1. "Landslide" - Fleetwood Mac
2. "One Voice" -Brandy.
That's all the copyrighting I need to do now, besides thanking my family and friends for listening to me cackle about "my 23-page story" when I wouldn't tell them what it was about.
Updated 2006 Disclaimer: OK - I finally worked up the courage to look at my 5+-year-old stories because I'd written this one back in the day before chapters were allowed and story size was limited. The two chapters were formerly separate stories; now they are merged in one proper place as they should be. I've tweaked a bit of the content here and there as well, just where the writing style was glaringly immature. Also, I'm going to have to trust that all the attacks are properly named, because for the life of me I don't remember such trivia anymore. Off you go now!
Sixteen children and digimon stared in shock at the world around them. Even after theirunbelievable victory in which they had finally defeated the Dark Masters, the world had not been fixed, despite the fact that they could find no other adversaries. The crazy spiraled mountain was gone, but holes were everywhere, showing still-missing pieces. In one area, trees grew horizontally and grass was six feet tall.
"Umm, okay, could somebody pretty please explain to me why the world hasn't been saved yet?" asked Tai sarcastically.
"There's obviously another sinister element lurking within this realm," Izzy pointed out.
"He means there's another bad guy out here," Matt deciphered, noting everyone's quizzical expression.
"I think he needs a 'theezerus' so he can say stuff I understand," TK pouted.
"Thesaurus, TK," Matt laughed, ruffling his brother's hair. "And anything we can't understand must not be too important."
"So what's out there, anyway?" Sora asked, looking apprehensively at the surrounding forest.
"Whatever it is, you can bet it's very dangerous so I vote we all go home and forget about it," Joe said firmly. Gomamon snuck up on him and tackled him from behind. "BOO!"
"Ahhh!" he screamed, leaping several feet into the air. "What the heck was that for?" he snarled, turning on his Digimon.
"We can't forget about it. The fate of two worlds depends on us," came the simple reply.
"I guess you're right," he sighed.
"Tai, you're the leader, right? So what are we going to do?" asked Agumon.
He looked thoughtful for a moment. Before he could reply, however, there was a sudden rustle in the bushes. They waited fearfully, then gasped in surprise as a tiny pink puffball tumbled out, looking disheveled and bruised.
"Pixiemon?" gasped Mimi, scooping him into her hands He coughed and sat up weakly. "Very dangerous…you must stand up to Devimon and defeat him, but do not become injured…"
"Devimon?" asked Kari. "But Tai said Angemon destroyed him a long time ago."
"A digimon is never destroyed," Izzy reminded them, glancing up from his computer. 'Only a virus can destroy them, by deleting them - much like a computer program."
"He's right, you know," Tentomon added.
"Indeed," gasped Pixiemon. "Even failing now, I will return again one day." The small fuzzball suddenly wheezed and dissolved.
"What happened?" cried Mimi, looking at her empty hands.
"He was transferred to another area as a single byte," Izzy commented. "It'll be a long time before he's back."
"That's what happened to Wizardmon, isn't it?" Kari asked softly.
"Er, yes," Izzy said quickly. Looking at her sad face, he couldn't bear to tell her that since Wizardmon had been lost in the real world, the same laws that applied to life applied to him.
"I am getting really sick of all these stupid evil digimon!" Matt snapped angrily. "Aren't good guys always supposed to win?"
"We've been lucky so far," Sora pointed out. "We've won most of the battles."
"But not the war," Matt said dully.
"Hey, cheer up," she smiled, patting his hand. "The war isn't over yet."
"If I may be so rude as to interrupt," Gabumon drawled calmly, "may I suggest we get out of the way of that thing?" Immediately following his words, he called "Blue blaster!", spraying water from his mouth at a large flying bird.
"Zanamon!" Palmon said with a touch of alarm. The bird was a big, ugly blue brute that looked like a cross between an oversized blue jay and a pterodactyl with large teeth, claws on its wings, and a spiked tail. His eyes flashed with fire as he prepared to send an icy blast at them.
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Gabumon. Gabumon, digivolve to...Garurumon!"
"Howling Blaster!" he roared. A single shot felled the giant bird, and Garurumon shrank back to normal size.
"Great job Gabumon," TK laughed.
"Just a normal day," Gabumon said patiently. "Get up, have breakfast, digivolve, humiliate a couple bad digimon. The usual." Gatomon looked around nervously.
"Maybe we should get into a less open area, where there's fewer bad-tempered digimon," she urged. Agumon agreed with her.
After only a few minutes in the woods, TK was distracted by bunch of pretty flowers that seemed to be calling to him to pick one. "Ooooh, pretty," he said with delight, plucking a white one.
"TK? What is it?" asked Patamon, his large eyes blinking in curiosity.
"I dunno. But it's pretty, see - wanna smell it?" he asked, thrusting the flower up towards Patamon. As he moved it, a piece of paper fell out. Picking it up, he began to read slowly, sounding out the larger words written in deceptively innocent, curling script.
A pretty white flower? No. You will be the first to fall to the Dark Lord, but not the last. Beware the flower with pink and gold petals. Oh, is this it? Too bad. Things are not always what they seem.
"What d'ya think that means?" asked the little boy, looking slightly frightened.
Gatomon, who had turned around just in time to catch the last words of the note, yelled in alarm, "TK! The flower! Drop it!"
Obeying, he let the flower fall to the ground. Upon contact, the petals melted from white to alternating pink and gold. Instantly, he doubled over in pain. "Owieowieowie!" he sobbed, clutching his side. The others in the group had come running at his screams, and when Matt saw him he felt physically sick. This is what happens when you don't watch him. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Matt cursed himself. TK didn't have the energy to speak. He was dimly, vaguely aware of Matt kneeling in front of him, picking him up, and carrying him, but by then his vision had grown fuzzy and all he wanted to do was sleep.
Biyomon, flying ahead, had discovered a small abandoned cave near a little clearing w/ a stream that was an ideal resting place for the sick child. They had no idea exactly how useful it would prove to be when other members of their party fell later on. Patamon kept up a constant vigil, while the others took turns sitting with TK.
As Sora left her evening watch, she heard a noise that sounded vaguely like someone in pain. Wondering if TK had somehow managed to sleep-walk his way out of bed, Sora went to investigate. She found, not TK, but his older brother.
Matt was huddled on the ground, knees drawn in to his chest.
"Biyomon, go back inside," she hissed.
"Okay," yawned the pink, bird-like digimon. Once Biyomon had left, she called out to him softly. "Matt?" She thought she heard him choke back a sob.
"Yeah, what do you want?" he said gruffly, not trusting his voice.
"Are you all right?" she asked. She didn't see Gabumon anywhere, but Matt's face was tearstained.
"Yes…no, not really," he said sadly.
"I'm sorry about TK," she sad softly.
Matt scowled. "I don't need you getting involved in my personal problems."
Sora gave him a look. "I think you do. Care to tell me why you look so guilty?"
He sighed. "I'm his big brother. I'm supposed to look out for him. But look at me; I was supposed to be watching him when he got this stupid illness, and now I can't do anything about it!"
Tears came back to his eyes as he thought of his little brother, crying in pain. "TK," he sobbed quietly. Forgetting that Matt was the "cool one", ever aloof and independent, Sora wrapped her arm around him, the same way she would anyone who was that upset. Surprisingly, he didn't jerk away, and Sora let him cry out all the pain, anger and grief he'd kept bottled up for so long.
At last, he took a deep breath and managed to calm down. "Thanks Sora."
She laughed gently. "What are friends for? Now come on, let's go back. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."
Kari ran up to meet them as the re-entered the cave. "I'm so glad you're back!" she cried. "Tai's sick too!"
"What?" theyyelped in unison.
"Look at him," she begged, tugging on Sora's hand. Matt and Sora stopped short. Tai's face was covered in beads of sweat, he clutched is stomach in pain, and for the swelling he could hardly speak.
"I'm sorry Matt," he whispered. "I was going to get TK some more water for that fever - then there was this haze and I couldn't see…" His voice trailed over and he began coughing again. Barely able to mask panic, Matt helped him lie down.
"Not again," he groaned. "What the heck is going on here?" he snapped, hitting the wall.
"Matt, stop," Sora said, glaring at him. "You're beating yourself up again over a crisis that isn't your fault."
He bit his lip. She was right, as usual. He hadn't been this upset since he had failed to stop Myotismon from taking Kari.
"Kari, where are the others?" he asked turning. "They're out back, trying to contact Gennai," she said solemnly. "Sora?" she asked.
"Hm?" she asked, turning.
"Tai'll get better, don't you think? I hate when he's sick."
"Of course he will," Sora said firmly. "TK too. You just have to believe he will."
Just then, Tentomon buzzed in. "Everybody, come quick!" he called. Sora, Kari, Gatomon and Biyomon rushed after him.
Izzy was intently watching the computer screen. Gennai's voice fuzzed in and out. "Digi Destined! The Dark Lord has set a virus on you…" Static crackled some more. Everyone gasped, leaning forward. They could make out only, "defeat him," before the computer shorted out and the screen went black..
"The Dark Lord?" Mimi asked. "Who's that? I thought we were fighting Devimon!"
"Oh great. More battling; of course we don't know against who and Gennai's left us guessing as to how we're supposed to go about this. Justyour typical average day in the life of a superhero," Joe said dejectedly.
"Aw, cheer up Joe!" Gomamon said happily. "At least you've got me on your side - and I've got all the fish in the sea!" he crowed. Joe smiled tightly.
"Ai, ai, ai!" Tentomon shrieked suddenly, slapping at his shell. It hurt at least as much - maybe more - than it had when Izzy had been trying to crack a hieroglyphic code and his shell had become energized. "It burns! It burns!" he screamed. Out of nowhere, small black bumps appeared all over his back. "Ahh…" he sighed in relief. "That's better."
Izzy, frowning, glanced at the bumps. "These appear to be a complex type of malignant computer virus," he stated. "As in, a highly contagious virus," he added, recalling what he had found on his computer before it short-circuited. The other digimon backed away.
"So what, he's gotta be quarantined like a dog?" Matt joked half-heartedly.
"What's a dog?" Palmon asked with confusion.
"No, this probably has to be passed on through extensive skin-to-skin contact. I think it'll only spread to other bug types, but I'm not sure."
Sora snapped her fingers. "That's what happening to Matt and Tai, isn't it? Since in the Digiworld we're just parts in a big computer game, couldn't we contract a virus too?" Realizing what she'd just said, Sora clapped a hand over her mouth, horror taking over as she realized that without help, Tai and TK could very well die.
"That's precisely what I'm afraid of," Izzy stated. "Unfortunately, as long as my computer won't turn on, I can't look for any more information on the virus, so- Tentomon, what are you doing?" he asked as the bug-like digimon rolled over, waving his legs.
"Weeeeee! Look at me! I'm a digi-egg!"
Matt raised his eyebrow. "Sure Tentomon. Whatever you say."
"I think he's flipped," Mimi said.
"It's the virus," Izzy stated. "He doesn't have much control, if any, over his actions right now."
"Sora, what if I get sick?" Biyomon asked. Will you make me better?"
"I'll try," she smiled, patting the bird's feathers.
"Uh, this is very touching, but what are we going to do?" Matt grumbled. "I'm all for staying safe, but I'm not going to sit back and watch my friends get hurt - AHH!" he yelped as a fiery wind shot past them.
"A griffimon!" Izzy said in amazement. "They're very rarely sighted."
"And I wish it had stayed that way too!" Mimi shrieked pathetically. Griffimon looked like a griffin (lion's body, ears and tail and eagle's head, wings and 4 bird-like legs), but also sported a silver horn and armor plated wings.
"Swords slash!" it roared, lowering its head. Blinding light blasted out, narrowly missing Tai.
"I'll get him!" Agumon said determinedly. "Pepper breath!" When the tiny attack had no real effect on griffimon, he instantly gave more. "Agumon, digivolve to…Greymon!" In his haste, however, he didn't notice that some of the light had reflected and hit him as he changed form. "Nova blast!" came the dinosaur's roar. Its work done, Griffimon allowed the fireball shoot him down, and then he quickly flapped off. Suddenly, the effects of the white light kicked in. Greymon roared in pain and shrank back to Agumon. Black bumps appeared on his orange skin. "Tai…it's got me too," he mumbled, slowly blinking his eyes.
"OOOHHH, why can't these big stupid bullies just leave us alone?" wailed Mimi, bursting into tears.
"I hate it when she cries," sighed Joe.
The Dark Lord grinned wickedly. Though hidden by shadow, his black form bent over a white globe that showed the forlorn children. Neither digimon nor immortal, he was a blend of both, and held alarming powers. His plan was working perfectly. Starting with the enchanted flowers, he had gotten the foolish baby of the group to become the transmitter, and it had spiraled out from there. He would leave only a few strong, to test his powers when he battled them. Then he would destroy them all. Cold, evil laughter filled the air as he crushed the globe and its picture of the children. "Goodbye, my pretty," he growled.
Days passed by, flying on. With Tai sick, Matt knew he was the leader, but he didn't know what to do. Despite all their power struggles in the past, each needed the other. Gabumon came to sit next to him one of those nights. "This time has been hard, hasn't it?" he commented in his soothing voice.
"Yeah, I guess," he grumbled. "I just don't get what's happening. I mean, if this 'Dark Lord's' going to destroy us, why doesn't he just hurry up and do it? His battle plan makes no sense."
"Well, then, maybe you'd better become more sensible!" crowed a voice form above.
"Kiwimon?" asked Matt in surprise.
"Oh yes, you may have destroyed the Dark Masters, but not me, a heh heh. Pummel Peck!"
As a stream of tiny birds shot from his mouth, Matt instantly put up a hand to defend himself. One of the creatures struck his bare arm, almost drawing blood. Ouch, they've got nasty sharp beaks, he thought.
"Under control!" Gabumon called back. "Blue blaster!" he cried again and again, until every bird, including Kiwimon, was gone.
"Nice work, Gabumon," Matt said.
"There is trouble," he said urgently, perking up his ears. "We've got to get back to camp now!" Trusting Gabumon's intelligence, Matt followed.
---minutes earlier---
"Oh, what a pretty butterfly," crooned Mimi, reaching out to touch the silken, red spotted wings. It suddenly turned and glared, the eyes huge and red, andflapped into her face. She shrieked and ran off, not noticing the red spots falling off the butterfly's wings and sinking silently under her skin. It lazily flew off in search off the Dark Lord. As Mimi reached the little clearing, she finally stopped, gasping for air.
"Mimi, where were ya? Matt's got dinner ready if you're hungry," Palmon said, coming to greet her. Mimi blinked, and grew pale. Palmon seemed to double, then triple. She whimpered a little swaying on her feet. Then her vision clicked off, and she fainted. Joe had come out, wondering why Mimi was taking so long. I guess the princess thinks she can take her sweet time whenever she -
He arrived just in time to see Mimi falling backwards - head ready to meet a sharp rock. Panicking, he dashed to her side, catching her just in time. "Geeze Mimi, I've had enough premature heart attacks since I got to the Digiworld without you adding to them," he complained. Shaking his head, he shook her gently. She was limp as a doll.
"Uh, guys, a little help?" he called, worried. She had lost one of her gloves somewhere along the way, and her exposed hand was alarminglyblue. Despite the relative warmth of the day,itwas colder than ice. Biyomon was the first to heed Joe's call.
"Oh no, not Mimi too!" she groaned. Kari followed. Gatomon jumped at the sight of Mimi's hand, and then regained her senses. Purring, she jumped on Mimi and curled herself around the hand, lending her warmth.
"Gatomon, you look just like Meeko!" grinned Kari. "I didn't know you could purr." Mimi's eyes fluttered open.
"Joe? Oh, what happened?" she cried, pulling herself up quickly. Dazed, she glanced around.
"I think you've got the virus too," Joe said, a little sadly.
"Oh no, I can't be sick! My hair becomes a mess and my skin gets all yucky looking!" she wailed. Joe rolled his eyes but said gently, "Come on, I'll help you in." Weaker than she imagined, Mimi pulled her self up and, leaning heavily on her friend, dragged herself inside. By the time she was back on the ground, Mimi was too tired to stay awake any longer and she fell asleep again.
Matt had been sitting next to TK, but when he saw Mimi coming in he got a pretty good idea of what was going on and he couldn't deal with it right then. Silently, he left through the back opening.
Izzy and Kari were the next to fall. Izzy woke up the next morning, unable to sleep. Trying to clear his lungs, he was horrified to find he was coughing up blood. Before long he was struggling to breathe. He would be unable to help his friends find out anymore about the mysteriousdiseases now.
The Dark Lord smiled. He had carefully modifiedthe virus for each child. For Izzy, the supplier of information, he had cut all forms of communication - first by blacking out the computer screen, and now by rendering him speechless.
Mimi's childish vanity was crushed, TK's illness would keep Matt from starting anything, and by knocking out the leader he had cracked their strength. He smiled. His plans never failed.
Kari woke with a fever so ferocious she felt almost detached from her body. "Mommy!" she would cry in her sleep, tossing and turning. During these times, Sora would take Kari on her lap, rocking the little girl back to sleep again and again. Surprisingly, of the digimon, only Agumon and Tentomon had become ill, a fact which puzzled humans and digimon alike. In reality, the Dark lord was simply saving them as test subjects to see how his power, dormant for so long, would measure up.
Matt, Joe, and Sora had been running themselves ragged trying to care for their friends, even with the help of their digimon. They were beginning to look sick too, but at least their friends weren't getting any worse - except TK. His breathing was shallow; he rarely woke and ate very little. His weight, already low, was rapidly dropping. I am so going to pulverize this "Dark Lord" creep when I find him, Matt thought angrily, looking at his brother. The wind tore by, echoing his thoughts.
After a particularly exhausting day, Sora and Matt sat outside, talking. Gabumon was quietly snoring nearby, while Biyomon roosted in a nearby tree. Sora hung her head in despair. "What are we going to do? Our friends are sick. DYING for all we know. Two of the digimon are sick too - and we can't stop any of it. Maybe we really don't make a difference."
"Maybe?" he replied. "I think our actions speak for themselves. There area million paths our lives could take, Sora, and each one affects another choice and another person. There is no right road, only the one we make."
Here he stopped, and glanced down. Sora was nestled against his side, sleeping peacefully. Her short hair, no longer bound by the helmet, had fallen over her forehead. Matt wished he could become so serene, oblivious to the world around him. "Even my dreams are filled with Dark Lord," he said aloud, to no one in particular. A glow at the edge of the forest caught his attention. Gently, he laid Sora down. Glancing at Gabumon, he decided not to disturb him. Matt ventured forward alone.
As he grew nearer, the white shape was defined, into an image of a woman with a cat's head, paws, and tail. Whoa, talk about history coming to life, he thought. That's almost a dead ringer for Bastet, the Egyptian goddess…what was her element? Love, I think…
"Yes," said the form, as though reading his thoughts. "I look much like her, don't I? I am Bastout, protector of all that is good. Like the Dark Lord, I am neither digimon nor from your world."
"Whoa, time out," he said, confused. "The Dark Lord isn't a digimon? And what about Devimon?"
"No," she said coolly. 'He is a blend of Digimon and immortal, making him more powerful than any you have encountered before, including Myotismon. The Dark Lord is truly an alteration of Devimon."
"So, you just came to chat, or you have something important to say?" Matt asked, growing impatient.
"A message for you, and the other destined I bring," she said calmly. "The Dark Lord will confront you in four days time. Make no mistake - he will come with every intent of destroying you all, but with the proper precautions you have a chance."
"How do you know all this? You watch a magic crystal ball or what?" Matt snorted. His common sense told him not to stand there insulting what, for all he knew, might actually BE this Dark Lord, or at the very least not to drive off the only form of help they'd been offered...but he was tired, his nerves stretched to the breaking point, and common sense wasn't so high on his list of priorities. Bastout didn't seem to be taking offense, at least, as she continued.
"Higher than the Dark Lord can imagine, I am above him, and can watch what he does. In times of great need, I can descend to help the forces of good. I will help you...if the need is great enough, I can come again. Prepare yourselves, and do not be afraid." She folded her hands above her head, let the light envelope her, and then disappeared in the flash of blinding white.
Matt stood still for a moment, reflecting. Glancing at the moon, he noticed black clouds enclosing it in darkness. A superstitious person might see it as a bad omen, but Matt was determined - he had to fight for his friends Turning back, he began to form the outline of a plan in his head while the night grew darker and rain began to fall…
"What?" cried all eight of the digi destined children. Matt had decided to let everyone in on the plan, even those too ill to fight. He explained his plan again in detail. Forcing his lungs to clear, Izzy hacked, "If you can destroy him, we'll be saved. If you fail…"
"We're done for," finished Gatomon. Kari whimpered from Sora's lap.
"Well, that isn't going to happen because we aren't going to fail. Right guys?"
"Right!" Heads bent together as the groupeagerly continued the discussion.
But just as Bastout could watch the Dark Lord, the Dark Lord could watch the Destined - and he saw them now. 'Cursed Destined children," he hissed. "Take away all contact from everyone, and still they find me. Well, they won't have the upper edge for long!" He snapped his fingers. "Dark Army, come forth!"
A horde of monsters appeared, seemingly from nowhere. "There has been a change of plans," he said coldly. "We will be there at dawn."
Bastout, of course, was watching him as he said this. She tried to summon the strength to cross over from her world into the Digiworld again, but could not find the power. She sank back in defeat. "Destined," she moaned. At last, she channeled her energy into waking Matt. The attack would not be a total surprise.