Chapter 7
Tai scowled. "I can't come up with an idea just like that!" he cried. "I need something to work with! I need information!"
"We need a *miracle*," Mimi muttered, breathing heavily. They were all watching the battle over their shoulders as they flew. Mimi suddenly remembered to look where they were going...and went white. "You guys...? Um, you guys?" She scowled. "Guys!!"
"What is it?" Matt said, glancing over his shoulder... "Oh, sh-"
*wham!*
They impacted with the spire with crushing force; the collision tore Matt and Tai's arms from one another's grasp, and Tai went flying one way, as Mimi and Matt pin-wheeled in another. Mimi screamed, and Matt swore viciously as they watched their friend speeding away, out of control.
"Oh, this is really good," Tai yelled sarcastically, and grabbed a spire, spinning around it a few times out of sheer momentum before finally stopping himself. Mimi and Matt braked against a carousel.
"Tai! We'd better rendezvous at the...oh, not again!"
"What?" Tai shouted back, confused at Matt's sudden trailing-off. He looked where Matt was looking... "Ack! Run away!!"
The virus was boiling toward them, swarming 'upward' among the scattered confusion of the 'Net. In front of it, like insects in front of a tidal wave, the Digimon continued to flee, still taking potshots at the rapidly growing virus.
"Mimi! It's eating something to grow!" Togemon yelled. "But I can't figure out what it is...it's not the data, that's for sure! It's just smashing that up, like it did in the Digital World!"
"Don't worry about it!" Mimi called, trying to be comforting. "You're all doing your best, and that's the most we can-Tai! Look out!"
Mimi had good reason to scream; an arm of the virus had just shot out, and was heading toward them. Matt shouted in alarm, and grabbed Mimi's arm again, shooting them into space with a kick of his legs.
"Matt, what are you doing?!" Mimi protested.
"Getting us out of there," Matt replied matter-of-factly. "If we stick around, we're virus-bait! Tai's running too, see?"
Mimi turned to look, just in time to see the nebulous arm of fog shoot between them and Tai, cutting them off from each other...and cutting Tai off from all three of the Digimon.
"Oh, no!"
"I could learn to hate those words," Matt growled, and turned to look. He went white as a sheet as he realized the situation. "Tai's behind that virus?!"
"I'm afraid so," MetalGarurumon bellowed from 'below' them, firing off an Ice Wolf Claw as he spoke. "He's on his own now; we can't go after him without blasting a hole through that entire arm of mist!"
"If we touch this stuff, we'll go bonkers and attack *you* guys," Togemon shouted, a scowl darkening her features. "Ohhh, I can't stand this! It's so *unfair*! NEEDLE SPRAY!"
The barrage of needles splintered against the fog, and Mimi winced as the damage was instantly repaired by still more virus.
"There's too much of it!" Mimi wailed, bouncing them off of a waterfall of data with both feet. "We don't have a chance!"
"Don't give up yet!" Matt said firmly, giving her arm a squeeze where it linked through his own. "We're a team, remember? We can get through anything, even a bunch of killer fog!"
Mimi stared at him, her eyes big with tears.
"Right..." she whispered. Then she narrowed her eyes, setting her chin stubbornly. "Let's go!"
"That's my girl!" Matt shouted. *She's changed since the Digital World,* he realized. *She's a lot stronger than I thought. Not to mention good at figuring trajectories. Speaking of that...* He pushed off of another spiral of data, sending it flying back to hit the virus, which piled over and around it until it was obscured from view, sucking it down. Matt gulped and kept going...
"SPIKING STRIKE!"
"GRAND HORN!"
"All right!" Yolei yelled, as even more of the virus vanished. "We're beating it, Ken! It's almost gone!"
"I'd better run a quick scan, just to make sure," Ken said sensibly, reaching for his D-Terminal. He hit a few buttons, and grinned. "Hey, you're right! There's only a little left, in the farthest reaches of the tunnels under there!" He snorted. "The whole inside of this cliff is carved out with tunnels. It's like a termite mound down there, more virus than rock. I can't believe the virus did that much damage in just a few hours..."
He tucked the D-Terminal back into his pocket. "Well, I guess you were right after all. This was surprisingly easy..."
Yolei didn't answer. She seemed to be listening to something. Suddenly, she frowned. "Ken?"
"Yeah?"
"I thought I heard something..." She frowned again, thinking hard. Suddenly, she grabbed his arm. "Hold on! Repeat what you said just now!"
"Um...there's only a little virus left?"
"No, after that!" Yolei snapped, giving his arm an impatient little shake.
"Oh! Uh, I said that it's like a termite nest down there, all full of tunnels-"
"-more virus than rock!" Yolei finished. "Ken, we just destroyed most of that virus! That means..."
"That means that the cliff's insides are just a bunch of thin stone framework now," Ken said, his eyes becoming huge. Then he flinched. "Did you hear that?"
"Yes," Yolei said softly. "That's the noise I heard a second ago, only louder..."
The noise came again, and this time it was unmistakable; the sound of crumbling rock.
"Oh, perfecto," Yolei muttered. "Let's get out of here!"
They began to hurry off of the cliff, Ken limping slightly on his painful ankle...
If Ken had kept his D-Terminal out a bit longer, he would have noticed the arm of virus snaking its way upward through the twisting burrows of rock, some of which had only paper-thin walls of stone between them and the next tunnel. As it was, he didn't see it at all...until it blasted through the ground at the edge of the cliff, shooting toward his feet in a lolloping slither, wrapping around his ankles and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Not agai-argh!"
"Ken!" Yolei cried, and turned around. The tendril of virus tightened its grip on Ken's ankle, and began to drag him away with surprising strength as he tried to dig his fingers into the ground and stop himself.
"Yolei...run..." he gasped, as the virus hauled him backwards toward the edge, more tendrils joining it from the side of the cliff. "The cliff is...going to fall..."
"I know!" she wailed, torn between escaping and trying to help him. *It's impossible to stop this thing before it's too late...but can I live with myself, knowing that I watched him die, and did nothing?*
The answer was swift and left no room for protest. Taking a deep breath, Yolei began to run back toward him. He was moving too quickly...the virus obviously intended to pull him over the edge of the cliff. It might not have been intelligent, but it was pure evil, and evil never goes down without trying to take someone with it. She wasn't going to make it in time...
As he passed the hole that the virus had broken in the ground, Ken grabbed the edge. The sharp stone cut at his fingers, but he held on, ignoring the pain. He didn't dare look up to see if Yolei had made it to safety yet.
"Ken! Hang on!"
"Yolei, what on earth do you think you're doing?!" he yelled, staring at her as she came running toward him. "I told you to go! I don't have a chance!"
"You didn't give up on me," Yolei shouted firmly, still running toward him, "and I'm sure not going to give up on you!"
Ken stared at her, gratitude in his crystal-blue eyes...
And the virus gave a mighty heave, and dragged his fingers free of the edge of the hole. He began to slide rapidly backward, and then was lifted off of the ground as the virus reared back over the edge of the cliff, about to fall.
Yolei leaped forward, catching his hands just as the virus reared back. Their hands clasped together, Yolei dug in her feet and braced herself against the stone, her teeth clenched with effort. Ken cried out, his torn hands protesting, but only held on more tightly.
A loud rumble of crumbling stone reached their ears, and the cliff shook.
"What are we going to do?" Ken yelled over the grating thunder of rock shifting and tumbling against itself deep within the cliff. Yolei swallowed hard.
"I don't know..."
Tai scowled. "I can't come up with an idea just like that!" he cried. "I need something to work with! I need information!"
"We need a *miracle*," Mimi muttered, breathing heavily. They were all watching the battle over their shoulders as they flew. Mimi suddenly remembered to look where they were going...and went white. "You guys...? Um, you guys?" She scowled. "Guys!!"
"What is it?" Matt said, glancing over his shoulder... "Oh, sh-"
*wham!*
They impacted with the spire with crushing force; the collision tore Matt and Tai's arms from one another's grasp, and Tai went flying one way, as Mimi and Matt pin-wheeled in another. Mimi screamed, and Matt swore viciously as they watched their friend speeding away, out of control.
"Oh, this is really good," Tai yelled sarcastically, and grabbed a spire, spinning around it a few times out of sheer momentum before finally stopping himself. Mimi and Matt braked against a carousel.
"Tai! We'd better rendezvous at the...oh, not again!"
"What?" Tai shouted back, confused at Matt's sudden trailing-off. He looked where Matt was looking... "Ack! Run away!!"
The virus was boiling toward them, swarming 'upward' among the scattered confusion of the 'Net. In front of it, like insects in front of a tidal wave, the Digimon continued to flee, still taking potshots at the rapidly growing virus.
"Mimi! It's eating something to grow!" Togemon yelled. "But I can't figure out what it is...it's not the data, that's for sure! It's just smashing that up, like it did in the Digital World!"
"Don't worry about it!" Mimi called, trying to be comforting. "You're all doing your best, and that's the most we can-Tai! Look out!"
Mimi had good reason to scream; an arm of the virus had just shot out, and was heading toward them. Matt shouted in alarm, and grabbed Mimi's arm again, shooting them into space with a kick of his legs.
"Matt, what are you doing?!" Mimi protested.
"Getting us out of there," Matt replied matter-of-factly. "If we stick around, we're virus-bait! Tai's running too, see?"
Mimi turned to look, just in time to see the nebulous arm of fog shoot between them and Tai, cutting them off from each other...and cutting Tai off from all three of the Digimon.
"Oh, no!"
"I could learn to hate those words," Matt growled, and turned to look. He went white as a sheet as he realized the situation. "Tai's behind that virus?!"
"I'm afraid so," MetalGarurumon bellowed from 'below' them, firing off an Ice Wolf Claw as he spoke. "He's on his own now; we can't go after him without blasting a hole through that entire arm of mist!"
"If we touch this stuff, we'll go bonkers and attack *you* guys," Togemon shouted, a scowl darkening her features. "Ohhh, I can't stand this! It's so *unfair*! NEEDLE SPRAY!"
The barrage of needles splintered against the fog, and Mimi winced as the damage was instantly repaired by still more virus.
"There's too much of it!" Mimi wailed, bouncing them off of a waterfall of data with both feet. "We don't have a chance!"
"Don't give up yet!" Matt said firmly, giving her arm a squeeze where it linked through his own. "We're a team, remember? We can get through anything, even a bunch of killer fog!"
Mimi stared at him, her eyes big with tears.
"Right..." she whispered. Then she narrowed her eyes, setting her chin stubbornly. "Let's go!"
"That's my girl!" Matt shouted. *She's changed since the Digital World,* he realized. *She's a lot stronger than I thought. Not to mention good at figuring trajectories. Speaking of that...* He pushed off of another spiral of data, sending it flying back to hit the virus, which piled over and around it until it was obscured from view, sucking it down. Matt gulped and kept going...
"SPIKING STRIKE!"
"GRAND HORN!"
"All right!" Yolei yelled, as even more of the virus vanished. "We're beating it, Ken! It's almost gone!"
"I'd better run a quick scan, just to make sure," Ken said sensibly, reaching for his D-Terminal. He hit a few buttons, and grinned. "Hey, you're right! There's only a little left, in the farthest reaches of the tunnels under there!" He snorted. "The whole inside of this cliff is carved out with tunnels. It's like a termite mound down there, more virus than rock. I can't believe the virus did that much damage in just a few hours..."
He tucked the D-Terminal back into his pocket. "Well, I guess you were right after all. This was surprisingly easy..."
Yolei didn't answer. She seemed to be listening to something. Suddenly, she frowned. "Ken?"
"Yeah?"
"I thought I heard something..." She frowned again, thinking hard. Suddenly, she grabbed his arm. "Hold on! Repeat what you said just now!"
"Um...there's only a little virus left?"
"No, after that!" Yolei snapped, giving his arm an impatient little shake.
"Oh! Uh, I said that it's like a termite nest down there, all full of tunnels-"
"-more virus than rock!" Yolei finished. "Ken, we just destroyed most of that virus! That means..."
"That means that the cliff's insides are just a bunch of thin stone framework now," Ken said, his eyes becoming huge. Then he flinched. "Did you hear that?"
"Yes," Yolei said softly. "That's the noise I heard a second ago, only louder..."
The noise came again, and this time it was unmistakable; the sound of crumbling rock.
"Oh, perfecto," Yolei muttered. "Let's get out of here!"
They began to hurry off of the cliff, Ken limping slightly on his painful ankle...
If Ken had kept his D-Terminal out a bit longer, he would have noticed the arm of virus snaking its way upward through the twisting burrows of rock, some of which had only paper-thin walls of stone between them and the next tunnel. As it was, he didn't see it at all...until it blasted through the ground at the edge of the cliff, shooting toward his feet in a lolloping slither, wrapping around his ankles and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Not agai-argh!"
"Ken!" Yolei cried, and turned around. The tendril of virus tightened its grip on Ken's ankle, and began to drag him away with surprising strength as he tried to dig his fingers into the ground and stop himself.
"Yolei...run..." he gasped, as the virus hauled him backwards toward the edge, more tendrils joining it from the side of the cliff. "The cliff is...going to fall..."
"I know!" she wailed, torn between escaping and trying to help him. *It's impossible to stop this thing before it's too late...but can I live with myself, knowing that I watched him die, and did nothing?*
The answer was swift and left no room for protest. Taking a deep breath, Yolei began to run back toward him. He was moving too quickly...the virus obviously intended to pull him over the edge of the cliff. It might not have been intelligent, but it was pure evil, and evil never goes down without trying to take someone with it. She wasn't going to make it in time...
As he passed the hole that the virus had broken in the ground, Ken grabbed the edge. The sharp stone cut at his fingers, but he held on, ignoring the pain. He didn't dare look up to see if Yolei had made it to safety yet.
"Ken! Hang on!"
"Yolei, what on earth do you think you're doing?!" he yelled, staring at her as she came running toward him. "I told you to go! I don't have a chance!"
"You didn't give up on me," Yolei shouted firmly, still running toward him, "and I'm sure not going to give up on you!"
Ken stared at her, gratitude in his crystal-blue eyes...
And the virus gave a mighty heave, and dragged his fingers free of the edge of the hole. He began to slide rapidly backward, and then was lifted off of the ground as the virus reared back over the edge of the cliff, about to fall.
Yolei leaped forward, catching his hands just as the virus reared back. Their hands clasped together, Yolei dug in her feet and braced herself against the stone, her teeth clenched with effort. Ken cried out, his torn hands protesting, but only held on more tightly.
A loud rumble of crumbling stone reached their ears, and the cliff shook.
"What are we going to do?" Ken yelled over the grating thunder of rock shifting and tumbling against itself deep within the cliff. Yolei swallowed hard.
"I don't know..."