Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: One more chapter left to go! It's going to be called: A Friend Like You.
One World Away From Darkness
Chapter 19: The Price He Must Pay
Ken Ichijouji
"No," Ken whispered, watching the two digimon advance towards Daemon. "You can't. He'll kill you both..."
"Angel Rod!" Angemon brought the staff down on Daemon's head, but it did not quite have the effect that the angel had been looking for.
Instead of sending Daemon falling to the sand, the demon digimon let out a menacing laugh and ripped the staff out of Angemon's hand.
Daemon whirled around, robes flying, and hit Angemon in the stomache with it. The angel flew several feet over the sand and ended up flat on his back.
"Angemon! Be careful!" T.K. shouted.
"Out of my way!" Daemon snarled. "Ken is mine!"
"Not if I can help it!" Stingmon snapped. "Spiking Strike!" He dived out of the sky and caught Daemon in the side. The attack slashed Daemon's robes, but other than that, it seemed to have no effect.
The shadows jeered and continued to pace in a tight circle around Davis and the others.
Deep inside, Ken was fighting a battle of his own. The darkness had spread through him so much that he could feel it running through his veins. The pain in his neck had become almost unbearable, and he could just barely see through the haze of darkness covering his eyes.
T.K. had moved in front of him again and was holding him tightly by the shoulders.
"Ken, can you hear me?" his blond friend asked in an urgent voice. "Please listen to me. This doesn't have to happen! You have the power to fight this!"
"I'm sorry, T.K.," he whispered, slumping forward into his friend's arms. "I'm sorry I'm not strong enough. I'm sorry I've failed you all."
He felt T.K. catch him around the shoulders again, and the blond held on.
"No," T.K. said, his voice trembling. "You are strong enough, and you haven't failed anyone. Don't talk like that! We have the power to defeat Daemon, but our digimon need your help. Don't let the Spore consume you, Ken. I know that's not what you want. You have to fight!"
Ken's head drooped onto the blond's shoulder, and he turned slightly to gaze at the battle taking place across the sand. A sob escaped his throat. Daemon was winning.
"Stand aside!" Daemon snapped, knocking Stingmon away. "You're only wasting time! In only a matter of minutes, Ken will be mine! When are you fools going to learn that you cannot stop the inevitable!"
"When are you going to accept the fact that good always triumphs over evil!" Angemon shouted from the air. "Hand of Fate!"
The angel's attack rained down from the sky straight for Daemon's head, but the demon digimon dodged out of the way.
Stingmon was there to meet him and kicked Daemon hard in the stomache.
It barely even registered. Daemon flew backwards several feet, but he did not fight back.
Strangely enough, Daemon appeared to be trying to get away from Angemon and Stingmon.
In fact, Daemon had eyes only for him. Ken could feel that menacing stare eating away at his soul. Soon he would be nothing but a shell of what he had once been. Soon, his only use would be as a tool for darkness.
Daemon made another attempt to pass Stingmon, but Angemon dived out of the sky and tackled the demon digimon to the sand.
"You're not going anywhere," the angel said with authority, shoving his hand right in Daemon's face. "Hand of Fate!"
Daemon's head disappeared in the explosion, but he was not down for long. He shoved Angemon off and floated into the sky above the battlefield. "Enough of these pathetic games! It's time you were deleted!" Daemon shouted, spreading his arms wide. "Evil Inferno!"
"No, stop!" Ken screamed at the top of his lungs. He turned his face into T.K.'s shoulder, unable to watch, and heard his blond friend let out a cry of dismay.
The sound made him jerk his head up, and he gasped. Stingmon and Angemon had disappeared in a blaze of fire. When the smoke cleared, both digimon were laying unconscious on the ground. Immediately a group of shadows broke away from the large pack that had surrounded Davis and the others. This smaller group attached themselves to Angemon and Stingmon, preventing the digimon from going after Daemon if they decided to wake up again.
Daemon let out a mad laugh that chilled Ken to the bone. "Now, Ken," the demon digimon whispered. "You are mine."
Ken tried to scream, but found that he could not utter a sound. Cold hands latched onto his arms, and he felt himself being yanked out of T.K.'s grasp.
His body was dragged across the sand like a sack of potatoes, and he could hear T.K.'s cries of terror.
Somehow he managed to look up and almost lost the contents of his stomache. Daemon's face swam before his eyes and appeared to shimmer in the haze of darkness that clouded his vision. The demon digimon held him in a viselike grip, and Ken knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the end was near.
T.K. Takaishi
T.K. stood frozen in horror at the sight of Ken trapped in Daemon's grip. He was frightened for his friends, and his digimon, but most of all, he was frightened for Ken.
I have to do something! I have to save him! But...how? His mind was a complete blank. All he could think about was that if he did not do something quick, he would lose one of his best friends forever.
"Ken!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet. "Ken! Can you hear me?"
Ken remained limp and motionless in Daemon's grasp. The demon digimon clamped a hand around the back of Ken's neck, and his friend started to scream in agony.
"No, stop!" T.K. shouted, feeling a hatred for Daemon that was greater than anything he had ever felt for Devimon. Digimon partners could be reconfigured. Human friends could not.
"Ken!" he cried desperately, his heart filled with so much terror that he could barely breath. "You don't have to let it end this way! Please fight! I know you can do it. Don't let Daemon get away with stealing the happiness that you deserve! This is not your destiny! You belong with me and our other friends. We are your destiny, not the darkness! Deep inside, you are every bit as capable of love as the rest of us!"
He sank to his knees again and covered his face with his hands. "You're a wonderful person, Ken," he whispered, his heart filled with sadness. "Why can't you see that?"
"Soon the process will be complete!" Daemon cackled. "Once I have absorbed the Dark Spore, then nothing will be able to stop me!"
"Ken," Stingmon whispered, his voice weak. The digimon tried to lift his head, but once more he fell back against the sand in a state of unconsciousness. The shadows laughed and continued to hover over the fallen forms of their digimon partners.
Slowly Ken lifted his head and T.K. found himself gazing into the former Emperor's haunted violet eyes. The pain in Ken's gaze was almost unbearable to watch, and T.K. felt his own heart cracking into several pieces. Those violet eyes were filled with sadness, despair, and an emptiness that T.K. had never seen in them before. Ken was giving up.
No! He can't!
"T.K.," Ken whispered, his voice racked with pain from the Spore's dark energy.
T.K. stared at Ken in horror, the beating of his heart coming to a dead stop. Tendrils of black mist were seeping out of Ken's body and wrapping themselves around Daemon. With every second, the former Emperor's body seemed to grow weaker and weaker.
If he did not do something soon, there would be nothing left of Ken except a vague form of what had once been. Despite the physical and emotional pain that Ken was suffering, his friend still struggled to speak.
"I do care," Ken whispered, his eyes shifting in and out of focus. "I know it didn't always seem like it, but it's true."
"What is?" T.K. whispered, unable to look away. Those sudden words had caught him completely off guard.
"T.K..." Ken sagged in Daemon's grip, but the evil digimon held tightly to him preventing him from falling. The former Emperor coughed loudly and managed to lift his pale face again. "If I could change the way that things have turned out for us, I would," Ken whispered, tears streaming slowly down his cheeks. "But it's too late. You need to know that...that I've always cared about you just as much as I care about the others. You're a good friend, T.K. Please remember that I said that. Please remember all of the good things about me, if there are any..."
"Ken, don't..." T.K. felt tears start to slide down his own cheeks, but he did not care. So many wasted years that they could have spent as friends. They had had so many chances to create wonderful memories of each other, and they had thrown them all away. How many opportunities could they have spent time together, and they had let each one pass them by. This was the price of lost friendship. This was the price he had to pay for failing to recognize the wonderful gift that had been given to him and the others not so long ago. Ken.
"No," he whispered tearfully, his blue gaze coming to rest on Ken's pale face. "Don't give up! Don't you see? You're one of the best things that has ever happened to me! I realize that now, and I'm sorry! I'm so sorry..."
"Quit your pathetic whining!" Daemon snapped. "Very soon none of this is going to matter anymore, anyway! Not that it ever did matter. All this sentimental garbage is for those who are weak!"
The demon digimon tightened his hold on Ken who let out another scream of agony more painful than the first one. Somehow the former Emperor managed to swallow it, and once again T.K. found himself gazing into Ken's mesmerizing eyes.
"What?" Ken asked very softly. For a moment the former Emperor's gaze slipped out of focus, but then it was clear again, and T.K. could see something glimmering just beneath those deep violet depths.
A spark of hope flaired so suddenly inside of T.K. that he almost gasped out loud. Could it be? This time there was no holding back. He had maybe only one chance to save Ken, and he needed every spark of emotion he had ever felt for his friend to make it work. He did not know how Ken would react, but the other boy had revealed to him that there was something more in their friendship that he had failed to see. Ken cared about him. That's what his friend had said. It was all he had to go on, and it was going to have to be enough. This time he had no choice but to rely on the very thing that the Digital World had seen inside of him all along. Hope.
He took a deep breath, his heart pounding, and gazed directly into Ken's smoky blue eyes. "Ken," he said, his voice breaking with suppressed emotion. "Do you realize how much you mean to me?" He sighed softly and wiped at his eyes. "No, of course you don't," he murmured. "Because I've never had the guts to tell you. I guess I was afraid to, but I'm not anymore!"
He hugged himself and managed a shaky smile. "Ken," he whispered, his voice trembling. "If you die today, I'll probably go mad with grief and they'll have to stick me in a padded cell. If I ever lost you, it would be like losing a part of my soul. Everyday that I'm around you, everytime that you're close to me, I can feel that special bond between us. Our friendship is strong. I can sense it, but the only way we're going to make it work is if we trust each other. Please, Ken? Trust me when I say that I care about you more than I could ever put into words. I refuse to throw this friendship away when I know how amazing it could be."
Ken's face wrinkled in an effort to hold back tears. "You...you care about me?"
The former Emperor's voice was so soft that T.K. had to strain his ears to hear it. Those words were filled with disbelief, as if Ken could not believe that they had actually been spoken.
"Of course I do," he whispered, that small spark of hope growing larger. He had thought that this revelation would ruin any chance of making Ken his friend, but instead it seemed to be bringing the former Emperor closer to him and away from the darkness. "Ken, you know I'm a terrible liar. There's no way I could have said something like that and made it sound so convincing if I didn't mean it with my whole heart and soul."
He took a step forward and reached out a hand towards his troubled friend. "Follow your heart, Ken," he said quietly, his voice shaking. "I know it will lead you back to me and our friends."
Ken was very weak in Daemon's grip, but he managed to lift a shaky hand towards him. "My heart isn't mine anymore." Ken's sudden sobs were filled with deep sadness and despair. "I always knew that eventually something like this would happen. All of the good things in my life seemed to good to be true, and I was right. I guess it's time for me to honour the debt I had made for myself. This is the price I have to pay for being the Emperor. There is no choice for me. There never was." Ken's tear filled eyes met his and sadness tore at his soul. The former Emperor's gaze was filled with loss and a deep longing to change the outcome of his terrible fate.
"No, Ken," he said, his voice growing stronger. I will die before I ever let Daemon hurt you! "You have honoured your debt for the terrible things you did as the Emperor several times over already. Those days are done. Finished! Don't you see, Ken? I'm the one who's paying a terrible price here. My own stupidity is causing me to lose one of my best friends! I'm through with hiding my feelings from you! I love you just as much as I love my other friends and nothing anyone else says or does is ever going to change that!"
T.K. fell silent and held his breath, his heart almost bursting out of his chest. The words were out before he even had a chance to think about what he was saying. He closed his eyes in horror and let out a soft moan. Ken is going to kill me. What have I done? There's no way he'll believe me. All I've managed to do is scare him off. Now the darkness is going to take him for sure...
"What are you doing?"
Startled, T.K. jerked his head up at the sound of Daemon's angry voice and froze in astonishment.
Ken was no longer hanging limp in the demon digimon's grip. The former Emperor stood straight and the waves of darkness seeping out of his body had lessoned.
Ken was staring silently at him, and from the look on his friend's face, it was possible to believe that Daemon did not even exist. Those beautiful violet eyes were filled with deep longing and a fierce hope. Ken was desperate to believe. "You...you mean it? You actually care about...about me?" Ken's voice broke and thick tears streamed down his pale cheeks.
"Ken," he whispered shakily. "I care about you so much it hurts. If you let Daemon take you from me, how will I be able to prove it to you? Don't you want to give our friendship a chance? Don't you want me to show you how much you mean to me?"
"Yes," Ken murmured, his eyes burning with a sudden inner fire. "Yes, I want that more than anything."
T.K. could not believe it. Ken was fighting back. It's working! I thought Ken would hate me after what I said, but he doesn't! Maybe he really does care about me after all, like he said, which means all this time we've been running in circles...
Ken jerked his head up and gazed directly at Daemon, his deep blue eyes filled with disgust. "Let go!" the former Emperor shouted at the top of his lungs. He began to struggle in Daemon's grip, desperate to get free.
"Never!" Daemon snapped, and T.K. jumped as Daemon turned to gaze hatefully at him instead of Ken. "You are nothing but a meddlesome human! If you don't stay out of this, I will be forced to destroy you. In fact, now that I think about it, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe Ken will finally realize that he can't defeat me when he's forced to watch you die!"
"Don't touch him!" Ken shrieked, twisting around and hitting Daemon in the stomache. "Don't you dare go anywhere near him!"
T.K. smiled at Ken through his tears. "See, Ken? You're so amazing. How can I not care about you when you say things like that?"
"Shut up!" Daemon roared, now struggling to keep a firm grip on the back of Ken's neck.
T.K. was not about to quit talking for he had just spotted something that made him hold his breath. Angemon and Stingmon were waking up. His words were not only helping Ken, they were distracting Daemon as well.
Although Ken was still in a lot of pain, somehow the former Emperor still managed to blush and gave him a shaky smile. "I can't help it," Ken whispered softly. "You're just so nice and friendly. It makes me feel good inside."
"I'm glad," T.K. murmured. "And thank you."
Stingmon and Angemon flew out of the squealing mass of shadows and circled around Daemon's back, preparing themselves for battle.
Daemon was livid with anger. "It's time that you were destroyed, Child of Hope. I should have done this ages ago when you first started causing trouble! No matter. Your death will be even sweeter with your friend here to watch you suffer. This act will completely shatter the last of Ken's defences, and then the Spore will be mine!"
T.K. gasped as Daemon suddenly advanced towards him dragging Ken along for the ride. He started to back up, but the demon digimon was too quick for him. Daemon's cold, clammy hand latched onto his wrist, and he shuddered with revulsion.
"Time to die," Daemon whispered, and T.K. felt his whole body fill with agonizing pain.
"T.K.!" Angemon shouted, racing forward.
T.K. staggered, almost falling, and Ken's screams ripped through the air.
"Leave my friend alone!" Ken shrieked, pushing Daemon back and forcing the demon digimon to let go.
T.K. fell backwards into the sand and stared at Ken, utterly speechless. He barely even noticed when Angemon's arms went around him.
"I've had it!" Ken screamed, turning and hitting Daemon hard with his fists. "I'm through with you, and I'm through with darkness! I'm not the Emperor anymore, and I never will be ever again! I'm a Digidestined, and I'm the Child of Kindness! No one is ever going to take that away from me! I'm a good person, and my friends love me no matter what you say! It's one thing to try and hurt me, but I will die first before I will ever let you hurt my friends! Now get your filthy hands off me!"
"Those are lies!" Daemon hissed, hitting Ken hard in the face.
Ken let out a gasp and fell to his knees in the sand.
"Ken!"
Stingmon, who stood next to T.K., tried to go to his partner, but Angemon put a hand on the other digimon's arm to stop him. One wrong move could end with Ken being killed, and then it would have all been for nothing.
"You'll pay for that!" Stingmon snapped.
Daemon stared down at Ken and started to laugh. "You can't possibly believe all of that. Look at this idiot friend of yours!"
T.K. stiffened as Daemon pointed to him.
"He doesn't really care about you. All he cares about is saving his other friends, and he needs you to do that. All he's doing is using you. You are nothing but an excess piece of baggage to him!"
"That's not true!" T.K. shouted, raw anger bubbling up inside of him. "Ken's my friend. He means everything to me, and I don't have to prove it to you to make it real! All anyone has to do is look at me to see the truth."
He turned to face Ken, his heart pounding. "You know I would never lie about something like this," he whispered. "Who are you going to believe? Me or Daemon?"
Ken slowly looked up at Daemon and glared at the digimon with disgust. There was an angry red mark on the side of the former Emperor's face, but Ken did not seem to notice it.
"My friend says he cares about me," Ken said very softly. "Do you know how badly I've wanted this? Do you know how long I've been waiting to hear those words, how I've longed to hear them for four years now? That moment has finally come, and this time it's not a dream. I have a chance to be more happy than I have ever dreamed of being. Finally after dreaming about it for so long, I have a chance of having the kind of friendship with T.K. that I have always wanted."
Ken glared at Daemon, and through a haze of fresh tears, T.K. realized that the darkness no longer clouded Ken's deep blue gaze.
Ken reached into his shirt and pulled out the Crest of Hope and the Crest of Kindness. The former Emperor held them tightly in his hand, lifted his head, and gave Daemon a look of complete defiance. Ken was gazing into the very heart of darkness itself and staring it down without so much as blinking.
"I won't let you take this opportunity away from me," Ken whispered. "I won't let you steal my happiness, but most of all, I won't let you hurt my friends!"
"And just how do you plan to stop me?" Daemon hissed.
Ken actually smiled. "A friend once told me that wherever there is light, a person can always find darkness. But, with the power of hope, and the kindness that brings deep remorse to those who have been led astray, the darkness can always be kept at bay. Every world needs balance, but like Angemon said, when the darkness becomes to great, good will always triumph over evil."
"Oh...Ken..." With the sudden flood of emotion that swept through him, T.K. noticed a faint glow coming from between Ken's fingers. Ken slowly opened his hand and both crests exploded with light. Yellow and purple beams swirled around Ken, enclosing him in a golden ball of radiance.
The former Emperor stood up and gazed at Daemon with pity. "May Primary Village restore you and make you whole again," Ken whispered.
"What's happening!" Daemon shrieked, stumbling backwards.
Ken did not answer. Instead the former Emperor held out a hand. Beams of purple and yellow light streamed out of Ken's palm and slammed into Daemon with bone breaking force.
The demon digimon screamed in agony and fell to the sand. "This isn't suppose to be happening! How could you have become so strong?"
"That's the power of friendship," Ken said softly. "That's the power of the Digidestined."
T.K. looked down at himself in awe and discovered that he, too, was covered in purple and yellow light. So were Angemon and Stingmon.
"Lets finish this," Angemon said quietly, fluttering into the sky.
"Lets," Stingmon murmured, following after the angel.
"No!" Daemon howled, his body starting to smoke. The streams of mist seeped out from under his robes as if he was being burned alive. "This isn't suppose to happen! I am the most powerful digimon ever to exist! I cannot be defeated! No!"
"Yes, you can," T.K. snapped, holding out his own hand. The light from his body joined Ken's and together their light began to incinerate Daemon before their very eyes.
"Now!" Angemon shouted. "Hand of Fate!"
"Spiking Strike!"
Angemon's blast exploded into Daemon, and Stingmon dived after it. Ken's partner stuck his stinger into Daemon's back, and with one final scream, the demon digimon erupted into data and disappeared.
The shadows around Davis and the others shrieked in agony and slowly began to fade away as if they had never been.
Ken fell to his knees, and T.K. finally came to his senses.
"Ken!" he gasped in fear and raced to his friend's side.
He knelt next to the former Emperor and gently took the other boy by the shoulders. "Ken," he said, his voice a mere whisper.
Ken collapsed into his arms, and T.K. held his friend close as the former Emperor began to cry.