Chapter Text
Daisuke groaned, rubbing his head.
”Ken...”
He opened his eyes, struggling to adjust to the light...wait. There was no light. It was so dark.
Was he...dead?
”Ken!” He mumbled more frantically this time, getting to his knees at least.
”Ken!! Veemon!!”
Where was Veemon?
Oh, right...he was still on Halsemon. The Chosen Children fell.
”Hikari! Takeru! Miyako, Iori!!”
Nobody responded.
”Ken!!”
He stumbled to his feet.
It wasn’t pure darkness everywhere like his dreams. It was just really hard to see.
He took a few steps forward.
And he ended up walking forwards more.
He didn’t know where he was going.
But he had to find his friends.
Had he been...taken by the darkness?
Was this what the darkness looked like?
Before he could find anyone, a blinding light flashed before his eyes.
Yeah, not his life. Just a weird light.
Once it disappeared, he was...in a cell.
He groaned.
It was like Dragomon all over again.
“Hey!! Devimon!!”
Nobody responded.
So he just leaned back against the wall, sighing.
He had to find everybody...but it wasn’t like he knew how to pick locks or anything.
”Ah, look who’s awake.”
Oh...
No. It was another dream.
”Agh! Wake up, Daisuke!” He hit himself in the head, trying desperately to open his eyes.
But he couldn’t.
...he wasn’t dreaming.
”...Ken? Why...are you...did you...”
”Ken?” He hissed. “I am the Digimon Kaiser.”
”Did you capture me, Digimon Kaiser?”
“Uh, yeah. You must’ve hit your head harder than I thought.”
”I hit my head?”
”When we were battling? With SkullGreymon?”
”Wha...no! That was you! And...and we captured you!”
”...sounds like you had a weird dream.”
”A...a dream?”
It was...a dream? Everything?
Ken...him being nice, making up for everything, being their friend, dating him, that was all a dream...?
He...he couldn’t feel the scar from when Dragomon stabbed him anymore.
Tears stung his eyes and threatened to fall.
Of course it was a dream...
It was too good to be true.
”What...what do you plan to do with me?”
”Well, you always seem to win, so I thought you’d make a good ally. You’ll help me, won’t you, Daisuke~?”
He grit his teeth.
It was Ken...he wanted to help Ken...
But...Ken wasn’t real.
It was just the Kaiser.
”No. I will never help you.”
There was more pain in those words than he even thought possible.
”Oh...well, that’s too bad...I guess you don’t care about Veemon then.”
He snapped his finger, and a Deltamon walked in carrying Veemon.
The same one from that day...
”Daisuke!!”
”Veemon!!! Let him go!!”
”I will let him go unharmed, along with your silly little friends, if, and only if, you agree to be my servant, and help me create my perfect Digimon.”
Daisuke growled. He glanced between the Kaiser and Veemon.
”You...your tricks won’t work on me again...”
”Tricks? I’m not bluffing, Motomiya. Just do it.”
He hesitated for a second.
”Motomiyaaa...”
Deltamon opened his mouth wide.
Veemon looked scared, though he tried to put on a smile so Daisuke wouldn’t worry.
”...fine. Fine! I’ll help you...”
He grinned.
”Deltamon, let go of Veemon.”
He did as he said, and Veemon ran over to Daisuke.
”You didn’t have to do that!”
”...yes I did, buddy. Go, get out of here.”
”I’m not leaving you!”
”Please...”
Veemon sighed.
”Be careful, Daisuke.”
Daisuke nodded.
And Veemon ran away.
”Perfect.” The Kaiser said, unlocking Daisuke’s cell door, and opening it. “Well? Where’s my thank you?”
”I’m not going to thank you!”
”I just spared your pathetic friend.”
”...thank you, Digimon Kaiser.”
He laughed.
”Now, go explore or whatever you do. I’m going to go work on creating a more worthy being.”
”...alright.”
The Kaiser headed out into the hallway, leaving Daisuke alone.
He sighed.
Ken...Ken really wasn’t real?
The Ken he loved so, so much?
This was really the real Ken?
”Ken...”
He buried his face in his hands.
Everything seemed hopeless.
Daisuke had to serve the Digimon Kaiser, and Veemon had to leave.
There would be no kissing Ken, no soccer games in the humid spring rain, no eating ramen, no cuddling up in bed with Veemon when he was sick.
Everything...every single thing would be cold now.
Ichijouji Ken...the Digimon Kaiser...
Why...?
He longed for Ken’s touch.
He just wanted to hug him again, to bury his face in his shirt and apologize. Apologize to him when he was real and alive. Apologize for keeping things from him, for basically dying for a month, for letting him go to the Dark Whirlpool, for not knowing him sooner.
For everything.
Ken was here...he could go tell him all of those things.
But it wasn’t the Ken he knew.
He didn’t think the Kaiser’s touch would comfort him. It never did. Not like Ken’s.
Sure, it made his face get hot and his brain stop working, but...it didn’t really mean anything.
It wasn’t Ken.
Ken’s eyes widened as soon as he opened them.
Then he shut them again.
He was here again.
Trapped in the Dark Whirlpool.
And Wormmon wasn’t there to hand him his D-3. He couldn’t call for Airdramon to save him.
He could only call for-
“DAISUKE!!”
His voice came out muffled and his throat stung horribly, but at least he could kind of hear it.
He forced himself to open his eyes. They burned...they burned so bad. But he saw Daisuke. Sinking, fast. And completely gray. Glitching.
...oh no...
He swam down as fast as he could.
He kicked off his shoes. He’d just have to get new ones.
”DAISUKE!!”
Bubbles floated up from his mouth, as he wrapped his arms around him. Tight.
He tried to swim up.
But an arm appeared out of the darkness, grabbing Daisuke’s leg.
”KICK IT!! DAISUKE!!”
His air started to slip away as he tried to get through to his boyfriend.
”L-Like soccer!!”
Daisuke kept glitching.
Black spots dotted Ken’s vision.
He held the other boy tighter.
He held him as tight as he could.
And as he lost consciousness, he thought he heard Daisuke whisper something.
So soft, it could’ve definitely been a hallucination.
But it felt real.
”I’m sorry...”
And everything went black, just like it had the first time he came here.
Except this time, Daisuke was next to him.