slowly turning about until she did a full circle. "Do you see any taint? You saw Kyoumon - you can't hide it. So tell me, where's the taint?"
Daisuke faltered for a moment, but recovered quickly. "You can't see a Dark Seed, right? What about that?"
Tailmon's ears flattened as her expression deadpanned.
Hikari covered her face with one hand as tense lines folded across her brow. "Daisuke… stop. Please, just stop. You're acting paranoid and-"
"He's been lying to us all along!" Daisuke shouted as he threw his arms towards Ken. "He's been using us and toying with us, and he's been doing all sorts of bad stuff with mind control! You've seen it yourself over and over again! If Gennai could trick you into doing bad stuff, who knows what a genius could do!"
Ken gently rubbed his cheek, where a bruise was forming - one of many, thanks to Daisuke's punches. But none of them hurt nearly as much as the one on his heart. The more he heard Daisuke talk, the more he ached, and it was a solid reminder that he had just wanted to be left alone.
"Fine," Ken finally said, at first breathy, but growing in strength and ferocity with every syllable. "Believe what you want. I'm a horrible person, whatever. I don't even care!" He turned away from the others, his feet striking the floor hard enough to make them clang with every stormy step. When he reached the wall beyond the stairs before the path branched from right to left, he slid aside a tile and punched in a certain code into the keypad hiding underneath. "Just hurry up and leave me alone!"
The Chosen of Kindness jabbed furiously at the final button, as if it were Daisuke himself. A loud beep issued, followed by the screech of metal. Hikari and Tailmon turned just in time to see the entire back wall give way, splitting open like curtains on a theater.
Blackness lay beyond the wall surrounding a pair of glowing golden eyes, each one larger than the children were tall. The light cast by the eyes hinted at a face darker than the thick, dark green fluid that rippled with slim strands of something that glowed and looked almost like code. Neither Hikari nor Daisuke could focus enough on the details beyond that, both caught frozen, staring at the monumental creature staring at them. Through the shock and horror, both were reminded of the creature that Narakumon destroyed at Factory Town, only far, far larger.
"That's…" Tailmon whispered.
"My giant tube, yes," Ken said, his voice harsh before he turned to face the Chosen, taking in their horror as they stared upon his sin. "The one I made at Factory Town, the one you were all so terrified of! And yes, I used it! I used it to make him!" He threw his hands out to the sides, in a grandiose display. "Behold! Chimeramon, one of the many forms of Zeed Millenniumon himself! The first of many that I faced, when I was pulled into this world so many years ago... with Ryo and Keiko!"
"D-Daisuke…!" V-mon hissed as he moved to his partner's side, his insides churning. Something about the creature terrified him to his very core, even though he refused to back down.
Ken let out a short bark of bitter laughter that bordered on the hysterical. "Aren't I disgusting!? Creating a replica of the very bastard that destroyed everything I cared about!" He clenched his fists before he threw them to the side. "Both of you - go home! You're wasting your time! Just go home and leave me alone!"
A rumble like approaching thunder echoed through the room and vibrated through the children's bones as the creature growled, showing a hint of sharp white teeth.
Hikari froze at the sight of the monster. Though its size and deformed appearance were terrifying in their own right, she was shaken by the fact that there was an entire lake's worth of the Dark Ocean personified in a monster just behind a far too thin layer of glass. Were it to break, the entire fortress would be flooded, and such a thought made her remember her dreams of drowning in the Dark Ocean all too clearly. Unthinkingly she squeezed Wormmon closer to her body, not noticing how the Digimon ignored her and the monster both, his sad blue eyes never leaving Ken.
Daisuke gawked at the massive monster staring at them. It was big, too big for him to comprehend that it was actually alive. The fear he felt running through him warred with his anger, and every inch of his body quaked. "Y-you…" His voice came in a tiny quiver, unnaturally loud in the sudden chilled stillness hanging heavily in the air. "You're bringing Millenniumon back?" His voice cracked until it nearly turned shrill. "You really are a traitor!"
"Yes, yes, traitor this, evil that, monster, monster, monster," Ken grunted before he stamped his foot. "Hurry up and run for your life, Daisuke Motomiya! Before I have my monster devour you!"
"You… y-you don't scare me!" Daisuke sputtered, but all the bravado in the world couldn't hide his true feelings.
"Oh, yes, that little quiver to your voice completely convinces me of that," Ken said, with a small smirk. "Well, you and I both know that all you have to do is go home and the big nasty Digimon won't hurt you."
The taunt was more than enough to rekindle Daisuke's anger, allowing him to push back his fear, if only temporarily. "S-screw you! I'll do what I want!"
Ken paused at that before he narrowed his eyes, his cheek twitching. "...Go. Home. Motomiya."
"No way!" Daisuke snapped as he forced himself to take a shaky step forward even as his instincts screamed at him to run. "Not until I kick your butt!"
Ken stared hard at Daisuke before he pointed back behind him. "Motomiya… did you forget about what's behind me? Looking right at you? Or did your stupid brain lock up?"
Daisuke twitched and stomped forward. "You're the stupid one if you think I'm scared of a psycho like you!"
Ken's cheek twitched again before he turned to point at the control panel. "And will you still be talking like that when I let it loose on you!?"
Daisuke brought his fist forward as he kept his eyes fixed on Ken and nothing else. "Will you after I give you a fat lip? You're full of it! I'll bet that thing isn't finished yet, otherwise you would've let it out already!"
"D-Daisuke," Hikari whispered, struggling to force her voice to work even as fear froze every inch of her body. The gaze of the creature behind the glass pinned her in place so solidly she could scarcely pull air into her lungs. "Don't…"
"Y…. you idiot!" Ken sputtered before he pointed wildly at the creature. "Do you seriously want me to use it!?"
"I knew it!" Daisuke said with growing confidence, refusing to look anywhere but at Ken. As long as he didn't look at the abomination, he couldn't be intimidated by it. "You were bluffing! I'll bet whatever that is is only half baked, just like you, Tiny Tower!"
Ken jerked before he clenched his teeth in a grimace. "I… I am not-!"
"It's no different than with Whamon, or at Factory Town, or every other time you try to do anything!" Daisuke said, clenching his fist and shaking it at Ken threateningly. "You keep bluffing, trying to scare us away rather than face us directly! You're a coward!"
Ken felt a flush of shock surge through him, followed by a rush of anger. "A… coward? You're calling me… a coward!?"
"Damn right!" Daisuke said, with a sneer. "A coward who hides behind other Digimon so they do the dirty work-!"
"Idiot!" Ken shrieked, cutting off the google boy and startling him so that he stepped back. "Idiot, idiot, idiot!" He clenched his hands tightly, wishing that he had his whip in his hands as the urge to strike Daisuke with it was almost overpowering. "You are an idiot, Motomiya!"
"The hell I am!" Daisuke snapped. "You're just-"
"You just don't get it! You've never gotten it!" Ken screamed as he reached up to tug at his hair. "All this time… you think this is a game, like I'm some… some generic boss for you to defeat, and receive a prize! And you're calling me a coward!?" He threw his arms down before jutting his hands forward. "But here I am, the only one that's got the courage… the courage to get dirty, just so long as I can accomplish what needs to be done!" He threw his left hand to the side, as if striking the air itself. "Just - like - Jun!"
Daisuke went rigid. "Jun? What about Jun?"
Ken's gaze was challenging. "No one else wanted to do it, no one else had the strength or courage to do it! Not your teachers, not your parents, not your other friends, not even you!" He pointed at Hikari before his finger moved to Daisuke. "No one else wanted to do it, so you kept taking it, being tormented by her… because it was easier! While she did whatever she damn well liked!" He reached up to slap his hands over his chest. "So I did it! I did it! I did what had to be done, because no one else wanted to get dirty… and I did what needed to be done!"
"Wait," Tailmon's eyes widened as realization hit her. "That was… you mean, you're the one that..."
"And your life is better for it!" Ken snarled as he jabbed his finger at Daisuke again. "You even admitted it! She doesn't harass you anymore, your parents are actually paying attention and on your side for once! Your life has improved!" He clenched his fists before he flung them downward. "Because - of - me! Because I had the courage to get dirty!"
"Wait, wait, wait," Daisuke said as he raised a hand. "You mean you're the one who started the rumor about her that she's got, like, every STD on Earth?"
"I gave her back exactly what she was giving you, and Hikari!" Ken said, his hand flicking from the gawking Chosen of Light back down to Daisuke. "Everything I said, she had said to the both of you! The only difference is that I did it better!" He clenched his hands into fists. "And just like I predicted, she outed you and your bullying to save her own ass! Not only did she get to experience what she herself had been inflicting on other people, but she completely ruined her ability to ever bully you again!"
Daisuke's mouth hung open, but words failed him. Creeping in to mingle with the anger on his face was horror so strong it turned his stomach.
"But do go on, Motomiya!" Ken said as he threw his arms out wide again. "Tell me! How was that 'using' you!? How was that just 'dicking you around'!? How did that benefit me at all!? What are you going to do now, with something that doesn't fit your stupid narrative?"
Finally, words managed to work themselves free past Daisuke's lips as they curled in disgust. "You really are just like Jun."
Ken jerked and stared down at Daisuke, confusion abundantly obvious on his face. "...What?"
"Daisuke, stop," Hikari said quietly, trying desperately to force down the instinct that screamed inside her to flee from the creature as far and as fast as possible. "Ken, you too. Let's just-"
Daisuke's bitter, mirthless laugh drowned out Hikari's attempts to cool the fires blazing between the two boys. "Jun does whatever she wants, without asking me, and whenever she does something she wants, no matter how bad it is, no matter how much it hurts someone, no matter how just plain wrong it is. And if it somehow is good for me too, she expects me to be grateful for it, when all I feel is disgusting, dirty, and used."
Ken stared at Daisuke, the anger he had felt becoming completely evaporating. In its place, he felt nothing but confusion - like Daisuke was speaking another language. "I don't… that's not…"
"And she always," Daisuke's eyes were deep pits of absolute revulsion, "always uses it against me later. Like framing me for doing it if I don't act grateful enough or just plain piss her off." He threw his arms out at his sides. "So was that next, huh? It'd fit this stupid story she and now you have written about me being this awful violent bully who does nothing but hurt people for kicks. It'd fit right in if it was somehow magically revealed it was me all along, the black sheep of the family!"
"That's…," Ken trailed off before he shook his head and snapped his hand through the air, as if striking Daisuke's words away. "T-that's not it at all! You're the one who's… I only told you because you were… I never said you were like that!"
"Save it!" Daisuke snapped, jaw clenching so tight it hurt. "Jun pulls the innocent act too. She's even fucking fooled me so many times, I don't even have a clue anymore, and I feel sick that I keep falling for it, but that doesn't stop her from doing all this shitty… bullshit!" He groaned as if in pain and turned his gaze away from Ken, unable to even look at someone he had once called a friend. "God, you even had me believing that I was wrong that you were just like her, but you're even worse because you can literally pull your shit out of the air to hurt people, like those Dark Towers! And I'll bet those pills that got planted in Jun's bag too!"
Ken took a step closer down the stairs instinctively. Panic quickly joined confusion on his face, along with no small amount of hurt as Daisuke's words felt like knives jamming in to him that he had no defense for. "T-that's not true! I'm… I'm not…!"
"You just admitted it a few minutes ago!" Daisuke snapped, blood boiling all over again.
Ken flinched back as if Daisuke had physically struck him, recoiling as he brought his arms up protectively. "...S-stop…"
Hikari couldn't take this any longer and forced her body to move in spite of the fearful gaze of the creature in the tank that seemed focused on her most of all. Each step was almost painful and unstable as she dragged her unwilling body closer to the tank to step between Ken and Daisuke. Her instincts screamed at her as she turned her back to the tank and fear almost overtook her, but she tried not to let it show as she looked into Daisuke's eyes. "D-Daisuke… please… no more of this."
Daisuke stared at Hikari, a flinch running through his body that filled his eyes with pain and betrayal. "Even after all that… you're still choosing him, Hikari?"
"I… I'm not on anyone's side," Hikari said, though fear made her voice weak. "You're both my friends. I care about you both the same. Please, just… just stop hurting each other like this."
Wormmon hurried over to Ken's leg, gripping it tightly to try and reassure his partner. "Ken-chan…"
Ken trembled as he continued to hold his arms up protectively, anguish consuming his face. Everything was going wrong, it seemed like everything he did was destroy what he cared about. He felt disgusting, like a cancer, and just wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.
Disappear forever.
"Please… please… just leave me alone…" Ken said, his voice weak.
Daisuke finally had to look away, his expression contorting in exquisite anguish even as he forced out a small, hollow laugh. "Well. Guess you really are worse than Jun, Ichijouji. Even Jun couldn't trick Hikari to be her friend and use her against me. Having mind control must be great, huh? You monster."
"I'm not…" Ken protested, but his pitiful voice trailed up as he lost all the energy he had to keep arguing. It didn't matter anymore, after all.
Nothing he said could ever fix what he had broken. He really was a cancer.
"I'm not being controlled, Daisuke," Hikari said, though it was hard to focus enough fire into her words when her friends were in so much pain and a monster from her nightmares was staring right through her. She didn't know how much more of this she could take.
"Daisuke…" V-mon muttered, drooping as he looked at his partner. He then turned to glare at Ken as he hid behind Hikari, before he paused as something odd caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned to stare as his eyes settled on the object in question - Ken's black Digivice.
The blue dragon Digimon's eyebrows shot straight up before he rushed towards the device, reaching down to grab it before Ken - or anyone else - could recover it for the Digimon Kaiser. V-mon whirled, holding up the device to show his partner. "Daisuke! Look!"
Daisuke turned his head and his eyes lit up as he recognized what his partner held. Quickly, he snatched the Demonic Digivice and held it out at Ken. "Let's trade. You undo whatever you did to Hikari and Tailmon, and I'll give back your Digivice, otherwise I'll smash it to bits, I swear!"
Ken stared at Daisuke for a moment before his pained expression gave way to weariness, and resignation. "Do what you want… all of you, just go…" He turned and began to walk away from not only Daisuke but Hikari as well, with heavy steps. "...It's not like it matters anymore…" His words sounded hollow, as if it had an unnatural echo to it that mingled with his own voice.
The foreign quality to his voice made Hikari shiver with horrible familiarity, and she immediately turned around. "Ken, wait!"
That was the tipping point for Daisuke, seeing his best friend, the only person who stuck with him, following after the boy who tricked him into getting far too close to a manipulative tyrant. Frustration bubbled over in a wordless cry as he hurled the Demonic Digivice with all of his might, aiming it right at the black creature whose gold eyes seemed to mock him - laugh at him - as it watched his utter failure with sick amusement. "You bastard!"
Time seemed to stop as the black Digivice soared towards its target, before slamming into the glass directly between the creature's massive eyes. The glass was undamaged by the blow, far too strong to be broken from such a simple attack. However, rather than falling to the ground as expected, the Digivice came to a stop. A brilliant gold light surrounded it as the creature's eyes began to glow.
A slow, wicked smile appeared on the creature's face.
Ken's entire body gave a jerk as he stumbled forward, then arched his back as he let out a startled cry. He wobbled on his feet, even as his whole body remained stiff, twitching as a the same gold glow began to surround him as well - just like his Digivice. "A-ayaa… y-yah-!?"
"What's… what's happening!?" Tailmon gasped as she stared at Ken.
"Shit!" FlaWizarmon's voice rang out before he suddenly landed on the ground in front of Daisuke, startling the Chosen of Tenacity so that he recoiled instinctively. The scarecrow Digimon rushed towards the creature - specifically the Demonic Digivice - and reached forward to try and snatch it. "Shit, shit, shit!"
However, his efforts proved futile as the light flared up brilliantly, blasting FlaWizarmon back. He grit his teeth as he braced himself, his legs locking to keep the force from flinging him across the room. He glared helplessly at the creature as its smile widened, like a cat that had just gotten its claws in a mouse. "D-damn it!"
A strangled shriek of agony came from Ken as he arched his back again, a spasm running through his spine as he threw his head backwards. He gasped for air as he felt as though he couldn't breathe, a force constricting his lungs - and the rest of his body - in a vice as if it were squeezing the life out of him. From Hikari's and Daisuke's vantage point, they could see the strange aura of gold flickering around him before something began to appear at the base of Ken's neck. As his hair began to lift, it revealed a mark, like a tattoo, in the shape of the Crest of Kindness. But unlike a tattoo, which was nothing more than unchanging ink, the mark was fluctuating colors violently - pink and gold, as if the two were fighting for control.
"Ken-chan!" Wormmon screamed.
"Ken!" Hikari shouted as she raced to Ken's side, only for the golden aura to strike her violently, tearing a scream of pain from her as it threw her far from him, skidding across the gleaming floor until she reached the top of the stairs and tumbled down.
"Hikari!" Tailmon yelped, startled out of her stupor by Hikari's cry. She hurried to catch the Chosen of Light before she fell down too far, before carrying her the rest of the way down and placing her at the floor. "Hikari!?"
"Hikari!" Daisuke yelled, panicked, as he raced to the fallen Chosen of Light's side as she lay unmoving on the ground. His fear only multiplied when she didn't respond to her partner or him. "Oh my God, are you okay?"
Ken's hands twitched erratically, as if he had lost all motor control. The mark on the back of his neck continued to flash and spark violently as the two colors continued to fight. Unfortunately, the pink never stood a chance, and it was soon completely consumed by the gold. Another scream came from Ken as his legs trembled beneath him, before he collapsed to his knees, his eyes going completely black as his irises turned to glowing liquid gold.
Witchmon took FlaWizarmon's place in an instant, using her magic as a brace to keep from being thrown backwards as she desperately tried to pry the Digivice away from the tube. Her claws dug between the device and the glass with all the futility of trying to split apart a diamond with a plastic spoon. The golden light burned her large hands and sent up plumes of smoke as gloves and flesh took damage. Her sharp teeth contorted in pain, but only her ghostly cat wailed from it.
This time, the scream came from Wormmon. His entire body began to glitch violently as a gold aura overtook him next, seconds before the light of evolution engulfed him. The evolving mass expanded beyond the size of a bus until the light faded to reveal a brand new insect Digimon, the likes of which none of the Chosen had ever seen. It looked like a purple scorpion with six long, spindly black legs and black armor covering its chest, joints, and back. A large black mask, complete with two large horns to either side and a smaller horn at the center, covered its hideous face, with thick gums filled with razor sharp teeth jutted forward in a feral snarl as its wild green eyes quickly became gold.
The giant creature wrapped its legs around the walkway, which cracked and groaned beneath its weight. Its long tail lashed out to strike Witchmon, sending her backwards and away from the Digivice before it twisted about to curl around the steps like a coiling snake. Once there, then pulled tight, crushing them entirely as if they were made of paper. Wobbling its head side to side, the new Digimon suddenly threw back its head to let out a bellowing roar - beastial and murderous.
FlaWizarmon caught Witchmon before she could go flying too far, grimacing as he set his comrade down carefully. He turned to stare at the warped insect Digimon that used to be Wormmon, then back to the smirking abomination within the tube. A sudden thought flickered through his head and he looked up sharply to see Ken still collapsed on the crumbling walkway. "...Ken-chan!"
Ken didn't respond, sitting limply on the walkway with a blank expression on his face. His eyes were still twin pools of black with gold pin pricks for his irises, unfocused and blank as he stared without seeing. His head sagged to the side, as if he were nothing more than a discarded rag doll.
FlaWizarmon grimaced before he released Witchmon, jumping on the base of the ruined stairs and leaping upwards over the coiled tail of the monstrous Digimon to land on the platform by Ken. He quickly grabbed the Chosen of Kindness, ignoring the insect Digimon as it turned to glare at him with its menacing eyes. The scarecrow Digimon jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding its snapping teeth, as he carried Ken to safely.
"Daisuke! Daisuke, what's happening!?" V-mon asked anxiously, glancing between his partner, Hikari, and the massive Digimon that was destroying the stairwell right in front of them.
"I don't… I don't know!" Daisuke said, growing more than a little hysterical as he stared at the monster Wormmon had become. "I don't know!"
FlaWizarmon hurried over to Witchmon, who stumbled to her feet. The two glanced back at the growling monster as it tried to pull itself up on the walkway, the abused structure cracking beneath it, before they turned to each other and nodded.
"Let's go, Ken-chan," Witchmon said as she drew up her cloak, not waiting for a response as Ken was in no condition to give one as he rested limply in FlaWizarmon's arms.
FlaWizarmon turned to glance at Daisuke, his expression barely managing to mask the hostility. "You better get her outta here, too."
"Wait, where do you-!?" Daisuke demanded as he stood up, glaring at FlaWizarmon - but mostly at Ken.
All signs of civility disappeared from FlaWizarmon's face as he unleashed the full force of his fury on the Chosen of Tenacity. "For once in your life, shut your damn mouth and do what you're told!" He threw his arm in the direction of the warped Wormmon and the abomination. "Or you can stay here and die! It's your damn choice!"
Daisuke jerked back, startled by the outburst. "What-?"
Witchmon glanced back at Daisuke, her face a mask of ice as she flung her cape forward, allowing it to wrap around FlaWizarmon and Ken before coiling back around to engulf herself. A moment later, the three were gone, leaving him and his friends alone with the lumbering beast that suddenly focused its attention on him - and Hikari.
"Daisuke!" Tailmon snapped as she held Hikari up, who sagged against her partner much like Ken had against FlaWizarmon. "I can't gate out!"
Daisuke hesitated before he let out a curse. He grabbed his Digivice and held it upward. "Digital Gate open!"
A flash of light flooded the room just as the walkway finally collapsed under the burden placed upon it. As the gate sucked Hikari, Daisuke, and both Digimon away, the behemoth that had formerly been Wormmon dropped to the lower floor with a roar. Chunks of metal and stone fell around it, but it didn't notice, as they bounced off its rigid skin harmlessly.
The insect Digimon rumbled deep in its throat as it flared its nostrils, eyes scanning the room to verify that its prey had escaped. After a moment, it slowly turned about to focus on the only other occupant of the room - the creature within the tube made in Chimeramon's likeness.
The two abominations locked eyes, with Ken's glowing Digivice still hovering between them against the container. Something unspoken seemed to pass between the two, as the insect Digimon that was once Wormmon suddenly lunged forward with a snarl, opening its jaws to bite into the glass tube - catching both glass and the Digivice in its gaping maw.
The glass shattered around the Digimon's jaws, and green liquid flooded out like a burst dam. The Dark Ocean creature focused its eyes on the Digimon in front of it before it suddenly lurched forward, shoving its head directly into the insect Digimon's mouth.
The Digimon bit down on the creature, which burst in to tendrils that writhed and squirmed about like arms on a jellyfish. The tendrils reached up to wrap around the insect Digimon's face, before dissolving into his very flesh.
As the creature disappeared into the Digimon, the insect's glowing gold eyes intensified before it lurched forward. Veins appeared across its armored hide as it began to increase in size, growing larger and larger still until it filled the entire room. Walls crumbled about it, unable to contain the monster as it continued to expand.
Within a matter of moments, the entire flying fortress had collapsed in on itself, crumbling as the insect Digimon emerged from within it as if it were hatching from an egg. Wobbling, the ruins of the structure plummeted downward, unable to support the ever-growing horror that had emerged from it. It slammed into the ground with a thunderous boom, a massive crater forming around the impact sight.
But even that wasn't enough to harm the beast. Emerging from the crater, the insect Digimon pulled itself up from the rubble before it threw its head back to let out a murderous scream - announcing its arrival and its intentions.
Hell had been unleashed on the Digital World.
