Hi again! Surprisingly short chapter, all things considered, but I decided this part was best off being by itself instead of being squeezed in with something else.
Data Fragment 39: Copious
"Who are you?" Willis growled.
"Me? I'm Ryo, the talk of the town!" said the caramel-haired boy, still grinning. "Been a while, hasn't it?"
"It...has?"
"Oh right, you probably saw me like this."
With no beam of light or other warning, Ryo became a strange dragon-like creature, his body a conglomerate of copious Digimon parts. His body kept breaking apart and reforming endlessly.
Willis jumped back with a stark look of shock. It was that Digimon, the one he came across all those years ago on his first trip to the Digital World!
Just as abruptly Ryo was back to normal. "And that's all I needed to do! See you!" He turned around to leave, only to be met by a cross Rika.
"What the hell was that?" Rika barked, more angry than scared.
"Yeah, seriously, what was that?" Kazu shouted from a few feet away. Kenta stayed behind Kazu. Henry the Terriermon simply stared.
"Oh, that's my real form," said Ryo. "It's not much fun to be in though. I prefer being human, or something close enough anyway."
Willis scowled. "What are you? You're...different than someone like Henry."
"Yep!" said Ryo. "The Saints call me the Apostate. They should call me their creator, but oh well."
Willis's eyes narrowed. "Then this is all because of you? Then you're the worst virus of all!"
"Oh no doubt," said Ryo with a grin. "So you're pretty much doomed if you're not careful."
"We've taken down scarier viruses than you!" barked Willis's Terriermon.
"Virus this, virus that," said Ryo. "You realize that anything that manipulates time in the Digital World requires something that can hack in and hijack it, right? Y'know, like a virus? That Cherubimon of yours look like a Vaccine-type right now?"
Willis paid a quick glance at Cherubimon, and then glared at Ryo again. "I have nothing to worry about, as long as I..." Willis touched his bare neck, and then looked at his bare wrists and ankles. Terror spread across his face. "...I..."
"Yeah, didn't think that through did you?" said Ryo with a smug smile. "Congrats, you unmade your anti-virus stuff when you went back in time. Good job. And look at that, you're surrounded by Saints and sick people. Oh, and you got a bunch of new viruses when you saw my true form. That's not counting all the old ones you were already had. Oh, and I brought you long-lost third partner back with me, who of course has that virus. He's here somewhere..." Ryo's grin grew sinister. "So I wonder what would happen if you tried to return to normal time, and all those viruses get put on fast-forward when you grow up again?"
Willis's face bleached white.
"So, you've got two choices," said Ryo. "Stay here forever and stay yourself, or leave this little time bubble and see what all those viruses turn you into. Though, I guess you don't have to make that choice right away. After all, you have plenty of time to decide while you're in this little world."
IIIIII
Time travel complications are a bitch, aren't they?
