Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Resistance
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 2-40||Words: 2,822||Total: 5,484
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Summary: Vamdemon and Piemon rule supreme. Only now, ten years after their victory, are things about to change. For good or for ill.
Miyako's going to love this. Daisuke stared after the shape, which would've been only barely visible if he didn't have his new goggles on. As it was, he could see the humanoid form hovering in the sky more or less clearly. A tiny part of his heart, the part that still remembered a boy with a broad smile and goggles of his own showing him how to have fun with a soccer ball, twisted at the sight. He did his best to ignore the memory. That Yagami Taichi died ten years ago. This one would gladly lay his throat open to the bone and drink every drop of blood that came out, if he were lucky.
If he were unlucky, this Taichi would make him like he was, and the last thing Daisuke wanted to do with his life was spend it feeding off other people.
He stayed where he was, not daring to move while the vampire still hung in the sky and searched for him. Vampires were hunters, he recalled his lessons, and like all hunters they could pick up movement easily enough. He'd been lucky to escape so far.
I bet I could outrun him, though. Or at least outmaneuver him. He'd seen how fast a vampire could fly and he knew he couldn't run that fast. He wouldn't need to; he'd just need to be able to get somewhere where the vampire couldn't follow. Those places were few and far between these days, sad to say.
Careful inch by inch, he touched his crossbow, wishing that he dared to try to shoot the other again. Taking down Vamdemon's favorite minion would be worth celebrating for days.
But one thing Ken had drilled into his head was that you only took one shot, and only when you had safe cover to dive into, just in case you missed. If you did miss, then taking more than one shot gave the vampire a chance to locate you and if you were in that safe cover, it should stay safe. There weren't that many people who were willing to fight against Vamdemon and his legions and they had to keep themselves alive any way that they could.
Daisuke didn't always agree with Ken's point of view on this, but so far they hadn't lost that many people, and so far as they all knew, Vamdemon didn't even know they existed. That gave them more room to work with, and the hope that they could find a way to overthrow him one day.
The whole thought of living in a world of light again sent a thrill all through him. He remembered the sun and moon and stars, of being able to stand outside in the wind without worrying if it would take his scent to a passing bloodsucker, of laughing and having fun with all of his friends. He wanted that kind of a world again.
His teeth ground together faintly. He'd have it. They would have it. He wasn't going to let it not happen. So he couldn't take the shot on Yagami now. That didn't mean he wouldn't get one in the future. He just needed patience.
He didn't like being patient. He wanted to shoot Yagami and get it over with.
Before he could get another bolt out of the case on his back, he tilted his head a fraction at a flicker of movement, and had to bite back a sigh. The vampire had already moved out of range, probably on his way to finding some poor soul who wasn't ready to defend himself. Daisuke ached to go after him, but turned his careful movements back the way he'd came. He was already risking enough leaving a scent trail. They didn't know if a vampire could track them by scent alone, but Ken's rules were clear: better safe than a sucker.
Well, that wasn't how Ken had put it, but Daisuke liked to phrase things to suit himself.
He took his time going through the woods, breaking his trail by crossing over a slow running stream and walking on what remained of an old road to avoid leaving footprints. It wasn't the best he could do, but since he arrived at the entrance to their hideaway with all of his blood safely tucked away inside of him, he counted it a win.
Before lifting the latch, he took one last look around himself, wanting to reassure himself that there weren't any vampires in the area. Nothing looked out of place. Not even a single wild animal moved, which didn't surprise him. Animals tended to stay out of sight when a vampire was on the prowl.
He lifted his eyes to the sky, wondering what he would've seen if all of this had never happened. Would it have been a blue sky today? Or maybe rain?
Thanks to Vamdemon, he'd never know. But he would make certain that this didn't last forever. Even if he had to drive a stake through his heart personally.
'Lifting the latch' wasn't all that he had to do in order to get through the doorway. Just lifting it enabled a temperature sensor, which checked to make sure he was still giving off the right amount of body heat. Vampires, as they'd all learned the hard way, weren't nearly as warm as humans were. If he'd registered below normal, the door would lock and remain that way until someone who did test properly came to see what was going on.
As it was, the door slid open silently and Daisuke stepped inside, heading for the next test without a moment's hesitation. The sooner he got through all of these, the sooner he could take a shower and get a few hours of sleep before his next training session.
Of course, he'd have a debriefing session before that, which would probably bore him to tears, if not into actual slumber.
"Describe Vamdemon." The voice wasn't one he recognized, but there wasn't anything unusual about that. Whoever was on duty here changed on a regular basis. No one wanted to get so bored with the job they started to do it badly. Door monitor duty was dull as dishwater, but when you were dealing with people coming in from the outside, too necessary to let fail.
"A complete jerk who needs a serious kick to every body part, alphabetically and in order of importance. Twice." That was his registered response; if he were under a vampire's thrall, it was unlikely that he'd give it without a moment's hesitation. "And maybe backwards, just for good measure."
He would've used more creative insults, but Miyako insisted that the responses at least make some kind of sense. He didn't know her reasoning for that, other than to annoy him, but he wasn't going to argue about it. There were more interesting matters he and Miyako argued about.
As soon as he'd given the correct answer, a section of the floor slid away to reveal a long set of steps. Daisuke walked down without hesitation, his destination the elevator at the end of the corridor he found himself in once at the bottom.
Getting into their underground base wasn't easy, at least not for someone who hadn't been tuned into the system almost since the beginning. Newcomers found it kind of overwhelming. Daisuke found he kind of liked the routine. Not that he planned on admitting that.
By the time he arrived in the central planning room, he'd been underground for almost half an hour and in the actual base for fifteen minutes. He'd given three more passwords, had his blood sampled, and a small clipping of his hair taken to make certain he wasn't a Bakemon in disguise.
"Anything worth reporting?" Ken asked the moment that he stepped into the room. Daisuke set his crossbow and case of bolts down on the nearest table. What vague kind of weapons etiquette they'd hashed out over the years indicated that no one went visibly armed while around the others.
"Saw Yagami Taichi." Daisuke threw himself down into the torture device that masqueraded itself as a chair. The moment the words passed his lips, everyone else in the room froze and looked at him. Daisuke enjoyed the attention for a few moments before he kept on talking. "I took a shot at him, but he moved too fast."
Absolute silence reigned for nearly one full second before Miyako slammed her hands down on the table, glaring at him. "You missed? Did he see you?"
A thousand other questions hovered on her lips. He didn't know how she held herself back from throwing them all at him, but he suspected they would come as soon as he answered her.
"I don't think so. He chased me a little, but I lost him."
Iori's eyes narrowed at him. "You didn't outrun him." It wasn't a question. Daisuke shook his head.
"He flew ahead of me, actually. I was a lot closer to a hiding spot than he knew, so I waited until he left, and came back here." He ran one hand along his cheek, knowing how thick the dirt was and how much he needed that shower.
Miyako drummed her fingers against the table. "How did the goggles work?"
Daisuke pulled them off and set them in front of him. "Fine. It was a lot easier to find him than I thought it would be."
She picked them up and started to go over them, checking for any kind of damage. There were scratches and scrapes, he knew, but he didn't think there was anything that needed severe repair.
"Anything else?" Osamu asked, speaking up without looking up from his screen. Most people avoided anything to do with the internet, but he insisted that his blockers kept them from being located. So far, he'd been right.
"Nothing really." Since the main purpose of his trip had been to test the goggles and their ability to pick a vampire out of the shadows by their lower body temperature Daisuke counted that as a success. He'd not really expected to hit whatever vampire he saw with his bolt, but he'd taken the chance when he saw it was Yagami Taichi. Taking out Vamdemon's most ruthless disciple would've been an incredible coup.
Before he thought about it, he'd even said that. Ken shot him a disapproving look. "It would also have told Vamdemon that we exist long before we want him to know. For that matter, what you've done now could do that."
Daisuke groaned, slouching back into his chair. "All they'll know is that someone tried to kill him. They're not going to know that we really exist. It could've been anyone who managed to put together a crossbow. Or buy one. They still sell them, don't they?"
"They're not illegal, but they're not easy to come by." Iori pointed out, his fingers laced together before him. "It might not be a disaster, but we should still be careful on any further trips outside."
"Which we should be anyway." Miyako pointed out, looking up from the goggles.
Daisuke started to say something, when a hand swatted against his head. He caught a glimpse of red hair from the corner of his eye and heaved a sigh. "Hi, Jun. What was that for?"
His sister gave him a firm look. "You were stupid. Someone has to smack you when you're stupid."
"If we got paid, you'd get a bonus for that." Miyako teased. Daisuke rolled his eyes; when those two started, it was better just to let them get it out of their system. He had other things to do.
"I'm going to get cleaned up and get some sleep." He'd deal with getting food once he was able to eat it without falling asleep over his plate.
No one argued with him as he pushed himself to his feet and headed down the cold steel gray corridors until he reached his quarters. They weren't much. The room he remembered he'd had in the family apartment ten years earlier had been larger, but not by much. He had a bed, a table, a chair, and a closet to keep his spare clothes in, what little there were of them. Unlike that room, this one had a small bathroom, which was something Shuu and Shin had insisted on when helping to plan it. Everyone had their own bathroom. Getting the plumbing set up had been a nightmare, but making certain no one had to wait for a shower helped keep tempers just that little more under control.
He felt sorry for them some days, though neither one would've wanted the sympathy. To know that one's brother was on the other side, willingly or not…and no one knew how 'willingly' any of the ex-Chosen were. No one knew anything but the vaguest stories, and since most of those stories had come from the Digimon on the other side, no one knew what to truly believe.
Daisuke kind of hoped they would have a chance to find out the truth one day.
Osamu kept his attention on his screen, eyes flickering over the information he was digging out of the archives. Not all of it made sense just yet; some of it would have to be decrypted before they could put it to any use.
A message popped up; one from one of his lesser informants. Nothing very important, just the movements of some supplies that needed to be diverted from one of Vamdemon's outposts to their use. He shot off a quick note to have someone deal with it.
His shift was almost over, but he didn't slow down for a moment. All of this needed doing, and he counted himself the best person to take care of it at all.
A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up into violet eyes much like his own. "You're not going to overwork tonight." Ken's voice held an edge of gentleness that very few ever heard from him. Osamu managed a small fraction of a smile, one that he seldom could work up. There was too much work to do to smile.
"You won't let me, will you?" "Should I?" Ken's expression hardened a fraction and Osamu knew the only answer that Ken would ever allow him to make. Instead of saying anything else, he started to close down everything. His replacement would have her own work and her own contacts to deal with. Those who contacted him knew when his shift ended and if it were important, they had ways to get in touch with him.
Sometimes he wondered just who it was on the other end of the screen. He'd never met any of them. It was better if they didn't know more than the basics about one another, just in case anything happened. Some of his contacts were in Vamdemon's army, and if he or any of his loyal servants suspected, it would put this small rebellion at risk.
Each of their shifts ended at different times; that was to keep everything from being too routine, so their minds didn't get cluttered and sludgy. But Ken insisted on his and Osamu's ending at the same time, bar any sort of emergency, because he flatly refused to let his older brother sit at the screen constantly, which he would do if someone didn't pull him away from it. And the only person Osamu would listen to about getting some sleep was Ken himself.
Ken stood back, arms folded over his chest as Osamu stood up, his legs wobbling a little. He hadn't moved in too long, he realized, and he thought he'd skipped a meal as well. Ken usually noticed, but he'd been busier than usual today, with Miyako fiddling with a couple new devices and Daisuke out testing the new goggles.
"Dinner first." Ken bit the words off, jerking his head toward the exit. Osamu couldn't help but smile at how much of a mother hen his younger brother could be.
Mom would be proud of him. His heart twinged a fraction at the thought, but he didn't let it show on his face. He didn't dare; Ken didn't need that kind of pain in his life, and if he could do nothing else, he could at least make certain Ken didn't hurt like that.
He took one glance around before they left. Miyako still hunched over the table, going over the goggles with a careful cleaning solution. Iori had his own screen up, busy burying himself in his own work. Jun had left shortly after Daisuke did, likely to make certain he had something decent to eat when he got around to waking up. She took care of her brother much the same way that Ken took care of him.
They had to take care of each other. They were all they had.
To Be Continued