Warnings : This chapter is rather gross.

Daisuke began to panic. He knew that without Dark he had absolutely no chance of escaping. Daisuke was torn between dropping to his knees in hopelessness, and attempting to revive Dark.

The... thing that'd done this to Dark (because you could hardly call him a copy of the theif anymore) slid it's vision from Dark to Daisuke. It was at this time that Daisuke noticed that the smell of putrid flesh was beginning to overwhelm him. He wanted to vomit, but, due to the fact that he'd had little to eat or drink over the past few days, nothing came out but a dry retch.

The mutated Dark saw that Daisuke was becoming sick at the sight of him and scowled deeply. His lips peeled back, revealing that gray row of rotten teeth, as a growl was emitted from deep within his throat.

"What is it?" he asked Daisuke in an eerily calm tone. His voice drifted across the room, supernaturally.

Daisuke gulped, waiting for the lumpy flesh creature to continue, trying to block out all the sights and smells that were clogging his senses.
"What's the matter, Dai-chan?" the creature questioned. "Does my appearance disturb you? Am I not good enough for you now?"

Daisuke's mouth was dry. This figure had come into the room previous times in the past week, but he'd never had any sort of transformation like this. In fact, he was very kind and took proper care of Daisuke, despite trapping him here.

"Why can't you love me?" the mutant choked. Daisuke's eyebrows shot up, as he detected actual sorrow in this creature's voice. The non-Dark dropped to his knees with an awful squelch and held himself with arms that were far too thin. Hacking dry sobs racked the creature's shoulders, causing him to shake like a leaf in the wind.

Daisuke instantly felt the weight of guilt weighing down on his shoulders. He took a few cautious steps towards the figure who was crumpled on the ground.

Instantly the sorrow transformed to anger. Rage. His head whipped upwards, his eyes meeting Daisuke's. A tuft of hair floated to the floor as he glared at Daisuke.

"Don't come near me. Don't even talk to me," came from a mouth that was slowly becoming more and more crusted, with quick drying puss.
Despite the fact that Daisuke's mouth was dry, he gulped once more. White-hot panic settled into his veins, washing over his body in dangerous waves. His desire to vomit increased ten-fold as the creature stood up before the red head.

The shoulders of the monsters clothing ripped as protruding bones burst outwards. The creature's chest expanded sideways, further ruining his clothing.

Daisuke took a few steps backward, wanting to put as much distance between him and that quickly expanding demon. A few frantic glances to his left and right proved what Daisuke had already known; the room was small and lacked exits, the only one being behind the upset creature.

His mind raced through probable scenarios, none of them theoretically ending well. The way that Daisuke saw it, with Dark gone, there was no hope. Daisuke was positive that he should just submit to the monster and accept his fate as it stood. But, unfortunately, Daisuke realized that the situation might have progressed past the monster wanting him for his own, and crossed the line between love and hate. Seeing as the monster was seething with anger Daisuke's assumption was clearly quite close to the truth.

The monster watched Daisuke's eyes travel around the room, and could almost see the cranks turning in the boy's mind. The creature wanted to cackle, knowing that the shy boy would not do anything rash, but held back as he wasn't positive what kind of sound would escape. He shuffled slightly to the side, hoping to take Daisuke by surprise when he actually made his move. What the creature didn't realize was that Daisuke was trained to notice the slightest of motions, even if they didn't automatically jump to the forefront of his mind.

The slow movements continued as he crept closer to the red head. He was moving cautiously, as though he expected Daisuke to attack him, even though he knew for a fact that Daisuke would do no such thing.

The creature's shadow loomed over Daisuke now, and the conscious mind of the boy noticed it now. Daisuke scowled. He'd come to a decision, or rather, he'd entered a mindset; if he didn't act scared of the monster, the monster would back down slightly. There was something on television one time, telling people to do that very thing, but with bears. The creature was approximately the size of a bear, so Daisuke figured it might work the same.

He was wrong. So very wrong. The creature took this defiant look in the offensive, reached out and struck Daisuke across the face with a massive fist-like appendage. The small boy flew across the room as his nose burst with crimson blood. Daisuke coughed as the blood trickled over his mouth, as well as down his throat.

He immediately jumped up and met the creature's gaze. Daisuke could no longer read any human emotion in the eyes of his captor; no sorrow, no anger, just nothing. It was as if the thing had created a blank place in his mind, and let only animal instincts take over.
Daisuke instantly knew he couldn't fight this thing. 'This is impossible! I can't do this! Dark couldn't fight him, what chance do I even have?! Ugh, I should have trained more. Mom was right...' Daisuke's thoughts were caught in an endless loop of self-deprecation. The monster lunged at him, and Daisuke lept out of the way, his mind still in a dark place.

"C'mon, Dai-chan, hit me. Defeat me. Do it," the monster slurred. He could see Daisuke's thoughts as clear as day. The boy was like an open book. His heart was on his sleeve. And the monster took advantage of that to the fullest extent. He continued to taunt Daisuke and the thoughts continued to run through Daisuke's mind.

Daisuke became more and more discouraged with each passing second. He took a brave glance at Dark's motionless form, noticing how there was a puddle of blood seeping out from underneath Dark. Daisuke knew that Dark needed medical attention as soon as was possible, but, again, the feelings of helplessness and despair overwhelmed him.

"Well, Dai-chan, I'm waiting," the monster jeered. There was no response from Daisuke as his face clearly said that his mind was still focusing on the the despair of the situation.

'I can't do this. I need Dark. He always rescues me, just in time,' Daisuke's thoughts were racing. 'If I wait long enough maybe that can happen again. Maybe Dark will pull through . . .' Another glance at Dark's body, though, told otherwise. He was pale, exceedingly so, and desperately needed medical attention. Daisuke gulped, uncertainly.

'Dark won't rescue me. Dark can't rescue me. I . . . I have to do this . . . But I can't. There's no possible way for me to even dream of being capable of defeating this guy. T-There's just no way . . .' Daisuke's thoughts were caught in a loop. There was no way out of this circle that he was trapped in, in his mind.

"You." Daisuke heard the monster creeping across the floor. "You're pathetic. Dark could never love you. He was lying." The creature provoked Daisuke's thoughts of self-hatred.

Daisuke heard these words and scowled. For whatever reason, he was insulted. This monster didn't know a thing about him, what right did he have for insulting him? And, really, what right did he have to say that Dark didn't love him? Dark had assured Daisuke on several occasions that his love was pure. He didn't pressure Daisuke into anything he really didn't care to do. Dark loved everything about Daisuke; he would even sacrifice his life for Daisuke's, in a heartbeat.

At this thought, Daisuke's heart felt cold. Dark would sacrifice anything for Daisuke, yet Daisuke was too afraid to even try. 'What kind of thanks for loving me is that? Why do I have to be such a coward?! I need to stop this now. Dark would do anything for me . . . And I should do the same for him' Daisuke smirked. 'After all, he is my most precious person.' And with that, his mind was made up. He would destroy this monster, in the name of the phantom thief, then return home and continue on with life. Daisuke's smirk grew larger.

"Thanks mom . . ." he muttered to himself, mentally thanking Emiko for the over-the-top training he received. Daisuke's feet shifted into a stance that showed he was in complete control of his center of gravity and his body.

The thing stared. He hadn't expected Daisuke to grow a pair and get ready to fight. No, the monster was pretty sure that Daisuke would sink into his thoughts completely, and give up. It didn't matter though; Dark couldn't defeat him, so why would Daisuke be able to?
At least, that was the creature's original thought. Truth be told, he didn't even see the first kick coming. All the monster knew was that he was suddenly flying across the room. Before the monster could hit the wall, Daisuke was behind him again, fiercely punching him directly where his spine would be, were he human.

The monster cried out in pain and he was flung to the ground. Daisuke landed on top of him, Daisuke's feet digging into the creature's back. Daisuke wanted to laugh, but held back as it seemed malicious and premature. A lot could still go wrong in the future, seeing as the monster still had a lot of energy.

Daisuke tumbled off the creature's back as the creature stood, though Daisuke quickly landed on his feet. He could do this. This was no problem. The thoughts of self-deprecation were completely out of his mind as his moved with grace and confidence. Daisuke evaded a barrage of fists with ease.

'This is more simple than some of the things that mom has sent at me before,' Daisuke mused, evading more strikes to his person. 'Maybe if I keep avoiding the attacks he'll tire himself out and we can leave.'

The creature recognized that Daisuke was slowly becoming more and more enthused about this, and slowed his attacks. He knew how to play this game. His body began to morph again as bones began to stick out of his arms dangerously. Daisuke saw this and quickly put distance between them.

Daisuke watched in morbid fascination as the creature began to evolve into something less and less human. The monster's arms lengthened considerably becoming awkwardly long, still with the bones protruding outwards. The creature's skin was cracking open; blood and pus were flowing freely from these wounds. The smell that had previously overwhelmed Daisuke's senses was now unbearably strong, causing the red-head to cough violently.

Daisuke attempted to shake the smell out of his head, then jumped at the monster, in, what he hoped was, a surprise attack. The monster was not paying attention, but as soon as Daisuke had gotten close another limb sprouted from the creature's chest area. This limb, if it could be called that, hit Daisuke directly and shot him backwards to where he stood before.

Daisuke wheezed; he'd gotten minorly winded from that strike. His lungs quickly filled with air and he was ready to fight again. Daisuke catapulted himself at the creature, his hands ready to punch. The monster, again, didn't see him coming, as his eyes were filled with the mixture of blood and goo.

Daisuke smashed the demon's face with his fist, hearing a crunch, signifying that something was broken. Of course, Daisuke couldn't tell you what was broken; there was no nose visible any longer. The monster took a step back, and flinched when he saw the look in Daisuke's eye.
Daisuke, for the first time in his life, wanted to hurt someone. He had been taking secret glances at Dark's motionless form this entire fight, noticing how Dark's breathing was lessening, becoming astonishingly thin. Daisuke was quickly becoming more and more agitated at the lack of time that he was allotted to get rid of this demon-thing, before Dark would have irreparable damage done to his brain and the rest of his system.

Daisuke drastically accelerated his movements, thrashing his arms around, in the general direction of the beast. The beast noticed that Daisuke was becoming more and more desperate in his strikes. The monster knew that Daisuke would soon tire himself out, and opted for Daisuke's earlier plan to wait it out.

That moment didn't come. The monster was over-encumbered with the collective weight of his appendages, and not to mention his vision was still impaired from the blood seeping into them every time they were open. The creature was far too slow to dodge anything that Daisuke was throwing at him. He was held victim to Daisuke's spiteful gaze as Daisuke's hands whipped in several different directions. There was a determination in Daisuke's eyes that was unrivaled in the monster's mind, as he'd only met two people in his life.

Daisuke was fighting to his fullest, but found that instead of getting tired, he was only getting more energized. Daisuke didn't know where this strength was coming from, but he did know that every time he looked in Dark s direction he gained more and more power. Which confounded him, yet he welcomed it happily. Daisuke continued to pummel the creature.

Dark was so cold. He'd returned to consciousness in a state of panic, almost. Dark couldn't feel his fingertips, so he tried to pull his hands close to himself to conserve warmth. Dark had no energy, and not to mention that his wounds hurt far too much to move, and couldn't manage to get his hands close. He let out a low whimper in response to this. His eyes opened, blearily, and they traveled around the room, until they settled on Daisuke.

Dark's jaw would have dropped had it not been sore and a challenge to do so. Daisuke was fighting, well, against the demon. Dark found that a feeling of pride for Daisuke swell through his chest, warming him slightly. He smirked slightly, before wincing because of the pain. Dark coughed softly; the sound was not heard over the noise of Daisuke s fists whipping around and hitting the monster.

Daisuke was still taking occasional glances at Dark, but it was impossible to tell that Dark had woken up, so Daisuke continued to fight as callously as he could. Daisuke was not a malicious person, but when the creature hurt Dark, something inside Daisuke snapped. He wanted revenge like never before, taking out his rage physically, instead of just shouting as per usual.

The monster was out of strength. Not completely of course, but he was very close. There was no way he could keep this fight up in this condition. There were only two options in this sort of situation, according to the monster s current mind-set : bow down, accept defeat, and hope that Daisuke could still be capable of mercy, or he could do something that he honestly never wanted to do. With another strike to his head, the monster had made up his mind.

Daisuke didn't know what had happened. One moment the creature had been right in front of him, and the next the creature was across the room, looming over Dark's torso. Daisuke didn't even have time to shout before the creature had reached down and grabbed Dark by the shirt on his back.

Dark felt the world spin as he rose into the air. His eyes, which he had closed again out of exhaustion, opened thickly as Daisuke s worried face came into view. The red head flew across the room and stood in front of Dark, grinning.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed, cheerfully.

Dark didn't reply. Dark couldn t reply. He coughed weakly, some blood sputtering out of his mouth and onto Daisuke s shirt. Daisuke's ecstatic expression quickly darkened and transformed to worry. Daisuke glared at the monster holding Dark up.

The monster smirked at Daisuke. "Oh? You've stop hitting me . . ." he commented. No matter how confidently he said that, the creature knew that his strength was quickly diminishing; Dark was heavy.

Put him down, Daisuke demanded. Dark, who was still conscious, noticed that Daisuke s stutter was non-existent when he spoke like this, and again pride for the boy amplified the warmth in his chest. Daisuke took a menacing step toward the beast. Said beast slightly quivered at this, which made Daisuke smirk, happily almost.

"If you don't let him go now . . . No, if you don't let us go now, I will be the end of you." There was no hesitation in Daisuke's voice and Dark noticed this. Something about the way Daisuke was acting frightened him. Daisuke was not being himself; he was not meek. Daisuke was acting tough, and threatening others, which was clearly very out of Daisuke's character. Dark's worried increased by ten-fold when Daisuke's hands were raised again, into a challenging position.

The monster wanted this all to stop. He'd liked the mindless infatuation that he had been blessed with before he called Daisuke here. Sure, the boy was adorable, yet there was something about him that sent the monster packing at this point. Maybe it was the fact that Daisuke absolutely detested him. Actually, that was probably it.

The monster bowed his head and let Dark fall to the floor. Daisuke fell to his knees after the violet haired male, attempting to get underneath him, to cushion Dark s fall.

"Dark? Dark!" Daisuke shouted, holding Dark's form. The thief's eyes opened once more and a small smile graced his face.

"Thanks," Dark said, simply. "B-But . . ." he coughed, "I could have done this myself."

Daisuke laughed through tears that were springing to his eyes. The monster carefully regarded the two as they reunited. He wondered what would happen now, as the fight would not, nor could not, continue in his favor. He started to back away, thinking that there would be some way that he could escape before being absolutely destroyed by Daisuke.

He was unsuccessful. Daisuke noticed him as soon as he started moving, and put Dark onto the ground softly. Daisuke stood up and glared fiercely at the monster.

"You almost murdered the most important person to me," Daisuke started, dangerously. The monster kept backing up, not knowing what to say. "This is unforgivable, in every sense." There was a long silence after these words were said. Neither knew what to do. Daisuke wanted the monster to pay for what he did, but Daisuke knew that it was not up to him to make that decision. The monster just wanted to make it out of this situation alive. A worried expression graced the face of the monster for the first time. Daisuke's eyes softened.

The monster noticed this. "Don't look at me like that," he remarked angrily.

Daisuke's eyes softened further. "I think... that you and the rest of humanity are much closer than you think," Daisuke commented. The monster's eyes narrowed as if Daisuke was insulting him, but he said nothing. Daisuke continued. "You... just take your emotions too far. In the future, you might wanna try to control that," Daisuke advised.

Dark, who was lying on the floor listening to all of this happen, wondered how exactly this confrontation turned into a session in emotional control. He pondered this for a few moments, but quickly remembered who he was thinking about. It was Daisuke. The kid had a compassionate streak that ran down into his core, making it impossible for him to do too much harm, intentionally. Something about the way the creature was holding himself, maybe an expression, caused Daisuke to realize who exactly he was again. Dark smiled.

Daisuke continued to lecture the beast about his misconduct, but the monster was almost ignoring him. He could hear Daisuke, although he was not processing anything the boy was saying. Instead, the monster was thinking about what he could have done differently, to make this situation end in Daisuke being madly in love with him. It was quite a few minutes later, when the creature noticed Daisuke glance at Dark happily, when he finally caught on.

"There was nothing... Absolutely nothing I could have done," he mumbled to himself, incredibly depressed.

Daisuke's ears perked. "What did you say?"

"There was nothing I could have done to make you fall in love with me," the creature stated, blankly. His voice no longer carried the sound of death, and was only hollow. Daisuke blinked.

"Well... No. There was nothing, but that's not because of you. Before Dark came to rescue me you were very kind to me. You are a good..." Daisuke surveyed the creature before him, "...individual."

Dark listened to this, wondering where it would go. His heat beat softy in his ears during the silence that followed Daisuke's statement. The monster gulped.

He wanted to say something in return, but he couldn't. It wasn't like Daisuke even said that he liked the creature, Daisuke just thought that he was kind. That was nothing. This whole conversation was empty now. The monster slumped onto the ground, defeated.

"Go. Leave," he ordered.

Daisuke blinked, confused. He didn't question though. Dark was hurt, badly, and needed medical attention. Daisuke figured he could return later to check up on the monster, although he knew that Dark would never let him do such a reckless thing. Daisuke sighed and ambled over to Dark's body.

Heaving the thief up onto his feet, and helping Dark walk, Daisuke make his way over to the doorway. Daisuke paused in the doorway, looking back at his captor. Daisuke did nothing but stare at the creature drooping on the floor. He wanted to say something, apologize, anything, but couldn't. Daisuke sighed again and turned and left.

At this point, Dark was almost unconscious again, but when the monster said his final words, Dark's ears caught the sound.

"Daisuke . . . Tell him how you feel."

Dark shot out of the limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness. He was now fully awake. Daisuke stiffened at the monster's words. Daisuke stared down at his feet and stopped again. Dark noticed that Daisuke's face was as red as a cherry and internally smirked.

Daisuke, who thought that Dark had passed out, because the violet haired male was certainly not helping in the whole walking process, started to talk to himself. "I don't . . . t-think . . . I-I can."

Dark wanted to smack himself. 'Really, Daisuke, back to stuttering?' he thought, annoyed. A moment passed and Daisuke began to walk again. A few moments after that, about the time that the two protagonists reached the stairs, Dark fully realized what Daisuke had said. Dark's heart swelled (rather painfully); he couldn't wait until they were back in the real world to confront Daisuke about these words.

Dark lived to make Daisuke uncomfortable.

Hm. An update in less than six months.
That's gotta be pretty awesome.
(This is the longest chapter yet!)

-Taryn