"Doppelgangland"
7. 'Choices'
"She wishes she was a dancer
And that she never hears of cancer,
She wishes God would give her some answers
And make her feel beautiful.
I remember feeling low
And I remember losing hope
And I remember all the feelings
And the day they stopped.
We are, we are all innocent,
We are all innocent, we are, we are."
"Have you noticed something about these Chosen Children?" Cody said suddenly as they made their way towards one of the many rooms in the warehouse, this one being the dojo.
"Other than the fact that they aren't children anymore?" Davis muttered sarcastically, Yolei hit him upside the head.
"What about them?" TK prompted.
"Well," Cody went on tentatively, glancing at the back of Ken's head and then turning to the others, "well, it's just that, the Kaiser succeeded."
"What do you mean?" Kari asked.
Again Cody looked cautiously at the back of Ken's head, but the young man seemed either to be ignoring the conversation or listening hard without looking like he was doing so. Cody plunged on; "Osamu managed to tear the Chosen apart, that's what Ken's main ambition was when he was the Emperor. Somehow this Kaiser has managed to do that, in a way he's won."
To everyone's surprise, Ken spun around and looked directly into Cody's face, "For your information Cody, tearing the Digidestined apart was not my sole ambition as the Emperor, it was just one of them and for another thing, the Kaiser in this world has not won. He will have won when we all give up and stop fighting." Ken turned around again and began walking towards the room, then added, "These Chosen maybe divided but they are still fighting for one cause and that is what keeps them together and gives them hope of wining."
The group was still standing, staring at Ken's retreating form when they glanced at each other and then began to follow him.
"He's right you know." Yolei stated and Davis nodded in agreement.
"I was just making an observation." Cody rasped, slightly put out by Ken's outburst.
"I know Cody, but I guess Ken is still sensitive about being the Emperor, especially now, in this world." TK said, patting Cody on the shoulder.
They entered the dojo and looked around. A large blue mat was in the center of the room and on the sides were two heavy bags, three ropes and a large shelf with various weapons on it, ranging from swords to machetes, from Sais to daggers. Cody immediately walked over to the shelf and picked up a Kendo stick and began warming up with it.
When Kouen finally walked in everyone turned to her and Ken noticed that she had changed her clothes again. This time she was wearing tight black pants, trainers and a white top.
"Kouen?" Yolei asked, stepping forward, "Why exactly do we have to learn how to fight?"
"Well," she began, "have you noticed that we have no digimon to fight for us?"
"Yes," Yolei replied, "but we do. I mean, except for Ken, we all have our digimon with us. So can't they fight?"
"You are lucky to still have your digimon, but if the Kaiser were to take them from you, which he has proven is easy, then you will be left defenseless if you ever came up against a Sniper or even the Kaiser himself."
"Well, when you put it like that." She mumbled looking worriedly at Poromon as if he could be snatched from her in a second.
"Of course, I'm only going to teach you the basics and how to defend yourself. Real training will be with Ken and Cody, as they would be the most useful in a fight. I just want to teach the rest of you defense."
Ken noticed that Kouen's demeanor was different. In this room she seemed to be far less feminine and soft, but rather strong, aggressive and hard. He also noticed that she did not refer to Osamu but rather the Kaiser, as if to remind herself that she was fighting a monster, and not her lover.
Training went on for a few hours as everyone practiced to perfect their punches and their kicks and to increase the power behind them. Ken and Cody as Kouen had stated were the better fighters out of everyone and they decided to spar with each other for a an hour while Kouen taught the group about blocking.
After about two hours, Kouen said that that was enough for the night and that they would continue sometime tomorrow, after she did some training with Ken and Cody. They gratefully nodded, bowed and left the room to shower and get a drink of water.
Ken looked back and asked if Kouen was going to join them, but she shook her head and picked up a set of Sais. He nodded and closed the door behind him.
~~~~****~~~~
The next morning the group found themselves in agony as they tried to eat their breakfast. Ken and Cody were fine but the strain of yesterday's training session seemed to have awoken their muscles with a harsh pain. Even though Davis was used to soccer training, he admitted that training to fight was somewhat different than training for soccer.
Ken was leaning over his bowl of cereal deep in thought. He lifted his head and looked in the direction of the dojo.
Hikari, Mike and Yamato joined them at the table and began to pull toast and boxes of cereal towards themselves. Ken did not seem to notice.
"So how do you all feel?" Hikari asked with a repressed laugh.
"Like Kouen tore my muscles from my skeleton and sewed them back on again." Yolei groaned. Kari gave a vigorous nod in agreement.
Mike snorted, "Yeah, she tends to be pretty aggressive when it comes to fighting, but it's for the best. She's good though, I mean, she made fighters out of us."
"Where is she anyway?" Yamato asked looking around.
"I think her and Ken are in there together." Daisuke stated as he sat down at the table.
"Together? In the same room? In the dojo no less?" Yamato exclaimed.
"Looks that way." He mumbled as he crammed a piece of toast in his mouth.
"Just like old times." Hikari sighed.
"Only, they are at each other's throats in there rather than training." Daisuke said shaking his head.
"But at least they are in the same room." Mike pointed out.
Ken, who hadn't realized he had been staring at the room, tore his gaze away and looked back down at his cereal. He couldn't help but wonder what they were saying to each other in there.
However what was being said, was nothing. Both of them had taken an area of the room and trained separately in it, trying to avoid the other's eyes.
Unable to take anymore silence between them, Kouen turned and moved closer to where Ken was, on the pretences of putting away her Sais. When she heard that he had stopped pummeling the heavy bag, she turned to face him.
"I looked after them you know." She hung her head, "As much as I could have anyway."
"What are you talking about?" he barked.
"Your parents. I would always check on them, see how they were, made sure they got enough food and weren't cold. I did the same with Miyako and Takeru, until he was made a Sniper." Finally she looked up into his eyes, but couldn't bare the coldness of them and looked down again, "I'm sorry Ken. I didn't know, I had no idea he was controlling me."
To her surprise, he sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair, "I know Kouen. It was just so easy to blame you, you know. Instead of blaming myself again."
She looked up and gave a flicker of a smile, "I guess we do that a lot don't we? Blame our selves. It's just, well, technically this is my fault. I should never – I mean I just keep thinking that maybe if I had stuck with him, but I couldn't, after he…"
"Kouen, somehow I have a feeling that this was going to happen whether you broke up with him or not." Ken sighed and looked out the window.
She nodded and turned to the door, "Do you want to help me train the others after breakfast-?"
"Ken! Kouen!" Yamato came pelting into the room and they both looked sharply in his direction, "Come and see this!"
Glancing at each other, they ran out the room and stopped where the rest of the group was huddled. A small television set was sitting on top of a table next to the computer in the office. On the screen was a picture of a large group of people in the street. Some of them in the crowd had banners saying things like: 'Down with the Kaiser!' or 'We won't back down!'
"Protesters." Daisuke growled.
"Are they crazy?" Hikari asked exasperated.
Ken leaned closer to the TV and then stood up straight again, "Well, it's not our group. It must be a different group of resistance fighters."
"But that's good isn't it?" Yolei asked feverishly.
Ken shook his head, "No. There hasn't been an open act of rebellion against Osamu in two years. There was a time when people would openly protest against him, but it turned out to be a massacre. So many people died and were imprisoned." He looked back at the TV, "We should go down there and warn them, or stop them or something."
"Good idea." Yamato nodded and made to walk out the room when Kouen grabbed his arm. He pulled it away, "I'm going Kouen." He stated firmly and she dropped her arm to her side, deciding to stay silent.
"Lets go." Ken marched out the office and towards the elevator, "Kouen, you have your van again?"
She nodded and he pressed the down button. "Good, we'll go in that."
When they arrived at the scene, it was seemingly organized. Many people were grouped together, waving their banners and one man in front was talking to the news cameras.
Ken looked around and then at the group behind him. "Okay, I'm going to go talk to that guy in the front there. He looks like he's the leader of all this."
Kouen, Yamato, Mike and the others all nodded and began talking to the people nearest them.
"You really shouldn't be here, doing this." Yolei heard Hikari explain to a group of teenage boys; "The Kaiser will kill you or enslave you if he finds you doing this. You have to get out of here."
But the boys shook their heads wordlessly and turned away from her.
It happened in a flash, Ken was heard yelling and the group turned as one to see that five tall men were restraining him. He was being forcefully dragged backwards into a truck. Mike's eyes went wide; "It's a set up!"
Kouen cursed vehemently under her breath and ran to his aid along with everyone else behind her, but it was impossible. All the other people began blocking them and attacking them. "They're Snipers!" Davis heard Yamato yell and he looked at the nearest person, who was wearing a Black Ring.
"Get out of here!" Kouen screamed while pushing a blond girl away from her, "Run!"
Those who were free to run did so and waited in the van. Ken opened the drive's side door and started up the car. He drove as close as he could get to those who were being buried by slaves and they gratefully scrambled into the back of the van. When everyone was in and accounted for, Ken took off at high speed and parked the van down in the parking lot under the warehouse.
"No," Kouen moaned, "We should have known."
They all stood around the warehouse now tending to their scratches and bruises.
"How could we have?" Mike asked earnestly, "Osamu has never planned something like that. There must have been a good reason behind it."
"He's right," Daisuke nodded, "He wanted Ken specifically, otherwise all of us would have been taken, or killed even. He wants something."
"Isn't it possible that Osamu just wants to punish Ken for what he did?" Cody questioned.
Kouen looked thoughtful and then opened her palm to reveal a scrunched up piece of yellow paper. When the group looked at her curiously, she answered, "That blond girl gave this to me before trying to take a swing at me."
She opened the paper and read what was written. Her eyes became narrow; "It's Osamu's handwriting." She tossed it at the group and when Daisuke caught it, she walked away to the dojo.
Daisuke read over it and then looked up grimly at the group, "I was right. He wanted Ken as a bargaining chip. Osamu wants Kouen to give herself up to Osamu in one hour or he kills Ken."
"What?" Yolei staggered, "Why wouldn't he just capture Kouen at that set up then?"
"Good question." Davis muttered looking at the room where she disappeared.
"Where are you going?" Yamato asked when he noticed Ken walking to the room.
But he said nothing and disappeared behind the door too.
Kouen looked up at Ken as he approached but remained silent.
"What's your plan?" he asked quietly.
"I have no intention of giving myself up to Osamu, but there is no way I am going to let him hurt Ken. So I need your help."
"My help?" Ken asked incredulously.
"I have a spare Sniper uniform that you'll have to wear. You're the only one, apart from Cody that will be able to help me if we end up in a fight. And I would use Cody, but you will be helpful in two areas if you come with me. I'll explain later what I mean." She paused and looked at his face, "Are you in?"
He nodded and they marched out the room.
They walked past the group, straight into Kouen's room and she opened a draw and threw a navy blue uniform at him along with a navy blue cap. "Tie your hair back and put that cap on low."
He nodded and began putting on the uniform, while Kouen slipped her set of Sais into the back of her pants.
When Ken was dressed she turned to him; "You ready?"
He nodded and they left the room, walking to the elevator once more.
"Kouen!" Yamato yelled and the group stopped in front of her and Ken. "What are you doing?"
"There's no time to explain Yamato, but Ken and I are going to the base to rescue Ken." She closed her eyes and shook her head slightly at the confusing sentence and then looked into Yamato's blue eyes, "We'll be fine, trust me."
When the elevator stopped and opened its doors, they stepped in and said goodbye to the group.
They rushed over to the van and sped off at top speed, parking only a few blocks away and walking the rest of the way.
"How are we going to get in?" Ken asked when they approached the Base.
"You will be at my side, just don't touch me or look at me. The Snipers are not allowed to do that to me, so I'm free to walk in and out of there. The disguise is for what we discussed in the van. When I give you the signal, that's when you move into action, okay?"
He nodded and they walked ahead.
Kouen was right. The Snipers didn't even glance at her when they walked in the front door of the Base. When they made their way to the heart of the Base Ken looked around with a scowl.
"Is it similar?" Kouen asked.
"It's exactly the same as my Base." He breathed, "That's probably how I knew how to get out of the arena and the dungeon." He added slightly shaken and then drew in a sharp breath as a sharp pain burned in his neck.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, "We're close the core. Which means we should be close to the monitor room." When she looked at him curiously he replied, "The Dark Spore in the back of my neck picks up on negative energies. The core of the Base is flowing with pure evil. I can feel it."
"I was hoping you would be able to help. You know everything about this Base, which means that you can help in our final plan in stopping Osamu."
"I'll tell you as much as I know, but I'm not promising you anything." Ken turned to look in front of him again and she smiled.
"That's all I'm asking." She stopped and looked at a flight of stairs going down, "I think he would be down here."
And she led the way.
~~~~****~~~~
Osamu brought the whip down again, ripping another piece of flesh from Ken's back, but the young man made no gasp of pain, only a grimace. "You're pathetic." He spat at Osamu and he felt the leather come down again.
"Me? I'm not the one bound shirtless and helpless in a prison cell being beaten to death." Osamu growled.
"Why do you hate me so much?" Ken spoke through gritted teeth trying his hardest not to scream every time the whip bit into his skin.
"You took it all from me! You turned Kouen away from me. You turned them all from me!" he howled.
"You did that yourself Osamu. You know it. There's no one else to blame but yourself." Ken hissed and felt the sharp snap of the whip on his back again.
"I'm tired of this." Osamu put down the whip and walked in front of Ken. Ken's arms were in a 'V' above him, shackled in the middle of a room. "Maybe I should cut out your tongue." He said fingering a sharp and menacing knife.
"Do it." Ken said indifferently, "It still wouldn't shut out the guilt of what you did to her and to me and to out parents-"
"Shut up!" Osamu shouted as he punched Ken in the face. To his shock, Ken laughed, quietly and then so loudly that it echoed off the walls. "WHAT ARE YOULAUGHING AT?" Osamu screamed at him and slapped him this time.
Ken looked up darkly at him; "You have no one. That's it isn't it? You were so jealous when I became Chosen because I had friends now. I didn't need my big brother to look after me. And I always thought that I needed you as my only friend, but it turns out that I was your only friend and when they came along, I wasn't there for you anymore. That's why you wanted to be Chosen, that's why you did all this isn't it?"
Osamu looked hard at him and his hand twitched at his side, as if he wanted to hit Ken again, but he looked down and whispered, "You took it all away from me. And then when she came into my life, you turned her away from me."
Ken's face softened, "No Osamu. She wanted to help you, so did I, but you pushed me away. And you…you hurt her until she realized that she couldn't be with you anymore."
Osamu slashed the knife over Ken's chest and screamed in rage, "LIAR!"
Then he picked up a syringe and jammed it into Ken's bleeding chest. He gasped and shook violently and passed out. He hung in the shackles lifelessly and Osamu backed up in to the wall, staring at him.
Kouen stopped in the doorway, with Ken just behind her, and looked from the unconscious man in the shackles to Osamu's bitter face. She felt a whelp of panic rise up into her throat at that fact that Ken was not conscious but pushed it down again. She needed to remain calm and level headed for this plan to work.
"Hello lover." She said harshly.
The Kaiser's head spun quickly to look at her and he smiled, "You came."
"You didn't give me a choice in the matter."
"Yes I did, Kouen." He stated matter-of-factly.
She folded her arms, "That's how it's always been with you Osamu, isn't it? Do or die? Not much of a choice is it?"
"It's still a choice." He retorted.
She dropped her arms to her sides and walked forward into the room, Ken following closely behind her again. "You know I used to love that about you. But like so many things, that changed." She glanced at the tall Sniper standing at the door. He was a muscular man with thick black hair and deep green eyes. She grinned and turned back to Osamu.
"Now, you gave me a choice; my life for Ken's. I think you should keep to your promise."
He nodded and indicated for the tall Sniper to unshackle Ken. He did so and Ken's unconscious form fell to the stony ground with a thump.
She looked up at Osamu again with a grimace, "You know, it's sickening to see you disregard your brother's life like this. It would be better if you kept him here and beat him to a bloody pulp every night, but instead you pretend like he's not even worth your time."
"I don't think I asked for your opinion Kouen." He said dangerously.
She snorted, "No, you didn't. You never did." He eyed her suspiciously when she moved closer to the tall black haired Sniper. "You never asked for my opinion when it came to experimenting on my body like a lab rat. Or how you never asked for my opinion on joining your side. You made all those decisions for me. I had no real choice in the matter."
She began to slide her hand onto the Sniper's shoulder, but he made no response and dared not to look at her.
Ken felt his heart jump up into his throat. She was making him feel extremely nervous at the way she was egging Osamu on, trying to get a reaction out of him. Now, it seemed she would succeed, though Ken didn't know or not if he wanted to see Osamu angry.
He suddenly had a flash of his brother Sam standing over him and smacking his hand away, sending his digivice across the room. He shuddered and looked closely from Kouen to Osamu, waiting for his moment to act.
"Kouen," Osamu began in his most calm voice, "I did that on you because I love you. Don't you see? I wanted you to experience the power with me. I wanted to give you a gift."
She frowned deeply, "A gift? You and I obviously have two completely different ideas of what kind of gift you give your girlfriend for your four-year anniversary."
He looked down and for the first time, Ken noticed that he looked ashamed of himself. He felt a pang of sympathy and reminded himself that even when he was the Emperor, there were times when he felt afraid, or alone, or ashamed. It just meant that he was still human. So was there hope for this Kaiser still? Could he be reached? Would he want to be reached?
Ken shook his head slightly at the thought. No, he doubted whether or not Osamu would want to be brought back from what he's done. He, him self had moments when the shame of being the Emperor wrapped itself tightly around his heart until he felt like he could not carry on with life anymore, and he had not gone nearly as far as Osamu had.
There was a still silence in the room now and Osamu finally looked up, "I gave you a choice."
"Yes, you did. But I had no idea what I was getting in to. I was blind Osamu. I loved you so much and so hard that I couldn't see what you had planned for me. I should never have said 'yes' to you. But that's it isn't it? It's all about the choices we make and the choices we don't make. That's what you said to me just before you did it. Well, now I'm making a new choice Osamu. I'm saying 'No' this time. I choose to defy you. I choose this."
Before anyone could react, Kouen had locked her lips with the Sniper and began kissing him passionately.
It was Ken's signal. When Osamu screamed in rage and ran forward, trying to pull the Sniper from her, Ken picked up his double and ran from the room, without looking back. Kouen knew what she was doing, he trusted her. None of the Sniper's looked twice at Ken running down the corridor and out the Base. He deduced that it was the fact that he was wearing a Sniper uniform. He threw Ken's limp form unceremoniously into the back of the van and jumped into the driver's seat. He started up the engine and waited.
Osamu managed to tear the Sniper from Kouen, who looked at him with a mixture of defiance and innocence. Osamu whipped the Sniper hard across the back and the man fell to his knees, but he took no more notice of the Sniper again. He looked at Kouen with a fury that scared even her. And then he did something she thought he would never do; he slapped her across the face and spat, "Bitch!"
She stepped backwards, pressing a hand to her smarting cheek. Her eyes whelped with tears and she choked, "You are a monster! The real Osamu, my Osamu would never strike me, not matter what I did! No wonder I left you!"
She turned and ran from the room, Osamu giving chase. He pulled out a glinting black object from his pocket and threw it at her. The ring snapped closed around her wrist, but she kept running, trying to break it the same way she had broken the other one.
"I made some improvements on the rings. You won't find it easy to break this time Kouen!" he hissed as she ran out the Base and into the van.
Ken took off at high speed and headed back to the warehouse. He glanced at Kouen's wrist when she began trying her hardest to break the Black Ring. He noticed the design was subtly different.
"Is he in control of you now?" he asked.
She nodded her head, "Only, it's a different kind of control."
Once they arrived back at the warehouse, they carried Ken's still form to his bedroom and placed him on the bed. Kouen tended to his wounds on his back and his chest but she could not understand why he hadn't woken up yet.
The group watched him closely and after a few hours, he began to shake and a heavy fever took over his body.
"What's wrong with him?" Gatomon asked from atop the headboard.
Kouen looked closely at him again and cursed so loudly that everyone flinched and frowned at her. She turned sharply to Ken who was standing next to Yolei.
"I have to go back to my apartment. Ken I need you to come with me again. Cody, if you're up for it, it would be a good idea if you came too."
The brunette nodded.
"What's wrong Kouen?" Yamato asked, "Why do you-?"
"No time Yamato." She rushed out the room, Ken and Cody at her heels.
Once in the van again, she explained to Cody and Ken that they were the best fighters in the group and if Osamu knew to look for her at her apartment, they would be able to help her fight him and the Snipers off.
They burst into the apartment, avoided the knocked over pot plant and waited for her in the lounge. She hurried to the bathroom and began opening the cabinets and cupboards, searching for something. She shoved aside bottles or boxes, not caring if they smashed on the tiled floor. Ken looked in on her and asked if he could help, but she shook her head, "You wouldn't know what it looks like. I'll find it, don't worry, just keep a look out."
She ran to her room and began to look through her draws and her cupboards when a horrible memory came to the surface of her mind and settled there. She was just sixteen lying in a bed in a bright room with a high ceiling. A Digimon who looked like rocks piled on one another came to the bed and injected something into her arm. She was fine for a while, but suddenly her body burst into a high fever and she shook uncontrollably. That is until the Kaiser walked into the room and soothed her, telling her, "I have it. I finally have it."
He showed her his D-3, but it meant nothing to her. What happened next is still a mystery to her for she blacked out with the pain, but when she woke up again, her body burned with an internal fire. Osamu injected a purple serum into her arm and she immediately felt better. Her body relaxed and became cool. Osamu had told her though, that she needed to take the serum every day for about three weeks, or the fevers would return.
Kouen shuddered at the memory and reached into the dark corner of her cupboard. Her fingers closed around something smooth and cold. "Yes!" she gasped, pulling the bottle of serum to her eyes. She opened her mouth to call Ken and Cody, but instead a sickening high pitched sound came from her, much like a wounded animal. Pain flowed through her and she dropped the bottle to the carpet.
Hearing the noise, Ken and Cody came running to the room to find Kouen doubled up with agony. To their amazement, her form began to shift and change. Brilliant red/orange feathery wings burst from her shoulder blades and stretched out behind her, reaching to the back of her knees. Then her dress changed and she became slightly taller. The dress was now the same Vietnamese dress Osamu had made her wear. Her hair unfurled itself from her braid and fell loosely down her back, with the added accessory of what looked like three golden peacock feathers coming from the crown of her head and all the way down her back. Her eyes burned a red/brown as she turned to them, letting out another long scream.
"Kouen?" Ken gasped as he looked into her burning eyes.
"I am the ancient Phoenix Spirit, mortal." Her voice was deep and powerful, but with a hint of Kouen's voice behind it, giving it the eerie sound of an echo.
"Oh, my God." Cody rasped and looked at Ken, "I don't think this is good."
Ken shook his head as the tall woman approached them.
----~~~~----
Nic: Finally, I thought I would never get the time to finish that chapter.
Ken: What the hell?
Kaiser: I have to agree. What the hell have you done to Kouen?
Nic: It's not what I did, but what Osamu did.
Osamu: I don't know what to say I can't believe you're doing this to me.
Wormmon: What are you going to do Ken? I mean the other Ken?
Nic: You'll see.
Ken: You're strange Nic, you know that right?
Nic: Yes I do. I can't help it if I get odd ideas like this. I got the Kouen idea from Digimon Frontier, which is finally showing here now. I'll elaborate on that in the next chapter. As well as on Ken's turmoil on helping the resistance in the near future.
Kouen: I have a funny feeling people are trying hard to work out the time-lines to all this. If any of you are confused on dates of events, just let me know and I'll explain in the next author's notes.
Nic: Thank you Kouen.
Kouen: Your welcome.
Nic: (Updated AN) Okay, sorry again for not getting this up on Saturday, it seems that I am either too busy to get it up on at Saturday or my connection gives me hell. So from now on, I'll put out a chapter every Sunday if that is okay with you guys. I should also add that I don't own Digimon but I do own Kouen and Mike. Oh and I don't know who sings that song that I quoted at the beginning of this chapter so if any of you know, please let me know. Thanks for the reviews guys.