Darkening Skies
By: Kayeth
"No! That can't be!"
Gennai clutched the edge of the desk so hard his knuckles went white. He didn't notice, as his attention was captured completely by the readings on his computer screen.
His instruments, as always, were fine tuned to find even the slightest imbalance of light and dark. If even one virus Digimon took it to its head to start blowing things up for the sake of blowing things up, Gennai would know immediately.
But all the sensitivity of the instruments was utterly irrelevant, as the evil clouding the Digiworld was practically palpable. Gennai could feel it crawling across his skin, flooding the air…
He shivered, and put the numb shock in his mind away and drew up another screen. That was it. He needed to contact the Digidestined. And the children.
"There will be no Digidestined to save your precious Digital World this time."
The harsh, accented voice came from behind him, almost causing him to jump out of his skin. His room had been locked. This he knew. It was physically impossible for anyone to get in.
And yet…
"Who are you to challenge destiny?" Gennai said calmly without turning, keeping his voice from betraying his unease.
"One who has lived in it, and come up with a very solid opinion. It reeks." The voice sneered. "Now come along, turn around and face me like a man."
Gennai did not move, but his hand drifted to the sword at his side.
"Afraid then. I expected nothing less." The voce mocked.
As if lifted by an invisible hand, Gennai's chair rose into the air and set down facing the intruder. A strangled cry fought itself out of his mouth.
"Luna!"
It was her, without mistake. At first glance at least.
But Luna's eyes had never been so red or glittered with hate. Her stance had never been so straight and proud, and a cruel smile had never, ever crossed her face.
No, this was not Luna Hoshi.
"Who the devil are you?" Gennai demanded. The creature laughed harshly.
"Good. I was afraid you might mistake me for simpering little Luna…like some unfortunate souls did." The cruel smile widened, and Gennai blanched as the impostor's hair faded completely white, and eyes turned completely that cruel red with slits for pupils, and her skin darkened to a warm brown.
"You're world is never going to be the same. It's mine now." She said with another cruel smile.
"The Digidestined will stop you."
She threw her head back and laughed.
"There will be no Digidestined when I'm through with them. There will be no Digidestined to save your precious Digital World this time."
She tilted her head and looked him over, as if for the first time noticing him.
"Of course, you'll try to stop me, won't you Gennai? I can't have that. That's why I'm here to kill you."
Gennai immediately leapt to his feet, making her chuckle. She snapped her fingers, and the door blew open in a rush of wind.
Two creatures stood in the doorway. Gennai would of called them children, but no children could ever look so powerful and cruel.
"My children, Gennai." The impostor said fondly, casting a glance at them. "You don't like them, do you?"
At some invisible order, the two 'children' came to stand next to her.
"We don't like being made fun of, do we?" she asked them. Both of them shook their heads slowly, their scarlet eyes flashing.
"Let's teach dear Gennai a lesson, shall we?"
Before he could blink, the boy had lashed out and knocked him over. While Gennai struggled to get up, the boy and the girl unsheathed their swords.
Gennai didn't even realize what had happened until he saw the gaping hole through his chest.
As his vision grew dim, he looked up at the two that had ended his life so swiftly.
"W-why?" he rasped.
"Mother has wished you to be killed. Therefore you shall." The girl replied calmly.
"You will make another warrior for Mother's army." The boy added, in equal calmness.
Luna's impostor knelt in front of Gennai as he collapsed. She was grinning again.
"My children know who they serve. They will inherit what we conquer."
Gennai's vision went dark. Everything was black…gone…
"Who…who are you?" he whispered.
"My name is Megami."
~@~
A cloaked figure slid against the concealed door in the mountainside, doing all possible not to be seen. Only a glimpse of her dark red eyes could tell anyone she was terrified.
She ran a gloved hand over the rock face, finally encountering a shallow handprint. She pushed her hand into it, and the rock she leaned against slid away. She dove in, letting it close behind her.
It was a tunnel, carved roughly from the rock of the mountain. She hurried down it quickly, cloak dragging slightly on the uneven floor.
At the end of the tunnel, there was a normal door. Her gloved hand hesitated a moment, then rapped sharply on the wooden door. Then she waited.
Barely a minute had passed before the door was flung open.
"Gennai? Is that-" the boy who had opened the door stopped speaking very suddenly. A choking sound came from the back of his throat.
The girl lifted her hands, and pushed back her hood, then undid the clasp and let the whole thing fall to the ground.
Both of them stared at each other for a full thirty seconds before the girl flung her arms around the boy's neck, sobbing and laughing at the same time.
"Lee…oh, Lee, you guys made it!" she said breathlessly. Recovering from shock swiftly, Lee hugged her back.
"We thought you were dead. We—I saw Demonamon skewer you…how did you-" Luna cut him off by placing her finger over his lips.
"It's a long story, Lee-kun, and I'd rather only tell it once."
Lee blushed "Oh…right."
Point-blank refusing to release her hand, Lee dragged her into the door, and down another hallway, dimly lit but furnished like a normal household.
One of the rooms ahead were lighted, and anxious voices were drifting out.
"…he's never ignored out messages, something must have happened to him!"
"We don't know that! Maybe he's busy!"
"Too busy doing what?!"
The instant Lee and Luna stepped into the doorway, all talking abruptly stopped. The ones in the room stared at them, and they stared back.
"LUNA!"
Kurumon let out a loud squeal, and zoomed across the room and collided with Luna so fast, it was a wonder her ribs did not snap. Neither of them cared though, Luna just held her tight, while both of them cried.
The rest walked closer slowly, as if she would vanish without notice.
Kurumon was in heaven. Her chosen was here, alive! Alive and hugging her close…
A little too close. Her face was smothered by Luna's vest. She tapped Luna on the shoulder, expecting her to realize her mistake and loosen her grip.
She didn't. Luna simply crushed Kurumon's face closer to her shoulder. Her half-hearted struggles became frantic. She couldn't breath!
The others noticed. Takato, alarmed, ran up to her.
"Luna, she can't breath! Let go! LET GO!"
Luna completely ignored his cries, her face impassive. Kurumon's struggles became weaker…and weaker…until they stopped completely.
She tossed her Digimon's body aside without turning a hair. A cruel smile graced her lips.
"You're all fools." She sneered, casually flicking her hand at them. All of them, exempting Takato, flew backwards, as if slammed in the gut by some invisible force.
Quick as lightning, she reached out and caught Takato's throat in a crushing grip. There was an audible snap, and Takato fell in a heap, head hanging off his shoulders at an impossible angle. He did not move.
Both Ruki and Gillmon screamed in rage, and rushed at her. She laughed raspingly, and flicked her hand again. They screamed again, this time in pain as pure voltage coursed through their bodies. They both dropped without a sound.
With a loud growl, Renamon leapt at Luna, teeth bared, ready to tear her apart. She laughed, and flames sprang up around Renamon, catching her fur, cloaking her in smoke and fire. Luna's eyes gleamed as the Digimon's howls of pain grew softer and softer, until they were mere whimpers. The flames died down, leaving only a charred battered, and clearly dead creature behind.
"As for you…" she said softly, turning to Lee. With a gesture, she tore a chunk of stone from the wall. It floated over and remained suspended before her. It swiftly mutated from a shapeless block into a sharp stake.
Lee stared helplessly as the granite spear flew at him—
—To be intercepted by a small white form. Completely impaled by the rock, Terriermon turned in midair to face Lee, even as his eyes grew glazed and he fell.
"No…no…" he picked his Digimon up carefully and shook him gently. He received no response.
With his glaring eyes filling full of tears, he stared up at the murderer.
"Why?! Tell me why!"
Luna's mirror image stared at him calmly.
"ANSWER ME!" he shouted, jumping up and seizing her by the shoulders.
"For my plan." She whispered, and punched him in the gut. He dropped to his knees, clutching his sides.
"Plan?! You murder everyone who's ever meant something to me and its all for your damned plan?!"
"Lee, Lee, Lee." She sighed shaking her head sorrowfully "You just don't see the full picture. And haven't I meant something to you?"
"YOU'RE NOT LUNA!" he shouted, tears streaming from his eyes.
"You're not wrong, but you're not right either." She replied calmly, and snapped her fingers. Her striped hair faded to completely white, as her skin darkened and her eyes became completely red, with slits for pupils.
"I'm so much more than simple little Luna could have been. I hold enough power to crush the Digital World in my fist. Not that I want to though."
"I want to rule both worlds. Wipe them clean of all pathetic, flawed, and directionless creatures."
"You want to rule two empty worlds?" Lee shot at her bitterly. She sighed again.
"Of course not. What would be the point? I will fill them with my own creations. My children. Then, when that's done, find a way to move on to other plains of reality. I will rule all there it to rule."
She looked down at the sobbing, furious heap that was him, and her eyes softened a bit.
"But I don't want to rule alone. It would be lonely. I want you to be with me, Lee-kun. That's why I spared your life. And why I removed all distractions."
"So Terriermon…Ruki, Takato, Renamon, Gillmon, Kurumon…they were all distractions?!" he said disbelieveingly, face contoured with bitterness.
"Yes."
Slowly, shaking, he climbed to his feet. Glaring, tears still streaming down his face, he looked her in the eye.
And slapped her across the face with all the strength he could muster. Her head snapped back, the handprint standing out white against her dark skin.
"You monster." He hissed "You kill those who meant the most to me…and expect me to come with you?! To do this to countless others?! YOU MONSTER!"
"You're nothing like the Luna I loved…Luna cared…Luna loved all of us! You killed them! YOU'RE NOT HER!"
She brought her head back up, eyes wide, pupils dialated.
"So…" she spoke with her voice tight, breathlessly "If that's what you want…"
With a hiss of steel, she drew a dagger from the inside of her vest. Eyes still wide, she rammed the dagger into his chest.
He looked down at it, disbelieving.
"You won't die from internal injuries. You'll bleed to death." She almost sneered, voice still tight "It'll give you plenty of time to think how it could be different, if you'd chosen differently."
She leaned forward and kissed him, embracing him, not caring about the blood on her clothes.
"You could of had that." She murmured in his ear, and pulled away. She stared at him, breathing harder then before.
Darkness swam before him eyes—or was it tears? He couldn't be sure. All he was sure of was the sound of her footsteps down the hall, then the absence of the sound as she halted.
"You could have lived, Lee. You could have lived."
To Be Continued…
Kayeth- There.
Joe- That's it. You need help.
Kayeth- *cackles* Oh, yes. Chapter Three Coming soon!