Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, so please don't sue.  

Chapter 6: Exposure

The Kaiser lay motionlessly on the floor covered completely by his cape. His eyes were red with tears and he found he could cry no longer. Wormmon was gone for good. The only person in the world that cared for him was now dead and it was all his fault. It took awhile to sink in. He couldn't even understand why the creature loved him so dearly. He had tortured the creature, basically treated it like shit, but still the Digimon managed to love him. It didn't make any sense.

Ken-chan! Ken-chan!

The memory repeated itself over and over in his mind, Wormmon disintegrating into a thousand different pieces.

Ken I love you…

"Shut up!"

He could no longer take this suffering. He felt as if he were going completely insane. The pain hurt so badly yet it was so familiar. "Wormmon…Osamu…" He felt his heart race faster and faster until the point where he thought it would explode. The intense pain caused him to throw up. The room began to spin around him, twisting and turning in every direction. Yellow, blue, green, purple, orange… So many pretty colours… The colours spun around him rapidly until suddenly there was a blast and the colours began to fade. Blackness took their place. His heart began to grow louder until it was the only thing he could hear.

Moments later a dark liquid seemed to leak through the darkness. His eyes widened in fear, recognising the substance right away. He had seen it so many times. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. The blood seemed to leak towards his feet. Ken stood in shock as the liquid seemed to merge over him. Quickly it moved up his legs until it had his arms trapped together. He tried to scream once again as the substance trickled his neck. Reverting back the blood pushed itself down the boy's throat choking him. He could feel it travelling down into his body. He could feel it against his insides. It-it felt evil, an evil Ken could not begin to describe.

Just as he thought he was about to die, the liquid arose from his throat and began to bubble on the ground. Ken instantly gasped for breath, coughing and yacking. Never had he felt such a horrible experience. But what he saw next frightened him even more. The now acid like blood slowly began to blend into the darkness and a dark shell appeared before him. He could hear his own heart beat signalling to him that he was still alive but something was different, it was as if he could hear two beats. It was different yet the same. No, nothing made sense anymore.

Where the hell was he? And who did the other heart beat belong to? The beating grew louder and suddenly he realised that it was coming from the shell. As on cue the shell began to crack and the same disgusting liquid leaked from it as before. Meanwhile the remains of the egg began to merge with the blood forming a revolting gushy blob. Now Ken was terrified. But he was the Digimon Kaiser, he wasn't supposed to get scared, he was strong, powerful, the master of this world. Unfortunately he still felt the need to vomit. His eyes widened as a hand reached out from splodge.

Slowly the creature rose and instantly he was aware that this was the being whose heart beat matched his own.  He wanted to turn away scream but something forced his to gaze upon the creature's eerie figure until he could make it out. Gradually he began to realise what or 'who' it was.

Oh God no…

He was staring face to face with a younger version of himself.

"Yes I am you." Ken began to back away trying to make sense on what was happening.

The younger Ken smiled. "You wonder who I am and now I have told you. I am you or at least I was…"

No this is just a nightmare!

"After all the things you have seen in this world, you believe this to be a dream?"

Who are you?!

"Like I said before, I am you."

But this can't be!

The other Ken laughed. "Denial, denial, such an easy escape route. So like you Ken."

What do you mean?

"You sold your soul to darkness and with the very thoughts and feelings that acknowledge you as a human being. You believe you are all powerful but really you are nothing more than a slave. A slave to the higher powers, a tool utilized with someone elses control. I can see you do not believe me but how can you deny it if you have no idea who you really are and what your purpose is? You pretend to know your true destiny. Can you even remember the beginning of your journey to darkness?"

Ken stood in total panic, his brain struggling to find the answers he thought he had always known.

He could find none.

"I thought so… Now then, shall I rid you of such delusions. All right then would you like me to tell you who you really are?"

Ken nodded as he tried to stop his hands trembling so much. The younger version of himself now bore the grin he had developed once he had became the Digimon Kiaser. Seeing that same smirk on his face as a young child was an extremely disturbing experience.  "The truth is you are only a shadow…"

Na-nani?

"That's right. You are a shadow and nothing more."

Masaka!

 "How pitiable you are."

I'm not a shadow! How dare you say that! I am the Digimon Kaiser, ruler of this world! Every single creature in this dimension fears me and so should you!

"If I turn out like this then I surely wouldn't fear myself. I can't believe this is what I have become. It's appalling really. When I think about it, I actually had more dignity when Osamu were alive. That little Digimon of ours, at least he had a purpose to believe in."

Tears filled Ken's eyes at the mention of his partner. "Awww poor you. What's the matter? First you kill him and now you want him back? Can't you make up your mind? Oh well I guess it doesn't really matter. After what you did to him he'd never want to come back to you."

No but!

"Face it Kenny-boy you had you had your chance and you blew it. Ever heard that expression that when all your wishes come true, many of your dreams will be destroyed?" The younger boy snorted. "But your pathetic little life was destroyed before even one of your wishes came true. Poor little Kenny-boy."

Suddenly Ken caught on to something. Kenny-boy? Osamu often called him that when he was alive. But it couldn't be. It…

"So you've finally figured it out huh?"

Ken screamed mentally as the younger version of himself began to dissolve into nothing. No this can't be happening! It isn't! I refuse to believe it!

Instantly he threw up, the thread which held his sanity growing thinner. He clinched his fists tightly together until the point when his finger nails were jagging into his palms. It's not real, it's not real…

A hand suddenly grabbed Ken by the throat pulling him off the ground. "Konnichiwa Otouto-san. Did you miss me?"

O-Osamu?

"It must be hard being nothing now since you're no longer my shadow. You've made quiet a mess of things Kenny-boy. Does Onii-san have to fix everything?" He loosened his grip on his brother and threw him to the ground. "Tut-tut you really are pathetic."

Ken spluttered up sick as he fought to catch his breath. "O-Osamu?" He was seemingly able to speak normally through his mouth now, not that it made much difference of course.

Osamu chuckled in amusement. "It's no fun watching you squirm if your screams don't make an echo."

"What-what, why are you here?"

The blue haired boy's smile widened. "To beat some sense into my little brother."

"But you-you're dead…" was all the disorientated boy was able to splutter.

"Before you stutter your next question I shall tell you where we are. We are at the truth Ken."

"The truth?"

"Think of me as your guide. I am here to answer all of your pathetic little questions. The answers will reveal to you just how worthless you really are."

"No! I don't believe it! You're just making this up! It's not even true!" shouted Ken in anger. "You're not Osamu! Osamu wasn't like this! You're just trying to trick me! I can't be deceived that easily."

Osamu coked his eyebrow up in amusement.

"You're not my brother."

"Fine believe what you want, but I know you all ready know the truth even if you are not willing to believe it."

"Well that's just your opinion."

Slowly the older boy moved closer to him, and Ken struggled to back away. "All of your thoughts are meaningless. Every word that escapes your lips is meaningless. Your existence is in vain. You seek a purpose. Do you really believe you can find it?"

The younger boy remained silent, struggling to say what he wanted to say. He had so much to ask, but found himself incapable of forming it together.

"Well do you believe you can find it?"

"…. Do-do I have a destiny?"

"No."

Ken bit his lip fearfully. "Then what does that mean?"

"Death…" replied Osamu with amusement.

"Death? Death is my destiny?" the blue hair boy stuttered, his fear growing ever more.

"Yes, but then again, saying that, every human being dies sometime. No person can continue on forever can they? Even the greatest of people fall at one point." The older boy smirked. "Take me for example."

Tears ran down Ken's pale cheeks. This was real. He could deny it no longer. "I have no destiny…"

"Oh good you're finally catching on."

"I-I am nothing?"

"Exactly without me you can no longer follow as my shadow."

"I thought I almost had it all but in reality I had nothing. I've been a slave all along."

"Yes."

"But if I am nothing then why am I here? If I am without a purpose then why do I exist?"

"Question, questions so many questions." chuckled Osamu. "I am here to answer them so I shall give you the answers that you yearn for, the very answers that you fear. Maybe you only exist because tousan and kaasan decided to have a little fuck and you were the end result. Perhaps you were destined to become my shadow. Perhaps you exist only to suffer. You want to know your existence? Existence… a word that mankind will never come to understand."

This was extremely difficult to take in. Finding out you had no destiny would be difficult for any person to handle. But he had so many questions he wanted to ask and now was probably his only chance. Deep down he wanted to break down and scream but this was far too important. He would plead to hear the answers he desired to know, even if it killed him.

"Do you know its meaning?"

Osamu closed his eyes and turned away. Ken let out a small gulp. Never in his entire life had he felt so helpless. He feared his older brother more than anything. His brother ruled him.

"I shall give you a few words of advice Ken. Do what you must then die. A human heart only survives with satisfaction. They are all pathetic, they are all weak. Their existence sickens me. Sound familiar Kenny-boy?"

"Remember every creature is destined to die sometime or another. The flames that preserve our life force always burn out. Then we are nothing. But it doesn't have to be that way, not if you continue…"

Slowly Ken's gaze met with his brothers. "Wh-what do you mean?"

He smiled. "Destroy them. Bathe in your own self-absorption before they die. Seek vengeance to those who have challenged you. Make them suffer. Give them your guilt and remorse. Rid yourself of those emotions and there shall be no wrong."

"Osamu…"

The older boy slowly drifted towards his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. He kissed the living boys smooth lips before he gradually faded away.

Yet again he was alone and it all hurt so much until he vanished into unconscious state. Blackness once again…

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The golden haired boy lay through most of the night awake. He had all ready made his final decision, but so much was happening that it was absolutely impossible to get a decent night's sleep. He hated these feelings. He hated it almost as much as darkness itself. Those damn thoughts followed him around like some god awful plague. Seventeen years of his life had passed all ready, six years since he had first gone to the Digital world. Well ten if you count his first encounter with the Greymon and Parrotmon. Often he wished that he could just blame the Digital world for all of his problems, but that would be unfair. One thing he was thankful for whatever was Gabumon. If he had never gone to the Digital world he would never have met him. It was too bad Gabumon probably wouldn't understand. Digimon didn't seem to have the same problems humans had.

He held a phone in his hand. He was planning Taichi, his best friend, but something held him back. He had no idea what to say. What could he say? He had kept this secret for so long now. If the others had known earlier maybe they could have defeated the Kaiser by now. Everyone was surely going to be mad at him. He was worried most about Taichi. How would he feel knowing that his best friend had kept this secret from him for so long? Yamato was overwhelmed with quilt. He bit his lower lip and attempted to dial Taichi's number. But yet again he could bring himself to do it. Chikusho...

He sighed in defeat and threw the phone on to the bed. Suddenly he heard a knock on the door. He groaned in annoyance. His father wasn't home at the moment which meant he'd have to get it. Maybe he could pretend that he was home. He was definitely in no mood to talk. The person knocked again. Perhaps it was Taichi. He began to panic but quickly tried to bring himself back together. He ran to answer the door, afraid that the person had all ready left.

"Konnichiwa." He was overcome with disappointment. It was only Daisuke.

"Hey."

"Yamato-san, would it be all right if I talked to you for a couple of minutes?" Yamato blinked in confusion. He and Daisuke had never been close or even talked to each much for that matter, so why would Daisuke be wanting to talk to him about something? He knew from the sound of the younger chosen's voice that it was important. Curious to what the boy had to say, he nodded and opened the door wider allowing him to come in.

"Thanks a lot."

"Uh no problem." Yamato turned and walked into the room which ultimately was a sign for Daisuke to follow. It had been along time since the younger boy had been here. He had come here a few times with Takeru, and a couple of times with Taichi. He knew Yamato meant a lot to Taichi. Daisuke gazed around himself to get in touch with his surroundings. He did this a lot when he was nervous. As usual Yamato's room was clean, just like all the other times he had been in it. He was quite sure that if the blond were to actually see his room he would have a heart attack.

Suddenly Daisuke spotted a small photograph lying on Yamato's desk. "Hey who's that?" he asked just about to pick it up. But before he could do so Yamato grabbed it, and quickly shoved it in one of his drawers, then of course locked. Daisuke blinked in confusion. "Yamato-san what's wrong?"

The blond boy bit his lip, realising how foolish and paranoid he must have looked. "Go-Gomen nasai Daisuke-kun, it's just-just… that picture it's kind of private."

The maroon head boy suddenly turned red. "Sorry."

"Its okay you uh don't need to be sorry. It was my own fault for being careless and leaving it out." Daisuke smiled weakly. "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Sorry for coming over without calling first, I was in a hurry. I just really need to talk to you."

"Hey it's okay, now what is it?"

"It-it's about Taichi-san." Yamato winced slightly. Of all the things Daisuke could have talked about it had to be him…

"He told me that you two had an argument the other day. I know it's none of my business but-" Daisuke stopped and sighed. "He's just really upset about it. I think he was afraid you two wouldn't be friends anymore."

"He thought that I wouldn't want to be friends with him?" the blond said in shock.

The younger boy nodded.

"He never told me what the argument was about or anything but I know you two too can fix it! You're both so close. You can't let a little argument get in the way of your friendship! I've learned a lot from both of you, especially when it comes to my Digi-egg. You have the Crest of Friendship, and Taichi the Crest of Courage."

"I… I just don't like seeing Taichi so sad. He's a great person and doesn't deserve to feel like that!" Daisuke suddenly found himself bursting into tears. He knew he must have looked idiotic but he firmly believed that his idol didn't deserve to suffer like that.

"I agree. Taichi doesn't deserve to suffer like that..." Daisuke looked up at the older boy, somewhat surprised by his answer.

Yamato gazed down at the floor refusing to look into the other boy's eyes. "God, I'm such an asshole! Why the hell did I have to yell at Taichi like that?!"

"Yamato…"

"Nothing in my fucking life goes right and now just because I have some problems I'm losing my friends. I hate this!"

"Yamato you know Taichi will forgive you. He wants to make up." said Daisuke in a small voice.

The blond boy sighed. "It's not just Taichi, it's everything! And because of it everyone will end up getting hurt. I don't want to loose Taichi…"

"But you won't loose him. Like I said he'll-"

"It's not just because of the argument!" With a huge sigh he fell down on to the bed. "It's something else…"

The younger boy stared at the older teen fearfully. "What-what is it?"

Yamato snorted, trying to hide his own self-pity. "Trust me if you knew you'd wanna kill me too."

"Yeah, but does Tacihi know about this thing? Have you told him?"

"Nope…"

"Are you gonna tell him?"

Yamato was beginning to grow irritated. Mostly at himself but the younger boy's questioning was beginning to get to him. "I can't."

Daisuke frowned, trying to figure out what it could be. "Is it really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so."

"But-but you're going to tell someone aren't you?"

"It's not that simple Daisuke-kun."

"Well then tell me." cried Daisuke. "You shouldn't keep so many secrets."

Yamato gave a small chuckle. "Everyone has secrets, even you. And if your secrets were revealed they could destroy your so called life. So please do me a favourable and just drop it."

Daisuke gave a quiet gasp. His eyes instantly fell do the ground. Yamato was right, he did have a secret, and if this secret were to be revealed, his whole world would crumble. Quickly he shook off his own problems and remembered the reason he was here. "Yamato you're acting so differently."

"Everybody changes Daisuke, it's a fact of life."

Tears began to fill Daisuke's chocolate covered eyes. "Taichi… he was right. Everyone is changing. Everyone is different from the way they were three years ago." He sobbed sadly. "This-this is all the Digimon Kaiser's fault! It isn't fair! Everything he is doing is just wrong! I hate him!"

"You really want to stop him don't you?"

"Of course I do! He's caused so many people pain. All those Digimon… He hurt them all including Taichi!" Tears ran down Daisuke's cheeks and he found himself so wound up that he had to use Yamato's desk for support. Yamato quickly rushed to help him. "I can't ever forgive him for what he's done."

The guilt Yamato held tightly squeezed his heart. His mind told him to run, but his legs wouldn't more the way he wanted them to. Instead he helped the sobbing boy to his bed and sat him down. He turned away and caught a quick glance out of the window. The sky was so clear today. No clouds or sign of rain showed anywhere. He frowned. It was funny how the world looked so clear from this window when really his whole world was in chaos. If only things could be that simple… Could I ever forgive him for he's done? Ever forgive the Kaiser? Ever forgive… Ken?

"Yamato?" The blond boy turned his attention back to Daisuke. "Do you think we can do it? Do you really thing we can be the Digimon Kaiser next time? I mean even Taichi is doubting that we can defeat him…"

Now Daisuke's doubting... Even if we did try to defeat him, we couldn't without the full support and belief of Taichi and Daisuke that we could do it. Right now Daisuke seems to be our only hope…

"Daisuke I-I need to show you something."

"What is it?" asked the younger boy, wiping the tears away from his eyes. Yamato walked to his desk and took a small key out of his pocket.  Opening up the desk drawer he took out his most precious possession.  He gazed at it sadly. Daisuke stood behind him and looked at it over Yamato's shoulder. Daisuke stared at it curiously. The boy next to Yamato in it wore glasses over his indigo eyes. He had spiked blue hair, and appeared to be older than Yamato anyway. Whoever the boy was in the photograph, he was sure he had never seen him before, yet he did look slightly familiar. "Is this the thing you wanted to show Taichi?"

He nodded. "Yes. But it does have a story with it."

"Who's the kid next to you?"

"He was my best friend when I was little." He replied, trying his best to hide the sadness in his voice.

"Do you ever see him anymore?"

Yamato shook his head.

"Sorry." Daisuke replied quietly, feeling a bit awkward.

"He used to live in Tamachi. I lived there for a short while with my father after he and my mother got divorced."

"You two must have been really great friends." said Daisuke giving the blond boy a small smile.

"How-how did you know that?" Yamato asked in surprise.

"It was the way you held the photo. You said he was your best friend when you were little so he must have been special to you."

"Daisuke…"

"You can't see him anymore so you keep that photo as a reminder of the past memories you shared with him. Your afraid if someone saw that photo they'd try to take those memories away from you." Suddenly Daisuke stopped, blushing. "But um sorry if I'm wrong."

Yamato stared at the maroon headed boy, half in confusion, half in suspicion. "No you're right, but how did you know? You aren't spying on me are you?!"

"What?! No, no!" cried Daisuke in his defence. Yamato nodded and sighed, accepting the younger boy's answer. "It's just… I know what it's like to have someone special to you. You want to treasure those memories of all the times you spent together forever. You want them to be happy and never sad, because seeing them sad makes you feel sad and it hurts. You want to do what everything you can to make them happy…"

Yamato's eyes widened as he realised that the boy was actually talking about his best friend. It was Taichi who Daisuke loved, that's why he had been so worried over him. He gave the younger boy a small smile despite the mood he was in. "I'm sure that special someone cares about you too."

"You-you really thing so?" The blond nodded. The blush on the tanned boy's cheeks deepened.

"Hey Yamato why don't you go see your friend. Where does he live?"

"Still Tamachi, or at least his body is still situated there."

"You mean he's-"

"Yep. He got ran over by a car about eight years ago." He stated painfully.

"I'm so sorry." replied Daisuke regretting that he had asked.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. I… I just really miss him."

"The world can be such a cruel place…"

"Tell me about it." the older boy sighed. "The only thing I have to remember him by is this photograph, and those memories we shared. But memories don't last forever…"

"What was his name?"

"Ichijouji Osamu." He replied wondering if the younger boy would catch on. "Ichijouji? That name sounds familiar. Hey isn't that the surname of that genius kid Ichijouji Ken? I played soccer against him once. It was about three years ago. He seemed like a nice guy, but a few weeks after our match he disappeared. I don't think anybody found ever found him. But I remember there being a big search. It was like he disappeared off the face of the planet."

"Maybe he did…" said Yamato, tears running down his cheeks.

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked curiously?

"O-Osamu brother is the Digimon Kaiser…"

Daisuke eyes widened in horror. "Na-nani?! You-you're kidding right?!"

He shook his head.

"You're saying the Digimon Kaiser, the guy we've been fighting for years is your childhood friends little brother?"

He nodded.

"But that means the Digimon Kaiser… is Ken." Daisuke fell down on to his knees. His eyes still wide in shock. "It-it all makes sense. The way he acted around me at the soccer match, his disappearance, the Digimon Kaiser's intelligence. Most people assumed he was dead but he was really in the Digital world after all."

"I've kept that do myself for so long…" Yamato said, feeling disgraceful.

Angrily Daisuke pulled Yamato off the bed. "You've known all this time?! You just let us risk our lives when you all ready knew his identity? If we had known that sooner maybe we would have stood a change of defeating! Why the hell didn't you tell us?!"

There was a few moments silence.

"I told you… I told you, you would want to kill me now…" he whispered weakly.

The younger boy groaned in frustration and let him go.  "I just don't get why you've kept that to yourself for so long? Why did you do?"

Yamato sighed and picked up the photograph that now lay on the ground. "This." He said pointing to the dark haired boy in the photograph. "Osamu. He's the Kaiser's brother, that's why I didn't want to say anything."

Daisuke let out another groan fell back on to the bed. "God, this is so confusing."

"It's not easy. I couldn't just tell you my dead best friend's brother true identity like that. Do you realise how hard it was to tell you? God, what's Taichi going to be like? He'll hate me after he knows."

"You don't know your best friend really well. Trust me he won't. You mean a lot more to Taichi than you do to me, and if I don't hate you I'm sure he won't hate you."

"You mean you're not mad anymore?" Yamato asked in confusion.

"Mad? Of course I'm mad!  That information could have helped us long a go."

The blond looked away sadly.

"But… I do understand why you didn't want to say. And I know it must be difficult for you battling your dead best friend's little brother. You don't want to hurt him because your afraid it will been you've betrayed Osamu?"

He nodded.

Daisuke gave a slight smile. "You're a good friend Yamato."

"Sometimes I wonder…"

"Well since you have the crest of Friendship I guess that proves it."

"It doesn't prove anything."

Daisuke sweatdropped. "Man, Taichi was right; you really do have a pessimistic attitude."

"Daisuke, I don't think I can tell Taichi."

"Yeah you can, you told me didn't you?"

"Yeah but somehow your different. But I suppose I can't hide it forever."

"You're doing the right thing Yamato." The younger boy replied giving him reassuring smile.

"I know… I know…" 

Authors Notes: I hope that was okay. I know my writing abilities are that great but I hope you enjoyed it. This story actually turned out quite different than I thought it would. Hopefully that's a good thing. I know the part with Ken was weird so sorry about that. I feel so mean making him suffer like that! _

If you're wondering about Osamu kissing Ken there might be a little hinting's of incest in the future. Just thought I would warn anyone reading in case they were offended by it. *sweatdrops*

Anyway I really haven't decided yet. Thanks for reading. Reviews and comments on how I can improve would be greatly appreciated. Sayanara!