Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Millenium ❯ The Mark of Darkness ... Ascending ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I - do - not - own - Digimon …

 

Author's Note: OK, first thing I'd like to do before I fill you in on clues on stuff that will happen is thank those who have reviewed so far, as well as those who have read this story. I'm sure there will be more, so I'm not gonna say anything else.

Ken's finally come face-to-face with Rita and Cyrius! Prepare to get drawn into additional mysteries as you read more of this fic!

 

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Ken looked up to see Rita and Cyrius walking towards him, conceited looks on their faces.

“You!” he gasped. “You two? You're the … how do you know who I am?”

 

 

Chapter Six

 

The Mark of Darkness … Ascending

 

Ken's eyes widened as he studied the two figures standing before him. Sure enough, they were the two that they had run that day. But why did he get that feeling that he had seen them somewhere before? He remembered everything from his days as the Digimon Emperor and that had always remained an issue he couldn't get past. And the Mark of Darkness was a vital part of his memories, one he had hidden away for reasons he could never tell anyone. Not Yolei, Davis, his friends. And not even Wormmon. Rita and Cyrius stared down at him, their now-revealed eyes practically dancing with enjoyment, which confused Ken.

He suddenly let out a gasp as inevitably crucial pain shot through his neck. His hand flew to it and he yelled as another surge of pain ran through it. The same place where … Ken shook his head furiously and looked at Rita and Cyrius, his eyes flashed with tears.

“No! What did you do?” he shouted, frantically. His hand closed around the back of his neck, evidently not helping the soreness.

Rita snickered and walked forward, “We did something which you took your previous … ahem, greatest life to avoid … and it was rather foolish.”

“W-what are you talking about? I hated that life!” Ken snapped. “I never meant to hurt anyone!”

Cyrius nodded, “And yet, you had hurt many. Ken Ichijoji, you want to run away from a life that many of us die for … and I bet that even your friends, though being good, would love to live like you had once …”

Ken, though being a normal boy again, was intelligent for some teenagers his age, and he realized at once that something was wrong.

Rita and Cyrius closed in on him, unreadable expressions on their face. They seemed to grow darker as they approached him, and Ken felt as if great pressure was being pushed against him. The next thing he saw was that Rita had placed her hand on his shoulder, and he sank into darkness.

 

At the temple …

It was another one of those times when Davis was forced to admit Yolei was a more reliable Digidestined than he was. First time being when Davis hadn't bought his lunch to the Digiworld and Yolei had to help him out by giving him some of hers. But it wasn't surprising since her family owned a convenience store.

This time, she had bought a bag of food along with her. According to Yolei, she was setting off for home after working for some time at the store when the strange vortex appeared, sweeping her into the Digiworld. Not only was Davis happy this time, but everyone else as well. They had all decided to start on lunch outside the temple, just in case.

“I feel … so good …” Davis mumbled, sitting back after a long drink of soda. They were just finishing off a proper good meal, one they hadn't had in weeks. I'd never take food for granted again … Davis thought, his attention turning to a loud Veemon, slurping up some ramen. Instant ramen; one of the most delicious things in Davis's food list.

There was one thing that wouldn't stop bothering him, though. He still couldn't believe that Veemon couldn't digivolve in the battle. In his mind's eye, he could see the wiped-out Rookie slumped on the ground, panting from the energy spent into digivolving.

Why? It's never happened before … Veemon still had some energy left in him to at least digivolve into a Champion …

He was brought back to Earth by Kari, who had to repeat his name twice to get his attention. He looked at her, and she was staring back, looking concerned for some reason.

“What?” he asked. She didn't say anything.

“Kari?” Davis looked at the others, who all gazed at him weirdly. “Guys?”

It was finally TK who spoke up. “Davis? Are you … er, alright?”

“What? Of course I am! What's up, guys?”

Kari grabbed his hand and brought it up to his face, so he was staring at his palm. He nearly swore at the sight of what he saw. It looked like something that was similar to the design he scrawled across his math workbook last year. But it wasn't as grand. If anything, it looked threatening.

“W-what is that?” he yelled. He looked at Veemon and plunged his hand out of Kari's grip as he saw the same marks stamped on his face. “Veemon!”

“D-Davis …” Veemon yelped, staring in horror at Davis.

“What's happening?” Davis said. He all of a sudden, hissed as the marks on his hand burned. His face seemed to sting as well. The heat around him started to intensify, for all he could sense. He heard Veemon yell as well.

“V-Veemon!” he cried, his eyes shut tight. He could also hear the others around him, saying things that he couldn't make out. His eyes flew open as he felt something blow inside of him.

 

Kari looked in shock at Davis who was crouching low on the ground. Veemon was acting in the same manner. But the thing that concerned her most was the black marks that had appeared on Davis's face and arms. She gasped as Davis let out a strangled yell.

“Davis!” she made a move to run forward but her arm was grasped by TK who had pulled her back.

“No Kari! Don't!” TK said. He looked back at their leader who was practically shaking in alarm. “It's too dangerous!”

“TK, how can you say that? Davis needs our help!” Kari tried breaking free of TK's grip, but he wouldn't let her. “Davis!”

“Guys! Look at Veemon!” Hawkmon called out at them, turning their mind onto him. He was hovering in the air, his eyes glued to the shape that seemed to be forming beneath him.

What used to be Veemon, appeared to just come out of darkness. It was definitely blue, but not the same familiar blue that so adapted the Rookie. Spikes seemed to sprout out of its back and its jaws were the size of Aquilamon's talons. Its eyes flew open, illuminating a crimson-red color that ran a chill down Kari's spine.

“W-what?” she whimpered, watching the Digimon take off into the air, its black bat-like wings stretched out. Yolei's scream then made them turn their attention onto her. She was on the ground, looking up at …

“Davis …” Cody whispered.

The figure that stood before them looked nothing like Davis. His hair was spiked back as usual, but it had turned jet black. Black marks were scrawled across his face, and the color of his eyes was red as well, black only being the pupil. His shirt was ripped in several places, and he looked to become much broader.

The huge Digimon landed down behind his partner, who had a smirk stretched across his face. Evil strongly radiated from them, applying pressure onto the gaping teenagers.

“MeganicVeedramon …” Davis said, in a voice that strangely magnified throughout the area. “Prepare to destroy …”

But TK acted before the gigantic Digimon could make a start. He threw out his D3 and looked at Patamon, “Go, Patamon! Go!”

“Patamon digivolve to … Angemon!” the angelic Digimon flew up into the air, its light slightly searing the darkness that lingered in the air. He held out his staff in preparation of battle. Aquilamon flew up beside him a while later and Armadillomon had digivolved to Ankylomon, who now stood looking up at MeganicVeedramon.

“W-what happened to them?” Gatomon said, not taking her eyes off the two that looked just minutes ago familiar to them.

“Acidic Claw!” MeganicVeedramon flew forward and pushed his arm forward, just barely missing the startled Angemon by a few inches. Liquid fell from the tips of MeganicVeedramon's claw and fell onto the ground, finishing up with a hissing sound.

“Oh no!” Yolei shouted, her eyes wide with realization. She looked at the other Digimon, “That's acid! It could melt you like ice-cream if it's created with power from a Digimon like that! Avoid it!”

“You're kidding me?” Ankylomon said, alarmed. He stepped back, “I love my shell the way it is!”

“Then we've just gotta keep avoiding that attack!” Angemon said. He looked down at MeganicVeedramon, “And put them back to their senses!”

“Don't hurt them!” Kari cried, her thoughts going to her friends. “They can't help it!”

“Kari, we've got no choice. You know this is true from all of our past experiences!” TK told her, his voice echoing throughout the forest.

“Yes, but it's Davis we're talking about! Not some Digimon who wants to cause disruption!” Kari argued back.

“We have to, Kari! Remember what happened to SkullGreymon?” Cody said.

Kari opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again. They were right. If they could just snap Davis and MeganicVeedramon back to their normal selves … without hurting both of them badly in the process.

 

In the Real World

“What's happened to them?”

The sun was just beginning to set, casting a golden glow throughout Obadiah. It was probably Tai's most favorite time of the day, when the world finally rested, starting out from something this beautiful. But his mind was far from birds chirping and the golden shades given out in the trees and bushes. Tai and the older Digidestined, even Joe who was forced to meet them although he was in a middle of work at the hospital, were gathered near an area underneath a large oak tree. Their preferred meeting place. Tai was the only one standing while the others were seated around him.

“Relax Tai, I'm sure they'll turn up somehow,” Sora Takenouchi assured him, looking worried herself.

“Sora's right,” Joe said. “They've fought through much more, and they could handle a dangerous situation …”

“Yeah, but what if this is more than `much more', Joe?” Tai looked at his friend with an irritated expression on his face. “My little sister is out there. This may be much more than anything we've ever faced off against!”

“We're doing all we can Tai,” Izzy said, typing into his laptop. “If you could just have a little patience, we can figure this situation out!”

Before Tai could argue back, Matt stood up with his face bent towards the ground, “Tai's right.”

The others looked at him, surprised. This was the first time in days since Matt had finally spoken up for himself. Since the younger Digidestined all disappeared, including TK, he kept quiet and this concerned all of them.

“W-what do you mean, Matt?” Sora said. She gazed up at him, her face etched with unease. The two of them had been dating for two years, and she still couldn't take it whenever he was troubled.

“What I mean, Sora, is that we're wasting too much time racking our brains for a suitable answer to this problem …” Matt sighed, and looked up. “I agree with Tai. I think we should just go find them, even if they are in the Digiworld. They may have experienced difficulties in the past, but we've been through much more than them!”

“Matt …” Tai stared at his best friend. Knowing him all too well, he was worried for them, especially TK. Matt had a habit of hiding his feelings, and Tai knew this ever since their first adventure in the Digiworld.

There was a long silence after that. Matt dug his hands into his pant pockets and resumed staring at the ground. The others just looked at him, all deep in thought or either apprehension.

It was finally Izzy who spoke up. “Guys, what if Davis and the others aren't in the Digital World? They could be anywhere for all we know …”

“Izzy, whenever anything strange has happened; it's always did in the Digiworld, hasn't it?” Tai said, frowning. “I can have my patience if they come back within a day or two after their disappearance, but this is more serious. It's been almost a month … and I don't know what I'll do if they don't …”

His voice trailed off.

“Tai,” Izzy stood up, and walked over to him. “Why don't we give this situation some time, to just figure out what's happening. If we can't find anything, then sure, we can go to the Digiworld … we just need your help … OK?”

Tai thought it over; Izzy was right, they had to be tolerant, or else they'd just fall into trouble without knowing it. But there was still no sign of the others, and Tai felt he couldn't stand another day at home underneath his Mom's questioning glare.

He sighed and nodded, “Alright then … but if we can't find anything, we're going to find them no matter what it takes …”

 

At that very moment …

“NO!” TK cried, as Angemon flew down over his head, injured badly. They had tried fighting with everything they got. Ankylomon had long de-digivolved back to Armadillomon and Aquilamon, thought still in the fight, was bushed out from dodging MeganicVeedramon's Acidic Claw attack. Angemon had just hardly missed the attacks, but in the end, due to fatigue, he gave in and was thrown into the ground by a body slam.

“It's no use!” Yolei said, pulling at her hair. “We've gotta pull back! They're too strong!”

Instead of watching the battle, Kari was studying Davis instead. He was just standing there by the sidelines, watching the clash with amusement. She would have never pictured Davis and Veemon like this. What's happened to you, Davis?

Her thoughts were interrupted by TK calling out to her. She turned to him; he was holding Patamon and looked close to tears. Kari hadn't seen him look this sober since Angemon sacrificed himself in their first adventures in the Digiworld.

“T-TK! What's wrong?” she ran towards him. She was shocked to see her best friend like this; it was usually her reduced to tears while TK told her to be brave. She distantly heard Yolei scream as Aquilamon fell from the skies, worn-out from evading MeganicVeedramon's attack, and the sound of Cody's sobs as he held Upamon close to him.

“Oh TK!” Kari reached the blonde and gasped as he staggered forward a bit. She grabbed his shoulder to help him retain his balance and that's when she noticed something. TK was behaving the same way she was when she got home from Frosty's that day.

“Kari …” TK breathed, and fell to the ground, unconscious. Patamon looked at his partner desolately, but he was too weak to even say something.

Kari's eyes widened but before she could do anything, she was grabbed from behind by a pair of very strong arms. Judging by the marks on them, she could tell it was Davis, and she had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. She struggled against the grip but it was no use.

“Davis! Please!” she cried, kicking at the ground. “Stop it!”

He snickered and brought his mouth close to her ear, “That I can't do … for now, though …”

Kari slowly closed her eyes as he brought his hand away from her neck. He had knocked her out.

 

Somewhere in the north of the Digiworld …

“Is everything ready?”

The mist had already begun to swarm into the area, along with the feeling of hopelessness that the creator of it, loved. There he stood now, his cloak flapping in the wind, looking down at his two followers.

“Almost, your greatness … we just need that Child of Light and your wish will be fulfilled.”

His features twisted into a smile and he nodded. “Excellent …”

 

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Author's Note: Phew! That's completed; just decided to put a lil' more action into this chapter. And I seriously hadn't considered Davis becoming all dark and all … but another thread is gonna come outta that line!

Anyways, review of you want and tune in for the next chapter of The Digimon Millennium!

Cheerio!