Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Gate of Destiny ❯ The Debt Repayed ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: This story has gone past the halfway point now! I reread the last chapter, and I do agree that it WAS more than a bit intense. I promise this chapter won't be too intense. YAAAAAAAY! I HAD MY FIRST BAND COMPETITION ON SATURDAY!!!!!!! I was gone for twelve hours, and did get a lot of ideas there! Go Marching Wildcats! One of the drum majors's outfits looks JUST like Myo's, cept the drum major's cape is shorter and a metallic silver, and he doesn't have a mask (world's biggest DUH there)… OK I'm rambling again. Prepare for angsty angstiness, possibly! Or at least Myotismon with plenty of air time! The usual flashback, plus Daemon gets some air time too!

Chapter 6

The Debt Repayed

Tali traveled through the gate to the real world, directly to her school very early in the morning. The portal had been efficient for getting her there in time. There, she saw Tai, Sora, Matt, Joe, Mimi, and Izzy standing on the steps. They were waiting for her to arrive.

Meanwhile, in the throne room in his castle, Myotismon was watching his digi-destined in his weak but efficient viewing orb. He had regained almost all his strength and was beginning to get healthier and more powerful than he had, and was starting to look just like his old self, except he went without his mask for hours at a time. He just was not able to admit to his henchmen about the deformation that made his face less than perfect.

"Hey master, I have a question for you," said Demidevimon, perching on his shoulder and peering into the viewing orb.

"Yes, Demidevimon?" asked Myotismon, expecting a question about why he was watching Tali converse with the other older digi-destined. Or why he was surveying the digi-destined without plotting any sort of revenge.

"Well, I was wondering what that is that runs between your eyes," said the imp, shifting from one side to another uncomfortably. "You know… that red line that looks like one of your Crimson Lightning bolts?"

The vampire hadn't expected this at all. His thoughts immediately switched to the memories from his past… Toxidramon, his master, supposedly more powerful than he was until one blast of his Crimson Lightning wiped him out… Toxidramon had attacked him hard as a lesson on how to obey authority and to not digivolve and escape. His eyes glazed over and his heart sank. He couldn't tell any of his henchmen the truth. The scar that spanned his face was a painful reminder that he was a low servant, possibly lower than his own servants. Myotismon used to not stand the fact that he was once a lowly servant who had a master. He was supposed to be the master, teach himself all on his own.

At first he would have wanted to admit the truth to every last one of his servants, but part of him wanted not to. There were a lot of things he couldn't tell his servants. They were all painful secrets to why he was the way he was, and why he was so evil. Though he had made the transition from evil to good, Myotismon still couldn't stand ridicule, especially against himself.

Still, he had been ridiculed before by his henchmen… by the digi-destined… by Tali… What was one more bit of ridicule to him?

No. Not this time.

"Demidevimon, it is a scar I received in battle against a Toxidramon when I was a rookie," replied the vampire, stretching the truth. "I was cornered by it and was attacked. I digivolved to Devidramon and attacked, but not without getting wounded. We need to pay a price for our victories in battle. I won instantly, but was left with a nasty scar running across my face. The mask I wear is for covering it, to shield it and not wound me there."

"Oh," replied Demidevimon, switching his attention back to the viewing orb.

Tali walked up to Tai and the gang and greeted them with a soft "Hi."

"Hi Tali," said Sora. "I haven't seen you around here."

"Me neither," agreed Izzy. "I have utilized my digivice for tracking purposes, and your signal has not been picked up yet."

"And I live near your apartment," said Joe. "I went to see if you were in there, but when I opened the door I saw nothing in there except an overstuffed couch, a television set, and a broken lamp."

"Are you sure you don't have the wrong apartment?" asked Tali. "That could have been anyone's!"

"No, I remember Tai telling me exactly," Joe argued. "He said you lived in Apartment 15-D in Heighton View Terrace. Those apartments are cursed, my brother Jim told me. Not only is there dust that is just horrible for my allergies, but I hear that the most deaths in Odaiba have occurred there. Just last night I heard an entire family went missing. The father and the son died, and it's a mystery what happened to their other child."

"Poor them," said Tali, knowing it was her family that they were talking about.

"Not only that," Tai interrupted, "but we have had our first experiences with digimon there. I wonder if you will find yours there. Hey, why don't we go over to your house and do homework? I'd love to meet your family!"

"I'd love to," replied Tali, "but… but… but I'm very busy tonight."

"What is it?" asked Mimi. "Shopping?"

"No," replied the auburn-haired girl. "It's a family thing. Uh… we're going to do something, but I forgot what. Bye." She got up and began to rush into the middle school, but Tai grabbed her by the wrist.

"Hey, where's the fire?" the keeper of courage asked. "School doesn't start for a long time. Come on! I'll tell you, you will have so many great adventures as a digi-destined. I think our greatest was the one we had with Myotismon."

"Uh oh, someone said your na-ame," teased Demidevimon.

The vampire looked at the imp. "I know they will be speaking negatively about me, but I will make sure that they know that I am no longer evil. I will find the specific error of my ways…"

Tali blinked. "Myotismon?" she asked. She knew her digimon partner had that name. "Oh, you won't believe this!" she exclaimed, eager to tell her news to the other digi-destined.

"Yes," replied Tai. "He was the sort you shouldn't mess with. And man, what a mon he was. He was the nastiest of the nasty, possibly worse than the Dark Masters, but the Dark Masters are another story. He had had his eyes on us the entire time, waiting to catch us off guard. He killed his own henchmen, killed many people I knew, and enveloped all of Japan in a fog. If it weren't for Kari, he would have ruled all the worlds. And you'd never believe what I say about him, but this is all true. We came across him, and he tried to kill us all so many times before our crests began to glow. Then he trapped us in a maze in his castle while he traveled to the real world to try to conquer it. We finally got here, but he was one step ahead of us. Myotismon had enveloped Odaiba in a nasty fog, cutting off all communication. And then he sent all his henchmen out to destroy us. He also held everyone captive in the convention center, kidnapped Kari, and killed his henchmen in front of us. What was it you wanted to tell us?"

Tali felt herself being choked up. Maybe she had been deceived and lulled into thinking Myotismon was good and he would take care of her, but he would probably drink her blood and force her to work for him before using her to conquer the world. Or maybe if the digi-destined knew he was her digimon partner, they would try to kill her as well. "Uh… nothing," she replied.

"OK…" said Matt, looking at her suspiciously.

The bell rang, and everyone went inside, except for Tali. She was standing on the steps, worrying about everything. Myo looked about the same as she did at the viewing orb.

"I knew this would happen," he said to Demidevimon. "You may take your leave. I need to be alone."

"Will do," replied the imp, flying out of the room.

This is just horrible, the way I have been, thought the vampire. If only I had not been the way I was, attempting to destroy the digi-destined. If only I had found my own as a rookie. I need to know what caused this evil in the first place. I must change every last thing that happened because of me. It is all a negative effect, and it has scarred both worlds. He thought back to everything that he remembered from his past. What was truly evil? Was it the fault of Toxidramon, for torturing him? Or before then, back to Primary Village, when he was ridiculed and prejudiced against by the other baby digimon. They had grown up… grown up to become his henchmen. The Botimon that called him a misfit grew up to be the elderly Gazimon… the other Poyomon were other virals, like more Bakemon… the other babies were his own henchmen then, and he usually killed them off. Was it he knew who they were and was just seeking revenge, or would he have done it no matter who they were?

Myotismon really needed to think about everything. He needed to go to a secluded place, like he usually did when he needed to think things over. Not the study, because that brought back too many negative memories. Usually when he needed to think about a plan to take over the digital or real world, he would go to his study and just write things down to utilize for later plans, or go over what he had written a long time ago to put into action, or just sit in his throne and think.

He got up and decided to return to his study and try to make a fresh start by devising a new plan- a plan that would improve the worlds rather than destroy them. The vampire walked down the empty halls, which were normally abuzz with his henchmen and Bakemon, but now there was no one there. He liked it that way, seeing that hardly any of his henchmen were around anymore. Finally, he reached the heavy doors of his study, opened them, and stepped in. The doors closed behind him.

He hadn't noticed how dark and melancholy his study had been, for he was used to it in his past life. The only source of light was the glow of the torches that lined the walls. The shelves in the study were lined with books- the records of the digital world. The digital world had its strengths, but it also had its weaknesses. Myotismon had manipulated those weaknesses and put them to good use for his own good. With those weaknesses, he had controlled a very large chunk of Server.

Myotismon still remembered that he still controlled a large part of Server, thanks to those records. Many a night did he spend in the study, rereading the records over and over, underlining some important passages that could be of good use to him. Once in a while, he spent the entire night in the study, reading over and over, not stopping to satisfy his thirst or to pay attention to his henchmen. When the morning came, he would go back to his crypt, content that he had a new plan for taking over the digital world.

He was determined to rule the digital world. He still remembered that one night when Demidevimon had the nerve to enter his study. Never in his life would the vampire allow any of his henchmen to enter, lest they discover his plans and escape and attempt a takeover, giving him yet more competition. Devimon… Etamon… Piedmon and the other three Dark Masters… they were all Myotismon's rivals. He would have sent his henchmen out and weakened their henchmen, and destroyed them himself, but when the digi-destined came, he decided they would do the job for him.

Devimon had already been defeated, and Myotismon knew the digi-destined were on Server and accommodating their crests. He was outraged to find out that they already had their crests, and was working even harder to find the digital world's weaknesses that could be used against the digi-destined. Maybe Etamon would defeat them before. He could defeat that damn monkey any day.

"Master Myotismon?" asked Demidevimon, pushing the doors to the study aside. He flew in and landed in front of the table that the vampire did his work at. "I need to tell you that-"

"Demidevimon, what are you doing here?" asked Myotismon, glaring down at the imp with his ice blue eyes. He savored the moment when Demidevimon began to shiver. "You do know that you are not allowed in here."

"But I have news!" insisted Demidevimon, fluttering his wings.

"Get out now," dictated Myotismon. "You know this is off limits to you!"

"But the news is IMPORTANT!" shouted Demidevimon.

"You can tell me later. Now leave before I lose my patience with you."

Demidevimon started to fly away for fear of punishment, but before he made it out he quickly declared, "Etamon has been defeated and they found all their crests oh and if you defeat them you had better think of a plan because they are venturing onto your territory and you won't like it when they do."

That is more like it, thought the vampire. Now Server is all mine to rule! But damn, they have found their crests. I have read about them. The crests alone cannot make the digimon digivolve to ultimate. Though I can defeat an ultimate, it is best I do not take that chance. If the digi-destined make their crests glow, the chance is less that I will win against them. "Demidevimon, get back in here," he said to his minion.

The imp poked his head in between the two doors. "Yes, master?" he asked timidly.

"Make sure the digi-destined's crests do not glow," said Myotismon. "Or I will have your head," he added.

Taking his master's threats seriously, Demidevimon saluted with one wing and left the room, saying. "Yes sir! I will build a great army of henchmen for when the time comes!" He exited and let the doors slam shut behind him.

Server was all his to rule. The army of henchmen would be built so the digi-destined would get defeated. The vampire laughed evilly, and all his bats fluttered around him for emphasis. That was one of the only times when he was actually glad about something.

All that had passed. The digi-destined had not ventured onto his territory, his land, for quite a long time. He knew they were there; but they never knew about him until they reunited. By that time, he was known around Server as the Vampire Lord, the only ruler of Server, and had taken over Etamon's territory of the desert. He even managed to rule the area the digi-destined were in, but without them knowing.

Everything was over. He still ruled Server, but nothing seemed the same. At first he loved it, but when he saw Server, it had turned from a vibrant continent with lush forests and bright blue skies, and even the desert was beautiful… it had turned from that to a barren wasteland with black forests, grayish deserts, constantly stormy skies, and plenty of scared digimon. Before being sent through the gate, he loved the sight. Now Myotismon loathed the site. It made him sick just thinking about it. He had found a weakness.

Traveling through his study, he reached the old desk in a space secluded from the bookshelves and chairs. On it was a book with yellowed pages full of small text with records of the digital world on it. There was one picture on the page on the right-hand side. He remembered it as the last thing he had looked at before he traveled to the real world, with information on the crests. There was also a quill pen and an inkwell for writing things down in the book, a few sheets of parchment, and a half-melted cream colored candle that immediately lit up.

Myotismon examined the page with the picture on it. There was a lot of information about the crests' strengths and weaknesses, with underlined phrases and some of his untidy handwriting scrawled in the margins. The picture caught his eye. It resembled a star chart in a way, for it was a black sphere divided into sections by white lines. In the dead center was a black-and-white drawing of the circular digital world. There were eight lines extending from the center to the edge of the outer circle, dividing the rest into equal sections. In each of those sections were star patterns, and in connection with the star patterns were pictures of the eight digi-destined's crests that were colored but had faded over time.

"The crests…" he said to himself. He turned to the next page, and there were a few prophecies, which he had ignored, and still did. Prophecies were useless, especially when he could change his fate drastically or even a small bit. He carefully turned a few more pages until he reached one that caught his eye. It had a picture of the Crest of Destiny at the bottom, and at the top there was a drawing of a humanoid figure that resembled him. The picture was a full view of the humanoid digimon. He was tall and lanky, with a handsome face covered by a mask. He was wearing a cape that resembled his, and a suit that looked like his as well. The head was turned to the side and turned upwards. What looked like a few bats were fluttering around him.

The Undead Lord will reign supreme over the Continent of Server, until following the Chosen Children to Earth. Upon his arrival, he will prosper until the final battle. He will be sent to the Dark Ocean of His Heart, where reflections upon his life will occur, and he will return to the digital world to mend his ways.

His Chosen Child will be a special child, who has had losses greater than that of the other Chosen Children. She will be the owner of the Crest of Destiny, which will be either good or evil, depending on the Undead Lord's own decisions when the King of Death appears on Earth.

A loss will save everyone.

"What does the last part mean?" Myotismon wondered out loud. "A loss will save everyone?" He read over the prophecy again, and knew that the King of Death they were talking about was Daemon. "I wish I never went through all of this!" he shouted, turning the pages back to the way they were. "I need more peace in my life! I need… peace." The vampire quickly walked up the stairs to the tallest tower in the castle, climbed up through a trapdoor, and sat on the roof of the tower. The nasty storm cloud that always hovered above the Nightmare Castle started sprinkling rain. He didn't mind. He was alone, and none of his henchmen would bother him.

There was pure tranquility and peace as the wind gently sprinkled the cool rain onto the castle roof and Myotismon contemplated his Server. HIS Server. He hated that, but if he ruled Server he would make it a better place. It had looked much greener as the rain came, and a bit more vibrant. Maybe the goodness he had recently had had been reflected on the good of the world as well.

He stood up on the pinnacle of the tower and gazed at his surroundings, which seemed to be the entire digital world. His hair and cape were flying back in the wind, and he seemed to hear angels' wings as the wind blew. That was when an inspiration came to him. To make sure the digi-destined don't jump to conclusions and run away from him before he could tell them anything, Myo would appear to them in their dreams that night.

Tali couldn't keep her mind on everything at school that day. Maybe Wizardmon had been pulling her leg, or downright lying to her. If he had, she would be outraged and frightened at the same time.

"Bye, Tai!" she said to Tai as she walked in the opposite direction as he did. "See you tomorrow!" She briskly walked home in the cold autumn weather. It was getting colder and colder, and the portal to Myotismon's castle was farther away than she had expected. So many thoughts ran through her mind as she took her long journey. When she was a little girl and visited London and read her fairy tales, she had always dreamed of living in a castle with a handsome prince. She wondered why she wasn't happy or content even when her long-ago wishes had been fulfilled. She felt indigent even when she thought of it nowadays. Possibly because although she had her castle and handsome prince, it wasn't what it seemed to be.

She passed buildings and more buildings until she reached the TV station, where one of the portals were located. She remembered the instructions, and went around the side of the building and entered through the back door. She went up the stairs until she reached the globular part on the top. In the middle was a glowing blue circle, conveniently placed and programmed to go on and off when she appeared. She stepped into the middle of the circle, and she and everything she had was immediately transported to the portal room in Myotismon's castle.

"I'm back!" she yelled, as she usually did when she entered her family's home. This time, there was no answer. She wasn't used to not hearing anything, because her dad was always home during that hour, just to greet his kids as they came home. She took her backpack and walked out of the room and down the halls until she reached the main staircase. "Anyone here? Hello! Can anyone hear me? Hello-oooooo!"

Not hearing anything, Tali decided to explore the castle on the way to her new bedroom. Forgetting it was on another floor, she walked around on the second floor. She reached two heavy wooden doors, wondering if her room was in there.

But it wasn't. As she opened the doors with a creak, she entered the torch-lit study that was very cavernous and dim, and so silent she could have heard a pin drop. She looked around for any sign of anyone, but there was nothing.

Finally, after wandering the shelves full of books and not seeing anything interesting, she saw a desk. "Maybe I will do my homework," she said, grateful to find a reason to get the heavy math books off her back. She set her backpack down and sat in the large chair. She noticed a candle came on when she sat down. "Hmmm, that's convenient," she remarked, taking her math book out of the backpack and setting it on the desk. But something caught her eye before she had a chance to open the book. "What's this about? Cool picture. What are these, the constellations of the digital world? Is this what Myotismon studied in digi college or something?"

She looked at the pages the book was open to. Many passages were underlined, and they all explained the weaknesses of the digital world and the crests. Sometimes she ran across some untidy scrawl in the margins, and it was all about destroying or conquering the digital world. Tali gasped as she turned back a few pages. On some sheets of parchment was a plan for takeover, which included merging two worlds together and kidnapping the lost digi-destined. She knew he knew about the other digi-destined. What she didn't know was that the lost digi-destined was Kari, and the plans were from months ago.

"Oh my God," she murmured. "This is awful! The others were right!" She sat there in silent shock for a few minutes before she decided to quickly exit and do her homework in a hiding place where no one would discover her. She would not stay here. She would run away the next day, far away from Myotismon. She thought he was up to no good. She ran back into the portal room, where she discovered a secret passage behind a Devidramon statue. Tali would stay there.

As she fell asleep, using her jacket as a pillow, thoughts ran through her head. I don't know who to believe. I want to believe that Myotismon is good, but the digi-destined sure don't say he is. Wizardmon seems very trustworthy, but there is just something about him that tells me he's lying about something. I don't know who to believe at all. It makes me wonder if the digi-destined will be my friends. I mean, I don't seem to trust anyone. Myotismon is really handsome and all, but I heard that phrase that says that beauty is only skin deep and beauty can kill. And he is a vampire. And he killed my mother. And my father. And Julius, my only brother, all I had left before they were taken away from me… She cried for a long time, thinking about her family. They were all she had, and she was all the rest of her family had. Her other relatives had no children, so she was all they had. She needed a future. Maybe, when I go back to Tokyo, I will go to our bank and withdraw all the money we have so I get enough money for a plane ticket. Then I will go back to England and live with one of my aunts or my grandparents… but I haven't heard from them since I was seven, and I doubt they know me… She finally fell back to sleep, making plans. She would go back to her apartment, get her stuff, pack her bags, and leave. Life was not working out for her.

Meanwhile, in the Dark Ocean, the incident had been reported to Daemon. He immediately made plans to travel to the real world. That night he arrived at the portal in the lighthouse.

"Everyone, we will travel to the real world," the devil digimon declared to his Demon Corps. "We will take over it, for it is much more precious than the digital world. And with Myotismon rendered powerless and in his castle…" He morphed into what looked like the vampire, and spoke in his voice. "…this will be incredibly easy, especially with him trying to earn forgiveness among the other digimon. Are you ready for battle?"

"Yes," replied Devimon and the other devil digimon.

"Excellent," said Daemon. "Takeover begins tomorrow." The portal glowed, and the demon digimon traveled to the real world in a flash, unnoticed as Myotimon and his henchmen had been the night they arrived.

That night, when all of the digi-destined were sound asleep, Myotismon closed his eyes and prepared to enter their dreams. He had entered all of their nightmares at least once before, but now it was for a good reason. It was to convince them that he was good and to warn them about Daemon. Tali had been missing, though his Bakemon had told him that she was there.

The vampire delivered the exact same dream to the first seven digi-destined, but they screamed and ran away, and Tai even spit at him. Finally, only TK was left to deliver the dream to.

TK had fallen asleep with Patamon right next to him. As he fell asleep to the rhythm of Patamon's snores, hugging his digimon tight, he suddenly saw a familiar figure in his dream.

"Myotismon?" he asked the figure. "What do you want? Please don't kill me!"

"I'm not here to kill you," replied Myo. "I'm here to do the exact opposite, and save you from death. Please listen to me."

"Why?" asked the young blonde.

"Because I have turned good. Listen, I have redeemed myself and found the error of my ways, and now Daemon wants me for it."

"I think you deserve that after the way you killed those digimon that worked for you."

"I have been tortured beyond belief, and have felt the way my henchmen had felt as I cruelly whipped the living blood out of them. Please listen to me. Daemon will be arriving in the real world soon. Also, please thank Angemon for me. If it weren't for him, I would still be evil and you might have died thanks to me. Warn the others about Daemon and tell them that I have changed my ways!"

Before TK could open his mouth to ask anything else, the vampire dissolved in front of his eyes. Suddenly, the blonde keeper of hope opened his eyes wide. "Patamon!" he whispered to his digimon.

"Mmmmmmm… more hot fudge and whipped cream, please," mumbled Patamon.

"Patamon, wake up!" hissed TK, shaking the winged digimon awake.

"Aw, TK, I was having the most wonderful dream!" whined Patamon. "Why did you have to wake me up?"

"I had a dream, and Myotismon was in it!" TK whispered.

"Myotismon? I thought he was dead."

"He told me he was good, and that Daemon was coming. And he wanted me to thank you for some reason."

"What?" Patamon asked, his eyes wide open. "Excuse me, but could you open the window?"

Without asking why, TK listlessly walked over to the window next to his futon and opened it, letting the cold air in. Patamon flew outside and began to glow.

"Patamon, digivolve to… ANGEMON! Don't worry, TK, I'll be back tomorrow. Go to sleep and do not worry about me." Angemon flew through the night sky towards the TV station. He was going to visit Myotismon in his castle. As he flew over the great city of Tokyo, he had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen to all of the digi-destined, especially one in particular. It was the one he had just heard about. Tali.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Tai awoke right after his dream occurred. "Why is it I feel as if I'm going to regret what I did in the dream?" he asked. "Hey Kari!" He shook his sister awake.

"Huh? What is it, Tai?" asked the brown-haired girl, opening her wide brown eyes.

"Did you have a dream about Myotismon?" asked Tai. "I know I did."

"How did you know?" asked Kari.

"I had the same dream… I think it means something."

Kari sighed. "I'll remember, I think." She looked out the window, and saw the angel digimon's white silhouette set off by the velvet blue sky dotted with stars. "There's angels watching over us, so no one can hurt us."

Next chapter soon! The plot will thicken as Angemon and Myotismon reflect on Myo's life, and there will be an alternate universe telling what would have happened if Myo had won! See you soon!