Chapter 16: Three Kings

I slowly woke up and opened my eyes. There was only a weak red glow in the room, but it stung anyway, so I closed my eyes. Before I did, I noticed my shades lied on the floor; the frame bent out of shape, the lens shattered and scattered about. I swore under my breath. Lately bright light bothered me more and more, to the point that anything greater than moonlight hurt. My shades had been what let me freely roam in the day.

As my senses came back to me, I realized I wasn't touching the ground. My wrists hurt from fatigue and whatever they were tied with burned; probably Myotismon's Crimson Whip. I looked up and opened my eyes for a split-second to check; I was right. The glowing red whip banded my wrists together and against the wall. The whip was tied just below my gloves so that it burned the skin. As I hung against the wall, I heard a Bakemon float through the wall. Something made the cuts and wounds on my back burn and sting as he floated in.

"So you finally woke up, punk?" The Bakemon taunted me without fear, since I was restrained. Rage built up inside me. "I heard that wimpy little scream of yours. 'Oh please Lord Myotismon! Don't hurt me!' Ha ha!" The Bakemon made a high-pitched voice, trying to imitate me. "Remember, you're only human; a lowly, pathetic, weak, human." I couldn't take it anymore. My eyes snapped open and I focused, ignoring my sore eyes. The Crimson Whip broke and I fell to the floor. I was heavily injured and in excruciating pain. My anger only made it flare up more, which in turn made me angrier; a vicious cycle. Dark clouds of energy appeared around me

"Zero Fist!" I shot across the room in an instant and destroyed the Bakemon, but not before he let out a deafening scream for help. Bakemon poured into the hut and attacked.

"Dark Claw!" It felt like hundreds of claws ripping against me, but I knew it was far less. The pain was incredible; it felt as if I was being torn apart, piece by piece.

"Devibomb!!!" The pain stopped and I could feel the pain shoot to my heart. It skipped a beat and time stopped. I looked around at the Bakemon. All of them were preparing to attack; they wouldn't get the chance. I closed my eyes and the blast tore out of me. Data exploded throughout the room as my attack bounced off the walls, blowing it all back to me. I focused and absorbed the data. It had been at least twenty, seasoned, champion-level, Bakemon. I opened my eyes and looked around. Everything was blown against the walls from my attack. More interesting was what the absorbed data had done. A moment ago I had thick gashes across me that would have been fatal, but the data had healed them. I heard a loud stomping and the door crashed open, breaking my chain of thought.

"What is going on in here? Where are the guards?" Myotismon growled sinisterly at me. I was healed now; I felt no reason to fear him anymore. He couldn't even get guards strong enough to handle me. I patted my chest and smirked; he understood. "Fool! Crimson..."

"Stop!" A deep, booming voice resonated from behind Myotismon, making him halt in mid-strike.

"But my liege!" Myotismon lowered his arm and stepped aside. The smirk quickly faded from my face and I kneeled. There in the doorway stood Daemon himself. "He..."

"Silence! Insolent fool." Daemon passed by Myotismon and stopped in front of me. "So, you're the James I have heard about. Do you know who I am?" I nodded slowly.

"You are Daemon, king of darkness." Daemon laughed.

"Poor boy, I AM darkness. King is a title for those who have power given to them, such as Myotismon here. Isn't that right?" Myotismon grumbled in agreement. "I see you kneel to me. Why?" I looked up at Daemon. A chill ran down my spine.

"I will kneel to any whom I know I can not defeat, but to no one else." Myotismon glared at me. I didn't care though anymore.

"You don't believe that you can beat my general here?" Daemon made a gesture towards Myotismon.

"Did I kneel to him when he walked in here?" I was getting cocky and forgetting that I was talking with evil incarnate.

"Ha ha! I like you kid, you have much potential. I can tell you don't fear me, but honor me. Do you truly believe you are more powerful than he?" Daemon was in a good mood and didn't seem to have a bad disposition. I was a bit puzzled.

"Of course." Myotismon was shaking with anger by now. "He tries to rule with fear, but fear can only go so far. Eventually, you must show true power to attain what you wish." Daemon rose up a bit.

"Hmmm. I have noticed something about you." Daemon began to leave the building. I followed. Myotismon was restraining himself for the sake of his own life. To attack me now would surely bring out Daemon's wrath. I noticed it was the middle of the night as we went outside. "As you may well know, I command vast armies in order to rule both this world. However, it can be very cumbersome to try and command them all myself." Ogremon and Bakemon seemed to split like water before Daemon as he meandered through them. I followed closely in his wake as he spoke to me. "Therefore, I rely on my generals. Each of them is the master of his own form of darkness, attaining the titles of kings. Myotismon for example is the King of the Undead. He is not my only general though." Daemon stopped and turned around. We were now standing in the middle of a raised stone platform that the Ogremon had been building out of stone they had brought with them in our journey through the gate. "I rely on two other 'kings' as well. My second general is the King of Distortion; Blackwargreymon. I acquired him by personally reconfiguring him after he was destroyed by Myotismon. Right now he is conquering the Network Islands and the continent of Driver in the digital world. I would have him conquering Server, but Myotismon took control of it more quickly than expected."

"So what does this have to do with me?" I looked up at Daemon, who had begun to float above the center of the stone platform, between two pillars that reached to nothing.

"Like I said, each of my generals commands a form of darkness. Myotismon harnesses the power of the undead, commanding them to his will. Blackwargreymon's very existence warps time and space. I have noticed that my personal minions, the Memoriamon, have been attracted to you. They have possessed you, attacked you, but to no avail. Since you have turned evil, they have continued to try to feed on the darkness in your heart, only to find that they are effortlessly controlled by you, wiped of their physical form and returned to the pure dark energy that they are. You, James, are the King of Nightmares." I breathed deep.

"What?"

"You rule the Memoriamon, the physical creations of the pain, fears, and sorrow of the worlds. By ruling them, you rule the darkest thoughts of those that they were spawned from. Try it. Focus on that Ogremon sleeping over there." An Ogremon was leaning against the stone platform, sleeping. I turned back to Daemon. "Try it. Just focus upon him the way you do when you use your Devibomb attack." I turned back and looked at the Ogremon. I closed my eyes and focused. I could feel dark energy swarming around me, and then around the Ogremon. I could feel his thoughts. I opened my eyes and looked. Sure enough, a cloud of dark energy was surrounding the Ogremon. I smiled darkly. He was fidgeting in his sleep, tossing and turning. Suddenly he woke up breathing heavily. He looked about to see if anybody had noticed and leaned back against the platform. "Do you believe me now? You hold incredible power. I want you to be my third general." Pride swept over me. Me, James, a King of Darkness.

"I thought you said you already had three kings though." I looked up at Daemon with restored confidence.

"Yes, Lucemon, the King of Corruption. He seems to have been permanently incapacitated. During his last defeat, much of his data was separated from his main code and rewritten to help rebuild the digital world. The remaining data is not enough to reconfigure him. That is why I need you. Do you accept my offer? Will you be my general?" Daemon looked down on me. There was distortion around him now, as dark energy emanated from him.

"Where do I begin?"

Daemon had led me to the back of the encampment where he had dozens of objects strewn about. They ranged from a steel bar similar to the one I had attack Myotismon with, to guns, to a tank.

"I have been closely monitoring Myotismon's training of you. Soon you will know when I am watching as he does, but not yet. Before you lay various weapons. Your greatest power that I have seen is the one that Myotismon has neglected completely. You can transfer your power to anything and everything. However, for practicality, I have only selected a few inanimate objects. Pick up the rod." I did as Daemon said and picked up the steel bar. "Now let your energy flow into as if it were a part of you." I did as he said and it worked, easily. Dark energy surrounded the steel bar. "That was simple, was it not?" I nodded. "Go ahead and try it. Hit that rock." A large boulder sat in the middle of the clearing. I ran up to it whacked it as hard as I could. I blew apart, sending rocks, dust, and powder everywhere. A shockwave rippled through the ground in circles from where the boulder had been.

"Am I really that powerful?" I looked in amazement at my work.

"Far more than that; pick up the gun." A regular, ho-hum pistol lied in the grass. I picked it up and looked at it. It had an eight round clip, fully loaded; nothing special. "Do the same with the gun, however, realized that there are more pieces to it. When you focus, you will be able to feel every part of it and manipulate it as if you are it and it is you." I did as he said and focused. He was right. I felt like I had acquired new body parts. I could change every part of the gun. "Focus hard on the bullet. Send your energy into it and aim at the target in the distance." I let my energy flow into the bullet and looked as the gun began to glow darkly; it felt hot. I pulled the trigger and watched. A dark wave of energy blasted out and blew the entire archery target apart. The shot kept going and into a tree, completely splitting it in three: stump and two halves. The bullet continued through a few more trees before it stopped. I smiled.

"I assume that the Tank is the same?" I looked at the tank. By modern standards, it was extremely weak. It was an old Sherman tank from the Second World War; 75mm cannon and all.

"You learn quickly. Hop in." I opened the top and climbed in. The inside of the tank was nothing like the outside however. It had been fitted with various computers and targeting systems. It was also changed to be operated by just one person. "You can also control data itself. You can merge your mind with the programming and the machinery of the tank itself. Aim around." I focused and held onto the controls. I could feel every part of the tank. I aimed the turret around and into the sky. I expected the next part. "Aim at the city. See that tall building in the distance? Aim just above it. You must realize that just because it leaves your direct contact, doesn't mean it leaves your influence. Set off the shell directly above that tower."

"Won't that draw people to our position?" I hadn't really thought of it. Why hadn't anybody noticed the encampment yet? It stood out like a sore thumb.

"No. Thanks to a little work by Myotismon, this camp and everything in it is camouflaged by a data field. To outsiders, things look just like normal. Now, don't worry about things such as that again." Daemon's voice lowered. "Don't ever question my orders. Rebellion will lead to your immediate defeat." I shook a little at this sudden change in attitude but brushed it off. I aimed above the skyscraper and focused. The energy flowed into the shell. I found that it was much easier to force more energy into it than in the bullet; larger the object, more energy it can hold. I fired and focused harder. I could feel the shell as it flew through the air. I could change my perspective as if I was looking from it. I looked down and focused harder as it flew over the tower. The shell detonated and everything went silent. Suddenly, a sonic boom tore through the camp. I jumped out of the tank and look at the tower I had fired upon. The explosion was huge, but didn't seem to do anything to the tower, even though it spread through the top ten floors of it.

"Why is nothing happening?"

"That was a false shell. Only you and I can see it. I designed it so that it would not cause any damage, no matter how much you charged it. It was only for learning purposes. Finally, realize what the Memoriamon are. They are the creations of pure despair, fear, hate, pain in general. You have much pain in your heart. You can use this and your own energy to create Memoriamon. However, in the long run, they will be of little help. Remember the Bakemon you absorbed?"

"Yeah."

"Search within yourself. Find the data of a single Bakemon you destroyed. Take this data and mix it with your pain and your energy. Bring it out from within you, and watch." I closed my eyes and thought. I could see the data that formed me. It was like floating in space, watching clusters of data fly round one central, massive, sphere of data; my own. I looked in the clusters and could tell what was what. I took one cluster and focused. I could feel hatred rise up within me. I forced my energy, anger, and the data together and out of me. I opened my eyes and breathed heavily. It was like an endurance trial to do that. I looked above me as the data materialized. A Bakemon formed from it and he looked down at me.

"You... you reconfigured me." It was the Bakemon who had taunted me. "Master..." The Bakemon lowered himself below me and leaned over, as if he were kneeling.

"Any digimon or being you create will be linked in servitude to you, so long as you will it. It is possible to break this link, but I see no use for it." Daemon looked down at the Bakemon, who still 'kneeled' to me. I was a king. I laughed. I could actually fell my hatred now; it was exhilarating.

"Is that all... my liege?" I looked up at Daemon.

"Almost. You are now a king, you need signify it." Daemon lowered and grabbed my shoulders. A wave of dark energy swept through me. I shook violently. It was amazing; the power of Daemon himself was sweeping though me. He let go of my shoulders and lifted up. "There. Return to the building I found you in. If Myotismon gives you any trouble, give him a taste of your power." Daemon laughed and moved back towards the camp. What had Daemon done to me? I looked myself over and realized what he had done. I still wore the same black jeans, but my tennis shoes were now black and blue, instead of grey and white. I wore armor that covered my shoulders and my body down to about my waist. Instead of the black t-shirt I had wore before, I wore a long sleeve shirt with open cuffs at the end instead of the usual ones that close tightly around your wrists. My gloves were the same, and I now had a new pair of shades on. I took them off and looked at them; they were the same ones the digimon emperor had. I squeezed and caused them to break apart into data. I wanted no resemblance to that weakling. I would just attain my own shades. I thought of what Daemon had said. "You can also control data yourself." I ran back towards the building. I stopped as I exited the clearing though; I wonder...

I focused energy into my legs and ran again. Dark energy waved off behind me, but I was running much faster now. I could manipulate anything. I jumped as I ran and screeched into the air, narrowly missing branches of the spaced out trees. I went a few yards before I landed. I continued running towards the building, now moving through the crowd of Ogremon and Bakemon. They parted before me as I came and I reached the building in no time. I opened the door and walked in. There was no light at all, but I could see perfectly. I looked down and saw my massacred shades lying about. I focused and the glass shards and frame flew to my open, waiting hand. I focused harder and felt them melt into nothing, and back together as my shades; good as new. I dropped to my knees. I was exhausted from working so much energy.

"Get to sleep; you will need it for tomorrow." Daemon stood in the open doorway. I had forgotten to close it.

"Why?" I turned around and looked at Daemon.

"Because tomorrow I return to the digital world to continue my campaign there with Blackwargreymon. Meanwhile, you and Myotismon will begin the invasion of this world by first taking control of this city, then Japan. After that, you are to spread in whatever direction you see fit. You may be an evil king now James, but you are still human nonetheless."

"Yes my liege." He left and closed the door. I turned to my mat on the floor. I decided that an evil king deserves something more comfortable. I grabbed it and focused. A few moments later, a full fledged bed sat in the building. I took off my armor, revealing the black shirt beneath it. I took off my shoes and lied down with everything else still on. I fell asleep almost immediately.

(---) (---) (---)

"Justin! Wake up!" I rolled my little brother as he floated in the pool. I checked for a pulse; nothing. I picked him up with unknown strength and ran out of the pool and into my house. I placed him on the couch, grabbed the phone, and dialed 911.

"This is 911 dispatch. What is your emergency?" Tears ran rapidly and freely down my face.

"My little brother is dying!!! He drowned in our pool! Please..." The memory began to get hazy, as if I was watching it in a pool of water. I could no longer hear it.

(---) (---) (---)

I sat up quickly, breathing heavily. However, instead of feeling the usual fear I had after nightmares, I felt anger. I could feel dark energy swarming around me. I realized what was happening and breathed deeply, bringing the energy back under control. I opened my eyes and looked. Myotismon stood in a corner of the room.

"How could you be a general? How could he consider you an equal to me?" Myotismon advanced upon me as I sat up in the bed. "You are just a pathetic human! I am the one who showed you your powers! You belong to me!" Myotismon reached out quickly and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. "Give them to me!" He shook me violently... and set me off.

"Zero Fist!" I slammed Myotismon in the stomach, sending him reeling. "I belong to no one! There is not a being in the universe that is powerful enough to ever control me! I follow Daemon because I choose to, unlike your weak ass. Zero Fist!" I punched him again, this time in the face. He fell against the wall and slid down it. I shouldn't have been able to fight him off so easily, but he hadn't expected me to be so powerful already. "Now get out of here. Don't you have an army to lead?" Myotismon was shaking with rage. He stormed out of the building. I simply smirked and laughed quietly to myself. Myotismon was like a spoiled child, unable to comprehend why he shouldn't have everything. I put on my shoes, and then donned my armor. I walked to a mirror hanging on the wall and looked at myself, but only notice my eyes. They had lost their hazel color, replaced by a slate grey. I chuckled a little to myself and put my shades on. I stepped outside and looked about. The entire army was mobilized. Everybody was in formation, except for one Bakemon; the one I had reconfigured.

"I am awaiting your orders Master James." Master James, it had a nice ring to it. He probably should have been using my last name, but I decided it didn't sound as well as my first name. 'Master Walls' just didn't roll of the tongue as well. I didn't need or want to have the burden of having to command anybody right now though, I was still getting used to my powers. I closed my eyes and focused. Suddenly, I felt a slight tingling sensation and opened my eyes. The Bakemon was shaking himself and looked around. He looked at me and quickly flew to the rest of the Bakemon. I had learned to break control.

"All divisions!" Myotismon stood in front of his military. "Forward march!" I watched as the massive army of Ogremon marched by me. I turned an began to march alongside them.

Our attack had begun. Our first target: Odaiba. Then onward to Tokyo. After that, all of Japan. Finally, Earth.