Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Two chapters left to go! The next one will be called: The Price He Must Pay.
One World Away From Darkness
Chapter 18: Dealing With Evil Digimon
Ken Ichijouji
"I see you remember me," Daemon said quietly, gliding towards them. "I told you I would be back for you, Ken, and I always keep my promises."
"How?" Ken whispered, holding T.K.'s arm in a death grip. "That was years ago!"
"The strength of you and your friends, which put me here in the first place, acted like a barrier to prevent me from escaping this world. But you have let your guard down, Ken, and I am once more able to cross between worlds. Now it is time for you to give me what is rightfully mine!"
"Never!" Stingmon snapped, standing protectively in front of him. "If you want Ken, you'll have to go through me first!"
"Impossible!" T.K. whispered, staring at Daemon in shock. "You're the 'Undersea Master' that those so-called Scubamon wanted to double-cross?"
"Don't be a fool!" Daemon snapped, his voice radiating contempt. "Their 'Undersea master' was a digimon named Dragomon. My servants here wanted to get rid of him because he was weak!"
Daemon gestured at the shadows clustered around him with one arm and let out a dry laugh. "They have wanted to feed on the happiness of humans and digimon for a long time, but their master failed to take over both worlds when you Digidestined kept battling away the darkness. Dragomon could not tolerate the light and because of that, he was confined to this world without outside help. That is why he sent forth his servants to do his bidding. His original plan was to capture the Child of Light. Her crest was partially responsible for many of the failed attempts to seize control of the human world and Digital World alike. That way the light of the Digiworld would be drastically weakened, and he could break free from his prison into a world with the potential for darkness to run rampant. Unfortunately for him, his servants were tired of waiting. Instead of following their master's orders, they decided to seize the Child of Light for themselves and use the power of her crest to defeat Dragomon."
"So when Kari's power proved to be too strong against the darkness, and you appeared here in the Dark Ocean, they turned to you instead," T.K. said softly. "The strength of Kari's crest prevented her from submitting to them, something they had not expected, so when you arrived, they saw it as a new opportunity to defeat their 'Undersea Master'."
"What did you promise them to get obedience, when they would not obey Dragomon?" Angemon asked, and sent the shadows a look of disgust.
"I promised to give them what Dragomon could not," Daemon whispered. "The chance to feed on human's and digimon's souls alike. Unlike Dragomon, I do not fear the light. Now, Ken, it is time for you to give me what I seek."
Ken stepped back in fear and felt T.K.'s arm slip protectively around him. "What are you talking about? Nothing I have is going to help you with your crazy plans," he replied, his voice trembling.
"That's where you are wrong," Daemon replied, his icy laugh sending chills down Ken's spine. "Before when I said that I could cross between worlds, well, that wasn't exactly the truth. I am now able to influence things that occur in the human world and the Digital World, but I cannot yet enter them physically. The power of the Digidestined working together still holds me back somewhat. As you may have noticed, I am able to manipulate dreams."
Daemon gazed at Ken, his body radiating power. "This new ability of mine seems to have worked quite well. You have let the dreams affect you, Ken. Everytime you let the darkness sway you, myself and my servants grow stronger. Now there is only one piece left in the puzzle, and once I have that, I will be free to enter the human world and the Digital World once more."
Ken stood there, paralyzed with shock. Everytime the shadows appeared to me, they grew more intense and they grew in numbers. Now I understand why. It's because I had let myself slip further and further into darkness...
T.K. looked at him and smiled sadly. "When you have darkness in your heart, the shadows come to life and lure you in. They try to make you surrender to that darkness. It's like I said before, they are only a physical representation of what is in the heart when it starts to lose the battle against evil. You are not a quitter, Ken," his friend said quietly. "Don't give up now when you are so close."
"Stay out of this!" Daemon snapped. "You've caused enough trouble!"
Ken tightened his hand on T.K.'s arm and frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean?" T.kK asked, giving Daemon a suspicious look.
"If it wasn't for you, Child of Hope, Ken would have submitted to me along time ago! Under normal circumstances, the darkness would have already taken Ken, but somehow you have managed to keep it at bay. You have been affecting his dreams as well and that has made things more difficult. Did you never wonder why you heard my voice speaking to you? I thought my warning would be enough to keep you from sticking your nose in where it wasn't wanted!"
Ken stared at T.K. in shock. "You heard Daemon's voice, too?" He now realized that the voice he had been hearing was the digimon's standing right in front of him, but to find out that T.K. had been hearing Daemon as well was completely unbelievable.
T.K. slowly nodded. "I heard him," the blond said softly. "He said that he was going to hurt you."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Ken whispered.
"Why didn't you tell me?" T.K. countered, his eyes filled with emotion.
Ken blushed and stared at the sand. "I heard it on the street in the real world, and I heard it in the Digiworld," he said reluctantly.
T.K. just stared at him, and his blush deepened. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
The blond raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to him. "So, what else haven't you told me?" his friend whispered very softly.
Ken swallowed hard, his heart pounding, and turned to look at Daemon. "Later," he mumbled. "Right now we have more important things to worry about."
"How am I able to affect Ken's dreams?" T.K. demanded, turning to glare at Daemon.
"The Digidestined all share a special connection to one another," Daemon said quietly, turning to look at Ken. "The only thing that has been standing in the way of my plans so far was the power of hope. Your friend somehow sensed that and has been protecting you without even realizing it. Hope is the light inside and the most powerful force against darkness."
Ken slowly turned to look at T.K. who stood next to Angemon, and his eyes filled with tears. "You did that for me?" he whispered, not daring to believe Daemon's words.
T.K. slipped an arm around Angemon and snuggled against his partner's side. "I understand now," the blond said softly, and Ken found himself gazing into T.K.'s clear blue eyes. "I wondered how my problems with dreams and stuff could be connected to your problems, Ken. It all makes sense now. You were calling out for help, and I heard you. That's why we shared the same dreams. I could sense that you needed me, that you needed my strength, my hope, to help you fight Daemon and the darkness."
T.K. moved forward, and the blond placed warm hands on his shoulders. "I answered your cry for help, Ken," T.K. whispered. "You're my friend, and I would do anything for you, even without you needing to ask."
"T.K..." The tears streamed down Ken's face. He leaned into T.K.'s chest, his cheek coming to rest against the blond's shoulder. "Why do you do this to me?" he whispered.
T.K. was about to answer, but Stingmon stepped forward and gave Daemon a look of confusion. "Kari has the Crest of Light. Why would she not be the one to help Ken?"
"The Crest of Light and the Crest of Hope are similar, but there are still differences between them. There is no doubt that the Child of Light has been feeling the taint of darkness, but the source of it would be unrecognizable to her. The nature of the Crest of Light is not the kind of thing that works best against this type of darkness. It's the power of hope that Ken needs, not the Crest of Light. That's why his friend here was able to connect with him so strongly. Unfortunately for Ken, even the powers of the Crest of Hope won't help him now. Once I get my hands on the real prize, nothing will be able to save him!"
"And what exactly would this prize be?" Stingmon asked.
Ken felt his partner's hand rest protectively on his shoulder, and he quickly pulled away from T.K. feeling embarrassed.
"The Spore," Daemon whispered.
"No!" Ken gasped in horror, and the back of his neck stung with sudden almost unbearable pain. What's happening to me? He let out a scream of agony and fell to his knees. I can't stand it. Make it stop...
"Ken!" Stingmon cried, kneeling next to him and grabbing his arms. "What's going on? What's wrong?"
"Ken, No!" T.K. shouted, racing forward and dropping down in front of him. "If you give up, then Daemon will get the Spore and that means he'll win!"
From far away, Ken could hear Daemon laughing.
"Once I have the Spore, it's dark powers will release me from my prison, and I will be free to enter the human world and Digiworld once more. The powers of the Digidestined are strong, but the powers of the Spore are stronger! Not even the Crest of Hope will be able to stop me once I have it in my possession."
"No! You're wrong!" T.K. shouted. "Ken, look at me!"
From behind a thin haze of darkness that covered his eyes, Ken managed to gaze into T.K.'s frightened blue eyes.
"Ken, listen," T.K. whispered, his tone urgent. "Daemon's wrong. The power of the Spore is not greater than that of the Digidestined. Haven't we already proved that to you? Our power was what helped you to give up the ways of the Emperor. The Spore helped you to become the Emperor in the first place, and we defeated it! Don't you see, Ken? You are stronger than the darkness, but you have to fight! You can't give up or what Daemon said will be true!"
"T.K.'s right," Angemon said softly, placing a hand on his head. "You are pure of heart, Ken. Do not let the darkness taint what is good. I have always believed in you and so have the rest of our friends. Do not let us doubt our own faith in you."
"My neck hurts," he mumbled, unable to think straight. The darkness was spreading within him and soon it would consume him. No. I don't want to go back to being the Emperor. I want to be good. I want to stay with my friends. Two lone tears slipped from his eyelashes, but he barely noticed. It was hard to concentrate with the darkness spreading through his body.
He felt T.K.'s warm fingers gently brush against the back of his neck, and the blond let out a sharp gasp.
"Ken," T.K. whispered. "It's back. The bar code is visible on your skin."
Ken let his eyes fall closed and let out a soft cry of sadness. He could picture it perfectly in his mind. When he was secure in his identity, the back of his neck remained free of any markings. When he let the darkness enter his soul, an angry red bar code would appear. It was the colour of blood, and it glowed with a creepy light.
"Soon, I will have everything that I need," Daemon whispered.
Ken managed to lift his head and gazed at Daemon. The darkness in his eyes had grown thicker, but he could still see the demon digimon's hand stretched out towards him.
"Ken, Please," Stingmon said, his voice thick with worry. "I know that the past is behind you. You're a good person, and all of your friends know it, too. It doesn't have to be this way."
He felt Stingmon's fingers under his chin, and his head was slowly lifted.
Through the darkness, he could see his partner's face.
"Ken, you and I have been through so much together. Do you really want to just give up now after everything we've had to endure? I still believed in you even when you were the Emperor, and I was right to have had such undying faith. You mean everything to me, Ken, not only to me, but to our friends as well."
Stingmon nodded to where Davis and the others lay unconscious on the ground, surrounded by a group of giggling shadows. "They're counting on you, Ken. You are the only one who can still save them. Do you really want to fail your friends? You would never be able to live with yourself if you did."
"But, they're dead," he whispered, the tears now streaming down his cheeks.
"No, Ken," Angemon said softly. He felt the angel's arms go around him, and he hid his face against the digimon's chest. "They are still alive. I know it in my heart. They may not be aware of what's happening, but they are still here with you in spirit, and they believe in you."
"So do I," T.K. whispered, the blond's head coming to rest against his shoulder. "Angemon's right. Our friends are alive, but if we let Daemon win, then they may not survive."
The other two stepped back, and Stingmon's arms went around him in a hug.
"Please, Ken," Stingmon whispered into his hair. "Do it for your friends, for Angemon, for T.K., for me, for yourself. You're my partner, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you or I will die trying. Give me a chance to help you save yourself."
The strength of those words left Ken feeling a sense of awed reverence. Despite everything that he had done to Stingmon, when he was the Emperor, his digimon still cared for him. Forgiveness was a strange thing and yet, it gave a person a reason to keep living...
"I love you, Stingmon," he said through his tears. "You're the best digimon partner ever. I don't deserve you after everything I did to you."
"You deserve all the happiness in the world, Ken," Stingmon replied. "You are the only partner that I have ever wanted, and I care about you more than you will ever realize. You're a Digidestined, Ken. I love you for all of your virtues and all of your faults. Now prove to Daemon that you are a true Digidestined."
"Digidestined never give up," T.K. said firmly.
"It's too late for him!" Daemon cackled. "He and the Spore belong to me now! You fools can never defeat me! I am the most powerful digimon in the Digital World. I am the Powers of Darkness and nothing can stop me!"
Stingmon slowly stood up and turned to Daemon with contempt. "It's time that your reign of terror was ended once and for all."
Angemon stepped up beside Stingmon and put a hand on the other digimon's shoulder. "I think we need to bring his ego down a peg or two. What do you say?"
"Sounds like a plan to me, lets go!"
Both digimon leaped into the air and headed straight for Daemon.