AN: So I lied about getting the last part out fast. First of all, it obviously hasn't been fast, plus I'm adding another chapter, so I can procrastinate some more. So sue me. On second thought, don't, because Digimon isn't mine, and besides, I'm broke anyway. *Chibi Izzy, hereafter known as Chi-kun, groans.*
Chapter Five (ooooo, nice number...)
"HIKARI!! WAIT!!" Koushiro yelled, and linked through the portal. He felt first the rush of air around him during the familiar transition to the digital world, then the hard ground as he sprawled forward on his landing. As Koushiro tried to catch his breath, he saw a familiar shape running into the digital night.
"COME BACK, HIKARI!! YOU'RE NOT THINKING RATIONALLY!!" he yelled, trying to appeal to her. His cries were cut short when he tripped on a bush, causing his ankle to explode with pain.
Grimacing, he pulled up the pajama leg (AN: Remember he was supposed to be sleeping? I've never seen the older kids get different clothes when they transfer. Anyway!) and inspected the offending joint. The skin had begun to mottle with purple bruising and the foot was bent at an unnatural angle, definitely broken.
Knowing before he even tried that it was hopeless, Koushiro tested his weight on the foot gingerly. The resulting pain was so great that it induced wave upon wave of gut-twisting nausea, and he rolled over onto his side, trying desperately not to be sick. Even so, he had nearly passed out twice before a familiar pair of pincers clamped onto his right arm, steadying him.
"Koushiro!! What in Goddramon's name are you doing out here at this hour?"
"I...Ah!" Koushiro grimaced as his foot was bumped slightly. "I came after Hikari... She said something about the spirit world being closer to the digital world than our own and just came here with no further explanation other than saying she would bring Takeru back with her..."
"She said WHAT!!" cried a female voice. Peering through the red mist that had formed in front of his eyes, Koushiro was able to make out Gatomon's form as she pressed on with her questioning. "She should know better than to disrupt the barrier around the spiritual plane! What did she look like? Was she feeling all right? Did she look normal? This isn't something Hikari would do normally- evil forces are at work here. Well?"
"Now that I think about it, she looked somewhat possessed. Her eyes were completely blank... black..." He trailed off as another wave of nausea rolled over him.
"Black... Well, that's just great. My partner's been possessed, is on a weird mission to do who knows what to the spiritual barrier, I haven't had my usual morning catnip, and your ankle's broken. How can things get any worse?"
As if to mock her, a Monochromon appeared, quite annoyed at having its sleep interrupted by noisy Digimon. A quick digivolve by Tentomon was needed to escape the resulting rampage, as Gatomon was still weak from the previous day's events. Koushiro decided it would be best to take advantage of Kabuterimon's increased size and speed to search for Hikari, and after several agonizing minutes during which his ankle was splinted clumsily using two sticks and several pieces of cloth ripped from his pajama top, the trio was hurtling through the night sky.
*********
Meanwhile, a solitary figure stood on the edge of a cliff, arms raised to the sky. Dark, shadowy shapes, each giving off an almost tangible aura of evil, were gathering.
"Takeru, Takeru, come back to me, Takeru..." The figure continued to chant this one phrase over and over, gradually gaining in power as the shadows coalesced into a portal, which began to shimmer with a light that was not light at all, but rather rays of a pitch black darkness that seemed to suck the very life out of the surrounding air. As the speaker's chant became more frenzied, the portal began to pulse in time to the words, all the while building the strange black glow.
Finally, the figure threw back it's head, Hikari's features clearly visible, though Koushiro, who had just rounded the cliff some fifty feet to the right, would never know how the dark light managed to illuminate her face. He caught a glimpse of her face, lit by the darkness, and saw such a terrible beauty there that he was stunned into silence. Gatomon, however, had no such restraints.
"HIKARI!"
But the cry was lost in the sudden, impossibly loud inhuman roar that emanated from Hikari, seeming not to come from her mouth, though it was moving, but from her entire body, echoing into the stillness. Only a single word, but that word held so much sorrow, pain, loathing, and evil. Just one word.
"OPEN!!"
And all hell broke loose.
****************
AN: Yes, I'm lazy. I'm not even sure if anyone's reading this, seeing as how we're far into the third season already, and no one wants to read about second and first season (remember that?) characters. So if you are reading this, could you please review? It'd really make my day. Thank you.
Chapter Five (ooooo, nice number...)
"HIKARI!! WAIT!!" Koushiro yelled, and linked through the portal. He felt first the rush of air around him during the familiar transition to the digital world, then the hard ground as he sprawled forward on his landing. As Koushiro tried to catch his breath, he saw a familiar shape running into the digital night.
"COME BACK, HIKARI!! YOU'RE NOT THINKING RATIONALLY!!" he yelled, trying to appeal to her. His cries were cut short when he tripped on a bush, causing his ankle to explode with pain.
Grimacing, he pulled up the pajama leg (AN: Remember he was supposed to be sleeping? I've never seen the older kids get different clothes when they transfer. Anyway!) and inspected the offending joint. The skin had begun to mottle with purple bruising and the foot was bent at an unnatural angle, definitely broken.
Knowing before he even tried that it was hopeless, Koushiro tested his weight on the foot gingerly. The resulting pain was so great that it induced wave upon wave of gut-twisting nausea, and he rolled over onto his side, trying desperately not to be sick. Even so, he had nearly passed out twice before a familiar pair of pincers clamped onto his right arm, steadying him.
"Koushiro!! What in Goddramon's name are you doing out here at this hour?"
"I...Ah!" Koushiro grimaced as his foot was bumped slightly. "I came after Hikari... She said something about the spirit world being closer to the digital world than our own and just came here with no further explanation other than saying she would bring Takeru back with her..."
"She said WHAT!!" cried a female voice. Peering through the red mist that had formed in front of his eyes, Koushiro was able to make out Gatomon's form as she pressed on with her questioning. "She should know better than to disrupt the barrier around the spiritual plane! What did she look like? Was she feeling all right? Did she look normal? This isn't something Hikari would do normally- evil forces are at work here. Well?"
"Now that I think about it, she looked somewhat possessed. Her eyes were completely blank... black..." He trailed off as another wave of nausea rolled over him.
"Black... Well, that's just great. My partner's been possessed, is on a weird mission to do who knows what to the spiritual barrier, I haven't had my usual morning catnip, and your ankle's broken. How can things get any worse?"
As if to mock her, a Monochromon appeared, quite annoyed at having its sleep interrupted by noisy Digimon. A quick digivolve by Tentomon was needed to escape the resulting rampage, as Gatomon was still weak from the previous day's events. Koushiro decided it would be best to take advantage of Kabuterimon's increased size and speed to search for Hikari, and after several agonizing minutes during which his ankle was splinted clumsily using two sticks and several pieces of cloth ripped from his pajama top, the trio was hurtling through the night sky.
*********
Meanwhile, a solitary figure stood on the edge of a cliff, arms raised to the sky. Dark, shadowy shapes, each giving off an almost tangible aura of evil, were gathering.
"Takeru, Takeru, come back to me, Takeru..." The figure continued to chant this one phrase over and over, gradually gaining in power as the shadows coalesced into a portal, which began to shimmer with a light that was not light at all, but rather rays of a pitch black darkness that seemed to suck the very life out of the surrounding air. As the speaker's chant became more frenzied, the portal began to pulse in time to the words, all the while building the strange black glow.
Finally, the figure threw back it's head, Hikari's features clearly visible, though Koushiro, who had just rounded the cliff some fifty feet to the right, would never know how the dark light managed to illuminate her face. He caught a glimpse of her face, lit by the darkness, and saw such a terrible beauty there that he was stunned into silence. Gatomon, however, had no such restraints.
"HIKARI!"
But the cry was lost in the sudden, impossibly loud inhuman roar that emanated from Hikari, seeming not to come from her mouth, though it was moving, but from her entire body, echoing into the stillness. Only a single word, but that word held so much sorrow, pain, loathing, and evil. Just one word.
"OPEN!!"
And all hell broke loose.
****************
AN: Yes, I'm lazy. I'm not even sure if anyone's reading this, seeing as how we're far into the third season already, and no one wants to read about second and first season (remember that?) characters. So if you are reading this, could you please review? It'd really make my day. Thank you.