Hey everyone! I realised there wasn't any fics with Cody as the main character, which is a shame so here is one with him. This is set around five years after the Diaboromon movie. This is also written for the Valentine's to White Day Advent for Day 3: write for a character you've never written before.

Chapter One: A Place Where We Don't Belong

"Go TK!" Cody could hear Kari screaming from besides him and he wanted to focus too. It was a bright sunny day, perfect weather for the basketball match that was going on currently. He wanted to be able to cheer his friend on but he felt so tired. He felt drained and exhausted. He hadn't slept too well last night. Something was intercepting his dreams, someone was calling out for him but he didn't understand who it was. It was constantly reaching out like someone was trying to claw through the depths of his mind and pull him away from well…the world. The thought was a scary one but that was how it had felt.

He tried to shake these thoughts away. He needed to be supportive of his friend and DNA partner right now. T.K. would be disappointed if he zoned out in the middle of his game. Or he might understand. Knowing how kind of a person he was, he probably would understand. In fact, maybe he should talk to T.K. and he would be able to help him out a little. He didn't even know why he was so dazed. Well, he did. He had not slept well at all last night. However, he forced his eyes to remain open until T.K. shot another goal. A small smile flitted his features, however then his vision really did blur. This was not a good time! T.K.'s team had not won the game yet. No, he had to...he had to focus. This was wrong.

"Yolei," was all he managed to murmur before the world went black.

T.K. was ecstatic when their team got another point. All his friends had come to cheer him on which was always a nice morale booster. However, he stopped in his tracks when he heard Yolei's ear-piercing shriek of "CODY!" ring into his ears. Yolei was usually loud, so it was hard to miss it, but this time, she also sounded panicked and worried. His heart thudded wildly in his chest and a sinking feeling entered his stomach.

The game hadn't finished yet. They were winning but hadn't won. However, T.K. couldn't focus on the game anymore. He spun around, his eyes widening as he saw Cody passed out in Yolei's arms. A surge of protectiveness raced through him. What was wrong with Cody? Had he been unwell? He was his DNA partner and friend, he should have noticed if there was something wrong with him.

"Oi T.K.!" One of his teammembers cried. "You're getting distracted!"

T.K. shook his head and stepped back. "I'm sorry...I..." He ran towards the bleachers to join his friends. He heard his team members calling out to him and whilst he didn't blame them, he really cared more about Cody right now. Cody always came first. He rushed over to his friends. "Guys, what happened?"

"We're not sure," Kari said, looking anxious. "He didn't seem all that focused since morning. But he wanted to come support you at the game, even though we told him to go home and rest. And now, all of us were so focused on cheering you on, none of us noticed how he was feeling."

T.K. frowned at that, kneeling next to Cody's side. The emergency paramedics as well as Joe were checking on him already.

"Joe?" T.K. said, trying to keep the panic out of his own voice.

Joe looked at T.K. "His heart rate is rapid at the moment."

The paramedics ushered the unconscious Cody into an ambulance, before one of them turned to the group.

"Which one of you want to go with Mr. Hida?" A female ambulance officer asked.

"T.K., you go," Kari said, before Yolei could volunteer. "You did leave your game after all."

T.K. was grateful for Kari's understanding about the situation and nodded to her. He wanted to go anyway but at the same time, he didn't know what to say to the others. He looked to his brother, Matt for a moment feeling quite at a loss. He didn't want to leave the others behind but at the same time, he wanted to go with Cody. It seemed as if he didn't need to say anything though.

Matt smiled. "Relax, T.K., we'll meet you at the hospital. Everything will be fine."

Yolei sniffled. "I'm sorry for not taking good care of him, T.K.! I ruined the game for you guys. You were so close to winning."

Kari reached over and squeezed Yolei's hand. "It's not your fault."

Davis nodded immediately. "Yeah! We should have all been watching Cody's back. He wasn't well since this mornin-ow! Ken! What was that for?" Ken had not-so-subtly whacked him over the head.

"Timing, Davis," Ken muttered, sounding exasperated. "T.K.'s worried enough already."

Davis looked sheepish. "Oops sorry TP."

Worried was a small word to put how he was feeling right now but it did sum up some of it. Guilt wracked through him. Cody had wanted to come support him at his game and because of that, he had passed out. Not to mention, he wasn't feeling well. So much for being a good friend.

How could I not notice? What kind of DNA partner am I? Why didn't Cody come to me? Was my match that important to him that he didn't want to distract me? Knowing Cody that was probably the reason, considering his younger friend was always very considerate of everyone but he wished the other wouldn't be at times. He had clearly needed help so he should have asked for it. Or I should have sensed it, at least.

Their heart beats were in sync. They could hear each other's heartbeats. Not even he and Kari had ever been in that much sync. Yet when Cody really needed his best friend and DNA partner, he wasn't there. Pushing these thoughts back (after all, wallowing in self-pity wouldn't help), he focused on the situation at hand and managed a smile at his friends and brother.

"Don't worry about it," T.K. said quietly. "I'll meet you guys there then okay?"

Matt reached out, squeezing his shoulder. "We'll be right there with you as soon as we inform Cody's mother and grandpa as well."

T.K. frowned at that. "Don't tell his grandpa. He's already been so sick lately. Cody wouldn't want to worry him with this and until we know what's wrong, we shouldn't worry him."

Matt sighed a little. "Good point. Okay, we'll just inform his mother then."

T.K. smiled briefly at that, before running onto the ambulance and the doors to it closed. He sat besides Cody, his face falling into a frown. He reached to touch the other's hand and shivered a little as he realised how cold it was. "Cody...hang in there okay? We're going to bring you back. You can't quit on us okay? You're a fighter like the rest of us after all." He knew Cody couldn't hear him, probably might not even respond to what he was saying, but somehow he felt doing something was better than doing nothing.

His heart fell as he realised he couldn't hear Cody's heartbeat. It was like it was gone. There was nothing there. Just an empty void. The thought clutched at T.K.'s heart. Cody was just unconscious right? Then why had their connection disappeared? What was happening to his friend? Was this related to the digital world somehow? This had never happened before. Their connection had never faltered no matter the situation and he hated the fact that he didn't know anything about what was going on.

Once again, he felt like he was the little eight-year-old from the first adventure, the one who was the last one to be useful to the team. Now, even when he had grown stronger, he felt powerless. He didn't know what was wrong with Cody, only that it was more serious than they thought it was. Intuition told him there was more to this than Cody not feeling well.

Armadillomon lay, snoozing off or trying to as he watched the others with amusement.

"You two quit playing around!" Gatomon scolded Patamon and Veemon as they ran around, playing a game of tag with one another.

Suddenly, however the armadillo was snapped out of it, when a strange feeling ran through him.

"Guys?" Armadillomon said, alarmed causing the others to stop.

Patamon flew and sat on Armadillomon's head, looking down at him. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost! Well...you have seen a ghost before but you didn't look that freaked out at that time!"

Armadillomon shook his head. "Didn't you guys feel that?"

Veemon blinked. "Feel what? I didn't feel anything."

Gatomon frowned and walked to them. "Armadillomon, did you have a bad dream? You do look a bit shaken."

Wormmon crawled over as well. Hawkmon flew besides them.

Armadillomon didn't know how to explain what he had felt. For a moment, he had felt as if he weren't really there. Like he was disappearing somehow. Suddenly, the nauseous feeling hit him more, only this time in large force. He actually felt like his body was disintegrating into data.

"Armadillomon!" Patamon's alarmed voice cried.

Armadillomon blinked. Patamon was no longer in his head but a blurred image in front of him.

"Armadillomon!" Hawkmon called out.

He could hear all his friends crying out his name. He wanted to call back, to reach out but they all disappeared from sight and suddenly in another place. In contrast, to the lush green forest and soothing wind flying by, this place was the opposite. The wind was cold and the forest was purple. Not even black, but a dark purple.

In the sky, there was purple flashes of thunder, like those in a thunderstorm only there was no sound emitted from them.

The armadillo did wonder where on earth he was at the moment until he saw a figure standing there. At first, he didn't recognise who this was but as he moved closer, his eyes widened as he realised who it was.

"Cody!" he said, running over. What was his partner doing here?

Cody slowly turned towards him, his expression looking crestfallen. "Armadillomon...we're not supposed to exist here."