Digimon: A Bigger Threat
Episode 6
"Possession"
By: Shmeilia Rockie
Disclaimer: I dun't own Digimon, although I wish I did. G, Z, and K are mine! Okay, I wrote this quite a while ago, and I must say, Garz isn't this nasty anymore. G & Z are cute, little, toaster eatting monsters. They aren't even demons to me anymore! Of course, Keesma will always be evil.
"Zarg, Garz, where are you?" 'Davis' called in a deadly quiet voice as he walked along the rows of cabinets in the kitchen.
"MASTER!" The demon duo were drawn out from the shadows to his feet by invisible magnets. "Oh, glorious, wonderful master!"
Flattered, he waited for them to finish groveling. "Zarg, I have a mission for you."
Zarg looked like the happiest being alive. "Ask, oh Magnificent One, and it shall be done."
Davis crossed his arms and tilted his head, amused. His white hair made his tan and now almost red eyes stand out considerably. "Go to Earth and fetch the Dark Digidestined."
"Oh, yes, Master, consider it done." He disappeared.
Any gloomier, and it would have snowed on Garz. 'Davis' laughed as warmly as a demon could. "Oh, Garz, you don't think I have forgotten my favorite minion, do you?"
His ears perked up. "Favorite, Master?"
"Yes, I have a special gift for you."
Oh, goodie, a gift! "Oh, I do not deserve it, I only wish to serve you..."
The demon in Davis's body waved his hand like it was naturally her own, and calmly used a voice that wasn't hers. "Spare me the crap, Garz. This gift will help you serve me to your better potential. I'm giving you the body of a former Megadigidestined. You'll like that."
Garz's eyes went wide. "Oh, thank you, thank you, Master, I do not deserve it!"
"Of course you don't, but I have what I want," she looked down at her stolen body, and smiled. "And I'm feeling generous."
* * * *
"We're not going to make it," Ken yelled into the wind that whiped his hair around him. "I just know we're too late!"
"We are!" Cody confermed, his link with the Powers re-established.
The kids used their Digimon for transportation, all hope for a surprise attack gone. Aquilamon and Stingmon could fly, but because of friction on the ground, Ankilomon slowly fell behind. "Go on without me," Cody commanded. Cody was the leader now, he called the shots. "Rescue Kari!"
Ken and Yolei looked at each other and nodded. "I guess I don't have to worry about who I'm Morph DNA Digivolving with, huh Yolei?"
"Yeah, pretty weird!"
Its funny what you think about when you're going into danger. Ken's mind wandered to the summer after their experience in the Digital World, when he was going out with Yolei. She was the only girl he'd ever gone out with, even though girls practically lined up outside his door. She was the only girl he'd ever gotten close enough to to consider dating.
*Flashback*
They'd just seen a rather boring chick-flick that neither one had enjoyed very much, and now they were sitting at the Starbucks across the street. Ken, having no previous dating experience, reverted to the little genious he was, and started nervously babbling about a little theory he had, "... and so I hope you can see how Narnia kids and us Digidestined have so much in common."
She blinked at him, a blank look on her face, and sipped her steamy almond-vanilla tea, obviously bored out of her mind. "I'm sorry, Ken, but I think you lost me back way back at the beginning."
"Oh, sorry," he told his drink, no doubt a blush creeping across his face. He could have kicked himself. "I did it again, didn't I?"
"Oh, it's okay, Ken, I understand. It's my fault. I haven't even read The Cronicles of Narnia!" Ken guessed he must have looked like he was about to cry, because she laid her hand gently on top of his. They didn't say much after that.
*End Flashback*
Everyone said they were such a cute couple. And they were. He still had pictures from that time, and he never looked so contented as when he was with her. She always smiled sweetly at him, and tried her best to make conversation, but she slowly shyed away from him because talking to him made her feel like she had the intelligence of a three year old. He knew that and made a consious effort not to use extremely big words (Geo-syncronous orbit, anyone?) Still, they just weren't at the same level. He admired her daring spirit, more than she'd probably ever know. Some part of him still loved her, felt drawn to her. But sharing his body with her? That was a little closer than he ever wanted to get to anyone. He hadn't even kissed her, for crying out loud!
"Ken!" Stingmon was talking to him.
He hadn't zoned out like that for a long time. "Wha...huh?"
"Are you ready?"
He took a deep breath. "No, but that doesn't matter. Let's go."
Stingmon and Aquilamon landed effortlessly on the rocky ground in front of the castle. Time to say their final good-byes. The Digimon de-digivolved, and hopped into their friends arms.
"Oh, Hawkmon, I'll miss you terribly," Yolei sniffed.
"Don't worry about me, dear, you just take care of yourself. I'll see you again someday."
"Yeah, in my dreams," she replied sarcastically, smiling at the irony of that statement. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she hugged him gently.
Ken suddenly had a flash of a painful memory. "This is just like the time you died, Wormmon."
Wormmon patted Ken's arm. "Oh, Ken, I am not leaving you. I'll never leave like that again."
"Yeah, but I'll never see you again. What am I supposed to do without you? You're my best friend."
"Who said you'll never see me again? I know someday there will be no more evil and suffering. Everything will be perfect, and then we'll be together again. All of us. I promise."
Ken gave Wormmon a warm hug. "You always know just what to say, old friend."
The moment passed. "Now how do we get in? I don't suppose we just waltz in the front door."
"I know a way," a voice called. Veemon lept out of the shadows. "But we need Digmon."
"Veemon, what are you doing here?" Yolei asked.
"Oh, just hanging around, ya know? TK and Patamon got eatten. Just like... Davis."
"Davis is alive!" Wormmon yelped rather suddenly.
Veemon's eyes went wide. "He is?"
"Yeah, but he might as well be dead," Ken told him, "He's possessed by the embodiment of evil. He's our enemy now."
Veemon pounded his fist on the ground. "Noooo-Hey, I wonder, why am I not evil too?"
"I wasn't evil when Ken was the Digimon Emp-" Wormmon realized what he was saying and shut up. "Sorry, Ken."
Ken sighed. "No, that's okay. I understand."
Cody and Ankilomon arrived at that moment, and Cody was a little ticked. "Guys, why in the name of all that's good are you just standing around? Oh, hi, Veemon."
Veemon waved, his ears drooping. Well, at least it was good to have his friends with him again.
"Veemon's going to help us get into the castle," Yolei told him enthusiastically.
He nodded, "I need Digmon's help."
"You got it," Ankilomon said as he de-digivolved.
"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" Cody hadn't said that for a while. He almost killed it with overdramaization.
"Armadillomon Armor-Digivolve to..."
(Spinning Digi-Egg of Knowledge, Tentomon, Kabuterrimon, and Megakabuterrimon in the background.)
"...Digmon: the drill of Knowledge!"
Veemon enthusiastically rubbed his hands together. "All right! Let's get going! Now, over there, I need a tunnel dug to the dungeon, and you'll wanna make one over there goin' that way at a 45 degree angle-Don't ask-It'll lead you to where you need to go. Any questions?"
Digmon looked completely lost. "Uh...Nope!" He then began working on his task, in reverse order, starting with the tunnel going at the weird angle. "Kill two birds that way."
"Oh, PLEASE don't say that!" Hawkmon sqwaked.
"Sorry," he disappeared underground.
"I'll come with you guys," Cody said, effortlessly tossing his new fighting staff into the air. He caught it behind his back. "Although I'm not much good without my Digimon."
Ten minutes later the kids were in the near pitch-black Throne Room. Yolei grabbed Cody's arm. "Well, what do we do now? I can't see a foot in front of me, and I'm sure I have my glasses on."
Cody put his arm around her and drew her close, just to keep her calm. "Have patience, your eyes will adjust."
Their eyes eventually adjusted to absence of light, and then they saw Light. Kari sat in the throne, looking very tired. She'd known they were there the whole time. "Hey, guys. You missed the fun."
"What happened, Kari?" Yolei asked.
She sighed. "Well, Davis almost took advantage of me, but I finally told him I didn't love him. He went wako and killed TK and swallowed his soul. Oh, by the way, Davis is possessed, so don't talk to him. He's not there anymore."
"Crap, we're too late." Cody slapped his fighting staff into his palm. "We'll just have to take him down."
"I don't know about you guys, but I feel weird about hurting him," Yolei said almost desprately. "I mean, think about it. If we save him, he might have some kind of injury, pain, and we caused it. Not the demon."
"I know what you mean, Yolei, but we'll do what needs to be done to get him back."
"But what if he doesn't want to come back?" That was Ken. Everyone stared at him like he had just claimed he was really a Digimon. "You guys don't understand what its like to be in this situation. I do. And let me tell you this: if we restore Davis's soul, he will have so much remorse that he is very likely to try to kill himself. Would we really be doing him a favor then?"
Silence. They really didn't understand.
He threw his hands in the air and growled in frustration. "We might as well behead him! That would at least take care of Keesma too!"
Something about the way he said that really ticked Cody off. "Okay, that was very Digimon Emperor of you, Ken. Sheesh, I haven't heard anything that ruthless in a long time."
Pain flashed through him, and something snapped. "Ruthless? I'd probably be doing him a favor. I know when I went through this I wished someone would just kill me. Even now I sometimes still feel that way. I still have the nightmares, and I'll probably have them until the day I die!"
It got too quiet. Ken just wanted to crawl into a corner and cry. Why did he loose his temper so easily? After all, Cody was right.
"Yeah, well, you're not Davis."
"I'm sorry, okay?" his voice was bearly above a whisper. Suddenly, all the guilt he'd managed to keep inside exploded. He dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands. "I'm so, so sorry. Why did I do those evil things? I know it was because of the Dark Spore, but that just seems like a bad excuse. Why couldn't I have been stronger than that? I was used, and I didn't even know it. I'll never excape the things I've done. How can I ever forgive myself?"
Wormmon gave him a little hug. "Everyone else forgives you."
"I don't know. Sometimes I get the feeling Cody still hates me."
Cody rolled his eyes. "I don't HATE you, Ken. It's just...Sometimes you...I just don't understand how you could have done the things you did."
He snorted. "Yeah, that makes two of us."
Kari spoke up, "Remember, Ken, that's all in the past. There's nothing you can do about it. You've got to move on."
"That's easy for you to say, Kari. You've never had this problem. I did try to move on, but that didn't help get rid of the guilt. I just shoved it in a corner of my mind and hoped it would go away, but it didn't. It just got worse. Davis will be the same way, too. Just wait."
He whiped away the tears and shakily stood up. "You know, I really hate evil."
"Amen!" Yolei yelled.
"So, uh, Kari," Cody asked quietly, "where's TK's body? We ought to...give him a proper burial."
Kari suddenly realized that he was really gone and burst into tears. She buried her face in her hands as Yolei trotted over and gave her a hug. Cody looked down at his feet, knowing he should have phrased that a better way. When Kari calmed down enough to talk again she pointed shakily to where TK had met his end, but he wasn't there. "Wait, he's gone. The demons must have taken him!"
"Darn right, girly," came a way too familiar voice from the doorway. All eyes slowly turned to confirm the worst. Garz had claimed TK's body as his own. He was dressed completely in black armor (he kinda looked like he was covered in a black beetle exoskeleton), with black velvet gloves and cape, but lacking a helmet. He casually leaned on the door frame, his eyes glowing with an evil light. Kari gasped. "Surprised?"
"You horrible monster!" Yolei shreiked and charged at him in a blind rage.
"Don't even think about it, Love," he held out his hand. She smacked into an invisible wall, stumbled, and fell down rather quickly.
Cody rushed to help her up and glared at Garz.
"Tootles, Digi-freaks," he waved and calmly walked away. Kari growled and ran after him. Ken tried to follow her, thinking the barrier dissolved when Garz left, but also ran into it.
* * * *
"Boss! Mistress-I mean, Master!" Garz barged into Keesma's bed chamber.
Keesma stood in front of a long mirror, studing her new body. She couldn't decide if she liked the way Davis looked with or without the orange jacket. "Oh, dear, don't you ever knock?"
"Sorry, Master," he bowed at Davis's feet. Without looking up he said, "They're here."
"Already? They're more spirited than I originally thought. Hmm, well, what should we do about them?"
"Oh, Mistress Keesma, they're in the Throne Room. What if they find the Power Orb?"
"For one thing, Garz, don't call me Mistress and don't call me Keesma." Garz looked up, rather confused. "New body, new name. Call me Daisuke."
"Um, all right, Ma-"
Daisuke kicked Garz's shoulder so he toppled over backwards and now had to look at him. "Don't interrupt me! Now, do you really think I'd be so absent-minded that I'd let the Power Orb out of my sights like that, so close to the enemy?"
"Oh, no, Master! Forgive me!" Garz bowed so low his nose touched the floor.
"Get up, you fool. Stop acting like such a lowly demon. You've been promoted, you know. You should act like my second-in-command, not like an idiot."
Garz wanted to appologize again, but managed to control himself. He slowly rose and looked his Master in the eye. He bowed only slightly. "What do you wish of me?"
"That's better," Daisuke smiled. He grabbed the jacket and slung it over his shoulder. "Tell me, honestly, what looks better-with or without the jacket?"
Garz shrugged and rubbed his neck, blushing slightly. "I've never been very good at this sort of thing. I think it looks good either way."
"You're such a good little minion, Garz." He nuzzled Garz's nose. "but you're absolutely no help. Now, what have you done with the Megadigidestined?"
Garz almost forgot all about them, but he'd never admit it. He strained his short memory for them. "Oh, yeah, they're locked in the Throne Room."
"All of them?"
He scratched his head in consentration. "Um...No. One girl, uh, managed to get through my barrier."
"Who and where is she?"
Garz looked down, "Light. And I lost her before I came here. She tried to kill me, and there wasn't anything I could do to stop her."
Daisuke sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. "That figures, doesn't it? Oh, well. You can't hurt her, and she can't hurt you."
"Why not, Master?"
"You have her soul-mate's body. I guess even though I have his crest, his body still refuses to harm her in any way. Huh. Weird. Sorry, you'll just have to live with it. Lucky for you, it seems to work both ways."
"Oh, that's good, I guess."
"Let me take care of her, okay, Garzie? You need to probably help your helpless brother take care of the Dark Digidestined. And if you find Light, send her this way."
"Yes, Master. So...You're not angry?"
"No, Garzie, I'm not angry. I have no reason to be."
Garz then tried to dive through the floor, but fell flat on his face. That amused Daisuke immensly. "Oh, dear boy. You're physical now."
Garz whimpered, "But he's supposed to be able to teleport. That's his Megadigidestined power. I saw him use it."
"That power comes from his crest, and I have that. So, I have the power to teleport. You do not."
"Fooey," Garz climbed to his feet and left the normal way: through the door.
* * * *
Kari laid at the foot of a demon statue, crying softly. The love of her life was gone. Oh, how could she live without Hope? She silently pledged to kill both Garz and Keesma, or die trying.
Footsteps alerted her. She looked up to see the stolen face of her best friend in two worlds. "What do you want?"
Garz crossed his arms and smiled with the new confedence that she couldn't hurt him. "My Master desires your presence, Kari." The way he said her name sent a chill down her spine.
"I'm not going anywhere with you, you foul beast."
The smile instantly fell from his face, and he grabbed her arm and dragged her kicking and screaming down the hallway. What was the deal with these demons? Did all of them think she could be pushed around so easily? She tried to blow him away with her new power, but nothing happened. It went all around him, but it didn't touch him. What was the DEAL?!
Garz opened the door to Keesma's bed chamber and threw Kari on the floor. "Here you are, Master. I'm off now." The doors slammed shut.
"I'm so glad you could join me, Light."
Kari's head snapped up from the floor. The nasty monster sat clutching the arms of a high-backed chair no more than ten feet away from her, a grin on his stolen face. Not Garz. Even worse: Daisuke, The Demon Emperor. The new embodiment of evil. Poor Davis. Kari could only hope for his own good that he wasn't still in there.
He sat there in his tight black shirt and leather pants, smiling hungerly at her. Davis's tan showed up really easily against his white hair. So did his eyes. Normally a weird shade of brown anyway, now they were almost red. More like maroon, but glowing. On some weird, awful level Kari felt attracted to him. Light creates darkness, she tried to tell herself. The stronger the light, the deeper the darkness. She'd heard that somewhere. Probably on TV.
"What do you want from me?" Kari asked desprately, suddenly very aware of the panic in her tiny, quivering voice.
Surprised, he answered like it should be the most obvious thing in the universe, "I want your crest, of course. Why else would I bring you here?"
She couldn't say anything. She was shaking from fear or rage, or both. Or maybe it was because she hadn't eatten enough in the past day.
He laughed meniacally and held out his hand. "Well? Where is it?"
He was mocking her. She almost pointed at her chest and yelled for him to come get it, but she remembered all too well what happened to TK, and she didn't want to tempt him. "You can't have it."
"Aw, what's wrong, Kari? What are you afraid of? Me?"
She ignored that. "Let him go, you...you MONSTER!"
He looked a little shocked and amused at the same time. "Which one are you talking about? Surely you can't mean Davis. You never loved him."
"He doesn't deserve this."
"Deserve what? He's not wittnessing this, if that's what you mean. He's asleep, in here." He pointed to his heart, closed his eyes and smiled, looking inward. Then after a pause, he added, "And he's not the only one. TK's here too."
Kari covered her mouth, but couldn't stop from gasping. He couldn't just be dead. At least then he would have been at peace.
"Do you want to talk to him?"
"How do I know you won't be pretending to be him?"
He smiled. "You don't. But believe me, you'll know if it's him or not. There's quite a difference between us."
"I don't believe you."
He closed his eyes and relaxed, like he'd just gone to sleep. Suddenly he spasmed and his eyes snapped open. "Wait! I'm not dead! What happened?" Then he realized something was wrong and looked questioningly around. His eyes landed on Kari and a warm smile spred across his face.
He opened his mouth, but she stopped him. "Don't say anything. Just let me look at you."
That certainly was an odd request, but he let her look into his eyes. They weren't glowing anymore, and seemed softer, warmer, just like TK's eyes, only the wrong color. "TK, is it you?" she whispered.
"What kind of question is that, Kari? Of course it's me." Then he realized what was wrong. "Why do I sound like Davis?"
Kari flushed pink. "Don't you remember?"
"Um, no. Should I?"
She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the mirror. He blinked a couple of times, looking from Kari to himself and back. Then it finally clicked, and his eyes went wide. "I'm in Davis's body! Kari, why am I in Davis's body?!"
"Um, well, Davis kinda swallowed your soul." That was obviously the wrong thing to say. His eyes flared with anger. Oh, yes, he remembered now. She needed to say something before he desided to hurt Davis's body. "But it's not his fault!"
"Like heck it's not his fault!"
"No, no, no, TK," she touched his arm and spoke as gently as she could, "He's possessed. It really isn't his fault. He couldn't control himself."
He calmed down slightly. It took him a while. He put his hands on her shoulders and ran them all the way down her arms to her tiny hands. He spoke in an almost whimpering whisper, "But what he did to you is unforgivable. Are you hurt?"
No." Tears welled up in her eyes. It really was him. It really was her TK. She suddenly hugged him, sobbing. He slowly put his arms around her and rubbed her back to calm her crying. She had the hiccups, that's how relieved she was.
Finally, she had calmed down and rested against him. He pulled away. "This feels weird. I'm not me, I'm..." He trailed off with a distant look.
"No, you're still you, TK, no matter what body you're in."
He then smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
There was something wrong about that. "Stop!"
"What is it?"
She looked into his eyes again and just knew, somehow, he was gone again. "No! You're not TK. Why do you play these games with me?"
He crossed his arms and smiled. "If you just cooperated and gave it up, I wouldn't have to. You could be with him forever. Wouldn't you like that?"
"Let him go!"
Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Now we're back to this. Can't you think of anything more original? Let him go, let him go, let him go! Let my freaking people go. You're like a broken record, for Pete's sake!"
She got ready to blast him away, and he held his arms open. He laughed harshly, "Go ahead. Give me all you got. I don't care! It's not like you'll be hurting me. This isn't my body. If you kill it, I'll just leave and take your little boyfriend's. And you know you won't be able to hurt me then."
Poor Davis. He was still in there, asleep. She couldn't kill him, no matter what the cause. She pouted. "You know, you're one sick creature."
"Thank you. I pride myself on it."
Suddenly a pair of hands came from behind to land on her shoulders. She jumped a foot. That all too familliar voice spoke in a low, deadly quiet tone into her ear, "Hello again, my sweet. Having fun?"
She fought to calm her racing heart. "Get away from me."
Garz brushed the hair away from her neck and kissed her several times. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her firmly to keep her from getting away. "Hmm, I don't think so. Say, Boss, why don't we rape her? She wouldn't be able to stop us."
Kari squirmed, but he held tight. Garz laughed and licked her ear.
Daisuke sighed, and decided to ignore that. "Garz, what do you want? Can't you see Light and I are trying to have a conversation?"
Garz opened his mouth to respond, but Daisuke cut him off, "Aren't you supposed to be helping your brother?"
"That's what I came to tell you, sir. We...They didn't...They aren't coming."
He narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"We tried, but they said they weren't ready."
"So...None of them?"
Garz looked nervously around. "Well, um, one of them. Chaos."
Daisuke was shaking now, but he spoke in a calm enough voice, "I would have thought she'd be the least reliable."
"She said she'd go just because everyone expected her not to."
"Well, that's Chaos for you." He drew in a deep breath. "All righty then. I can work with that. Light, how would you like to make a deal? I put my Dark Digidestined against your so-called Megadigidestined."
"What if I refuse?"
Then I'll just kill your friends."
"Well if you put it that way...Let me go!" She tried to pry Garz's hands off of her, but he just laughed at her and pulled her closer.
"Let Light go, Garz."
"Aw, but-"
"Let her go."
"Aw, man!" Garz sighed and released Kari. She fell to the floor and shuddered. That was easily the most frightening experience of her entire life. Part of her mind still thought Garz was TK.
Daisuke crouched beside her. "If your friends fail, I will take their crests and put my best warriors inside their bodies."
"But what if they win?"
"They won't."
"You don't know my friends very well, do you?" She straightened out her dress and spoke with her eyes on the floor, "If they win, let Davis and TK go."
"Hmm, No. Just Davis. I need Hope more than I need him. Throw in your crest as part of the wager and I'll let them both go."
She thought that over for a while and slowly nodded. If she could save them, she'd do it.
"Do you really have that much faith in your friends?" Garz asked.
"Of course. They've been up against worse before." She didn't sound very convencing, even to herself.
"All right. Garz, bring her in."
There was a pause. "Uh, sir, she's already here."
Everyone turned to stare at the guest. Chaos was a clean cut girl just a little younger than Kari. Actually, Chaos looked kinda like Kari. Her hair was the same color, but chopped short at the ears. She had unusually bright green eyes. She giggled, waved, and announced, "Let the game begin!"
What will become of the Megadigidestined?
Will they be able to win Daisuke's evil game?
Find out in Episode 7:
"Chaos Game"
Episode 6
"Possession"
By: Shmeilia Rockie
Disclaimer: I dun't own Digimon, although I wish I did. G, Z, and K are mine! Okay, I wrote this quite a while ago, and I must say, Garz isn't this nasty anymore. G & Z are cute, little, toaster eatting monsters. They aren't even demons to me anymore! Of course, Keesma will always be evil.
"Zarg, Garz, where are you?" 'Davis' called in a deadly quiet voice as he walked along the rows of cabinets in the kitchen.
"MASTER!" The demon duo were drawn out from the shadows to his feet by invisible magnets. "Oh, glorious, wonderful master!"
Flattered, he waited for them to finish groveling. "Zarg, I have a mission for you."
Zarg looked like the happiest being alive. "Ask, oh Magnificent One, and it shall be done."
Davis crossed his arms and tilted his head, amused. His white hair made his tan and now almost red eyes stand out considerably. "Go to Earth and fetch the Dark Digidestined."
"Oh, yes, Master, consider it done." He disappeared.
Any gloomier, and it would have snowed on Garz. 'Davis' laughed as warmly as a demon could. "Oh, Garz, you don't think I have forgotten my favorite minion, do you?"
His ears perked up. "Favorite, Master?"
"Yes, I have a special gift for you."
Oh, goodie, a gift! "Oh, I do not deserve it, I only wish to serve you..."
The demon in Davis's body waved his hand like it was naturally her own, and calmly used a voice that wasn't hers. "Spare me the crap, Garz. This gift will help you serve me to your better potential. I'm giving you the body of a former Megadigidestined. You'll like that."
Garz's eyes went wide. "Oh, thank you, thank you, Master, I do not deserve it!"
"Of course you don't, but I have what I want," she looked down at her stolen body, and smiled. "And I'm feeling generous."
* * * *
"We're not going to make it," Ken yelled into the wind that whiped his hair around him. "I just know we're too late!"
"We are!" Cody confermed, his link with the Powers re-established.
The kids used their Digimon for transportation, all hope for a surprise attack gone. Aquilamon and Stingmon could fly, but because of friction on the ground, Ankilomon slowly fell behind. "Go on without me," Cody commanded. Cody was the leader now, he called the shots. "Rescue Kari!"
Ken and Yolei looked at each other and nodded. "I guess I don't have to worry about who I'm Morph DNA Digivolving with, huh Yolei?"
"Yeah, pretty weird!"
Its funny what you think about when you're going into danger. Ken's mind wandered to the summer after their experience in the Digital World, when he was going out with Yolei. She was the only girl he'd ever gone out with, even though girls practically lined up outside his door. She was the only girl he'd ever gotten close enough to to consider dating.
*Flashback*
They'd just seen a rather boring chick-flick that neither one had enjoyed very much, and now they were sitting at the Starbucks across the street. Ken, having no previous dating experience, reverted to the little genious he was, and started nervously babbling about a little theory he had, "... and so I hope you can see how Narnia kids and us Digidestined have so much in common."
She blinked at him, a blank look on her face, and sipped her steamy almond-vanilla tea, obviously bored out of her mind. "I'm sorry, Ken, but I think you lost me back way back at the beginning."
"Oh, sorry," he told his drink, no doubt a blush creeping across his face. He could have kicked himself. "I did it again, didn't I?"
"Oh, it's okay, Ken, I understand. It's my fault. I haven't even read The Cronicles of Narnia!" Ken guessed he must have looked like he was about to cry, because she laid her hand gently on top of his. They didn't say much after that.
*End Flashback*
Everyone said they were such a cute couple. And they were. He still had pictures from that time, and he never looked so contented as when he was with her. She always smiled sweetly at him, and tried her best to make conversation, but she slowly shyed away from him because talking to him made her feel like she had the intelligence of a three year old. He knew that and made a consious effort not to use extremely big words (Geo-syncronous orbit, anyone?) Still, they just weren't at the same level. He admired her daring spirit, more than she'd probably ever know. Some part of him still loved her, felt drawn to her. But sharing his body with her? That was a little closer than he ever wanted to get to anyone. He hadn't even kissed her, for crying out loud!
"Ken!" Stingmon was talking to him.
He hadn't zoned out like that for a long time. "Wha...huh?"
"Are you ready?"
He took a deep breath. "No, but that doesn't matter. Let's go."
Stingmon and Aquilamon landed effortlessly on the rocky ground in front of the castle. Time to say their final good-byes. The Digimon de-digivolved, and hopped into their friends arms.
"Oh, Hawkmon, I'll miss you terribly," Yolei sniffed.
"Don't worry about me, dear, you just take care of yourself. I'll see you again someday."
"Yeah, in my dreams," she replied sarcastically, smiling at the irony of that statement. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she hugged him gently.
Ken suddenly had a flash of a painful memory. "This is just like the time you died, Wormmon."
Wormmon patted Ken's arm. "Oh, Ken, I am not leaving you. I'll never leave like that again."
"Yeah, but I'll never see you again. What am I supposed to do without you? You're my best friend."
"Who said you'll never see me again? I know someday there will be no more evil and suffering. Everything will be perfect, and then we'll be together again. All of us. I promise."
Ken gave Wormmon a warm hug. "You always know just what to say, old friend."
The moment passed. "Now how do we get in? I don't suppose we just waltz in the front door."
"I know a way," a voice called. Veemon lept out of the shadows. "But we need Digmon."
"Veemon, what are you doing here?" Yolei asked.
"Oh, just hanging around, ya know? TK and Patamon got eatten. Just like... Davis."
"Davis is alive!" Wormmon yelped rather suddenly.
Veemon's eyes went wide. "He is?"
"Yeah, but he might as well be dead," Ken told him, "He's possessed by the embodiment of evil. He's our enemy now."
Veemon pounded his fist on the ground. "Noooo-Hey, I wonder, why am I not evil too?"
"I wasn't evil when Ken was the Digimon Emp-" Wormmon realized what he was saying and shut up. "Sorry, Ken."
Ken sighed. "No, that's okay. I understand."
Cody and Ankilomon arrived at that moment, and Cody was a little ticked. "Guys, why in the name of all that's good are you just standing around? Oh, hi, Veemon."
Veemon waved, his ears drooping. Well, at least it was good to have his friends with him again.
"Veemon's going to help us get into the castle," Yolei told him enthusiastically.
He nodded, "I need Digmon's help."
"You got it," Ankilomon said as he de-digivolved.
"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" Cody hadn't said that for a while. He almost killed it with overdramaization.
"Armadillomon Armor-Digivolve to..."
(Spinning Digi-Egg of Knowledge, Tentomon, Kabuterrimon, and Megakabuterrimon in the background.)
"...Digmon: the drill of Knowledge!"
Veemon enthusiastically rubbed his hands together. "All right! Let's get going! Now, over there, I need a tunnel dug to the dungeon, and you'll wanna make one over there goin' that way at a 45 degree angle-Don't ask-It'll lead you to where you need to go. Any questions?"
Digmon looked completely lost. "Uh...Nope!" He then began working on his task, in reverse order, starting with the tunnel going at the weird angle. "Kill two birds that way."
"Oh, PLEASE don't say that!" Hawkmon sqwaked.
"Sorry," he disappeared underground.
"I'll come with you guys," Cody said, effortlessly tossing his new fighting staff into the air. He caught it behind his back. "Although I'm not much good without my Digimon."
Ten minutes later the kids were in the near pitch-black Throne Room. Yolei grabbed Cody's arm. "Well, what do we do now? I can't see a foot in front of me, and I'm sure I have my glasses on."
Cody put his arm around her and drew her close, just to keep her calm. "Have patience, your eyes will adjust."
Their eyes eventually adjusted to absence of light, and then they saw Light. Kari sat in the throne, looking very tired. She'd known they were there the whole time. "Hey, guys. You missed the fun."
"What happened, Kari?" Yolei asked.
She sighed. "Well, Davis almost took advantage of me, but I finally told him I didn't love him. He went wako and killed TK and swallowed his soul. Oh, by the way, Davis is possessed, so don't talk to him. He's not there anymore."
"Crap, we're too late." Cody slapped his fighting staff into his palm. "We'll just have to take him down."
"I don't know about you guys, but I feel weird about hurting him," Yolei said almost desprately. "I mean, think about it. If we save him, he might have some kind of injury, pain, and we caused it. Not the demon."
"I know what you mean, Yolei, but we'll do what needs to be done to get him back."
"But what if he doesn't want to come back?" That was Ken. Everyone stared at him like he had just claimed he was really a Digimon. "You guys don't understand what its like to be in this situation. I do. And let me tell you this: if we restore Davis's soul, he will have so much remorse that he is very likely to try to kill himself. Would we really be doing him a favor then?"
Silence. They really didn't understand.
He threw his hands in the air and growled in frustration. "We might as well behead him! That would at least take care of Keesma too!"
Something about the way he said that really ticked Cody off. "Okay, that was very Digimon Emperor of you, Ken. Sheesh, I haven't heard anything that ruthless in a long time."
Pain flashed through him, and something snapped. "Ruthless? I'd probably be doing him a favor. I know when I went through this I wished someone would just kill me. Even now I sometimes still feel that way. I still have the nightmares, and I'll probably have them until the day I die!"
It got too quiet. Ken just wanted to crawl into a corner and cry. Why did he loose his temper so easily? After all, Cody was right.
"Yeah, well, you're not Davis."
"I'm sorry, okay?" his voice was bearly above a whisper. Suddenly, all the guilt he'd managed to keep inside exploded. He dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands. "I'm so, so sorry. Why did I do those evil things? I know it was because of the Dark Spore, but that just seems like a bad excuse. Why couldn't I have been stronger than that? I was used, and I didn't even know it. I'll never excape the things I've done. How can I ever forgive myself?"
Wormmon gave him a little hug. "Everyone else forgives you."
"I don't know. Sometimes I get the feeling Cody still hates me."
Cody rolled his eyes. "I don't HATE you, Ken. It's just...Sometimes you...I just don't understand how you could have done the things you did."
He snorted. "Yeah, that makes two of us."
Kari spoke up, "Remember, Ken, that's all in the past. There's nothing you can do about it. You've got to move on."
"That's easy for you to say, Kari. You've never had this problem. I did try to move on, but that didn't help get rid of the guilt. I just shoved it in a corner of my mind and hoped it would go away, but it didn't. It just got worse. Davis will be the same way, too. Just wait."
He whiped away the tears and shakily stood up. "You know, I really hate evil."
"Amen!" Yolei yelled.
"So, uh, Kari," Cody asked quietly, "where's TK's body? We ought to...give him a proper burial."
Kari suddenly realized that he was really gone and burst into tears. She buried her face in her hands as Yolei trotted over and gave her a hug. Cody looked down at his feet, knowing he should have phrased that a better way. When Kari calmed down enough to talk again she pointed shakily to where TK had met his end, but he wasn't there. "Wait, he's gone. The demons must have taken him!"
"Darn right, girly," came a way too familiar voice from the doorway. All eyes slowly turned to confirm the worst. Garz had claimed TK's body as his own. He was dressed completely in black armor (he kinda looked like he was covered in a black beetle exoskeleton), with black velvet gloves and cape, but lacking a helmet. He casually leaned on the door frame, his eyes glowing with an evil light. Kari gasped. "Surprised?"
"You horrible monster!" Yolei shreiked and charged at him in a blind rage.
"Don't even think about it, Love," he held out his hand. She smacked into an invisible wall, stumbled, and fell down rather quickly.
Cody rushed to help her up and glared at Garz.
"Tootles, Digi-freaks," he waved and calmly walked away. Kari growled and ran after him. Ken tried to follow her, thinking the barrier dissolved when Garz left, but also ran into it.
* * * *
"Boss! Mistress-I mean, Master!" Garz barged into Keesma's bed chamber.
Keesma stood in front of a long mirror, studing her new body. She couldn't decide if she liked the way Davis looked with or without the orange jacket. "Oh, dear, don't you ever knock?"
"Sorry, Master," he bowed at Davis's feet. Without looking up he said, "They're here."
"Already? They're more spirited than I originally thought. Hmm, well, what should we do about them?"
"Oh, Mistress Keesma, they're in the Throne Room. What if they find the Power Orb?"
"For one thing, Garz, don't call me Mistress and don't call me Keesma." Garz looked up, rather confused. "New body, new name. Call me Daisuke."
"Um, all right, Ma-"
Daisuke kicked Garz's shoulder so he toppled over backwards and now had to look at him. "Don't interrupt me! Now, do you really think I'd be so absent-minded that I'd let the Power Orb out of my sights like that, so close to the enemy?"
"Oh, no, Master! Forgive me!" Garz bowed so low his nose touched the floor.
"Get up, you fool. Stop acting like such a lowly demon. You've been promoted, you know. You should act like my second-in-command, not like an idiot."
Garz wanted to appologize again, but managed to control himself. He slowly rose and looked his Master in the eye. He bowed only slightly. "What do you wish of me?"
"That's better," Daisuke smiled. He grabbed the jacket and slung it over his shoulder. "Tell me, honestly, what looks better-with or without the jacket?"
Garz shrugged and rubbed his neck, blushing slightly. "I've never been very good at this sort of thing. I think it looks good either way."
"You're such a good little minion, Garz." He nuzzled Garz's nose. "but you're absolutely no help. Now, what have you done with the Megadigidestined?"
Garz almost forgot all about them, but he'd never admit it. He strained his short memory for them. "Oh, yeah, they're locked in the Throne Room."
"All of them?"
He scratched his head in consentration. "Um...No. One girl, uh, managed to get through my barrier."
"Who and where is she?"
Garz looked down, "Light. And I lost her before I came here. She tried to kill me, and there wasn't anything I could do to stop her."
Daisuke sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. "That figures, doesn't it? Oh, well. You can't hurt her, and she can't hurt you."
"Why not, Master?"
"You have her soul-mate's body. I guess even though I have his crest, his body still refuses to harm her in any way. Huh. Weird. Sorry, you'll just have to live with it. Lucky for you, it seems to work both ways."
"Oh, that's good, I guess."
"Let me take care of her, okay, Garzie? You need to probably help your helpless brother take care of the Dark Digidestined. And if you find Light, send her this way."
"Yes, Master. So...You're not angry?"
"No, Garzie, I'm not angry. I have no reason to be."
Garz then tried to dive through the floor, but fell flat on his face. That amused Daisuke immensly. "Oh, dear boy. You're physical now."
Garz whimpered, "But he's supposed to be able to teleport. That's his Megadigidestined power. I saw him use it."
"That power comes from his crest, and I have that. So, I have the power to teleport. You do not."
"Fooey," Garz climbed to his feet and left the normal way: through the door.
* * * *
Kari laid at the foot of a demon statue, crying softly. The love of her life was gone. Oh, how could she live without Hope? She silently pledged to kill both Garz and Keesma, or die trying.
Footsteps alerted her. She looked up to see the stolen face of her best friend in two worlds. "What do you want?"
Garz crossed his arms and smiled with the new confedence that she couldn't hurt him. "My Master desires your presence, Kari." The way he said her name sent a chill down her spine.
"I'm not going anywhere with you, you foul beast."
The smile instantly fell from his face, and he grabbed her arm and dragged her kicking and screaming down the hallway. What was the deal with these demons? Did all of them think she could be pushed around so easily? She tried to blow him away with her new power, but nothing happened. It went all around him, but it didn't touch him. What was the DEAL?!
Garz opened the door to Keesma's bed chamber and threw Kari on the floor. "Here you are, Master. I'm off now." The doors slammed shut.
"I'm so glad you could join me, Light."
Kari's head snapped up from the floor. The nasty monster sat clutching the arms of a high-backed chair no more than ten feet away from her, a grin on his stolen face. Not Garz. Even worse: Daisuke, The Demon Emperor. The new embodiment of evil. Poor Davis. Kari could only hope for his own good that he wasn't still in there.
He sat there in his tight black shirt and leather pants, smiling hungerly at her. Davis's tan showed up really easily against his white hair. So did his eyes. Normally a weird shade of brown anyway, now they were almost red. More like maroon, but glowing. On some weird, awful level Kari felt attracted to him. Light creates darkness, she tried to tell herself. The stronger the light, the deeper the darkness. She'd heard that somewhere. Probably on TV.
"What do you want from me?" Kari asked desprately, suddenly very aware of the panic in her tiny, quivering voice.
Surprised, he answered like it should be the most obvious thing in the universe, "I want your crest, of course. Why else would I bring you here?"
She couldn't say anything. She was shaking from fear or rage, or both. Or maybe it was because she hadn't eatten enough in the past day.
He laughed meniacally and held out his hand. "Well? Where is it?"
He was mocking her. She almost pointed at her chest and yelled for him to come get it, but she remembered all too well what happened to TK, and she didn't want to tempt him. "You can't have it."
"Aw, what's wrong, Kari? What are you afraid of? Me?"
She ignored that. "Let him go, you...you MONSTER!"
He looked a little shocked and amused at the same time. "Which one are you talking about? Surely you can't mean Davis. You never loved him."
"He doesn't deserve this."
"Deserve what? He's not wittnessing this, if that's what you mean. He's asleep, in here." He pointed to his heart, closed his eyes and smiled, looking inward. Then after a pause, he added, "And he's not the only one. TK's here too."
Kari covered her mouth, but couldn't stop from gasping. He couldn't just be dead. At least then he would have been at peace.
"Do you want to talk to him?"
"How do I know you won't be pretending to be him?"
He smiled. "You don't. But believe me, you'll know if it's him or not. There's quite a difference between us."
"I don't believe you."
He closed his eyes and relaxed, like he'd just gone to sleep. Suddenly he spasmed and his eyes snapped open. "Wait! I'm not dead! What happened?" Then he realized something was wrong and looked questioningly around. His eyes landed on Kari and a warm smile spred across his face.
He opened his mouth, but she stopped him. "Don't say anything. Just let me look at you."
That certainly was an odd request, but he let her look into his eyes. They weren't glowing anymore, and seemed softer, warmer, just like TK's eyes, only the wrong color. "TK, is it you?" she whispered.
"What kind of question is that, Kari? Of course it's me." Then he realized what was wrong. "Why do I sound like Davis?"
Kari flushed pink. "Don't you remember?"
"Um, no. Should I?"
She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the mirror. He blinked a couple of times, looking from Kari to himself and back. Then it finally clicked, and his eyes went wide. "I'm in Davis's body! Kari, why am I in Davis's body?!"
"Um, well, Davis kinda swallowed your soul." That was obviously the wrong thing to say. His eyes flared with anger. Oh, yes, he remembered now. She needed to say something before he desided to hurt Davis's body. "But it's not his fault!"
"Like heck it's not his fault!"
"No, no, no, TK," she touched his arm and spoke as gently as she could, "He's possessed. It really isn't his fault. He couldn't control himself."
He calmed down slightly. It took him a while. He put his hands on her shoulders and ran them all the way down her arms to her tiny hands. He spoke in an almost whimpering whisper, "But what he did to you is unforgivable. Are you hurt?"
No." Tears welled up in her eyes. It really was him. It really was her TK. She suddenly hugged him, sobbing. He slowly put his arms around her and rubbed her back to calm her crying. She had the hiccups, that's how relieved she was.
Finally, she had calmed down and rested against him. He pulled away. "This feels weird. I'm not me, I'm..." He trailed off with a distant look.
"No, you're still you, TK, no matter what body you're in."
He then smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
There was something wrong about that. "Stop!"
"What is it?"
She looked into his eyes again and just knew, somehow, he was gone again. "No! You're not TK. Why do you play these games with me?"
He crossed his arms and smiled. "If you just cooperated and gave it up, I wouldn't have to. You could be with him forever. Wouldn't you like that?"
"Let him go!"
Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Now we're back to this. Can't you think of anything more original? Let him go, let him go, let him go! Let my freaking people go. You're like a broken record, for Pete's sake!"
She got ready to blast him away, and he held his arms open. He laughed harshly, "Go ahead. Give me all you got. I don't care! It's not like you'll be hurting me. This isn't my body. If you kill it, I'll just leave and take your little boyfriend's. And you know you won't be able to hurt me then."
Poor Davis. He was still in there, asleep. She couldn't kill him, no matter what the cause. She pouted. "You know, you're one sick creature."
"Thank you. I pride myself on it."
Suddenly a pair of hands came from behind to land on her shoulders. She jumped a foot. That all too familliar voice spoke in a low, deadly quiet tone into her ear, "Hello again, my sweet. Having fun?"
She fought to calm her racing heart. "Get away from me."
Garz brushed the hair away from her neck and kissed her several times. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her firmly to keep her from getting away. "Hmm, I don't think so. Say, Boss, why don't we rape her? She wouldn't be able to stop us."
Kari squirmed, but he held tight. Garz laughed and licked her ear.
Daisuke sighed, and decided to ignore that. "Garz, what do you want? Can't you see Light and I are trying to have a conversation?"
Garz opened his mouth to respond, but Daisuke cut him off, "Aren't you supposed to be helping your brother?"
"That's what I came to tell you, sir. We...They didn't...They aren't coming."
He narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"We tried, but they said they weren't ready."
"So...None of them?"
Garz looked nervously around. "Well, um, one of them. Chaos."
Daisuke was shaking now, but he spoke in a calm enough voice, "I would have thought she'd be the least reliable."
"She said she'd go just because everyone expected her not to."
"Well, that's Chaos for you." He drew in a deep breath. "All righty then. I can work with that. Light, how would you like to make a deal? I put my Dark Digidestined against your so-called Megadigidestined."
"What if I refuse?"
Then I'll just kill your friends."
"Well if you put it that way...Let me go!" She tried to pry Garz's hands off of her, but he just laughed at her and pulled her closer.
"Let Light go, Garz."
"Aw, but-"
"Let her go."
"Aw, man!" Garz sighed and released Kari. She fell to the floor and shuddered. That was easily the most frightening experience of her entire life. Part of her mind still thought Garz was TK.
Daisuke crouched beside her. "If your friends fail, I will take their crests and put my best warriors inside their bodies."
"But what if they win?"
"They won't."
"You don't know my friends very well, do you?" She straightened out her dress and spoke with her eyes on the floor, "If they win, let Davis and TK go."
"Hmm, No. Just Davis. I need Hope more than I need him. Throw in your crest as part of the wager and I'll let them both go."
She thought that over for a while and slowly nodded. If she could save them, she'd do it.
"Do you really have that much faith in your friends?" Garz asked.
"Of course. They've been up against worse before." She didn't sound very convencing, even to herself.
"All right. Garz, bring her in."
There was a pause. "Uh, sir, she's already here."
Everyone turned to stare at the guest. Chaos was a clean cut girl just a little younger than Kari. Actually, Chaos looked kinda like Kari. Her hair was the same color, but chopped short at the ears. She had unusually bright green eyes. She giggled, waved, and announced, "Let the game begin!"
What will become of the Megadigidestined?
Will they be able to win Daisuke's evil game?
Find out in Episode 7:
"Chaos Game"