Name: The Flip Side of Life
Chapter One: Trick or Treat?
Author: xxBoppingAllTheWayxx
Disclaimer: Digimon and all related terms are not my property. Shame...
Notes: Happy Hallowe'en! Boo!
Word Count: 1674
Yagami Taichi sat at his desk, staring intently at the quadratic equation that was written in his textbook. Thoroughly confused, he turned his head and glanced at the blonde sitting next to him. Rather surprisingly, Ishida Yamato didn't complain or hesitate when moving his book slightly so that the brunette could read the answer.
Tau flashed a grin at his friend, who sarcastically rolled his eyes, before writing down the correct solution. A small bleep emanated from inside of his desk, and his senses told him that the same thing had occurred in his friend's, also. Lifting the lid slightly, he reached inside and began groping around, his friend mirroring his every move.
His Digivice, metallic-blue in colour, was vibrating with digital energy. He, nor any of the other DigiDestined in his generation, had witnessed any malfunctions or anomalies with regards to their Digivices, and so he was, quite naturally, concerned.
As luck would have it, the school bell rang at that moment, signalling that it was the end of class and that they now had an hour and a half for lunch. In unison, both boys returned their books to the safety of their desks, and quickly left the classroom. Silently, they rushed into the computer lab, before Yamato had to voice a concern.
"How're we going to get into the DigiWo--?"
He was cut off by his own Digivice which began to shake violetly. Horrified, Tai saw his own Digivice darken until it resembled the Digivice once held by the self-proclaimed Digimon Emperor. He raised his gaze until his eyes were locked with Matt's, before the nearest computer burst into life, pulling them through the strangely-open portal into the Digital World.
Landing with a bump on his ass, Yamato sourly got to his feet, dusting himself down. He extended a hand to Taichi, who accepted it gratefully. The pair of teenagers looked around, searching for some sign of where the portal had dumped them.
The DigiWorld looked startlingly different from their last visit. The terrain seemed barren, and the landscape was darkened, illuminated by only the light of the DigiMoons. Slinging an arm around the blonde's hips, and ignoring Matt's indignant sigh, the duo began to walk.
It wasn't too long before they discovered that they were not the only ones to have received the distress call. Tachikawa Mimi, her brown hair now dyed vibrant pink, had changed drastically in appearance, but judging by the massive hug she pulled Tai and Matt into, the boys realised that she hadn't had her personality changed.
After a few more minutes, the trinity found the rest of the DigiDestined, huddled together and looking forlorn.
"Anyone have any idea why we were all brought here?" Hikari's voice sounded quiet and timid. She was about to continue when they heard a loud cry from overhead. Each Chosen Child looked skyward and tried to locate the source of the shrill shriek.
Silhouetted against one of the moons, were three flying Digimon, whose appearance gave the humans below a feeling of relief. Aquilamon, Birdramon and Kabuterimon dived towards the ground, landing safely and gracefully between the youngsters.
Without a word, the Chosen Children split into three groups, one group mounting Birdramon, the second with Aquilamon, and the final climbed onto Kabuterimon's hard exoskeleton. Five minutes later, the three Digimon landed in a quiet area of grassland, framed by cavernous hills.
From one of the aforementioned caverns, Agumon and Veemon ran out to greet the arrivers, a solemn look etched onto their faces. After grinning at their respective partners, they turned to Takaishi Takeru and Kari.
"Something has happened..." began Veemon.
Agumon continued where his fellow Digimon had stalled, "...to Patamon and Gatomon..." before stalling imself.
"...something bad..."
"...they're inside the cave..."
The rest of the tale was left unsaid, as T.K. and Hikari joined hands and ran into the cave, the rest of the DigiDestined following quickly. Gomamon, Palmon, Armadillomon, Wormmon and Gabumon were clustered around something in the corner. With an increasing sense of dread, the two Chosen Children approached the object of the creatures' interest.
Patamon, small and pig-like, lay unconscious next to the feline champion Gatomon, likewise comatose. What worried the humans though, was the colourisation of their partners. While Patamon had once boasted and orange-and-cream colour scheme, this had vanished and been replaced by dark blue and coal black. Gatomon, however, had suffered more drastic changes. Her pristine white were was tarnished and scruffy, and had an eerie midnight-black hue. Her yellow gloves were red, and her tail-ring was missing...
Takeru hung his head in despair, feeling helpless and recalling the time Patamon had given his life in order to defeat Devimon, before he felt Hikari clutch onto his arm and sob silently into his shoulder. He didn't look up when Gabumon, his brother's parter Digimon, began to recap the incident that brought about Gatomon and Patamon's condition.
"We were out gathering food, when we felt the ground begin to tremble. We all looked up, and in the distance we could see a wave of darkness sweeping towards us, so we all turned to run..."
Palmon padded over, and extended an arm around Kari, attempting to comfort her. She continued Gabumon's retelling, "...we all made it to this cave, excvept Patamon, who wasn't as fast as us... the swarthiness was closing in on him... so Gatomon ran out, and tried to knock him to safety... he got so close to the entrance of the cave before looking back to see Gatomon enveloped in the shadow. He tried to clear it with some bubbles, but it didn't work... and then it caught him...", and she tailed off, the rest of the tale obvious.
Joe and Izzy knelt between the two comatose creatures, checking their condition. Izzy anounced that they seemed okay, but they wouldn't know for sure until the pair awoke. Feeling crowded, everyone vacated the cave, and regrouped outside, leaving the pair of unconscious Digimon to their slumber.
"What a coincidence..." Mimi began, seemingly lost in her own world.
His curiosity piquing, Taichi couldn't resist inquiring about the apparent happenstance.
"It's October the Thirty-First..."
"So?" Yolei walked over and stood alongside her idol.
"It's Hallowe'en..."
This time, it was Ken who joined the conversation. "The two strongest Digimon in our group have been nearly killed, and you're wondering what costume you should wear?" His tone of voice emphasised his incredulous feeling, and it was obvious just how concerned he was.
Wormmon, nestling in his partner's arms, looked up at the violet-haired youth. "Why are they the strongest?" The insectoid Digimon sounded almost jealous of the attention that his comrades were getting. Almost... In a silent response, Ken gently stroked the Digimon's small body.
"Of course not!" Mimi sounded offended. "I'm just saying, it's Hallowe'en, the day when ghosts and demons and devils walk the Earth..." She paused for breath, before finishing. "...and, on the same day, something corrupts the DigiWorld?"
Taichi pondered on this for a moment, the idea playing back and forth in his imagination. "Maybe it's not a coincidence... maybe it's connected!"
Gatomon's eyes opened sharply, the red irises sparkling cruelly. "It's okay - they've gone." Her drawl was slower, and more seductive, and she spoke directly to Patamon.
"About bloody time too..." Whispered Patamon as he stood upright.
"What would you say if we go and give them a surprise they'll never forget?" The dark feline queried intimately, flashing a killer grin as her cohort nodded his agreement. She cracked her neck menacingly before walking alongside him, into the starry area outside.
Patamon coughed to let their presence be known to the congregation gathered outside. Kari fell to her knees, clutching the crest tightening around her neck, while Takeru grabbed his waist in pain as his D-3 Digivice began to burn him.
BlackGatomon and the corrupted Patamon glanced at each other, smirking, before taking each other's hand and jumping into the air.
"Patamon, Dark Digivolve to..." Takeru squealed and collapsed as the Digivice sapped his energy. He was stopped from hitting the ground by his brother catching him. The Digivice continued to glow, empowering the pig-like Digimon with Digital Data Energy.
"BlackGatomon, Digivolve to..." Hikari groaned, fighting the pain, as she broke the chain of the crest strangling her, and threw it a distance away from her. She watched, in horror, as the pink crest of Light shattered and reformed, now purple and bearing the symbol of Darkness.
Black light surrounded the floating Digimon as they finished their Digivolution. The DigiDestined recoiled in fear and shock as they recognised the pair in front of them.
"DEVIMON" the voice boomed, while a higher tone shrieked "LADYDEVIMON!" into the night air.
Grinning maniacally, LadyDevimon extended her spirit arm, and knocked the Digimon to the floor, enveloping them in her Darkness Wave attack, identical to the one that corrupted her earlier. But, before it could completely smother her old allies, she was knocked from the sky by Iori, armed with a large branch.
Devimon roared in anger as his partner-in-crime was attacked, and he raised Iori into the air, before chucking him into his friends. He raised his hands, and the older generation of Chosen Children knew what was about to happen.
"Hell's Contract!" Dark light shot from the Fallen-Angel Humanoid, each one hitting a different Youth. The crests of the older kids and the Digimentals of the younger children began to darken, as they became corrupted by the pure evil overcoming them.
"See you in Hell... Happy Hallowe'en..." The evil Digimon smirked, before joining his lover, who snaked her arm around his waist, a twisted resemblance to the blonde and brunette boys earlier. The pair rose into the air, and soared towards the horizon; leaving the fatigued 'heroes' to tend to their wounds.
Davis groaned in mild pain as he got to his feet, his eyes searching the skies for the pair of assailants. "Happy bloody Hallowe'en to you, too!"
A Taste of What's to Come: Devimon and LadyDevimon rejoice in their victory, while their old team try and get to grips with their new crests, eggs, and partners...
Sweet Dreams, and Pleasant Nightmares!
Joey xxx