The delay was not me being lazy. This one needed a lot of work, mostly because it ended up being another something entirely different than orginally planned, and I had to chip off about 200-300 words to make it fit under 800 word limit. I think I'm finally satisfied with it. Enjoy!

(Behind these civilized eyes)

Data Fragment 12: Stranger

Unpredictable. That was the Digital World in a nutshell, Kazu thought. It was so weird, twisting and stretching his logic like taffy, making anything possible. He and Kenta had seen everything from endless wastelands, to jungles of fire, to seas of binary, to abysses of sky. And that wasn't counting the endless Digimon, any of which could become his own Digimon partner. Granted, some were dangerous, but between Cyberdramon and Kizuhamon they were covered.

And they were adventuring with Ryo, the Digimon King. Cyberdramon wanted nothing to do with Kazu and Kenta, and Kizuhamon was scary when she was mad, but Ryo was always there with smiles and friendly chitchat. It was too bad he was so sick all the time.

Though Ryo acted strange now and then. Sometimes he gazed at nothing, and barely registered Kazu's presence when spoken to. Other times he muttered gibberish and numbers while asleep. Still other times he took peculiarly intense interest in the environment, scrutinizing water, plants and rocks like he was deciphering messages from the patterns and cracks.

Well, there was the strange, and then there was the stranger.

They encountered the Monkey and the Dragon Devas (with the stupid Zodiac names Kazu could never remember) in the main desert world. Monkey ordered Dragon to attack them because they were troublesome humans (talk about rude). Ryo used the Goliath card on Cyberdramon. Between the now-huge dragon-man and Kizuhamon's spells Dragon was easily outmatched and captured.

"Don't kill him," ordered Ryo, when the giant Cyberdramon was about to crush Dragon's skull. Ryo turned to Monkey, who looked nervous. "You serve one of the Sovereigns, right? Take us to him. Then we'll spare your friend. We're looking for an audience, not a fight."

Monkey seemed to consider his options, looking to Ryo, then to Dragon, then to Ryo again. "…Alright, we'll take you to our Sovereign…Primal Orb!"

Ryo became encased in a huge, semi-transparent sphere that rose into the air. While Cyberdramon and Kizuhamon were distracted by the Ryo's imprisonment, Dragon broke away and returned to Monkey's side.

"I'm sure our master will relish incinerating you," Monkey went on with a sneer. He turned to the others. "So I'm more than happy to deliver you all to him ourselves. Now come with us quietly, or this human's trip may be…" He clenched his fist for a second, and Ryo cried out and flickered violently in that moment. "…Uncomfortable."

Crap, thought Kazu. He never wanted his own Digimon so badly. But even Kizuhamon and Cyberdramon couldn't do anything with Ryo as a hostage…

"Pitiable. Is this all, ape?"

Everyone looked up to Ryo in bewilderment. Though flickering, Ryo appeared calm, almost bored.

"Dare to say that again, human?" screeched Monkey, snapping his fist shut.

Only Ryo was no longer within the orb, but instead sitting on a rock near Kazu. He and Kenta yelped in surprise. Ryo seemed amused by this.

"You have wasted enough time," Ryo spoke, turning back to Monkey and folding his arms. "Take us to Zhuquiomon."

Zeh-Qua-what? Kazu had never heard of that Digimon before. Judging by his companions' confused reactions, they hadn't either.

Monkey was just as flabbergasted. "H-How do your know our Sovereign's name, human?"

"Hmph. It must be him, with the talk of incineration," Ryo answered, as if it was obvious. "Now will you keep your word or not?"

Monkey sneered again. "As if I would take orders from a lowly human."

Ryo sighed, as if expecting this kind of answer. "Fine then." He slid to his feet and pulled out his D-Ark. The device crackled with power as it summoned his energy whip.

"What, is that puny thing supposed to scare us?" the Monkey taunted. "We are gods compared to-"

Ryo spun around, and his energy whip arced and stretched into a lightning bolt. Dragon began disintegrating even before the severed head plummeted to the desert sands.

All that came out of Monkey's mouth was a strangled shriek.

"You know nothing of godhood, flea," said Ryo. "Cyberdramon, absorb the data."

Cyberdramon did not question the order, and took in the particles of the former dragon.

Ryo suddenly appeared behind Monkey, who skittered back in panic.

"I considered absorbing your data as well, but never have I seen such a useless creature," said Ryo, retracting his energy whip. "Slither back to your master, and tell him you have witnessed timeless power. He should understand."

Monkey only gulped, nodded, and fled.

Kazu didn't understand why they didn't just follow Monkey, but Kazu wasn't about to ask while Ryo…this couldn't be Ryo. This was a stranger.

What's going on? thought Kazu in rising anxiety. Is this because of the virus too?

IIIIII

It's all getting more bizarre all the time for Ryo, isn't it? Any guesses as to what's happening to him?