Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Kaiser ❯ Miracles Do Happen ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of the characters thus associated with it. I own Raven, Nathaniel, and the storyline.

Kagome: All right. This is either the last chapter, or the next to last. By the way, you reviewers let me know if this could count as PG-13, okay?

Raven: She'd ask if it was PG, but seeing as it hints at boy x boy relationships, some parents might not appreciate it. *sigh*

Nathaniel: Feh. *rolls eyes* Parents really oughta keep tabs on their kids' reading materials.

Raven: *smirks* Yeah, but since some of them don't, we have to play nice and do ratings.

Kagome: *shrugs* It's more convenient this way.

Raven: How so?!

Kagome: This way, I can find my type of reading material faster (a.k.a. PG-13 and R at the moment) *grins*

Nathaniel: Ah. Of course.

Raven: Anyhow, on with the fic! Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight @__@

Raven: ………OOOOWWWWWW! What'd you do that for, you jerk!

Nathaniel: *whistles innocently* Do what?

Raven: Why you little -

Kagome: Ahem! As we were saying, on with the fic *breaks up fighting muses*

Chapter Thirteen: Miracles Do Happen

The day for the battle had finally arrived, and once again all the Digidestined were gathered in the throne room, tension so thick it was palpable. Daisuke and Yamato were off somewhere, comforting each other before the battle. The Kaiser was clinging tightly to his boyfriend, anxious and afraid for his friends, and terrified of failure. Taichi was trying to comfort him, running his hands lightly up and down his back in an attempt to soothe his nerves and calm his shivering.

The others were in a similar state, huddled closely together as if seeking comfort in each other's touch. They all knew that they could not fail to lose; the stakes were much too high for it. Ken and Taichi had filled them in on what Yamato had told them the day before, and they all understood its significance.

If Takeru's older brother was taken by their enemy, he would be tortured and broken, made to relive that one night with an out-of-control Daisuke for the entire duration of his imprisonment.

That brought up the other crucial topic. They could not afford to seriously injure Daisuke's body. After all, he'd be going back to it, and it would already be branded; they didn't need to make matters worse and beat him to a bloody pulp.

One thirty was quickly approaching, and the Digidestined headed out, surrounding the base where the battle would take place. They were there only to offer moral support and to keep other digimon from interrupting the battle, no matter which side they were on.

At a quarter till one, Daisuke and Yamato showed back up, and the blonde allowed himself to be led down to the torture chamber. His face was pale and his eyes were red, apparently from crying. He was determined to go through with this, however, and climbed up onto the wooden table, allowing himself to be restrained at the wrists and ankles.

Daisuke and Taichi went over into a corner, the brunette hanging on to the digimon and shielding him in his arms. The younger boy had already assured them that their enemy did not know that he had been transferred to a digimon's body, but Taichi wasn't willing to take any chances.

Promptly at one o-clock, the door to the torture chamber flew open and Daisuke strolled in. Yamato emitted an involuntary whimper and jerked against the restraints, then tried to sink into the table, cowering. Daisuke-well, Daisuke's body-just smirked at him, then focused his attention on his enemy-the Kaiser.

"So nice to meet you again," he greeted, forming a mockery of the polite words. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be so eager for more pain after our last little get-together."

Ken restrained himself from snarling at the jerk and maintained his cool exterior-his Kaiser mask, as he called it. "Our last encounter was not played on equal footing," he stated just as tauntingly. "Had I been free, as I am now, you wouldn't have lasted thirty seconds." Ken had played this game before, and played it well; if your opponent is stronger than you, or if you don't want to do too much damage, insult your enemy and try to make him upset enough that he makes a mistake.

Ken and the Daisuke-enemy sized each other up as they continued their insults. Ken already knew Dai's strengths and weaknesses; after all, they were not only best friends, but they were soccer players as well, and had often competed against each other for fun.

Fortunately, the slim violet-eyed genius noted that his enemy seemed to be having some trouble sizing him up. He was small for his age, and very slightly built, but his strength belied his petite size. Apparently, his opponent didn't have Daisuke's knowledge of him. That made it so much easier.

It was Daisuke who made the first move, as the Kaiser had hoped. Seemingly, Dai and the enemy shared the same impatience, and so he attacked first, lunging at Ken.

Ken moved swiftly, shifting to his right and bringing his elbow into contact with Daisuke's back as he went flying past, carried by his own momentum. The cinnamon-haired boy went down, but sprang back up a split second later, sweeping Ken's feet out from under him as he did so.

Ken was flat on his back when he saw Daisuke's foot aiming for his head. Quickly twisting out of the way, he grabbed the other boy's foot and yanked, pulling him down to the ground. Both boys were up and at it again in a matter of moments.

Every time it seemed that one of them had the advantage, the other managed to turn the battle back around. Every time one boy went down and seemed to be out of the running, he managed to find the strength to get back up and keep fighting.

Surprisingly, no weapons were procured, and the two combatants used only fists and feet to fight. Apparently, the two fighters had agreed beforehand not to bring any weapons into battle.

The iron brand had been placed into the fire shortly after the match began. The whole idea was to keep the enemy from noticing until it was too late. The iron was already hot and beginning to turn red.

The fight was also heating up. By now, both boys were bloody and exhausted, and only sheer will and determination kept them on their feet, fighting harder every time it seemed they would stop.

Finally, the brand was ready. Alimon nudged Taichi, gesturing with a flick of his tail towards the fireplace. The goggle boy nodded and slipped over to it, being careful not to be noticed. When he reached the fire, he took out the brand carefully, so as not to make any noise.

In the meantime, Ken had noticed their maneuvers and proceeded onto the next phase of the plan once his lover had the iron in his hand. Slipping to the side, he grabbed the enemy and put him into a headlock.

His opponent wasn't terribly bright when it came to strategy in a one-on-one fight, but he had been persevering through sheer physical strength and body mass, which made it harder for Ken to bruise his body or knock him down.

Pinning him onto his stomach on the floor of the chamber, he held his wrists together tightly in one hand and grasped his hair in the other, yanking sharply so that the boy beneath him cried out.

As Taichi approached the two boys, Daisuke caught sight of the iron. His eyes widened and he increased his struggles, trying to break free. Taichi just smirked at him. "Your turn, love," and with that, he set the iron into the boy's throat, branding him with the same design that both he and Ken wore; an intertwining of the crests of courage and friendship.

Daisuke screamed, filled with anguish. Even after the mark was burned permanently into his skin, Taichi held the hot iron against his tanned throat, giving Alimon his chance.

Alimon dashed across the room and right on top of Daisuke. Then he just sunk through the boy's body and disappeared. Not sure what was happening, Taichi removed the brand, but Ken didn't release him from his hold.

They heard an angry scream echo through the room, chilling them, then it was gone and only silence remained. The body beneath Ken stirred and the real Daisuke opened his eyes and gazed up at Ken, smiling softly. "Ya can get off of me, ya know," he stated, grinning.

Ken sighed in relief and got off of Daisuke, impulsively hugging his best friend as they stood up. Dai returned the embrace, then went over to Yamato. "Hey, Yama," he spoke softly, brushing the boy's hair out of his face as he undid the restraints. His lover just looked up at him silently for a few seconds, then gave a wild yell of joy and embraced his boyfriend.

The other Digidestined arrived soon afterwards, instinctively knowing when the battle had ended. Of course, that pissed off shrieking they had heard may have had something to do with it, but hey, who cared?

After a very cheerful reunion and lots of interrupted storytelling, the Chosen settled down. Ken, however, still had one more question to ask. Well, okay, two, but one was more important.

"Dai," he began hesitantly, waiting until the other boy acknowledged him before continuing, "when you took your own body back, you, as Alimon, just sank right into the body. How is that possible? As far as I could tell, Alimon was a real digimon."

Daisuke grinned, then laughed. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask that," he said. "Well, to be honest, it's because Alimon is a part of me." When the others looked at him, confused, he continued. "It's an incredibly long story, and I'm exhausted, so let's make this brief, shall we?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out four items. Two of them were his blue D3 and his D-terminal. The other two appeared to be………

"A gold D3 and a D-terminal?" Miyako cried out. "Where'd those come from?" Daisuke grinned at her. "They're mine," he said simply. Then he corrected himself. "Actually, they're connected to my digimon half. When I unleashed the Digiegg of Miracles, I got these. I didn't realize what they could do until that guy tried to eliminate completely, and I ended up with a digimon body."

"Apparently, since the alicorn is a creature of miracles, it makes sense that the digimon it goes with has the form of an alicorn, hence Alimon. So now I am human and digimon, and I can digivolve if the right person holds the Crest of Miracles, and the gold D3 and D-terminal."

"Then who is it?" wondered Taichi. "Who holds the crest of miracles? Who's your partner?" Daisuke grinned, and then stared at Ken, who just blinked at him. "Me?!" he asked. Daisuke's grin just widened as he nodded, then walked over to his best friend, handing him the gold D3 and D-terminal, and giving him the Crest of Miracles.

Delighted, the others congratulated Ken, agreeing that it couldn't have happened to a better person. Now Ken had two digimon to protect him, and to be protected by him in turn.

Looking up at Daisuke, he smiled softly. "It just goes to show that sometimes………sometimes miracles do happen."

Kagome: Okay, yes, I know, that was a rather sappy ending, but I couldn't help it. Many of my stories tend to end this way. It's a curse, I swear it is.

Raven: Yea! We're done!

Nathaniel: *cowering* Uh oh.

Raven: What's wrong Nat?

Nathaniel: This was chapter thirteen.

Kagome: Yeah, so?

Nathaniel: ………………………

Kagome: Oh, no! Don't tell me you're a superstitious muse?

Nathaniel: *hides in corner* Okay, I won't tell you.

Kagome: *rolls eyes* Why do I surround myself these pathetic excuses for muses.

Raven: Ummm………because you picked us?

Kagome: Oh, yeah. *sighs* Damn. I made a big mistake.

Raven: Ooohhh………not so bad. At least we don't give you writer's block for six months at a time.

Kagome: True………

Raven: *grins* Read and review please.