Another one-shot. Angsty-ish. I fixed it up a bit, but angst still isn't my strong suit...

Disclaimer on profile.

"YOU STUPID, STUPID GIRL!!!" Yolei screamed, kneeling on the couch. "STOP BREATHING! HE'S GOING TO FIND YOU!!!"

Yolei gasped for breath, exerted as she leaned against her boyfriend and Ken whispered soothingly, "Sweetheart, it's just a movie—a scary movie. They can't hear you."

"I know…" Yolei pouted. "But I could never understand why people in these movies always seem to move towards the creepy noises, as oppose to running away, like I would…"

Ken chuckled. "Not everyone is as smart as you, Yolei. You just have to be patient with them."

Yolei asked mockingly, "Like you have to with Davis?"

"Exactly like with Davis." Ken agreed solemnly, nodding his head.

Yolei giggled and said seductively, "You know, I'm all scared after that terrifying movie… want to comfort me?"

"You never were very good at being vague and mysterious, you know."

"I know. Now come on, let's go—I was never very good at waiting either."

Clad in only his sexy plaid boxers, Ken continued his main task of making Yolei purr with pleasure. She was very responsive tonight—it must have been all that chocolate—and Ken grinned devilishly at his easy victory.

"Oh, Ken…" his lover sighed. She giggled at his completely satisfied expression and suggested naughtily, "Want to play a game?"

Her words were breathy, and Ken couldn't refuse her when she was that cute and helpless.

"What kind of game?" he asked back, biting down on her neck to mark her pale shoulder.

She groaned and responded, "… you know… a kinky game."

"You're going to have to be just a bit more specific, dear. I'm not a mind reader."

He stared down at her with his intense, mischievous eyes, and she got caught in them. She immediately blurted out unthinkingly, "I wanna be your slave." Ken stiffened, but Yolei didn't notice, too caught up in her fantasy. "And you can whip me because I'll misbehave, and I'll call you Master Ichijoji and it'll be kinky and fun and… Ken?"

Ken was barely breathing now, and Yolei looked up at him in concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked, propping herself up on her elbows, and running a finger along the side of his tense jaw.

He flinched at her feather-soft touch and she frowned, trying to remember what she had divulged that would render him so immobile.

Her memory flipped through the past couple of moments and she uttered softly, "Oh shit… I'm so sorry, Ken. I wasn't thinking, and I totally forgot about the whole Digimon-Emperor thing, and I wish I hadn't opened my mouth, and again, I'm really sorry, and I hope you can forgive me because I didn't mean to blurt that out, despite the fact that I've been thinking about it for the past few days, and it's just been on my mind a lot, but I really hope you're not going to be mad at me for very long because our anniversary is coming up, and you know I hate it when you're mad, and… Ken?"

Ken hadn't heard a word of her rant. Reminiscence was a bitch, and Ken was learning just how much.

"I'll be back in a minute… gotta go to the bathroom…" he said in a strangled whisper.

"Ken!" Yolei called out after him as he slid out the door of the bedroom in a sort of trance.

His vision shook, and the memories overcame him.

"Get to work!" I shouted to the Digimon slaving away for me.

My whip cracked through the air, and they all flinched like the cowards they were. I chuckled at their stupidity, and observed my new world. All was going according to plan. Soon I'd have control over hundreds of miles of conquered territory, and no one could stop me. I was invincible.

One of the Digimon deemed himself more significant than the vital construction of my magnificent new world, and he limped to a nearby lake to get a drink. I scowled, disturbed by his sense of self-importance.

"You there!" I yelled, pointing at him. "Get back to work!"

My whip sliced through the air once again, and he flinched, but didn't get back in line.

"I'm thirsty," he croaked. "Please, just let me get a drink of water."

"NO!" I barked, infuriated. So, he thought water was more essential than the creation of my utopia? "GET BACK TO WORK!"

This time my whip came down hard against his back, and he screeched in pain. I grinned at the sight of this insect learning its place in the new world, and I laughed maniacally.

Ken groaned, hating his former self and all he stood for. Why did this have to happen now? Wasn't it bad enough that he couldn't go a day without feeling regret for the atrocious deeds he'd performed so long ago? Hadn't he paid enough for all of that yet? The toilet came into view as he threw up, once again reaching into the darkest corners of his mind to dredge up a repressed memory.

I paced in my computer room, enraged and not happy. Who did these kids think they were? Superheroes? The mere thought made me want to rip my hair out. It was such a sweet, noble notion, and I couldn't stand it. Their will to do good in the world and to stop me from my goals disgusted my very being. I was fucking Ken Ichijouji, and I wasn't about to let some scrawny kids interrupt me from my work.

I laughed cruelly as I slowly realized that they actually thought they could do something worthwhile in this lowly place—and overthrow me.

My monitors showed me their faces, each one of them staring at me with their childish beliefs and hopes. They dreamt of a Digimon-Emperor-free world, but I wouldn't let that happen. I was here to stay.

I observed their features, memorizing them and searching for weaknesses I could exploit in order to squash them once and for all. The blond guy—he seemed overly sensitive. And the little one—what kind of a hairdo was that anyways? The leader—overconfident and cocky. The brown-haired girl—too forgiving. And the last girl—overzealous. They all looked like a bunch of misfits no one wanted, so they ended up here, ruining the image of my peaceful world. Or trying to, at least. I imagined crushing them all, feeling my whip sever the skin on their backs, and my fist pounding into their skulls as I beat the nobility and heroism out of them. They would call me Master and they would bloody well like every singly second of it.

Ken panted inside the bathroom, his heart pounding and tears running down his face as the recollections washed through his mind, forcing him to suffer through reliving the very moments he wished to be rid of, once and for all. Ken desperately wanted to purge all the old memories he couldn't seem to leave behind, and he never wanted to think of them again. He wanted to be able to live his life without feeling like he owed his friends something; he didn't want to be weighed down by this horrid sensation any longer—he just wanted it to go away.

"Ken?" Yolei called out gently, slipping into the bathroom with nothing but a sheet wrapped around her pale form.

Ken looked at her blurry figure, exposed as the guilty wreck he was. She sat down beside him, pulling him into her warm, familiar embrace, and she held him until he fell asleep, where a temporary reprieve from this hell awaited him.

Reviews are appreciated... thanks.