"Doppelgangland"
12. 'Murder Rain'
"I don't know what's worth fighting forOr why I have to scream,
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean.
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not all right
So I'm breaking the habit
Tonight."
~ 'Breaking the habit' Linkin Park
They were once again gathered around the table in the middle of the warehouse, discussing tonight's events. Davis and Ken had noticed how Daisuke had given the title of leader to Ken, who seemed to be running the show around here. It was obvious as to why though. Firstly because Daisuke had been in the Kaiser's custody for months and because for Ken, this was personal.
He turned to his doppelganger, "Ken, you know what you're doing tonight?"
He nodded and his double turned to Daisuke, Yamato and the rest of his team, "And you guys are ready for what you have to do?"
They nodded and he turned to Hikari, Yolei and Kari, "What about you girls?"
They confirmed that they knew what they were doing and finally Ken turned to Kouen. Without a word to her, she nodded, telling him that she knew what her job was.
"Okay," Ken began, and pulled out a roll of blue prints of the Base. "Thanks to Ken, we have these to help us in our mission." He began pointing out areas of where each team would enter and exit as well as where they should and should not go and what they would encounter at each corner.
Kouen got up from the table and headed to the kitchen, adding behind her, "I know my way around the Base, you don't need me for this."
Ken nodded and went back to the plans.
Kouen opened the fridge and pulled out a banana and a slice of bread. She popped the bread in the toaster and began mashing up the fruit with a fork. While she waited for the bread to become toast her mind began to wonder.
She found her memories go to places she hadn't thought about for a while.
"You said you were done being the Kaiser." She barked.
"And you said you would never leave me." He retaliated.
She put her hands on her hips, "We could go back and forth like this for hours and it still wouldn't change anything. The point is, you can't do this in the Human world. It wasn't right in the Digital world and it's not right in our world! These people all follow you because they always have. The famous genius, Osamu Ichijouji who they just took for granted. But then you turned into a tyrant and they all wish they had never voted you into power! You have to stop this! This is not you!"
"You're wrong Kouen, this is me! This is who I am now! I can't go back, no I won't go back, so why don't you just run to your new boyfriends' open arms." He spat at her.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "New boyfriend? Who the hell are you talking…Yamato? You think Yamato and I are in a relationship? Oh my God, you are out of your mind! We are just friends, Osamu. No matter how much I try to get over you, I never can, I will always love you, and no one can ever replace you. That's why I want you to stop this. I want to give us another chance."
He turned to her and his face seemed to light up. "Do you mean that?"
"With all my heart."
"You won't leave me?"
"Only if you stop all this."
He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to her, "I thought you might say that."
She glanced down at the ring.
"I can't stop this, but I need you in my life Kouen, I love you, I need you." And before she could back away, he snapped the Black Ring around her wrist.
Suddenly her memory was more recent. Now they were face to face in her apartment, her Sai poking his throat, "You wouldn't. You couldn't. You said it yourself, you love me."
"That is my only weakness Osamu, but one day you will be sorry when it becomes my strength."
Kouen looked up and nodded, suddenly understanding what Ken had been telling her this morning, that Osamu was not there anymore and the part of him that was, probably never wanted to be saved. Death should be a release not a punishment. Cruel to be kind.
She took her toast and began spreading the banana on it. She took a bite and felt her stomach churn. "I'm too nervous to eat." She mumbled, "But like Ken said, I need my strength for tonight." So she forced it down.
~~~~****~~~~
"I've been thinking, Ken." Yolei stated as the group of Digidestined prepared for tonight. "If you came up against Daemon, where is Myotismon? Or more correctly, Oikawa?"
"Good question." Cody rasped, "Surely he would have surfaced by now?"
"Maybe he couldn't, or he's waiting or something?" TK shrugged. "I mean, if he is out there, maybe he's just waiting for the right time to strike."
"Or the right brother." Ken muttered.
Yolei frowned at him and he kept his head bowed, "I have a strange feeling Ken was destined to be the Kaiser and there is no stopping it. Chances are, everything we went through, is going to happen to them, in some form or another."
"What makes you say that?" Demiveemon asked.
"Just something Shinsei said to me." Ken looked out the window and noticed it was raining but it wasn't dark with heavy thunderclouds. Instead there was a strange glow shining on the clouds above the setting sun, making the drops of rain look like diamonds.
The day had passed relatively quickly and the group of Digidestined and Chosen found themselves facing dusk and only a few minutes until they stormed the Base. All of them had loaded up with weapons and armor and some of the men had dressed in old Sniper uniforms. Ken emerged from the dojo in loose black pants and shirt, the Samurai sword at his side and his hair tied back in a ponytail. He nodded, indicating to everyone to make their way down to the van.
Ken leaned over to Yolei and hugged her. She turned to him and smiled.
"I want you to know, that whatever happens tonight Yolei, that I love you."
She nodded and kissed him, "We'll be find, Ken, I have a feeling we'll be fine."
"I hope you're right." He added looking at his double.
Once they arrived at the Base, they all piled out of the van and looked at each other. Ken spoke quietly, "Alright, you know where you're going and what you're doing. Be careful and remember guys, go for the rings. If Ken's plan works, you won't have to fight long. Okay, good luck."
They all nodded and ran off in different directions. The guys and digimon all ran to the entrance, Ken amongst them dressed in a Sniper uniform. Kouen headed for a different entrance, while the girls went to the basement hole.
As the guys entered the Base, four Snipers attacked them and as they fought and destroyed their rings, more and more Snipers came at them. Ken turned to his double, "Go now!" Ken ducked off while they were distracted and headed straight for the Core. Due to the Sniper uniform, no one looked at him twice and he made it safely to his target. He kneeled and pulled out a disk from his pocket. Then he moved to the circuit board and opened it up. He slotted the disk in and began typing in a command on the small keypad. A small green light on the side of the keypad began blinking rapidly and then burned red. He smiled and moved to the plugs where the pipes were. These were how the base was powered. He carefully began removing the largest pipe, all the while his neck burning, but he ignored it. If he disturbed the trigger, the alarm would go off and Osamu would know exactly what was going on. Sweat beaded on his brow and finally the pipe was disconnected from the Core and he held his breath to see if the power would shut down. The lights didn't dim and that was Ken's cue to knowing he had successfully disconnected the Core. Now the power would slowly shut down and it would be too late for Osamu to do anything about it. Ken breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. He turned on his heel and ran back up the stairs.
Suddenly where all the guys were, the fight stopped for a moment and every Black Ring in sight blinked red once and shattered. All the control on the Snipers vanished and they all looked very confused.
"Guys!" Ken yelled and they all turned to him, "We have to help the girls!"
They all nodded and even the people who were Snipers followed, except for one. A man with long black hair and deep sunken black eyes looked around and ran out the Base.
They headed to the basement where all the prisoners were. All the doors had swung open after the power had shut down and the girls were helping people out of their prisons. Ken ran forward and saw his parents. His mother began crying and took him in a tight embrace. Over her shoulder he saw Miyako standing alone, looking lost. He pulled away from his mother and moved towards his girlfriend. Tears spilled down her cheeks and he ran to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry." He whispered in her ear and all she could do was sob tears of happiness.
He pulled away and looked at her and then his parents. "I have to go, there's something I have to do, but I'll be back soon." They nodded and watched him climb the stairs.
Mean while, Kouen had found Osamu in the arena, looking down upon it. He was typing on a keypad that was invisible to her and looking at a small monitor. He looked slightly panicked.
"You can see your demise can't you?" she asked coolly.
He turned to her and looked at her in her Digimon form. Suddenly she shifted and went back to her human form, "I don't need that to fight you."
"You won't fight me. You said so yourself remember." His words were harsh and cruel now; there was no trace of Osamu at all. Only the Kaiser was there. 'Good,' she thought, 'That's all I need.'
"Do you remember what I told you about my only weakness becoming my strength?" she asked.
He laughed at her, "Yes I do."
"Good, because that day has come." She lunged at him with her Sais and almost stabbed him but he dogged the attack swiftly. Their fight became a dance, roundhouse kicks, punches, jabs all circled the room. He pulled his whip from his hip and lashed at her but she ducked and delivered a sweeping kick, knocking him to the ground. In seconds he was up on his feet again and in a second they were fighting toe to toe.
"Why are you fighting me? Don't you remember how we are a perfect match for each other? We can't beat each other!" he yelled.
"I know that, lets just say I'm the warm up act and if all goes to plan that's all you'll see. Cruel to be Kind, I figured I would save two Ichijouji's tonight."
"You aren't making any sense!"
"Maybe not yet, but you'll soon know what I mean."
The Kaiser kicked at her and knocked one of her Sais from her hand then lunged at the other one. She desperately tried to shove it in his chest but he had grabbed it and was pushing it away. They were horribly close now and both viciously fighting over the weapon until suddenly the tip went in. Both looked up at each other with shock and horror. Osamu's eyes widened and suddenly looked human again. "No." he whispered. "NO!" he screamed as Kouen stumbled backwards and fell over the edge of the balcony. He ran to look over the edge and saw her body lying sprawled out and blood oozing from the wound in her gut. He dropped the bloody Sai and clutched his head. "What have I done?"
Ken appeared in the doorway and looked at the Sai. "NO!" he screamed and ran at the Kaiser. "You monster!"
Osamu got up and instantly began defending himself again, but this time, he seemed less willing to fight. At first both brothers were an equal match for each other, just as Kouen and Osamu had been, but then Ken began using his new training, using Osamu's force against him. Osamu lunged at Ken to hit him in the chest with a flat palm, but Ken grabbed Osamu's wrist and used the forward momentum of his brother to yank him and send him flying behind him. Osamu stumbled and turned back around to face Ken. Again Osamu came at him, trying to punch his face but by using the techniques of Jujitsu and the smooth new style Kouen had mixed together, Ken was able to divert every blow. Osamu became infuriated and tried to kick Ken in the side, but Ken bent down and scooped Osamu's leg in the crook of his arm. All Ken had to do was pull his arm back and Osamu fell to the floor. In seconds he was on his feet again and the angrier he became, the wilder his attack got, which made it easier for Ken to defend himself.
The dance went on for what felt like hours, though it was only minutes. Each blow to Ken was taken and thrown back at Osamu until finally Osamu was flung backwards and hit the edge of the balcony. Ken unsheathed his sword and walked towards the Kaiser.
"I'm sorry Osamu." He whispered as he loomed over his older brother, the sword poised above his chest. He stood like that for a while and then lowered it; "I can't do this."
"Please." Osamu choked, looking up at Ken, "Do it. I'm not strong enough, I need you to do this."
"Osamu?" Ken frowned.
He nodded, "Let me go, please, let me go."
Ken stared into his brother's eyes and nodded. He lifted the sword again and whispered, "I'm sorry Osamu. I love you."
"I'm sorry too. I love you." He closed his eyes and bowed his head, waiting for the blow. With a force, Ken rammed the tip of the sword through Osamu's heart. Osamu's eyes opened widely and then closed again. Ken fell to his knees and began sobbing, all the while a dull throb pulsing in the back of his neck.
~~~~****~~~~
"How is she?" both Ken's asked when they saw Jyou emerge from the operating room.
"I think that ancient Phoenix Spirit had something to do with saving her life. Her wound seemed to be healing itself; we just helped it along. But I'm surprised the fall didn't hurt the baby." He said with amazement.
"Baby?" Yamato frowned, "What baby?"
Jyou looked surprised, "She's six weeks pregnant, she didn't tell you?"
They shook their heads.
"Hmm, well, I'm sure she had her reasons. Anyway, she should be waking up soon, so you can ask her when she does."
They nodded and watched Jyou walk back into the theatre.
They all sat down again in silence. It had only been a few hours after the assassination of the Kaiser and the news papers had already sent out their stories, the front page splashed with the headline: "Kaiser Assassinated; Brother saves us all."
Most of the articles included witness of what it was like to be a prisoner of the Kaiser, being a Sniper and statements from some of the Chosen Children of the events of the night before.
Ken folded the newspaper up and looked around at the others. Hikari and Takeru were sitting together, hands held tightly. Sora and Taichi were sitting by Hikari and Takeru. Daisuke was talking to Yamato who was looking very pale. Miyako took Ken's hand in hers and smiled at him, "You did the right thing." She whispered in his ear and kissed him on the cheek.
He said nothing and tried to smile reassuringly.
Davis, Cody, TK, Kari, Ken and Yolei all sat across from them waiting to see Kouen. All their Digimon were back at the warehouse.
Finally Jyou emerged again and nodded at them. "You can go see her now."
They all stood up and headed to her room. Usually so many people were not allowed in a room at once, but Jyou let it slide for now.
Kouen was lying propped up in her bed. She looked at them all with a forced smile.
"So Jyou says you're going to be fine." Daisuke said lightly.
She nodded, "Yeah, he just told me."
"Why didn't you tell us about the baby?" Yamato asked gently.
She sighed, "To tell the truth, I didn't know. With everything that was going on, I thought it was all stress related. Turns out I was pregnant."
"When…I mean…I'm assuming Osamu is the father?" Hikari inquired.
She nodded, "He is."
"He…" Yamato began, "Did he, I mean did he…?"
"Rape me? No, never. He wouldn't do that. But we did…well make love a few times when I was at the Base."
"How many times are 'a few'?" Yamato snapped.
"More than three." She raised her eyebrow to make him stop asking questions. "Anyway, the last time we…well, he disabled the ring. I guess that was the time I must have fallen pregnant."
"He disabled the ring?" Ken asked.
She turned to him and nodded, "I know what you're thinking. But even if I had tried to escape, he would have activated it again. This way, it was just like having my Osamu back. He was my lover after all."
They nodded and she looked at Ken, who looked exhausted. She turned to everyone, "Um, could you give Ken and I a moment alone please?"
They all turned and left the room, closing the door behind them. Ken sighed and looked out the window. "Ken," she said quietly, "You did the right thing."
"Then why does it feel so wrong?" he asked coldly.
"Doing what you did was not easy, I know, I wanted to spare you that pain, that's why I went to fight him myself. I don't want to see this destroy you."
"Why do you care so much?" he questioned, turning to her.
"Because you are my brother! We may not be related by blood, but I have grown up with you, you are a huge part of me and I would be devastated to see anything hurt you. I love you."
He moved to the door, "I need to be alone for a while. To think things through."
"Ken…!" she yelled to him, but he had already left the room.
~~~~****~~~~
"Well the portal should work now." Ryo smiled as he emerged from the office. Two days had passed and things were starting to slowly go back to normal. Everyone who had been living in the warehouse was now back with his or her families or friends. After Ryo had been released he had adjusted the computer ports to send them back to their world.
"Thanks Ryo." Daisuke smiled.
"Anytime." Ryo turned to Ken and grinned, "Hey."
Ken smiled back, "Hey. It's been a while."
"Yeah, you've grown up a lot."
Ken nodded, "So have you. So this is what you've been doing with your time. Jumping from world to world?"
He nodded, "You wouldn't believe this one world I was living in, well technically I still live there. Anyway, in that world, all you guys were characters in a TV show."
Ken smiled, "Really? Strange."
He nodded and shook Ken's hand; "Well maybe I'll see you around sometime."
Ken grinned, "I'd like that." They hugged and Ryo patted Ken on the back.
"I'm glad you're doing okay, Ken."
Ken smiled warmly at his friend, "Me too."
The rest of the Chosen along with the older Chosen, Kouen and Mike entered the office and thanked them all for their help. Ken stepped forward and shook his double's hand, an odd glint in his eye, "Thank you for your help. Without you I doubt we would have been able to defeat him."
"You're welcome. I'm just sorry it had to turn out like this."
"All things happen for a reason right?" Ken shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess they do."
Kouen stepped forward and hugged Ken, "Thank you."
He smiled and nodded, "I'll miss you Kouen, I really feel like I've known you for a long time."
"Who knows, you may find me in your world."
He nodded and they all said their last good-byes and were sucked into the computer.
"You're back!" Izzy yelled as he leapt up from his desk. "You were gone so long! I was getting worried!"
"We're fine, Izzy." TK muttered and picked up Patamon.
"What happened, tell me everything." The genius demanded and so they gave an account of everything that happened while Izzy listened with rapt attention.
~~~~****~~~~
Kouen sighed and flopped onto her bed. She noticed Shinsei standing in her doorway. "What is it?"
"You have won the war, are you ready for the battle?"
"Battle? Don't you mean we've won the battle are we ready for the war?" Kouen asked sitting up.
"I mean exactly what I say Kouen." and she left the room.
"Battle?" Kouen mumbled, then she looked up with shock, "Ken!"
----~~~~----
Nic: Yes! Just the Epilogue now!
Ken:
And it's done?
Kaiser: Yes, it's done.
Osamu: I'm afraid not, she has a sequel in mind remember?
Wormmon: Oh, yeah.
Nic: Uhuh.
Kouen: So did any of you figure out the fact that I was pregnant? (And by that I mean the readers, not you guys.)
Ken: Well, I did know, 'cause Nic told me.
Kaiser: How come you didn't tell me?
Osamu: Or me, since I'm the father?
Nic: 'Cause Ken and I are closer and he hangs around all the time, it's hard to keep anything from him.
Kouen: Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
Nic: (Updated AN). I'll be posting the Epilogue sometime this week, probably Wednesday, I don't know. I hope you enjoyed this! I had a lot of fun writing it. Thanks everyone for reviewing.