Digimon belongs to Toei! It's not mine!

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Shi-chan: Ah, ah, ah! Athena got it. So did ShiniJekka. :-P Onward!
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Sadness-Colored Sandglass
Part 14
~By Shimegami-chan
Music: Something or other from Greenwood..."Sakakurin," I think...

Warnings: Shounen-ai; it's Kensuke, Kekaizer, Daikaizer, Taito, Takari, yeah, I love having a kazillion pairings in my fics...

Shameless Plugs!

Chapter 6 of 'In Your Shoes,' was posted yesterday--June 26.
Fly With Me, Fairy, a one-shot, also posted yesterday.





"A dark ring?" Takeru gaped at the Monochromon. "That's impossible! He can't possibly be controlled by a Dark Tower, there aren't any more left!" He scanned the horizon as though to make sure. "All the Digimon should be free! There's no one controlling them anymore!"

"He's figured out how to control them without the Towers," Ken muttered darkly. "I shouldn't have let him out. I shouldn't have..."

Wormmon, being the closest to the Kaizer-turned-Ken, looked up at the indigo-haired boy worriedly. "What? Let who out? What are you talking about, Ken-chan?"

"Nothing," Ken growled, staring straight ahead. Ken-chan, you little idiot...either the hypnotism worked too well, or not well enough. You've ruined everything.

"Ken!" Daisuke ran to his partner's side. "Come on, let's take him down! Everybody!"

"V-mon! Shinka....XV-mon!"

"Hawkmon! Shinka....Aquilamon!" Aquilamon took to the sky with Miyako on his back.

"Armadimon! Shinka...Ankylomon!" Iori stood proudly beside his Digimon.

"Patamon! Shinka...Angemon!"

Hikari held her pink D-3 to the sky. "Degimental...UP!"

Her partner responded to the call. "Tailmon! Armour shinka...Hohoemi no Hikari!* Nefertimon!"

The two original Chosen stood back as their Digimon took flight above the Monochromon. Daisuke looked at Ken expectantly. "What about Stingmon?"

Ken watched coolly as Angemon delivered a Heaven's Knuckle, sending the Monochromon flying. "Don't need to. He's already weakened."

Wormmon pouted as best he could, with his eyes. "But, Ken-chan...I want to help..."

"No."

The Monochromon let out a roar and began to glow, the ring on his leg practically pulsating. "He's evolving again!" Miyako screamed.

Without a Digivice or partner, the Monochromon grew and assumed the shape of a Vermillimon, red and white with thick-looking armour. The ring on his leg metamorphed into a spiral.

Ken seethed silently. He learns fast.

Looking a little unsettled, Nefertimon landed quietly beside her partner and let the energy drain out of her, becoming Tailmon once more. Hikari didn't need to speak, just held out her D-3.

"Tailmon! Chou-shinka...Angewomon!"

Catching on, Takeru held up his D-3 as well. "Angemon! Chou-shinka...HolyAngemon!"

"We'll handle this!" Hikari cried, clutching Takeru's hand.

"Holy Arrow!" Angewomon cried, throwing a blast of light at the Vermillimon. It had no effect, as did HolyAngemon's blows. "Hikari! This isn't working!"

Aquillamon, Ankylomon, and XV-mon tried their own attacks, without much success. "We need Paildramon!" Daisuke shouted, looking at Ken. "Come on, Ichijouji! Let's Jogress!"

Ken looked torn. "I...I guess so..."

What's wrong with him? Daisuke's attention was diverted by the glow of Vermillimon changing shape--again. "It's going mega!"

The Vermillimon evolved into a Rosemon before the group's shocked eyes. "That's not possible!" Miyako screamed. "Someone must be controlling it! Could it be another Dark Tower Digimon?"

"I don't know! It can't have been running around for this long on its own, Archnemon's long gone!" Takeru pulled his parter's energy back into his D-3, devolving back to Angemon. "Jogress!"

"Right!"

"Angemon!"

"Ankylomon!"

"Jogress shinka!"

"Shakkoumon!" The metallic Digimon flew up to face Rosemon.

"Roses Rapier!"

Shakkoumon absorbed the attack and shot it back at the Mega-level enemy. "She's too powerful!"

Meanwhile, Hikari had called her Digimon back to Champion stage once again. "Miyako! Let's go!"

"Aquillamon!"

"Tailmon!"

"Jogress shinka!"

"Silphymon!" The feathered Digimon rose above its enemy. "Top Gun!"

Daisuke shot a pained look at his koibito. "Come on, Ken!"

I could try, Ken reasoned. "Fine. Wormmon?"

His insect partner nodded. Ken unclipped the Dark D-3 from his belt.

"Wormmon! Shinka...!"

Nothing happened. The Digivice did not react.

"Ichijouji-san!" Iori called. "What's wrong?"

Dammit! I should have known this wouldn't work! This is all Ken-chan's fault! "I don't know!" he replied. "My D-3's not working!"

Rosemon was pummeling Shakkoumon and Silphymon mercilessly. Miyako screamed as her Digimon fell to the ground. "Daisuke-kun! Ken-kun! We need Imperialdramon, fast!"

Ken felt dizzy and detached, watching the unfolding battle. "I can't..."

"What's wrong? Ken!" Daisuke cried.

"Ken-chan!" Wormmon hugged his partner's leg fretfully. Ken kicked the caterpillar away. Wormmon lay unmoving for a minute, tears springing to his soft blue eyes. "Ken-chan?"

"Idiot! What did you do that for?" Daisuke pushed Ken away and ran to Wormmon's side. "Are you okay? Wormmon?"

The voices rose in pitch, closing over Ken's consciousness. "Idiot, idiot, idiot! Ken-chan no baka!" He began to laugh hauntingly, gaining the attention of the other five Chosen. "Pitiful, pathetic fools! All of you!"

"What are you talking about?" Hikari asked nervously, holding Plotmon tight. "Ichijouji-kun..."

"You're all idiots!" Ken spat, clenching his fists. "Him most of all! Get away from me!" He slapped Daisuke's comforting hand away. "If it's not going to be perfect, than I don't want it! I'll destroy all of you and start over! Just us, and I can make it all the way it was before!" In the blink of an eye he was once again clothed as the Digimon Kaizer, complete with cape and glasses.

"He's flipped!" Miyako clutched Pururumon in both hands.

Takeru ran to Hikari's side with Tokomon in tow. "Shakkoumon's down! We've got nothing left to work with except XV-mon!" Said Digimon was carefully avoiding Rosemon's Thorn Whip attack, shooting X-Lasers at her from the ground. The Mega-level Digimon avoided most of them easily.

Ken cackled maniacally. "It's been nice knowing you guys." He pulled Daisuke to him and kissed him hard on the lips, tongue probing the other boy's mouth.
Daisuke wrenched away. "Ken! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Especially you, Dai-chan. Bye, now!" He cast a glance up into the sky. "Rosemon! Kill them, don't let any of them escape!"

"Ken!" Daisuke grabbed for his friend's arm.

The Kaizer grinned and smiled at Daisuke before waving his hand in the air. A dark portal appeared behind the dark-haired boy, wavering and sparking with malicious energy. "It's been fun."

With that, he stepped backwards and disappeared.

Miyako screamed.

XV-mon cried out in pain.

And Motomiya Daisuke's right jacket pocket exploded, throwing him to the ground.







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*'Hohoemi no Hikari,' means 'Smile's Light.' Arigatou, Athena-san! And arigatou to Zippo-kun for the tagline order fix. ^_^

Shi-chan: That was a fairly tedious chapter; I had to look up info on attacks, Japanese names, etc etc etc. If anybody's wondering, Vermillimon actually does evolve to Rosemon, as do Lillymon and LadyDevimon. Thanks to Megchan for the helpful info. I had to watch my halfway-buffered RealPlayer version of episode 49 to see if Tailmon actually says 'Chou-shinka,' which she does. Pretty neat. Hmm.
Seki: More soon. But not tonight. ^^;; Looks like this story's coming to a close soon...
Duo: R&R, please, minna-san! Arigatou!