Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon
Savior
He lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, his hand tangled in her hair. Her hand rested on his chest as she slept and her arm encircled his waist. Her fingers got under his loose sleeping shirt and twitched as she dreamed, tickling his side. With his other hand he absently grabbed her hand. She pushed herself closer into his chest.
This was the perfect set up. He had her perfectly manipulated with no recollection of who she was before. The DigiDestined were his, all he had to do was enslave them. Two of them were almost dead, that was far more fun to watch.
So why couldn't he sleep?
'Maybe its because you know what's happening to her. Or maybe because now your going from vicious Kaiser to cold blooded murder,' Ken screamed in the mind they shared. Lately his host was becoming more and more of an outspoken nuisance.
'I have not killed anyone,' he thought back calmly. 'Not yet at least.' He snickered at that comment. 'And what do I care what happens to her? You're the one with the infatuation, not me. The only reason I let you keep her around is because someday I can probably use her for her body.'
'Take that back! You will do no such thing!' His mind felt heated with anger.
The Kaiser left it at that. He was in no mood to argue with Ken. And if he was perfectly honest, he would never touch her.
There was a knock at the door. 'Who the hell?' He thought sourly. Softly, trying not to jar her, he laid her back on the pillow. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. There was rustling behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to see her sitting up.
"Stay there. Just go back to sleep. If I need you I will send for you." He forced himself off the bed and padded to the door. He briefly glanced over his shoulder to see her watching him. Shrugging it off he opened the door to reveal the DigiDestined of Knowledge.
"What do you want?!" The Kaiser demanded. He patience for his newest slave was strained; his mind seemed to be more of his own then any other slave. Ken seemed to like him because he had quickly won over Hikari's trust. She seemed to remember him just enough to be comfortable around him. Another reason the Kaiser disliked him.
"Its about the DigiDestined of Friendship and Love. An Apemon came to me and I thought it should be brought to your attention before I proceeded and did anything," Knowledge replied.
"What is it?"
"The DigiDestined of Friendship has stopped breathing. There's still a pulse, but no breathing. The DigiDestined of Reliability is trying to revive him. He has had little success," his slave explained. "Do I have permission to step in?"
"And what could you do?" He replied mockingly. "The doctor, who has studied medicine extensively, can't seem to revive him. What makes you think you can? Don you have medical experience?"
"Well, I-uh-"
"Take him to the medical room. I will be there in a minute."
"What about the girl, the child of love?"
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's dying."
"Fine!" The Kaiser waved his hand for Knowledge to leave. "Keep the lovers together. Now leave." His slave left and he shut the door. He stalked over to his closet and grabbed a pair of old cargos and slipped them over his boxers. He wasn't going to worry about his "intimidating" Kaiser uniform. He started for the door, but stopped upon seeing her stand up from the bed. He glared at her with tired eyes. "Stay here." She shook her head. "Sty here! Go back to sleep. I will deal with these matters and return to you." Stubbornly she too a step forward in protest. He raised his hand to strike her across the face and she flinched backward. He lowered his hand and sighed, "But on some pants and something on your feet and lets go." She scrambled off to do as she was told.
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"Let me go!" She struggled, her voice weak. "Don't touch me! Matt!"
Izzy watched from a far corner of the white medical room where an Apemon was holding her down without a problem. She had little strength and yet she continued to use it up by fighting uselessly with the Apemon. Next to her bed was a second bed where Matt slept, a breathing mask over his nose and mouth.
He stepped forward. "Sora." She ignored him and continued to fight. He pushed the digimon out of the way and grabbed her wrists. "Sora, stop! Listen to me!"
She looked at him. "Izzy?"
He nodded and gave a reassuring smile as her hands found his. "Yeah." He glanced at the Apemon. "Get out." It quickly left.
"Where have you been?" She question, her voice was strained and her hands clutched his with barely any strength. She was in pain.
"Watching the Kaiser," he replied.
"What's he going to do to us?"
"I don't know," he whispered honestly. "Hopefully keep you alive." She let out n unsteady breath. "Don't worry. Whatever he does I will keep you safe. But I need to explain something to you before he comes."
"Explain what?" Her eyes shifted over to Matt beside them.
Izzy pulled back his sleeve to reveal the black ring. "The Kaiser thinks I'm his slave. The thing malfunctioned and I broke through it. But I have to listen to everything he says." She was starting doze off. "Sora, I know you're tired, but you have to listen to me." She met his eyes. "If he makes me do anything to you, I'm sorry." She nodded.
"What was the black-" Her voice broke as she spoke. "*cough**cough* what was it like before you stopped being under its control?"
Izzy swallowed hard. "Don't worry about it. Just pray you never experience it."
"Did it hurt?" She pressed.
"Not so much. I was just so numb it was painful. I had no control of myself." He looked to the door. "There's more. Kari will be with him, most likely."
"Is she his slave?" Sora asked, fear the answer.
"No, she's by his side voluntarily." Sora opened her mouth to speak, but Izzy put a finger on her lips to silence her. "Do you know what a dark spore?" She shook her head. "I will explain later, when there's time. Kari's infected by one. It's deleting her mind. She's not going to remember you." There were footsteps outside. "I will continue later. But Ken Ichijoji may not be our real enemy." He squeezed her hand and despite protests from her, let go. The door opened just as he stepped away from the bed. The Kaiser walked in dressed in a faded maroon shirt and holey cargo jeans. Kari followed behind him in a pair of overly baggy blue pants and a long white shirt that went to mid thigh. Izzy briefly glanced at Sora; her eyes were locked on Kari, her lips pressed into a small line. Kari stayed by the door while the Kaiser walked toward the bed.
"Master what do you have in plan for him?" Izzy questioned, more for Sora's comfort then his own.
The Kaiser stood over Matt, and then turned his hard glare to Sora. She physically tensed under his eyes. "I have a doctor friend. I took Hikari to him before."
"Will you take him there?"
The Kaiser didn't answer him at first. "No, I will bring him here."
"Master, is that wise? An outsider to the Digital World?" Izzy questioned.
The Kaiser didn't answer. "Just watch Hikari. I will be back mid tomorrow." Izzy nodded and the Kaiser walked out.
"Hikari," Izzy called. She looked up from the door to him. "Lay down over there." He pointed at a cot in the corner of the room. "I'm not leaving tonight, so you'll have to stay here unless you want to go back to your room." She shook her head and sat down on the edge of the cot. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her watching him. He gave a sad sigh as he sat down beside Sora who stared at Kari through pained eyes. Here were three of his best friends, and they were all dying.
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Ken stood outside the brightly light Kimino clinic. Guvin would most likely inside at 4:30 in the morning doing paper work and other things. He tried to step forward towards the door, but the Kaiser fought him. The being in his mind was completely opposed to the entire idea, but with much effort he was able to force him down again. Which he did so. Each time drained him more.
As the automatic door pulled open, he stepped into the cool waiting room of the clinic. The room was completely empty except for a woman with a squirming five year old and his target, Dr. Joseph Guvin. The green eyed doctor glanced up at him and his eyes widened. "Just a minute Ken," he called before turning his attention back to the woman. "Just keep an eye on Miso while he eats jelly beans, don't let him stick anymore up his nose. Hopefully this time will teach him. Oh and I wouldn't feed a five year old jelly beans at four in the morning." She just nodded and thanked the doctor before turning to leave. Guvin looked at Ken. "Come on back to my office." Guvin gestured toward the door that led to the back of the clinic. His voice sounded hollow and he didn't look at Ken. Ken walked through the door into Guvin's office and Guvin closed the door behind them. Guvin turned to Ken and grabbed him by the front of his shirt before slamming him into the wall. The air rushed out of his lungs and he desperately sucked at the air trying to get a breath.
"What's…that *cough* for?"
"Where the hell is Joe?!" He demanded.
"What?"
"Ken, you can't do no questions this time! Where's Joe?!"
"He's at my house! He's safe!" Ken snapped, fighting for air.
"After Joe AND Kari turned up missing, nine more disappeared. All in the same mysterious way YOU did! Without a trace, without a clue, without a ransom note! I don't know what kind of cult or whatever the hell is going on, but I want answers NOW!" He slammed Ken back against the wall again, just to get his point across.
There was the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. "Do you know what the DigiDestined are?"
"Yeah. They're those kids that saved the world."
"Those teens who are missing, they are the DigiDestined. They're in the Digital World." Guvin loosened his grip on Ken's shirt. "They're all there."
Guvin stepped back "You're a DigiDestined?" He let go of Ken who sank to the floor, spitting out blood on the carpet and sucking in air like he was breathing through a straw.
"No…" They locked eyes and Guvin saw his to be hard and icy. "I'm their enemy."
"Their enemy?"
The Kaiser pushed himself off the floor and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Yes, their enemy. The person they fight. I am the entire reason they fight." He wiped his hand on his pants, creating a red smear.
"Your disturbed Ken."
"They call me the Digimon Kaiser. I tried to take over the Digital World. And they were the last hope for the world."
"And they stopped you?" Guvin asked humored, knowing the answer would be yes. Good always over bad, right?
"I stopped them." Guvin stared at Ken. "Four months ago I "captured" Kari. Then when Joe saw us he followed me back to the DigiWorld. And I captured him. Then the rest of the DigiDestined faced me and I beat them. And now they're in the Digital World, in my home, dying. I need your help."
"With what?"
"The Children of- Their names are Sora Takenouchi and Yamato Ishida. They're dying and I don't know what to do." 'I don't want to kill them.' "I need you to come to the Digital World and look at them. Fix them."
"GO to the Digital World? Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Ken, I can't just leave the clinic for some twisted fantasy you've come up with."
"Its not a twisted fantasy. Come with me and I'll prove it to you. Besides if you don't come now, they will die. I will not allow them to leave the DigiWorld to go to a hospital."
"Okay, let's say this if real, you would let two people die just because I won't believe you?"
"Yes."
'What's wrong with you, Ichijouji?' Guvin thought to himself. 'Are you nuts or just cruel?' He studied Ken, looking for any abnormity, anything to help him figure out Ken. There was nothing, except his eyes kept changing, from hard to soft and pained, to hard again. "Okay. Prove it."
"Thank you," Ken replied. He walked over to the computer and typed a code in. The DigiPort came up onto the screen. Ken grabbed Guvin by his shirt and up his DigiVice. "DigiPort open!"
In a flash of light they disappeared from the light blue room and reappeared in a massive room of stone. Guvin gazed around, mouth open. "What in the-"
"This is my home, my fortress. Your now in the Digital World."
"You were fucking telling the truth…" Guvin whispered in awe, staring out one wide window that showed the landscape of the Digital World (the part without the snow).
"And you didn't believe me," the Kaiser said amused. Guvin looked over at Ken, his voice suddenly sounded so mocking. His eyes were hard again. "Are you ready to meet your patients?" Guvin nodded. "Follow me."
The Kaiser walked out of the computer room, assuming that Guvin would follow, which the doctor did readily. They walked down the stone hallway with its maroon carpets, passing Apemon, Bakumon, and Gekomon. Guvin stared at the creatures in awe.
They stopped at the medical room and Ken walked in with Guvin behind him. Inside was quiet, Kari and Koushiro were asleep on the cot in the corner. Guvin stared at Kari and took a step towards her.
"Don't bother with her. Kari won't remember you, nor will she talk to you." He pointed to the beds where Sora and Matt lay unconscious. "That's them." Guvin turned his attention from Kari to Matt.
Guvin walked over and looked Matt down, then Sora. "What happen to them?"
"The girl was hit by a burning tree branch. Suffered major burns and blows to the head. The boy got thrown off of his digimon's back while thirty feet off the ground, twice. Then got him by an attack from one of my digimon." Guvin felt his throat tighten in anger and disgust. "I can get you anything you need," Ken announced. "Just tell me and it will be ready. Although it may take an hour to a day to get it."
"And how will you get expensive medical equipment?" Guvin asked.
"Easy, I make it," the Kaiser replied haughtily.
Guvin stared at Ken suspiciously. Although despite all of his claimed were ridiculous, not one of them had been a lie. Instead of trying to sort through the confusion he turned his thoughts to his patients, the blond teenaged boy.
Yamato Ishida, lead singer of the Teenage Wolves. Pulse: erratic. Breathing: through a tube.
He turned to the girl, Sora Takenouchi. Pulse: slowed. Breathing: shortened breaths.
"I want the medical records on the both of them, including any medications or hospitalizations." He focused on Ken. "Where are the others?"
"Why?" The Kaiser snapped.
"Because I want to see them."
"No!" Guvin grabbed Ken by the front of his shirt. "Unhand me," the Kaiser ordered calmly. He didn't fear Guvin. Although if it did get down to a fistfight, Guvin could easily overpower him. But the doctor wouldn't fight. "You are in no position to make demands."
"You dragged me here to have me play doctor with some kids you fucked up! I think I'm bring charitable, so return the favor!"
"I didn't drag you! I gave you a choice." Three menacing looking Bakumon appeared. "Unhand me."
With a heavy, frustrated sigh Guvin let Ken go with a hard shove. "Leave Ken. I need to attend to my patients," he growled.
"As you wish, Guvin." Ken walked over and picked up the slumbering Kari before walking out. The other boy, still sleeping, didn't stir.
Letting out another frustrated sigh, Guvin returned to his new patient's sides.
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It was painfully obvious Kari was gone. He knew this, even with his eyes closed. His lap, which had pillowed her head, was free of weight and closed. He had been awake when Ken had taken her and he did nothing to stop him. Not that he could, but it still just felt like he was abandoning her.
There was someone else in the room. He could hear the rustling from them as they hustled around the room. But who else was there? It couldn't be Ken; the Kaiser made no sound, he was like a tiger, silent and swift. This person made no attempt to ease his steps.
Izzy eased open one eye. The person was a medium height young man with brown hair and glasses. Definitely not the Kaiser. He opened his eyes the rest of the way and began to watch the man. For a moment he was stopped. He leaned against Matt's bed with his eyes closed, muttering something to himself. Izzy pushed himself off the cot and cleared his throat. The man looked up at him.
'What do a say now?' "Hi," Izzy greeted, dumbly.
The man swallowed hard and stared at Izzy. "You a DigiDestined?"
"Yeah, who are you?" Izzy snapped. Who was this guy? If he worked for the Kaiser…
"My name is Joseph Guvin. Ken brought me here to treat your friends. And you are?"
"Izzy Izumi. Nice to meet you Mr. Guvin. Are you a doctor?"
"Yes," Guvin nodded.
"You're treating them?" Izzy gestured to Matt and Sora. Guvin nodded. "Are they going to be alright?"
"I dunno. I think Yamato may have eternal bleeding, but I can't be sure. Sora has overworked her body and she's just in desperate need of rest. Her burns have become infected though and that is a problem."
"But…you'll s-save Matt…right?" The pair looked up to see Sora pushing herself up.
"Sora." Izzy moved toward her.
"You'll save Matt, right?" Her arms supporting her up began to shake under the weight.
"Sora, lay down," Izzy commanded her softly.
"No! Answer my question!" She demanded.
Guvin stared at her like a deer caught in headlights. He had never seen such a young girl hurt in such a way. Nor had he seen someone so sick so determined. Izzy elbowed him in the side. "Oh, uh, yes I'll try."
She let her arms slip from under herself and Izzy laid her down. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice cracking as she spoke. Izzy helped her get propped up on two pillows.
"His name is Joseph Guvin, he's a doctor. He's going to help you and Matt," Izzy explained.
She leaned in. "Are we still in the Digital World?" Izzy nodded. "What's he doing here?"
He leaned closer to her ear. "Ken brought him."
"Why?" She growled.
"I don't know. He wants us alive." She nodded and he pulled away to find Guvin watching them with curious eyes. "Mr. Guvin is there anything you need, because if you're willing to help us, we'll do anything."
"I want answers," Guvin replied. "I want to know what the hell this place is and what Ken has become."
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She sat at his feet with her head rested on his leg while he typed away at his computer. He stopped typing and looked down at her. She looked more run down then ever. Her shoulder length brown fell around her face, nearly covering her lost and vacant brown eyes. She was dressed in what looked like just a pile of clothes. A giant sized dark blue shirt sat over a second deep red one that went down to her knees and covered her hands. A pair of black pants rolled over twice covered her bottom half. He felt bad about not having anything that fit her, they were even big on him, but it was all he had brought with him. Before he had come to the Digital World permanently he had stocked up on things, meaning he had brought stuff from his house no one would miss. His brother's clothes.
Her hands, hidden by her sleeves, twisted the sleeves and pulled at them as she stared into space. "Hikari?" He called to her in a hushed voice and the computer disappeared from in front of him. She didn't even notice. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. In his mind the Kaiser's anger flared with every glance at her. It felt like acid in his mind and gave him a splitting headache. He set a hand on her shoulder. "Hikari, come stand up." She nodded, mumbled something that sounded like okay and stood up. His mind started to burn again as the Kaiser growled at her. 'Useless girl! Waste of a dark spore! A waste of my time.' "Hikari," Ken struggled. "I want you to go to Koushiro. Alright?" She stared at the floor. The Kaiser's anger boiled as he struck her across the face, sending her to the floor. "Take her to Koushiro!" He screamed at the Apemon who escorted her everywhere she went. . The Apemon scrambled over and scooped her up off the floor. He quickly ran from the room. 'See what you did to her!' Ken screamed as the pain escalated in his head.
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Guvin didn't speak for a moment. Then, "What are you doing here?"
"Huh?" Izzy asked.
"What's going on? Why are you and your friends here?"
"What you're asking for is the purpose of the DigiDestined or why me and my friends are the DigiDestined?"
"Both."
"The purpose of the DigiDestined is to protect the Digital World," Izzy explained.
"But can't Digimon protect themselves? They do have those powers and stuff," Guvin asked.
"Yes, but it's the same thing with humans. Normal people can protect themselves, maniacs run around with guns everyday. But yet we still have the army." Guvin nodded in understanding. "We were picked as the DigiDestined because we were born to be. It was our destiny."
"Okay, then what's going on between you and Ken?"
"You've entered a war, Mr. Guvin," Izzy replied. "Between us, the DigiDestined, and Ken, the Digimon Kaiser. He has the ability to control life forms in the Digital World and we were trying to stop him." His eyes turned to Sora. "But we lost. Right now we've been torn apart and we're picking up the pieces."
"Explain from the beginning," Guvin begged. "You keep telling me things, but it doesn't give me any idea what's happening or how to help."
"Because you're here to be a doctor!" Izzy yelled at him. "There is no way for you to help except for helping them!" He pointed at Sora and Matt. "If you want to help, leave the fighting to us!"
"What happened?" Guvin asked, his tone steady despite Izzy's yelling.
"About a year ago the Kaiser showed up in the Digital World. He was killing and controlling digimon, making them hurt each other. We came back to the Digital World to stop him. Then Kari got left behind in the Digital World and he saved her. She got hit by a digimon's attack and out friends left her behind. The Kaiser has been taking care of her from what I've heard from his slaves. Then he got Joe and it pushed us over the edge. We had been staying idle because he threatened to hurt her if we came into the DigiWorld. But that was it, we went to the DigiWorld and we had a huge battle and we lost. He outnumbered and out powered us."
Guvin shook his head. "None of this sounds like Ken." He looked at Sora. "He wouldn't hurt anyone like this!"
"Maybe not, but I didn't say it was Ken. I said the Kaiser," Izzy responded cryptically.
"You lost me." Izzy pushed up his sleeve to show a dark ring. "That's what was on the digimon."
"Yep. It makes them his slaves. Its an almost unbreakable metal that's been encoded to follow the Kaiser's voice and commands."
"Why is it on you?" Guvin asked suspiciously.
"Because the Kaiser needed my help and he knew I wouldn't help him otherwise. But its broken so I don't have to follow his orders, just pretend I do. He has me investigating an object called a dark spore. He put one in Kari and now it's destroying her mind. It's going to kill her within a week, two at the most. And he knows it."
Guvin's eyes widened behind his thin framed glasses. "Then why'd put it in her if it would kill her?"
"Because he didn't know," Izzy answered. "Ken, the real Ken was infected with a dark spore when he was six."
"When his brother died," Guvin mumbled to himself.
Izzy nodded, "Because his brother died."
"What?"
"There's one more world that we know of. It's called the 'Dark World'. The Dark World feeds off dark energy. Depression, sadness, anger, hate. All of it. And Ken was full of those. So he was pulled into the Dark World. And a dark spore infected him. The dark spore created the Kaiser. The Kaiser is like a secondary being in Ken's mind."
"It made him schizophrenic?" Guvin retorted skeptically.
"No. When a person is schizophrenic they lose touch with reality and they hallucinate figures. Ken knows what's going on, he has all sense of reality. And the Kaiser is fully real. The Kaiser is a presence; it's a mind with out a body. It can think all on it own, it just needs to inhabit a person. Dark energy makes him stronger and it grows and feeds and incubates in a body until it can take over. Ken has been fully taken over by the Kaiser."
"Can he be saved?" Guvin demanded. "Can't you get that thing out of him?"
"I don't know," Izzy replied.
Guvin ran a hand through his tangled brown hair; he really hadn't bothered to comb his short mop before leaving this morning. "Why didn't it effect Kari in the same way?" He force out with his eyes closed.
"Kari's crest-"
"Crest?"
"Her symbol, what she represents as a DigiDestined. Its what gives her digimon strength. We all have one. Mine is Knowledge, Sora's is Love, and Matt's is Friendship. Kari's is Light."
"Hikari means light," Guvin pointed out, mostly for himself.
Izzy nodded. "It's a fitting name for her. Because Kari is light she has little darkness in her for the spore to feed on. So it's eating at her mind. It's destroying her." In the bed Sora closed her eyes as tears flooded them. She remembered how Kari looked yesterday, empty and lifeless.
"What are her symptoms?" Guvin asked in his very professional doctor tone.
"She's lost her memory, both long and short term. She's lost all ability to learn, she's starting to lose motor functions. Her hands constantly shake, she can't hold things. Dressing has become a problem that has turned very uncomfortable for me. And her vocabulary, if she speaks at all." Sora let out a choking sob and Izzy rubbed his head as he let out a heavy sigh. "She's becoming mentally retarded."
"I'm sorry."
"DON'T BE SORRY!" Izzy screamed in frustration. "Don't be sorry! Just help them! Make them better." He gestured to Matt and Sora. "Just don't be sorry. Pity and words mean nothing in this world!"
"Guvin nodded and swallowed hard.
"Izzy," Sora forced painfully.
He looked up at her. "Huh?" She gestured toward the doorway. Kari stood there with an Apemon behind her. "What?" Izzy demanded, his tone cold.
"The master told me to bring her here."
'The master,' Izzy thought, his mind burning with pure hatred. Fine." The Apemon nodded and went to stand by the door. "You can leave," Izzy growled.
"But-"
"You can leave!" The Apemon bowed reluctantly and left. "Hikari." She stared at the floor, looking detached. "Excuse me," he whispered, voice tight. He walked over to her and walked her over to a cot where they had slept last night.
Guvin searched her face for something different. She was the same, except her glasses were gone. Now he could see how inhumanly blank her eyes were. At least before they showed pain, but now…he doubted she felt anything.
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Okay, it was an uneventful chapter, sorry. A lot of explanation. I hope you liked it. I'm going to try to work on a new chapter of Broken for all those waiting, but it's a hard write so I don't know when it will be out. The next chapter of Savior might be the last, we'll see. I just thought I'd warn you.
Please review.
Savior
He lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, his hand tangled in her hair. Her hand rested on his chest as she slept and her arm encircled his waist. Her fingers got under his loose sleeping shirt and twitched as she dreamed, tickling his side. With his other hand he absently grabbed her hand. She pushed herself closer into his chest.
This was the perfect set up. He had her perfectly manipulated with no recollection of who she was before. The DigiDestined were his, all he had to do was enslave them. Two of them were almost dead, that was far more fun to watch.
So why couldn't he sleep?
'Maybe its because you know what's happening to her. Or maybe because now your going from vicious Kaiser to cold blooded murder,' Ken screamed in the mind they shared. Lately his host was becoming more and more of an outspoken nuisance.
'I have not killed anyone,' he thought back calmly. 'Not yet at least.' He snickered at that comment. 'And what do I care what happens to her? You're the one with the infatuation, not me. The only reason I let you keep her around is because someday I can probably use her for her body.'
'Take that back! You will do no such thing!' His mind felt heated with anger.
The Kaiser left it at that. He was in no mood to argue with Ken. And if he was perfectly honest, he would never touch her.
There was a knock at the door. 'Who the hell?' He thought sourly. Softly, trying not to jar her, he laid her back on the pillow. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. There was rustling behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to see her sitting up.
"Stay there. Just go back to sleep. If I need you I will send for you." He forced himself off the bed and padded to the door. He briefly glanced over his shoulder to see her watching him. Shrugging it off he opened the door to reveal the DigiDestined of Knowledge.
"What do you want?!" The Kaiser demanded. He patience for his newest slave was strained; his mind seemed to be more of his own then any other slave. Ken seemed to like him because he had quickly won over Hikari's trust. She seemed to remember him just enough to be comfortable around him. Another reason the Kaiser disliked him.
"Its about the DigiDestined of Friendship and Love. An Apemon came to me and I thought it should be brought to your attention before I proceeded and did anything," Knowledge replied.
"What is it?"
"The DigiDestined of Friendship has stopped breathing. There's still a pulse, but no breathing. The DigiDestined of Reliability is trying to revive him. He has had little success," his slave explained. "Do I have permission to step in?"
"And what could you do?" He replied mockingly. "The doctor, who has studied medicine extensively, can't seem to revive him. What makes you think you can? Don you have medical experience?"
"Well, I-uh-"
"Take him to the medical room. I will be there in a minute."
"What about the girl, the child of love?"
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's dying."
"Fine!" The Kaiser waved his hand for Knowledge to leave. "Keep the lovers together. Now leave." His slave left and he shut the door. He stalked over to his closet and grabbed a pair of old cargos and slipped them over his boxers. He wasn't going to worry about his "intimidating" Kaiser uniform. He started for the door, but stopped upon seeing her stand up from the bed. He glared at her with tired eyes. "Stay here." She shook her head. "Sty here! Go back to sleep. I will deal with these matters and return to you." Stubbornly she too a step forward in protest. He raised his hand to strike her across the face and she flinched backward. He lowered his hand and sighed, "But on some pants and something on your feet and lets go." She scrambled off to do as she was told.
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"Let me go!" She struggled, her voice weak. "Don't touch me! Matt!"
Izzy watched from a far corner of the white medical room where an Apemon was holding her down without a problem. She had little strength and yet she continued to use it up by fighting uselessly with the Apemon. Next to her bed was a second bed where Matt slept, a breathing mask over his nose and mouth.
He stepped forward. "Sora." She ignored him and continued to fight. He pushed the digimon out of the way and grabbed her wrists. "Sora, stop! Listen to me!"
She looked at him. "Izzy?"
He nodded and gave a reassuring smile as her hands found his. "Yeah." He glanced at the Apemon. "Get out." It quickly left.
"Where have you been?" She question, her voice was strained and her hands clutched his with barely any strength. She was in pain.
"Watching the Kaiser," he replied.
"What's he going to do to us?"
"I don't know," he whispered honestly. "Hopefully keep you alive." She let out n unsteady breath. "Don't worry. Whatever he does I will keep you safe. But I need to explain something to you before he comes."
"Explain what?" Her eyes shifted over to Matt beside them.
Izzy pulled back his sleeve to reveal the black ring. "The Kaiser thinks I'm his slave. The thing malfunctioned and I broke through it. But I have to listen to everything he says." She was starting doze off. "Sora, I know you're tired, but you have to listen to me." She met his eyes. "If he makes me do anything to you, I'm sorry." She nodded.
"What was the black-" Her voice broke as she spoke. "*cough**cough* what was it like before you stopped being under its control?"
Izzy swallowed hard. "Don't worry about it. Just pray you never experience it."
"Did it hurt?" She pressed.
"Not so much. I was just so numb it was painful. I had no control of myself." He looked to the door. "There's more. Kari will be with him, most likely."
"Is she his slave?" Sora asked, fear the answer.
"No, she's by his side voluntarily." Sora opened her mouth to speak, but Izzy put a finger on her lips to silence her. "Do you know what a dark spore?" She shook her head. "I will explain later, when there's time. Kari's infected by one. It's deleting her mind. She's not going to remember you." There were footsteps outside. "I will continue later. But Ken Ichijoji may not be our real enemy." He squeezed her hand and despite protests from her, let go. The door opened just as he stepped away from the bed. The Kaiser walked in dressed in a faded maroon shirt and holey cargo jeans. Kari followed behind him in a pair of overly baggy blue pants and a long white shirt that went to mid thigh. Izzy briefly glanced at Sora; her eyes were locked on Kari, her lips pressed into a small line. Kari stayed by the door while the Kaiser walked toward the bed.
"Master what do you have in plan for him?" Izzy questioned, more for Sora's comfort then his own.
The Kaiser stood over Matt, and then turned his hard glare to Sora. She physically tensed under his eyes. "I have a doctor friend. I took Hikari to him before."
"Will you take him there?"
The Kaiser didn't answer him at first. "No, I will bring him here."
"Master, is that wise? An outsider to the Digital World?" Izzy questioned.
The Kaiser didn't answer. "Just watch Hikari. I will be back mid tomorrow." Izzy nodded and the Kaiser walked out.
"Hikari," Izzy called. She looked up from the door to him. "Lay down over there." He pointed at a cot in the corner of the room. "I'm not leaving tonight, so you'll have to stay here unless you want to go back to your room." She shook her head and sat down on the edge of the cot. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her watching him. He gave a sad sigh as he sat down beside Sora who stared at Kari through pained eyes. Here were three of his best friends, and they were all dying.
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Ken stood outside the brightly light Kimino clinic. Guvin would most likely inside at 4:30 in the morning doing paper work and other things. He tried to step forward towards the door, but the Kaiser fought him. The being in his mind was completely opposed to the entire idea, but with much effort he was able to force him down again. Which he did so. Each time drained him more.
As the automatic door pulled open, he stepped into the cool waiting room of the clinic. The room was completely empty except for a woman with a squirming five year old and his target, Dr. Joseph Guvin. The green eyed doctor glanced up at him and his eyes widened. "Just a minute Ken," he called before turning his attention back to the woman. "Just keep an eye on Miso while he eats jelly beans, don't let him stick anymore up his nose. Hopefully this time will teach him. Oh and I wouldn't feed a five year old jelly beans at four in the morning." She just nodded and thanked the doctor before turning to leave. Guvin looked at Ken. "Come on back to my office." Guvin gestured toward the door that led to the back of the clinic. His voice sounded hollow and he didn't look at Ken. Ken walked through the door into Guvin's office and Guvin closed the door behind them. Guvin turned to Ken and grabbed him by the front of his shirt before slamming him into the wall. The air rushed out of his lungs and he desperately sucked at the air trying to get a breath.
"What's…that *cough* for?"
"Where the hell is Joe?!" He demanded.
"What?"
"Ken, you can't do no questions this time! Where's Joe?!"
"He's at my house! He's safe!" Ken snapped, fighting for air.
"After Joe AND Kari turned up missing, nine more disappeared. All in the same mysterious way YOU did! Without a trace, without a clue, without a ransom note! I don't know what kind of cult or whatever the hell is going on, but I want answers NOW!" He slammed Ken back against the wall again, just to get his point across.
There was the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. "Do you know what the DigiDestined are?"
"Yeah. They're those kids that saved the world."
"Those teens who are missing, they are the DigiDestined. They're in the Digital World." Guvin loosened his grip on Ken's shirt. "They're all there."
Guvin stepped back "You're a DigiDestined?" He let go of Ken who sank to the floor, spitting out blood on the carpet and sucking in air like he was breathing through a straw.
"No…" They locked eyes and Guvin saw his to be hard and icy. "I'm their enemy."
"Their enemy?"
The Kaiser pushed himself off the floor and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Yes, their enemy. The person they fight. I am the entire reason they fight." He wiped his hand on his pants, creating a red smear.
"Your disturbed Ken."
"They call me the Digimon Kaiser. I tried to take over the Digital World. And they were the last hope for the world."
"And they stopped you?" Guvin asked humored, knowing the answer would be yes. Good always over bad, right?
"I stopped them." Guvin stared at Ken. "Four months ago I "captured" Kari. Then when Joe saw us he followed me back to the DigiWorld. And I captured him. Then the rest of the DigiDestined faced me and I beat them. And now they're in the Digital World, in my home, dying. I need your help."
"With what?"
"The Children of- Their names are Sora Takenouchi and Yamato Ishida. They're dying and I don't know what to do." 'I don't want to kill them.' "I need you to come to the Digital World and look at them. Fix them."
"GO to the Digital World? Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Ken, I can't just leave the clinic for some twisted fantasy you've come up with."
"Its not a twisted fantasy. Come with me and I'll prove it to you. Besides if you don't come now, they will die. I will not allow them to leave the DigiWorld to go to a hospital."
"Okay, let's say this if real, you would let two people die just because I won't believe you?"
"Yes."
'What's wrong with you, Ichijouji?' Guvin thought to himself. 'Are you nuts or just cruel?' He studied Ken, looking for any abnormity, anything to help him figure out Ken. There was nothing, except his eyes kept changing, from hard to soft and pained, to hard again. "Okay. Prove it."
"Thank you," Ken replied. He walked over to the computer and typed a code in. The DigiPort came up onto the screen. Ken grabbed Guvin by his shirt and up his DigiVice. "DigiPort open!"
In a flash of light they disappeared from the light blue room and reappeared in a massive room of stone. Guvin gazed around, mouth open. "What in the-"
"This is my home, my fortress. Your now in the Digital World."
"You were fucking telling the truth…" Guvin whispered in awe, staring out one wide window that showed the landscape of the Digital World (the part without the snow).
"And you didn't believe me," the Kaiser said amused. Guvin looked over at Ken, his voice suddenly sounded so mocking. His eyes were hard again. "Are you ready to meet your patients?" Guvin nodded. "Follow me."
The Kaiser walked out of the computer room, assuming that Guvin would follow, which the doctor did readily. They walked down the stone hallway with its maroon carpets, passing Apemon, Bakumon, and Gekomon. Guvin stared at the creatures in awe.
They stopped at the medical room and Ken walked in with Guvin behind him. Inside was quiet, Kari and Koushiro were asleep on the cot in the corner. Guvin stared at Kari and took a step towards her.
"Don't bother with her. Kari won't remember you, nor will she talk to you." He pointed to the beds where Sora and Matt lay unconscious. "That's them." Guvin turned his attention from Kari to Matt.
Guvin walked over and looked Matt down, then Sora. "What happen to them?"
"The girl was hit by a burning tree branch. Suffered major burns and blows to the head. The boy got thrown off of his digimon's back while thirty feet off the ground, twice. Then got him by an attack from one of my digimon." Guvin felt his throat tighten in anger and disgust. "I can get you anything you need," Ken announced. "Just tell me and it will be ready. Although it may take an hour to a day to get it."
"And how will you get expensive medical equipment?" Guvin asked.
"Easy, I make it," the Kaiser replied haughtily.
Guvin stared at Ken suspiciously. Although despite all of his claimed were ridiculous, not one of them had been a lie. Instead of trying to sort through the confusion he turned his thoughts to his patients, the blond teenaged boy.
Yamato Ishida, lead singer of the Teenage Wolves. Pulse: erratic. Breathing: through a tube.
He turned to the girl, Sora Takenouchi. Pulse: slowed. Breathing: shortened breaths.
"I want the medical records on the both of them, including any medications or hospitalizations." He focused on Ken. "Where are the others?"
"Why?" The Kaiser snapped.
"Because I want to see them."
"No!" Guvin grabbed Ken by the front of his shirt. "Unhand me," the Kaiser ordered calmly. He didn't fear Guvin. Although if it did get down to a fistfight, Guvin could easily overpower him. But the doctor wouldn't fight. "You are in no position to make demands."
"You dragged me here to have me play doctor with some kids you fucked up! I think I'm bring charitable, so return the favor!"
"I didn't drag you! I gave you a choice." Three menacing looking Bakumon appeared. "Unhand me."
With a heavy, frustrated sigh Guvin let Ken go with a hard shove. "Leave Ken. I need to attend to my patients," he growled.
"As you wish, Guvin." Ken walked over and picked up the slumbering Kari before walking out. The other boy, still sleeping, didn't stir.
Letting out another frustrated sigh, Guvin returned to his new patient's sides.
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It was painfully obvious Kari was gone. He knew this, even with his eyes closed. His lap, which had pillowed her head, was free of weight and closed. He had been awake when Ken had taken her and he did nothing to stop him. Not that he could, but it still just felt like he was abandoning her.
There was someone else in the room. He could hear the rustling from them as they hustled around the room. But who else was there? It couldn't be Ken; the Kaiser made no sound, he was like a tiger, silent and swift. This person made no attempt to ease his steps.
Izzy eased open one eye. The person was a medium height young man with brown hair and glasses. Definitely not the Kaiser. He opened his eyes the rest of the way and began to watch the man. For a moment he was stopped. He leaned against Matt's bed with his eyes closed, muttering something to himself. Izzy pushed himself off the cot and cleared his throat. The man looked up at him.
'What do a say now?' "Hi," Izzy greeted, dumbly.
The man swallowed hard and stared at Izzy. "You a DigiDestined?"
"Yeah, who are you?" Izzy snapped. Who was this guy? If he worked for the Kaiser…
"My name is Joseph Guvin. Ken brought me here to treat your friends. And you are?"
"Izzy Izumi. Nice to meet you Mr. Guvin. Are you a doctor?"
"Yes," Guvin nodded.
"You're treating them?" Izzy gestured to Matt and Sora. Guvin nodded. "Are they going to be alright?"
"I dunno. I think Yamato may have eternal bleeding, but I can't be sure. Sora has overworked her body and she's just in desperate need of rest. Her burns have become infected though and that is a problem."
"But…you'll s-save Matt…right?" The pair looked up to see Sora pushing herself up.
"Sora." Izzy moved toward her.
"You'll save Matt, right?" Her arms supporting her up began to shake under the weight.
"Sora, lay down," Izzy commanded her softly.
"No! Answer my question!" She demanded.
Guvin stared at her like a deer caught in headlights. He had never seen such a young girl hurt in such a way. Nor had he seen someone so sick so determined. Izzy elbowed him in the side. "Oh, uh, yes I'll try."
She let her arms slip from under herself and Izzy laid her down. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice cracking as she spoke. Izzy helped her get propped up on two pillows.
"His name is Joseph Guvin, he's a doctor. He's going to help you and Matt," Izzy explained.
She leaned in. "Are we still in the Digital World?" Izzy nodded. "What's he doing here?"
He leaned closer to her ear. "Ken brought him."
"Why?" She growled.
"I don't know. He wants us alive." She nodded and he pulled away to find Guvin watching them with curious eyes. "Mr. Guvin is there anything you need, because if you're willing to help us, we'll do anything."
"I want answers," Guvin replied. "I want to know what the hell this place is and what Ken has become."
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She sat at his feet with her head rested on his leg while he typed away at his computer. He stopped typing and looked down at her. She looked more run down then ever. Her shoulder length brown fell around her face, nearly covering her lost and vacant brown eyes. She was dressed in what looked like just a pile of clothes. A giant sized dark blue shirt sat over a second deep red one that went down to her knees and covered her hands. A pair of black pants rolled over twice covered her bottom half. He felt bad about not having anything that fit her, they were even big on him, but it was all he had brought with him. Before he had come to the Digital World permanently he had stocked up on things, meaning he had brought stuff from his house no one would miss. His brother's clothes.
Her hands, hidden by her sleeves, twisted the sleeves and pulled at them as she stared into space. "Hikari?" He called to her in a hushed voice and the computer disappeared from in front of him. She didn't even notice. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. In his mind the Kaiser's anger flared with every glance at her. It felt like acid in his mind and gave him a splitting headache. He set a hand on her shoulder. "Hikari, come stand up." She nodded, mumbled something that sounded like okay and stood up. His mind started to burn again as the Kaiser growled at her. 'Useless girl! Waste of a dark spore! A waste of my time.' "Hikari," Ken struggled. "I want you to go to Koushiro. Alright?" She stared at the floor. The Kaiser's anger boiled as he struck her across the face, sending her to the floor. "Take her to Koushiro!" He screamed at the Apemon who escorted her everywhere she went. . The Apemon scrambled over and scooped her up off the floor. He quickly ran from the room. 'See what you did to her!' Ken screamed as the pain escalated in his head.
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Guvin didn't speak for a moment. Then, "What are you doing here?"
"Huh?" Izzy asked.
"What's going on? Why are you and your friends here?"
"What you're asking for is the purpose of the DigiDestined or why me and my friends are the DigiDestined?"
"Both."
"The purpose of the DigiDestined is to protect the Digital World," Izzy explained.
"But can't Digimon protect themselves? They do have those powers and stuff," Guvin asked.
"Yes, but it's the same thing with humans. Normal people can protect themselves, maniacs run around with guns everyday. But yet we still have the army." Guvin nodded in understanding. "We were picked as the DigiDestined because we were born to be. It was our destiny."
"Okay, then what's going on between you and Ken?"
"You've entered a war, Mr. Guvin," Izzy replied. "Between us, the DigiDestined, and Ken, the Digimon Kaiser. He has the ability to control life forms in the Digital World and we were trying to stop him." His eyes turned to Sora. "But we lost. Right now we've been torn apart and we're picking up the pieces."
"Explain from the beginning," Guvin begged. "You keep telling me things, but it doesn't give me any idea what's happening or how to help."
"Because you're here to be a doctor!" Izzy yelled at him. "There is no way for you to help except for helping them!" He pointed at Sora and Matt. "If you want to help, leave the fighting to us!"
"What happened?" Guvin asked, his tone steady despite Izzy's yelling.
"About a year ago the Kaiser showed up in the Digital World. He was killing and controlling digimon, making them hurt each other. We came back to the Digital World to stop him. Then Kari got left behind in the Digital World and he saved her. She got hit by a digimon's attack and out friends left her behind. The Kaiser has been taking care of her from what I've heard from his slaves. Then he got Joe and it pushed us over the edge. We had been staying idle because he threatened to hurt her if we came into the DigiWorld. But that was it, we went to the DigiWorld and we had a huge battle and we lost. He outnumbered and out powered us."
Guvin shook his head. "None of this sounds like Ken." He looked at Sora. "He wouldn't hurt anyone like this!"
"Maybe not, but I didn't say it was Ken. I said the Kaiser," Izzy responded cryptically.
"You lost me." Izzy pushed up his sleeve to show a dark ring. "That's what was on the digimon."
"Yep. It makes them his slaves. Its an almost unbreakable metal that's been encoded to follow the Kaiser's voice and commands."
"Why is it on you?" Guvin asked suspiciously.
"Because the Kaiser needed my help and he knew I wouldn't help him otherwise. But its broken so I don't have to follow his orders, just pretend I do. He has me investigating an object called a dark spore. He put one in Kari and now it's destroying her mind. It's going to kill her within a week, two at the most. And he knows it."
Guvin's eyes widened behind his thin framed glasses. "Then why'd put it in her if it would kill her?"
"Because he didn't know," Izzy answered. "Ken, the real Ken was infected with a dark spore when he was six."
"When his brother died," Guvin mumbled to himself.
Izzy nodded, "Because his brother died."
"What?"
"There's one more world that we know of. It's called the 'Dark World'. The Dark World feeds off dark energy. Depression, sadness, anger, hate. All of it. And Ken was full of those. So he was pulled into the Dark World. And a dark spore infected him. The dark spore created the Kaiser. The Kaiser is like a secondary being in Ken's mind."
"It made him schizophrenic?" Guvin retorted skeptically.
"No. When a person is schizophrenic they lose touch with reality and they hallucinate figures. Ken knows what's going on, he has all sense of reality. And the Kaiser is fully real. The Kaiser is a presence; it's a mind with out a body. It can think all on it own, it just needs to inhabit a person. Dark energy makes him stronger and it grows and feeds and incubates in a body until it can take over. Ken has been fully taken over by the Kaiser."
"Can he be saved?" Guvin demanded. "Can't you get that thing out of him?"
"I don't know," Izzy replied.
Guvin ran a hand through his tangled brown hair; he really hadn't bothered to comb his short mop before leaving this morning. "Why didn't it effect Kari in the same way?" He force out with his eyes closed.
"Kari's crest-"
"Crest?"
"Her symbol, what she represents as a DigiDestined. Its what gives her digimon strength. We all have one. Mine is Knowledge, Sora's is Love, and Matt's is Friendship. Kari's is Light."
"Hikari means light," Guvin pointed out, mostly for himself.
Izzy nodded. "It's a fitting name for her. Because Kari is light she has little darkness in her for the spore to feed on. So it's eating at her mind. It's destroying her." In the bed Sora closed her eyes as tears flooded them. She remembered how Kari looked yesterday, empty and lifeless.
"What are her symptoms?" Guvin asked in his very professional doctor tone.
"She's lost her memory, both long and short term. She's lost all ability to learn, she's starting to lose motor functions. Her hands constantly shake, she can't hold things. Dressing has become a problem that has turned very uncomfortable for me. And her vocabulary, if she speaks at all." Sora let out a choking sob and Izzy rubbed his head as he let out a heavy sigh. "She's becoming mentally retarded."
"I'm sorry."
"DON'T BE SORRY!" Izzy screamed in frustration. "Don't be sorry! Just help them! Make them better." He gestured to Matt and Sora. "Just don't be sorry. Pity and words mean nothing in this world!"
"Guvin nodded and swallowed hard.
"Izzy," Sora forced painfully.
He looked up at her. "Huh?" She gestured toward the doorway. Kari stood there with an Apemon behind her. "What?" Izzy demanded, his tone cold.
"The master told me to bring her here."
'The master,' Izzy thought, his mind burning with pure hatred. Fine." The Apemon nodded and went to stand by the door. "You can leave," Izzy growled.
"But-"
"You can leave!" The Apemon bowed reluctantly and left. "Hikari." She stared at the floor, looking detached. "Excuse me," he whispered, voice tight. He walked over to her and walked her over to a cot where they had slept last night.
Guvin searched her face for something different. She was the same, except her glasses were gone. Now he could see how inhumanly blank her eyes were. At least before they showed pain, but now…he doubted she felt anything.
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Okay, it was an uneventful chapter, sorry. A lot of explanation. I hope you liked it. I'm going to try to work on a new chapter of Broken for all those waiting, but it's a hard write so I don't know when it will be out. The next chapter of Savior might be the last, we'll see. I just thought I'd warn you.
Please review.