Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Genesis ❯ Darkened Paths ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own tai or Sora or ken or anyone else.. I wish I did though... ^_^ this show would be soooo taiora it is not even funny... ok genesis chapter 2... I had a lot I needed to say this chapter, so it is a bit dull. Hopefully you will be able to stay awake and not be confused here... don't judge me by this chapter, because I promise they will be better. There is no taiora this part, but there will be very soon.... mail me at logan91235@aol.com

Genesis

2

by Logan

"Darkened Paths"

The first of the digital wars had ended with the success of the digidestined. They had overcome the evils that plagued the digital world and the sorrows which tainted their memories. Sora had led them.... she had changed after Taichi's death... grown stronger... much as Taichi had grown a armor around his heart now Sora was the figure of strength..

Sora had always been a tender and loving girl in all respects of the word. Yet now as leader she had seemingly severed that side to her heart. Taichi had chosen his successor well... for though Sora was still the same embodiment of love as she had once been.. She was now a leader... a powerful fighter who could understand warfare as once her love had been capable of, before he died...

Yet Sora's armor was as a shield.. Impenetrable, yet something held aloft, and then lowered in times of peace... or in times of solitude... Sora had kept her vow to Taichi for three years now... yet every night as she watched over them her eyes filled with tears and she mourned him as if he had only recently been lost. She kept this hidden from the destined... she had learned from Taichi that weakness perceived in any form would bring about questioning and doubt in your capacity to lead... her position was never as questioned as his had been... partly because there had been only one among them that had a thirst for power...

Yamato had left... it had been the day after tai's death... he had made his play to take his place as leader of the digidestined... yet what he never expected what happened...

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

the sun had now faded away into the soft embrace of dusk. The sky radiated with a soft purple glow as the sky blossomed as a flower would open its' petals to the light of day. It was a breathtaking beauty as the digidestined sat upon the cold earth looking out over the lake. The waters of the lake of sorrow mirrored the sky's radiance with an eerie similarity found in the threshold of a distorted fun house mirror. The colors were there.... each captured within the still water... yet somehow the translucent surface captured the darkness within each color... if violet were capable of emotion, this lake would grant the image of pain and loneliness within the aspect of the cheerful color...

The digidestined sat on the elevated peninsula of tear's point.. They were silent as they sat there...Kari now slept within the young TK's arms... his heart was aching just as theirs were... yet he had to be strong for Kari.... somehow within he knew that she needed him to be strong.. He was needed to stroke her hair as she slept within his weak childlike arms.. Those arms could do little to defend her... but somehow they gave a sense of warmth and protection as they encircled her. It was a strange feeling.... but TK felt as though his arms were too weak for her.. And as he felt her soft breath against his neck he felt a need to grow stronger... she needed a protector now that her brother was gone.. And as TK looked at her sleeping face he decided he was up for the job.

The silence was not an awkward one... it was a silence born of lack of words... for what could be said? Sora rested against a large and overhanging tree.. In her arms she held tai's cloths... it was a sense of comfort to be close to him like that.. To close your eyes and smell the soft and intoxicating aroma of him... it gave her the sense that he was there with her now...

They had made a fire... it was small, yet it gave some warmth to those who felt they needed to be warmer... it wasn't cold here at night... yet there was a coldness... it swelled around them as a icy specter... it grabbed and clawed at them as cold as the grave.

There was much on their minds that night... the weight of tai's absence was still fully upon them.. And to add to their distress they had lost another today...

Matt.... he had always worked to his own agenda.. Yet now he was gone for good. He had chosen to leave them all now. Many things were the cause of this: to what extent he could, he loved Sora... though matt was no tai in his selfless love for her, he did care that she had chosen another boy over himself. Tai could still haunt him within Sora's eyes.. She mourned him so deeply that matt questioned if she would shed those tears for him.

The final straw was the leadership of the digidestined... he had always wanted the position, yet as his only rival was now gone he was denied once again. He had lost to her.... the insult was staggering that she had been chosen in his place... the digidestined had decided to have a democratic election to choose who would fill tai's role.... Sora was chosen in a unanimous vote... even his own brother had chosen to follow Sora... matt's pride was delivered a mortal blow as Sora became leader...

He looked at them with an icy expression. He was enraged by his betrayal. TK looked away from his gaze sadly. He could not relent on his judgement... but he didn't want to see the look on his brother's face. Sora looked at him sadly for a moment, yet as you could dawn a mask to hide your face she drew up her shield and looked at him with question as to his actions... he looked at her with icy hatred... and as he stared into her fiery eyes he mouthed out "you'll regret this...." Sora stood unimpressed as Taichi had once done. Matt recoiled lightly at the expression...

It was as though Taichi were resurrected within Sora. They both had the same look in the eyes...Sora had a radiance about her never before witnessed by matt. She looked capable of the job... and capable of defending the position she was elected to. Those eyes were of molten fire as she stared coldly into matt's eyes. She was chosen by Taichi... he had given her the codes to augumon... it burned matt that tai had shunned him once again.

Matt had simply turned and left. He said no goodbyes or even acknowledged his brother as the young boy stood with teary eyes. Gabumon had followed matt out of loyalty to his master yet he had done so with a heavy heart, for he knew this would be the last time he saw the others as friends... Sora had never hated before... yet she did now... he had abandoned them once again... he had deserted his brother once again... Sora had began to despise matt's selfishness...

They looked to TK who surprisingly was no longer crying. Instead they saw something never before witnessed in the young child's eyes. Those sapphire eyes of his were darkened, and held in a fearful scowl. He looked to his brother not with love, but with disdain... TK had always loved his brother yet he had also always known that he was digidestined... part of a family... and family didn't abandon one another in their darkest hour... so by analyzing matt's actions he came to the conclusion that matt was not family... his eyes filled with tears of anger as he watched his brother vanish into the blanket of trees... he vowed on that day that he would never desert them... that they were his family as Taichi had observed... and if matt was going to be a problem.... he would be TK's enemy....

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

The digidestined continued to fight. And as the digital war continued to rage Sora led them... in the tradition of Taichi she had lead them as a warrior. It took effort.. But she was soon able to defend herself in combat. She remembered Taichi.... how he fought with all his heart... now it was Sora's turn to sacrifice innocence for victory.. She had made the sacrifice without question....

Yet there are battles where sacrifice does nothing to stop the end result. This was the case of the second digital war....

He came to the digital world as a monster... he was cruel... and vicious as he tortured the digital world with whip in hand. They called him the digital emperor.. A young man with a dream of conquest over this world. He was powerful... within days he had created an army of digital slaves... soon the blackened spires covered the digital world as black locusts. They turned the digital world evil as a great black tide washed over the land and swallowed up the digimon.

The digidestined were called back to the digital wars only to find they were out matched. The emperor had taken file island... he had began to amass an army far greater then the digidestined could match. It was as though the destined were the last remnants of the digital world... with each battle they won more land was taken out from under them... they were strong... yet they were outmatched...

It was then that Sora made the hardest decision of her life.... the Digiworld was conquered... the hellish reality had come to pass... they had lost.... Sora stood at the rock of tear's point with a solemn expression... they were too weak... matt was an enemy... tai was dead.... and as she looked out over the horizon her heart sank at the vague visage of blackened spires in the distance... she had one weapon left.... and she shuddered at the idea of using this demonic tool.... the Digiworld was under his control.. Good digimon were now evil....

The words of Leomon hung heavily in her mind... "we would rather die... then serve him...." that had been the mighty warrior's last words before he died in her arms... Leomon was a Nobel friend and a gallant warrior... he didn't deserve to die like this... Yet his words echoed in her mind...

It was those words that taught Sora the true means of sacrifice... tai had taught her this lesson as well... but he had taught her to sacrifice life for life.... what Leomon was trying to teach her was a different sacrifice... soul... for death....

She would sell her soul for victory over ken... she would unite all digimon in death... for death was above slavery... but this act would damn her.... she wanted death for herself... to be united with Taichi in heaven... but if she did this she would spend eternity in hell....

She decided it was something she had to do.... to loose Taichi forever... but save these digimon from slavery.... Sora ordered the digidestined to flee the digital world and return to earth.... her plan was one that she feared with all her heart... she would bring about Armageddon to stop the emperor's siege....

That is why she had come to Tear's point.... to resurrect the greatest weapon ever made... to bring forth purification to the digital world... to kill ken... the evil digimon slaves... and herself... she could evoke the breath of god... and from that breath she could destroy all that was evil.... she had came here for Datamon's weapon... the tower...

It slept there... under the glassy black waters... like some ancient demon locked away in a dank crypt. This demon was meant to never be reborn to the world... for it was a creature of purest evil... a creature that was meant to lay within that crypt of water for all eternity. And Sora was the fool who would unleash this metalic devil back to the world...

She stood before the stone... it looked as it had when it had first been laid here. It gave a sense of hope and strength to Sora as she looked down on the emblazoned sun... it had been too long since she had visited this monument. And despite her great sorrow at her failure as a leader she took comfort in being close to tai again.

Her eyes turned to steel as she realized that it was time she got this over with... she didn't like the idea of what she was doing.... but this must be done... ken wouldn't stop at the digital world.... earth was within his grasp, for he now had an army of demons who he could call upon.... Sora paused at the horrific idea... he must be stopped...

She reached to her belt and withdrew the digivice... she wasn't completely sure this would work... but it was all she could think to do... Taichi was the key here... perhaps his digivice could serve as a key to annihilation.... the device began to glow brightly with golden light as she drew closer to the symbol.... in tern the setting sun upon the rock began to illuminate with golds also... her eyes slipped shut as she focused on the key....

The earth began to rumble as the symbol began to burn with golden fire. The digivice was trembling in her hands as she looked to the lake.... the waters began to grow violent as the tides shifted erratically... from the center of the lake it came... it was no more then a speck of silver against the black nightly water.... but it grew upward from the waters as a great tree would grow from the warm earth. It was terrifying to witness as the great demonic tower rose up into the heavens from the sea.. It was as a great black creature against the night sky... it was an instrument of death... and it looked the part... it had not changed in all the years since Sora had last seen it.... it still loomed upward into the heavens with the same grotesque expression upon it's twisted and gnarled form.

She had only to enter now... once inside she could activate the countdown... she chuckled grimly at how unprepared the emperor was... he was evil... but he was a fool to think he was the most evil thing this world had seen... Sora would educate him to the true atrocities mankind is capable of unleashing...

"Sora..." she froze as she heard a voice come softly from behind her.

She turned slowly only to find Takeru standing before her with a sad look on his strong features.. He had matured much over the last few years... though he was still young he gave the impression of age.. He was stronger now... he bore a set of strong muscular arms now to match the rest of his lean, athletic frame. His hair was longer now... yet his eyes had remained constant... they still glimmered of youthful innocence... despite the fact that those eyes had seen war... they had witnessed death and hell... and sadly TK himself had killed in the name of the destined... yet though his hands may be stained of blood his eyes were still the same beautiful blue that shimmered with hope...

"TK... I ordered the digidestined to return to earth.... what are you doing here?" she said softly in a shamed voice.. She knew what he would say at what he was seeing... Sora... committing genocide....

"Consider it a judgement call.... Sora... you can't be thinking...."

"What if I am! TK he has to be stopped..."

"And we will... but killing everyone won't do it..." he said softly as he drew nearer.

"TK... sometimes leaders have to make sacrifices to win.... Taichi knew that...."

"Sora... tai gave his life so that we could live... What you are talking about is mass murder...."

Sora looked down to the darkened earth underfoot... her mind ached with longing. She was tired of hatred and war... you cannot participate in war without becoming a part of it. Hatred is like the ocean... the second you dive into it, you become a part of it... just another animal swimming in the salty water... Sora hated war... but she could understand it.... yet this plan was something she had an ulterior motive for... something she had hidden from them... something she had hidden from herself.... she wanted to die.... she longed for death.. It meant a lot to her to stop the war... to cast away from death.. And maybe get a chance to be with tai again.... it was amazing... he had been gone for years... yet he was still such a part of her life...

"Sora... you're our leader... I would follow you into hell if you thought it was necessary. We all would... Sora we know how hard it is for you to lead us... but we all have faith in you. Just like tai had faith in you.. War-greymon is one of the most powerful digimon we have ever encountered... tai gave him to you for a reason... sure he loved you.. But he knew that he could trust you with such a power... just like he trusted you with the key to this.." TK motioned to the blackened tower which hung there in the water, an island to itself.

Tears leaked from her eyes.

"I miss him so much...." she sobbed as TK took her in her arms as a brother and stroked her hair. TK had lost a brother.. But gained a sister... it was strange that for so long he had been the one she comforted as mother. Yet now it was his turn to comfort her in her time of need.

"Tai would have known what to do... he was so good at this... do you remember how tai used to talk? How he could speak to us, and no matter how sad, or lonely, or homesick we were.. He could always make us feel better. He was such a sweet boy... he should have gotten the crest of love instead of me.. He loved us all like a family.. He protected us all his life... and if he had been leading us now.... we wouldn't have lost the digital world...."

"Sora.. Who are we to know that.. Maybe things would have been different. But maybe not... Sora, tai was a great leader. But so are you... we all believe in you. Tai chose well when he chose you... you are a great leader. Matt... he left us at the first sign of hardship.. He has always been out to take care of himself. A leader can't do that... you have put us before yourself at every junction... Sora.. We can win... but we can't win like this... Sora... we'll follow you if you choose this method of stopping ken... but I just need to ask you one thing first..." he paused

"Would tai be proud of you for this?"

Sora paused momentarily as she turned her gaze back to the tower... it glowed with the same menacing appeal as it had on the first day Sora had beheld its venomous aspect. Sora shook her head lightly as she slowly made her way to the glowing emblem of the sun. she drew her hand to it, and with a gesture of her hand over the emblem, its light faded away to the same dark stone as it had always been. As the light faded the spire sank like a stone back into the cool clean waters of tear's point. It vanished once more into the peaceful prison of the water. They watched as the very tip of the demonic relic vanished away into nothing. Sora turned to TK who smiled a light grin, as to stress that she had made the right decision.

"If you two are done, we're ready to go home." a tender voice came from behind them. Sora turned to see the digidestined standing behind her, with Kari at the front.

Kari was now older.. She had grown into a beautiful young woman. Her hair was long, it stretched down to her shoulders, where it broke away into soft brown tributaries. Down the center of her front bangs however her hair had turned a silverish white. The power Kari had within her had blossomed greatly during the digital wars. She possessed the power of light... it was a great force she carried within herself. The power became a constant within her body, as she could no longer shut it off within herself. Her hair had changed lightly as result of the intense energy she possessed. She spoke in a way that seemed eerie now... she had been possessed by the guardians of light before.. Yet now it was as though she were constantly between the form of the protector of light and the young teenage girl. Her voice was soft, and yet it possessed a subtle power, much as the wind does as a gentle breeze can herald the coming of the greatest hurricane. She had matured physically slightly, which was not un-noticed by the Takeru. She wore a simple white strap tanktop and jeans. Yet as TK had observed she was radiant in even the simplest of garments.

Kari and TK had a story of their own now... as the digidestined fought back the emperor they were finally able to identify what it was about Kari that gave her this strange power. It was legendary, yet in the digital world much was legendary. She was a human child born into what was known as the Order of Light.... defenders against evil... Kari was still young, and had not yet fully mastered her gifts, but from what she had demonstrated... she was capable of much.

It was prophesied that there would be a human girl born with the gift. Her origins would stem from the digital world itself, and she would be bound by blood to one who would posses a darker gift. She was destined to be one of the chosen children... more over, she was destined to be a sorceress of light.... one of the more mythical forces of the digital world, yet also a force bathed in mystery for no one truly knew what the sorceress was.... however it did come into their knowledge that she had another soul who was bound to hers, not in blood, but in love. A knight...

TK wasn't quite sure how to handle the fact that he had been cast into this role... that he himself was destined from birth to be at her side, and to defend her... yet despite the shock, it became clear that he was this knight, for he had a need to protect her... to defend her... and much to his astonishment, he was bound to her... by love.....

Sora looked over the faces of her friends... they had all disobeyed her... each knew what she had in mind and each had chosen to stand by her side as she made this choice... she had never truly known what it had felt like to be tai before... to stand before them and see them for who they were... for what they were... she tried to think of a word capable of portraying the loyalty and love between them all... she stopped at the words of izzy, spoken so long ago... "family"

she walked to the stone of Tear's point solemnly. She turned to face them once more as their leader. Yet as she spoke she felt something fill her that she had not felt for so very long... a presence... a strength... Taichi.... she spoke now with his words joined to her own... it was as though the link had been rekindled somehow... death could not break that bond... it transcended life and death together....

"Digidestined..... it weighs heavily on my heart for what I am about to say to you all... I take no pleasure in this....

We were sent to this world to defend it against evil... and on many occasions we have done that, yet now we find ourselves in a war we have lost... I take full blame for our failure, and I mourn the loss of life that the emperor has wreaked upon us... upon this world....

We have faced a foe who out matches us in numbers only... we are stronger then him... yet he outnumbers us.... he treats digimon as slaves.... he holds no regard for their lives..... we do...

We respect and love the digimon as equals... not slaves... for this reason we are better then him...

We have lost this war... and now with a heavy heart we must escape, back to the human world... but know this... We retreat, yet we do not run... this is a tactical action and not a end..." Sora paused as her eyes grew angry...

"He kills and tortures... he destroys lives and wreaks havoc across this world... we are no match for him now, but mark my words we shall be! His crimes are inexcusable, and for them he shall pay! We are weak now, yet we will be strong... though we stand here now, defeated in the dark of night. There shall come a dawn, no night is eternal... and his reign shall not be either... there shall be a great, burning dawn! And we will make him pay for what he has done...

Mark my words digidestined.... the dawn is coming....."

they stood before Sora in amazement. She glowed as only one had before her... her voice now radiated with strength and courage... she stood before them as a true leader. And for the first time there was no question that this night of evils would end. Sora's hair whipped violently in the wind as her eyes radiated as burning coals radiate in the darkest nights... she was the leader of the digidestined... and she was now ready to bring forth a war.. The likes of which was never before seen....

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

in the years after the great digital wars the digital world was conquered. The emperor dominated the shadow world, and from this foothold he did the inexcusable... he marched on earth... the world was no match for the digital armies... They were stronger and faster then any human was ready for.. With the emperor's planning to guide the fire of war, soon countries fell like domino tiles. Within one year the nations of the earth had toppled. Japan, Europe, Asia, America... they all were ill equipped to deal with this new foe, capable of opening gateways from the digital world into the heart of nations.... his actions were well planned.. Before they knew what happened they were cut off from eachother....

Nuclear weaponry was useless, for the emperor himself crippled their computer networks.. He had hacked the codes for the atomic warheads, then disabled them. it wasn't long before he had done what had never been done before... he had conquered the earth... the skies were darkened by a swarm of airdramon as he descended from the heavens to them.... the emperor was no more then a boy, yet he was capable of bringing a planet to its knees....

He wore a dark cape as he stood before them... atop the mighty winged dragon he stood before them. his eyes gleamed down over the last leaders of the world with a darkness that chilled the blood... he was tall and imposing.. His black hair danced menacingly in the winds as he gleamed down over them as a dark god would... they were frozen as they surveyed him... he was dressed primarily in blacks, with blues... he wore a uniform of blackened fabric with shimmering gold trim, the trim was ornately done as it gave the impression of regal splendor... the cloak hung over his shoulders as great black wings... it billowed in the wind as a banner... it clawed and flapped as though he was a dark angel with black, shimmering wings that remained animated in flight. At his side he carried a whip of black leather... it shimmered as a serpent's coils at his side. From his polished black boots to his Victorian style uniform..

He spoke with a low and commanding voice...

"I will now accept your surrender......"

One elderly man stepped forward. His voice was in a thick accent as he stood opposingly to him.

"My people shall never submit to your Tyranni!" he snarled out.

The emperor smiled softly and stifled a low chuckle.. He grinned down over him with a look of true evil.... he motioned to two of the airdramon at his side... the two dragons seemed to smirk lightly as they shot forward upon him. He was unable to draw enough breath to scream. The serpent digimon snatched him up from where he stood. Then he along with his mate bit into the man. Their jaws were filled with hooked razorblades. And with no more then a light nip they split the man in half then with reptilian gulps swallowed him. The leaders stood aghast at the sudden fatalness of the act. The two dragons gave a reptilian chuckle as they proceeded to nuzzle the other's blood soaked muzzle. Their eyes gleamed of crimson as they took their places back at the emperor's side.

"I will now accept either your surrenders... or last will and testaments...."

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

the emperor stood atop the large building.. He grinned happily down over his world... for it was his now... he had killed thousands within days... cities were reduced to ash as large fire digimon marched forward as a wall of flame. The emperor had heard the cries of the innocent as buildings fell atop them as raining concrete slabs and steel... he felt no pity... they were no more to him then stones upon a path you walk... stones .... who pities the pebble underfoot? For that's all these lesser humans were.. Pebbles... His parents were pebbles... teachers.... faces he had known... just necessary casualties he would rely upon to carve his new world.. He must be feared.... and so he eliminated them...

The human spirit is the element that has been the cause of all defeats.. Humans are stronger then they look... they are a race of conquerors.. So to defeat them you must break them first... to control a world you must first shatter it..... they say that to make an omelet you must first break eggs... well this is the recipe for world conquest as well... Ken didn't enjoy killing his people, but he did what would be necessary to achieve his goal...

He looked out over the world before him... he had always known it was his destiny to make this world his own... to purify the evils of the two worlds and make one... to do that he must destroy the human race... he must shatter it as he would a mirror... from the pieces he would build his world... from the ashes of earth... the empire would rise...

There were screams.... humans cried out in terror as death took them... they had no chance of defense against this... for in reality they had done nothing... it was all a matter of location... they were in a strategic location... a place that, though minor, could result in a future threat... perhaps this would aid in their acceptance of their death... that it wasn't personal...

The ground split open as two dark hungry lips... they swallowed buildings and people as though they were morsels... the great heaving crevices would devour thousands... then as lips they would close over the gnarled rocky teeth.. Swallowing the innocent morsels...

"Run!!! don't look back!" A tall man with dark hair led a small roup of children... their teacher. Within his arms he clutched a young girl who was screaming in pain... her leg lay split, and from the wound crimson tides rained down over the ground as a horrific rain... it was a minor wound.. No threat to her life at least. Yet it also was a dark omen.. She could not run. Had it not been for mr. Fugiama she would have been trampled to death within the stampede of fleeing pedestrians. Her teacher had swooped her up within his arms and ran with her.. Leading a group of students in their escape... He wore a light blue shirt with a dark navy blue tie. Yet the soft blue shirt was now bathed in red from the obvious wound in his side. He was bleeding heavily but he had to save the children. There was a break in the mob, and he lead them to it. At the time his greatest fear would be being trampled in the effort of escape. But as he approached the ruined skyscraper he froze...

From behind a severed building it came. It's red scaly flesh glowed menacingly in the fires. As it came forth from the wreckage it looked especially evil, moving lightly as a reptilian predator of prehistoric origins... the claws twitched hatefully in anticipation as its two glowing eyes found them. the teacher froze in horror as he got his first glimpse upon the demonic aspect of the tyranomon....

Time moved slowly as the two found eachother eyes. It was then that the teacher realized he was dead. He recalled faces... the faces of his students. He had taught for years and loved each of his children... yet now it was over... with his last effort he spun around and tried in vein to shield the children. It was a heroic act.... and yet a futile act... the tyranomon breathed down upon him with super heated flame... and as they were engulfed within the blaze blast all was over. The fire danced angrily around them and silenced any scream... then as it faded away in the wind all that was left was a pile of ash and bone.... then the mighty fire dragon lumbered off in search of more kindling....

Sora stood amidst this horror as a grim spectator.. She walked down the street slowly as a witness to the death around her. The smell of burnt flesh hung heavily in the air as wreaths of black smoke billowed skyward. She was appalled at the carnage.. And as she walked the road she knew all to well she felt dread grow with each soft footfall. She froze before the doorway which now hung in charred detail.. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked upon the sign...

"Takenouchi Flowers"

the sign hung limply from one chain.. The soft red wood now was charred lightly in several locations.. Sora wanted to scream as she looked upon the ruble that once was her mother's. She could see the beds where once she her mother and Taichi had planted daisies.. They now were broken and burnt... she could see the ruins of their apartment.. Now burned and broken... and from within the pile of splintered wood and crushed brick she saw her mother... or what was left of her mother... she wanted to scream... to cry... to surrender to the anguish... yet as she stared upon the charred remains of her mother no tears could come... from the portals of Sora's soul... her eyes there came something else. Something she had seen before...

Something she saw in Taichi as the name of Datamon was spoken. It was an expression of hate... low and horrific... Sora had hated that look in him.. It mystified her for so long... she had never known how a sweet face could contort so evilly... until now. She reached to the ground and lifted the remains of the metal pole that had served to hold their sign... she had helped her mother plant this pole in the ground the first day the shop had opened... she looked at it softly with affection...

Then as she drew it to her lips she kissed her memory of her mother goodbye... she was now alone... then as she cast one final glance to the pole that she had been so proud of she spun around and with a great heaving grunt propelled the pole forward at deadly speed. The spear plunged into the eye of a tyranomon who shrieked in agony before slumping to the ground, it's brain lay impaled as it snapped it's hooked jaws in twitching reaction.. It wriggled upon the ground as it died swiftly... Sora scowled lightly at the creature... she was just like tai now... a fighter.. With a heart hardened by pain she was now leader of the digidestined....

Her gaze fell upon a wall of smoke which billowed over the street.. It rose up as dark spectral ghosts... she looked to the dark wall of smoke with a certain grim expression.

"Kill them...." As she spoke the wind changed and revealed the digidestined who stood before her, veiled within the curtain of dark smoke which now blew westward... they looked at her softly.. None of them knew what to say... they all saw her pain at her mother's death... yet sadly the only one of them who had ever been able to know what to say to her in a situation like this now slept within the cool waters of tear's point.

TK looked to them. "Come on, you heard the lady!" with that the digidestined vanished into the war. They went forth to fight a fire.. It was a blaze they could never extinguish... yet it was all about the effort now... they would fight this blaze until the flames either died, or consumed them....

She watched them as they charged off into the war.

"S...Sora?" came a tattered voice from under a pile of charred remains and piled splintered wood. Sora froze as she looked down in horror at the face which peered up to her from the debris......

"You?...." she gasped

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

ken's dark dream was realized... tapping in upon the vast knowledge he had of coding and digital programming he was able to do the impossible.... by modifying his digivice he was able to create a new program... one capable of merging techno matter with actual matter...

It was a two step project codename: Genesis....

It was meant as a new beginning for both of the twin worlds... the digital world was a shadow of the human world, and vice-versa... the genesis program would merge the techno and the organic into one.... Genesis phase one was the merging of the twin worlds... earth to digital... the change would effect no higher life... only the land, sea, and sky would merge...

The second phase was labeled impossible...

ideally this phase would merge higher life... animals, Plants, digimon and humans.... yet this process proved a futile effort... in the equation there was one problem... the Zero factor... it was the one component of the change that was unpredictable.. All life has something intangible... A pattern of Nero-rhythms, a spark, a soul..... it was the zero factor... all attempts to activate the second phase of the genesis would result in a form of death so horrific that it couldn't be described in words... it would be something akin to having every cell of your body spontaneously burst into flame...

Though the body itself is made of chemicals, and molecules, and cells. The zero factor can never be duplicated.. It is who we are... it is what we are... it is the one power that was beyond the grasp of the emperor... and it was the key to the greatest power that ever would exist.... life....

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

the room was full of technological machinery. One large monitor was mounted to the wall and now glowed faintly with numeric data. From it small tributaries of cable stretched outward as branches from a tree. These cables led to various other computers and terminals which encircled the room . At the far end a vast thrown sat...

The thrown was of gold. It was carved in horrific detail. It was decadent in its design as it loomed forward in the large circular room as an opposing figure. The air was heavy... It was odorless, yet the still air of the room carried some ominous aura upon its soft currents. The room was strange as it carried the ambiance of old meets new. The walls were of stone, piled atop itself in a manor similar to the ancient castles of old Europe. Yet upon the walls the cables stretched outward as vines would upon such a surface.

"Lord... are you certain this is necessary?"

"Yes, I am... begin the process" the emperor grinned as he looked over the large monitor from his thrown. The older man bowed respectfully to him before scurrying off to a console where he began punching keys feverishly. He was afraid... they all were... the human species had never been dominated before.. Yet this young man was able to do it... he possessed the power to control demons... he called them digimon... these horrific creatures were at his command... the emperor had all the cards.... he was feared for his power... and for the memory of how he achieved his empire...

The wise of humanity had come to serve him... the fools of humanity had tried to hide from him...

The man turned to him with a look of trepidation upon his elderly features.

"The Genesis phase is ready to activate upon your mark... master...."

From behind the thrown a mechanical arm snaked around to the front. It was mounted to a miniature monitor and key pad... with a metalic click it locked into place before ken. With a sudden flash the monitor illuminated to a image of the earth... then from that image the digital world appeared at its side...

"You know... it is said it took god six days to create the world.... I hope he's watching... so I can show him how it's done..." ken smirked

with a smirk he looked to his gloved hand. Then with lingering movements peeled it off... upon his finger a large shimmering black ring glowed. It was of two shimmering black rings which intertwined around a large dark stone.. The ring looked sinister upon that hand... ken smiled darkly as he examined it. It was more then a piece of jewelry... it was the key to genesis...

From the ring itself several spider like legs were protruding... it was designed so that the dark ring could never be removed, as the "legs" were plunged deep into the emperor's finger. It was terribly painful... the legs had gone as far as to wrap around the bone itself... needless to say the dark ring was secured to the boy... it was made of a alloy derived from both the digital world and the earth's strongest metals... it was invulnerable... the ring's power was not fully known to anyone... it was rumored to be capable of empowering its wearer with the power of genesis itself... all this and more remained hidden within the cold cobalt blue metal... the ring glowed sinisterly as ice within the dim light....

The emperor's eyes closed tightly as he clutched his wrist with his free hand. His hand trembled with either fear or with pain... but regardless the midnight-black stone began to glow fiercely.... it was not a gentle glow as was that of the digivice.... but more a demonic radiance as though you were looking upon hell from a distance, the glow of brimstone across a desolate landscape....

There were several men in the room as genesis was activated... they cowered in the far corner as they watched the most horrific act in the history of either of the twin worlds... fear glowed within their eyes as ken's eyes clouded to a sickening black.... a dark light radiated from him in soft wispy tendrils... they pulsed outward as serpents from the borrow... the spectral snakes of bluish black light glided upon the air in great swirling motions... they danced upon the wind in mournful dance as the room soon filled with the essence of genesis....

No one knew exactly where the ring had come from... ken had been said to have made it himself in the digital world... or perhaps found it there... the stone was the key... it was some form of a micro chip.... a memory chip... and within the shimmering black of that stone there existed the only recorded files of the genesis program....

Ken's eyes shot open at sickening speed.. They were pure tarish black now... all white was painted over with dark hue... it was horrific to see as he stretched out his hand to the horizon behind the window... the laboratory was high above the landscape as a tower upon a castle would be... from beyond the threshold you could see the soft billowing smoke as it wafted upward from the horizon... the world was in agony... from the soft green grass the empire had grown... and from the soft soils of earth ken's evil spilled outward as a gash within our planet... from that gash hell itself flowed forth as though it were thick malignant blood from the wound. the emperor now stood at that window... and as he raised his glowing hand to the heavens there came a cry...

The sound was low... yet it resonated through the skies... it was as though the earth itself were crying out in pain. Every stone from the landscape now bellowed out the mournful cry.. It moaned loudly as a death song... the skies cried out a low howl. Earth was mourning... the death song belted out as a chorus from all directions.. And as the winds carried the horrific melody it continued to moan out in the trawls of this bitter symphony...Yet it fell upon death ears... for from his hand it came....

It was a beam of great light... it exploded from his fingertips into the heavens as a great energy demon.. It leapt and crackled like some hellish manifestation of all that mankind feared... it leapt upon the gates of heaven as a monster bent on ripping them down... past the stratosphere it raged forth. And as the blast entered the empty void of space it shattered in a great explosion of light... the sky had darkened... and from that vast artificial night it was seen clearly.... it was as though the sky were on fire... the world was seemingly swallowed up in this white wall of flame and destruction... from the heavens around the earth it came to us.. It was as a great sheet of pure white light.. The energy crackled violently as it descended upon the sleeping planet of earth.... and then... it engulfed the earth within itself... as a python it coiled around the world as though it were no more then an egg... then the snake demon devoured it within it's white flaming jaws.

To describe what happened as the light first swallowed up the world was as futile as telling a blind man how the sky burns with golds and reds as the sun sets... reality twisted and contorted as it was altered eternally within the glowing blanket... the digital world was gone... the earth was gone.... and as the two shadows of one merged together all hell broke loose... nature had gone mad... in one horrific heartbeat all that was evil.. The winds screamed in agony as they violently contorted in the trawls of agonized death... the planet grew.. It changed...

From the glowing sphere that was our world new landmarks erupted from the nothingness... mount infinity erupted from the light.... as did all the digital world from tear's point to the ruins of myotismon's castle.... the earth's landmarks manifested as well.... the great pyramids of Egypt now stood upon the desert's sands as earth and the digital world were re-made...

Then as travelers they came... shadows upon silvery horizons of the new earth...the digimon...

They stood as humans stood, in dumbfounded shock at what had transpired.... their world was now ours, and ours was theirs.... "What a brave new world, with such people in it..."

All eyes... digimon and human were on the sky... no words... just a feeling so vast it united us all within itself... the utter helplessness of it all...

Ken stood from his window with a look of dark glee upon his features...

" I think I beat his record.... "

he looked to the laboratory men who stood at awe at this new world... this Neo-genesis.

"Welcome to the new world gentlemen.... my new world....."

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

the year was 001 AM.

It became known as the years after the merging. The control spires were a thing of the past.. The dark rings were rendered useless now. They were now in the same class as the digivice... outdated technology... useless... as the worlds merged it changed humanity... as the digidestined had possessed digital partners... now all the newer generations of humanity had a similar bond... every human from the age of nineteen down was now a digital human. It was a term used to say a digidestined, or a human possessing a bond to a digimon... digivolving no longer required a digivice.... the key to the process existed within the human... and this new bond outmatched the power of the dark rings.. The digimon were no longer slaves to the ring... yet now they were slaves of a different calabur... they were slaves of an empire.....

Now these children of the digital were called to two sides of a conflict... most were taken into the empire. They were his army.. His workers... his subjects... from their efforts the empire flourished... they carved the great capital city of the empire from the face of mount infinity itself.... the castle reached high into the heavens... it was a great thing of beauty.. As Rome had once been now the empire was... the earth was theirs, or it was his....

The emperor divided the earth into four halves... though he reigned over each of these territories he appointed four lords who would maintain control over each of their lands... these lords were among the strongest of the digital humans... though none of them were any match for the emperor himself, ken didn't truly trust them... it was a lesson repeated thought history that were there was power there would be traitors... power corrupts... and absolute power corrupts absolutely... it was for this reason that the emperor needed a warrior.... one who would never betray him... a weapon of unspeakable power..... a being capable of harnessing the genesis strain....

The second group was a lesser force... they were known as the Burning Dawn, the last glimmer of hope for freedom over the dictator emperor... their base of operations was a mystery... as was their numbers.... it was said they were a great force that fought for the people... they were supported as best as they could be by the people. The empire's dominance had created slums of cities... people had to scratch out a living from this new world... and that was no easy task under the emperor's yoke.... these rebels, known as the burning dawn were a group who battled against the empire... they had a leader...

The leader of the burning dawn was known as the greatest leader in the history of humanity.. A skilled leader of men, one capable of fighting a losing battle, and from the flames of defeat scratch out a new hope.. A kind hearted leader... the dawn's efforts were put partially into aid for the people... the face of this leader was one of pure kindness and love, yet also one of cold steel and strength... it was said that her parents were dead... killed by the emperor as were so many others... she was said to be an angel and a demon... she was a great warrior, and a skilled peace maker... yet she was alone... though she was described as the image of beauty, she was alone.. Her own words were that her heart lay buried at tear's point... only a handful of people knew exactly how true that was.....

She was the last thorn in the emperor's side.... the last hope for freedom... the leader of the burning dawn... the only name she would give was Lady Kamiya........

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

3 years later

a young blond woman hurried around the main laboratory. She scurried as a mouse from terminal to terminal. She was an attractive young woman. Though she looked a little to frantic and bookish to be considered glamorous. She wore a white laboratory coat with a black shirt tucked underneath it. Her blond hair was held in place atop her head by a pencil, which served as a pick. Upon her kind face she wore a pair of wire framed glasses...

She was frantically moving across the lab with an expression of fear upon her face. She froze as her eyes fell upon the doorway. The emperor stood there with a look of dark annoyance at her... as their eyes met she froze... fear radiated from her eyes as she stared into his blue angry eyes....

The emperor stood before her... though he was shorter then her he managed to maintain a feel of demonic power. He was feared, and that fear now burned brightly within the aspect of his icy blue eyes... those eyes were not blue... they were instead a deep sinister hue... it was the color of death... the same shade as that which the body takes upon it's death... he was muscular.... his frame hung outward with imposing muscles... yet his actions were what truly inspired terror... he was a demon... as calm and still as a snake who waits within the tall reeds for the bare feet of foolishly careless humans... the face wore no features... just cold stone...

He approached her

"You said you had something worthy of my attention?"

"Y-yes sir..." she stuttered as her face grew pale...

Among the many new positions that had been expanded upon during the empire's era was a vast array of computer technologies... these fields branched outward as a great dark tree that stemmed from innocent roots. Technology existed to aid mankind... yet through the pollution of the empire it was turned dark and corrupt...

genetics... were once there was a field who could produce staple foods for the starving, and create cures for the most heinous of diseases... now there was a field where the very nature of humanity was altered and re-shaped... weapons were made... genetic nightmares....

The job was never in jeopardy for so long as you were good at it... yet you must always be aware just how much your life is worth... ken was a monster... much more ruthless then any digimon... he tortured and killed... and to those he deemed unnecessary.... hell has never seemed as close to earth as you look upon the emperor's dark side... it was rumored he performed experiments... horrific experiments...

Debra Karr was a very gifted woman... a computer programmer by trade... but now she had found a new calling in this new world... she was a researcher. A lab rat for all meanings of the word. She was assigned to monitor the core of the new world... as the worlds had merged the core of the planet was a vast nebula of data and other such coding... it was a place that defied logic, for within the confines of this core no laws of the universe applied... ken had learned that this core had existed within the digital world... it was the equivalent of a recycling bin.. Data would siphon down into this aquifer of coding where it would degrade down to a core power... some had considered this core to be the digital equivalent of an afterlife... It was a romanticized idea that after life the data would re-join the vast matrix of the digital world...

Debra searched this core... it was a lonesome job... one devoid of praise and of challenge... the exact reason that she had been called upon to fill this job had never been clear to her before today.. It seemed like such a mismanagement... she was too good for this task... yet if she ever breathed her dissatisfaction it was certain that ken would end her career without a pink-slip... there were many possibilities... the most preferable would to be given as a reward to the warriors of the empire's army... it was a common practice for the emperor to turn the more attractive women who displeased him into concubines.... though degrading this life would be an easy one... she would be treated well most likely... it had even been known that the more favored women could even be granted their freedom....

The other options were more horrific... she was smart... the core to the empire was a new technology... a horrific one at that... bio-computers.... One cell of the human body stores the equivalent of millions of gigabytes of data.... it was a dark rumor among his tech men that ken had been experimenting in this dark art..... if this rumor were true it meant that anyone with an IQ was a possible candidate to be assimilated into this vast horrific machine.... it was the most unspeakable evil in a long twisting horrific line of evil acts...

"Sir, I was scanning the core.. Yet as I analyzed sector G790 I came across an interesting sequence of codes... I have only seen this once before, it's almost like a digitized human... yet... there appears to be manipulated aspects to the data sequencing... sir... it's genetic information I believe..." she paused as she looked to him

"Is that possible?"

ken began to analyze the data at a feverish pace... his eyes widened as he looked across the line of numeric code... the ones and zeros were illegible to common man, yet to ken they were as clear as text on a written page... his lips pulled upward into a grin as he feverishly flew across the page..

He smiled sinisterly as he turned to her.

"Were you briefed on project 01?"

"Yes... that was the genesis project I believe... the second phase..."

"Exactly, now are you aware of why the second phase was decidedly impossible?"

"Yes sir, the zero factor... though we can replicate organic structures, we cannot create a new life from scratch..."

"Very good... but tell me when you read this bio-schematic... what do you notice?"

the woman studied it as though it were some painting sitting on a wall within a museum. The screen radiated with a luminescent green glow. It bathed her ivory skin a pale lime green... the numbers danced across the screen in a manor that would boggle the mind of any normal human... but under the service of the empire, normal was just as good as food for the tyranomon... it took genius to please the emperor...

Her face lightened.

"My god... this subject has Nero-kinetic activity.... he's alive...."

"More over my dear.. He is surviving within the core of the digital earth... the power in that environment would be enough to rip any normal human apart.... this one is capable of surviving with such a power..... even... thriving within it....

Contact the genetics department.... we have a candidate for project 01....."

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

3 months later

the room was silent as the grave as all eyes were upon him... he stood there in motionless sleep within the warm waters of the incubation tube. The only light was the faint green glow of the luminescent waters. The darkness of the room was staggering as it seemed ominous and horrible. The walls were bare steel and exposed wire which hung limply. He was still as he remained lifelessly floating within the genetic soup.

They had uploaded the genesis protocol into his genetic memory... the result was something that exceeded their grasps on reality. The genesis was thriving within him... reality itself was cowering before him.. He was alive... and as he slept his readings indicated dreaming... this puzzled the geneticists... he was dead, yet he was alive too... the dreams were troubling... after a series of innovative Nero-probes it was discovered that his dreams were memory fragments... pieces of some vast puzzle that once was his life... some of the staff had began to feel pity for him... the dreams were obviously sad, for upon examining the liquid soup that he grew within it was found that there was a rising saline level.... he was crying....

He was considered by many to be the demon with the angelic face. He was handsome. His face was clean cut with lightly hued thin lips that formed a slight sorrowful pout as he slept. His chestnut hair hung in suspension as it glided softly within the amniotic fluids, it was long and soft as it glided silently within the currents of the tube. His body itself was slightly more blemished... he wore a vast array of light scars across his entire frame. He was muscular.. Well defined shape that protruded outward with lean muscles. He was tall and strong... and handsome, despite his scared body.. And hands.... he had became the subject of intrigue as all the departments questioned his origins... he was suspected by many to be a fighter.. His development of muscles and battle scars were proof of the profession he had once belonged to...

The emperor had visited him often.. And as ken looked over the frame of his creation he was un-readable... it was a mystery as to the genesis breed's strengths or applications. But ken watched over the boy as he would a family member... he had chosen to age the subject to his own age... for unknown reasons... He was named after ken's program which created him, and now flowed within him.... genesis...

"Time to see if our work has payed off.... Dr, Karr.... do the honors...."

The young woman quickly began to punch several keys on the tanks numeric panel. The result was a whoosh of hydraulics as the fluid drained away from the tube. He slumped against one of the glass walls as he suddenly lurched forward and began regurgitating the fluid in his lungs. He wheezed and gasped as he felt himself begin to breath for the first time since his resurrection.. His hair hung against his chest as he slumped to his knees.. He was weak and disoriented as he curled into a ball within the wet tube...

With a few keystrokes the tube pulled away leaving him there upon the cold floor. He was crying softly as curled into a fetal position concealing his nakedness.. One of the laboratory men rushed to him and threw a thick white laboratory coat over him. The boy was vaguely aware of it as he suddenly clutched it to himself for warmth. He began to shake violently as he clung to the coat for heat..

Ken suddenly stepped forward and with a quick movement removed the long flowing cape from his shoulders. He threw it over the young man who clutched it tightly. His lips quivered from the cold. For the first time the boy looked up to face them. his eyes were a soft chocolate brown as he surveyed them.

"The light hurts my eyes...." as he spoke the room began to shiver lightly. Each of the bulbs suddenly burst apart in a rain of glass, fiberoptic cable, and sparks. Several of the laboratory assistants shrieked as they leapt away from the genesis. Ken however smiled softly at the unconscious acct of power.

"Don't worry... birth is never an easy process... you'll be fine." the emperor spoke softly with a almost kind voice as he addressed the young man. Several of the lab assistants looked to one another with question as the demonic emperor showed seemingly genuine concern. The young man looked to him with gratitude in his tender brown eyes.. He continued to shiver as the emperor embraced him tightly before ordering blankets be brought to the laboratory.....

"We must be strong brother... we have a world to conquer, and I'll want you to rule it with me..."

"Brother?....

I'm your brother?" he paused as he looked upon the kind face of the young emperor. He seemed to trust the face of this young man. Something about him gave the frightened child a sense of comfort, and belonging.

"As you wish.... brother..." the boy spoke softly as he looked upon the face of his emperor, his creator, his brother....

We walk a path of winding roads

they cris and cross as a great puzzle at our feet.

From where we tread it is impossible to know the destination...

Will the path be an easy one?

Shall I trip and fall upon this path?

Shall it lead to bright landscapes, or dark horizons?

The questions are as tangled as the roads themselves...

Yet we continue onward...

Not the End....