A Bigger Threat
Episode 7:
"Chaos Game"
By: Shmeilia
"I'm getting rather fed up with this!" Yolei growled.
"You never have been very good at waiting, have you, Yolei?" Cody laughed and tapped his fighting stick on the floor in a ryhmic beat.
"That's not what I'm talking about, Cody!" She grabbed the end of the staff before it hit the floor and yanked it away from him. "I'm fed up with this incessant tapping! It's driving me mad!"
Cody grinned, "I think you were already mad. Now you've just gone crazy."
"Cody, I love you dearly, so I hope you don't mind when I tell you to SHUT UP!"
"Don't have a cow on me now, dear," Hawkmon said quietly.
"It would help if certain people weren't egging me on!"
Surprisingly, Cody actually giggled. "Hey, Hawkmon, stop EGGING her on! Get it?"
Yolei growled, threw up her arms like she was going to strangle him, but then managed to restrain herself by burying her face in her knees and crying. Yes, crying. A very un-Yolei-like thing to do.
Cody seemed unconserned. He waved in Hawkmon's direction, "Ut-oh, I do believe she's having that cow now. Cow now. Ha! All this cow and egg talk makes me want breakfast. How 'bout you, Ken?"
Now, this was all a part of Chaos's game, and for some unknown reason Ken wasn't affected by it at all. "Are you two feeling all right?"
"Does it look like we're all right?!" Yolei growled without lifting her head. "What's wrong with me?"
"Where should I start?" Cody asked with a laugh.
She whipped her eyes with her sleeve. "One second I'm all Love-charged and ready for battle, and the next..."
Since Cody suddenly was of absolutely no help, Ken sat down behind her and rubbed her shoulders gently. "Go on."
"Hey, get your mits off my..." Cody interrupted himself with an outburst of laughter that forced him to the floor. The Digimon were slightly disturbed by this, and tried to get him to tell them what was wrong, but he wasn't even listening to them. They sweatdropped.
"I'm gonna kill that boy!" Yolei roared, then sobbed loudly, "See what I mean? I can't control the anger! The hate! It just keeps bubbling up, and I don't know where it's coming from!"
"Shh, calm down. Take a deep breath, hold it and count to thirty."
"Thirty? That's way too long. What are you tryin' to do here, kill me?"
"Just trust me."
She did as Ken told her, and it worked. She relaxed slightly and leaned back against him. "Something's wrong. With Cody too. I mean, look at him."
Cody was whipping tears out of his eyes.
Ken opened his mouth to say something else, but just then, the doors to the Throne Room burst open and he automatically forgot. Garz waltzed in, (just outside the barrier, of course) and smiled confedently at him. "Kindness, Master requests, no, demands your presesnce!"
"Oh, yeah?" Yolei barked, getting as close to Garz's face as possible without touching the barrier. She stomped her foot and pointed to the ground. "Why don't you step in here and DEMAND that again?"
Ken put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Yolei, I don't want to cause any more trouble. Maybe I'll even be able to get through to Davis."
"But, Ken..." Wormmon scooted in front of him.
Ken bent down to scratch Wormmon's head. "Don't worry about me, I know how to take care of myself. I won't let anything bad happen."
"I know, but maybe I should come with you."
Ken looked from Yolei, who was engaged in a staring constest with Garz, to Cody as he pounded his fist on the ground and gasped for breath in between giggles. "Stay here and make sure those two don't kill each other."
"Oh, all right. But take care, okay?"
Ken smiled as warmly as he could, given the sinking feeling in his stomach. "Don't worry, I have the Powers on my side. I can't loose." (When Ken said 'Powers' Garz hissed at him.)
Giving Wormmon a hug, Ken took a deep breath and stood up.
Garz motioned for Ken to follow him, then turned around with a swish of his black cape and left. Ken took a deep breath and followed slowly, still weary of the energy barrier. It had absolutely no affect on him. Yolei thought maybe that meant it wasn't there any more and attempted an escape which ended with her falling swiftly to the floor and cursing the powers of darkness with every bad thing she could think of.
Ken stared at the back of Garz's stolen head and put his hand on the golden chain on at his belt. The little golden links had a strange warmth that felt slightly reassuring. So what if he was alone, ever since Ken could remember he'd always worked best that way. And he did have the Powers on his side. He would be okay.
Garz stopped at the doorway of a dark room and waved. He yawned and said in a bored tone, "Please wait in here. Master will be with you shortly."
Ken walked in the small room and sat down in a chair off to the side. Garz slammed the door shut, making Ken wince. Now all he had to do was wait. The cramped quarters reminded him of the time he'd been tied up in the back of a truck while the forces of darkness used him against his will to fulfill their plans. Boy, this situation seemed awfully familiar already. He just knew this whole meeting had something to do with the Dark Spore in the back of his neck. He didn't know how he knew, but he just did. So that's how Cody must feel about all of his knowledge, Ken thought with a laugh that came out as just a snort.
"Well, well, well," a way too familiar voice called, interrupting his thoughts. "Look who it is!"
Ken's eyes went wide. He knew that voice as well as his own, simply because it was his own voice. "That's not possible!"
Two strong hands fell upon his shoulders, making him cringe. A wave of cold, dark energy washed over him. "Oh, it's not, is it? Anything's possible when evil is conserned, you should know that by now, Kindness."
Ken jumped back so quickly he overturned his chair. He turned to face his worst nightmare. The hair, those ridiculous glasses...This was the monster he once was. "Y-You should not exist!"
The Emperor smiled evily. "Oh, I know, but long as the Spore has root in your brain, I will always exist. And there's nothing you can do about it, my friend."
"No," Ken backed up against the wall, wanting nothing more than to get away from this living reminder of his horrible past. "You don't...You can't be real."
The Emperor picked up the overturned chair, spun it around and sat backwards in it, all in one smooth motion. He peered over his glasses at Ken. "I'm as real as you make me out to be, Kenny-boy."
"No! You died a long time ago."
"Are you sure about that? Maybe I'm the one who's real, and you're just the ghost of a lonely, forgotten kid who never quite got over the death of his brother. You never can be so sure about that sort of thing, can you? Ha!"
At the mention of his brother, Ken's intense fear turned into hatred. He clentched his fists together and growled, "Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"Temper, temper," his counter-part scolded. "Careful, you're sounding more and more like me every minute."
"That's it!" Something in Ken snapped, and he threw the other him to the floor. "Why must you haunt me so?"
The Emperor raised himself to one elbow and laughed cruelly, "But don't you get it? That's my job!"
With that Ken punched him. "Why can't you just die?" He pinned the Emperor to the floor and strangled him. He didn't let go until long after the other quit struggling. He sat back, gasping for breath. The anger still pulsed through him, blocking all logical thoughts. He yanked the glasses off the Emperor and threw them across the room. Then quite suddenly, he realized what he'd just done. Ken back away from the lifeless body and put a hand over his mouth. He killed someone. Now, granted it was himself, but still... Killing was something he couldn't bring himself to do even as the Emperor. The form of his former self disappeared in a poof of black particles, and yet Ken couldn't move his gaze from that spot. Tears spilled over his wide, horrified eyes. "What have I done?"
"Felt good, didn't it?" Daisuke stood leaning casually on the door frame, a triumphant grin on his face. "I always knew you had it in you."
Ken brushed the tears from his eyes and looked away. "What do you want with me?"
"Oh, just to talk. I like you."
"Oh, I feel so proud of that. The embodiment of evil has a soft spot for me. That does wonders for my reputation."
"Nice use of sarcasm." Daisuke sat down on the floor next to him, which compelled Ken to get up and walk across the room. "Why run from me? I won't hurt you...If you humor me."
"Humor you?"
"Do you know why I like you so much?"
"You know what? I really don't care."
"You see, dear Kindness, out of all the Digidestined, you are the only one who's seen true darkness and come back from it. Your strength is admirable."
"Oh, gee, thanks. Just what I wanted to hear from a soul-sucking demon."
"And for some reason you just aren't playing my game."
"Game? What game?"
"Chaos's game. She's got the better of your two little friends down in the Throne Room."
*Flash*
Yolei strangling Cody while the Digimon tried their hardest to stop her. And even though Cody's being choked to death, won't stop laughing at her.
*Flash*
"What have you done to my friends? And who in the good Digi-World is Chaos?"
"Chaos is a Dark Spore Child, just like yourself. One member of my special team: The Dark Digidestined. They have special powers, just like your Megadigidestined. She has the power to mess with people's minds."
"That's just sick."
"Oh, I know. I love it. Now I want you to lead them, my little Emperor."
"Fat chance, demon. I'm not like that any more."
"Didn't think you were capable of murder, did you?"
Ken looked down at his hands. "No, I didn't."
"That was him, you know. The little Emperor inside of you, struggling to get out."
"No, he doesn't exist any more." Ken took this opportunity to study the dust on top of a bookself close to him. Anything to distract himself.
"Then why were you so egar to kill him? Why bother if he doesn't still exist? Seems kinda fishy to me." Daisuke pinned him to the wall and forced him to stare into his red eyes. Those eyes looked into the depths of Ken's soul. "Yep, the Emperor is still alive and well."
Ken tried to look away, but found he couldn't. "I don't believe you."
Daisuke brushed the hair gently out of Ken's eyes, let his hand linger on his cheeck then brought it around to the back of his neck. "The Dark Spore hasn't gone away, you know. I can feel it just under your skin, right at the base of your brain. The darkness thrives even after all these years."
"You don't know anything, you m-monster," he whispered in a quivering voice.
"Oh, don't I? I know every little dark thought in your head, Ken." Daisuke smiled with hunger in his eyes. "You want me to prove it?"
Ken wanted to say, 'no, that's okay', but before the thought had even finished forming, Daisuke licked his lips. Ken's eyes went wide, but he found himself paralyzed, unable to do anything but kiss back. It felt horrible and wonderful. Sick, and yet so sweet. He'd never been kissed before. Ever. He closed his eyes and gave into it, letting the wonderful new feeling wash over him.
Just as he did give into it, Daisuke pulled away and declaired, "You're gayer than a little kid in a candy store!"
Ken looked away, ashamed. "No, I-I've liked girls. It's only when it comes to..."
"Davis?" The monster laughed harshly at Ken. "You've had a crush on him ever since the beginning, haven't you? Well, I can't blame you. You must admit, I picked a hot one."
"I was attracted to his spirit. His daring personality. He didn't care what others thought of him, but he still had friends, and..."
"And yet I notice that delightful blush that is creeping across your neck," he ran his fingertips slowly across Ken's face and down his neck. "Judging by the shade you're turning, I'd say it's not just the personality."
"Please, leave me alone," Ken whimpered pathetically, shrinking away from those penetrating red eyes.
"Give me what I want, and I will."
"What's that?"
Daisuke eyed the emblem on the brestplate of Ken's armor. "Your crest, of course."
"No way I'm giving you my soul, demon. You can just forget it."
"Hmm. I wonder... How much dark energy do you think I need to give you before you revert back to the Emperor?"
"Nothing you can do will make me go back down that path, so don't hold your breath."
"Then I'll just have take it, like I did with Hope." Before Ken could say anything else, Daisuke reached into his chest, and grabbed the crest. Ken screamed as an unimaginable pain shot through his whole body. Daisuke's eyes glowed and his whole being radiated dark energy. He began pumping the dark energy into Ken, activating the Dark Spore once again. It burned with fierce intensity as it began to change his brain chemistry. Over Ken's howls of pain, Daisuke whispered soothingly, "Shh, my pet, it will be okay."
Slowly, the seering pain dulled and the wave of panic subsided. Ken began to breath again.
"See? It's not so bad, now is it?"
"No," he admitted, sliding to the floor. It actually felt pretty good now that he wasn't fighting it. Refreshing, even. Like a breath of cool, fresh morning air after being locked in a closet for a long time.
"Now give me the crest. You don't need it to be great, in fact it's just hindering your greatness. I'll restore you to your former glory, then you and I can rule the Digital World together. Doesn't that sound good?"
He smiled, but a small voice pushed its way from the back of his mind. "But what about Davis? TK and all the others? The Digimon? What will happen to them?"
"Don't think about them. Just think of yourself."
"N-No. I refuse to. What will you do with them once you've gotten what you want?"
Daisuke gripped his crest even harder and twisted, making Ken scream for mercy. "Please, Lord help me!"
In an answer to his prayer, a flash of golden light eminated from his crest. It burst out of him so violently that it threw Daisuke against the opposite wall. Ken stared at what he realized was a bubble of energy. "A sheild!"
Daisuke lept to his feet and blasted dark energy at the sheild. It only made the golden light brighter. He hissed and uttered something in demon tounge, then tried kicking the bubble. It zapped him and burned his foot. Ken laughed at him, silently thanking the Powers for saving his soul.
"This is not the end, Kindness," Daisuke roared in a voice that sounded nothing like Davis's. It shook the walls. "Mark my words, I will make you pay!"
Ken stood up and rasberried the ticked off demon. "Yeah, sure. You forget, I'm on the winning team."
Daisuke teleported out of the room, and it was over. The bubble disappeared and Ken collapsed. He whipped the sweat off his forehead and felt the back of his head. The Spore burned under his skin. He could already feel it's affects on his body, his mind. But he still had his soul and for that he was eternally thankful. He closed his eyes, bowed his head to the floor and whispered, "Thanks. Now give me the strength to fight the Dark Spore poision that's already flowing through my veins. Please don't let me turn back into the Emperor."
He sat there for a moment while his strength returned to him. Oh, what happened to the days when life was just the matter of Digivolving? Digimon fought evil Digimon, clear and simple. Of course, for Ken it never was that simple. Stupid Digimon Emperor... "Urg, curse the day I became emplanted with the Spore!"
That day was a terrible day indeed. He'd never known pain before. He was sick for weaks with a fever so bad it made him delirious. Now that awful, gut-wrenching pain began to return. The Spore had changed his entire brain chemestry, giving him the ability to retain vast amounts of information and boosting his athletic abilities. He had focus, ambition, and confedience enough for about five people. But it didn't come without a price. As the Emperor it was no pain, no power. Many nights he'd laid awake as his mind swam with the burning poison. Every day he forgot more and more of his old self until he truely couldn't even remember his own name. But at the time he embraced it, welcomed it. Anything to escape his past. And it almost killed him. The very thought of that time frightened him terribly. If it wasn't for his friends... "Oh, no, my friends!"
He tore out of there like his life depended on it.
* * * *
Meanwhile in the dungeon...
Hey, hey, hidy-ho, the calvery has arrived!"
"Oh, Veemon, my hero!" This is so his moment in the sun.
He broke the chains binding Gatomon and Patamon to their pillars. How? Nobody knows. "Time to go rescue the Megadigidestined!"
* * * *
Now here's a nice little domestic picture: Garz and Chaos enjoying tea together. Kari was tied to a chair, they ignored her kicking and screaming.
Sip. "Oh, Garzie, you slay me!"
Garz grinned. "And so he turns to the guy and says, 'Give me the toaster or I'll eat you!'"
"Oh, sheesh, that's rich!"
POP! There was Daisuke, completely ticked off. He startled/frightened Garz so badly he tipped his tea onto the table. "Boss, uh, how'd it go?"
He slammed his fist on the table and pointed at Chaos. "Quit falling down on the job, Chaos! Go grab your Digimon, it's time you got rid of the Megadigidestined!"
She pointed at herself and laughed nervously, "Uh, a'ight. Right away, sir!"
She trotted off.
Daisuke took out his frustration by kicking Garz's chair out from under him. Then calmly sat down at the table and drank from Chaos's cup. He made a disgusted face, "You know, Kindness really cheeses me off."
"How so, oh Great One?" Garz asked from under the table.
"Sit up, you idiot."
Garz picked his chair off the ground and sat in it, a blush and a goofy grin on his stolen face. "Sorry. Didn't know when you'd get back, so we, uh, made tea."
Daisuke sighed, "He has the favor of the Powers now. There's little hope of turning him to our side. What a shame too, he would really enhance our kingdom."
"That's too bad, but we can make it without him, right?"
Nothing. Daisuke stared at him with an unreadable expression, the cup still pressed to his lips.
"Right?"
He sat the cup gently on the saucer with a clink, and closed his eyes in thought. A slight quiver could be heard in his voice as he spoke, "I don't know any more. I thought Light was the Key, but that seems a bit not right now. Kindness has the right spirit. He's seen true darkness and still managed to overcome it. That takes strength, not to mention the eye of the Powers That Be, eh? But he still has potential for darkness, as long as he carries my Dark Spore. It's artifical darkness, but darkness none the less. It can be used. If I can get at him again. He's found his Megadigidestined power, so now I can't touch him."
He ran his finger around the edge of the cup with a dreamy look his his eyes, then took another slow sip.
"You think I could get at him?"
Daisuke glared at Garz from around the side of the china-print tea cup. It was a look that said, 'I'm not even going to bother responding to that one.'
"So, uh, do we still want Light?"
"Of course, she still has great energy. Besides you know darkness cannot exist without light. Like it or not, we need her if we are to even think about moving off this dead realm."
"Oh, boy. That's bad."
"You said it."
They both turned to her and smiled wickedly. She swallowed hard.
* * * *
Ken kicked the doors open dramatically and announced, "I'm back, guys! Please stop killing each other!"
"What do you mean?" Yolei asked, brushing her hair behind her ears.
"Why would would we want to kill each other?" Cody asked calmly.
Ken blinked in disbelief. They, along with Wormmon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Veemon, Gatomon and Patamon were all playing cards! "What happened? I thought..."
"Well...I was choking him, and he wouldn't stop laughing at me, but then suddenly I stopped and remembered that...I loved him!"
Both Cody and Ken winced, but she didn't notice. The Digimon sweatdropped.
"So I quit," Yolei concluded, drawing a card off her deck and examining it carefully. She clutched it to her and squealed. Then she laid it down, pointed at Cody and laughed, "Devestation! Kill 'em all! I have no creatures!"
Cody swept away all his cards. "Aw, man, there goes my strategy. Yeah, so anyway, Ken, life was just the funniest thing ever and suddenly I remembered I had responsibilities. So...We decided to play cards while we waited for you to return."
"I couldn't do anything else, so you can just take that!" Yolei announced.
"Now the game will go on forever!" Veemon complained, laying down his hand in exhasperation.
Ken looked at Cody's hand and scratched his head. So they hadn't even missed him.
Cody tossed his hand to the side and picked up his fighting staff. "And I concede. It's time to get back to business."
"This really isn't the time for games anyway," Wormmon said.
"Thanks," Ken whispered.
"Well, now what?" Yolei asked.
"This is the part where I destroy you all!" Chaos answered.
The kids turned to see a sweet, clean-cut girl ridding atop of one of the most horrible Digimon they'd ever been up against.
Ken gasped, a long forgotten memory flashing through his mind. "Kimeramon?"
She patted the monster's head. "That's right, my baby!"
"But we destroyed him!" Yolei whinned.
Cody gripped his staff and closed his eyes. He muttered, "Digimon don't die, they just get reconfigured. Hmph, how ironic."
"Great," Wormmon said with a shutter. The last time they were up against that Digimon, they only won because Wormmon sacraficed himself. But things were different now. "Come on, Ken, let's digivolve!"
Ken had been shaking with fear, but at the confedent words of his partner, he grabbed his digivice. "Right! Go for it, buddy."
All three of them held their digivices in the air and yelled, "Digivolve!"
"Wormmon digivolve to..."
"Hawkmon digivolve to..."
"Armadillomon digivolve to..."
"Stingmon!"
"Aquilamon!"
"Ankilomon!"
Patamon sighed, "Too bad we don't have our parters. DNA digivolving would come in handy right about now."
"Yeah," Gatomon and Veemon agreed.
"How the heck do we fight that thing?" Yolei yelped as the three Champion Digimon lept into battle.
"The eyes," Ken told her slowly, straining to remember something useful from his dark past. (That's never been easy for him. His memory of that time is fuzzy, controlled. More of the Dark Spore's doing.)
"What?"
His eyes glazed over slightly. He told her in a low, quiet tone, "It's only weakness is it's eyes. An energy blast to them would go directly to it's brain and pretty much kill it instantly."
"Wow, how do you...?"
"I created it, after all, I should know." He pointed at the giant Digimon and yelled fiercely, "Stingmon, gouge out it's eyes!"
Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Chaos squealed and put her hand over her heart. "So that's the legendary Digimon Emperor. Oh, he's dreamy!"
Stingmon took her moment of destraction to attack Kimeramon's eyes, and the battle was over in about ten seconds. The frightening evil Digimon went 'poof' and Chaos fell into Stingmon's arms. She shreiked and thrashed around.
"That seemed way too easy, compaired to last time," Stingmon said. "Stop fighting me, little girl. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Okay." Suddenly she was perfectly calm. He gently put her on the ground and stood over her so she wouldn't think about escaping.
"This is perfect," Cody said, eyeing Chaos suspeciously. "Now we have a hostage. We use her to bargan with Keesma for Kari."
"Don't count on it," Ken told him darkly.
"Why not?"
"You don't know evil very well, do you Cody? That demon is not going to blink an eye when it comes to sacraficing one of it's own. He wouldn't care if we killed her right now. There are plenty more Dark Digidestined where this one came from, you can be sure."
"Then what do we do with her?"
"Don't you guys think you oughta tie me up, or something?"
Cody sweatdropped. "That sounds like a plan to me. Hey, wait a minute, why are you trying to help us?"
She waved, "Y'all's completely hopeless."
"Gee, thanks," Yolei mumbled.
Chaos cracked up with laughter, much the same way Cody had earlier. "You guys are HOPELESS! No more Hope! He's gone, all gone. Ha, that's a joke. I made a funny!"
"Okay, that is by no means funny," Yolei growled, offically deciding she didn't like this girl.
Five minutes later, she was tied to a chair and her nose was in the farthest corner of the room.
* * * *
"No! Those stupid kids actually won, I don't believe it!"
"Woo-hoo! Yeah, they did it!" Kari danced around in a little circle.
"No, no, no! She was out numbered. If the other Dark Digidestined were here they wouldn't stand a chance."
"Now let TK and Davis go, like you promised."
Daisuke pouted a little bit. "Uh, how 'bout no?"
"But you promised!"
"Since when did demons have to keep their promises? I'm the one with the advantage here, not you. Now, I'm not gonna kill you, but you can forget our little deal."
Garz pointed at the door. "Well? Get out of here, before we change our minds."
She left that room as quickly as possible.
"'Before WE change OUR mindS?' Since when could you put yourself on the same level as me, Garzie?"
"Sorry, Boss. I was just really mad."
Daisuke patted the top of Garz's head. "That's okay. I forgive you. This time." He frowned. "But now what do we do?"
What WILL be the demons' next move?
Find out in Episode 8:
"The Deciding Battle"
Episode 7:
"Chaos Game"
By: Shmeilia
"I'm getting rather fed up with this!" Yolei growled.
"You never have been very good at waiting, have you, Yolei?" Cody laughed and tapped his fighting stick on the floor in a ryhmic beat.
"That's not what I'm talking about, Cody!" She grabbed the end of the staff before it hit the floor and yanked it away from him. "I'm fed up with this incessant tapping! It's driving me mad!"
Cody grinned, "I think you were already mad. Now you've just gone crazy."
"Cody, I love you dearly, so I hope you don't mind when I tell you to SHUT UP!"
"Don't have a cow on me now, dear," Hawkmon said quietly.
"It would help if certain people weren't egging me on!"
Surprisingly, Cody actually giggled. "Hey, Hawkmon, stop EGGING her on! Get it?"
Yolei growled, threw up her arms like she was going to strangle him, but then managed to restrain herself by burying her face in her knees and crying. Yes, crying. A very un-Yolei-like thing to do.
Cody seemed unconserned. He waved in Hawkmon's direction, "Ut-oh, I do believe she's having that cow now. Cow now. Ha! All this cow and egg talk makes me want breakfast. How 'bout you, Ken?"
Now, this was all a part of Chaos's game, and for some unknown reason Ken wasn't affected by it at all. "Are you two feeling all right?"
"Does it look like we're all right?!" Yolei growled without lifting her head. "What's wrong with me?"
"Where should I start?" Cody asked with a laugh.
She whipped her eyes with her sleeve. "One second I'm all Love-charged and ready for battle, and the next..."
Since Cody suddenly was of absolutely no help, Ken sat down behind her and rubbed her shoulders gently. "Go on."
"Hey, get your mits off my..." Cody interrupted himself with an outburst of laughter that forced him to the floor. The Digimon were slightly disturbed by this, and tried to get him to tell them what was wrong, but he wasn't even listening to them. They sweatdropped.
"I'm gonna kill that boy!" Yolei roared, then sobbed loudly, "See what I mean? I can't control the anger! The hate! It just keeps bubbling up, and I don't know where it's coming from!"
"Shh, calm down. Take a deep breath, hold it and count to thirty."
"Thirty? That's way too long. What are you tryin' to do here, kill me?"
"Just trust me."
She did as Ken told her, and it worked. She relaxed slightly and leaned back against him. "Something's wrong. With Cody too. I mean, look at him."
Cody was whipping tears out of his eyes.
Ken opened his mouth to say something else, but just then, the doors to the Throne Room burst open and he automatically forgot. Garz waltzed in, (just outside the barrier, of course) and smiled confedently at him. "Kindness, Master requests, no, demands your presesnce!"
"Oh, yeah?" Yolei barked, getting as close to Garz's face as possible without touching the barrier. She stomped her foot and pointed to the ground. "Why don't you step in here and DEMAND that again?"
Ken put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Yolei, I don't want to cause any more trouble. Maybe I'll even be able to get through to Davis."
"But, Ken..." Wormmon scooted in front of him.
Ken bent down to scratch Wormmon's head. "Don't worry about me, I know how to take care of myself. I won't let anything bad happen."
"I know, but maybe I should come with you."
Ken looked from Yolei, who was engaged in a staring constest with Garz, to Cody as he pounded his fist on the ground and gasped for breath in between giggles. "Stay here and make sure those two don't kill each other."
"Oh, all right. But take care, okay?"
Ken smiled as warmly as he could, given the sinking feeling in his stomach. "Don't worry, I have the Powers on my side. I can't loose." (When Ken said 'Powers' Garz hissed at him.)
Giving Wormmon a hug, Ken took a deep breath and stood up.
Garz motioned for Ken to follow him, then turned around with a swish of his black cape and left. Ken took a deep breath and followed slowly, still weary of the energy barrier. It had absolutely no affect on him. Yolei thought maybe that meant it wasn't there any more and attempted an escape which ended with her falling swiftly to the floor and cursing the powers of darkness with every bad thing she could think of.
Ken stared at the back of Garz's stolen head and put his hand on the golden chain on at his belt. The little golden links had a strange warmth that felt slightly reassuring. So what if he was alone, ever since Ken could remember he'd always worked best that way. And he did have the Powers on his side. He would be okay.
Garz stopped at the doorway of a dark room and waved. He yawned and said in a bored tone, "Please wait in here. Master will be with you shortly."
Ken walked in the small room and sat down in a chair off to the side. Garz slammed the door shut, making Ken wince. Now all he had to do was wait. The cramped quarters reminded him of the time he'd been tied up in the back of a truck while the forces of darkness used him against his will to fulfill their plans. Boy, this situation seemed awfully familiar already. He just knew this whole meeting had something to do with the Dark Spore in the back of his neck. He didn't know how he knew, but he just did. So that's how Cody must feel about all of his knowledge, Ken thought with a laugh that came out as just a snort.
"Well, well, well," a way too familiar voice called, interrupting his thoughts. "Look who it is!"
Ken's eyes went wide. He knew that voice as well as his own, simply because it was his own voice. "That's not possible!"
Two strong hands fell upon his shoulders, making him cringe. A wave of cold, dark energy washed over him. "Oh, it's not, is it? Anything's possible when evil is conserned, you should know that by now, Kindness."
Ken jumped back so quickly he overturned his chair. He turned to face his worst nightmare. The hair, those ridiculous glasses...This was the monster he once was. "Y-You should not exist!"
The Emperor smiled evily. "Oh, I know, but long as the Spore has root in your brain, I will always exist. And there's nothing you can do about it, my friend."
"No," Ken backed up against the wall, wanting nothing more than to get away from this living reminder of his horrible past. "You don't...You can't be real."
The Emperor picked up the overturned chair, spun it around and sat backwards in it, all in one smooth motion. He peered over his glasses at Ken. "I'm as real as you make me out to be, Kenny-boy."
"No! You died a long time ago."
"Are you sure about that? Maybe I'm the one who's real, and you're just the ghost of a lonely, forgotten kid who never quite got over the death of his brother. You never can be so sure about that sort of thing, can you? Ha!"
At the mention of his brother, Ken's intense fear turned into hatred. He clentched his fists together and growled, "Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"Temper, temper," his counter-part scolded. "Careful, you're sounding more and more like me every minute."
"That's it!" Something in Ken snapped, and he threw the other him to the floor. "Why must you haunt me so?"
The Emperor raised himself to one elbow and laughed cruelly, "But don't you get it? That's my job!"
With that Ken punched him. "Why can't you just die?" He pinned the Emperor to the floor and strangled him. He didn't let go until long after the other quit struggling. He sat back, gasping for breath. The anger still pulsed through him, blocking all logical thoughts. He yanked the glasses off the Emperor and threw them across the room. Then quite suddenly, he realized what he'd just done. Ken back away from the lifeless body and put a hand over his mouth. He killed someone. Now, granted it was himself, but still... Killing was something he couldn't bring himself to do even as the Emperor. The form of his former self disappeared in a poof of black particles, and yet Ken couldn't move his gaze from that spot. Tears spilled over his wide, horrified eyes. "What have I done?"
"Felt good, didn't it?" Daisuke stood leaning casually on the door frame, a triumphant grin on his face. "I always knew you had it in you."
Ken brushed the tears from his eyes and looked away. "What do you want with me?"
"Oh, just to talk. I like you."
"Oh, I feel so proud of that. The embodiment of evil has a soft spot for me. That does wonders for my reputation."
"Nice use of sarcasm." Daisuke sat down on the floor next to him, which compelled Ken to get up and walk across the room. "Why run from me? I won't hurt you...If you humor me."
"Humor you?"
"Do you know why I like you so much?"
"You know what? I really don't care."
"You see, dear Kindness, out of all the Digidestined, you are the only one who's seen true darkness and come back from it. Your strength is admirable."
"Oh, gee, thanks. Just what I wanted to hear from a soul-sucking demon."
"And for some reason you just aren't playing my game."
"Game? What game?"
"Chaos's game. She's got the better of your two little friends down in the Throne Room."
*Flash*
Yolei strangling Cody while the Digimon tried their hardest to stop her. And even though Cody's being choked to death, won't stop laughing at her.
*Flash*
"What have you done to my friends? And who in the good Digi-World is Chaos?"
"Chaos is a Dark Spore Child, just like yourself. One member of my special team: The Dark Digidestined. They have special powers, just like your Megadigidestined. She has the power to mess with people's minds."
"That's just sick."
"Oh, I know. I love it. Now I want you to lead them, my little Emperor."
"Fat chance, demon. I'm not like that any more."
"Didn't think you were capable of murder, did you?"
Ken looked down at his hands. "No, I didn't."
"That was him, you know. The little Emperor inside of you, struggling to get out."
"No, he doesn't exist any more." Ken took this opportunity to study the dust on top of a bookself close to him. Anything to distract himself.
"Then why were you so egar to kill him? Why bother if he doesn't still exist? Seems kinda fishy to me." Daisuke pinned him to the wall and forced him to stare into his red eyes. Those eyes looked into the depths of Ken's soul. "Yep, the Emperor is still alive and well."
Ken tried to look away, but found he couldn't. "I don't believe you."
Daisuke brushed the hair gently out of Ken's eyes, let his hand linger on his cheeck then brought it around to the back of his neck. "The Dark Spore hasn't gone away, you know. I can feel it just under your skin, right at the base of your brain. The darkness thrives even after all these years."
"You don't know anything, you m-monster," he whispered in a quivering voice.
"Oh, don't I? I know every little dark thought in your head, Ken." Daisuke smiled with hunger in his eyes. "You want me to prove it?"
Ken wanted to say, 'no, that's okay', but before the thought had even finished forming, Daisuke licked his lips. Ken's eyes went wide, but he found himself paralyzed, unable to do anything but kiss back. It felt horrible and wonderful. Sick, and yet so sweet. He'd never been kissed before. Ever. He closed his eyes and gave into it, letting the wonderful new feeling wash over him.
Just as he did give into it, Daisuke pulled away and declaired, "You're gayer than a little kid in a candy store!"
Ken looked away, ashamed. "No, I-I've liked girls. It's only when it comes to..."
"Davis?" The monster laughed harshly at Ken. "You've had a crush on him ever since the beginning, haven't you? Well, I can't blame you. You must admit, I picked a hot one."
"I was attracted to his spirit. His daring personality. He didn't care what others thought of him, but he still had friends, and..."
"And yet I notice that delightful blush that is creeping across your neck," he ran his fingertips slowly across Ken's face and down his neck. "Judging by the shade you're turning, I'd say it's not just the personality."
"Please, leave me alone," Ken whimpered pathetically, shrinking away from those penetrating red eyes.
"Give me what I want, and I will."
"What's that?"
Daisuke eyed the emblem on the brestplate of Ken's armor. "Your crest, of course."
"No way I'm giving you my soul, demon. You can just forget it."
"Hmm. I wonder... How much dark energy do you think I need to give you before you revert back to the Emperor?"
"Nothing you can do will make me go back down that path, so don't hold your breath."
"Then I'll just have take it, like I did with Hope." Before Ken could say anything else, Daisuke reached into his chest, and grabbed the crest. Ken screamed as an unimaginable pain shot through his whole body. Daisuke's eyes glowed and his whole being radiated dark energy. He began pumping the dark energy into Ken, activating the Dark Spore once again. It burned with fierce intensity as it began to change his brain chemistry. Over Ken's howls of pain, Daisuke whispered soothingly, "Shh, my pet, it will be okay."
Slowly, the seering pain dulled and the wave of panic subsided. Ken began to breath again.
"See? It's not so bad, now is it?"
"No," he admitted, sliding to the floor. It actually felt pretty good now that he wasn't fighting it. Refreshing, even. Like a breath of cool, fresh morning air after being locked in a closet for a long time.
"Now give me the crest. You don't need it to be great, in fact it's just hindering your greatness. I'll restore you to your former glory, then you and I can rule the Digital World together. Doesn't that sound good?"
He smiled, but a small voice pushed its way from the back of his mind. "But what about Davis? TK and all the others? The Digimon? What will happen to them?"
"Don't think about them. Just think of yourself."
"N-No. I refuse to. What will you do with them once you've gotten what you want?"
Daisuke gripped his crest even harder and twisted, making Ken scream for mercy. "Please, Lord help me!"
In an answer to his prayer, a flash of golden light eminated from his crest. It burst out of him so violently that it threw Daisuke against the opposite wall. Ken stared at what he realized was a bubble of energy. "A sheild!"
Daisuke lept to his feet and blasted dark energy at the sheild. It only made the golden light brighter. He hissed and uttered something in demon tounge, then tried kicking the bubble. It zapped him and burned his foot. Ken laughed at him, silently thanking the Powers for saving his soul.
"This is not the end, Kindness," Daisuke roared in a voice that sounded nothing like Davis's. It shook the walls. "Mark my words, I will make you pay!"
Ken stood up and rasberried the ticked off demon. "Yeah, sure. You forget, I'm on the winning team."
Daisuke teleported out of the room, and it was over. The bubble disappeared and Ken collapsed. He whipped the sweat off his forehead and felt the back of his head. The Spore burned under his skin. He could already feel it's affects on his body, his mind. But he still had his soul and for that he was eternally thankful. He closed his eyes, bowed his head to the floor and whispered, "Thanks. Now give me the strength to fight the Dark Spore poision that's already flowing through my veins. Please don't let me turn back into the Emperor."
He sat there for a moment while his strength returned to him. Oh, what happened to the days when life was just the matter of Digivolving? Digimon fought evil Digimon, clear and simple. Of course, for Ken it never was that simple. Stupid Digimon Emperor... "Urg, curse the day I became emplanted with the Spore!"
That day was a terrible day indeed. He'd never known pain before. He was sick for weaks with a fever so bad it made him delirious. Now that awful, gut-wrenching pain began to return. The Spore had changed his entire brain chemestry, giving him the ability to retain vast amounts of information and boosting his athletic abilities. He had focus, ambition, and confedience enough for about five people. But it didn't come without a price. As the Emperor it was no pain, no power. Many nights he'd laid awake as his mind swam with the burning poison. Every day he forgot more and more of his old self until he truely couldn't even remember his own name. But at the time he embraced it, welcomed it. Anything to escape his past. And it almost killed him. The very thought of that time frightened him terribly. If it wasn't for his friends... "Oh, no, my friends!"
He tore out of there like his life depended on it.
* * * *
Meanwhile in the dungeon...
Hey, hey, hidy-ho, the calvery has arrived!"
"Oh, Veemon, my hero!" This is so his moment in the sun.
He broke the chains binding Gatomon and Patamon to their pillars. How? Nobody knows. "Time to go rescue the Megadigidestined!"
* * * *
Now here's a nice little domestic picture: Garz and Chaos enjoying tea together. Kari was tied to a chair, they ignored her kicking and screaming.
Sip. "Oh, Garzie, you slay me!"
Garz grinned. "And so he turns to the guy and says, 'Give me the toaster or I'll eat you!'"
"Oh, sheesh, that's rich!"
POP! There was Daisuke, completely ticked off. He startled/frightened Garz so badly he tipped his tea onto the table. "Boss, uh, how'd it go?"
He slammed his fist on the table and pointed at Chaos. "Quit falling down on the job, Chaos! Go grab your Digimon, it's time you got rid of the Megadigidestined!"
She pointed at herself and laughed nervously, "Uh, a'ight. Right away, sir!"
She trotted off.
Daisuke took out his frustration by kicking Garz's chair out from under him. Then calmly sat down at the table and drank from Chaos's cup. He made a disgusted face, "You know, Kindness really cheeses me off."
"How so, oh Great One?" Garz asked from under the table.
"Sit up, you idiot."
Garz picked his chair off the ground and sat in it, a blush and a goofy grin on his stolen face. "Sorry. Didn't know when you'd get back, so we, uh, made tea."
Daisuke sighed, "He has the favor of the Powers now. There's little hope of turning him to our side. What a shame too, he would really enhance our kingdom."
"That's too bad, but we can make it without him, right?"
Nothing. Daisuke stared at him with an unreadable expression, the cup still pressed to his lips.
"Right?"
He sat the cup gently on the saucer with a clink, and closed his eyes in thought. A slight quiver could be heard in his voice as he spoke, "I don't know any more. I thought Light was the Key, but that seems a bit not right now. Kindness has the right spirit. He's seen true darkness and still managed to overcome it. That takes strength, not to mention the eye of the Powers That Be, eh? But he still has potential for darkness, as long as he carries my Dark Spore. It's artifical darkness, but darkness none the less. It can be used. If I can get at him again. He's found his Megadigidestined power, so now I can't touch him."
He ran his finger around the edge of the cup with a dreamy look his his eyes, then took another slow sip.
"You think I could get at him?"
Daisuke glared at Garz from around the side of the china-print tea cup. It was a look that said, 'I'm not even going to bother responding to that one.'
"So, uh, do we still want Light?"
"Of course, she still has great energy. Besides you know darkness cannot exist without light. Like it or not, we need her if we are to even think about moving off this dead realm."
"Oh, boy. That's bad."
"You said it."
They both turned to her and smiled wickedly. She swallowed hard.
* * * *
Ken kicked the doors open dramatically and announced, "I'm back, guys! Please stop killing each other!"
"What do you mean?" Yolei asked, brushing her hair behind her ears.
"Why would would we want to kill each other?" Cody asked calmly.
Ken blinked in disbelief. They, along with Wormmon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Veemon, Gatomon and Patamon were all playing cards! "What happened? I thought..."
"Well...I was choking him, and he wouldn't stop laughing at me, but then suddenly I stopped and remembered that...I loved him!"
Both Cody and Ken winced, but she didn't notice. The Digimon sweatdropped.
"So I quit," Yolei concluded, drawing a card off her deck and examining it carefully. She clutched it to her and squealed. Then she laid it down, pointed at Cody and laughed, "Devestation! Kill 'em all! I have no creatures!"
Cody swept away all his cards. "Aw, man, there goes my strategy. Yeah, so anyway, Ken, life was just the funniest thing ever and suddenly I remembered I had responsibilities. So...We decided to play cards while we waited for you to return."
"I couldn't do anything else, so you can just take that!" Yolei announced.
"Now the game will go on forever!" Veemon complained, laying down his hand in exhasperation.
Ken looked at Cody's hand and scratched his head. So they hadn't even missed him.
Cody tossed his hand to the side and picked up his fighting staff. "And I concede. It's time to get back to business."
"This really isn't the time for games anyway," Wormmon said.
"Thanks," Ken whispered.
"Well, now what?" Yolei asked.
"This is the part where I destroy you all!" Chaos answered.
The kids turned to see a sweet, clean-cut girl ridding atop of one of the most horrible Digimon they'd ever been up against.
Ken gasped, a long forgotten memory flashing through his mind. "Kimeramon?"
She patted the monster's head. "That's right, my baby!"
"But we destroyed him!" Yolei whinned.
Cody gripped his staff and closed his eyes. He muttered, "Digimon don't die, they just get reconfigured. Hmph, how ironic."
"Great," Wormmon said with a shutter. The last time they were up against that Digimon, they only won because Wormmon sacraficed himself. But things were different now. "Come on, Ken, let's digivolve!"
Ken had been shaking with fear, but at the confedent words of his partner, he grabbed his digivice. "Right! Go for it, buddy."
All three of them held their digivices in the air and yelled, "Digivolve!"
"Wormmon digivolve to..."
"Hawkmon digivolve to..."
"Armadillomon digivolve to..."
"Stingmon!"
"Aquilamon!"
"Ankilomon!"
Patamon sighed, "Too bad we don't have our parters. DNA digivolving would come in handy right about now."
"Yeah," Gatomon and Veemon agreed.
"How the heck do we fight that thing?" Yolei yelped as the three Champion Digimon lept into battle.
"The eyes," Ken told her slowly, straining to remember something useful from his dark past. (That's never been easy for him. His memory of that time is fuzzy, controlled. More of the Dark Spore's doing.)
"What?"
His eyes glazed over slightly. He told her in a low, quiet tone, "It's only weakness is it's eyes. An energy blast to them would go directly to it's brain and pretty much kill it instantly."
"Wow, how do you...?"
"I created it, after all, I should know." He pointed at the giant Digimon and yelled fiercely, "Stingmon, gouge out it's eyes!"
Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Chaos squealed and put her hand over her heart. "So that's the legendary Digimon Emperor. Oh, he's dreamy!"
Stingmon took her moment of destraction to attack Kimeramon's eyes, and the battle was over in about ten seconds. The frightening evil Digimon went 'poof' and Chaos fell into Stingmon's arms. She shreiked and thrashed around.
"That seemed way too easy, compaired to last time," Stingmon said. "Stop fighting me, little girl. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Okay." Suddenly she was perfectly calm. He gently put her on the ground and stood over her so she wouldn't think about escaping.
"This is perfect," Cody said, eyeing Chaos suspeciously. "Now we have a hostage. We use her to bargan with Keesma for Kari."
"Don't count on it," Ken told him darkly.
"Why not?"
"You don't know evil very well, do you Cody? That demon is not going to blink an eye when it comes to sacraficing one of it's own. He wouldn't care if we killed her right now. There are plenty more Dark Digidestined where this one came from, you can be sure."
"Then what do we do with her?"
"Don't you guys think you oughta tie me up, or something?"
Cody sweatdropped. "That sounds like a plan to me. Hey, wait a minute, why are you trying to help us?"
She waved, "Y'all's completely hopeless."
"Gee, thanks," Yolei mumbled.
Chaos cracked up with laughter, much the same way Cody had earlier. "You guys are HOPELESS! No more Hope! He's gone, all gone. Ha, that's a joke. I made a funny!"
"Okay, that is by no means funny," Yolei growled, offically deciding she didn't like this girl.
Five minutes later, she was tied to a chair and her nose was in the farthest corner of the room.
* * * *
"No! Those stupid kids actually won, I don't believe it!"
"Woo-hoo! Yeah, they did it!" Kari danced around in a little circle.
"No, no, no! She was out numbered. If the other Dark Digidestined were here they wouldn't stand a chance."
"Now let TK and Davis go, like you promised."
Daisuke pouted a little bit. "Uh, how 'bout no?"
"But you promised!"
"Since when did demons have to keep their promises? I'm the one with the advantage here, not you. Now, I'm not gonna kill you, but you can forget our little deal."
Garz pointed at the door. "Well? Get out of here, before we change our minds."
She left that room as quickly as possible.
"'Before WE change OUR mindS?' Since when could you put yourself on the same level as me, Garzie?"
"Sorry, Boss. I was just really mad."
Daisuke patted the top of Garz's head. "That's okay. I forgive you. This time." He frowned. "But now what do we do?"
What WILL be the demons' next move?
Find out in Episode 8:
"The Deciding Battle"