Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Attack
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 26-40||Words: 2,605||Total: 68,857
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 didn't believe a single word Wizarmon said, not when those words insisted that yes, he met here with humans, and it was nothing against Vamdemon-sama, but merely making arrangements to acquire certain materials for his spellcraft that he couldn't always get through ordinary channels. For all that Digimon had ruled this world for years, there were still some items that they didn't realize the value of. Humans didn't always either, or so Wizarmon said, but with the proper incentive, they could turn those items he needed over to him.
No, he didn't believe any of that, but he did his best to act as if he did.
He cast a glance at the wrecked building, quite certain that he heard people moving around inside there. The ones that Wizarmon claimed he bargained with, or rebels longing to overthrow their rightful rulers? His fangs itched to find out.
Later, he promised himself. He would come back here with Vamdemon-sama and the rest of the pack and dig through here until they found anything and everything they could. Or everyone, whichever it so happened to be.
For now, he turned himself back toward the castle and soared along. He could see Wizarmon in the distance, clearly doing his best to look as if he weren't watching for Taichi himself.
I think I'll give him something to worry about. He wanted to feed anyway, so he simply turned away and started to search around for any stray humans. He remembered his master's commands about not hunting in the wild areas with the hunter still around, but he thought he could get away with it this once, with what he had to tell the master about Wizarmon and his lies.
If he didn't want to have Wizarmon face Vamdemon-sama's wrath personally, he would've dived into the ruins and searched them from top to bottom right away. But it was far more enticing to let Wizarmon think that he'd deceived him, and to bring him before the master with all of his gathered evidence.
Something about Wizarmon had never entirely struck Taichi the right way. There was something off that he couldn't put his mental finger on. He'd asked Jou, Sora, and Mimi about it, but while they felt much the same way, not completely trusting him, none of them could figure out why either. Without any further evidence beyond a vague feeling, none of them wanted to bring this up to Vamdemon-sama before, and Wizarmon had acted in all ways as if he were completely loyal.
Vamdemon-sama will be able to work the truth out of him. Taichi trusted the master completely on that. He had evidence of the wizard meeting with humans, which wasn't completely against the rules, but still wasn't entirely trustworthy. And every sense Taichi had screamed to him that Wizarmon lied about who and what those humans were.
He ghosted along from rooftop to rooftop, searching half for meals and half for anyone who might've been in that meeting. He didn't know if he'd recognize their scents; thanks to Wizarmon's firewall he hadn't been able to get any good whiffs of them, and Wizarmon apparently hadn't come close enough to them for those scents to linger on him.
The cunning creature had likely done that on purpose, if he'd had any idea that he might encounter one of the pack after his meeting.
"Taichi." Even with the unaccustomed reprimand in his tone, Taichi recognized Vamdemon's voice from a single word. His master stepped forth from the shadows of a collapsed building, one eyebrow raised behind his mask. "You're not to hunt here."
Taichi smiled, even as he dropped his head in respect. "I didn't come out here hunting on purpose, master. I tracked Wizarmon."
Vamdemon made a slight gesture of curiosity and Taichi told his tale, making certain to cast the wizard in the worst possible light that he could. He wanted to make certain Wizarmon was dealt with in the most permanent fashion possible, be it exile back to the Digital World or permanent death, his egg shattered beyond all regeneration.
He would've preferred to be the one to shatter the egg if it came to that, but he didn't know if Vamdemon-sama would honor him like that.
As he came to the close, Vamdemon nodded ever so slightly, a frown on his pale lips. "You are absolutely certain?"
"As certain as I can be, master," Taichi said. He shifted a bit closer, eagerness in every line of his form. "May I bring the others to tear that place apart? We might find some kind of proof as to what their plans are. Or even their hiding hole."
Vamdemon tilted his head back for a moment, then nodded. "Do so. Bring me any humans that you find, unharmed." His eyes fastened on Taichi, absolute command in his tone. "Completely unharmed. Not a single drop of blood should be missing from them. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master." Taichi wanted to pout; he'd looked forward to a feast for such a long time. But when the Master spoke, none of the pack disobeyed. Could even think of disobeying.
"I'll be back at the castle by the time you're done. Bring them to me there."
Taichi nodded, and shot himself toward the castle with all due speed. While this wouldn't be the feast that he longed for, it would still be a glorious moment for all the vampires, and prove that humans should stay where they were, at the very bottom, serving both vampires and Digimon.
He landed on his balcony a handful of minutes later, and snapped an order to one of his servant Digimon to gather the rest of the flock as quickly as they could get together. It wasn't often they all gathered like this, unless it was for a hunt, and he looked forward to seeing their reactions to what he had in store for them.
Mimi and Sora arrived together; he'd heard rumors through the servants that they were together now. Such a thing hadn't occurred to him in ten years, and he wondered why it had to them. Maybe he'd asked when they'd cleared out these wanna-be rebels, and could do something more interesting with their time.
Jou showed up not much later than the other two, a frown creasing his forehead. "This had better be important, Taichi, I've got a lot that I'm doing."
"Wizarmon is a traitor and we get to ransack a meeting place he was using with some of his human allies. If we find any of them, we're to bring them back here," Taichi said, savoring the surprise and shock dawning in their eyes. "Vamdemon-sama wants them unharmed, for now." He did so hope that restriction would be lifted at some point. Maybe they could arrange for a hunt. Oh, the pleasure that would bring to him.
Mimi's eyes narrowed darkly as she took in what he said. "Wizarmon? Are you certain?"
"I saw him meeting with the humans. I couldn't hear what they were saying, since he had a firewall up, but he admitted to meeting them." Taichi tapped his fingers on the arm of his favorite chair. "He tried to make up excuses for it, but I know what he's doing, and I told Vamdemon-sama as soon as I could."
Sora shook her head ruefully. "I would never have thought he would turn on the master. Who could be next? LadyDevimon?"
The four of them fell silent for a few moments, before a rush of laughter echoed through them. The very thought of LadyDevimon turning against the master wasn't one to be thought at all. Unlike Wizarmon, she'd been loyal to him her entire life. She'd mentioned it once during one of the celebrations, how he'd taken her in when she was a Plotmon, and raised her into the strong warrior she was now.
As the laughter died away, Taichi came to his feet. "The sooner we can get all of this done, the better. I don't think Wizarmon would've had time to warn his pets about us, so they're likely still in the area. If not, we can at least hope for some evidence."
One by one the others stood up and headed for his balcony. Taichi led the way, thrilling to the sensation of taking to the air with the flock. All that would make this better would be if Vamdemon-sama led them, but until that moment, this would be more than suitable.
It hadn't always been this good, he knew. There was a definite difference between leading a pack of hopeless and helpless human children in a world where everything short of their own companions wanted to eat them, and leading a pack of powerful vampires in a world where everything and everyone short of their Master bowed down to them. All things considered, Taichi definitely preferred the latter option.
As they soared over the city to the ruined building, which he thought had once been a television station, though he couldn't remember the name of it no matter how hard he tried, he could see a few scattered people running for cover whenever they caught sight of the flock overhead. He grinned, baring his fangs. Let them fear. Let them know their masters, the head of the food chain, always roamed.
Mimi kept close to Sora as they flew, enjoying the sensation of being next to her as much as she did the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair. She'd let it grow long over the last few years, and had given thought to dying it on occasion. Perhaps a nice pink or blue would suit her. Being undead didn't mean she'd lost any of her fashion sense whatsoever.
I have eternity to figure out what looks best on me, she thought, muffling a giggle, only because they were on an important mission and she didn't want to distract from that.
Still, until they reached their goal, she had little else to think about than what to do with her favorite outfits, makeup, and hairstyles. She'd already sorted through the practical business she took care of, managing Vamdemon-sama's army, and seeing to it that everyone was in the best shape and well-trained as could be.
Hearing of Wizarmon's treachery, even with the few details Taichi could currently provide, worried her. Part of her duties was to keep up everyone's morale, and if the army found out about this, she would be the one who had to deal with it. Vamdemon-sama commanded the army, but she kept the army together and loyal. He would have no army without her, as he'd told her before.
She was also a clear improvement over Nanimon, or so he'd told her. From what she'd seen of him, she agreed completely. She'd made certain to get rid of him at her first opportunity, many years earlier. No one had even raised a word of protest, and she didn't think it was because they feared her as one of Vamdemon-sama's flock.
Sora's fingers brushed against hers, and she looked over to her fellow vampire, cocking one eyebrow curiously.
"What do you think of this?" Sora murmured, her voice pitched just right for only Mimi's ears to hear. Taichi and Jou both flew a little too far away, and no one else was in the skies near them.
"I think this is going to be a lot of trouble. Why would Wizarmon do this to us?" The more Mimi thought about it, the more she wanted to catch him herself, and shred him down to his component data parts for this. How dare he turn on them? On the master? And if he had to, couldn't he have just conveniently left them, so they could spin it to the army that he'd been killed by traitors or spies or humans and could be seen as a martyr instead of this? How many other treacheries would this spark?
None, if she had her way about it. She would make certain that anyone who heard of Wizarmon's fate from this would be too terrified to even think about treachery for another thousand years at the very least.
"I don't know," Sora said with a shake of her head. "It doesn't feel real to me."
"Me either." Mimi's fingers tightened on Sora's for a few seconds. "Let's make certain it isn't real for anyone else."
As silent as four moths, the quartet of vampires encircled the ruins of Fuji TV, each one taking one of the cardinal points. Each of them drew in a deep breath, testing the air.
"Humans have been here," Jou said, analyzing what he could catch thoroughly. "And not all that long ago."
Mimi dropped down closer to the ground, sniffing around there, her nose sharper than any wild dog or wolf's. "Not just that. But some of them have been here on a regular basis. This area over here has a very strong scent to it. Not one that I know, though."
Sora paced around, sorting through the scents in her area. "I think some of them live here. Not just passing through but regularly staying. I can smell a little bit of smoke, and I think cooked meat of some kind."
"Are you sure it's not just someone who passed through recently?" Taichi wanted to know, lifting himself a few feet into the air to check on any other passing scents.
"Yes. The scent's too strong for it to have been a quick visit." Sora took to the air as well, now listening as hard as she could. One by one they all fell silent, turning the ears of a hunter toward finding their prey.
Jou made the first strike, darting forward toward a spill of broken cement. He tossed the chunks to the side as easily as a human might've thrown aside a pile of autumn leaves, while the others kept a distance, watching for anyone who might be stirred up by his work.
In only a few minutes, he uncovered a rock leaning on the ground. To most it would've looked like nothing more than another part of the ground, a remnant of a once magnificent building now dust and rubble. But as they gathered closer, the vampire pack could all see the scrapes to the sides of the rock that spoke of it having been moved before.
Not so much as a look was exchanged before Jou dug his hands around the sides of the rock, lifted it up, and tossed it to one side. What lay revealed beneath was a long, shadow-filled tunnel. The air was far too fresh for it to have been abandoned from the days of human reign over the world.
Another scent, one that they hadn't fully expected but had indeed hoped for, wafted outward from the tunnel and all four smiled smiles that would've sent any human who saw them fleeing for their lives. It wasn't anything less than the scent of strong, healthy humans.
"Let's go," Taichi said, his voice barely more than a whisper on the wind. A quick check of the air told them that despite how strong the scent was, there were no humans in the area. Either scent or sound would've given them away to the four hunters.
Each dropped into the tunnel, landing a few feet apart from one another, and as one moved where the human scent lay the strongest. It was all Taichi could do not to salivate. This was already the best hunt ever, no matter who they found at the end of it.
To Be Continued