Digimon: A Bigger Threat
Episode 4
"The No Hope Campaign"
By: Shmeilia Rockie
Author's note: I don't own Digimon, but I do own Garz, Zarg, and Keesma! You know, as I was re-reading this, I realized there are very few Cody/Yolei pairings out on there. Personally, it came as a great shock when I discovered Yolei and Ken had gotten married. I thought the fact that she'd marry Cody was, like, a given or something, but I guess I'm one of the only one's. I know he's four years younger than her, but still...When they're fourty it won't really matter! Besides, for the sake of my story, Ken isn't supposed to be truely in love with anyone. I seemed to get a lot of the end wrong. In fact, the only thing I got right was that TK became a writer. Oh well, this is how I wanted it to go. Hope y'all enjoy, sorry for subjecting you to my crazy dream. But I must do it! Garz and Zarg command me from the inside of my brain! I swear, they've taken over!
"I'm EXHASTED!" Yolei wailed.
Cody snorted. "Oh, come on, Yolei! We should be there in an hour. If you can wait until then-"
She declaired, "I can't walk another step!"
"Oh, dear," Hawkmon sighed. "Yolei, just-"
She flopped to the ground, crossed her arms, and pouted. This, of course, sent Hawkmon spiraling off into the air with a squawk, "Oh, be reasonable!"
"I haven't been this tired in a very long time, and I really don't like it!"
Cody forced a weary smile. He just had to be patient with her. He grimaced and kicked her boot in the friendliest way possible, considering he had had it with her whining. "Ah, come on, Yolei! It's good for you!"
"Foo!" She turned away, pouting.
"You know, Cody," Ken said gently. "I think it's best that we rest for a while. I'm starting to get tired myself." That was a lie, of course, but he didn't want Yolei look bad.
"No!" Cody barked rather forcefully. "We'll rest once we get to the castle, not before!" Then he stormed off. Armadillomon ran after him, angerly scolding him for being so mean.
Tears sprang into Yolei's eyes. Cody had never yelled at her before. At least not like this. They USED to be best friends. They USED to tell each other everything. What had happened to them? Had they really grown so far appart, that he could be so harsh towards her?
"Are you all right, Yolei?" Ken asked, offering his hand to help her up.
She quickly brushed the tears from her eyes. "No, Cody yelled at me."
"No, actually, I think he was yelling at me." Ken smiled slightly and laughed. It helped calm Yolei down, but only slightly. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet. He patted her on the back. "You all right?"
Deep breath, now. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks."
"Um, guys..." It was Armadillomon, and he sounded concerned. "Cody's caught on somethin'"
"Thanks for the vote of confedince, Armadillomon. I think I can get my foot...oh, I think you guys ought to get over here. Something is...not right."
The others dashed over to where Cody stood, trying despritely to pull his foot out of what seemed like a dead tree sapling that clung to his boot. It looked like a gnarled hand that reached out of the ground to trip him. Cody was beginning to get worried, and pale. "I don't feel so great all of a sudden."
"What do you mean?" Yolei asked.
Cody tried to pull his boot out, but indeed, he didn't look very well. And he appeared to be getting weaker every second. "I don't know, it feels like this...thing is sucking the life out of me. There's something going on here, and I don't like it at all."
"Pull your foot out of your shoe." Ken offered without actually moving to help.
"You don't think I haven't already tried that!" Cody snapped, terror glittering in his eyes. "Get it off of me!"
Yolei started prying it off of poor Cody, but stopped suddenly. "That thing...It's unusually warm." She looked at Ken. "I think it's alive!"
"You don't think that that's a demon, do you?!"
Cody collapsed to his knees, his eyes rolling back slightly on impact. He managed to grab his yellow D-3. "Armadillomon, do you have enough energy to Digivolve?"
"Yeah, but I don't think you do."
The other kids reached for their D-3's.
Cody fought to keep his eyes open. For some odd reason he was getting very sleepy. "Huh?"
"You and I share energy. So if you... Oh, never mind. I'll give it a try. Armadillomon digivolve to..."
"Hawkmon digivolve to..."
"Wormmon digivolve to..."
Armadillomon: "Ah, rats..."
"Aquilamon!"
"Stingmon!"
"Cody?"
"I-I'm awake, but I do think it's time to get a rest..." He closed his eyes and fell forewards. His D-3 tumbled out of reach.
"Quick, try it again!" Aquilamon screeched, then attacked the nasty tree-like thing like it was a juicy bug. He ripped at it trying to pry it loose, but it refused to give. Stingmon stood ready to leap into battle as soon as needed.
"Armadillomon digivolve to...Arg! Nothin'!"
Finally, Aquilamon managed to pull it out of the ground and off of Cody's leg. Unfortunately, Ken had been right. It was a demon. In fact, it was Zarg, looking sorta like that big bug creature that had eatten Davis, although that had really been Garz. That tree-thing was his hand, and Aquilamon now had it in his beak. Zarg grinned that nasty grin. "Boo!"
Aquilamon shreiked and dropped Zarg.
"Happy to see me?"
"You just startled me, that's all!"
"I'm not here to pick a fight. I got what I came for. See ya later, DigiBrats!" He waved, then dived back into the ground. It was over. Just like that.
Aquilamon and Stingmon looked around warily before shrinking back to their rookie forms.
"Cody?" Yolei shook him violently until his helmet fell off and rolled over to Armadillomon, who just stared blankly at it. Then Cody's armor faded to his normal Digidestined clothes. "Cody! Wake up, now, before...Before that thing comes back!"
"Yolei?" Ken said softly, gently putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Shut up, Ken!" She snapped, tears welling up in her eyes. "I know what you're thinking. Cody is not dead. He can't be! We need everyone to get back, don't we?"
Did he have to answer that? "I thought so."
"Exactly!" She squeaked. She tilted Cody's head so she could check for breathing. None. And a pulse? No luck there either. She then began to give CPR. She'd taken a class for it, like, two years earlier and she just prayed she wasn't getting rusty. It's one of those skills that's nice to have, but you really hope you never have to use. She mumbled between breaths. "I won't let him die...He means way too much to me...Cody's the only person who's ever really taken the time to...Listen to my problems...I won't lose him...I can't loose him!"
But as more time passed, the dimmer the chance of bringing Cody back became. Yolei refused to give up hope, even when she noticed his body temprature start to go cold... Finally, Ken decided that enough was enough. "Yolei?"
"Don't say a word, Ken." She was shaking.
He didn't, but gently managed to pry her away from Cody's body. She collapsed into Ken's arms and sobbed uncontrolably, muttering so softly, Ken couldn't really understand half of it. He just rubbed her back and listened to what she tried to say.
"I never knew I cared so much about Cody, Ken. All this time I was treating him like just a little kid. But he never acted like a kid. He was the most grown up of all of us! *snif* It's funny how you never know how much you care about someone until their gone, ya know?"
Ken closed his eyes as he felt a flood of tears rushing up from somewhere deep inside. "Yeah, I know. I lost my brother a long time ago and haven't been the same since. It hurt so much... not too long after that I took my first steps towards becoming the Digimon Emporer."
Yolei turned back to where Cody lay, his hair messed up and an almost, but not quite peaceful look on his face. If it wasn't for the distinct pale green color of his skin and the fact that he wasn't breathing, one could almost swear that he was sleeping. Almost. "I never realized it before, but I care about him. He's always been my best friend. He would invite me over to his house to work on his computer, and it wouldn't get done because we would start talking and we'd forget about it. I could tell him everything. Everything. He's so understanding...and patient...and I-I know this sounds funny, but I think I'm... in love... with him."
A slightly ironic touched Ken's lips, and a brief pang of pain touched his heart. "How could you not know something that important?"
Yolei shook her head and brushed the hair away from Cody's eyes. "I don't know. But I've liked plenty of guys before, and this feels different. This is deeper than anything I've ever felt for any other guy. I don't know why, but..." Out of impulse, she kissed Cody's cold lips.
And jumped when she felt a surge of power flow into him.
Cody's eyes snapped open to see Yolei kissing him, which is probably the last thing he expected to wake up to. So, it was a small wonder when he scrambled away, yelling, "Who are you, and what have you done with Yolei?"
"Well, he's back," Hawkmon commented, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "I don't know how, but he's definately back."
Yolei looked down at her clothes to discover that once again the Digital World had changed them for her. She wore knee high red velvet boots, a silk red dress with the pink Crest of Love on it, and a green sash loosely tied around her waist. Her helmet was gone, and red roses had woven themselves into her purple hair. There was a soft, girly tone to her features. This was definately a new look for her. "Wow, cool!" She turned to Ken. "How do I look?"
Ken gave her the thumbs up, but refrained from making any comment.
"You're alive!" Armadillomon exclaimed, as he tossed Cody his helmet.
After throwing another frightened glance in Yolei's direction, Cody fluffed his hair and restationed the helmet. The rest of his armor reppeared right away. "Of course, I'm alive. Say, did I miss something? Where's the demon?"
"It took off, after..." Yolei bit her lip, the event still brutally fresh in her mind.
Ken finished for her. "It said it had what it came for, and disappeared. I think...I think it tried to steal your soul, Cody."
The thought of that was just disturbing. Cody made a disgusted face, but then shrugged it off. "Well, I feel fine. So...I guess he failed, now didn't he?"
"I'd hate to see what Keesma is going to do to him, too." Wormmon said with a slight laugh.
Cody took a deep breath and scanned the horizon in all directions. A glimmer of pure light spilled over the horizon like a brillant golden sunrise. He squinted at it, and then pointed it out to the others. "That is the castle. The good one. The bad one is behind us. And let's keep it that way."
"Are you fit for travel?" Ken asked. "I mean, you were technically dead about two minutes ago."
Cody grinned. "Sure I am. Nothing keeps us Megadigidestined down for long. Now, come on. It won't be long now. A few more hours at the most and-"
"Oh, man, we'll never get there!" Yolei yelled.
* * * *
"Davis? Davis, where are you?"
"Davis! Come back!"
TK, Patamon, and Veemon had been looking for Davis for hours, but with no luck. Davis was living the high life in the castle, so of course they weren't going to find him.
TK sighed. "This isn't looking too good. I don't think we're going to find Davis or the demon that ate him."
Veemon flopped to the ground. "I knew it. He's dead, isn't he?"
"I hate to admit it, but I think he is, Veemon."
Tears sprang up into Veemon's eyes. "Then could we have a moment of silence?"
They closed their eyes and thought of the good things about Davis. It was a bit hard at first since he had been quite a jerk the last time they'd seen him. But he was normally an excellent leader, able to see the big picture and make difficult, life-or-death decisions. And even though he pretended not to care about a lot of things, he really did. And he might be a little clueless about other things, but at least he tried to understand. He was so young. No one should die in their teens.
The wind howled and Veemon suddenly felt all alone.
The howling grew louder. "Say, do you guys hear that?"
"No," TK said, straining to listen.
"I did," Patamon declaired. "And it doesn't sound natural."
The ground shook and burped up Garz. "Surprise!"
TK's eyes went wide. "It's the thing that ate Davis! What luck!"
Garz stomped the ground with his many spider-like legs. "Now I will eat you too!"
Patamon flew into the air and growled, "Not if I can help it!"
TK grabbed his green D-3. "Digivolve!"
Garz spit a nasty green substance that stuck to Patamon's wings and froze like cement. He dropped like a stone. "I can't move!"
Veemon put his hands on his head and squeezed his eyes shut. There was nothing he could do without Davis. He was helpless! He watched with horror as Garz swallowed Patamon.
"No!" TK yelled. Garz turned slowly to him and charged. TK threw his hands up and waited for the end, but it wasn't coming. Suddenly he was behind the demon, instead of in front of him. By the time he realized that he had somehow teleported out of danger, it was too late. Garz swallowed him before he could even blink. He went out like a light.
Garz went 'poof' and disappeared.
Veemon blinked unbelievingly. He had been spared, but for some reason he wasn't too happy about it. "Not again! That's the second time my friends get eatten and that stupid monster doesn't take me too! That figures. Urgh, that really figues. What do I do now?"
* * * *
Keesma sat on the floor at the foot of her throne with Davis's head in her lap. She slowly stroked his aburn hair as if he were a cat, and he had his eyes closed in total bliss. She couldn't help but smile. It had been a very long time since she had someone under her spell like that, and she almost forgot how wonderful it felt.
Actually, this felt too right. She was beginning to feel his crest burning inside of her every time she touched him. It was trying to reconnect with him, and become a part of him. That made her want to be a part of him. For the first time ever she felt some kind of emotion for him. No, it wasn't quite an emotion, but it was terribly close. It was a desire. A need. A dependence. And she hated it.
Unknowingly, in a sudden brust of anger Keesma dug her fingernails into his temples, causing him to cry out in pain. She realized what she was doing and resumed slowly running her long fingers through his hair. "Shh, My Pet. It's all right. Go back to sleep."
He sighed and partially closed his eyes again. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she whispered. "Everything's perfect. Now do you understand how much easier this is than resisting me?"
He smiled. "I can't believe I fought this. It's wonderful."
"See? I know what's good for you."
There was a pause. Davis told her in a small, quiet voice, "I love you, Keesma."
She frowned. Love. The very sound of the word made her sick. She quickly ran her fingers down his neck, and he surpressed a giggle. "I'm sure you do, Davis."
Just to ruin the moment, Garz popped out of the floor in front of them. Davis jumped to his feet, and Keesma quickly followed.
"Don't you ever knock?" They yelled at the same time.
"Sorry, Great Ones, but I have a gift for you!" He reached into his mouth, pulled out TK and Patamon who were both unconsious and covered in green spit. He tossed them across the room. TK bounced off the wall, gasped for air and coughed violently.
"Oh, you brought me Hope. Wonderful job, Garzie!" Keesma hugged the nasty demon like he was a cuddly puppy.
That ticked Davis off. "Okay, okay. Yeah, good job. Now hit the road!"
"Aww!" Garz disappeared again.
TK rolled over and opened his eyes. He scanned the room, and when he saw Davis, he groaned, "Oh, no! If you're here that means I'm dead!"
Davis laughed, "Nope, but I bet you wish you were."
"Huh?"
"Don't you get it? Do I have to spell this out for you? I had one of my loyal minions bring you here."
TK removed his helmet and rubbed his head. "Your minions? What are you talking about? And wait! We've been looking for you for hours! Have you been here the whole time?"
Davis waved his hand dismissively. "So what? This is the best place to be! Oh, welcome to my castle, by the way. This is the new official capital of the Digital World."
His castle? His minions? Something just wasn't right. "Davis, I demand an explination!" TK yelled through Keesma, obviously not seeing her.
Davis laughed at this. "You don't demand anything anymore, Hope. I'm the boss now."
Keesma laughed slightly at that.
TK clenched his fists and tried to think logically about what was going on. It didn't add up. Sure, Davis could be a jerk sometimes, but he was never this bad. Inside, he had had a good heart. What would make Davis change like this so quickly? "Oh, so now you think you're the new Digimon Emporer, huh?"
Davis shrugged. "I personally think Ken made a crapy dictator. I think I'm better than he ever was at being evil."
TK made a sudden lunge for Davis's throat, but didn't get very far because Keesma was in the way. She waved her hand and his feet became glued to the spot. His momentum still kept going and he fell to his hands which also stuck. "What the-" He never got to finish that thought out loud before three smokey rings of dark energy surrounded him with a forcefield.
Keesma shreiked with delight.
Davis's eyes went wide. "What did you do to him?"
She pointed to the dark energy rings. "That'll transfer all the physical energy out of his body and into yours. Then after he's drained-but before he croaks-I...I mean you....can steal his crest. Isn't that wonderful, my dear?"
Davis bent down onto his knees to get a good look at TK, who winced and glared at him. Davis stuck his tounge out at him. "Cool! That'll teach him to yell at me and steal my girl."
Keesma decided it best to ignore that last part.
"But how will I know when I can take his crest?"
"When he startes to loose his armor, silly. You should know that."
Davis was confused. "Oh, ah, of course."
"I can do that to the rest of them too, if you want me to."
He hesitated. "All of them?"
"Yes, all of them." She sent him a look that sent a shiver through him. He didn't say any more about Kari. Suddenly a gong sounded and she put a hand to her ear. "Oh, time's up. Gotta go, honey. I'll see you later. Have Garz take that monster wanna-be and lock it in the dungeon. Oh, and you better get something else to eat. I'm hungry."
He held out his hands to her and whimpered.
She rolled her eyes but embraced him one last time. "I won't be far."
"But where are you going?"
"I live in your soul now, and I can't survive for very long outside of you. One day it won't have to be like this, but for now I must leave you. And here's a tip: if you want to impress your lady friend, get out of that bathrobe." Then she disappeared in cloud of black sparkles that fell all over him and were absorbed by his skin. He felt energy flow back into him, but...Now he missed his Mistress.
Davis sighed, collected his new clothes (which seemed to be mulitpling) and went to find a mirror.
Garz scuttled up to him as he emerged from the bathroom after about an hour of doing his hair. He rather liked his new look. The black shirt and leather pants seemed to suit him better. And that jacket kicked some major butt. He was actually feeling in a great mood until he laid his eyes on the ugly Garz. "Master had a nice visit from the lovely Keesma?"
He didn't want to think about her leaving him. "Yeah. Say, where's your annoying brother?"
Garz chuckled. "Which one? I have many annoying brothers."
Davis threw a 'not funny' look at him. "Zarg. He was supposed to get me the Crest of Knowledge."
He gasped overly dramatically. "That nasty bug! He only did that because I left to get Hope for you! I am really disappointed in him."
"Yeah, whatever. Here's something for you to do to get your mind off of it. Do you see Patamon over there? Take him to the dungeon and tie him up, or something. Make sure he can't digivolve."
"Aye-aye, sir!"
"And make me a demon sandwich!"
* * * *
Cody dropped behind to walk with Yolei. He spoke softly and quietly. "So, Yolei, could you please tell me what you were doing when I woke up?"
Ken realized he was in the lead and turned to watch what was going on. He didn't say anything because he didn't want to ruin the moment.
Yolei blushed. "W-what do you mean?"
Cody also blushed a tiny bit. "Well, you certainly weren't giving me CPR."
"I did that, but it didn't help anything." There was a pause as decided on the best way to go about explaining herself. "We never talk anymore, have you realized that?"
Cody blinked wordlessly a few times. That wasn't what he was expecting at all.
Yolei continued, "When I left for high school, we seemed to drift appart. We used to be so close, ya know? And when you died I realized just how much I miss you."
"You miss me?"
She bit her bottom lip and nodded.
"But I thought I was nothing but a little kid to you."
"No! You were never a little kid, uh, no offense. It just took a while for me to figure that out. You're my best friend. And... I care about you."
It took him a few seconds to figure out what she meant by that. His eyes went wide and he suddenly had trouble speaking. "Does that mean when I woke up you were kissing me?"
"Uh-huh."
He was silent for a few more seconds as he tried to get his mind working again. Yolei finally liked him. He had had a crush on her for years, and he even told her once. She blew him off saying he was too young to know what love was. But that was in the past now. NOW she liked him, and that's all that mattered. He had to think of something witty to cover up his nervousness. He snapped his fingers and regurgitated the first corny line that came to him. "It only figures I'd die before I got my first kiss. None of the girls ever seem to like me!"
She looked away. "I think that kiss is what brought you back."
"Wow. Is that why you've got Megadigidestined clothes?"
"Megadigidestined clothes?" She echoed absent-mindedly, "Yeah, I guess that was my test."
"What was?"
She blushed even more. "Realizing what true love really is."
He stopped her by gently laying his hand on her shoulder. She remembered how cold he'd been not too long before and was glad that he was now so warm and so close. He slowly asked her, "So based on this new knowledge, would you say you love me?"
"Yes. I always have, Cody."
They stared wordlessly into each other's eyes. Cody had to force himself to think for practically the first time in his life. He whispered, "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk lately. When I set my mind on something, I don't let anything get in my way of getting it done."
"I know. But that's not a bad thing. It's one of the things I like the most about you. You're committed. Determined."
"...Yeah, and stubborn, unforgiving, and ruthless," he finished the list, laughing at himself. "Anyway, I never got to thank you for bringing me back."
"Oh, you don't have to-" Cody cut her off by pulling her close to him and bringing his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and didn't resist it. She was just thankful that he was alive and able to kiss her back now. This was not a lustful kind of kiss at all. It wasn't even that good of a kiss, nor did it last that long. But it ment more to them than anything had ever ment before. What they shared went all the way back to before they even became Digidestined, back before they had hormone problems to get in the way. And now they both knew it.
The two didn't even notice that four pairs of eyes were stairing at them.
Armadillomon sighed, "They grow up so quickly, don't they?"
Hawkmon whiped a happy tear out of his eye. "Yes, but you have to admit, they make such a cute couple!"
Then both of them sobbed loudly and hugged each other.
* * * *
One useful talent all demons had was the ability to shape-shift. That's how Garz fooled Davis into thinking he was really Veemon. Garz was okay at it, but he sometimes forgot to act like the things he mimicked. When it came to mastery in the art, Zarg was the one in the family who really took the cake.
After he realized that he hadn't actually got the Crest of Knowledge, he switched his plan. Now he would bring Light safely to his Master, and then Davis would hopefully forget about Zarg's little failure.
He watched Kari and Gatomon from a distance.
"That's it!" Gatomon declaired, throwing her paws in the air in frustration. "I'm sorry, Kari, but Davis is TOAST!"
Kari gasped, "What an awful thing to say, Gatomon!"
"Well, he's not here, and he's not there. He's not in any of the places we've looked, so I figure that he's just not anywhere. That thing did eat him like he was a juciy mouse, after all."
"Still, that's not nice at all. You should respect the dead." Then the horrible realization of what had (or what she thought had) happened forced her to fall to her knees. She covered her mouth with her hand and tears came into her eyes.
Gatomon carefully approached her. "Kari?"
"I think he really is dead!"
Zarg giggled, knowing all too well that Davis was very alive.
Kari hugged her Digimon partner. She sobbed, and Gatomon patted her on the back. "There wasn't anything you could have done to help him."
Zarg guessed this would be the best time to go ahead with his plan.
"I don't get it," Gatomon said after a long pause, "I thought you didn't like him."
Kari sniffed. "He's my friend. Not only that, he's a Digidestined. Wether I like him or not we have a bond from all of our experiences here in the Digital World. We-"
TK suddenly popped out of nowhere and landed in front of them. He gasped for breath and scrambled to his feet.
"TK, what are you doing here?"
His voice was panicky, "They got Patamon and Veemon! One second there they were and the next second one of those demons had eatten the both of them. Then it disappeared and-"
Gatomon held up a paw. "Hold it! Calm down!"
He took a deep breath. "Oh, okay."
"Now, the question is, what are we gonna do about it?"
"I know where they are."
"What?"
"I saw where the thing took them, but I need your help getting in there."
"How in the heck did you see where it went? I thought you said it disappeared."
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly. It didn't disappear. It flew."
Gatomon looked at him like he was crazy. "Okaay. Let's go then."
Kari noticed how oddly TK was acting, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. He still looked and talked the same way, but somehow he was different. More nervous, and more talkitive than usual. He made a point of hiding behind everything like something out there was surely watching him.
They walked for a relatively short distance before he stopped and pulled Kari behind a large boulder. "Do you see that castle?"
She tried to peek over the top of the rock so she could see it, but he wouldn't let her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to face him rather forcefully.
"We need to get in there, 'cause that's where they took Patamon and Veemon."
Gatomon jumped ontop of the rock with the grace of the cat she was and stared down at them with unblinking eyes. "Well, what are we going to do? Walk in the front door?"
"Sure! Sounds good to me." He left. Kari and Gatomon looked at each other and shrugged.
Nothing tried to stop them as they approached the door. TK was about to knock on the "door" when a strong gust of wind knocked his helmet off. Even though it was made of metal, it still went rolling away. "Oh, crap. Kari, can you knock for me? I gotta go get that stupid thing." He didn't wait for her responce, but just took off after it.
There was definately something not right. She sighed and knocked on the door.
Suddenly, the ground opened up under her and Gatomon and they fell through screaming. It closed back up after them.
Zarg had done his job.
Will Kari suffer the same fate as the real TK?
Or will Davis spare her?
And will the other Digidestined ever get ANYWHERE?
Find out in episode 5:
"The Truth Revealed"
Episode 4
"The No Hope Campaign"
By: Shmeilia Rockie
Author's note: I don't own Digimon, but I do own Garz, Zarg, and Keesma! You know, as I was re-reading this, I realized there are very few Cody/Yolei pairings out on there. Personally, it came as a great shock when I discovered Yolei and Ken had gotten married. I thought the fact that she'd marry Cody was, like, a given or something, but I guess I'm one of the only one's. I know he's four years younger than her, but still...When they're fourty it won't really matter! Besides, for the sake of my story, Ken isn't supposed to be truely in love with anyone. I seemed to get a lot of the end wrong. In fact, the only thing I got right was that TK became a writer. Oh well, this is how I wanted it to go. Hope y'all enjoy, sorry for subjecting you to my crazy dream. But I must do it! Garz and Zarg command me from the inside of my brain! I swear, they've taken over!
"I'm EXHASTED!" Yolei wailed.
Cody snorted. "Oh, come on, Yolei! We should be there in an hour. If you can wait until then-"
She declaired, "I can't walk another step!"
"Oh, dear," Hawkmon sighed. "Yolei, just-"
She flopped to the ground, crossed her arms, and pouted. This, of course, sent Hawkmon spiraling off into the air with a squawk, "Oh, be reasonable!"
"I haven't been this tired in a very long time, and I really don't like it!"
Cody forced a weary smile. He just had to be patient with her. He grimaced and kicked her boot in the friendliest way possible, considering he had had it with her whining. "Ah, come on, Yolei! It's good for you!"
"Foo!" She turned away, pouting.
"You know, Cody," Ken said gently. "I think it's best that we rest for a while. I'm starting to get tired myself." That was a lie, of course, but he didn't want Yolei look bad.
"No!" Cody barked rather forcefully. "We'll rest once we get to the castle, not before!" Then he stormed off. Armadillomon ran after him, angerly scolding him for being so mean.
Tears sprang into Yolei's eyes. Cody had never yelled at her before. At least not like this. They USED to be best friends. They USED to tell each other everything. What had happened to them? Had they really grown so far appart, that he could be so harsh towards her?
"Are you all right, Yolei?" Ken asked, offering his hand to help her up.
She quickly brushed the tears from her eyes. "No, Cody yelled at me."
"No, actually, I think he was yelling at me." Ken smiled slightly and laughed. It helped calm Yolei down, but only slightly. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet. He patted her on the back. "You all right?"
Deep breath, now. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks."
"Um, guys..." It was Armadillomon, and he sounded concerned. "Cody's caught on somethin'"
"Thanks for the vote of confedince, Armadillomon. I think I can get my foot...oh, I think you guys ought to get over here. Something is...not right."
The others dashed over to where Cody stood, trying despritely to pull his foot out of what seemed like a dead tree sapling that clung to his boot. It looked like a gnarled hand that reached out of the ground to trip him. Cody was beginning to get worried, and pale. "I don't feel so great all of a sudden."
"What do you mean?" Yolei asked.
Cody tried to pull his boot out, but indeed, he didn't look very well. And he appeared to be getting weaker every second. "I don't know, it feels like this...thing is sucking the life out of me. There's something going on here, and I don't like it at all."
"Pull your foot out of your shoe." Ken offered without actually moving to help.
"You don't think I haven't already tried that!" Cody snapped, terror glittering in his eyes. "Get it off of me!"
Yolei started prying it off of poor Cody, but stopped suddenly. "That thing...It's unusually warm." She looked at Ken. "I think it's alive!"
"You don't think that that's a demon, do you?!"
Cody collapsed to his knees, his eyes rolling back slightly on impact. He managed to grab his yellow D-3. "Armadillomon, do you have enough energy to Digivolve?"
"Yeah, but I don't think you do."
The other kids reached for their D-3's.
Cody fought to keep his eyes open. For some odd reason he was getting very sleepy. "Huh?"
"You and I share energy. So if you... Oh, never mind. I'll give it a try. Armadillomon digivolve to..."
"Hawkmon digivolve to..."
"Wormmon digivolve to..."
Armadillomon: "Ah, rats..."
"Aquilamon!"
"Stingmon!"
"Cody?"
"I-I'm awake, but I do think it's time to get a rest..." He closed his eyes and fell forewards. His D-3 tumbled out of reach.
"Quick, try it again!" Aquilamon screeched, then attacked the nasty tree-like thing like it was a juicy bug. He ripped at it trying to pry it loose, but it refused to give. Stingmon stood ready to leap into battle as soon as needed.
"Armadillomon digivolve to...Arg! Nothin'!"
Finally, Aquilamon managed to pull it out of the ground and off of Cody's leg. Unfortunately, Ken had been right. It was a demon. In fact, it was Zarg, looking sorta like that big bug creature that had eatten Davis, although that had really been Garz. That tree-thing was his hand, and Aquilamon now had it in his beak. Zarg grinned that nasty grin. "Boo!"
Aquilamon shreiked and dropped Zarg.
"Happy to see me?"
"You just startled me, that's all!"
"I'm not here to pick a fight. I got what I came for. See ya later, DigiBrats!" He waved, then dived back into the ground. It was over. Just like that.
Aquilamon and Stingmon looked around warily before shrinking back to their rookie forms.
"Cody?" Yolei shook him violently until his helmet fell off and rolled over to Armadillomon, who just stared blankly at it. Then Cody's armor faded to his normal Digidestined clothes. "Cody! Wake up, now, before...Before that thing comes back!"
"Yolei?" Ken said softly, gently putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Shut up, Ken!" She snapped, tears welling up in her eyes. "I know what you're thinking. Cody is not dead. He can't be! We need everyone to get back, don't we?"
Did he have to answer that? "I thought so."
"Exactly!" She squeaked. She tilted Cody's head so she could check for breathing. None. And a pulse? No luck there either. She then began to give CPR. She'd taken a class for it, like, two years earlier and she just prayed she wasn't getting rusty. It's one of those skills that's nice to have, but you really hope you never have to use. She mumbled between breaths. "I won't let him die...He means way too much to me...Cody's the only person who's ever really taken the time to...Listen to my problems...I won't lose him...I can't loose him!"
But as more time passed, the dimmer the chance of bringing Cody back became. Yolei refused to give up hope, even when she noticed his body temprature start to go cold... Finally, Ken decided that enough was enough. "Yolei?"
"Don't say a word, Ken." She was shaking.
He didn't, but gently managed to pry her away from Cody's body. She collapsed into Ken's arms and sobbed uncontrolably, muttering so softly, Ken couldn't really understand half of it. He just rubbed her back and listened to what she tried to say.
"I never knew I cared so much about Cody, Ken. All this time I was treating him like just a little kid. But he never acted like a kid. He was the most grown up of all of us! *snif* It's funny how you never know how much you care about someone until their gone, ya know?"
Ken closed his eyes as he felt a flood of tears rushing up from somewhere deep inside. "Yeah, I know. I lost my brother a long time ago and haven't been the same since. It hurt so much... not too long after that I took my first steps towards becoming the Digimon Emporer."
Yolei turned back to where Cody lay, his hair messed up and an almost, but not quite peaceful look on his face. If it wasn't for the distinct pale green color of his skin and the fact that he wasn't breathing, one could almost swear that he was sleeping. Almost. "I never realized it before, but I care about him. He's always been my best friend. He would invite me over to his house to work on his computer, and it wouldn't get done because we would start talking and we'd forget about it. I could tell him everything. Everything. He's so understanding...and patient...and I-I know this sounds funny, but I think I'm... in love... with him."
A slightly ironic touched Ken's lips, and a brief pang of pain touched his heart. "How could you not know something that important?"
Yolei shook her head and brushed the hair away from Cody's eyes. "I don't know. But I've liked plenty of guys before, and this feels different. This is deeper than anything I've ever felt for any other guy. I don't know why, but..." Out of impulse, she kissed Cody's cold lips.
And jumped when she felt a surge of power flow into him.
Cody's eyes snapped open to see Yolei kissing him, which is probably the last thing he expected to wake up to. So, it was a small wonder when he scrambled away, yelling, "Who are you, and what have you done with Yolei?"
"Well, he's back," Hawkmon commented, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "I don't know how, but he's definately back."
Yolei looked down at her clothes to discover that once again the Digital World had changed them for her. She wore knee high red velvet boots, a silk red dress with the pink Crest of Love on it, and a green sash loosely tied around her waist. Her helmet was gone, and red roses had woven themselves into her purple hair. There was a soft, girly tone to her features. This was definately a new look for her. "Wow, cool!" She turned to Ken. "How do I look?"
Ken gave her the thumbs up, but refrained from making any comment.
"You're alive!" Armadillomon exclaimed, as he tossed Cody his helmet.
After throwing another frightened glance in Yolei's direction, Cody fluffed his hair and restationed the helmet. The rest of his armor reppeared right away. "Of course, I'm alive. Say, did I miss something? Where's the demon?"
"It took off, after..." Yolei bit her lip, the event still brutally fresh in her mind.
Ken finished for her. "It said it had what it came for, and disappeared. I think...I think it tried to steal your soul, Cody."
The thought of that was just disturbing. Cody made a disgusted face, but then shrugged it off. "Well, I feel fine. So...I guess he failed, now didn't he?"
"I'd hate to see what Keesma is going to do to him, too." Wormmon said with a slight laugh.
Cody took a deep breath and scanned the horizon in all directions. A glimmer of pure light spilled over the horizon like a brillant golden sunrise. He squinted at it, and then pointed it out to the others. "That is the castle. The good one. The bad one is behind us. And let's keep it that way."
"Are you fit for travel?" Ken asked. "I mean, you were technically dead about two minutes ago."
Cody grinned. "Sure I am. Nothing keeps us Megadigidestined down for long. Now, come on. It won't be long now. A few more hours at the most and-"
"Oh, man, we'll never get there!" Yolei yelled.
* * * *
"Davis? Davis, where are you?"
"Davis! Come back!"
TK, Patamon, and Veemon had been looking for Davis for hours, but with no luck. Davis was living the high life in the castle, so of course they weren't going to find him.
TK sighed. "This isn't looking too good. I don't think we're going to find Davis or the demon that ate him."
Veemon flopped to the ground. "I knew it. He's dead, isn't he?"
"I hate to admit it, but I think he is, Veemon."
Tears sprang up into Veemon's eyes. "Then could we have a moment of silence?"
They closed their eyes and thought of the good things about Davis. It was a bit hard at first since he had been quite a jerk the last time they'd seen him. But he was normally an excellent leader, able to see the big picture and make difficult, life-or-death decisions. And even though he pretended not to care about a lot of things, he really did. And he might be a little clueless about other things, but at least he tried to understand. He was so young. No one should die in their teens.
The wind howled and Veemon suddenly felt all alone.
The howling grew louder. "Say, do you guys hear that?"
"No," TK said, straining to listen.
"I did," Patamon declaired. "And it doesn't sound natural."
The ground shook and burped up Garz. "Surprise!"
TK's eyes went wide. "It's the thing that ate Davis! What luck!"
Garz stomped the ground with his many spider-like legs. "Now I will eat you too!"
Patamon flew into the air and growled, "Not if I can help it!"
TK grabbed his green D-3. "Digivolve!"
Garz spit a nasty green substance that stuck to Patamon's wings and froze like cement. He dropped like a stone. "I can't move!"
Veemon put his hands on his head and squeezed his eyes shut. There was nothing he could do without Davis. He was helpless! He watched with horror as Garz swallowed Patamon.
"No!" TK yelled. Garz turned slowly to him and charged. TK threw his hands up and waited for the end, but it wasn't coming. Suddenly he was behind the demon, instead of in front of him. By the time he realized that he had somehow teleported out of danger, it was too late. Garz swallowed him before he could even blink. He went out like a light.
Garz went 'poof' and disappeared.
Veemon blinked unbelievingly. He had been spared, but for some reason he wasn't too happy about it. "Not again! That's the second time my friends get eatten and that stupid monster doesn't take me too! That figures. Urgh, that really figues. What do I do now?"
* * * *
Keesma sat on the floor at the foot of her throne with Davis's head in her lap. She slowly stroked his aburn hair as if he were a cat, and he had his eyes closed in total bliss. She couldn't help but smile. It had been a very long time since she had someone under her spell like that, and she almost forgot how wonderful it felt.
Actually, this felt too right. She was beginning to feel his crest burning inside of her every time she touched him. It was trying to reconnect with him, and become a part of him. That made her want to be a part of him. For the first time ever she felt some kind of emotion for him. No, it wasn't quite an emotion, but it was terribly close. It was a desire. A need. A dependence. And she hated it.
Unknowingly, in a sudden brust of anger Keesma dug her fingernails into his temples, causing him to cry out in pain. She realized what she was doing and resumed slowly running her long fingers through his hair. "Shh, My Pet. It's all right. Go back to sleep."
He sighed and partially closed his eyes again. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she whispered. "Everything's perfect. Now do you understand how much easier this is than resisting me?"
He smiled. "I can't believe I fought this. It's wonderful."
"See? I know what's good for you."
There was a pause. Davis told her in a small, quiet voice, "I love you, Keesma."
She frowned. Love. The very sound of the word made her sick. She quickly ran her fingers down his neck, and he surpressed a giggle. "I'm sure you do, Davis."
Just to ruin the moment, Garz popped out of the floor in front of them. Davis jumped to his feet, and Keesma quickly followed.
"Don't you ever knock?" They yelled at the same time.
"Sorry, Great Ones, but I have a gift for you!" He reached into his mouth, pulled out TK and Patamon who were both unconsious and covered in green spit. He tossed them across the room. TK bounced off the wall, gasped for air and coughed violently.
"Oh, you brought me Hope. Wonderful job, Garzie!" Keesma hugged the nasty demon like he was a cuddly puppy.
That ticked Davis off. "Okay, okay. Yeah, good job. Now hit the road!"
"Aww!" Garz disappeared again.
TK rolled over and opened his eyes. He scanned the room, and when he saw Davis, he groaned, "Oh, no! If you're here that means I'm dead!"
Davis laughed, "Nope, but I bet you wish you were."
"Huh?"
"Don't you get it? Do I have to spell this out for you? I had one of my loyal minions bring you here."
TK removed his helmet and rubbed his head. "Your minions? What are you talking about? And wait! We've been looking for you for hours! Have you been here the whole time?"
Davis waved his hand dismissively. "So what? This is the best place to be! Oh, welcome to my castle, by the way. This is the new official capital of the Digital World."
His castle? His minions? Something just wasn't right. "Davis, I demand an explination!" TK yelled through Keesma, obviously not seeing her.
Davis laughed at this. "You don't demand anything anymore, Hope. I'm the boss now."
Keesma laughed slightly at that.
TK clenched his fists and tried to think logically about what was going on. It didn't add up. Sure, Davis could be a jerk sometimes, but he was never this bad. Inside, he had had a good heart. What would make Davis change like this so quickly? "Oh, so now you think you're the new Digimon Emporer, huh?"
Davis shrugged. "I personally think Ken made a crapy dictator. I think I'm better than he ever was at being evil."
TK made a sudden lunge for Davis's throat, but didn't get very far because Keesma was in the way. She waved her hand and his feet became glued to the spot. His momentum still kept going and he fell to his hands which also stuck. "What the-" He never got to finish that thought out loud before three smokey rings of dark energy surrounded him with a forcefield.
Keesma shreiked with delight.
Davis's eyes went wide. "What did you do to him?"
She pointed to the dark energy rings. "That'll transfer all the physical energy out of his body and into yours. Then after he's drained-but before he croaks-I...I mean you....can steal his crest. Isn't that wonderful, my dear?"
Davis bent down onto his knees to get a good look at TK, who winced and glared at him. Davis stuck his tounge out at him. "Cool! That'll teach him to yell at me and steal my girl."
Keesma decided it best to ignore that last part.
"But how will I know when I can take his crest?"
"When he startes to loose his armor, silly. You should know that."
Davis was confused. "Oh, ah, of course."
"I can do that to the rest of them too, if you want me to."
He hesitated. "All of them?"
"Yes, all of them." She sent him a look that sent a shiver through him. He didn't say any more about Kari. Suddenly a gong sounded and she put a hand to her ear. "Oh, time's up. Gotta go, honey. I'll see you later. Have Garz take that monster wanna-be and lock it in the dungeon. Oh, and you better get something else to eat. I'm hungry."
He held out his hands to her and whimpered.
She rolled her eyes but embraced him one last time. "I won't be far."
"But where are you going?"
"I live in your soul now, and I can't survive for very long outside of you. One day it won't have to be like this, but for now I must leave you. And here's a tip: if you want to impress your lady friend, get out of that bathrobe." Then she disappeared in cloud of black sparkles that fell all over him and were absorbed by his skin. He felt energy flow back into him, but...Now he missed his Mistress.
Davis sighed, collected his new clothes (which seemed to be mulitpling) and went to find a mirror.
Garz scuttled up to him as he emerged from the bathroom after about an hour of doing his hair. He rather liked his new look. The black shirt and leather pants seemed to suit him better. And that jacket kicked some major butt. He was actually feeling in a great mood until he laid his eyes on the ugly Garz. "Master had a nice visit from the lovely Keesma?"
He didn't want to think about her leaving him. "Yeah. Say, where's your annoying brother?"
Garz chuckled. "Which one? I have many annoying brothers."
Davis threw a 'not funny' look at him. "Zarg. He was supposed to get me the Crest of Knowledge."
He gasped overly dramatically. "That nasty bug! He only did that because I left to get Hope for you! I am really disappointed in him."
"Yeah, whatever. Here's something for you to do to get your mind off of it. Do you see Patamon over there? Take him to the dungeon and tie him up, or something. Make sure he can't digivolve."
"Aye-aye, sir!"
"And make me a demon sandwich!"
* * * *
Cody dropped behind to walk with Yolei. He spoke softly and quietly. "So, Yolei, could you please tell me what you were doing when I woke up?"
Ken realized he was in the lead and turned to watch what was going on. He didn't say anything because he didn't want to ruin the moment.
Yolei blushed. "W-what do you mean?"
Cody also blushed a tiny bit. "Well, you certainly weren't giving me CPR."
"I did that, but it didn't help anything." There was a pause as decided on the best way to go about explaining herself. "We never talk anymore, have you realized that?"
Cody blinked wordlessly a few times. That wasn't what he was expecting at all.
Yolei continued, "When I left for high school, we seemed to drift appart. We used to be so close, ya know? And when you died I realized just how much I miss you."
"You miss me?"
She bit her bottom lip and nodded.
"But I thought I was nothing but a little kid to you."
"No! You were never a little kid, uh, no offense. It just took a while for me to figure that out. You're my best friend. And... I care about you."
It took him a few seconds to figure out what she meant by that. His eyes went wide and he suddenly had trouble speaking. "Does that mean when I woke up you were kissing me?"
"Uh-huh."
He was silent for a few more seconds as he tried to get his mind working again. Yolei finally liked him. He had had a crush on her for years, and he even told her once. She blew him off saying he was too young to know what love was. But that was in the past now. NOW she liked him, and that's all that mattered. He had to think of something witty to cover up his nervousness. He snapped his fingers and regurgitated the first corny line that came to him. "It only figures I'd die before I got my first kiss. None of the girls ever seem to like me!"
She looked away. "I think that kiss is what brought you back."
"Wow. Is that why you've got Megadigidestined clothes?"
"Megadigidestined clothes?" She echoed absent-mindedly, "Yeah, I guess that was my test."
"What was?"
She blushed even more. "Realizing what true love really is."
He stopped her by gently laying his hand on her shoulder. She remembered how cold he'd been not too long before and was glad that he was now so warm and so close. He slowly asked her, "So based on this new knowledge, would you say you love me?"
"Yes. I always have, Cody."
They stared wordlessly into each other's eyes. Cody had to force himself to think for practically the first time in his life. He whispered, "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk lately. When I set my mind on something, I don't let anything get in my way of getting it done."
"I know. But that's not a bad thing. It's one of the things I like the most about you. You're committed. Determined."
"...Yeah, and stubborn, unforgiving, and ruthless," he finished the list, laughing at himself. "Anyway, I never got to thank you for bringing me back."
"Oh, you don't have to-" Cody cut her off by pulling her close to him and bringing his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and didn't resist it. She was just thankful that he was alive and able to kiss her back now. This was not a lustful kind of kiss at all. It wasn't even that good of a kiss, nor did it last that long. But it ment more to them than anything had ever ment before. What they shared went all the way back to before they even became Digidestined, back before they had hormone problems to get in the way. And now they both knew it.
The two didn't even notice that four pairs of eyes were stairing at them.
Armadillomon sighed, "They grow up so quickly, don't they?"
Hawkmon whiped a happy tear out of his eye. "Yes, but you have to admit, they make such a cute couple!"
Then both of them sobbed loudly and hugged each other.
* * * *
One useful talent all demons had was the ability to shape-shift. That's how Garz fooled Davis into thinking he was really Veemon. Garz was okay at it, but he sometimes forgot to act like the things he mimicked. When it came to mastery in the art, Zarg was the one in the family who really took the cake.
After he realized that he hadn't actually got the Crest of Knowledge, he switched his plan. Now he would bring Light safely to his Master, and then Davis would hopefully forget about Zarg's little failure.
He watched Kari and Gatomon from a distance.
"That's it!" Gatomon declaired, throwing her paws in the air in frustration. "I'm sorry, Kari, but Davis is TOAST!"
Kari gasped, "What an awful thing to say, Gatomon!"
"Well, he's not here, and he's not there. He's not in any of the places we've looked, so I figure that he's just not anywhere. That thing did eat him like he was a juciy mouse, after all."
"Still, that's not nice at all. You should respect the dead." Then the horrible realization of what had (or what she thought had) happened forced her to fall to her knees. She covered her mouth with her hand and tears came into her eyes.
Gatomon carefully approached her. "Kari?"
"I think he really is dead!"
Zarg giggled, knowing all too well that Davis was very alive.
Kari hugged her Digimon partner. She sobbed, and Gatomon patted her on the back. "There wasn't anything you could have done to help him."
Zarg guessed this would be the best time to go ahead with his plan.
"I don't get it," Gatomon said after a long pause, "I thought you didn't like him."
Kari sniffed. "He's my friend. Not only that, he's a Digidestined. Wether I like him or not we have a bond from all of our experiences here in the Digital World. We-"
TK suddenly popped out of nowhere and landed in front of them. He gasped for breath and scrambled to his feet.
"TK, what are you doing here?"
His voice was panicky, "They got Patamon and Veemon! One second there they were and the next second one of those demons had eatten the both of them. Then it disappeared and-"
Gatomon held up a paw. "Hold it! Calm down!"
He took a deep breath. "Oh, okay."
"Now, the question is, what are we gonna do about it?"
"I know where they are."
"What?"
"I saw where the thing took them, but I need your help getting in there."
"How in the heck did you see where it went? I thought you said it disappeared."
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly. It didn't disappear. It flew."
Gatomon looked at him like he was crazy. "Okaay. Let's go then."
Kari noticed how oddly TK was acting, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. He still looked and talked the same way, but somehow he was different. More nervous, and more talkitive than usual. He made a point of hiding behind everything like something out there was surely watching him.
They walked for a relatively short distance before he stopped and pulled Kari behind a large boulder. "Do you see that castle?"
She tried to peek over the top of the rock so she could see it, but he wouldn't let her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to face him rather forcefully.
"We need to get in there, 'cause that's where they took Patamon and Veemon."
Gatomon jumped ontop of the rock with the grace of the cat she was and stared down at them with unblinking eyes. "Well, what are we going to do? Walk in the front door?"
"Sure! Sounds good to me." He left. Kari and Gatomon looked at each other and shrugged.
Nothing tried to stop them as they approached the door. TK was about to knock on the "door" when a strong gust of wind knocked his helmet off. Even though it was made of metal, it still went rolling away. "Oh, crap. Kari, can you knock for me? I gotta go get that stupid thing." He didn't wait for her responce, but just took off after it.
There was definately something not right. She sighed and knocked on the door.
Suddenly, the ground opened up under her and Gatomon and they fell through screaming. It closed back up after them.
Zarg had done his job.
Will Kari suffer the same fate as the real TK?
Or will Davis spare her?
And will the other Digidestined ever get ANYWHERE?
Find out in episode 5:
"The Truth Revealed"