The next week, I still felt strange. Trying to push the thought of poison out of my mind, I began to ask myself questions that'd been eating me up inside for the longest time. 'Why aren't they here yet? It's been over a week! The other digidestined should've come to save me by now. Could something have happened to them? What if Ken defeated them! What would I do then! Oh God, Matt, I hope you and the others are alright! Oh, please don't let them be hurt! I don't know what I'd do if they were ever to—'
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted and I whirled around quickly as the door to the dungeon opened. The glimmer of hope that I used to have that it might've been one of my friends, come finally to save me, never came anymore. I knew it wasn't going to be them. It was always either Ken or Elfmon or both. Wormmon never came to see me anymore, unfortunately. It was too dangerous. Ken would always find out if he did, and then someone would end up getting hurt—mainly me!
I couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment—or perhaps it was misery; I'm just not sure of that stuff anymore—as Elfmon walked in, glaring at me, holding…Oh you've gotta be kidding me! What's he need a broom for? He's not gonna make me clean, is he? Shit! 'Oh great! What now?' I thought to myself as he walked into the cell, not once taking his eyes off of me. 'What does he think—that I'm gonna try to kill him or something if he doesn't watch my every move? Oh, wait, that's right. That's not far from the truth at all! I would try to kill him if I had the chance!'
He walked up to me, giving me his famous Elfmon Death Glare, stopping when I'd backed myself into the wall and he was only inches from me. "Here!" he simply said as he shoved the broom at me. "Orders from The Emperor. You have a job here now—to keep this base spotless. If you don't meet this demand, you'll be severely punished. Is that understood?"
Oh, he's gotta be joking! Please tell me he's joking! Please don't tell me that Ken expects me to serve him now as a servant would! I'm not his slave, you know! I refuse to be! He can't force me to—"I said, is that understood!" Elfmon slapped me across the face to further get my attention.
I had my head down now, my hair falling in front of my face. "…No…" I said then in reply to his question, simply letting the broom slide out of my hands and drop to the floor. I can't believe I had the guts to do that, but Ken wasn't going to get complete control over me without a fight!
"What did you say?" His voice became calm—dangerously calm. His eyes darkened as I looked up at him. I could tell that this wasn't gonna be pretty. I was crossing the line at that moment, which was way different from the submissive, frightened little girl he was used to seeing cowering in the corner, crying and begging for mercy. (Then again, this is the first time Elfmon's ever tried something like this with Ken not watching me my every move, and I'm not really afraid of Elfmon—I just put on that act because I didn't want Ken anywhere near me.)
What the hell I was thinking at the time, I had no idea. It was almost like it wasn't me speaking. It was almost as if it were my crest, the Crest of Willpower, taking over my actions before I could stop it. All I can remember thinking at that moment was that Ken was not gonna gain that kind of control over me, although I must've been insane to try and resist it!
'I'm probably gonna end up with some pretty bad wounds after this…' was all I could think as he glowered down at me. Damn, if looks could kill! Although, as depressing as it is for me to say it…death was actually looking pretty good at the moment…
…Wait a second! What the hell was I thinking? 'Stop it, Crystal! Just stop it! You're letting Ken win! You can't let that happen. You just can't!' I scolded myself as I slowly began to back away from Elfmon. Although, I'm not quite sure why I did this since, as I said before, I wasn't scared of Elfmon. 'Oh crap! This isn't gonna be good! I know it!' That was the last thought I got in my head just before Elfmon grabbed me roughly by the arm. Oh no! This isn't good!
"You still won't listen to me, huh? Well, maybe you'll listen to The Emperor himself! C'mon!" And, with that, he proceeded to drag me out of the dungeon, pulling me out by my, by then, frail and weak wrist.
"Oh God, no! Please, no!" I started screaming as he led me up the stairs to the main hallway, which leaded to the Control Room…where Ken was. I knew what was coming. Ken was gonna beat the shit outta me again! He does every single time I show disobedience towards him. And this time would be no different. He seems to get some sick, twisted pleasure out of it—out of feeling like he's the one in charge. Ugh! His ego's getting to big for his glasses, if you ask me!
By then, we were right outside the Control Room. As Elfmon went to open the door, I suddenly called out, "Wait!" in hopes that he'd stop and I could by myself some time to think of something—or, better yet, to change his mind. Elfmon gave an exasperated sigh and then turned to me with an expression as though he were saying "Well?" I thought for a second before speaking calmly. "Please, Elfmon…please. Let's just go back to the dungeon and forget this whole thing ever happened. You can just go and do whatever you want and…and not even bother with me for right now…C'mon, what do ya say?"
What happened next surprised me! Elfmon looked as though he were actually thinking about it! "Hmm…" he said. "Well…" My hopes soared at this!
'Yes? Yes?'
"No!"
'Shit!' (Me: I don't know about you guys, but I actually found that pretty funny! What? What! Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy? Stop staring at me, damn it! Stop it! No, I'm not being paranoid! Stop it! That's it! I can't take it anymore! Ahhhh! Jumps out the window)
And, with that, Elfmon opened the door to the Control Room and dragged me in. Ken was typing away at his computer when we walked in, but that soon changed when he realized we were there. The small clicking for the keys stopped suddenly and he turned to look at us. Elfmon pushed me forward, causing me to fall to my knees in front of Ken, who was now standing, towering over me. The tears were already starting to well up inside of me and I tried to be brave, to not let them show. Surprisingly, it seemed to be working. That is, until the event that occurred next…
(Me: (Still free-falling from my little jump) Hmm…Should I stop it there or not?
All The Readers: No! Keep going or face my wrath!
Me: 0.o …Ok…)
"She refuses to obey you?" Ken started off by asking Elfmon calmly, already reaching into the folds of his cape. Oh, this wasn't good. He was already taking out the damn whip. Not really the reaction I was hoping for…
"Exactly," an obviously angered Elfmon replied.
"I see…" He kneeled down next to me then and gently lifted me into a seated position, lifting my chin up gently with the handle of his whip. I look into his eyes fearfully, dreading whatever he was gonna do next. "Oh Kitten, why don't you just give up this little game and submit to me? You're only delaying the inevitable by not doing so. I'm gonna get total control over you sooner or later, so why not make it easier on yourself and simply give in now? There's no point in fighting it…" Then, he lowered the whip from my chin and brushed my cheek with his other hand. I knew what he was trying to do—he was trying to break me again. But I wasn't about to just let it happen that time!
"No! I'm not giving up!" I hissed at him, jerking my head away from his touch. "Alright, listen up! In case you haven't already noticed, Cape Boy, I am called the Child of Willpower for a reason! I'm not the type to just surrender—Never have been, and never will be! I'm not giving in to you without a damn good fight and you know it! I'm never gonna give you control! You don't own me, and you never will! I'm gonna keep resisting you until my friends come to save me, and there's nothing that you and your new little flunky," I gestured towards Elfmon, "can to about it, you bastard!" And, with that, I slapped Ken hard across the face
To my surprise, Ken just laughed at my reaction. Wormmon, who by that time had slipped into the room unnoticed, trembled at the sound of that laughter. I was pissed off that he was laughing at me. I tensed up and waited for whatever happened next, my anger still growing to the point where I had to use a great deal of self-control so I didn't just punch him in the face right then and there. Ken stood up then, leering down at me mercilessly. "Poor, delusional little kitten. Your friends can't save you now…" he paused then, awaiting some sort of reaction on my part.
"And why the hell not!" as all I could think of to yell at him.
"Because, Kitten, I forgot this morning to tell you something very important that occurred yesterday afternoon. …Your friends can't save you now. How could they when they couldn't even save themselves?" An arrogant smirk of pride found its way onto his lips and he let out a cold laugh once again as I sat there, shocked at what he'd just said. What the hell did he mean by that?
"W-what?" I stammered, by breathing starting to quicken, my body starting to tremble, and my heart starting to pound in my frail chest, the tears that stung my eyes threatening to fall. He merely shook his head in mock disappointment.
"Oh Kitten, don't you understand? I've defeated them. I've won. They were your only chance at getting away, but now they're gone and you, my little kitten, are all mine. You see, I had them all executed yesterday and—"
"No!" I sprang up and tried to leave, to get away from this lie he was telling me, but it didn't work. I didn't even get to take one step before Ken grabbed me by the arm and pulled me close to him so that his face was mere inches away from mine.
"Yes, Kitten!"
"No!" I shouted back at him. "You're lying!" I struggled against him, trying to get out of his grasp. But, the more I struggled, the tighter his grip became, until I was forced to stop struggling and to sink back to my knees, crying from the sheer pain of his vice grip and of his words. I cried out in pain as he shook me a little to emphasize what he said next, the pain in my arm throbbing.
"Yes, Crystal! It's true, so just accept it. Accept that your little fight has been in vein! Accept that I have won and that you belong to me now! Accept the fact that your little friends are dead! Do you here me, brat? They're dead! Your friends are dead, slave! And, just incase you need anymore proof, I'd be glad to show you. Come!" Ken hauled me to my feet and dragged me out of the room by my arm. I had no idea where we were going, but, whatever it was, I was sure that it was gonna be horribly traumatic.
After about a minute or two of walking through the dark hallways of the base, Ken basically dragging me the entire way, we went through a doorway leading to some sort of outside arena or something, where Ken usually makes digimon fight each other, or does the fighting with someone or something himself. I was shocked to look around and find lots and lots of digimon, looking to be in horrible condition, inside the cages lining the walls of the arena.
And that's when Ken threw me to the ground and I looked to the center of the arena, gasping in horror at seeing the bloody figures sprawled on the ground in front of me. Oh no! Matt? Sora? Everyone? I took a step closer to get a better look so I could see whom these creatures were. And that's when did I realized who they were, crying and sobbing like mad, beginning to feel so nauseas that I thought I might pass out. "Oh my God! No!" I cried as I ran to my fellow digidestined friends, lying dead on the cold, hard ground. "No!"
………………………………………………………………………………………………
A/N: (Landing as gracefully as a cat on my feet as I reached the ground) Whee! That was fun!
midnight breezy: Diva'sDream, what the hell! You can't have them killed. They're the main characters! How're you gonna get out of this without them?
Don't worry—I know exactly what I'm going to do… (Evil smile)
Digimon Emperor: (Debating whether to get involved or not) 0.o Uhhhh…
(Turns to the Digimon Emperor) And you… (Turns into Demon Diva'sDream) Don't you ever—ever—call me "slave" again! You got that, Cape Boy!
Digimon Emperor: 0.o Uh-huh…
(Turns back to normal) Good. Chapter 25 will be coming up soon. I promise! Bye—!
midnight breezy: Whoa! Whoa! Wait a second! Not yet! We still have some unfinished business to take care of.
Hmm? …Oh yeah! That! … (Evil smile)
midnight breezy and Diva'sDream at the same time: (Pull water guns out from behind their backs and smile evilly at the Digimon Emperor)
Digimon Emperor: 0.o Uh-oh! (Runs)
GET HIM!
Diva'sDream and midnight breezy at the same time: (Runs after the Digimon Emperor, who, by the end of the night, winds up soaked from head to toe with water)
Diva'sdream: See ya when chapter 25 comes! Bye! (Along with midnight breezy, runs like hell away from a pissed off Digimon Emperor, laughing)
Digimon Emperor: Get back here, ya little runts!