Daring Kindness, Doubting Cruelty
Somehow, the brightly-lit interior of the school did not seem much less gloomy to T.K. Maybe it was the artificial atmosphere, maybe it was the fact that it reminded him of the school years spent in an environment that seemed purposefully designed to slowly drain students’ hope. Either way, there was a steady uneasiness growing within him.
After meeting briefly in the computer lab, Izzy had shooed all of the others out, saying something about needing to make a last-minute calibration before their next trip to the Digital World. With nothing better to do, T.K. decided to take a short walk down the hallways. Applejack had decided to stay outside the door and wait for him to return, leaving only Patamon traveling with him, in his usual position atop T.K.’s head.
As his eyes glanced across the across the hallway, he spotted one of the vending machines that had been installed last year. His grumbling stomach reminding him he hadn’t eaten since breakfast, he pulled some loose change of his pocket and approached the machine.
“You want anything, Patamon?”
“Ooh! I’d like a chocolate bar, please!”
With a mechanical clink, T.K. inserted the coins into the machine, and was rewarded with a pair of sugary snacks. He unwrapped the top of the candy bar and handed it to Patamon, who made a series of very happy noises as he devoured the snack. A smile crept his way across his face as he opened up his own snack, a small bag of lightly salted rice crackers. No melancholy could last as long as his partner was with him.
“Hey, Takuya!” a voice called from across the hall.
So much for that happy feeling, T.K. thought. “It’s Takeru. And what do you want?”
Davis carried with him an obnoxious smirk, and a nearly-as-obnoxious one was plastered across Veemon’s face as the two of them approached.
“What? I can’t say hi to one of my best friends?” said Davis.
“I’m not buying you snacks, if that’s what you’re going to ask me about,” said T.K.
“What, no!” Davis interjected. “That’s not what I wanted to ask you about! Well... okay, not all of it. There’s something else, and it’s kind of important.” In the span of a single sentence, any pretense of playfulness dropped from his voice.
T.K. was thrown momentarily off guard by Davis sudden shift in tone. “...Alright, what is it?”
“It’s about Ken,” Davis continued. “I’m worried about him, T.K.”
T.K.’s eye went wide. “Wait, did you just...?”
“Wow!” said Patamon. “He actually called you ‘T.K.!’ This must be serious!”
“That’s because it is,” Davis said glumly. “Ken’s barely spoken to me at all since Vespimon showed up. I’ve asked him if he wanted to hang out a few times, but he keeps brushing me off. And it isn’t just that, either. He’s been acting... strange.”
“Strange?” said T.K.
“Yeah! He’s like... completely obsessed with taking down Vespimon,” Davis replied. “I don’t think I’ve even heard him mention anything else recently. It’s getting kind of weird.”
“Davis... it’s nice that you’re concerned about your friend, but why are you asking me about it?” said T.K.
“I ‘unno,” Davis muttered. “I just figured you’d be the one who would understand what he’s going through. You’ve got the most experience dealing with the forces of darkness. You’d know more than anyone what it feels like to have the things you care about threatened by them.”
T.K. paused. As reluctant as he was to admit it, Davis was right. Taking the time to think about it, he couldn’t help but see a parallel in the way they both reacted to the darkness.
“Do you think you could talk to Ken for me?” Davis pleaded. “I can’t shake the feeling that he’ll end up hurting himself if this goes on. You’ve got to help me out here.”
“...Alright,” said T.K. “I’ll see what I can do.”
———————
After another ten minutes, the group met back at the computer lab.
“Welcome back!” Tentomon buzzed. “Izzy says everything should be all set!”
Izzy scooted his chair away from the computer and swiveled around. “The Digiport’s been fully calibrated. It should lead you to a location somewhere in the middle of a desert. You’ll find yourself near a town, and in the town’s center you’ll find the energy signature.”
“Leave it to us,” said Ken. With an unblinking gaze he walked forward, and held out his Digivice, with Wormmon hurriedly following behind.
“Ken, wait a second!” Davis called.
“Digiport open!”
The Digiport let out a burst of light, and Ken disappeared into the monitor along side his partner. The others were left staring at the empty space that he used to occupy in bewilderment.
“Well... Ah reckon we should head after him before he gets himself killed,” said Applejack.
“Probably a good idea,” T.K. added.
The group made their way towards the Digiport. Davis raised his digivice, and with the shout of command phrase, they were all whisked away into another world.
———————
Within the deepest recesses of the castle, the stone corridors almost seemed to ooze darkness, until the very light itself fled from the overpowering gloom.
Vespimon’s clattering footsteps carried their way through the subterranean hallways with cacophonous sound, magnifying her presence within the shadows tenfold.
As she navigated the dungeons, Vespimon’s compound eyes glanced towards the cells that lined the passages on either side. Under her rule, Digimon that had attempted to resist her were imprisoned for as long as she saw fit. Her prisoners each looked up at her with sunken eyes, any sign of hope that they once carried now having faded.
Eventually, however, she came across something she did not expect. Within a cell on the very end of the hall was a digimon that she did not imprison. A scrawny-looking digimon with a body made of rocks, resting limp against the wall, gazing up at her curiously. The stones comprising its body were cracked and weathered, as though they had been eroded over the course of centuries. The end result was that the digimon’s body looked extremely malnourished, barely alive at all.
“Who... are you?” the Digimon said.
“My name is Vespimon, and I am your new queen,” she boasted. “A better question would be: what are you doing in my dungeon?”
“Your...?” said the digimon. “So then Myotismon...”
“Myotismon is dead,” Vespimon spat. “I am your ruler now. Now answer my question. Why are you in my castle?”
“Ah... hah...” the digimon tried to laugh, but its voice came out as a pained cough. “So then... they won... the Digi-Destined... hah...”
“W-what?” said Vespimon. “What do the Digi-Destined have to do with this?”
“Hah... I haven’t eaten in years...” the digimon wheezed. “My best friend starved to death ages ago. But I’ve held on, hoping to see the day... and now... I can finally... be f...r...e...e...”
The digimon took one final breath before its eyes closed. Its body remained still as it slowly began to fade from view, before dissolving into nothingness.
As Vespimon watched the scene before her, a realization formed in the back of her mind. It spread through her rapidly, transmitting itself through her thoughts and emotions until it became impossible to ignore.
Vespimon’s entire body shook with horror.
They're real, she thought. Digimon are real.
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Uh-oh, Fluttershy has seen the very lesson that broke Ken from the control of the dark spore. But what will happen to her now that she knows?
Now Vespimon has to come to terms with Digital Reality. Since she now knows, how's that going to affect her future actions? Will she try to do what Arachnemon did? Or maybe... something different.
But my question of the hour is, why is she afraid? Is she afraid because finding out they're real is shaking her core values within her? Or perhaps she thought she was invulnerable to all the other digimon save for her friends plus digi-destined? Or perhaps something even more out of the left field?
I don't know but I'm already loving this story I'll be waiting for the next upload for this story
come on Flutttershy fight, I know you're somewhere in Vespimon try to get free and come back to be kind pony who friend with Twilight
Oh, gods, Gotsumon...
At least he and Pumpkinmon were/will be reborn.
8110297
You're the first one who noticed who that was. I was surprised more people didn't catch on.
I'll admit, initially I was kind of miffed that Gotsumon's death was changed in the dub to "being sent to Myotismon's dungeon", but if you take the time to think about it, it's likely an even crueler punishment. Starving to death isn't a very pleasant way to go.
8110329
I'm a Digimon fanatic enough that I can identify most Digimon on sight. I also named all of my Pokemon (which was basically every Pokemon in existence) after Digimon until Black and White because I was having trouble keeping the names unique to each evolutionary line.
About time we get to see her again.
The next chapter is going to be a emotional roller coaster is it?
Haven't read the story yet. Just dropping in to say I will once I finish bingeing Adventure 01 (and possibly 02).
8110297
Oh my god I forgot he was in 01! And Pumpkinmon...aw jeez,didnt know that was 01 at all, his Mega is kinda awesome.
8109802
Realize her errors and Vispamon's true form will be revealed.