Notes: This is a retooling of Episode 2 from Season 2. What would happen if the dark spore had been more active earlier on, if Ken had been a little less rooted in reality?
Warnings: Torture, violence
Recommended Tracks: Gorillaz – Kids with Guns; Plastic Tree – 黒い傘; Modest Mouse – One Chance
Daisuke almost didn't want to open his eyes. He was focusing on the cool, firm surface beneath his forehead and the gentle breeze teasing through his hair. Only when he tried to move did he get the first swirl of fear. His wrists and ankles were trapped beneath cold and thick metal cuffs. He snapped warm brown eyes open, only to be shocked by the fact that he was chained up, facing a cliff wall. It all rushed back to him… the trip to the Digital World, Koushirou and Sora guiding them, Miyako and Iori coming for the first time, and then a giant hole swallowing him and V-mon up with that scary looking drilled Digimon!
Trying not to focus on the long drop, he cried out for his partner, "V-mon, where are you? Talk to me, buddy!" His heart pounded loudly in this chest as he waited for that familiar, cute squeak to call back to him. He tried to control himself as no one answered him. "V-mon, can you hear me?"
The redhead's skin crawled as he heard the Digimon Kaiser call from above with that smug condescension. "Now, now, don't rush the surprise. V-mon's going to come out in just a few minutes, be patient." Daisuke wasn't stupid and knew he didn't have much room to argue, given his precarious position, but he couldn't help but prickle at the despot's sneering. "Give him back! Don't hurt him; he didn't do anything to you! Why did you do this anyway, what do you want?" There was a great wave of air, almost like a giant set of wings buzzing and Daisuke gulped, not wanting to know what kind of Digimon could make a sound like that. The Kaiser spoke again, but this time he was much closer, almost behind him.
"Why I only want you and your meddling buddies to leave my lands and property alone, that's all. You pests are intruders, sticking your noses where they don't belong and I want you all to leave and never come back," the Kaiser said, his voice growing huffy with anger. This time the Chosen Child couldn't help but draw his head back to try and throw a glare behind him but the feeling of vertigo shocked him into dropping back against the cliff wall, causing the so-called Kaiser to chuckle darkly. "That couldn't have felt good, now, I hope you'll cooperate?"
The goggle-headed boy swallowed and prayed his friends would find him somehow. "Cooperate with what?" His nemesis moved alongside him so he wouldn't have to crane his neck back to talk. If he had been anyone else it could have been mistaken for consideration. Daisuke realized that the other boy was staring at his face with a mysterious smile, almost like he wanted to see his reaction. The boy spoke again, still grinning ominously, "Why, you have to cooperate with your punishment, of course. How else will I know if you and your friends have learned your lesson?"
"M-my lesson?" Taichi-san and Hikari-chan had spoken about some of their adventures before, most of them thrilling and many dangerous, but they'd never mentioned a human being acting like this, punishing other humans. Daisuke wasn't a coward but he had just been thrown into a new world filled with all kinds of creatures and powers. To be at the mercy of this terrible kid who spoke so calmly about punishment left him uneasy to say the least. "Yes," the Kaiser spoke again, hardly able to contain the excitement in his cold voice, "I thought long and hard about what would really get through to you and those other brats. After all, we know so little about each other, but I've made some good deductions and figured out the perfect plan. And so far, you've bumbled your way right into it."
Daisuke felt his ire rising again, growling out, "What kind of person can prepare for a hole opening up under your feet? You're really crazy, you don't even know me! All I did was enter the Digital World. I was barely in it for a few minutes! What could I possibly have done to earn this?"
The Kaiser answered sharply and swiftly, his glee was quicksilver and easily turned to anger. "You entered it, that's it! This world isn't anyone's but mine! And now you'll pay the price! You see at first, I thought that I would make you watch as I put a Dark Ring around V-mon-" The redhead cut him off with an angry "NO!" and a useless struggle against his bonds before he realized the Kaiser was only laughing again. He resumed with a polished air as if the other hadn't interrupted at all, "But I realized that you would only fight harder if I did that. Instead I figure you're impulsive and obnoxious… you must be the type to do things the hard way. And corporal punishment is supposed to be a very persuasive educator. Tell me, have you figured out why you're facing the cliff yet?"
Daisuke shivered as all kinds of unpleasant thoughts raced through his mind. Before he could respond there was a loud scrape of stone being dragged away and a cry, "Daisuke!" V-mon could sound happy anywhere, in any situation. "V-mon, you're alright!" The boy rested his head against the cliff for a moment, letting out a deep breath in his relief.
"Yes, V-mon is fine, for now. I may ring him later, but that all depends on you and how you behave." The Kaiser was so close now that the redhead could've hit him if his arm was free. Instead he glared steadily at him, refusing to show any hint of his fear or vulnerability. The Kaiser took no notice, balancing on some kind of large, insect Digimon. "Now then, if you behave nicely, learn your lesson, and tell me that you'll leave and never come back, I won't touch your little V-mon there, even if he does technically belong to me. If you don't, then we'll have to keep practicing the lesson together to see if that clears your mind for you." The dark-haired boy slowly unraveled a loop at his belt, revealing it to be a long and heavy whip.
The redhead's mind went blank for a minute. Was the Kaiser actually threatening to whip him? He'd never actually been hurt on purpose before. The occasional schoolyard tussle and soccer injury aside, the worst he'd experienced was a pinched cheek or a swat on the head from his sister, Jun, or sometimes his mother. This wasn't the 1500s! He shifted his glare to the smirking boy. "Go to hell. What kind of person says something like that? What's wrong with you?" The Kaiser only moved back out of his view again, causing a wave of anxiety to course through him. He realized V-mon was yelling as well, seemingly restrained. "Hey you four-eyed meanie, you leave him alone and pick on somebody your own size! Did somebody spit in your food this morning or what? You can't hurt people like this!"
The blue-haired boy didn't respond to the Digimon but just moved around behind Daisuke, who could only hear the shifting and dropping of some materials. "All right then, brat, I've been told this really does hurt. All you have to do to stop it is promise me you'll never come back to the Digital World. Until you do, we'll keep practicing your lesson." The Chosen Child grit his teeth, wishing he had more leverage to turn to face the Kaiser, but could only spit out a reply, "You know you really sound craz-AH!"
The whip had cracked and a split second later a burning blow landed between his shoulder blades, forcing the air out of his lungs in a rush. The skin seared where it had hit him and his muscles and bones ached from the blunt force. Daisuke's eyes were wide with shock and he could barely breathe in, breath stuttering and body shaking. He heard the Kaiser come a bit closer, mock sympathy in his voice, "You see, I did tell you it wouldn't feel good. Are you ready to stop? No?" And before the redhead could answer he moved back and the whip cracked two more times, searing into his back. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he pulled his body as close to the wall and as far away from the Kaiser as possible. Words were beyond him; he could only focus on the fire spreading across his back and legs.
V-mon, from somewhere behind him, yelled as loud as he could, "Stop," and "No," and "Daisuke!" At least he did until the Kaiser growled out a warning about making things worse for his partner. A few more lashes and the Kaiser had come close to the other boy again and put a hand onto his shaking and injured shoulder. He asked, "How are you feeling? It hurts quite a lot, doesn't it? Are you ready to listen?" Despite the questions, his blue eyes were almost happy and his tone nearly breathless with excitement. Daisuke could only lean his cheek against the wall, brown eyes now half-open and staring at his enemy without comprehension.
The Kaiser seemed concerned and moved even closer, "You know you really don't look so well, why not just give up, just promise me to never come back and it's all over." Over? Daisuke sluggishly thought over what that meant. What was over? What am I supposed to promise? The blue haired dictator couldn't hide his smile as he said, "That's too bad... I really hoped you would see reason by now." Wait! Wait!
Before Daisuke could collect his thoughts, the whip whistled down again and he felt a liquid warmth seep down his back. This one pulled an unbidden, primal scream from his throat and he began to cry in earnest, great sobs heaving his chest and stretching the sore muscles in his back. "I think he's getting it now! I think he's learned his lesson." There was a pause and he could hear the awful sound of his partner crying softly.
The strikes came faster and lighter, hitting sore spots and opening more wounds, causing Daisuke to scream and cry again and again. All he could focus on was the anger and glee in the voice that called out in between the cracking sound.
"All you have to do is give up. Just say those words… Don't be stubborn"
CRACK
"Maybe next time you'll think twice before trying to play my games!"
The poor boy wanted to cry, but you won't let me, you won't stop! He tried to stutter out the word please but he couldn't muster the energy or breath.
CRACK
The redhead sagged against the cliff, not even noticing the rock scraping his face or the pressure from the metal cuffs on his limbs. He didn't hear anything except his own heartbeat thudding throughout his chest and back. He couldn't see anything as his whole mind was consumed by pain.
CRACK
CRACK
"That's it, there we go. Very goo-" The Kaiser's crowing was interrupted by a familiar voice shouting, "Get him, Holsmon!" And then a strange, deep voice cried out, "Tempest Wing!" And the cracking sound and the lashes stopped. There were sounds of a fight breaking out behind him but Daisuke just closed his eyes and let his mind drift; he couldn't focus on anything.
He opened them again a long while later when he heard a sharp voice close by, "Daisuke, we're getting you down, just hold on!" He opened his eyes to see his new friends working to pull the restraints off of him. He stuttered at them, "K-Koushirou? Sora?" Sora's chestnut eyes radiated worry but all she said was, "Daisuke, just stay calm, we're going to get you help."
They pulled the restraints off of him and draped his shaking arms across their shoulders. Then a giant bird-like Digimon helped him to the bottom of the ravine. V-mon raced towards him and clung to his legs, crying. His vision was a little blurry as red and swollen as his eyes were from the tear still dripping down his cheeks. His voice was hoarse too but he looked at and spoke to his new team of Chosen Children; Miyako and Iori were shocked and solemn, Takeru, furious, and Hikari, grim. "T-thanks guys, I don't know… I don't know what would have happened if you h-hadn't shown up."
He swayed a little as a wave of dizziness hit him and Takeru came forward to help him balance. Hikari shook her head, "Thank us later, Daisuke, you need to go to a hospital. Your back… it's just got to be in a lot of pain." He let them lead him to a still-evolved Holsmon, who flew gently and slowly back to the television set.
Behind him Miyako and Iori were whispering back and forth, still frightened. "I just don't think we should come back here, Miyako-san. This is too dangerous. Daisuke could have been killed!" She nodded from her perch behind Daisuke, still trying not to put any pressure on his back. Hikari was walking alongside them and put a friendly arm around the youngest Chosen Child. "The Digital World can be dangerous, Iori, but that's why we're called to protect it and why we were given our Crests, or in your case, Digimentals. I've been here many times and was never hurt by another human, or even a Digimon."
Takeru joined in from beside Holsmon and Patamon, looking seriously at the new Chosen, "Yes, please don't give up. Most Digimon are good, in fact, one gave up his life to save me once. What the Kaiser did to Daisuke was terrible but he'll just continue to do this to innocent Digimon if we stop trying to help the Digital World." Sora continued, "Iori, we're not going to let him get away with this. Koushirou and I and the others will figure out who the Kaiser is and bring him to justice. He must be truly evil to hurt another person like this, let alone all the Digimon."
Iori continued walking while considering their points, taking comfort as Armadimon walked beside him, giving him encouraging looks. Daisuke had long since slumped over onto Holsmon, clutching V-mon to his chest. Sora and Takeru walked on either side of him to keep him safely on. Although he didn't want to look, the brown-haired boy couldn't stop himself from staring at his friend's back, covered with welts and open cuts. Koushirou noticed and stopped him for a moment. "Iori, I promise you that nothing like that has happened to any of us before. That was the work of an immoral human, not a Digimon, and it could just as easily have happened on Earth. The Digital World is a beautiful, fascinating place, and I hope you'll still be able to protect it with us. But nobody is going to force you to come here if you don't want." And he turned his dark eyes to Miyako as he spoke.
They had reached the television set and the others were in the process of helping Daisuke down. The redhead groaned a little as he came down before opening his eyes to gaze at his surroundings. "We've got to come back and stop him," he said to small group, "We can't let him hurt anyone like this again." V-mon turned his wide red eyes still wet with tears to his partner. "Yeah, Daisuke, we won't let him get away with this. He's got to know what he's doing is wrong!" Gatomon smiled and grinned at the two, "That's the spirit; he hasn't beaten us, not by a long shot."
Miyako and Iori glanced at each other and nodded. Even if this world was scary and unpredictable, the Digimon and humans in it didn't deserve to be attacked and harassed simply for existing. They would be back to teach the Kaiser a lesson once and for all. And the small group made their way through the television set, Sora praying that Taichi had managed to keep the computer room clear of busybodies and Koushirou planning how to get Daisuke the help he needed.
The Digimon Kaiser sat in his control room, a smirk twisting his face. He had watched the intruders go and was now replaying the scene with that redheaded brat on his many screens, enjoying the views as this newcomer learned his "lesson." Who does he think he is, destroying my Evil Ring and walking around without any respect? He felt a touch on his pants and looked down to see his detestable partner, cowering in front of him. "Master," Wormmon spoke quietly, "Why did you hurt that boy? What purpose did it serve? He's not a Digimon and so far you've only been attacking, er, I mean, recruiting Digimon?"
The question irked the dark-haired boy and he viciously kicked the insectoid away. "Are you seriously questioning me? You should be cleaning my boots, you useless bug. That'll teach those kids not to trespass on my domain again. And besides, we're in the Digital World; it's not as if those injuries were even real. He'll just respawn if he ever dares enter here again. And I doubt he'll dare."
The bug Digimon limped away from his partner, tears flooding his gentle eyes. He knew Ken was wrong and didn't understand but no matter how he tried to tell him the truth, the boy just wouldn't hear it. Despite being a genius, he was acting so stupidly. "Ken-chan…" But the boy didn't hear him, laughing as he was at the pain and hurt in that stupid boy's eyes. How can you teach someone a lesson that they refuse to be taught?