Empress… Part 1 - Unknown Shadow "Take that Emperor!" yelled Davis as the another control spire went down. Their plan was working perfectly. As the hours wore on, they were getting closer on reaching their goal: finding the Emperor's base and destroying it! Tai, Matt, and Izzy provided the time by creating the excuse that they were on a camping trip for a few days. The digidestined were determined to destroy Ken's base of operations before returning home, and by the look of things, they were getting close. "I'm getting tired," Kari said as she stared at the sunset. "Yeah, it's getting kinda late," TK agreed. "Davis," piped in Cody, "I think we should call it a day. Everyone is tired and hungry. Let's try to find some place to set up camp for the night." "Fine," replied the goggle headed boy half sarcastically. The entire group moved quickly to set up camp for the night. The digimon started a fire, and the rest found a nice place to sleep. Yolei reached into her bag and pulled out food she had borrowed from her family's convenience store. They all ate happily following a day of hard work. After many consecutive yawns, the digidestined and their digimon decided to call it a day, and settled down for the night. Afterall, tomorrow was going to be a big day and they were going to need all the energy they could get. As they lay there under the forest canopy, Yolei stayed awake staring up the glowing stars that lit up the night's sky. "Everything OK?" a feathered digimon inquired. "I'm fine Hawkmon," she replied. "It's just that…" Her voice trailed off. "What is it, Yolei?" Hawkmon asked concernedly. She looked down. "I'm not too sure… I know that destroying all these control spires is a good thing, but I…" Her voiced trailed off again as her eyes watched the roots of a nearby tree. "No matter how much I do, I feel empty inside. It's almost like something is wrong with me. It's like I'm missing something that the others have. It's like I'm missing something that you have." "Whatever do you mean?" Hawkmon stated. "You're not missing anything! You are a great friend and always full of energy. I know you better than anyone. Trust me Yolei, you have nothing to be worried about." She looked up into Hawkmon's eyes. "Thank you," she said, her eyes strained with a look of pain. "Let's go back and get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow." Like usual, Hawkmon was pointing Yolei in the safest direction. She nodded and returned to her place on the forest floor. She couldn't sleep. She had a bad feeling inside her that refused to go away. Finally, her eyes closed and she was fast asleep. *** A shadow lurked behind the trees. So quiet, that only Davis' snoring could be heard. Without a sound, two lone figures immerged from the shadows. "I found her," a little green digimon quietly told the taller figure. "Master?" "Wormmon, you know what to do." The shadow moved closer, but stopped close enough to see his plan be put in action. The green digimon moved closer to the sleeping partners. "Silk thread!" In an instant, every single one of the digimon were tied down in a sticky web. Them and their partners, not yet awake, glued to the ground in the white substance. All of them lay there. Tied up in a gluey web. Fast asleep. All but one. One lavender headed girl lay there unaffected. She was dead tired from exhaustion. Her bag, helmet and glasses lay beside her. Her eyes closely shut and her body relaxed, she lay there in the mist of her restrained sleeping friends. The taller figure moved closer, his cape behind him. He leaned over her sleeping body. An evil smirk appeared on his face. "Master? They'll wake up soon!" the small insect digimon warned. The dark figure bent down, close to the sleeping girl, and carefully picked her up into his arms. She wasn't affected at all. The day's activities had taken their toll on her. She just lay there in his arms, motionless except for her heartbeat. The boy looked down at the little green digimon with dark eyes and began to walk away. "But master…" the little green digimon cried out. "Why did you chose her as a hostage?" The tall boy's cold glare answered the question, and the small insect digimon reluctantly followed his master deep into the forest from which they came. The boy and the small green digimon stopped when they reached a creature with red eyes and a dark band around its leg. The boy carefully put the girl down on its back. He took out some sort of device, and placed it on her neck. "Let's go!" he commanded, and the digimon took off into the air flew towards his base. Empress… Part 2 - Stay Strong "Hey! What's the big idea!?" Davis's loud comment startled everyone awake. One by one, the digimon and they're partners noticed that they couldn't move. "Yolei!?" Hawkmon shrieked. "Where's Yolei!?" The feathered digimon struggled to see her. In his attempt, he managed to break free of the web. "Yolei!" he shouted, only able to see her belongings that were left behind. Her glasses, helmet and bag next to where she was last seen. "Would you mind!?" Davis complained. "Let me out of this stuff!" Hawkmon seemed startled, then turned to help the others escape. After they were all free, Hawkmon began to furiously search for Yolei and any clue of her whereabouts. She wouldn't go anywhere without her things, especially her glasses. She was blind without them. "What do you think this stuff is?" inquired TK poking the web-like substance. "I'm not too sure," answered Patamon as he flew overhead. "It looks like some sort of web," Veemon stated. "What does it have to do with Yolei?" Hawkmon asked trying to contain his concern. Gatomon moved closer to the substance, then bent down to get a closer look. "I'm not sure, but it looks like the web from some sort of attack." "We were attacked?" Davis asked cluelessly. The others stared at him for a second, then continued on hypothesizing. "Only a few digimon have attacks like this." TK looked at Gatomon. "I haven't seen any in a while. Except…" Gatomon paused. "What? Except what?" Hawkmon pursued. "Wormmon." Kari's voice was followed by a silence. Davis looked at her then asked, "Ken did this?" "It looks that way," the cat-like digimon replied. "But what about Yolei?" Hawkmon's concerned voice inquired again. Another silence proceeded as everyone's eyes searched for an answer. "He must have taken her!" Cody's words were full of hatred. "Ken's evil. He's the Digimon Emperor. He must have done something to her. Either that or she saw what happened and was captured." TK looked up at Hawkmon. "Chances are that he attacked and she tried to stop him." "Why didn't she wake me?" Hawkmon asked looking sad. "I don't think she had the chance," Gatomon said with a sincere tone. She put her paw onto his back and began to speak, her words filled with power. "We were going to look for Ken's base today. If Ken did take her, that's were she'll be! We should keep going. With any luck, we'll find Yolei too!" All eyes shifted to Gatomon. "You're right!" Kari spoke up. "Let's go defeat Ken and get Yolei back too!" They all agreed. Hawkmon hoped that she was right. He had no choice but to agree. He took this a good sign and walked off with the others. They would find his base, and when they did, Ken was in for it! *** Two eyes managed to open themselves. The world around her was a blur. 'Where am I? What just happened?' she thought to herself, pulling her body upwards. Managing to get her upper body off the ground, she attempted to look around the room. She was awake. She was out of it, but awake. 'I can't see anything,' she reached up and instinctively touched her face. 'My glasses... where are my glasses… then again, where am I?' She tried to study her surroundings the best she could. 'Hawkmon!? Where's Hawkmon?' The bird that was always at her side, wasn't even in sight. Looking out in her dark surroundings, she realized that she was trapped. Shadows and bars surrounded her. She was in some sort of prison. Before her mind wandered too far, she turned to herself. She was intact. Her glasses, helmet and bag were missing, but besides that… She felt her neck. 'What in the world!?' The device was over her skin. It was small, about the size of a pennie, but it annoyed her. She attempted to pull it off. A sensation of pain raced up and down her body. She let out a noise of a suffering and fell to the floor. Evil laughing sounded in the background. Yolei looked up to see the face of her captor through the bars. It was her worst nightmare. In front of her, looking down at her body was the Digimon Emperor… Ken. Empress… Part 3 - Lost Tears "Ken!" she exclaimed. At the exact moment the word left her mouth, she fell closer to the floor. The device had been activated again. "You are never to call me that! I'm the Digimon Emperor. I'm your new master!" The evil laughing continued as Yolei managed to look up at him. "Noooo!" she shrieked. 'I am no ones slave! I control my own destiny…' The pain got worse. She looked up through her blurry eyes at the tall dark figure. Questions plagued her mind. Her thoughts turned to her feathered friend. "Where's Hawkmon?" she asked. Ken's dark laughter stopped and an evil smirk appeared on his face. "He's not here to help you! Nobody is! You are all alone… and all mine!" Ken waited for a reaction from his prey. He enjoyed watching creatures panic with fear. 'I'll break her!' Yolei's eyes widened. Her insides were screaming. 'This can't be happening! This is just a dream!' "Why don't you look at me?" Ken asked smugly. He stared at her trying to make eye contact through his sunglasses. She continued to stare out into space. "Fine then," he said in a angry tone, "let me tell you what that device on your neck does." Yolei looked up at the blurry figure over her. She couldn't see him. She needed her glasses. "That device on your neck," he began, "it's directly connected to my thoughts." Her eyes were now filled with even more panic than before. "Whenever I ask you to do something, you better do it, unless you want to feel that pain again." Yolei's mind was racing at top speed. 'Nooooo! He can't control me like that! He can't!' "Look at me!" he commanded. The pain began and Yolei felt weak. "I c... can't!" she managed to scream. The pain stopped and Ken belt down close so that his eyes were in line with hers. "What do you mean you can't?" he asked in a seriously bad tone. "You're the genius," she replied, "don't you know I wear glasses!?" Ken wasn't pleased by her remark, but for some reason, Yolei's device wasn't activated. He paused. Yolei could tell at this short distance that he was thinking. 'What good is a slave that can't see?' he asked himself. He thought of a solution and came up with one. "Wormmon!" he ordered. The green digimon poked his head out from around the corner. "Yes master?" "Take her to my lab!" Ken commanded. 'What? Lab? What does he mean lab?' Yolei's mind panicked trying to think of a logical explanation for all of this. Wormmon opened the door to her cell and Ken stepped out. The insect digimon looked up at his master. "Fine!" he said, "I'll do it myself!" He chuckled evilly. 'I've never had a human specimen before.' "On your feet!" he commanded, "Or else that device will go off!" Yolei pulled herself together and managed to stand up. "Why?" "Come here girl!" Ken ordered as he pulled her out of her cell and into the corridor. She reluctantly agreed and followed him. Yolei took the opportunity to ask questions. "Ke… master?," she corrected herself, "why did you capture me and not the others?" Ken looked at her through his sunglasses. "You'd make the best hostage. Besides, you'll find out soon enough." 'Hostage? Me? A hostage? Why would he need a hostage?' she thought of the worst. 'Do the others even know I'm gone? Will they come for me? Do they even know what happened to me? Why me?' her mind had begun asking questions. They turned the corner and moved into a dark room with a table in the center of it. Strange looking dark rings littered the outside edges of the room. The door they passed through to enter vanished. 'Let me see what I can do...' Ken moved towards a side of the room. "Lie down on that table," he ordered the girl. Yolei reluctantly moved towards the table and lay down on it. She began to shake. She was frightened. 'He's an evil genius! What's he going to do to me? What is he going to do to me!?' Ken grabbed a tool from the shadows and moved towards her. He loved seeing the look of fear in her eyes. "Stay still!" he commanded, "this will hurt!" To Yolei's surprise, he paused for a moment and took off his sunglasses. He moved close to her face and looked down into her eyes. It was like his eyes entered hers. They took over her mind. She stopped shaking and calmed down. 'Why isn't she scared?' Ken wondered, then shook it off. He moved the strange tool up to her eyes. She stayed perfectly still. She knew that if she moved, that tool would poke out her eyes, leaving her completely blind. Without warning, a new sensation of pain burned into her eyes. Yolei tried her hardest to contain her scream. She couldn't move anymore, even if she wanted. She was paralyzed. 'What is he doing to me?' she wondered. 'What's happening…?' Her mind, full of fear and pain, gave in and she was left unconscious with Ken tweaking with her body. Empress… Part 4 - Blind Sight "Ahhhhh!" Yolei's own scream woke her up. The device on her neck had been activated and the pain forced her to awaken. She looked around and found herself clearly seeing the cell see was in. Ken looked in through the bars, an evil grin on his face. "How do you like your eyes?" he evilly asked. 'My eyes?' Yolei looked up at him clearly. 'Clearly!?' She brought her hand up to her face to find that she wasn't wearing glasses. She looked around some more, then looked back at him. "What did you do to my eyes!?" She wasn't sure what she was feeling. She could see clearly without her glasses, but at what price? Uncertainty filled her mind. 'Why did Ken do this for me? Was he trying to trick me? Was he trying to be nice to me?' Ken looked into her eyes through his sunglasses. "I played with them. Now you can be my slave. Now you can see." His evil grin got darker. "I gave you sight so you can see things my way." He was happy looking into a piece of his work. Yolei's expression got even more wide-eyed and fearful. "What did you do to me?," she repeated. "I gave you back your sight!" Ken declared. He looked into her eyes and realized that she couldn't make contact with his through his sunglasses. He took off his sunglasses and stared at her with his dark bluish-violet eyes. Then he turned and walked a few steps before turning back "You owe me…" He continued down the corridor, disappearing into the shadows. *** Ken went to his control room. He sat down in a chair and stared at the monitors the surrounded him. 'I can hear Wormmon behind me.' "What!?" he demanded. The insect digimon stared shocked at his evil partner. "Why did you do that, master?" Ken looked down at the green digimon and glared at him. "Why did you fix her eyes?" the small digimon inquired. "Why did you help her see?" Ken frooze. He quickley re-gained his composure and stared back at the little digimon. "You have no right to question me!" he yelled, "Get out of here now!" The worried digimon turned around and moved out of the room. 'Why did I do that?' Ken's mind questioned. 'Why did I help her? What is it about her?' At that moment, a pain pierced Ken's chest. He fell off his chair, holding his heart. 'Why do I feel this pain? What's happening to me?' 'Make it stop! Please make it stop! Somebody help me!' With that, the boy lay on the ground, motionless. Empress… Part 5 - The Eyes Of The Beholder Back in her cell, Yolei's mind raced. So many questions filled her head. 'Why did he give me my sight back? Why did he do it? Was he trying to help me? Was he trying to trick me? Why did he do it? It doesn't make sense! He's evil, heck, he's the Digimon Emperor, my enemy. Then why did he fix my eyes? So I could be his slave? No. That can't be it… then why?' She looked around at the shadows trying to make the most of her gift. Then it hit her. "You owe me…" The last words Ken had said to her before he left. 'You owe me?' The words haunted her mind. 'I owe him? No! I don't owe him a thing! He put me here. He's holding me here. He even put a device on my neck to control me! I don't owe him a thing!' "You owe me…" The words continued to haunt her mind. 'I have to get out of here! Why am I here? Why is Ken doing this to me? Am I missing something? No, I'm not! Ken is just using me for something! ' Her eyes grew wide. 'Missing something!?' Her mind recalled her last talk with Hawkmon: "No matter how much I do, I feel empty inside. It's almost like something is wrong with me. It's like I'm missing something that the others have. It's like I'm missing something that you have." 'Missing something?' She froze dead in her tracks. 'That's why I feel this uncertainty… I feel it now… I feel complete!' Her eyes stared out into the shadows, "I feel complete." 'But why?' *** The long silence was broken by a panicking little digimon running towards her. "Yolei!" the little green digimon pleaded. Yolei looked out at him. "Wormmon?" "Yolei," the little digimon panicked, "you have to help him!" "Huh?" "Please!" Wormmon continued, "please help me… save his life!" "Wormmon?" Yolei looked at his tear filled eyes through the bars of her cell. "Save who?" "Master!" the digimon replied, "Please save master!" Yolei looked at Wormmon shocked. The little digimon was crying. 'For Wormmon's sake,' she though. She had the crest of sincerity afterall. "What happened to Ken?" Wormmon looked up at her and quickly unlocked her cell door. "Follow me!" Wormmon ran as fast as he could down the corridors with Yolei close behind. She hadn't run in a long time and her legs were thanking her for the chance to move. She stared out at Wormmon. 'He'd do anything for Ken even though he doesn't agree. What does Wormmon see in Ken?' Wormmon turned into a dark room in which many monitors filled the walls. Yolei looked around the room. 'This must be the control room.' "Please help him!" Wormmon begged. Yolei's eyes shifted to the floor under a chair in the room. There lay Ken, in his Emperor uniform, his sunglasses missing revealing his closed eyes, and his heart stopped. "Ken!" she screamed as she ran to his limp body. "What happened?" She turned to Wormmon. "I'm not sure...," Wormmon looked at her sincerely, his eyes filled with tears, "Please save him!" Yolei looked back down at the figure under her. "Ken! Ken! Can you hear me?" She took his pulse. Nothing. Her heart beated faster. "Ken!" She grabbed onto his body and shook it. "Ken get up!" she begged as her eyes began to fill with tears. "Ken!? Please get up! Please! Wormmon needs you!" She tried everything she could to save his life. Wormmon's eyes flooded with even more tears as hope began to leave his body. "Ken!!!!!!!!" Yolei screamed at the top of her lungs. It was no use. The boy was gone. He lay there in her arms motionless. "Ken." Yolei's mind panicked looking for a way to save him. She grabbed his body and hugged it with all her might. "Ken, come back! Come back to Wormmon! Come back to me…" Empress… Part 6 - Calling "Ken!" Their Yolei sat on the floor of her enemies control room trying to save his life. Tears poured from her eyes. He was dead. Cold, motionless, dead. 'Why do I even care?' her mind asked. 'He's my enemy! He tried to destroy me! He tried to control me!' In her uncertainty, she broke down. She cried even harder over the limp body lying on her lap. "Ken!" Wormmon screamed at the top of his lungs. Yolei looked back at him, her eyes full of tears. "Ken." "Ken! You can't die now! You can't die like this!" the lavender-haired girl continued to scream. Her tears fell onto the boy's pail face. "Ken!" Her body collasped on top of his, tears still steaming out of her eyes. "Ken…" *** Yolei just lay ontop of Ken's body. She felt weak and the pain of lose filled her thoughts. "Ahhhhhh!" the silence was split in half by Yolei's scream. The device on her neck had been activated. "Ahhhhhh!" she continued to holler. Wormmon ran to her side to see what was going on. "Yolei?" The pain increased until she couldn't take anymore and blacked out. Wormmon looked down at the two bodies in front of him and cried harder. He couldn't do anything. "Yolei? What happened? Why did the device go off? Ken's dead…" "Ken's dead…" the green digimon repeated. "Yolei! If you felt pain from the device, then Ken can't be dead! Yolei! Not you too! Yolei!?" The lavender-haired girl didn't answer. And silence followed. *** An arm moved. Ken's eyes opened to see a limp body, face drenched in tears, lying ontop of him. "Yolei?" he asked. "Ken!", Wormmon screamed with joy, "Ken, you're alive!" "What is she doing here!" Ken demanded an answer. "Master! You're alive!" Wormmon cheered. "Of course I'm alive!" the Emperor stated. "You don't remember anything, do you?" Wormmon inquired. Ken pushed the girl's body to the side. "Remember? The last thing I remember is…" his voice trailed off and his mind took over. '…thinking about Yolei. The last thing I remember is thinking about Yolei!' His eyes widened. "Yolei?" "She tried to save you! She was so worried! But…" Wormmon looked at the girl's body lying next to Ken's. "What happened!?" the Emperor demanded. "You… you were lying there! I didn't know what to do so I got her! She came to save you! She tried to save you!" Wormmon looked his master in the eye. "Then that device of yours went off and now shes…" "Alive," the tall boy leaned over her. "She's alive, but it's like the energy has been sucked out of her." Wormmon looked down at the girl and then at his master. "What are you going to do?" "Same thing I always wanted to," he replied, "Use her as a hostage." "But master, she saved your life!" the insect digimon defended. "You can't prove that!" Ken replied. "According to you, I died and her energy was sucked out of her!" 'Energy sucked out of her? I died? But I'm alive! That means… the device! It connects us. I stoll her energy to stay alive! She did save me!' Ken stopped and looked down at the unconsious girl. "You did save me…" "Master?" Wormmon asked. "She did save me!" Ken replied as he looked down at the girl. "She saved me… Why did she save me?" Empress… Part 7 - Even Score "Ken?" A weak voice inquired from under him. "Ken… you're alive!" The girl forced her eyes open and stared up into the boy's uncovered eyes. "Yolei?" he asked looking back down at her, "Why did you save me?" Still lying under him, she replied, out of energy, "I had too. I couldn't let you leave me yet…" Before she could finish, her eyes closed with exhaustion and she lay fast asleep under him. Ken sat there frozen, his thoughts repeating. 'She saved me! Why did she save me? Why couldn't she let go? Why do I care? Is she OK? Can I save her? It shouldn't matter! I'm the Digimon Emperor! I don't have those feelings!' As if waking up from a trance, he bent down and lifted her body up into his arms. Just like the night he first took her away from the others, he carried her out into the dark corridors of his base. He walked back towards his prisons. Back towards her cell. "No, you can't put her back in there!" Ken looked back to see Wormmon behind him. "She saved your life and you're going to put her back in there!?" Ken glared angrily at the small digimon for questioning him. Then his thoughts softened and he turned around and walked down another corridor towards his lab. "Master..." Wormmon watched as the figure with the girl cradled in his arms disappeared into the shadows. *** 'I have to do something,' his mind told him. He stood in his dark lab with the sleeping girl lying on the table. He moved closer to her. Once he was within a foot away, her eyes snapped open. "Ken…," she started as she looked around at her surroundings. "Why am I in the lab again?" Half-frighten eyes looked out at him. "I'm going to pay you back for saving my life," he told her. "What do you mean? You gave me sight! We're even!" Yolei starred deep within his eyes. "What are you doing?" Ken moved closer to her. "I'm sorry!" And with that, he injected a liquid into her body and her eyes closed once again. *** "Yolei?" A tall dark figure looked down at her with caring eyes. "Are you feeling OK?" Yolei forced her eyes open and starred up to find the Emperor's eyes starring back down at her. They didn't seem cold. His eyes seemed welcoming to her. "What happened?" she asked bringing her hand to the back of her neck. She felt slightly different. Something was missing. The device that once plagued her body was missing. "You removed it?" she asked unbelieving that he would do such a thing. "Now," he calmly announced, "we're even." A rare smile appeared on his face. She lay there looking up at his eyes. 'Why…? What does it matter? He helped me!' Pushing on the soft material under her, she sat upright. "Where am I?" "The only soft surface here," he answered, "my bed." Yolei studied the room a little more. It wasn't like any bedroom she was ever in. Besides the soft bed, the rest was dark, just like the rest of the base. She shifted her view to the figure that caused her so much pain and gave her sight. "Thanks," she smiled. "Stay here and rest," he told her, "It'll be more comfortable." Still too exhausted to think, she nodded and lay back down onto the soft bed. She closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep. Ken stood up from his place beside her and walked back out toward the shadows of his base. Before he was out of sight, he turned around and kindly whispered… "Goodnight Yolei…" Empress… Part 8 - Premonition As she lay there on Ken's bed, Yolei's unconscious mind wandered around. ***Yolei's dream*** Yolei stood there, surrounded in mist. A figure of the Emperor appeared in front of her, looking to the side. It turned to her. Yolei's eyes stared deeply at the figure before her as if she was in a trance. "You make me complete…" Yolei just stared at the figure in front of her, listening to his words. "You'll be the one," the Emperor's hard voice began to soften, "to set me free…" "Ken?" Yolei questioned. The ghostly figure before her began to disappear. "Ken!? Wait!" Yolei said as she reached out to his fading body. A warm hand grabbed Yolei's shoulder from behind. She turned to find the face of the Ken Ichijouji she once adored in magazines and on the news. "Ken?" she asked. The figure didn't answer. His sincere eyes looked deep within hers. Yolei's eyes just stared back at them, full of wonder. The boy's ghostly body came nearer and nearer to the girl's. Yolei could feel his warmth surrounding her. The ghostly figure moved his mouth up to her ear and began to whisper. "Please set me free…" With that, the boy's figure dissolved into the mist around her and Yolei was left in a state of mystery. *** Yolei moaned. Her big eyes opened and she found herself wrapped in the warmth of the sheets of Ken's bed. 'Was that all a dream?' Her mind began to search for answers. 'That was a dream… but before that… that was real!' She moved her body and looked out into the shadows. 'Ken… he… and… the pain… I…' Her eyes narrowed a little. 'I saved him… Why did I save him?' She continued to search through her thoughts. 'Then he… helped me!? Why would he… and my dream? He needs me? What am I saying? He's the enemy! He's evil! Isn't he?' Her eyes closed a bit. 'No, he's not all evil… he helped me… he gave me…' Her thoughts paused. 'He gave me sight! That's it! He gave me sight!' Yolei's confusion continued. 'Why did he… how could he… why did I save him? Why do I need him? Why does he make me complete?' She stopped. 'Complete?' The girl sat up. 'Complete? That's why… He makes me feel complete! He filled my void! Why… How could the Digimon Emperor, my enemy, make me feel complete?' In her confusion, she didn't notice a dark figure watching her. 'She's confused about something? Why shouldn't she be? I'm confused, aren't I?' The boy continued to watch her, his eyes hypnotized. 'What is it about her? Why do I feel so strange when I'm around her? When I think of her?' "Ahhhhhh!" sounds of pain and suffering broke the girl from her thoughts. "Ken?" she wondered, "Is that you?" The boy's dark figure dropped from out of the shadows, into her sight, and fell onto the floor. "Ken!" The girl quickly threw off the sheets that covered her and ran to his aid. "Ken!?" The boy lay there unconscious. Her eyes widened with fear. She suddenly felt incomplete. "Ken!" she screamed, "Hold on!" Using much of her strength, she dragged his limp body to the bed and laid it down. "Wormmon!" she hollered. The green digimon appeared in no time, standing by her side. Both of them looked down at the boy's figure. Wormmon and Yolei's eyes began to water again. "Ken." Empress… Part 9 - Seeds of Confusion Deep within the corners of his mind, Ken searched for answers. 'It's her! That girl! She's causing me all this pain!' his mind spoke with the rough tone of the Emperor. 'What did she do to me?' His confusion grew. 'What has she done?' Ken pictured Yolei in his mind. Within an instant, his visions switched to his role as the Emperor. Around him, everything was dark. He saw himself capturing innocent digimon and treating them horribly. He saw himself abusing everything around him. He saw himself hurting the only creature that cared about him, his partner, Wormmon. He saw himself fighting the only ones trying to save the Digital World from himself. He saw himself kidnapping an innocent girl in the middle of the night to use as a hostage against her friends. He saw himself torturing the girl. He saw himself dying. 'Nooooooo!' he begged, 'Make it stop!' His tear filled eyes looked upwards. 'What have I done!?' Ken fell into his own self-pity. "Ken!" Ken's consciousness gained control. He could hear Yolei's scream. 'It's my fault she's in pain! What have I done?' "Ken!?" another one of her screams entered his mind. 'She hates me! Everyone around me hates me! What have I done!?' "Ken!" Yolei was begging, "Come on Ken! Don't leave me! I need you!" A thought went through Ken's mind. He was in a state of shock and realization. 'She needs me? I'm needed…' *** Yolei looked down at the still body under her. Her tears continued to fall. She broke down and fell onto his body. She hugged it like she did before. "I need you Ken!" The cold body under her began to give off warmth. Yolei's expression changed. She stepped back and looked at the Emperor's figure. Slowly, as if by pure emotion, the Emperor's messy hair melted into straight black and his outfit melted into a grey uniform. "Ken?" Yolei questioned bringing her hands to her mouth. "Master!?" Wormmon cried. The boy's mouth opened and his chest expanded. He suddenly breathed in air. Wormmon and Yolei's expression changed for the better as they ran to his side. "Ken! I was so worried about you!" Yolei said as she bend down to him, tears still running down her face. The boy slowly turned towards her, then opened his eyes and forced himself to sit up. He looked as if in deep thought. "Ken?" Yolei questioned. "Thank you," he replied in a calm kind tone, "Thank you for setting me free…" Yolei's eyes widened in shock. Ken slowly stood up and moved towards her. A vision of her dream flew through her eyes. His warmth was within reach. She felt complete again. Not a word was spoken. Ken's arms were wrapped around her body and hers were around his. Wormmon sat and watched, tears trickling from his eyes. As if by magic, the room around them vanished. The entire base, the bed, everything vanished. The pair, wrapped in Ken's kind warmth, found themselves under a dark canopy of trees. Back in the darkness of the nighttime forest. The only light besides the stars in the forest, was the glowing warmth of the two souls saving each other from themselves. The glow of forgiveness… Empress… Part 10 - Forgiveness "Get up Yolei," Ken's eyes looked down at her face. "Ken?" she tiredly moaned, opening her eyes and looking up at him. "You feeling alright?" he asked staring back down at her. Yolei looked into his eyes. They weren't cold and dark. They were warm and bright. The sunlight that passed through the trees created a glow that seemed to surround his body. "I'm fine," she replied, "What about you? You went through so much. Are you alright?" He backed away and Yolei sat up, starring at him. "Me? I'm fine." A smile appeared across his face. Ken stood up and looked upwards towards the light in the trees. "I'm better than alright! For the first time in my life, I feel at peace..." He turned to Yolei. "I feel free…" Yolei got up and joined him. "I'm glad!" She smiled. "Master?" Wormmon asked questioningly behind them. "Wormmon!" Ken yelled, as he ran and threw his arms around the digimon. "Wormmon! I'm so sorry!" Tears began to form in the young boy's eyes and the little green digimon returned the same emotions. "I'm sorry too." Yolei watched from the side as the two partners were reunited with their true selves. 'So this is Ken…' she thought. A kind understanding smile appeared across her face. 'Now that the Emperor is really gone… we can all go back to true peace…' *** The trio walked through to shade of the forest looking for any sign of life. Ken seemed content and whenever he happened to look at Yolei, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face. The sound of their footsteps was interrupted as a voice could be heard in the distance. "Yolei!" Someone was calling her name. She knew the voice all too well. She stared out into space for an instant then back towards the direction of the voice. "Hawkmon!? Is that you?" she answered. Her face started to light up even more. In the meantime, an uneasy feeling came over Ken. 'The digidestined… what have I done? They hate me! Look at what I've done! Could they forgive me the way she has? Is it even possible?' "Yolei!" the energetic scream was followed by a red bird digimon flying straight at her. "Hawkmon!" she cheered, running up to greet him. The partners met and Yolei hugged Hawkmon as hard as she could. "Hawkmon! I've missed you so much!" Tears of joy ran down her face. Ken stared at the pair, his eyes widened. 'I separated them! I'm the one who caused them this pain! I'm the one who pulled them apart!' "Yolei! I missed you too!" Hawkmon looked relieved to have finally found her. When they moved slightly apart, a roar of footsteps sounded to the side. Yolei looked up to see her friends running towards her. "Yolei!" they cheered. She smiled as she ran up to greet them. "What happened?" TK inquired looking her in the eye. "Ken!" Cody was staring at the figure some distance behind Yolei. All eyes shifted to him. Wormmon looked up at his master and worried. "What did he do to you?" Kari asked in a comforting tone. "Do to me?" Yolei replied sounding confused. Hawkmon took a protective position between Ken and Yolei. "Stay back!" Hawkmon commanded. Yolei turned towards Ken. Their eyes met. Ken looked back at her. 'I'm so sorry!' his mind told her. "That's it Ken! You'll pay for this!" Davis roared, as he took out his D-3. He looked down at Veemon. "Ready?" "Ready!" Veemon replied. "DigiArmor Energize!" Davis ordered. TK and Patamon, as well as Cody and Armidillomon did the same. Within an instant, a bright light surrounded the three digimon partners and larger forms appeared. While Kari, Gatomon, and Hawkmon stayed back and protected Yolei, the three boys shouted out orders to their now champion level digimon. 'What's going on?' Yolei questioned. 'They're attacking Ken! Why are they attacking Ken?' Her eyes widened. 'They don't know what happened! They still think he's evil!' Yolei stared at Kari. "No! They can't!" Kari's expression changed slightly. "They can't hurt him! He's not evil!" Yolei searched Kari's eyes. 'She doesn't understand! They're going to attack him!' Yolei looked at Hawkmon, still in a protective stance. "Hawkmon! You don't understand!" Hawkmon turned to face Yolei in the eye. "Yolei?" "Hawkmon! You don't understand!" Yolei was almost begging. "He's not the Emperor! He's Ken!" Hawkmon looked at Yolei strangely. "You're not thinking straight! He kidnapped you!" Hawkmon took out her glasses and handed them to her. "Here. Maybe these will help you see." Yolei looked down at her glasses. "I don't need them anymore!" Kari, Gatomon and Hawkmon's attention shifted to Yolei's words. "I don't need these anymore! I can see perfectly without them! Ken saw to that!" Kari and the two digimon stared at her. "What are you saying?" Kari wondered. "He gave me sight! He saved my life! I saved his!" As she blurted these words out, the three champion level digimon began to charge the boy and attacked. "Ken?" Wormmon asked the boy worried. "What are you doing? They're attacking you! Get out of the way!" 'I'm sorry…' Ken looked at the force coming towards him, then at the digimon beside him. "They have every right to attack me… look at all the horrible things I've done to them…" "Ken?" Wormmon went up to his partner. "Ken! Please get out of the way!" The boy just looked out, his eyes filled with sorrow, as the attacks came closer to his body. Yolei looked out at the boy's imminent fate. "Ken!" she screamed as she broke free of her friends' protection. "Ken!" she continued to scream running past Davis and the others. "Get out of the way!" She ran as fast as she could towards him. In the corner of his eye he saw her. 'She wants to save me…' He felt the pull of the digimon at his feet. 'He wants to save me too…' Looking back up at the attacks nearing closer to him, he forced his partner to safety and kicked him out of the way. 'This is my fate… I'm so sorry!' In what seemed to be an instant, all three attacks hit dead on, sending the boy's body flying upwards. Empress… Part 11 - Realization At that moment, it was as if time itself was standing still. Yolei was still running, full of force, towards the boy's body. Ken flew upwards against the might of the three attacks. In midair, his closed eyes opened to see Yolei meters away and closing in. He kept his eyes locked on her till the force of his descent shifted his head backwards. All was silent. Ken's body lay on the forest floor. It was unmoving. Yolei finally reached his side and moved over him. Wormmon ran from the sidelines towards the still figure. Yolei just looked down at his face. It was tilted to the side and bruised. It wasn't the face of the Emperor. It was the face of an innocent boy. Hawkmon moved up next to Yolei and stared at her painful expression. He saw her emotions. He realized the truth. "Ken?" Yolei asked. Her friends stood around her, somewhat confused. Staring at her expression, they realized that they were missing a piece of the puzzle. "Ken!?" she continued. Tears began to fall from the sides of her face. The others just watched, not knowing what to do, what was going on, or the truth. "Yolei…" There was a weak voice under her. She looked at his face, her eyes sore with tears. With what little strength he had left, Ken moved his hand up to her face and wiped the tears from her eyes. His weak eyes looked into hers. He smiled slightly before his strength gave out and he collapsed again. "Ken!?" She stared. Her eyes stared at his body. 'Ken…' TK moved up to the other side of his body and placed his hand on Ken's neck. "He's alive." TK declared. "He just needs to rest." Yolei looked up at him. It looked as if a weight was lifted. She calmed down, then looked back down at the boy. 'Ken… why…' Her thoughts were broken with Davis's confused voice. "Would someone like to tell me what's going on?" Yolei turned back to see her friends all staring at her. She was emotionally unstable. Kari moved towards her and placed an understanding hand on her shoulder. "What did you mean earlier when you said that he wasn't the Emperor?" Kari calmly asked. Yolei looked at her. "He's Ken… he's not evil… he helped me… he helped me see…" Hawkmon moved closer to his partner and as unthreateningly as possible asked, "What happened to you?" Yolei looked at him. Then it hit her. 'They still don't understand. Would they understand? They are my friends… I have to try…' "Ken kidnapped me because he needed a hostage…" her voice shook. The other stared at her and worried. Wormmon noticed her mental state and stepped in. "Maybe I should explain." Wormmon offered. Yolei smiled at him slightly and nodded. Yolei then looked back down at Ken. She used her hand to move a piece of hair off his face. 'Ken…' *** The little green digimon tried to explain the events that passed by to the best of his ability. He didn't even understand some things, but he tried. Wormmon was bombarded with questions, especially from a very angry Cody. When Wormmon finished, Kari put another reassuring arm on Yolei's shoulder. She was still at Ken's side. His body was weak. 'I wish I could do something…' Davis moved closer and bent over Ken's body. "I'm sorry Ken. I had no idea." Yolei looked up at him, her eyes filled with surprise. 'Does Davis really mean that? Could he forgive Ken? Could the others forgive Ken?' She looked out into the faces of her friends searching for reassurance. She found some, but Cody's eyes were filled with hatred. *** That silent day had lead to a silent night. Hawkmon had paired up with Wormmon and they had gotten some soft plants to act as a cushion for Ken. Yolei never left his side. Not once. She stared down at him worried. Everytime he'd move slightly, she'd jump a bit then stroke his face. They calmly stayed together. Her thoughts wandered, but she was clam. The others comforted Yolei, trying to understand what she had been through. Kari and Hawkmon provided her with support. She gratefully accepted it. When it was time for them all to go to sleep, they left Yolei and Ken alone. Hawkmon stared out at her, happy to have her back, but worried about her emotions. Yolei's eyes grew heavy, and when she couldn't keep them open anymore, she drifted off to sleep, lying with Ken, reunited with her friends. Empress… Part 12 - The Darkness That Follows "Yolei! Get up!" Ken words startled her awake. She was still on top of him slightly. He was sitting up now. A worried expression covered his face as he looked up at something. "What is it?" she replied, slowly bringing her body to an upright position. She looked up. 'What the…' Her eyes opened, and the feeling of fear that passed through her jolted her awake. Ken placed a protective hand on her shoulder as the two figures sat together, fearful of the image above them. Above them was a dark orb, a sphere of darkness. It was unlike anything either them had seen before. It was as if it was darkness itself given physical form. "Davis!? TK!?" Ken shouted out into the forest behind them. It took awhile, but hearing the tone of his voice, the others forced themselves awake and came to where the two watched. All of their eyes started up at the object. A cold feeling swept through them. "What is that thing?" Davis wondered. "I don't know…" replied a worried Gatomon. All eyes continued to stare at the sphere above them. "Whatever it is, it's not good!" Ken's voice was full of worry. Yolei looked at him for a moment before looking back up at the object. Her eyes widened in fear. It moved. Not only that, it was moving towards her. Ken's mind began to panic. The object was now above him. "What…?" Ken's mind was full of worry. 'What… what is that thing!? Why is it here? What is it doing? What…' His eyes widened in shock. 'What does it want with me? Is it darkness itself?' His mind began to fill with a numbing pain. Yolei turned to him. The movement made him stare at her. 'She's still here…? She cares so much… I can't let this thing get near her! She's protected me! She's stayed by my side! I can't let anything happen to her!' "Silk Thread!" "Buzz Saw!" The two digimon began to attack the darkness that came closer and closer to the pair. Davis and the others became alerted to the fact that it wasn't friendly. Ken stood up and pulled Yolei with him. He was determined to protect her no matter what. He was still tired and parts of his body ached from everything that had happened. But to him, the only thing that mattered was protecting Yolei from the darkness that threatened to swallow them. She stared at him strangely. His hand griped her wrist. He was protecting her. "Come on!" he shouted as he forced her away from the upcoming darkness. Yolei's thoughts raced. 'What's going on? What is that thing? Ken! He's trying to help me… he's all right… but…' She continued to run with him. 'That thing… is it after him… or me…?' It continued to follow them as they ran. They could hear the sounds of their digimon and friends trying to help them. They could hear them trying fight. Their digimon attacked the most. Both of them could hear them in the background. They could hear the attacks come closer as it was still chasing them. "Yolei! Watch out!" Cody's warning startled the two as they looked back. The darkness was now three times the size it was before and three times as fast. It was right behind them. Ken moved his body in front of Yolei's and protectively held out his arms. Both their eyes widened as the darkness overtook them… *** Ken forced his body off the ground. He opened his eyes to see the world through a shade of purple. 'What the…' He moved his hand up to his eyes. On his face were the sunglasses of the Digimon Emperor. Shocked, he ripped the glasses off his eyes and threw them aside. He got to his feet and looked around. 'Yolei… where's Yolei!?' Around him was a pale forest of grey. It was a land of shadows. A land of pain. A land of darkness. His mind panicked as he continued to search for the girl. His eyes searched the pale forest around him. When he finally spotted her, an uneasy feeling traveled through his body. He instinctively ran to her side. "Yolei!" he shouted. As he bent down towards her face, he was almost frightened. Yolei moaned. She slowly forced her eyes open and up at Ken. "Ken?" she asked pulling herself upwards, "what happened?" She looked back up at Ken. She looked at his appearance. Her eyes wide, she brought her hand up to her mouth. His hair wasn't straight and black, it was messy and shades of blue. She looked at his body. His outfit frightened her. It was the outfit… the clothing, the cape… of the emperor. Empress… Part 13 - Darkness Surroundings Ken stared at Yolei. He was unsure of the image before him. Ken looked at Yolei's frightened expression, then looked at himself. What he saw, reached the deepest corners of his mind. 'I'm…' he brought his hands up to his face and studied them. They were gloved. 'I'm in my old uniform…' Ken's eyes widened. 'I'm dressed like the Emperor again…' Ken moved his arm outwards to find his cape. 'I was so worried about Yolei, I never took the time to look at myself…' Ken's expression changed from fright to worry. 'Yolei…' Ken stared back at her. He was in shock. Yolei watched his expression change. He was looking straight at her. Yolei placed her hands on the forest floor to pull herself up. The second she did, it hit her. She saw her hands. She wasn't wearing her normal clothing. 'What in the world…' Her expression changed to the same shocked expression that covered Ken's face. Yolei looked down at her appearance. She was wearing a similar outfit to Ken. The pants and top were the same, but instead of a shade of blue, hers were a shade of purple. A cape draped over her shoulders and back. Her hands and feet were now covered in a new material. Unlike Ken, her face and hair were left untouched. The two stared at each other, both shocked at the others appearance as well as themselves. "What happened?" Yolei asked, now standing directly in front of Ken. Ken looked at her sincere eyes, then back down at himself. "I'm not really sure." Yolei looked around at her grey surroundings, then looked back at Ken. Ken looked back into her eyes. "It looks like that dark thing caught up with us…" Ken paused for a moment and looked around. "We seem to be in another world… either that or another part of the Digital World…" "It's so dark and cold," Yolei commented, "it's almost lifeless." Yolei looked back at Ken. "Why are we dressed like this?" Ken came closer to her. Yolei looked into his eyes. His appearance was frightening, but his eyes were still filled with kindness. "I'm not too sure," he replied, "but I'm guessing it's my fault…" Ken started looking down. "Why else would I, or you for that matter, be dressed like this?" Ken's mind filled with guilt. 'It's all my fault…' Yolei noticed his pain. She moved her now gloved hand up to his face and gently stroked it. "It's not your fault!" He looked up at her. "I can't help but feel responsible…" "Don't. If Wormmon was here, he'd tell you the same thing." Yolei's words soothed Ken's mind. 'Wormmon?' Ken now realized that he and Yolei were all alone in the dark forest. The digimon that were always at their feet, that they were just reunited with, weren't in sight. Same with any of the other digimon or digidestined. Only Yolei and Ken stood surrounded by darkness, in the dark forest, in dark clothing. *** "This way." Ken and Yolei traveled trough the grey bleak forest, trying to find at least a clue to where they were. It was cold. And everywhere they turned, it just seemed to get colder. Ken had tried to remove parts of his outfit earlier. He seemed to feel a strong bitterness towards it. Yolei stopped him after pointing out that at the current temperature, he'd freeze. Both of them reluctantly stayed in their current uniforms, and tried to figure out what had happened and exactly where they were. 'This is not happening!' Yolei's mind was trying to find an explanation. 'Why am I dressed like Ken? Where's Hawkmon? Safe, I guess… Then again, where am I? At least I'm not alone. Ken's with me…' She found some comfort in this. Ken was still blaming himself. 'Why did this happen? I know this is my fault! Afterall, I was… I was the Digimon Emperor… I did so many horrible things, and I should have to pay for that, but Yolei… She didn't do a thing! She shouldn't be here with me.' Ken looked at Yolei. 'Now I look at her… look at her sincere eyes, then at the way she's dressed. She's dressed like me… why is she dressed just like me? I was the emperor, but her… she wasn't anything like that…' Ken stopped walking. Yolei noticed this, stopped, and gazed at him. 'He's worried.' "What's wrong Ken?" she kindly asked as he moved towards an almost ghastly tree and leaned on it. Ken looked back at her as she approached him. "It's just that…" he cut himself off and looked into her eyes. "I'm so sorry for all of this Yolei! I know this all has to do with me somehow! I was the Digimon Emperor! I did horrible things! You are so kind! You helped me through all this! If this had to happen to me, you shouldn't have had to come with me!" Yolei searched Ken's face, then he began to speak once again. "I was the Emperor! You weren't!" Before he could say anymore, Yolei reached up and put her finger over his lips. He just stared at her. He couldn't understand why she wasn't mad at him. "Ken," she began, "It's been a long day. Maybe we should call it a night." Yolei looked up at the grey sky. "It's getting darker." Ken looked up, then nodded. "You're right," he replied. Yolei backed away from Ken, and moved towards a break inbetween a few of the trees. She sat down onto the ground, then looked back at Ken. Ken met her glance, and slowly moved away from the tree. He moved towards her, then sat down. The short silence that followed was broken with Ken's words. "Thank you, Yolei." Yolei looked up surprised, then smiled and moved closer to him. Ken began to speak again. "I'm so sorry for everything I did as the emperor… I'm so very sorry for everything I did to you!" He looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry I'm the Emperor!" His eyes started to fill with tears of pain. Yolei moved directly in front on him and looked deep into his scarred eyes. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him. Ken was surprised. He felt her body around his. Slowly, he moved his arms and cape around her. Tears began to fall from his eyes. Yolei turned her head to face his. "You're not alone anymore…" she spoke in a caring tone. "I'll always be here for you…" Ken looked back at her, there bodies still wrapped in each other. "I'm sorry I'm the Emperor…" he repeated. She hugged him tighter, feeling his warmth. She looked deep within his eyes. They were full of pain, sorrow, and regret. There they stayed, sharing each other's warmth, until Yolei broke the silence… "Ken?" she calmly asked. He looked up at her and into her sincere eyes. "If you have to be the Emperor…," she paused slightly as her eyes filled with his warmth. "If you have to be the Emperor… then I'm the Empress…"