Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ For They Shall Be Filled ❯ Conspirac(ies?)! ( Chapter 19 )

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For They Shall Be Filled

The future is only a reaction to the past.

By: Vain 5/31/2001-1/26/2002

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I do not own Digimon, Ichijouji Ken, the Digidestined, or the Digital World, nor am I making any money off of this. Kazunori, Sanghee, the Golden Triangle, the Revelationas Arch, all its OC's and original concepts all belong to me.

Please DO NOT use or "borrow" them without my written permission.

Special Thanks goes to Herongale and the Guardian for betaing and thank you's are extended to everyone who reviewed on FF.net, especially Athena, ShinniJekka, KA, Pan-chan, Crew of the Clow, Mink, and Soulfull Ishida.

Because of the FF.net situation, this story will be posted here gradually. The entire fic and its sequel can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=91738

Thank you and please read and review.

~ Vain

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~ "He who is not with Me is against Me,

and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."

-Matthew 12: 30

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Part Nineteen

Conspirac(ies?)!

Gennai paced the center of the glade with his hands clasped tight behind his back. The Digidestined would be arriving in a little more than a half an hour. Oh why, oh why, oh why can't my job ever be easy? He stopped sharply, a flicker just out of the corner of his eye startling him.

The traveler's eyes narrowed and he cast an alarmed glance at the surrounding vegetation. Great, he rubbed his eyes wearily. "Now you're seeing things, Gennai. You need to start getting more sleep, my friend."

"Talking to yourself, traveler?"

"What?!" Gennai whirled around with incredible speed, searching for the source of the mockingly familiar voice. There was no one around. "Who are you? Where are you?"

"I can't say that I blame you, of course. Yours must be a very lonely existence . . ."

Gennai scowled. The voice was slightly distorted and followed by a ghostly echo, almost as though it were moving across far more time and space than it should have been. The white-clad man turned around in a slow circle, eyes looking upward. "Perhaps. But this hardly seems fair-you have me at a disadvantage. Won't you at least let me see your face?"

This seemed to be vastly amusing to the voice. "If you believe it will do you any good. There is one condition, though."

"Which is?"

"You mustn't ever tell him that you've seen me."

"And who is 'him?' "

"… You'll understand."

Gennai waited for a moment and then his mouth tensed in irritation. "So where are you?"

"I'm right behind you, Gennai."

The traveler turned around slowly, his instincts warning him not to show weakness to whoever had joined him in the clearing. Much to his incredulity, he found himself facing a translucent young man roughly the age of fourteen or fifteen who bore a striking resemblance to the Digimon Emperor. Violet-blue eyes gleamed at him critically behind gold-rimmed glasses and an eerily familiar smirk played across the child's lips.

Gennai's eyes narrowed as he took in the boy's appearance. "You're not really here, are you? You don't exist on this plane."

Those thin lips quirked slightly. "Oh come now," he chided gently. "Don't you recognize me?"

Gennai stiffened at the child's mockery. "Should I?"

Another smirk. "My name," he offered with a sweeping bow, "is Osamu Ichijouji. And I think that we may be of some help to one another."

"Oh, really?" Gennai smiled without humor. "How's that?"

"We both have the same goals, Gennai. I want to save my brother and you wish to save all the Children. We need to work together if either of us are to be effective."

Gennai lifted his eyebrows. "And what's in it for you?"

"Salvation."

"For whom? You . . . or Ken?"

This question seemed to shake Osamu's composure and for the first time since his appearance, the confident smirk vanished and he looked away from Gennai's eyes. The boy's shoulders seemed to slump slightly. "I can only show Kenny-chan the path, he must choose to walk it himself." Osamu looked back up into Gennai's eyes. His voice was intense. "But I can do nothing if I cannot speak to him!"

Gennai frowned in concern. "He refuses to heed you?"

"No." Osamu looked away again, this time in anger. "I cannot speak to him on the dream plane. The Dark One interferes. On the mortal plane . . . He is angry. He is alone and afraid. He will not hear me. He refuses to see." The boy's eyes rose to Gennai's once more and shone with brilliant tears. "He hurts, Gennai! And I must help him . . . Please."

A look of intense sympathy passed over Gennai's face and he felt a swell of compassion as he looked into the eyes of the proud boy now humbled. Both Ichijouji boys carried tragic pride the way the Hida family carried their honor. He didn't know why, but he trusted this child-not because of his cold pride, but due to his bleeding desperation. "What do you need from me?"

Osamu bit his lip in an attempt to compose himself. "Have you ever heard of the Golden Radiance?"

Gennai smiled indulgently. "Are you asking me to put my stock in a myth?"

"It is no myth!"

Brown hair moved as the traveler cocked his head to the side. "The Golden Radiance hasn't been seen since the Dark One was banished. The Holy Ones refuse to hear anything on the subject."

"No." Osamu's shade shook its head. "The Radiance is very much real, it is only hidden. The Faux Crests were made when the schism within the Ninth Child's soul caused it to split into two equal halves. With the Radiance freed once more, you would not need to worry about the Blessings."

"You are asking me to defy the Guardians."

"I am asking you to do your job! The Digidestined are your responsibility, Gennai, or have you forgotten?"

That shot told-Gennai's eyes widened and his pupils dilated in fury. "How dare you! I have dedicated my life towards preserving-"

Osamu smiled unpleasantly. "I'm sure that Ken and Ryou would appreciate your sacrifice."

The two glared coldly at one another, separated by a meter and literally dimensions apart. They each vied for dominance in a silent war neither wanted to lose and could have stood like that for eternity if the voice of the wind through the trees hadn't interrupted them.

"This is stupid," Gennai said, breaking the tension into a thousand pieces. " . . . The Guardians will not be pleased if I interfere with their tests."

"Look," Osamu breathed in capitulation. "I'm not asking you to defy your Guardians directly: just do nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Just give me what I need."

"You have my attention."

"I only need you to listen and allow Ken and I the room to do what we must."

"Listen?"

The boy nodded. "There is another who needs to speak with you. He dwells on my plane."

The traveler frowned. "A spirit?"

"Yes," he nodded his affirmative and then stepped slightly to the side. "This," he gestured to a slowly clarifying purple mass, "is Wizardmon. He doesn't have much time, so listen closely."

**************

The Digidestined were assembled and ready to leave-well, most of them were. Yolei, and Kari were talking with Cody and TK about the upcoming "test," while Tai, Izzy, and Matt stared at the field.

The blond-haired lead of the Teenage Wolves watched soccer game in amazement. "Those two are just hell-bent on killing each other, aren't they?"

Tai's lips slid into a smile of their own accord. "It's soccer," he explained.

Matt shot his best friend a look of befuddlement. He turned to his brother as the younger Children joined them. "Do they even know we're here?"

TK shrugged. "I don't know-probably not, though. They've been at it for over twenty minutes."

"Look at Ken go!" Yolei declared with a broad grin. "He's even better than the first time I saw him!"

Izzy's head snapped away from the indigo-haired boy to stare at Yolei, startled. His black eyes blinked as he felt a hot emotion run through him and he looked from Yolei to Ken and back, scowling darkly.

Davis swore explosively as he tripped, falling down hard. Ken swept in and stole the ball and slammed the black and white sphere into the tree that was serving as their goal with cold precision.

The Rocket smirked in triumph as the ball rolled to a stop at his feet. He turned to Davis, who remained on his knees. He offered the other boy a hand. "Surrender, Digidestined?"

Davis's brown eyes locked onto his opponent's blue-violet ones. They stayed that way for a moment, entangled in each other's gaze. Then Davis offered Ken a sly smile.

"NEVER!!!"

Ken's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in a comical expression of shock as Davis's foot swung up, hit the backs of his knees, and effectively knocked the taller boy off his feet. The breath lurched from his pale body as Ken's back and the ground met on intimate terms.

The two were still for a moment, Ken suddenly looking at the sky and Davis propped up on one arm and grinning broadly, before the dark-skinned goggle-boy casually offered his opponent his free hand. "Surrender, Digidestined?"

Ken pushed himself up, for the first time since Davis met him totally poise less, and gaped like a fish out of water. "Y-you . . . You cheated!" he sputtered in accusation.

Davis's grin stretched. "Ain't life grand?"

Ken stared at him as though he'd lost his mind.

"C'mon." Davis pushed himself to his feet. "The others are staring at us."

This reminder of his image was more than enough to close Ken's mouth and bring the young genius to his feet with his typical grace and aplomb. "Has anybody ever told you that you bear a striking resemblance to the Chestershire Cat?"

"Chesty-what?"

" … The others are staring, Davis."

Izzy watched the two as they approached and went out to meet them, the other Digidestined in tow. "Good game," he greeted the exhausted pair. "Who won?"

Ken lifted an eyebrow and smirked as if to say: Who else?

Davis blushed dusky rose and put a hand behind his head, laughing uncomfortably. "Well, I didn't really keep score . . ."

"Really?" Izzy smiled knowingly and turned to Ken. "Did you?"

The odd blue-violet eyes flashed in the sun, almost luminescent, and bore deep into Izzy's. The older genius could almost hear the younger's thoughts. I know what you're trying to do, Izzumi . . . Visibly, he merely shrugged and smiled unpleasantly, a slight twist of the lips. "It's only a game."

Izzy matched him smile for smile. "Yeah . . ."

"Nice moves, Davis," Tai broke in, eager to alleviate the tension. "You were pretty good out there."

"Yes," Ken agreed, allowing his smile to soften as he turned to the shorter boy. "You've really improved."

"Really?!" Davis lit up like a thousand watt bulb. "Thanks, guys! You know, I've really been working hard and studying you guys moves! All that practice with you has helped me out a lot! In fact . . ."

Ken regarded Davis with analytical amusement as the other boy rattled on. He had never seen another boy . . . bubble. That was the only word for it. Davis was bubbly. The others seemed engrossed by the line of conversation (for, while Davis wasn't a very poignant or disciplined speaker, he was most certainly an enthusiastic one) and the Child of Kindness took the opportunity to step away and avoid Izzy's foreboding gaze.

The slender boy bent and picked up Minomon who had left the table and returned to his partner's side along with a proud Demiveemon. The little blue digimon had been lifted up by the mahogany-skinned boy and clambered up to rest in his dark hair. Ken stiffened as he stood, his fingers tightening around Minomon's cocoon and the little hairs on the back of his neck suddenly leapt upright to stiff attention. Something . . . something is not right here.

"Ken?" Minomon looked up at his partner, confused. The boy's face was paler than normal and his pupils were dilated wide. "What is it?"

A tingling began to crawl from the base of Ken's neck down his spine and out along his limbs, forcing the hair all over his body to stand on end. The tingling grew to an itch and then a terrible burning that shot back up his body and then concentrated itself behind his eyes. Ken dropped Minomon, oblivious to his cry or the others' stares, and his hands flew to his head, covering his tightly closed eyes. A tortured moan ripped out his throat.

"Ken?!" Minomon waved his arms helplessly and looked frantic. "Ken?!"

Then the pain peaked and vanished and stars seemed to explode behind his eyelids. The energy that he felt trembling inside him was wrenched away with terrible finality and . . . moved out of him to his right.

Where Davis was standing.

Ken's head snapped up. "Get down!" he yelled as he threw himself at Davis and knocked the shorter boy to the ground. The other Digidestined leapt backwards in surprise and confusion.

"Ow! Wh-" The words stopped just short of Davis's lips. A gaping hole had been torn through the very fabric of time and space right over the spot where Davis had been standing. It was a Digiport.

Izzy's eyes were as round as saucers. "Prodigious . . ."

"A Digiport?!" Yolei's gaze skipped from face to face in a desperate search for answers. "How did it open? Where's the computer? Well?! Who opened the 'Port?"

Ken and Davis untangled themselves from one another and Davis's paled face moved to stare at the gateway in total shock. He turned his huge eyes to Ken. "You saved my life," he whispered in awe.

Ken didn't even hear him.

TK and Patamon approached the Portal and peered inside cautiously.

"Be careful!" Kari chided, taking a step towards them.

"Everything appears to be okay," the blond said doubtfully.

"Just wait a minute," Izzy said sharply, finding both his wits and his laptop at the same time. "We have to be certain that it's safe before anyone even thinks of going through that Digiport!" TK stepped away from the Portal and the maroon-haired Keeper of Knowledge began to type busily, oblivious to anyone's actions.

Chibimon left his partner's side and hopped up to the gate and looked through with wide ruby eyes. "It looks safe enough to me!" declared the fearless blue digimon and promptly stuck a flipper through the gate.

"No! Wait!" Davis and Ken's voice both rang out in identical horror as they scrambled to stop the digimon. They were too late.

A bright flash of light exploded from the Digiport at Demiveemon's touch. Everyone gasped and pulled back, cringing slightly. When the light was gone, six of the Children were missing.

Tai looked from Matt's shocked face to Izzy's, wearing an identical expression. He shook his head in denial. "What the HELL just happened here?!"

Izzy stood and stared blankly at the space where the Digiport had been. His voice was an echo of its normal confidence. "They're . . . gone."

**************

Demidevimon fluttered anxiously around Arukenimon's head as they huddled down in the underbrush around clearing just in time to see two ghostly figures vanish. Gennai stared at the spot where they had been for a long moment and then shook his head. Arukenimon watched with avid curiosity as the traveler clenched his eyes shut and arched his back. His face twisted as though he was in pain. Totally disregarding both safety and common sense, the white-haired woman stood up and leaned forward to get a better look. White light wrapped around Gennai and pulsed outward, lifting the young man a good three or four feet off the ground. The light flashed brightly once and Gennai disappeared.

Arukenimon's mouth dropped open and Demidevimon was so surprised that he stopped flapping his wings, an act which result in him hitting the ground with a painful thud. Where Gennai had been, a Digiport snapped open with an angry buzz and moments later, six small bodies were pulled through and the Portal snapped shut, hissing its displeasure.

Arukenimon's eyebrow shot up until her hat hid them. "It's the brats."

The six forms were laid out in a circle in the clearing, their digimon laying at their sides. They appeared to be asleep.

After a moment of speculation, the tall woman walked out into the clearing and bent down to examine the Child closest to her. An Armadillomon was curled up next to him. Ignoring Demidevimon's frantic whispers, she stood back up, frowned, walked around to the boy's other side, and proceeded to kick the little boy in the ribs.

Her foot passed right through him.

"Hmph, this is going to be harder than I thought."

"What's wrong with them?" demanded Demidevimon as he stood through Yolei Inoue's chest and frowned at the ground. He flapped his wings again and fluttered around the woman's white hair. "How come we can see them but we can't touch them?"

"They're not totally in this dimension anymore. Their bodies are here, but their minds, hearts, and souls are with the Guardians." She scowled behind her glasses. "Basically, only a portion of their data was sent to the Digital World, so only a portion of their information is represented."

"Oh."

Arukenimon waltzed over to where Ken lay and looked down at his prone body with something akin to hunger. She made a small noise of disgust. "This is sickening! Here you are, laid out for me like a platter, helpless!! And I can't touch one perfect hair on your pretty little head." She glared at him hatefully.

"This changes things, Arukenimon," protested Demidevimon.

"Oh," the woman turned around with an innocent smile. "This just changes the field, not the battle."

"But how am I supposed to kill the Takaishi boy if I can't touch him?"

She grinned at the undead's growing discomfort. An idea was beginning to form in her warped mind and she cast a grateful glance at Ken. One perfect hair on your pretty little head . . .

She licked her lips in anticipation as the little rookie began to shy away from her, some over-wrought instinct screaming at him that his "partner" was not really safe to be around. Her smile was a knife, cutting through his growing fear and going straight to mortal terror. "Hmm. Lord Devimon was not strong enough to withstand Angemon, let alone the possibility of Magna Angemon. Perhaps the next level then?"

"Wha-what a-are you talking about?" stuttered Demidevimon.

She took a step towards him. A gloved hand reached up and yanked out three long strands of white hair. The strands stiffened like silver needles. "This will hurt, but rest assured, you will be thanking me later. Spirit Needle!"

The silver projectile flew at Demidevimon and struck the fleeing undead square in the back. Demidevimon screamed. Images overloaded his mind and he felt like he was falling into a puddle of broken glass. His body seemed to out-growing his skin.

A ray of light . . . A screaming angel . . . A crying child . . . "Hand of Fate!!!" " 'The smallest will destroy me . . .' " "Angemon, be careful! ANGEMON!!!!!!"

Demidevimon's words were gasps of pain. "W-What iizz . . . th-thisss?!"

"Your revenge, Demidevimon. Or perhaps I should say Lord Damon."

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