"Doppelgangland"
3. 'When to run away'
"I've become so numb,
I can't feel you there.
Become so tired,
So much more aware.
I'm becoming this
All I want to do
Is be more like me
And be less like you."
~ 'Numb' Linkin Park
"This is prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed as he paced past his computer and the Digidestined again.
They were all sitting on the floor against his wall watching him pace as his mind filtered the information they had just given him.
"How did I know he was going to say that." TK smirked at Kari who nodded with a grin.
"So now the question is, how do we get to that world?" Patamon asked.
"Hang on." Ken interrupted, getting up off the floor, "Who said you guys were coming with me?"
"Well," Davis said looking up at him, "we need to save Ken and Yolei, how can we do that if we don't go with you?"
"No." he stated shaking his head.
"Listen buddy," Davis snapped, rising to his feet to challenge Ken, "these are two of my best friends we are talking about here. You say they are in mortal danger and we say 'how fast can we get there?' I can't just sit around and do nothing!"
For a while Ken stared at Davis with an emotionless mask and then suddenly his face broke into a sad smile, "You two are exactly the same."
"Me and who?"
"Daisuke." Ken replied quietly.
"Uh, guys," Izzy interrupted, "before you do any more talk of who is going and who isn't, we should first work out how exactly Ken got here. I mean we have no idea how Osamu managed to rig the digital port."
"Good point." Gatomon nodded as she made herself comfortable on Izzy's bed.
"I mean this is really actually very exciting and amazing. An alternate universe! I mean I always wondered about it, especially after going to the Digital World, but I never even dreamed that there was a world with doppelgangers in it! Especially our doppelgangers! And I mean, he seems rather different from our Ken, but he looks exactly like him, it's extraordinary!"
"I'm standing right here you know." Ken snapped a bit impatiently at Izzy.
"Sorry," he apologized, "it's just this brings about so many new theories."
"Sorry Izzy," TK apologized, "but we don't have time for theories right now. We have to figure out how to get to Ken's world so we can rescue Ken and Yolei."
Izzy moved to his laptop and turned on the monitor, "Well, the gate to the digital port is still here. Maybe everything is back to normal now."
"No, it was there when I tried to access the Digital world but got brought here. For all we know, that gate could take us to my world." Ken pointed out. "We could always just dive in and find out." He added sarcastically.
"That's a pretty good idea Ken." Izzy commented.
"What?" Ken yelled, "I wasn't being serious! That could be so dangerous. Who knows where we would end up!"
"Well, look," Izzy began, "I could sit here for weeks maybe even months trying to figure out what Osamu did to the codes to change the gate, while our friends are being killed, or you could risk it and just go for it now. I have tried to figure out all these portals and things for years, but really, I'm no closer to figuring it out as I was when I was a kid. So Ken, it's your choice."
Ken sighed and folded his arms, scowling.
"Come on Ken." Davis urged, "It's the only plan we have. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of talking about this and not doing anything!"
"Me too!" Demiveemon added hopping up and down.
"I'm with Davis." Kari added.
"What about the rest of you guys?" Davis asked.
TK shrugged, "Like you said, what choice do we have really?"
Cody nodded and moved closer to the monitor, "Yoleis' my best friend and I won't let anything bad happen to her if I can help it. Now lets go."
"You're all crazy do you know that?" Ken muttered shaking his head.
"Are you coming or not?" Cody asked him.
"I don't have a choice remember." He stepped closer to the monitor.
"I'll stay here and try and keep an eye on things. I don't see any way of us keeping contact, so lets just hope nothing goes wrong." Izzy said, trying to comfort them, "While you're gone, I'll try and figure out how Osamu changed the codes, but I can't promise you anything. I hate to say it guys, but you're on your own."
"It's okay Izzy," Kari turned back to him, "just let my brother and the rest of the older Digidestined know where we are and what's going on."
He nodded, "I will."
Davis held up his D-3 and yelled, "Digi-port open!" and in a second they were sucked into the computer to who knows where.
~~~~****~~~~
"Hey Mike." A tired voice called out and Yolei and Mike turned to see who had spoken.
A tall young man with messy blond hair sat slumped on a chair near the door of the warehouse and began removing thick black gloves. Obviously he hadn't really looked around the room before saying hello, because when he did he nearly fell off his chair. He leapt up so quickly he tipped it over. He ran to where Mike and Yolei were standing and then stared at Yolei.
His mouth dropped open and he turned to Mike, "Does this mean that Ken succeeded?"
Mike shook his head sadly, "Sorry Yamato. This not Miyako."
Yamato frowned and looked at Yolei, "But she looks exactly like her."
"I know. It's a long story, but basically, she's from another dimension and while she was trying to get to the Digital world, she was brought here. In her world she is called Yolei."
Yolei smiled, "Hi."
Yamato stood staring at her for another moment and then shook her hand, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude, it's just I though that I had seen it all, but apparently, not."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Yolei muttered taking a seat on the crate, "How did all this happen?"
Yamato sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "You want to tell her or should I?"
"You go ahead," Mike replied, "I think I'll go talk to Hikari and try to cheer her up." He hopped off the crate and walked to the little room in the back of the warehouse, closing the door behind him.
"I really don't know where to begin, but basically it all started when we couldn't defeat Osamu as the Kaiser in the Digital world. A girl named Kouen Tamashii was the only one who could really reach him, but even she couldn't stop him from taking over the real world." He shook his head, "Even after all these years, I still can't believe that he did it. It seems so unreal."
"Tell me about it." Yolei sighed, "But what I want to know is how he did it."
Yamato went into a long story of how Osamu contracted the Dark Seed and how he began taking over the Digital world and then the real world. He informed her of the Black rings and how people had been controlled and how the whole world was too afraid to act against him.
"Osamu has a Dark Spore?"
Yamato nodded, "You know what it is?"
"Ken, my Ken, he was infected with it when he was about nine years old. That's what caused him to turn into the Digimon Emperor. But we defeated him and now it's not active anymore."
"So the Osamu in your world never got infected with it?"
She shook her head; "Ken calls him Sam, and no. He died when Ken was young and that's also where things went wrong for him. The Spore fed on all his sadness and anger and hate."
"That's interesting." Yamato mused.
"How so?"
"Well, both the Ichijouji brothers here were infected with the Dark Seed, but it only took effect on one of them. In your world, Ken was the only living Ichijouji child who was infected and so it took effect."
"Where are you going with this?" she asked frowning.
"Well, it begs the question, why was Osamu only affected by its influence and not Ken as well?"
"Osamu didn't die." Yolei pointed out.
"What?"
"Well, think about it. The trouble with my Ken all started after he wished his older genius brother would disappear. Then Sam dies and Ken is left feeling like it's his entire fault. The Spore hits him, he's sucked into the Dark Ocean and wham, he's the Digimon Emperor. But, clearly Ken, your Ken's brother is still alive. Which means, that his spore didn't have enough negative emotions to feed off. Why, though would Osamu have more than Ken?"
"Well, Osamu always did seem really stressed out all the time. He was always studying and in interviews and stuff. He never really had much time to spend with Ken and as he got older the worse it became. Then Ken was called to the Digital world and helped us Chosen Children-"
"Wait," she interrupted, "he was one of the first original Digidestined?"
Yamato nodded, "Osamu became so jealous of Ken for being chosen. He would lash out at Ken for no reason and hated the fact that Ken was chosen for something so important and he wasn't. Then suddenly he had a Digivice and could enter the Digital World. That's when things went down hill."
"It all seems so crazy." She exhaled loudly and then looked up at Yamato again, "Where were you?"
"When?"
"Just now, you came back from somewhere. Where was it?"
"Oh, I was out doing patrols for lost or runaway kids."
"That's probably what Mike and Hikari were doing when they came across Ken and I." She muttered.
"Ken's here?" Yamato asked, shocked.
She nodded sadly, "He was captured by the Kaiser and now is being punished by him for a crime he didn't commit."
Yamato's eyes fell to the ground, "I'm so sorry." He looked up suddenly, "But we have to do something! We have to rescue your Ken!"
"Right now we have to wait for the rest to get back." Hikari said as she walked up to them along side Mike. It was clear she had been crying, but had hurriedly wiped the tears away.
"I'm sorry Hikari." Yolei hopped off the crate and hugged the Child of Light, "I never think before I open my mouth!"
"No! Yolei, really, it's okay, how would you have known." She parted from Yolei and gave her a reassuring smile.
Suddenly the computer sitting on a table in the main office of the warehouse came to life. The screen flashed bright white and the group of people who had been staring at it gasped when the light faded again. Five teenagers had landed in a heap on the ground groaning. They picked themselves up off the ground and looked around.
"Well," Ken announced, "we made it." He narrowed his eyes, "Home sweet home." He added bitterly.
"Ken!" Yamato, Hikari and Mike called out as they ran towards the group. Yolei followed after them and smiled widely.
"You guys! What are you doing here?"
"We had to rescue you." Davis stated.
"But you had no-idea where I was." She stated.
"Not true Yolei," Cody corrected her while giving her a hug, "Ken here is from this world and he told us what might have happened. Looks like he was right."
She turned to Ken, "Hi," she held out her hand, "I'm Yolei."
He stared at her in the same way Yamato had, but with more sadness in his tired eyes, "Nice to meet you Yolei." He said politely shaking her hand.
Hikari stepped forward and looked at her mirror image, "This is so weird."
"Tell me about it." Kari replied.
"Ken, you're alive. I thought the Snipers might have gotten to you." Yamato breathed.
"They almost did. I'm sorry Yamato," Ken looked down in shame, "I failed."
"It's okay Ken, we'll think of something else." Yamato assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"We have a problem though," Mike interrupted, "Osamu has their Ken now."
Ken turned sharply to him, "How long ago was he captured?"
"About an hour." Hikari informed him.
"We have to go to the base now!" Ken urged.
"Are you crazy? And risk him capturing you! Ken, he'll kill you!" Yamato reasoned.
"He'll kill an innocent man because he'll think it's me! We have to go!"
"We don't even have a plan though." Hikari argued.
"When have plans ever made a difference? He's always one step ahead of us, at least this time he won't have seen this one coming. Now, I don't care what you think, I'm going, with or without you."
He marched over the dojo and to a cabinet. It was full of various weapons and he picked up a long sword. "Lets go." He said as he marched towards the door.
Yamato let out an angry growl and huffed as he followed after Ken. The rest joined them and as soon as they were outside, Davis, Cody, Kari and TK Digivolved their partners, however when it failed, Yamato pointed out the Dark Tower that loomed over the area.
So all of the digimon used the Digi-armor evolution instead.
~~~~****~~~~
Ken saw Daisuke's image swim in and out of focus as he tried to pry the steel grip off his neck. Finally, mustering all his strength and energy, he brought up his right knee as swiftly as he could. Then when it could lift no further, he straightened out his leg causing his foot to connect with the back of Daisuke's head. The blow did more strain to Ken than harming Daisuke, but it did have the desired effect. Daisuke loosened his grip on Ken's neck out of surprise and glanced behind him. That was all Ken needed. The Judo trained seventeen-year-old managed to throw Daisuke off his chest with a powerful blow. He tried to get his breath back as soon as possible while Daisuke began to recover. Ken leapt to his feet and took a fighting stance.
"Ooh," Osamu grinned sadistically, "Looks like he will fight after all. This will be more exciting than I thought."
Kouen looked up at Osamu and then back at Ken, 'Remember your training Ken.' She thought silently to herself.
Daisuke was obviously been controlled; it was evident in the way he fought. There was no passion behind it, just a simple need to hurt and destroy. It sickened Ken; it sickened him more to know that he had once instilled this upon many Digimon in his time.
Daisuke ran towards Ken and made to punch Ken's face, but he quickly blocked the move and with a flat palm, returned Daisuke's force back at him with a blow to his gut. The auburn haired teen stumbled backwards, but it didn't stop him for long. He was back in a flash with a sweeping kick, which Ken jumped over and returned with a drop kick. Again Daisuke stumbled but did not fall. The two went on with hand-to-hand combat for a solid twenty minutes and Ken felt himself become weary. However he noticed that Daisuke was still as strong as he was when he first started. The Dark Ring was giving him the power.
Suddenly he heard Osamu's cruel laughter, echoing on the air around him. Without thinking he flinched and glanced up at the Kaiser on his throne. A big mistake on his part because as he turned his attention back to Daisuke, his fist connected to Ken's eye. This time the indigo-haired man stumbled backwards and hit the stone wall behind him. Before he could think of retaliation, Daisuke was right there next to him. He spun Ken around and scrunched a fist of Ken's shirt collar in his hand. Then with tremendous force, he yanked Ken's head and neck backwards and then just as forcefully, jerked him forward again, causing Ken's forehead to smash against the wall. Ken felt the burning and stinging pain resonated through his head, blinding him with pain for a moment. He screwed his face up in effort to dull the blow. In that moment he forgot about everything. He had no time to defend himself against Daisuke's punch to his kidney. This blow brought Ken to his knees with a sickening agony.
Daisuke kicked him in his side this time, but Ken barely seemed to notice anymore. He fell to the ground and scrunched up his face in concentration. He had to get rid of the ring. He was trying to think back to the days when he was first designing them. He remembered he had designed a fail-safe mechanism in them in case he should fall victim to one himself. Suddenly in a flash he saw the ring in front of him on a large monitor and him sitting in front of it as the Emperor. He focused on the ring through all the pain his body was going through and finally saw the device. It was a small weakened spot on the ring, just a few centimeters from the catch. All he needed to do was to put a certain amount of pressure on that particular spot and the ring should break.
He hopped that Osamu's design was the same as his.
In a second, Ken opened his eyes and saw Daisuke's fist coming at his face. Like lightning, Ken grabbed his fist and held his wrist tight. Then he pressed down as hard as he could on the ring as Daisuke squirmed to get free. After what felt like hours, the ring cracked and finally crumbled into nothing.
Daisuke fell to the ground and shook his head. Ken too, fell backwards and spat the blood from his mouth out.
In a bust of anger, Osamu rose to his feet and yelled, "IMPOSSIBLE!"
Without another thought, he grabbed Daisuke's wrist again and began running. He ran to the gate that Kouen was standing in front of. With pleading eyes Ken asked her to open the gate, but he knew that she was being controlled. However he remembered the tiny spark in her when he had asked a question before. To his surprise, the young woman looked up at the furious Kaiser and then back to Ken. In an instant she had unlocked the door and had begun screaming in pain, obviously a punishment for going against Osamu's orders.
He thanked her and began running, Daisuke in tow.
Behind him he heard Osamu's frantic screams, "Snipers! After them! Kill them!"
Ken's heart pounded on his ribs, like a bird too large for it's cage, fighting to get out. His mouth was dry and tasted like blood, and his body protested with each time his foot impacted with the ground. Every muscle in his body seared with a burning pain. But there was no time to think of that now.
If Ken looked back on this moment in a few years he would not be able to tell you exactly how he got out of the base, let alone onto the abandoned road he was running on. He did not look back or around him as he ran, but instead kept focused on what was ahead of him, which at this very moment was nothing. Ken came to a screeching halt as he discovered through the thick darkness that the highway he and Daisuke had been running on had just suddenly come to an end. Clearly there had been a fight in this area, for the buildings looked battle scared and the road was crumbling.
"Ken!" Daisuke blurted out, realizing where he was and that his best friend was standing next to him. "What happened?"
"Daisuke there's no time to explain, sorry, but if we live through this, I'll tell you everything." Ken looked back down at the long fall and then behind him. He blanched at the site that met him. Hundreds of Snipers were only a few meters from him and Daisuke, as well as Osamu on an Airdramon. He looked closer and noticed that the young woman dressed in white was also at his side. She was staring at Ken with a look he had never really seen before, but it broke his heart in an instant.
He broke his gaze from her and looked back down to their only other option and sighed.
"What now?" Daisuke groaned.
~~~~****~~~~
"We are almost there!" yelled Hikari from Nefertimon's back; Kari was next to her.
"Hey!" Davis yelled from atop Raidramon's back, "What is that?"
All the teenagers and Digimon turned to where Davis was pointing.
"It looks like," Cody shouted from atop Digmon, "Davis and Ken!"
"That's Daisuke!" Yamato shouted. He was next to Cody on Digmon.
"They're in trouble!" Yolei screamed from her position, which was elevated thanks to Halsemon's aid, "There are hundreds of Snipers after them, and," She gasped at the sight of the Emperor look-alike, that was Osamu, "Ken's brother!"
Ken and Daisuke spotted the Digimon and Digidestined and Daisuke gasped, "Raidramon!"
"Davis!" Ken screamed to the figure riding on Raidramon.
Yolei instructed Halsemon to fly closer to the end of the highway, "Ken!" Yolei cried, "You're okay-!"
"No time, Yolei!" Ken pushed Daisuke onto Halsemon's back with Yolei and after a quick look behind him, turned to jump onto the poor Digimon with Yolei, but a deafening blast irrupted and a bright explosion burst beneath the freeway, causing the Digimon and Digidestined to flee the area.
"Fools! You missed!" Osamu screeched.
Ken turned to look behind himself again and met the Kaiser's gaze. In that brief second between them, Ken knew exactly what he was going to do to him. He had no choice but to jump off the edge and hope for the best. Ken spun around, his indigo hair whipping his face as he did so, and ran the rest of the way to the edge. When he reached it, he jumped. His stomach sank as he felt himself free fall to the hard ground beneath him. In a second where he prepared himself for impact, he felt himself hit something soft, feathers. Yolei smiled at him as she instructed Halsemon to fly higher and get as far away from here as possible. "Need a lift." She giggled.
Ken smiled, but quickly felt something hit his neck and a white-hot pain shot through him. He clutched at the Black Ring that Osamu had thrown at him.
"NO!" he heard Yolei scream as his world around him faded to nothing.
----~~~~----
Nic: I seem to be on a roll with these chapters.
Kaiser: Yeah? Well wait till you have to start writing new chapters.
Nic: Are you kidding me, I can't wait, you should see all the plans I have!
Ken: We did remember, we gave most of them to you.
Osamu: We are idiots for doing that aren't we?
Wormmon: Kinda.
Kouen: Any room for a new muse?
Ken: Kouen's a muse now?
Nic: Well, sure she is, she gives me lots of ideas.
Osamu: I see, so like Mae was a muse in Weight of the Worlds, Kouen is a muse for this story.
Nic: I guess so.
Kaiser: Kind of a crappy chapter, what with the repetition and all, and not that many changes towards the end there. And those poor Digimon with all those young adults on their backs, jeez!
Nic: You feel sorry for the Digimon? That's funny that is. But yeah okay, the repetition is just something we all have to deal with, see, not every character knows how this all happened, so it had to be explained to them, I tried to make it brief. Also, I like the end of this chapter, so shut up will you.
Nic: Now for an updated AN, I am so sorry for only posting this on Monday when I promised that every Saturday I would put up a new chapter. The problem is that I am entertaining a friend from over-seas and my time is been consumed. Plus, I was horribly sick on Saturday and could hardly move. I'm really sorry guys, but I promise, come hell or high water that I will have the next chapter out again next Saturday.