1Da Despairing Darkness

By: Angel Of Darkness

Chapter 4 "Evil takes it's toll,"

Ken Ichijouji walked through the Digital World with his Digimon partner, Wormmon, on the ground beside him. Walking alongside them, was Ryo, a friend Ken had met in his first adventure in the Digital World. The rustling of the leaves and the birds chirping was the only thing heard for the first 10 minutes until Wormmon broke the ice.

" Hey, Ken?" He looked up towards the boy that was his partner. Ken looked down at him, blinking.

" Yes, Wormmon?" he asked, stopping so he could hear what the Digimon had to say. Wormmon looked to the ground in embarrassment.

" I have awfully short legs, and we've been walking for hours and –"

Ken smiled and knelt down, lifting his Digimon into his arms. " You're tired," he finished for Wormmon. Wormmon nodded. Ken laughed and held Wormmon close to him.

" It's okay, Wormmon. We have been walking for a long time... hey, Ryo," he turned his attention to the older boy, " do you think we could stop and rest for a bit?"

The Brunette broke his thoughts and turned his attention towards Ken. " Yeah, sure Ken. We're going to reach the DigiWorld Desert in a few minutes anyway, and it's bound to be windy over there, so it's best if we take a break before we walk through there. It's not always safe to stop in the middle of a desert," the boy explained. Ken nodded in agreement and took a seat near a tree trunk. Wormmon sat in his lap in relaxation.

" Ken, do you want some water?" Ryo asked kindly, offering Ken a liter of water from his backpack. Ken smiled and nodded. " Yeah, sure. Thanks, Ryo!" The Indigo haired boy opened the bottle and handed it to Wormmon for the first drink. Wormmon guzzled it down in seconds. Ken giggled in response to the little Digimon's silliness.

" Wormmon, don't drink so fast, you'll get brain freeze!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Wormmon's face turned bright Red, and he set the bottle on the ground, taking a long swallow. After a moment, the insect Digimon's face returned to his normal green color.

" Remind me to never do that again, Ken.." he said, miserably. Ryo grinned and shrugged.

" Learn something new everyday." he laughed.

A sound in the distance made the two boys and Wormmon stop what they were doing and look up.

" What was that?" Ken asked, looking around for the source.

Ryo stood and slung his backpack over his shoulder. " Let's go check it out."

As Ryo had said, the desert was without a doubt windy, and dangerous, mind you. The three now stood before a large Digimon, who was blocking their way across the desert.

" Ken, we're going to have to take this one down," Ryo explained when he saw that the Digimon had no intention of moving. Ken stiffened. He really didn't like to fight that much. Wormmon brought him back to reality when he leapt out of the boy's arms.

" Ken, I think I can take him. Okay?" The small worm looked up at his partner, awaiting his response. After a moment, Ken made his decision.

" Okay.."

Wormmon sent out a powerful blast and the larger Digimon split into scattered data.

" Look, Ken, we did it!" Wormmon beamed as the Digimon was destroyed.

" Yeah," Ken grinned. Now they could get past the desert.

" Ken, look!" Ryo shouted, pointing an index finger ahead. Ken turned and saw Black sphere-like objects being shot out from the data that was Milleniumon. They seemed to be heading straight towards Ryo.

" Hey, get down!" Ken ordered, and pushed Ryo down to the safety of the ground to keep him safe from the objects.

" Ken, look out!" Ryo warned. Ken suddenly felt a large surge of pain coming from his neck and let out a howling scream. He sank to the floor in agony and clutched the back of his neck. It was bleeding. The boy screamed in pain as the pain got steadily worse. Ryo and Wormmon hurried over to his side as the last of Milleniumon's scattered data let out an amused chuckle.

Ken Ichijouji blinked. He had just been drawing a picture on the computer when a message popped up.

' 1 New E-mail Message?' Ken raised an eyebrow. How was that possible? No one ever e-mailed him..

Ever since Osamu's death, things had begun to change somewhat in Ken's life. The room the elder brother had was now Ken's, along with the computer Osamu had been so pre-occupied on half of the time. His parents still cast him aside though. They hardly even spoke to him unless it was to eat dinner or do something. The rest of his life was spent in his room or in The Digital World. The same Digital World Ken had visited once before. Ken shuddered at the memory. It wasn't the most pleasant time he had had. Especially once Osamu found out he had been taking his things without permission again.

Flashback

" Ken, are you still in my room? You'd better not be touching my stuff!"

The older, boy genius opened the door to his room, just as Ken was coming out of the computer. Ken stared at the Digivice in delight.

" Ken!"

The sudden voice of his brother made Ken frown. ' uh oh...'

The little boy turned his head and gasped. Osamu stood behind him, looking down at him with a cold stare.

" Just what do you think you're doing?"

Ken laughed and lifted the Digivice to his brother. " I didn't break it."

Osamu's eyes narrowed in disgust and he brought his hand down onto Ken's, knocking the object out of his hand. " I said don't touch it!"

Ken looked up in shock and clutched his stinging hand. The look on his brother's face was the most angry look he had ever seen from Osamu.

" Don't touch my things ever again!"

" I'm sorry..." Ken apologized, cringing a little as Osamu moved past him, kneeling down to pick up the Digivice. He didn't even give the child another glance.

" You have to have respect for other people's property, Ken." Osamu explained, placing the Digivice back in it's drawer.

" I will..." Ken whispered sadly.

" It's too late for that, I told you once not to go in my drawer and you broke my trust. Now I'll never be able to trust you again!"

Ken's heart pounded in his chest. " But I... I..."

" What if you'd gotten hurt?" Osamu brought up, " mom and dad would be looking to blame someone, it would be me, not you."

Ken bowed his head and bit back tears. " I said 'sorry'..."

Osamu didn't even seem to have heard him. " Now, get out. I have to study."

Ken obediently got to his feet and the tears that he couldn't hold back anymore spilled down his face as he exited the room.

End Flashback

The beeping of the e-mail message made Ken escape his thoughts.

' Maybe this is an e-mail for Osamu. Maybe they don't know he's dead. Maybe...'

He went numb upon reading the first line. The e-mail had Osamu's old e-mail, the e-mail address Ken now used, imprinted on it, along with his name. Ken Ichijouji. Ken's eyes scanned for the person who had sent it.

"Anonymous?" he said out loud. Although he didn't really understand it, he had heard the word from Osamu once. He had said it meant something along the lines of 'unknown' or someone who didn't want their name addressed.

' Must be important,' Ken thought, ' but why is it an e-mail addressed to me?'

He decided to read the e-mail anyway. What was the harm in that?

The first sentence made his eyes widen in shock.

" I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. It must have been hard to take."

This person knew about Osamu's death? So then he was referring to Ken. The boy blinked away his confusion and continued. That first line made him eager to see what else it had said.

" But don't worry. Your brother is in a better place than this world. But when his soul became free, your's became trapped. You bear the burden of both his destiny and your own. Now that your parents have lost their hopes for their perfect child, you will be expected to carry out the dreams that Osamu can no longer fulfil."

' Me? How can I carry out his dreams? I'm not smart. I'm not a genius.' Ken thought.

" This world will become unbearable for you. The pressure to succeed will be too great."

Unknown to this person, the world was already unbearable for Ken. He had cast a wish that killed his brother. He would carry that guilt for the rest of his life. And there was no other choice, there was no other place he could —

" But let me tell you about another world that is much more appropriate."

Ken blinked in curiosity. " What does he mean by 'another world'?" He read the next line and almost jumped out of his seat in shock.

" A world where you can finally be free, where you answer to no one but yourself. Open the drawer."

Ken's mouth dropped open. He could escape the pain, the guilt? He was willingly ready to do that. But — His eyes found the drawer — Osamu had warned him about that drawer, warned him to never touch his things again. He couldn't go back on his promise to Osamu. It was the only thing to make it up to his brother, and the only way to keep from causing anymore pain. He looked back to the e-mail.

" Use Osamu's Digivice."

Ken gulped. Could he really do this? Was it the right thing to do? He promised him. He couldn't break that promise. Suddenly a realization struck Ken. Osamu had broken a promise, too. Hell, he had broken many promises. Why should he feel guilty about breaking one simple promise while Osamu broke almost all of them? And what could Osamu do now? He was dead and gone. It wasn't like he could pop out of thin air and scold Ken for using the Digivice. Ken finally made up his mind. His trembling hand soon found the drawer handle and pulled it open. His heart leapt when he spotted the digivice. He hadn't seen it since Osamu's death. When he had gone to the Digital World earlier, it had been because of Ryo's Digivice that took them there. This person must have known that otherwise they wouldn't be telling him to use the Digivice now. The small object seemed to be calling to Ken. Ken looked at it hesitantly for a second.

" I'm sorry, Osamu Nii-san." he whispered, and inched forward to grab the Digivice. Bright Green light shone from it, blinding Ken's vision. Without thinking, he lifted his arm and the Digivice's reaction to the light pulled him through the computer.

" Part one of the plan, accomplished,"

" Excellent. He reacted to the e-mail just as expected."

" Yes, Master. And now..."

A smirk appeared on her face.

" Part two is in session."

' This is going along more perfectly than expected,' The man grinned, ' Now I can take my rightful place as ruler of the Digital World, and Ken... you can finally be noticed.'

The waves were calm and quiet, the blue waters kept at bay. Ken stood before the large body of water in mass confusion. He doubted whether this was the Digital World or not.

" Where am I?"

No one seemed to answer his call. His eyes searched the area he was in. It didn't look familiar at all to him. In fact, it looked like something out of a horror movie in his mind. The absence of sounds other than his even breathing and the waves somewhat made him uneasy. Suddenly, the back of his neck began to sting. He winced in pain as he massaged his neck, thinking that maybe it would somehow stop the burning sensation, but it only made it worse. The waves began to rustle, as if calling to him. Ken turned his attention from the pain to the waves and took a step forward. He took a look at the Digivice. It was reacting strongly to something. Ken sunk the Digivice into the water, in an attempt to see what had been causing the reaction, but something else happened. The digivice began to change shape. Then color. The Digivice was mutating. The pain in Ken's neck got steadily worse, but he made no movement what-so-ever. The Digivice was now Black. Just like his past, his nights and days, and more importantly, his heart. A coldness swept through him as he lifted the device from the water, and inspected it.

" This is... mine now! Ha!"

The light in his Blue eyes faded, consumed by darkness as the pain soon died out of his neck.

" No one can ever take it away from me! Or hide it in a drawer! I'm in control now! Soon I will have control over the entire Digital World!"

A smirk cast on his face as he stared at the Digivice that was now his, the device no one could ever take away from him. No one would stop him now.

" Part 2... completed."

The woman's smile broadened.

His smirk widened as he stared at the computer screen.

' The Digital World is your's... Digimon Emperor.'