Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Digivice
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 39-40||Words: 2,617||Total: 103,396
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.
Wizarmon wanted to evolve again. Not just to protect Osamu, though that was a huge part of his desire, but because he'd never experienced power like that before. Being Mistymon called to everything that made him a Digimon; the level of his magic couldn't be measured, and he could fight physically as well, movements and skills coming to him from the core of his being.
But no matter how he strained, the power only flickered and wavered, and his stomach cried out for food far more than anything else.
Digimon need to eat to evolve, he realized. That made sense; evolution was a hard process, and it used up a great deal of energy. He probably wouldn't need as much as he could if he were fresh out of the egg, but he needed something.
And he needed it soon, because this fight wasn't going at all well for those who wanted to get to the portal. Jou still hung out of reach, Daisuke held in his grip, while Vamdemon and LadyDevimon lashed out at one another. The rest of the flock darted here and there, tossing pieces of broken masonry at the humans, who had to rush to get out of the way. It was clear they considered this not a battle at all, but an amusement until their master decreed otherwise.
Osamu stayed near him, something held tightly in one hand. Wizarmon recognized it belatedly as a Digivice. He'd seen them before, but not in quite a long time.
They're supposed to have many powers. They can destroy evil. Stories of what had happened to those under Devimon's power when the Chosen had first arrived in the Digital World rang through his mind. Could...could they...
He glanced at LadyDevimon, then down to where Hikari crouched behind debris, her eyes on the battle in the skies. If she had hers...but he didn't know where that was. He'd only heard of where Vamdemon kept her Crest, and he still didn't have that.
Perhaps that could've made more of a difference. The faith he'd always had in Tailmon hadn't wavered over the years, but he didn't know if such a huge change were even possible anymore.
He set his jaw. They had to do something. And if Hikari couldn't help yet, then he would have to work with the only Chosen Child that he actually knew, who had a partner and a Digivice.
His own.
Wizarmon rested a hand on Osamu's shoulder. "We have to do something!"
"I know!" Osamu glanced at him, then back to where Ken scampered through the trashed streets, half-way attempting to get to Daisuke, half-way trying to throw anything he could manage at Taichi as the vampire hovered, taunting him. "But what?"
Wizarmon gestured toward the Digivice. "I think that can help us. The legends in the Digital World talk about how they can destroy evil."
Osamu's eyes tracked at once to Vamdemon, and Wizarmon could see the hope glimmering there. "Could we..."
"Not him. He's too strong for just one." Power multiplied with more, and it would take far more than one Digivice to put a halt to Vamdemon's evil. "But perhaps one of the pack."
Osamu's eyes narrowed as he turned back to where Taichi taunted his brother. "I've got just the one in mind."
Wizarmon wasn't going to object. He stood up, brushing off more dust. "I can't evolve until I have something to eat. So we're going to have to be careful about this."
"I think there's a lot I need to know about Digimon now. More than before," Osamu said, a small smile tilting at the corners of his mouth. Wizarmon returned the smile.
Their movements were quick and sharp, dedicated more to keeping them from being interfered with by the pack than anything else. Mimi and Sora seemed more interested in Miyako, who kept them at bay by throwing everything she could find that she could lift at her. That at least kept them from seeing Osamu and Wizarmon as they worked their way through the battlefield.
Osamu gripped the Digivice in his hands as if it were a lifeline. Perhaps it was. He wasn't sure of what he could do with it but he had to do something. First he needed to stop Taichi from taunting Ken; that could only be leading his brother into a trap. But once that was done, then it would be Jou they struck next. They had to take care of him before he flew off with Daisuke. Probably all that kept him from doing so now was that Vamdemon hadn't ordered it. The pack could act independently, but they tended to wait for orders in battle.
He couldn't see Pinnochimon, and somewhat suspected that their guide now lounged back out of the way, letting them handle the fighting. So long as he didn't interfere with their fight, Osamu was more than willing to let that slide. He'd only contracted to get them to the portal, not to help them fight.
But it would've been nice if he'd helped anyway.
"Get down here!" Ken yelled, hands clenched in fury. He ached to have some weapon in them, something that would pull Taichi down to him, or take him up there. "Let Daisuke go!"
"I'm not the one who has him, or didn't you notice?" Taichi teased, landing on a wide outcropping of rock. "You really should be more careful with yourself anyway. Haven't you noticed? You're a little far from your friends."
Ken stopped in his tracks, eyes flickering to both sides. Two large Digimon flanked him, not in touching distance, but enough so running wasn't an option. He couldn't see if any of the others were close enough to do anything.
He did this on purpose. A trap. And one he'd walked right into, out of concern for Daisuke.
Well, he wasn't caught yet. He lifted his head to glare more fiercely at Taichi. "I don't care. I'm not letting any of you get away with him."
"You don't get to decide that. Vamdemon-sama wants him, Vamdemon-sama is going to have him." Taichi's fangs glinted as he smiled. "But he wants you too. Just for something different. And I get to be the one who changes you. Isn't that nice?"
"Changing me wouldn't make me hate you any less," Ken declared, moving from one side to the other, not wanting to give away any hint of what he planned to do. It would be reckless. It would be stupid. It would be a plan worthy of Daisuke. And it would probably be the only chance he had of making it out of this in one piece.
"Oh, but that's the beautiful part. You see, when you're changed, you obey the one who changed you. That means, you're going to do what I want you to do. And Vamdemon-sama already told me what he wants you to do." Taichi's fangs extended farther as he took a step forward, floating on insubstantial air. "You're going to be Daisuke's new bodyguard. You're going to keep him from running away or from being taken away by anyone else. And that will be your job forever."
Fire lit Ken's mind as it never had before. The vampires had given hints to this at other times but hearing it all so clearly, when Daisuke struggled still in a vampire's grip, gave it a reality that Ken had never imagined. He could not let it happen. He would not.
He started to jump. He'd always been athletic, and a decade spent training to fight vampires and monsters had helped that.
Before he could make the jump, a larger body slammed into him, sending him spiralling to the side. Ken stumbled to his feet, ready to take on whoever attacked him, and stared when he saw Osamu and Wizarmon there. "Big brother?"
"We've got something better, Ken," Osamu said and raised up the small device in his hand. He turned toward Taichi, who stared at them with a slight frown. "Do you remember what this is, Yagami?"
Taichi focused on the device, then laughed, a raucous mocking sound that echoed from the ruins around them. One by one, the other vampires and Vamdemon, as well as the surrounding Digimon, turned to see what was going on. "A Digivice. So you think you're a Chosen Child now? A little old for it, aren't you?"
"Maybe that's what we need right now. But whether I am or not, you know what this is, and so do I." Osamu stood straight, staring at the vampire.
"If you make one crack about 'shedding light', I think I'm going to make certain that you're your brother's first meal once I turn him," Taichi declared. "Assuming you survive what I'm about to do to you, anyway."
Vampires were impossibly fast. Osamu had known that for years. He'd seldom seen it in action until recently, and he still couldn't believe how quickly Taichi charged for him.
Pain racked Osamu's shoulders and back as something slammed into him, far harder than he had Ken, and he heard a small noise from too close as his hand cracked against the ground. The Digivice? Agony clouded his thinking as Taichi pinned him to the ground.
"I used one of those before you ever knew of the Digital World. You think I don't know its tricks?" Taichi hissed, red light scorching in his eyes. "You think I'd even let you try?"
As swift as a vampire could be, something else was, this once, even swifter. Ken tackled Taichi with all of his strength, pulling him away from his brother.
"You think I'm going to let you hurt Osamu?" Ken snapped. Without looking, he kicked backwards, and the Digivice skipped over the ground to land beside Osamu. "Let's see what that can do, big brother."
Osamu stumbled up, catching the Digivice up once more, trying so hard to ignore the pain that hadn't faded at all. Wizarmon, knocked to the side by Taichi's attack, landed beside him once again. The two looked at one another, then turned their gaze onto Taichi.
The vampire crouched, eyes shimmering scarlet, a monster in a child's body.
We could've been friends, Ken thought, then shook his head. The boy who could've been his friend had died ten years ago.
Osamu held the Digivice out, unsure of what to do but confident that this would help. He refused to back down, no matter what. This is our world. And even if we have to leave, we'll come back, and take it back.
"Jou!" Taichi growled the word out. "Get Daisuke out of here! Keep the master's pet safe!"
There was no time to stop both of them, and Jou was too high up to risk him dropping Daisuke. Those thoughts scampered through Ken and Osamu's mind in near unison. They couldn't get Daisuke now, but they could do something.
Light burst forth from the Digivice, sweeping toward Taichi. Light such as this hadn't been seen in this world for a decade's worth of years. He screamed, a sound more like the howl of a rabid beast than anything remotely human, his skin blistering, his eyes covered by one already scorched hand. Vamdemon, Mimi, and Sora all fell backward, trying to get away from the light as it burned.
Osamu took a step forward. He didn't know if the light could destroy Taichi entirely but the chance to do so couldn't be passed up.
"Hey!" Pinnochimon's voice came from farther along and Ken looked to see him standing in the doorway that led to the gate. "If you guys plan on going through, you'd better do it now! I can't keep this open forever!"
Osamu hissed between his teeth; torn between putting an end to one of their enemies and finding a way to end them all wasn't how he'd expected this to turn out.
"I don't think we have a choice," Miyako gasped, stumbling up with Jun, Iori, Hikari in her wake. Lady Devimon hovered nervously, eyes flicking between the panting Taichi and the furious Vamdemon. "We can come back and..." Miyako glanced for a moment to where Jou could only barely be seen, still with Daisuke in his arms. What worried them all was that he didn't seem to be fighting anymore.
Ken wanted to stay. Osamu could read it in his eyes. The Digivice's light wasn't going to last forever, and already Taichi fell back into the deeper shades cast by it, taking in deep hitching breaths of unnecessry air.
"Let's go," Osamu said, not liking the words and not liking leaving Daisuke, whether they had to or not. "We'll come back." He addressed it to Jun and Ken mostly, but the words were also a promise to himself, and to Daisuke.
They'd taken Daisuke back from Vamdemon once before. They weren't going to let him stay there forever.
Jou licked his lips; he hadn't had actual permission to drink from Daisuke, but he did have orders to make certain the master's pet didn't put himself into too much danger once taken back. Given how Daisuke had been struggling, Jou's only option had been to take just enough blood so the other passed out. It wouldn't put him in any danger, and would keep him unharmed. If the master minded, then Jou would take any punishment.
He could definitely see why the master found Daisuke's blood tantalizing, though. Something coursed through it along with the sweet nourishment of life, something that thrummed of true passion. If he found someone this delicious to feed upon, he would never, ever let them go.
Jou glanced behind himself long enough to see the light fading, even as the humans and their traitor Digimon companions scampered toward the gate. They would likely make it through; Phantomon's prediction all but said so. But the one whose fate wasn't determined now rested safely in his own arms.
"Let me." Jou turned back to see Vamdemon hovering in front of him. Blue eyes focused on his servant's fangs, and one finely crafted eyebrow lifted up in silent query.
"I wanted to keep him quiet, Vamdemon-sama," Jou explained at once. "This was the only way."
Vamdemon nodded a fraction even as Jou handed him over. Almost as soon as Daisuke lay in Vamdemon's arms, he stirred, eyes opening a fraction. Vamdemon smiled down at him, and if Jou had been human, he would've feared that look.
"Rest, Daisuke. We have much to discuss when you're ready for it."
Dasiuke stirred more, but only for a moment, as Vamdemon's will crushed his, and his eyes closed once more.
Vamdemon turned his attention back to Jou. "Go check on the others. Taichi will need some kind of assistance. The guards on the gate are to be tripled. They'll try to come back. I want to know when they do."
"As you command, Vamdemon-sama," Jou said, bowing swiftly before heading off to find his vampire brethren.
As Jou left, Vamdemon ran the palm of his hand down Daisuke's face. It had been so long since he'd seen his precious blood-pet this close. He'd even missed him.
You'll never escape me again. Even if I don't have the bodyguard I wanted for you, I'll make certain that you never leave me.
Daisuke was going to be very useful to him in the time to come, he knew. The old war between himself and the Chosen was about to start again.
He'd won their first war. Vamdemon had no intentions of losing this one, either.
Going to the Digital World hadn't given them as escape. It simply meant they marched right into his allies' waiting hands.
To Be Continued
Notes: One more chapter and this story ends. Also, I haven't yet said it, but a sort of sub-title to this whole story has been "Vampires ruin everything."