Palm of My Hand / Part 2 / Vice and Versicolor Summary: A obsessive devotion blacker then Hell...A beauty unconquered, even by imprisonment and devestation... A love that could break the chains of darkness, and save the world... In a twisted tale of Faith and Falling, the Kaizer will follow the lead of his angel to take the last step into the light... @--\------ She lay entangled in blackness. The inky pools of sin ebbed and flowed over her body. Like I wanted to do. The color was painful and unsuitable for one so fair. Like I was. I watch the battered form of the water nymph as she drifts on a sea of intangible black. She does not stir, and if it were not for the methodic rise and fall of her chest, I would believe her dead. My task would then be complete. The sharp, stabbing reluctance I feel within every fibre of my being makes me ill. I do not want to harm her. I do not want to save her. The inexpicable voice in my mind commands me to hope she sleeps, to just enjoy the life she exudes like sweet water. But I must not. To let her live would prove I am a weakling, and Gods are not weak. The Digidestined stirs, letting out a soft whimper, the soft pain in the octaves wreaks havoc on my insides. But...I thought I was empty. The girl starts, trying to move only to find herself bound. She begins to struggle. But it is futile. I blink, a glimpse of bloodied bonds and crimson streaked lavender hair darting across the back of my lids. I am shaken and I turn away. Slidding out of the chambers unnoticed by the bleary eyed captive, I calmly make my way to the control room. The bug is there. "Wormon!" The tiny green grub gives a start, jumping from his place in front of the control panel. My gaze flickers over the screens. The bug had been watching the Digidestined. "Master, the children are most anxious over the missing girl, Yolei..." My gaze grows colder. "And? I don't care about your useless information! Tell me something I want to hear!" The bug quivered like a snivling coward, and for a moment, I pity him. "T-they are to d-distraught to attack, Master." I nod, not deeming to answer the slimy Digimon. I think of the now awake girl and I gather my strength of will. "Summon the Digimon, we will...Execute the prisoner at dawn!" I pivote, striding from the chamber in search of my personal space. I seek the solitude only my mind can give. Within my quarters, I find I am unable to sleep. I am plagued by tattered images of gossamer skin and hair like crushed mauve orchids. Fretting, I stand and make my way over to a full length mirror placed against the wall. Within it lies a reflection I cannot bare to face. The image of Ken Ichijouji. He watched while I tortured a thousand Digimon. Stood by when I destroyed the towns and homes of a million innocents. Stepped aside when I oppresed the civilians of the Digital World... But...I can feel it... I can sense it within my soul... Ken Ichijouji, the heart within my chest, the soul still left within me...Will not stand by for this. The framed eyes in the mirror, so empty and devoid of anything, watch as a black gloved hand reaches for the purple hued glasses and discards them on the floor. It continues up a confident path to the navy hair scattered across my forhead with a dozen indigo spikes. The leather fingers smooth the strands to a semblence of liquid blue. Ken Ichijouji now watches me and I swallow. I am one again. My eyes...They flicker, they spark, and I can see emotions in them. Pain. Fear. Anger. Betrayel. Lonliness. Quickly, I snatch up the glasses to cover the disturbing evidence. I muss up my hair, fixing the points back into place. I feel secure. More importantly, I 'feel'... Carefully, I swallow my emotions and turn to the door. That stupid women-child would destroy everything if I let her! And yet...So much of me wants her to... @--\----- She awoke with a migrain and a serious case of nasea. Yolei whimpered, attempting to move only to find herself held down by the arms and legs. Closing her eyes, she tried to garner her courage and figure out what to do. The events that led to this miserable captivity irked her by their needlessness. the water, the walking, the heavy weight that knocked her to the ground... The shatter of stars above and the utter blackness hovering over her now. She swallowed, thanking God she was alive, before cursing him for placing her her. Yolei struggled weakly, as her battered midsection protested bitterly. A feint noise to her left made her turn her head, and she watched a shadow skitter from the room. "Please! Wait!" Her voice cracked and she silenced herself. No one was going to save her. The empty room was dark, cavernous and metal. Obviously belonging to the Kaiser. She wanted to curl into a pathetic ball and cry for Hawkmon, but the bondage prohibeted even that. Flexing her thin fingers, she drew in a painful breath and pushed down the lump in her throat . The waiting was worse then anything she had ever experienced. The sickening dread coiling in her stomach like a venomous viper. Her heavy lids seemed to drg shut as the tears trickled down her cheeks. The glasses pushed up on her face remained, and she though the irony of it was horrible. She could clearly watch what was going to happen to her. Struggling to stay aawake, she found the dreaming more nightmarish then reality. But, alas, one can only be so strong. She drifted off to fitful sleep. @--\------ The olive colored bug scampered along the cold floor, his short legs clicking along and keeping up his moral. But for how long? From his vantage point, the already ominous halls seemed threatening. And not to him. The room which held the imprisoned girl loomed ahead, and despite himself his footsteps slowed. Why was Ken being like this? Was the little boy he had met so long ago dead? No! His mind, heart, body and soul rejected the notion outright. His faith in Ken Ichijouji had not wavered despite the abuse, the insults the pain and the rejection. To lose hope in the boy he knew was unthinkable. But, by ignoring the problem, by denying the truth he knew inside...Was the problem growing? Was the humanity still remaining inside the young master growing weaker? Wormon thought of the poor imprisoned girl, and the unfit punishment she was about to suffer. Would Yolei Inoue, fighter for love and purity, innocence and sincerity die for the Kaisers mad ambition? The bug entered the cell, looking up to where the child lay sleeping. She was beautiful, even in the dim light, and it was that beauty that may just cost her her life. The Digimon wasn't stupid. He had seen this beauties effect on Ken, the growing obsession entwined with growing resolve of her destruction. This young fighter was no obstacle that needed to be removed. She was the barrier between the light and darkness still left in the boy. And now, if she died - If Wormon couldn't reach Ken - then that darkness would win completely. @--\------ Yolei woke, the second time, as a large Digimon lifted her up from the uncomfortable slab she had been splayed upon. She screamed when she was roughly jerked up, her joints screaming with her in protest. It hurt so bad! She was hefted up from an unseen monster, the bruised midsection like liquid fire. "Please!" Yolei gasped, but she was merely carried like a sack of potatoes from the blacknes. She thought she heard a droopy voice say something, because her carrier seemed to gentle his motions, until she could breath. What was going on! "Hawkmon!" @--\------ Striding through the corridor, my cape billowing darkly behind me, an enraged frown across my angry visage, was the Kaiser. My booted feet dared all who crossed pathes to challenge me, my lean legs cut a quick path to my destination. The sniveling worm who dared to call me partner. And friend... "Wormon!" The little catapiller stood vigilent in front of a closed portal, and I recognized it immedietly. "Is she prepared?" "Yes, sir..." I nodded, entering to see the captive, head bowed, luxorious purple hair falling across her downcast face, strapped into a chair. A Scythermon knelt beside her, ready to slice the slender, ivory throat... I swallowed, pained at the sight. This wasn't what I, Ken, wanted. But I will not show weakness. I am perfection. I am not weak. My courage must not fluxuate again. I wave my hand, and the scythermon stands, raising his vicious arms above that smooth skin. I ache. My chest is ripping and I suddenly find it hard to breath. Wicked temptress! The arms are coming down, so close, so close! A flicker of clarity glowed within me, and I cringed. Innocence... "STOP!" Poised above that swan-like neck, the Digimon stops, seeking my guidence. I am sweating, gripping my whip so hard I feel my fingers will bleed. I cannot breath, the tightness in my chest brings me to my knees. "Master!" Wormon is by my side quickly, but I wave him off. The girl must be let go. 'I' won't stand to see her in that position. "Bring her...To...A room..." The bug looks hopeful and I want to smack the expression from his face. It makes me sad. Sadness is imperfect. "Which one master?" I frown, my voice rising as the fist against my chest relaxes. The worm looks relieved. "I don't care! Find her some place where she can be securly kept!" Moving to my feet, I use the wall as leverage and leave the area. I am weak. A sniveling, pathetic human. I know that but will not accept it. A gloved fist smashes against a wall, and I am barely aware that it is my own. I am a... I am... I... I release my chest and raise my eyes to the empty roof. "I AM A GOD!" Nobody answers. I am alone.