Me: Yes, I know. I should probably be working on the Mythic Legends Saga right now, but I've hit a bit of writer's block at the moment. So I figured I'd post something else in the meantime for you all to read:D
Matt: You totally know that the title you came up with for this sucks, right? I mean, The Deal? For God's sake, could you be any less original?
Me: Hey, I was 12 when I wrote this originally! Give me a break! At least I'm going through here and revising it so doesn't sound so lame!
Matt: (snickers) Sure it doesn't…
Mimi: Now, now, sweetie. Be nice to her, will you? I mean, she is writing another Mimato for us.
Me: (smiles) And I wouldn't have it any other way! Could one of you do a disclaimer for me please?
Mimi: M&M Forever does not own Digimon, nor is she making any money for this story.
Matt: (mutters) No kidding… she couldn't make any money from her writing if her life depended on it… Digimon or not…
Me: (glares) What did you just say?!
Matt: Well, think of it this way: you may not get any money for writing this, but at least you can take credit for your sucky plot and title!
(M&M can be seen chasing Matt off-screen with a baseball bat)
Me: When I catch you, I'm going to make you regret that!
Mimi: (sweatdrops) Well, on with the story!

Chapter One: How it all began…

Matt walked into the dark, dank cave warily, unsure of what, or whom, he would find. Only this morning he'd gotten a message from one of the Digidestined, asking him to meet him here alone after breakfast. The note had claimed that the person wanted to talk with a friend about what had transpired the previous day, and that they had something very important to admit to him, something they wanted to tell him in private. That last part alone had obtained his interest, and so he'd decided he'd at the very least to go to find out what this secret was. As well as be supportive if he could, of course. He'd tried to figure out who had left him the note during the measly breakfast that morning, but everyone was keeping quiet and reflective. Each one of them had gone off and done their own thing afterwards, and he himself had made the excuse of going for a walk to clear his head. In truth, he had no idea which one of his companions he was actually supposed to be meeting, but he had his hopes.

"Hello?" he called out, but no response was made. He moved deeper and deeper into the darkness, and he thought he heard a slight moan. "Hello? Anyone there?" he called out, and yet again his words drew no reply. He paused, unsure of how deeply he wanted to travel into an area that could only barely be made out using the natural light from the entrance. It was only then that he noticed the bone-chilling draft of air that flowed past him the farther back into the cave he went, and he shivered involuntarily. The longer he stayed, the more he noticed, the more he was sure that he did not like this cave.

He stood there for perhaps a good ten minutes, letting the frigid air rush past his bare arms. While he normally had a high tolerance for cold weather, something about the wind in the cave gave him the chills. Whoever he was meeting had better get there soon, or they'd find an icicle-shaped Matt frozen in place.

'Come to think of it,' he thought to himself, 'who would be crazy enough to pick this as a meeting place?' The more he thought about it, the more he could rationalize it not being each one of his friends. T.K. had long been afraid of dark places, as had Kari. Sora would loathe leaving Tai alone to his own devices of his mind for too long after all of the way he'd been talking the night before, and he couldn't see Tai coming up with something like this at all, even in his crazed state. Izzy was probably trying to contact Gennai again, and Joe would be too worried about allergies and other things to even have thought of meeting in a cave. And there was no way Mimi was going into the cave to meet him, she liked the sunshine and warmth better than she'd ever like this cold, heartless person that lingered in a place that reflected who he was… he didn't even know why he'd hoped it would have been her when he saw that note. He didn't even know why he cared about what she thought of him. But at some point, she had started to grow on him—to the point where he would randomly find himself thinking about her, how she was doing, or what she thought.

A sudden noise that sounded like shifting rock could be heard echoing around the cave, and his head snapped to where he thought the noise had originated. But all he could see was darkness.

"Hello?" he tried again, but his voice sounded shrill and piercing to even his own ears. He wasn't one to admit to being scared, but he couldn't help but feel very nervous and insecure without Gabumon around in the Digiworld. If only his friend hadn't been captured the day before by Myotismon, like the others had, maybe he wouldn't be feeling so unnerved by this cave.

His fist clenched in anger, unwilling to acknowledge that he and the others had been powerless to stop the villain. What was worse was that now everyone seemed to be directionless, unsure of what to do, or how to get them back. If there was one thing he loathed, it was feeling vulnerable and weak, and he silently wished he could be strong like Tai. Not that he'd ever tell his friend that, it would surely go straight to the goggle-head's ego, which was big enough as it was. But out of all of them, Tai had remained the most determined to come up with a plan to rescue and free their partners before it was too late and had wandered around the night before, comforting Sora and Kari and giving brave speeches to them all of his plans. Granted none of them were very logical, or even practical, but the very fact that he had refused to show his fear of never seeing Agumon again… well… it made Matt a bit jealous, even if he didn't want to admit it.

He turned to go back out into the light, finally at the end of his tolerance for the cave. But suddenly the sound of flapping wings could be heard right behind him, and he ducked as they rushed overhead towards the entrance. Matt stiffened, hoping that they were simply just bats from the cave and not the signature mark of the one Digimon he did not want to see right now. But all hopes of that died as the bats did not fly out of the cave, but rather massed right at the entrance, blocking the light from sight.

And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he heard the one thing he'd hoped he'd never hear… a low and evil chuckle…

M&M Forever: Just a taste for now. I'm not going to post the whole thing unless I actually get people interested in this. So it's all in your hands! Also, please see my lookup, as I'm holding a Mimato fanfic contest, and I've only gotten one person who has sent me a PM about it!

And as always, please R&R! Thank you!