Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Evidence
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 6-40||Words: 2,584||Total: 15,988
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.
Taichi dropped down to the broken sidewalk and dug his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders over, and started to walk along, his pace a little slower than he liked. He kind of wished he'd known he'd come to this area when he'd first set out; he would've worn something more appropriate. As it was, the shadows hung deep enough that no one could really tell what he had on, or what he looked like.
Which was just as well, since his face was noticeable, and right now, he didn't want it to be.
All he had to do now was wait. He didn't want to wait very long; he wasn't very good at it. But even around here, it shouldn't take all that long.
He'd barely gone down the length of the sidewalk before a gust of wind brought both a sharp scent to his nose and the faintest hint of feet crunching on broken glass and dying leaves to his ears.
"Hey, kid." The voice, gruff yet tinged with worry, floated out of the deep shadows of the alleyway just as he took his first steps closer to it. "This is a bad neighborhood to wander around in on your own."
Taichi held back a grin and ducked his head a little farther down. "Don't have anywhere else to go." A complete lie, but he doubted the other would care. Especially not after he finished with him.
He could see the other as he took another couple of steps closer. The stranger wasn't much to look at, but Taichi wasn't interested in his fashion choices, awful as they were. He supposed humans had to make do with what they could find these days, since the 'wild' ones –the ones who liked to call themselves 'free'- couldn't get hold of whatever they needed to make new clothes. Some of them probably stole what they needed from Vamdemon-sama's supplies, but this one wasn't one of those. Not with tattered jeans that hung to just above his ankles and three sweaters that still were more hole than cloth wrapped around him. His boots looked as if they would be best honorably retired before they actually fell off his feet.
Taichi, on the other hand, strolled around in a well-made pair of black jeans and a gold-trimmed shirt of the same hue. Vamdemon preferred his flock to dress in black, or at least dark colors, the better to blend in with the shadows of the world. Taichi never argued with his master. Overall, he looked fairly healthy and prosperous, a rarity in and of itself in this new world, and one that should've given away his true status.
Some people just couldn't think clearly. All the better for him.
"Nowhere else to go?" The stranger inched out a little, eyes narrowing as he took in Taichi's appearance. "You sure about that?"
He was in range now. The human probably didn't think he was, which made it all the better. "Well, maybe I do." He caught a whiff of metal from the other's direction and held back a smirk. Was it a knife? He hoped it was a knife. It was always so much fun when the prey thought it could fight back.
Taichi shuffled a little closer, apparently keeping his attention more on the ground than on the stranger he was talking to. He wanted to give the impression of a child who scarcely knew what was going on in the world, perhaps someone sheltered and pampered. The more this fool misjudged him, the more fun he would have shortly.
"I've got a place you can go." The human moved fast. At least, he probably thought he did. Taichi suspected there were several Numemon who could probably outrun him if they needed to. As it was, he himself dodged fluidly out of the way and ended up behind the other, grabbing one wrist and finding himself pleased to see a knife in the attached hand.
"Never mind. I won't need it after all." He gripped the human's wrist harder, hearing the crunch of bones. "I hope I don't get any stupider after drinking your blood." Really, thinking that a well-dressed child was anything other than one of the vampire flock? What kind of sheltered fools did this one know?
Whatever kind those were, he would prey on them no more. There would always be idiots who tried to prey on others and Taichi was perfectly happy to make them his prey as well. Or to make their prey his. He wasn't always particular which.
A tiny part of him preferred the predators, those who wanted to harm others. He told himself it was because those were the ones who offered the best chase and the most fulfillment in the end. There wasn't any other reason. There couldn't be any other reason.
He paid no more attention to how the prey struggled and gasped in his grip, only bending the other's head to one side. He almost wished at times that Vamdemon-sama had waited until they were older and taller to turn them. Their strength and speed outclassed any human's with ease, but it would be so much easier if he had another foot of height to work with.
He made do, though. He had plenty of ways to deal with it.
With one quick kick he broke both of his prey's legs, forcing them down to their knees, as well as pulling out some truly horrific screams. Taichi got a better grip on the man's head and struck, burying his fangs into a neck that could've seen a few more washings.
At least his blood still tasted clean. Even in this day and age, there were humans who filled themselves up with alcohol or drugs whenever they could. Perhaps there were even more of them now, seeing an escape from Vamdemon's rule in such things. The vampires had to be careful who they drank from whenever a nest of those types were found.
This wasn't the case now, though. He drank deeply, thoroughly enjoying every drop as his captive's struggles first grew more intense, hands beating a small tattoo on the sidewalk for a few moments before the strength slowly faded and he slumped down against Taichi, unable to move.
This was the part Taichi liked best, when there was still blood pumping through the veins, and no more fight left in his food. He groaned in pleasure at the delicious liquid coursing down his throat and fed full.
Only when there wasn't anything left in the human did Taichi finally stand up and brush himself off. He would have to have his clothes washed when he returned home, but these were his hunting clothes, and he had plenty more outfits waiting for him. Vamdemon kept his flock well-provided with everything they would need and many things they didn't need but wanted. Taichi could no longer imagine what his life might've been like if the master hadn't entered it.
Sometimes he dreamed about it, though. The images were faint and fuzzy, and based more off of his human memories than anything else. He paid little attention to them, considering them the closest thing to a nightmare that he could ever imagine having anymore.
Once he'd cleaned himself up as best he could, he took back off into the air, well-fed and satisfied. He still kept his attention alert for any further signs of that crossbow wielder, but now he decided if he ran across whoever it was, he would bring them to Vamdemon-sama instead of shredding them himself. There was no need to waste good blood, and they might have important information.
He did hope that they tried to go after him instead of one of the flying Digimon such as Wizarmon. It was right to warn one's allies, but Wizarmon might turn the stranger into something useless. Perhaps another turn around the city wouldn't hurt before returning home.
Sora rested her hand on the small egg, her eyes closed, taking deep and unnecessary breaths. The dead didn't need to breathe, after all. Or undead, in her case, but she wasn't one to be very picky about terminology. She breathed because she chose to, not because she needed it.
She knew the egg would never hatch again. None of these here would. They couldn't; their partners were all dead, after all.
Again, dead. Undead. The word didn't matter. They weren't human anymore and that made all the difference.
Still, the eggs rested. Perhaps they were waiting for new partners. Sora's eyes glinted darkly at the very thought of someone else laying their hands on Piyomon's egg. No matter how far she'd fallen, she would never, ever let someone else touch her partner. Piyomon could stay an egg forever rather than go to someone else.
Perhaps when they managed to capture Gennai, she would be able to find a way for Piyomon to hatch again, and become someone more suited to her as a partner. She'd heard that the partners of those who Piemon took care of had changed their evolutions, and it had to do with their changed priorities.
Of course, for that, they would have to capture Gennai, and everything she'd heard from the spies on both sides of the gateway told her that wouldn't happen any time soon. She hated that very thought; how could they not find him? How did he remain hidden after all these years? What could he be doing to keep all of Piemon's people from finding him?
Leaving the small closet where the eggs remained, and making certain to lock it behind her, she paced her way to her own office, where the reports from the spies rested, waiting for her to look through them. If anything gave them a bit of information that could be of any use, she would find it. She'd done it before, putting together the scattered bits of what they knew in order to find what they needed. Or who they needed. Or wanted.
The screams of her mother echoed in the back of her mind, but Sora knew better than to think about them. They were nothing more than vague memories anyway. Seven years was more than long enough to get over something like that.
She read through the reports, none of which offered any of the information that she wanted it to. Koushirou handled much of this on his side of the gate, checking over what Piemon's spies gave to them. She headed Vamdemon's network, a vast array of humans and Digimon who kept their eyes and ears open for every form of information, in exchange for food or medical care or whatever else Vamdemon deemed a worthy price.
She did stare at one particular document, eyes narrowed in thought. Something wasn't right here, but she couldn't put her finger on just what it was. Something about the movement of supplies in certain areas. What would people in the city need with fertilizers? Especially ones of this strength?
That's usually reserved for the farmers. The lack of sun meant that those crops that still grew needed to be tended carefully, usually with large lamps that imitated sunlight. The vampires stayed away from there, but that didn't mean they weren't watched over. Several of Vamdemon-sama's most loyal warriors lived on those farms and made certain the farmers didn't get ideas. They grew that food for the humans who lived under Vamdemon's reign and that was their sole purpose in living.
Or that was how it was supposed to be. Those wild humans who still lived in various areas, insisting they wouldn't ever submit to an alien invasion, stole crops on occasion. They knew not to destroy the farms; they didn't have anywhere they could grow anything for themselves and if they wrecked everything, there wouldn't be any food at all.
At least, that was how it had been for years. If these people were now trying to grow their own…she couldn't yet piece together what it might mean, not without information she didn't have yet.
They would be less dependent on us, for one thing. She considered what that could mean. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing; it would mean their own supplies wouldn't be raided as often. But why would the wild humans try this now, after all this time?
She pulled her thoughts together carefully. She couldn't be entirely certain if those humans were the ones who were trying to get the fertilizer or not. She would have to check into this more personally. It could just be an error in transport somewhere. It wouldn't be the first time this had happened, and if that was what it was, she doubted it would be the last.
Nevertheless, she would check into it and bring it to Vamdemon-sama's attention. It would be up to him what to do about the situation.
She took another look to see just where this was centered at and again her lips turned downward. Well. A coincidence? It could be. But she would keep a very close eye on what was going on there in Odaiba.
One always did want to watch over one's hometown, after all.
Vamdemon didn't spend quite as much time with Piemon as he might've wanted to. There were many ways they could spend their time together, but they did have to tend to business before they could turn to pleasure, and tonight pleasure had no time at all.
He'd make up for it another day. For now, once the two of them spent a few hours searching futilely for Gennai, he crossed back over the gateway to return to his castle. He needed to alert his spies and have them keep a watch on anyone who might attempt to send a message of any kind through there. Whatever Gennai was up to, it wouldn't be allowed to succeed.
That meant a stopover to speak with Sora. Before he could open her door, she did it herself, blinking up at him a moment before she bowed her head respectfully. "Vamdemon-sama. I was just about to come looking for you."
He raised one eyebrow. "Is something the matter?" If any renegades, human or Digimon, turned up, she would be the one most likely to find out about it first.
Going over everything she pointed out to him and what he knew about what Piemon told him and what little they'd picked up during the course of their travels through the Digital World didn't give as much information as they would've wanted it to. Vamdemon knew the wild humans were likely to steal things from him merely to make certain he didn't have it for his own use, or those who served him. They didn't necessarily have to be trying to create their own farms.
Matters took a somewhat different turn, however, when Taichi strolled into the room, bending his head quickly toward his master. "I found out something really interesting tonight," his favorite scion declared, lounging against the wall. "We should probably get Mimi and Jou in on this, too."
Something that concerned all of his flock? Vamdemon's awareness peaked at once, and he sent out a mental call for the last of his Children. He hadn't been this curious, or this interested in something, since the day the last of the Chosen fell to his and Piemon's efforts. He could only hope that whatever this was, it was at least that interesting.
To Be Continued
Notes: To clarify: Taichi, Jou, Sora, and Mimi were all turned during the time of Digimon Adventure, so they are physically ten to twelve (Jou was twelve, Mimi was ten, Taichi & Sora were eleven). So, they are physically exactly the same as they were then. They've mentally grown up to some extent, so much as you can when Vamdemon controls you and you're an undead blood-drinking vampire. Yamato, Takeru, and Koushirou were taken in by Piemon and have continued to age and mature at a normal human rate, so they are twenty-one, eighteen, and twenty, respectively. Hikari has lived ten years imprisoned by Vamdemon and while her body has grown (somewhat), she's got a lot of isolation issues. Among others that will become more apparent in time.