Y/N: I wrote these two pieces at drastically different times. I held off with Miyako's until we were finished with the first two arcs. I didn't need it until then, and I didn't realize how hard it would be to get back into this headspace. The intensity was much easier to access when I wrote Kiyoko's. I hope it isn't too apparent when you're reading it though! I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Title: Digimon Adventure 07: Virus

By: YukiraKing

Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or its characters.

Part 1: The First Two Days

Chapter 3: The Other Side of the Door

Kiyoko Izumi:

My feet skidded against the ground, as I tried to catch my balance. Willis was just a much faster runner than I was capable of being. I continuously tripped over roots and twigs and stones, and each time he had to pull my arm up, catching me before I could fall on my face. I was tired, and my arm was aching. It felt as though he was trying to pull it out of its socket, and my wrist was being rubbed raw from his tight grip. My arm itself felt like it was made out of jelly, swinging loosely through the air as I scrambled to keep up.

Hundreds of trees passed us by, and I kept looking ahead, hoping for any sign of the Coliseum, or any other space that had a shield over it. I tried very hard to put my faith in my technology, but it was difficult to do. It had never been tested to this extreme, and I had sort of hoped it wouldn't need to be. I didn't get my way though, I rarely did. I wanted to stumble into Hideto on our flight away from the virus, I wanted him to be the one trying to pull me out of danger since my legs were too stiff to move on their own. I was too scared to flee properly, and that was the reason I wasn't angry with Willis for the rough way he was dragging me behind him.

He was saving my life when I couldn't do it on my own.

Everything he'd said earlier, about Tapirmon and Warg and Melga, and even Dracomon. If I was the only one left—if Mari was gone, and Neo and Hideto were lost, then they would need me. I tried to picture myself being positive and helping them, but I couldn't. I wasn't capable of the responsibility that was being placed on my shoulders. I needed them more than they would ever need me. I was weak—in mind and body. I wasn't able to support anyone, not without making a fool of myself and making the situation worse. I'd proved that when I tried to support Mari through the loss of Lalamon.

I failed at that, and I would fail at this too. I wouldn't be strong enough to make it through this emotional blow. This virus had ripped away all the people I held dear. Not even all of Team Mom had made it through alive. Most of them were residing in the Coliseum, but I knew Yuuko had waited with her children. She was there with Mari and Koushiro—the only family I had.

"Why aren't we there yet?" I asked, miserably. "Why is it so far away?"

We'd been running forever, and I was too scared to look at the virus. I was too scared to save myself, and I knew even Willis wouldn't be able to help me if I seized up completely.

"I don't think we're going the right way," Willis admitted, ashamed of this truth. As he said it I knew it was the real reason. We'd taken a turn and ended up going the wrong direction, and instead of being able to save ourselves, we were just running to delay our deaths.

I wished I had the optimism Takeru had.

I didn't want to die.

"Do you know what way to go?" Willis called loudly. At first I thought he was just yelling at me, but I remembered Mimi was running behind us. "Mimi? What do you think?"

Mimi didn't answer, the only sounds in the air were Willis' footsteps, and my stumbling.

Willis stopped running, and I fell to the ground, throwing my hands out to catch me—only to topple over because Willis had yet to let go of me.

"Mimi?" he asked, sounding scared.

I looked back, even though I didn't want to, and I saw trees, and nothing else—except for the wall of purple death that was moving ever closer to us. It was much closer than I expected it to be. We were running as fast as we could go. We couldn't do more than we were.

"I'll go find her," I said. "I'm just slowing you down."

"No," he said fiercely, shaking his head. "No. You stay with me. Mimi will be fine. She's got a key. I gave it to her. She'll be able to make an escape, the virus won't get her."

"We can't leave her," I said in a broken whisper. I'd already lost my cousin, my boyfriend, my former boss and Mari. I couldn't lose Mimi too. I wasn't close to her, but I didn't want her to die. I didn't want her death to be on my hands. I didn't care if she did have a key. Shouldn't that just make it more important for us to get to her? Couldn't she save us too? "Not when we're so close."

"What did I just say?" Willis asked, sounding incredulous. "She's going to be fine. She's got a key. I gave it to her knowing something like this might happen."

"What about us?" I whispered. Thankfully he didn't hear me. I was glad he didn't know how much of a selfish coward I was. It wasn't exactly a secret though. I fiddled with the strap of my semi-waterproof bag. "What if I make a shield right here?" I offered, unlatching the bag, ready to pull out my computer and get to work.

"Then we'll just be stuck right here, forever," Willis said, shaking his head. "And think about it. By the time you booted up your computer and got the program ready, we'd be toast. The virus is spreading too fast. We need to keep moving. We've got to be close to somewhere."

I hastily clicked the fasteners back in place, nearly clinging to Willis' hand when he reached for mine. He pulled us along, the same as before, but I was different now. I was more frightened, more upset. We'd lost Mimi in addition to all those other people. Even if Mimi used her key, she'd be gone from us forever.

For a moment, I thought I heard her calling for us, but I pushed the thought out of my head. It was just my subconscious summoning up illusions. Willis continued to lead us away from the virus—the virus I no longer could keep my eyes from returning too. I checked on it four or five times a minute. I needed to see how close it was, how much faster we'd need to go if we were to continue to survive.

I tried to focus my thoughts on Tapirmon, on Yoshie, and Satoe, Kae, Natsuko and Rei. They were all at the Coliseum, weren't they? Shouldn't I be trying to get back to them, and not focussing on what I'd lost? I could dwell on that later. But nothing was sticking. Tapirmon lasted the longest. I saw his face each time I closed my eyes, but eventually he too was washed away by my fear. We weren't going to see them again, whether we found a safe zone or not. We weren't even headed in their direction. I couldn't see how Willis' absolute desire to see Lopmon and Terriermon again could possibly be enough of a driving force to keep him moving forward.

My eyes sought out the virus again, and it was so close now. Too close for comfort, not that its presence was ever comforting. Mimi had to have been swallowed up by now, unless she managed to escape through whatever gate her key was able to conjure up.

I ripped my eyes away from the monstrous violet wall, unable to stop the tears that were forming in my eyes. I was too scared to think anymore. I could only count. Each second that passed, each footstep we took. I counted it all. We'd passed eighty-seven trees before I couldn't keep my eyes away any longer and I had to look at the virus again.

It was closer still. We weren't going to be able to escape. We should have went back to Mimi when we had the chance, at least we'd be on a different world, and nowhere near this horrid purple storm that was growing with every second.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, having slammed into something solid. Willis didn't stop moving at first, dragging me along the ground behind him by my one hand. Sticks and rocks dug into my back and I let out a strangled yelp.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Rei?" I gasped. She was on the ground too, looking at the virus behind us, and getting to her feet. Willis yanked me onto mine before I even had a chance to think about moving.

"Keep moving, if you're going to talk," Willis instructed. And we did as he bid. We started running again, this time I was able to put a little of my own effort in, though I thought it made me move slower. Just having Rei with me was enough motivation to keep fighting. She wasn't Hideto, or Mari, or Neo, but she was one of us, and that had to be enough.

"I went home," Rei explained, answering my unasked questions. "I wanted to grab a few things, and to put up a barrier. I got the barrier up, but I left all my stuff back home when I caught sight of the big, wooden horse. I knew it had to be the virus, and then the purple started spreading. I couldn't get to the Temple, I couldn't run right at it. That would be suicide. I just started running in a different direction. I wanted to get to Taichi, but I couldn't. I couldn't get to him."

She sniffled, and I started crying again, in response to her tears.

"I know he's safe though, because he's Taichi, and Taichi is always safe," she said, though she didn't seem to believe her words entirely. "And now I don't know where I am, and I'll probably die out here."

"No one is going to die," Willis said sharply, cutting of her explanation. He was probably really annoyed by all the crying, and I tried to toughen up—I really did. It just didn't work. My tears came harder and faster than before. I was a lost cause. Sooner or later he was going to realize this, and ditch me to save himself, like I told him to earlier.

I was afraid for when that happened.

Rei squealed, and pushed herself to run faster, passing in front of Willis. I looked over my shoulder, knowing exactly what she'd seen. The virus was right behind us. If I tripped now, Willis would have to leave me, because the virus would catch me before he was able to pull me up.

"Damn it to hell," Willis growled.

"What do we do?" Rei cried.

My eyes were now looking ahead, and I understood what had them upset. We were closed in. A cliff face was ahead of us, and it stretched out on an angle to our left. The very landscape was corralling us into a trap. On our right was a river. We had nowhere to go. We couldn't possibly climb the cliff fast enough to escape the virus. We didn't have much more land to run on before we ran into it either.

"The water," Willis announced. "We built a barrier right into the water, remember?"

I did, vaguely. I was more focussed on the diminishing ground in front of us. Twenty feet and we'd be goners. Eighteen, sixteen, twelve.

Willis jerked my arm, leading me to the water. I saw Rei dive in with a near perfect technique, and then Willis swung me ahead of him, and I was crashing through the water's surface, catching just the barest hint of a breath before the water was all around me and I was completely submerged. I opened my eyes, seeing Willis sinking next to me and watched as the virus floated across the surface above us, blocking out whatever sunlight was available to us under the water. I rolled myself over, hoping that the advertising was right about my laptop case, and locked eyes with Rei. Hers were just as wide and frightened as I knew mine were.

We couldn't stay under the water forever. It just wasn't logical. We needed air, and we needed it soon. My half-breath was already threatening to escape, and my lungs strained for some fresh oxygen. I turned to Willis, hoping he had a plan, and saw he was digging around in his pocket. He pulled something out, but I didn't see what it was. Large bubbles of air escaped from Rei's mouth. She flung a hand over it to try and keep what little she had left inside, and I grabbed her arm, before my own air escaped me.

Stupidly, my instincts kicked in, telling me to breath in, and I sucked in water instead of air. Willis' hand dived between Rei and me and then he turned a purple key—amethyst maybe—opening a door to an unknown world.

We were sucked, water and all, into the door, and I landed, rolling on the hard, dark ground, coughing and spluttering. I heard Rei's coughs too, and turned my sore, waterlogged eyes towards Willis who was on his feet, pushing his way through the still rushing water to close the door. The water was coming too fast though, and he couldn't do it alone. I trudged through the water, and lent him my strength to get it closed. Water rushed into my face and I spluttered some more, and then the door was closed.

I sank to the soggy ground, causing the remaining water to splash around me. I was soaked to the bone, and the cold air bit at my skin. Shuddering, I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep hold of what little warmth was left. My wet, blonde hair stuck to my face and I had to push it out of my eyes, knowing it was a complete mess now. The black streak—the result of years of Sigma's presence—didn't seem to want to behave, as it continued to fall into my eyes.

I squinted into the darkness surrounding us, trying to locate Rei and Willis. I could make out slight outlines, and I knew they looked just as much like drowned rats as I did. Having identified which was Rei, I crawled over to her, knowing she was safe. I didn't like darkness. Out of my long list of fears, the dark was actually near the top of the list. My shivering wasn't just due to the cold. I was petrified. We'd nearly died from the virus, and now I was going to catch hypothermia, and die in the cold, dark land we now inhabited.

"That was...something," Willis said with a dry laugh. Rei laughed with him, but I couldn't bring myself to find any humour in our situation. It was as if Willis took me from one horrifying situation, into my worst nightmare. I could hear chilling voices being carried by the wind that chilled my very bones. We weren't alone in this world. There was chanting and cheering in deep, ominous voices.

I just wanted to curl up and hide. It was something I even tried to do, but Willis didn't seem to share my opinions on this new world. He got to his feet and clapped his hands.

"Well, if we're going to be living here for the rest of our lives, we really ought to have a look around," he said with as much enthusiasm as he was able to force into his voice. I let out a little wordless whine, and Rei patted my arm.

"I can't move my legs," she said carefully.

"That is a minor setback," Willis said slowly. "But Kiyoko and I can carry you. You can't weigh that much." Another whine slipped through my lips before I could catch it.

"You'll be fine, Kiyoko," Rei said gently. "We won't let anything happen to you. Now help me up. I'd almost forgotten that I was paralyzed. This isn't exactly the reminder I might've hoped for though."

My skin crawled uncomfortably, and I was scared out of my mind, but I pulled Rei's arm over my shoulder while Willis did the same with her other one, and we pulled her up so that she was practically standing between us. Her feet dragged a little while we walked in the direction Willis chose. Howls came from every direction, and the chanting was continuous. I jumped at every sound, whether it was a twig breaking between our feet, or the heavy breathing of the wind against my skin. It felt like someone was breathing down my neck, and I wanted to scream and run away.

Eventually, we could see some form of light in the distance ahead of us, and I gravitated towards it, no longer needing to be forced along with the others. I needed that light. It would dispel the darkness and give me some peace of mind.

I thought it would, anyway.

Instead, we found ourselves passing small, handmade huts as the forest ground gave way to dirt paths. The streets were bare, everyone that lived here was gathered at the sources of light. They were also the source of the chanting. I wanted to crawl out of my skin the nearer we got to them. The heavy, deep voices were chanting the same phrases over and over again. I couldn't understand what they were saying, and I guessed it was their own magical language. The wind picked up with each repeated phrase, dying down only when the chanting gave way to cheers.

We dripped water all over their nice dry paths, and soon we found ourselves among the native people of this land. I was surprised to see that they were digimon. I spotted some undead digimon, and a few fallen angels. Mostly though, we were surrounded by wizard digimon and demons. Digimon smaller than me, with silvery, purple fur and fox-like faces were dancing around the first bonfire we came to. The black belts strapped all over their white pants jangled with each dancing step. They had their black gloved hands to the sky, and the fire was reflected on their white faces and chests. I took a step closer to Rei, nearly tripping myself with her feet. She sighed.

"You're fine," she told me. "They might be friendly."

But their glares made me feel otherwise. They weren't the only digimon around either. They were dancing with other digimon, around their size. These ones were brown skinned, and furless. Red pants covered their jumping legs, and glistening metal gauntlets covered their wrists. Their hair burned the same colour as the flames and their tails were literally on fire themselves.

"I think I know what those are," Willis said quietly. He'd spent a lot of time around Tatum, since Michael became his brother, and they'd all moved in together. I knew I could trust whatever deductions he made. "Strabimon and Flamemon...I think..."

More chanting came, louder as we grew closer. The huts around us got larger too, as we made our way towards the central bonfire. We could see it from where we were, but there were still two smaller—though each bigger than the last—fires between us and it.

The second fire was surrounded by three different digimon. There was a Wizardmon—not ours though, as he didn't recognize us at all—and two others that looked rather similar to him. Willis identified the one dressed in white, with the snowflake staff and the cape bearing the night sky on its underside, as Sorcermon. The third digimon was wearing a red ensemble, and a flaming hat. He bore no cape, and in place of a staff, he had two oversized matches—one with a red tip, the other with blue. This evidently was a FlaWizardmon.

I ducked down when a woman in red with an excess of black belts swooped overhead, cackling all the while. She had extremely large hands, and a black cape whipping in the wind behind her. She also had a pointed hat, and was being followed by a nearly translucent spirit of a black cat. I heard it's snarling and hissing as it circled around the three of us before it shot after the Witchmon.

My breathing was incredibly fast by this point, and Rei couldn't say anything to help calm me down. The fact that a Karatenmon was tossing an effigy into the third bonfire didn't help matters. He laughed sadistically.

"That's a Wisemon," Rei mentioned, pointing to the tall digimon that was hovering over an open book next to a hut, some distance from the open flames. His head was hooded by a piece of material that encircled his shoulders, and draped down his back, looking nearly like a set of wings. He wore a long, simple, brown tunic that reached to his toes, and held two orbs in his hands. He was murmuring a different chant than the others, and he laughed lowly when the orb in his right hand let of a small burst of fireworks. Several other digimon cheered at them, and demanded more. Wisemon seemed to appreciate the attention.

"Excuse me," Willis called as we reached the centre of the town. The largest bonfire was blazing before us; several effigies were already smouldering away inside the flames. This fire seemed to attract the scariest of all the digimon.

One had blonde hair hidden beneath a blue bandana. He wore white clothing, with a grey bag tied at his waist, and several grey scarves around his neck, their ends blowing in the wind. His tattered cape looked to me like ancient wings, each scrap of withered, fragile material were the feathers in my mind. The cape nearly distracted me from the jagged, red blade he held in his hand. At our approach, he stood taller, looking down on us from his full ten feet. I'd never felt so small as I did when he narrowed his eyes directly at me. Reapmon, Willis had whispered.

"What do you want?" he asked taking a step towards us.

"I was wondering if you could point us in the direction of who's in charge around here," Willis said, though his confidence wasn't quite as strong as it had been before.

"Our Lady?" another digimon snorted. I turned to look at a digimon with brown fur and skin. He wore baggy, black pants with a white sash and a short shirt that matched. His chest was covered with silver plating, but his abdominal muscles—which were scarily well defined—remained uncovered. He had bare feet with armoured plating, and his long grey hair was blowing in the wind from under his black cap. He remained on bended knees, his long, gangly arms were out of proportion with the rest of him. But he wasn't frightening in the same way as Reapmon. It was his weapon that I was most afraid of. He bore a long staff, with a crescent blade on one end, and what looked to be one of Gargomon's gun-hands on the other. He casually shifted the weapon so that the barrel of the gun was facing our way.

I was afraid my heart was going to break out of my chest at that view.

"Sagomon," Willis hissed.

"Now, now," a third said reprimanding us. "It's not nice to whisper whilst in good company."

He was tall, and reminded me of a forest sprite. He was dressed in green armour, and had three arrows embedded in each of his shoulder plates, and a large red and silver spear on his back. He was the least threatening of the lot of them. And that wasn't saying much.

"I'm Zamielmon," he told us. "And you are trespassing."

"Not on purpose, I assure you," Willis told him.

"The question remains, what to do with you, though, doesn't it," Reapmon asked.

Suddenly, I felt faint.

"You could take us to your leader," Rei suggested lightly.

"No," Zamielmon said. "That wouldn't do at all."

"Zamielmon is right," the final horrifying digimon said. He was a horse-riding warrior with golden armour covering both the rider's shadowy form, and the horse's midnight coat. The rider was wearing a cape the colour of the bonfire's dancing flames, and wielded a pair of swords. I didn't look much closer at him, as I was distracted by his horse. Its face was a red skull, half covered with his golden armour, but its eyes. There was a shadowy void, with white pinpricks for pupils. I couldn't look away. I leaned closer to it petrified and entranced all at once. "Our Lady doesn't see outsiders."

I was okay with that idea. I didn't want to see this Lady anyway. Her subjects were frightening enough, thank you.

"Zanbamon," Willis said hopefully, gaining confidence when the digimon acknowledged that this was his name. "We're kinda lost, and we need some advice."

Zanbamon reached down, sheathing one sword, and picked up a flaming stick, holding it up. All the digimon around us scrambled to grab hold of a torch as well, and if they couldn't, they grabbed pitchforks and other frightening things that a mob might need. I was crying at that point, because I could see where it was heading, even if Willis was too optimistic to catch on.

"Our Lady doesn't see outsiders," Zanbamon repeated. "And we don't take well to them either. Leave, or we'll make you."

"We'll go then," Willis said quickly, and Rei let out a cry. She was entirely dependent on us at this point, and I found that I was frightened at the thought too. What if I tripped? What if they decided to chase after us anyway? I wasn't a fast runner, and I wasn't good at it either. I'd proven that when Willis needed to drag me away from the virus. I'd be dead, and I'd be taking Rei down with me.

We hastily raced back the way we came, and the chanting started again. The digimon we passed whispered as we went by—"Are they Fallen Angels in disguise?" whatever that meant—some pointing, others cackling. The Witchmon swooped down again, and her cat didn't leave us alone until we were out of the warm light of the smallest bonfire.

We were in the dark again. I hated it. I hated this world. I was shivering like mad because I was still sopping wet, and the fire had been the only bright point—literally—this world had to offer. Now we'd been chased away from the only source of heat into the darkness, and their chanting had started up again. The winds howled and swirled around us, and Rei had started crying long before Willis decided we were far enough away from the town to make camp.

"I'm going to find some wood," he said. "Preferably, something dry. Kiyoko, you find some rocks or something. We're going to have to make fire. We're a couple of geniuses though, so it shouldn't really be a problem for us. Right? Right."

He stumbled off, picking up random dark lumps off of the ground, hoping to find sticks of wood, and discarding the lumps of leaves that he came across. I wanted to do as he told me, I really did. But the cold had seeped into my bones and I was having a hard time making my fingers function. It didn't help that I was literally terrified of the dark. Instead, I listened to the song Rei was humming from her place, leaning next to a tree, and I pulled my laptop out of its case, hoping against the odds that the advertised water-proof layer wasn't just a hoax.

The light on the screen lit up with one push of the button, and I drew comfort for the light it emitted, kicking away anything that made questionable shadows. A rock pile that's shadow looked suspiciously like a wolf was the first to go. I huddled as close as I could to my computer's light, and once the system was fully loaded, I started playing around.

Then I realized exactly what I had access to.

"Willis," I said in my shaking voice—my shivering wasn't helping matters. "You should find a cave or something. I've got a better idea."

He insisted on taking my laptop to act as a flashlight on his search, and I found myself curled into Rei's side as she pet my hair and continued to hum. It took him a good while to find anywhere even remotely suitable, and for a few minutes there I thought he wasn't going to come back at all. But he did. Between the two of us, we managed to help Rei along and juggle my laptop without dropping either. The cave was dry, and protected us from most of the wind. I set my laptop on the ground, and took a few steps back—after pressing a few keys in the correct sequence.

"Are you bringing us back to the Digital World?" Rei asked, hopeful.

Before I could answer, the world around us changed. We weren't in the Digital World. We were somewhere safer. Mask Square, my own personal world, a place that Sigma let me create entirely, where he let my imagination go wild.

"There're mattresses over there," I said, gesturing to a pile of mattresses and bed frames that were all still in their packaging. "There are sheets with the clothes. I'd get changed into something dry, and then I'm sure we could find Hideto's space heaters somewhere in Mari's collection of appliances."

I walked over and picked out a thick pair of flannel pajamas that Mari had picked out for me, and grabbed the housecoat that Hideto picked for himself. I changed quickly, peeling off the heavy, cold clothes and slipped on the closest thing I had to a connection with my best friends. I threw some of Mari's chosen pajamas at Rei, who smiled thankfully at me, and I hunted down the space heaters, surrounding the three mattresses Willis had laid out. I used Mari's red bedding for myself and left Willis to help Rei with anything else. I was freezing, I was tired, and I was scared.

And despite having Rei and Willis, I found I was actually quite lonely.

I felt the heat sinking into my skin, letting the warmth lull me away from my thoughts, and fears and worries, and drifted into a deep sleep, praying that my nightmares wouldn't come back, now that Tapirmon wasn't here to eat them for me.

But I knew that they would.

Miyako Ichijouji:

My eyelids fluttered open.

The sky was dark. I couldn't remember how long I'd been outside. I absolutely couldn't fathom why I was on my back staring up at the sky. It must've been a cloudy night, because the stars decided not to put in an appearance.

"Oh good, you're awake."

I sat up quickly, resting a hand on my stomach reflexively. Who was there? Why didn't I know him? My eyes locked on a man in a dirty suit. He was covered in sand, and he looked like he'd been here awhile. I didn't recognize him in the slightest. I wondered if I should.

"What did you do to the Goutokuji girl?" he asked me.

"Mari?" I questioned, moving my hand from my stomach to my head. It was pounding. The man didn't look dangerous. He looked disheartened and lost. He needed a good meal and some sunlight. His eyes were haunted, and his cheeks were growing hollow. I knew instinctively that I would be able to outrun him if my instincts turned out to be wrong. It had happened before.

I hadn't thought Kurayami was capable of killing a man.

My head throbbed. I couldn't remember what happened after that. My mind was stuck on Moretsuna's eyes, vacant, empty. I could still feel him collapsed on top of me, could still feel his skin on my own, feel his hands wrapped around my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the memory away, trying to focus on anything else—the headache, my baby, or this stranger that knew Mari.

"How many fingers do you see?" he asked, sounding concerned over my confusion. He held up three fingers. I told him, and he nodded to himself, his shoulders relaxing. "She's not the one that sent you here? She sent me. I figured you must've made her mad, you arrived so violently. And for her to send you here in your state...that's unforgiveable."

"Mari didn't send me," I told him. I knew that for certain. I couldn't even remember when I'd last seen Mari. She was with the others, in the Coliseum maybe. She hadn't been with me when Moretsuna tried to kill me. Takeru was there, with Ken...and Kurayami. She'd shot him, time after time. I could still hear the gun firing at him, could still feel the way his body had reacted when the concentrated blast of virus hit him.

Virus.

The virus.

"I was running," I murmured. "From the virus..."

Moretsuna was on top of me, but he wasn't whole anymore. He was disintegrating. I was shrieking. Ken and Takeru weren't doing anything, just standing there, frozen in shock. Kurayami was shaking, but I couldn't comfort her. I was afraid, and I was screaming. No one was helping me. I was so scared. Ken came. I was pushing Moretsuna away. He helped me. I wasn't breathing right. The baby could have died. I'd almost lost my life. If I died, so did the baby.

How could I risk the baby?

I was a bad mother. Ken's hands were on me, one patting my back, the other on my knee. He wanted me to look at him. I couldn't. I couldn't look away from Moretsuna. He was dead. I'd watched him die. He died on top of me—on top of my baby. My baby was present for his death. I was a really bad mother. My baby wasn't born yet and I'd led him (or her) into danger. I'd put my baby in danger. I'd watched a man die.

Kurayami was screaming. Loud, horrified, terrified. She threw the gun. The bad gun. The gun that killed a man. I didn't like that gun. It killed Moretsuna. He was bad. But he was alive. He wasn't anymore. He was gone. I was there. He died. I watched it.

"Breathe!" Ken hissed. His voice was loud, too close. I couldn't do as he said. Moretsuna was dead. I'd watched the life leave his eyes. His hands had been on my neck. I could still feel them. He was dead. I was safe. He wasn't. He was dead. I'd watched it happen. "Miyako, you have to breathe!"

I couldn't do it. My lungs wouldn't listen. I couldn't focus on breathing—just on Moretsuna.

"Ken," Takeru said.

I lost what little control I had left. I was sobbing. He was gone. I watched it. He was dead. He was bad. He was alive. Now he's not. My shoulders wracked and Ken kissed my head. I was a bad mother. I was a bad person. He was dead, and I didn't save him. I should have saved him. I was a digidestined. We were supposed to be the good guys. Moretsuna was dead now. We always killed the bad guy. Why did we do that? Why couldn't we try talking first? LadyDevimon turned into Minervamon when Satoe talked to her. She wasn't not bad anymore. Maybe Moretsuna might not be bad if I talked to him.

I could never find out, he was gone.

I'd watched it happen.

"Ken!" Takeru yelled.

"Not right now," Ken answered, holding me tighter. I didn't need his attention. Takeru needed it. I liked it, but I didn't need it. I didn't deserve it. I brought our baby into danger. I was a bad mother. My eyes stayed on Moretsuna. He was right there. Not really. Just parts of him. Just bits. He was going away, disintegrating like a digimon would. He was being deleted. Noriko was shot too. She was dead too. Was this how she went? Did it happen like this? My breath worsened, and spots were appearing before my eyes. She was gone. Moretsuna was gone. I watched him go. I didn't see her. I was happy I didn't see her. I saw him. I was still seeing him. He was going away. It was terrible. It was justice, for all the digimon he'd taken away. It wasn't right. He didn't deserve it. No one deserved it. He was mean. He tried to kill me. I didn't like it. I didn't like him. He should still be alive. He shouldn't have died. He did. I watched it.

Takeru said something quietly. I couldn't hear over my own sobs. My mind was whirling too quickly. I was caught in a loop. "Dammit! Kurayami!" I gasped. Kurayami was gone. Kurayami was running away. Why were they letting her go alone? Ken and Takeru were both focussed on me, more than her.

"KEN!" Takeru yelled. It scared me. It was so loud.

"Takeru!" Ken yelled back. "I'm trying to comfort my wife!"

He shouldn't be. I wasn't worth it. I almost lost our baby. I almost died, taking our baby with me. I should be left to suffer in silence. No. It was important that I not allow that to happen. I needed to be calm and relaxed. Stress and trauma were bad for the baby. I was a really, really bad mother.

Takeru was mumbling to himself again. I was too distraught to hear a word. "H-h-he's g-g-g-gone! H-he was-s a h-h-horrible p-p-person! B-b-but now he c-can't ch-change!"

"He never would have," Ken insisted. He squeezed my hand. I pushed him away. He couldn't know that. I told him so. He looked appalled. I looked away from him. He was wrong. He had to be. Moretsuna was bad, but he wasn't inherently evil. LadyDevimon was bad. She's not evil. She's Minervamon. There was a chance. Everyone has a chance. Moretsuna was just bits of limbs now. I sobbed loudly at the sight. He was gone. His face, his eyes, his vacant, empty eyes were gone. Why did they still haunt me? "We never h-h-had a chance to talk to him! We never t-t-tried! We t-treated h—" My words were interrupted by a hiccoughing, coughing mess. I wiped my face, snot, tears and all, wiping my hand on my shirt. "H-him just like the digimon. We di-didn't ask ques—tions! We j-just killed h-him be-because he was b-bad!"

"HE was trying to kill you," Ken said.

"So d-did y-you!" I shrieked. He backed away as though I'd burned him. I probably had. I said what I did to hurt him. To make him realize that he had gotten a second chance, and it was hypocritical of him to not offer one to anyone else. Ken had actually gotten a third chance, since he joined Fanglongmon six years ago. We'd accepted him back. I'd married him. I gave him another chance. Why couldn't he do the same?

Because Moretsuna was dead and it was too late.

"A-and Kurayami! S-she's not bad! She... She's n-not...is she?"

"No," Takeru said firmly. I'd forgotten he was here. He was looking towards the Temple every few seconds. I wondered if that was where Kurayami went. It probably was. I focussed on that, not looking at Moretsuna, but I slipped and looked again. He was barely there anymore, there were barely any signs that there had once been a whole, live person there, barely a sign that he'd ever existed. Takeru called Ken away, and I was happy for it. Kurayami went towards the Temple. Ken was being irritating. Moretsuna was dead. There was a digivice on the ground. It was Moretsuna's. I slipped it into the side pocket of my backpack. I would keep it. He'd tried to kill me. He was bad. But he was dead. He didn't need it anymore.

Kurayami was alone. I looked to the Temple and saw a large cloud of purple heading our way. My body was moving before my mind had a chance to catch up. I was running towards the purple long before my mind was able to supply what it was. Ken was screaming for me, but I didn't stop. Kurayami was running towards the purple, so I would too.

It was an embarrassingly long while before my mind was able to catch up. Ken and Takeru were long behind me. Kurayami needed me. But I was running towards the virus. I remembered the threat in the sky. A virus was coming, and that's what this was. Kurayami was running at it. I wanted to help her. I wanted to save her. But I couldn't do it. I wasn't going to be able to run fast enough to catch Kurayami and get to a barrier. I would never reach the Temple. It was already covered in the virus. I couldn't see Kurayami. She had too much of a head start. I didn't know if she'd even gone this way. I'd assumed she had, because Takeru was looking this way, but my mind supplied me with his real reason, and I was embarrassed again. He wasn't looking at Kurayami, he was monitoring the virus. I was running towards it, without knowing if Kurayami was even there. There was no point to continue. But there was no point to turn around either. I would never outrun it.

I'd risked my baby again.

I'd put my baby in danger of deletion again. It was an occurrence that happened far too often. I was not a suitable mother. I was a bad mother. I needed to stop thinking about anything except my baby. My baby was my first priority. I needed to keep it alive and safe. I couldn't do that running towards the virus, and I couldn't outrun it. My mind was starting to work its way back into a panic, but I remembered the key I'd been given. The virus was getting closer. I couldn't waste any more time. I took it from my backpack's side pocket, where I'd stuck Moretsuna's digivice, and opened the gate, tucking the key back in my backpack when I was finished. I looked to the virus once more, and took a deep breath. I would be alone forever the moment I stepped through the gate. It was for the good of my baby, but it still frightened me.

I took it at a bit of a run, slamming the door closed as I did so.

The run had been a mistake. The sand under my feet gave way, sending me sliding down a hill, and I fell over, when my feet flew out from under me. I hit my head, and then there was darkness.

Sand?

I looked down to ground I was sitting on. It was soft, and I picked up a handful of sand, letting the grains slide through my fingers, making a cloud of dust as they fell back to the ground. The sand was grey. The sky was dark. When I listened, I could hear the sounds of water crashing into the grey, sandy shore. It was close. A cursory glance was all it took to find it. It was a darker grey than the sky.

I knew where I was.

"The Dark Ocean," I whimpered.

"Well yes," the man commented, though I'd interrupted whatever story he was telling. "The ocean is really dark. I wonder why that is..."

I tried to focus more on what he was saying. I wasn't alone. I needed to remember that. I may not know this man—and Mari disliked him enough to send him to the Dark Ocean—but he was alone here before I arrived. He found me and watched over me while I was unconscious. He could have hurt me then, but he didn't. I didn't think he would hurt me either. I got the distinct feeling that he was just happy to have someone to talk to, even if I wasn't listening very well. He wanted company. I didn't know how long he'd been trapped here. I couldn't offer him a way out, but I could offer him company. And maybe his company would be enough to keep Moretsuna's empty, dead eyes from appearing every time I closed my eyes.

I couldn't be alone.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I wasn't listening. I know I should have been. Could you tell me again, how you got here?"

"Oh," he said. He looked a little deflated that I'd not been paying attention, but he brightened up again at the idea of speaking to a person. I felt bad for him. He must've been so lonely. "I came to inform Miss Goutokuji that her parents would indeed be pursuing a second legal action, this time with her monetary inheritance as their target. She didn't like that idea, and I saw all the digimon that were living within the library. That could be enough to sway the judge to our favour, and then she was leading me to the door, and shoved me into this place. I am certain that this is not where that door usually leads. In any case, I've not been able to find it again. I was quite surprised when you came through the door so fast. You fell right away. The door had already closed. I guess you're stuck here with me. Someone should really put a leash on that girl. She's dangerous. It wouldn't be difficult to put a case together against her now. Not with her sending both of us to this place just because her parents wanted to take legal action with a justified cause."

"Shut up," I said, clenching my hands tightly into fists. "Using digimon as evidence wouldn't work. Digimon aren't bad. The DWD is bad. Mari's parents are bad. You're a lawyer, aren't you? You should be working to fight the good fight. You are in a good position to help us fight for digimon rights, but instead you're working for terrible people trying to pry the inheritance a grandmother left her only family. The people you work for aren't eligible to any of it. You know that right?"

"Of course I do," he snapped. "But what should I care? I get paid either way. I work for my client, doing my best to build a case that could win them what they want. I'm not the judge. I don't get to decide who wins. I just try to fight for whoever pays me."

"That's sad," I sighed. "You help the wrong ones win just for money."

"I need to live, don't I?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not that it matters now. The Goutokuji girl sent me to hell, just because she was irritated with her parents. I wasn't the one pursuing the matter. Well, I was, but just because I was hired to. I don't know why she took it out on me. Her parents will just get another lawyer, and I'll lose one of my best clients. That doesn't matter though, because I'll never find a way out of this hell so I'll never need clients again."

"This is hell, isn't it?" I murmured. It was where all the evil spirits went when their bodies were killed. They became shadows, but I didn't need to worry about them now. Norn had purified them when Yggdrasil was defeated. I wouldn't have to worry about a repeat of Sigma. But it didn't stop me from adjusting the sleeves on my arm and checking over my shoulder nervously.

"I want to go home," he said. His voice was soft and desperate, and it made my heart clench.

"We'll find a way," I promised him. "I'm a digidestined. We always find a way. I'm going to help you. I'm stuck here too, you know. We're in this together. There's going to have to be some ground rules though. Don't insult my friends. Mari's one of my best friends, so stop complaining about her. You can think it. I just don't want to hear it. And don't hate on digimon. I love them with all of my heart. The good ones, the bad ones and all the ones in between. They have the personality range that humans have; they have the brain capacity that humans have. They learn, they grow, and they speak our languages. I don't care if you don't like them. Do not let me hear it. Hating digimon is no reason to help the bad guys. The Goutokuji's aren't nice people. I don't want to get you out of here only to find that you've decided to use Alias III's digimon against them in the courtroom just so that you can get Mari's parents to win. I won't have you doing that."

"If you can get me out of here, I won't say another word about digimon in my life," he swore. It was a little dramatic, and I was going to get him out anyway. I couldn't raise my baby in hell. That was a horrifying thought. And I wouldn't leave him behind just because he didn't think kindly of digimon. Moretsuna should have gotten a second chance, but he didn't. He got killed instead. I wasn't going to let this happen to this man.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Bengoshi," he supplied. Was it his first name? His last? I didn't know. He didn't offer anything else though, so I knew he preferred this name to any alternative.

"I'm Miyako Ichijouji," I told him. "I'm nearing four months into my pregnancy. I am not having my baby in this world, so we're going to have to get moving. I would prefer we didn't have to stay here for even another week. I don't know how I'm going to accomplish that, but that's my goal."

"You don't have any ideas, do you?" he asked. He didn't seem hopeful at all. I sighed. It was one of the ways the Dark Ocean could affect a person. Any negative thought was built up out of proportion, and the positive thoughts were minimized. I could already feel my hope slipping away, but I was stubborn enough to keep hold of it. I had a baby to look out for.

A baby that deserved to grow in a world without such negative effects.

"I've been trapped here before," I informed him. "My husband saved me that time. Mari helped him, just so you know. But...Winter lives here, and she sort of rules over this land to the best of her abilities, because she's a fairy queen. She lives in a castle."

"I've yet to see one of those," Bengoshi muttered sadly.

"It's not right next to us, no," I said. "But it's by the beach. And I think I can see the top of the tower I was held prisoner in from here." And I could. It was quite a long ways away from us though. We'd have a bit of a journey ahead of us. I wasn't looking forward to it. Maybe if we ran the entire way...but should I really be running so much right now? "Come on." I started walking in the general direction of the tower. "You know what you could do, when we get you out of here? You could build a case up against the DWD for what they've done. I know technically digimon don't have rights, but they killed a girl—Noriko. And then they sent a virus out into the Digital World. That's why I'm here. I had to escape or else my baby would be killed. My husband was out there too..."

"I'm sure he's fine," Bengoshi said quickly, patting me awkwardly on my back.

I'd been so fixated on Moretsuna's death and my escape that my mind hadn't once even considered the fact that Ken and Takeru were somewhere behind me, possibly searching for me when I'd gone through the gate. I should have waited for them. The Dark Ocean was no picnic, but it was better than being dead. Kurayami was out there too. I should have looked longer. I could have saved her too. She had a little baby to look after. I'd taken away Haruki's mother.

"My baby's not going to have a father," I gasped out, the pain taking hold of me.

"Maybe not, but you won't know until you get us out of here," Bengoshi snapped. I couldn't even yell at him for being selfish, for not caring that my husband was probably dead by now. I dropped to my knees and vomited all over the sand. He let out a girly squeal and jumped away from me. My stomach lurched again, and emptied itself. Ken was out there. I'd seen what the virus did to people. I could see it happening to my Ken so easily. I threw up once more. My hands were shaking, my stomach proceeded to hate me, and I got sick again. After that, it was just a bunch of dry heaves. My husband was in the virus. Takeru was there too. They were being ripped to pieces, deleted slowly, probably painfully. It was a fast process. I'd seen it happen to Moretsuna. His body disappeared, leaving a grotesque pile of pieces before I'd run off. Was that all that was left of my baby's father right now?

How many of my friends had been out in the virus?

How many of them were just remnants of themselves in piles on the ground? How many had disappeared altogether? When I'd slipped away from the Temple, so many people were still there. How many had escaped before the virus had struck?

I heaved again.

My head was spinning and I was starting to see stars. I couldn't pass out though. Not until I reached the castle. I trusted Winter to keep my baby safe. She'd watched over me while I was a child. She could help me now. She might also have food, which my child would need, even if I felt too queasy to attempt eating. I had only a few snacks in my backpack. I was lucky I'd thought to pack my prenatal vitamins.

"We can't wander around," Bengoshi told me, trying to comfort me by rubbing my back. I forced my tears to stop. They would have their chance to fall when I reached the castle. I couldn't be myself right now. I could succumb to the panic. I was going to be a mother. I'd already made too many mistakes. I couldn't afford to make anymore. My baby needed safety. Winter was the only one that could provide it.

"We're not wandering," I snapped. I pulled myself to my feet, and walked around the disgusting mess I'd made on the sand.

"They don't like it when I try to leave," he whispered.

"Who doesn't?" I said. We were the only ones here, aside from Winter.

"The shadow people," he confessed. "They're always lurking. They hide behind the rocks and jump out if I try to leave the circle." It was only when he mentioned it that I realized we were in the centre of a ring of rocks. It seemed vaguely sacrificial, and I definitely wasn't going to sit around and find out what these non-existent shadows wanted to sacrifice us for.

"Don't be ridiculous," I ordered. "Norn purified the shadows. They aren't here anymore." I believed my words. Really, I did.

"You think I am being ridiculous?" he demanded. "I've been trapped here for ages. I eat only once a day. I don't ask questions because I'm afraid of what they feed me. They want something."

I ignored him and walked to the edge of the circle. Several tall, very real, very scary shadows stepped out from behind the rocks surrounding us. I backed away instinctively, grabbing Bengoshi's hand while I did so. My eyes were wide and I couldn't blink or look away. Their twisted bodies stood tall and angry with their long, stretched out arms dragging along the sand.

"Not so silly now, is it?" Bengoshi asked, shaking in his boots. He was hiding behind me, but the shadows weren't interested in us anymore, since we were in the circle, and not escaping anymore. They wanted us to stay here, and I wasn't going to let them win. I couldn't let shadows walk all over me anymore. I couldn't keep bowing down to the enemies that always wanted me to feel pain, like Sigma had. I was not the same girl who he had found, crying in her bed. I was Miyako Ichijouji, one of the Holy Three and a soon to be mother and these shadows were not going to get the best of me. Not today.

I squeezed Bengoshi's hand and started running passed the rocks. I passed by them before the shadows could stand up. They were silent, but I knew they were chasing after us. I could feel them watching us as they struggled to catch us. It was a horribly familiar sensation to see nothing but simply know they were there.

This wasn't a good idea. I knew that. They would be able to catch me in no time. I wasn't fast, and I was pregnant. But I was pregnant, and dedicating all of my energy and instincts to keeping that baby safe. I could escape these shadows, run fast enough to get to the tower. I could do it to protect my baby. I would do anything to protect my baby. Ken was as good as gone to me—something that still made me sick, and caused tears to start streaming down my face, even though they were expressly forbidden from doing so until I was in the castle. This baby might be all I had left of him.

I would protect it with my life, and the both of us—and Bengoshi—would make it out of the Dark Ocean alive.

Next Time on Digimon Adventure 07: The tables have turned and the game has been switched around. With these differences, how will the learn to cope with Everything that Has Changed and how will they find one another?