A/N: Yes it's me again.  Another thank you to Avalon, Callisto Nicol, CheeseWizardmon, and only4gameboyadvance!!  Now for a few little responses to all of you and to one of the reviewers.  To all of you: No I don't hate Myotismon or Wizardmon even after writing this fic.  I'm just being different in my writing style.  Besides, I can support Myo-kun in all my other digimon fics.  To Jules Verne: You died over a hundred years ago.  You can't put me in the Nautilus.  I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!  To all of you again: I just have a ton of ideas for this.  It's going to be about a lot more than just Wizardmon, but he's still the main focus of our attention here.  Let's see what Athena-chan can do…  Now on with the long-awaited chapter 4!

Chapter 4: Data For a Day

  Wizardmon examined himself, positive he had undergone the complete 24-hour transformation.  He didn't feel like a true Wizardmon; it was a feeling which no serum ever concocted could ameliorate.  The young wizard did not feel miserable, but only slightly indigent.  Only two souls knew the truth behind his temporary transformation: Myotismon and himself.  He needed Kari and Gatomon, as well as Erika and his Auramon brother, to know about this before it was too late.

  Of course, the vampire demon, now the gentle Aeronumon, conversed with the wizard before he journeyed out into the world on his own to find his fellow digimon friends and their human partners.

  "Why are you acting this way towards me?" asked a suspicious Wizardmon.  "I know you know something I don't know."

  "Oh, I'm just growing soft," replied the winged man airily.  "For I am a data today.  Now leave."

  "I know you're up to something," Wizardmon spat out.

  "Leave, damn you," growled Aeronumon.

  I know you are Myotismon underneath that disguise of an innocent Aeronumon, thought the young wizard.  I know you are up to something.  All of a sudden, two strong Bakemon picked him up and threw him right out a stone doorway into the main hall of the castle.  Afraid, the wizard ran with all his might out of the castle and made his way down the mountain that day.  He knew that he would return to his Necromamon form after the sun finished setting, because he knew that was when Myotismon had given him the serum.  If only he could find Kari and the others and tell them the truth…

  Wizardmon made his way out of the mountain range and stared at the dark castle that appeared to be so small, so far away.  If only it had been closer.  He felt as if he needed more serum to last himself through his lifetime.  As he entered the forest, he felt the presence of the Floramon.  As he saw the Floramon rushing out of their hiding places behind the trees to greet him, the young wizard felt condemned to know the wrath of their vines and pollen.  He braced himself for the pain.

  "Good day, Wizardmon," said a Floramon affectionately.  "Fancy meeting you here in our territory."

  "You wouldn't want to be here," admonished another of the plant-like beasts.  "A nasty sorcerer killed our leader and took over the territory for that no-good bakayaro Myotismon."

  At those words Wizardmon's heart sank.  They showed bias and prejudism as they were actually speaking dirty about him, what he had done.

  "He's nearly as bad as that demon," remarked another Floramon.  "They are both ultimates… they're both trying to conquer the digital world…"

  Now the wizard felt as if a heavy stone was in his stomach, getting heavier at each passing lie.

  "…and I bet you that Necromamon will be the second Myotismon.  The second he dies, Necromamon will take over."  The Floramon had concluded her thoughts on Necromamon, making Wizardmon have a dirty sensation in the pit of his stomach.  The stone had grown into a larger rock and was weighing him down even more.  It had grown into his heart as well.

  "No, it's not true," protested Wizardmon.  "None of this is true!"

  "Of course it isn't true," agreed another plant beast.  The wizard felt the rock lighten, and the sensation of sickness had gone away.  "Myotismon is undead.  You can't kill the undead."

  At that point, the rock became a boulder.  Wizardmon felt as if he were about to cry as every insult was thrown around casually, with the insensitive Floramon unaware that they were making snide remarks about him.  "It's all lies," he repeated to himself.  "It's all lies."

  "So you had better stay away from this place," warned a Floramon.  "If Necromamon or even Myotismon knows you're here they'll destroy you like they destroyed our leader Blossomon."

  "Necromamon knows I'm here," said Wizardmon.  "He heard everything."  He felt slightly ill and as if he had been tortured within.  "All those insults… everything.  I need to leave."  He quickly ran deeper into the forest next to the river, where he knelt down on the bank and contemplated his reflection in the crystalline water.  He saw the face of Wizardmon, not Necromamon.  His true face.  Still, there was something about him that was missing.  Or like there was something there that shouldn't have been there.  That was when he noticed the long, red-tinted scar running down the side of his face, mostly concealed by his cloak.  It was a sign that Necromamon was still within.  Maybe if he de-digivolved…

  The young wizard knew he had to keep his mind averted from the technicalities of the serum.  He closed his eyes and listened closely to the water rushing, a cool breeze blowing, birds chirping, and Floramon conversing among themselves.  A roar of faint laughter was heard occasionally, and Wizardmon knew they were poking fun at his ultimate virus form.  He looked at his reflection in the water again and thought he was seeing things, which he was.  Only he saw a faint reflection of Necromamon overlapping Wizardmon.  The wizard slapped the surface of the water, distorting the image and making slight ripples appear on the surface.

  "Wizardmon!"  He heard the ringing of Gatomon's voice in his ears.  Then, turning around, Wizardmon saw Kari and Gatomon standing behind him and grinning.

  "Good day, Kari.  Good day, Gatomon," said the wizard, standing up and walking over to the girl and the cat digimon.

  "Where have you been?" Kari inquired innocently.  Wizardmon felt as if he were being dropped off a tall cliff to find that there was nothing to break his fall.  "Gatomon and I haven't seen you in an extremely long time."

  "I've seen you yesterday," admitted the young wizard.  "You were acting afraid towards me, and Gatomon was extremely defensive."

  "Never!" the cat digimon exclaimed.  "Never towards you!  I know you were talking about Necromamon.  I know all about him.  Kari does because she had a nightmare about him the night before we saw him.  Necromamon has a dark soul and has the appearance to match.  He has this wild black hair, gray skin, yellow eyes, dark robes, and carries a sinister staff like yours."

  "He works for Myotismon," added Kari.  "He's like his apprentice or something."

  Wizardmon had the exact sensation he had felt when the Floramon were talking about him.  He knew he had to tell Kari and Gatomon sooner or later.

  "Come, Wizardmon."  The cat digimon motioned in a different direction.  "We must tell you something we know you'll love.  Erika and Auramon will be there as well."

  Now the young wizard had extremely mixed feelings about telling his four only real friends and companions about the serum and that he was forever virus.  Forever Necromamon.  That he was the one in Kari's ominous nightmare.  If he told the truth, the feeling would be off his chest and he wouldn't feel guilty.  On the other hand, Auramon, Gatomon, Erika and Kari might be afraid to go near him.  They might fight against him, or worse: shun him from their lives and try to forget about him, even after he might be able to de-digivolve to Wizardmon for real.

  Meanwhile, Aeronumon knew about the way the young wizard would try to admit to his friends the truth behind his Wizardmon-like appearance.  He knew he had to prevent him from doing so.

  "Bakemon," he said to his minions in Aeronumon's voice, "are you prepared to do your duty?"

  "I have a question, Master Myotismon," said Demidevimon.  "What are you trying to do to him?"

  "A life of misery," was the disguised vampire demon's reply.  "What I will do is try to keep those digi-fools busy so our little victim is unable to tell them the truth about himself.  And then when they find out that Wizardmon is Necromamon, they will leave him no choice but to obey my orders.  Of course, if the digimon had gotten through to him, I will have to resort to more… drastic action.  I know exactly what digimon to send on them first."

  The time was mid-afternoon after the young wizard had been traveling all morning and met up with Kari and Gatomon in the early afternoon.  Now it was mid-afternoon, with not too much time left to tell them the truth.  He decided to tell them so when he had the chance.  He, the girl, and the cat digimon met Erika and Auramon on a cliff which overlooked Server's desert, just close enough to the forest.

  "Isn't it beautiful?" asked Gatomon.

  "Hi, Wizardmon," said Erika, grinning.  Auramon merely nodded in agreement.

  The feeling was now as if he were about to burst open.  Wizardmon needed to tell them.  "I— I— I need to tell you something," he forced out of himself.

  Gatomon blinked.  "Really?" she asked.  "We have something we'd like to tell you too."

  "Yes," agreed Erika.  "It's time that you should know this.  We all missed you and have been searching for you for months, and Kari and Gatomon finally found you today."

  Not today, thought Wizardmon.  You found me yesterday.   And then you ran away…  And look.  Just because I look like Wizardmon again, too.  If you saw me as Necromamon you would just shun me like the Floramon did. 

  "Well," Erika began, excitedly, "as you know, everything has just gone along just fine, and I'd like to announce that I'm gonna be a digi-destined!  And you're gonna be an honorary digi-destined digimon to us.  You've been such a good friend to us… well, it's a real honor.  And we can possibly find a way to help you digivolve!"

  Digivolve… digivolve… the words echoed through Wizardmon's mind.  He had that sinking sensation again, this time he was sinking faster than usual.  And there was no bottom.

  "What's wrong, Wizardmon?" wondered the cat-like digimon.  "You should be happy.  What's wrong?"

  "Yes," agreed Auramon.  "You've never been this quiet before.  Even for someone like you you're quiet."

  Wizardmon didn't want to admit it to the others, but since they were his friends, he began to speak.  He took a deep breath and admitted, "I have a secret.  A painful one that's been eating away at my soul, weighing down my heart.  You need to hear it before it completely destroys me, or it destroys you."

  Kari blinked.  "What is it?" she asked.

  "Yes, you can tell us," the older girl agreed.  "We're your friends.  We can take it."

  The young wizard knew he had no choice.  "Things aren't always—"

  *CRASH!*  His confession was interrupted by a loud crashing noise.  It was followed by another one which was even louder than the first.  Every stomp got louder and louder and made the ground shake underneath them.  Finally, they saw the source of the shaking ground and the crashing footsteps.  It was the vile, nasty Tuskmon, a towering green tusked dinosaur which was one of Myotismon's henchmen.  The tusked dinosaur was sent on the group of five to prevent Wizardmon from making his confession.

  "It's Tuskmon!" Auramon exclaimed.

  Tuskmon roared an ear-splitting roar, making the ground vibrate.  "SLAMMING TUSK!" it seemed to be roaring, rushing towards the girls and their digimon.

  "We know what to do," said Erika.  "Save your strength, Wizardmon."  She held out her digivice, enveloping her Auramon in a lavender light.

  "Auramon, digivolve to… WIZARDMON!"  The light grew and paused in a Wizardmon shape, but it didn't stop there.  "Wizardmon, digivolve to… INCANTEMON!"  Incantemon stood before Tuskmon, preparing to attack.  Wizardmon felt his heart sink lower than the deepest trench in the sea.  He could have been an Incantemon.

  Gatomon also started glowing, but it was a pink color.  "Gatomon, digivolve to…"  The light grew into a human shape with wings.  "ANGEWOMON!"  The angel flew over them and picked up the two girls and the wizard, flying off the side of the cliff, and then setting them on the ground.  "I can't let you get hurt," she told them.

  "INCANTATION: FIRE!"  The sorcerer of light let out a blast of flames from his staff, which hit the dinosaur and forced him back until he was on the edge of the cliff.

  "HORN BUSTER!"  The dinosaur's second attack hit Incantemon right in the chest and forced him back onto the ground from the pain.  He struggled to stand up, but his chest was in so much pain he couldn't even move without feeling the sharp spasms.  He whimpered for one moment, then de-digivolved back into Auramon.  "Angewomon…" he gasped.  "Help!"

  The angel flew up the side of the cliff, leaving Erika and Kari alone with Wizardmon.  They were too enthralled in the battle going on that they hadn't noticed the three-dimensional shapes hidden on the side of the cliff.  But the young wizard had.

  "CELESTIAL ARROW!"  Angewomon drew back her arrow made of pure light, drew it back, and shot it right at the dinosaur, who fell onto the ground in more pain than Auramon after the arrow pierced his side.  Greenish-red blood flowed out of the puncture wound and trickled onto the ground as he moaned in pain.  "Here, Auramon," she said, flying over to the rookie wizard and trying to heal his wounds.

  Meanwhile, the two girls were staring at the top of the cliff, wondering what was happening.

  "I think Angewomon's in trouble," said Kari worriedly.  She started to climb up the cliff, with Erika assisting her, leaving the young wizard alone to watch them.

  He thought he was seeing things as a part of the cliff began to move.  He kept his breath still, trying not to blink.  All of a sudden, before he could say anything, Bakemon were surrounding him, grabbing his staff, grabbing him around the legs, and clamping his mouth shut so no sound could escape.  They flew off with him at lightning speed just as Erika noticed that was happening.  She turned around and saw her friend being carried off by the ghosts.

  "INCANTEMON!  ANGEWOMON!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.  Angewomon turned her head around, grabbed Auramon off the ground, and flew down the side of the cliff, where she saw Erika and Kari looking as if they just received the news that somebody just died.  "Wizardmon's gone!"

  "Wizardmon's gone?!"  The angel felt more oppressed than she appeared.

  "We need to find him right away," said the young girl.

  "Only where to start… he could be anywhere!" Erika exclaimed.

  Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them from the air, cast by a winged man against the gradually setting sun.  His silvery wings were spread in flight and his long blonde hair was flying behind him.  The winged man landed on the ground in front of the two humans and two digimon.

  "I hear your friend is missing," he said.  "Is there any way I can help?"

  "Yes!" the four of them exclaimed.

  "What is your name?" wondered the young wizard.

  "They call me Aeronumon," said the winged man, grinning.  "I know where your friend might be.  Follow me."

  Meanwhile, the ghosts had carried the wizard to a cave and heaved him into it, where he landed a hard landing on the pure stone floor and hit the wall.  They shoved a giant boulder over the opening and placed his staff in front of it so he couldn't reach it through the small opening for air.

  "Let's see if your friends can find you now," cackled one of the Bakemon, flying off.

  "And if they do, it will be too late!"  The rest flew off so quickly they were white blurs.

  "No!" Wizardmon cried, reaching out of the hole, trying to grab his staff.  The rock was so high above the ground and his arms weren't long enough, so it was impossible to grab hold of it.  Seeing that the sun was sinking in the sky and everything was tinged yellowish-orange, the wizard knew he didn't have much time left to escape and tell everyone.

  Hours passed, and knowing that his staff was completely out of reach, he sank onto the smooth, cold floor of the dark cave and just gave up.  Finally, he thought he saw the stone move as reddish-purple light streamed into the cave.  Seeing his friends gave him a wave of relief.  He didn't see Aeronumon, however.

  "Wizardmon!" Angewomon exclaimed as she and Auramon bounded him in a reunion hug.  "I'm so overjoyed we found you!"

  "Actually, it was Aeronumon who had a sense of where you were," added Kari.

  "Aeronumon?" asked the wizard.  "HE helped you?  Something's up…"

  "What was it you wanted to tell us?' asked the wizard's brother.  "And I noticed, why is there that scar on your face?"

  "It reminds me of something," said Kari suspiciously.

  The wizard knew he was cornered.  He had to tell them before the sun completely set, which wasn't too far away.  "Well," he began, "things aren't always what they seem.  I AM still Wizardmon, but there is something you—"  he began to cough and sputter as the sun completely sank and the serum wore off.  "Something you should know about me—"  Suddenly, he began to change.  He grew bigger.  His hat disappeared.  His hair grew longer and changed into a blackish color.  His jumpsuit and cloak changed into dark robes.  The metamorphosis concluded with the staff transforming from the sun staff to the moon staff.  He was Necromamon once again.  "I was forced to dark digivolve into this," he told his friends.

  Kari screamed bloody murder and tried to run away, but tripped over a vine.

  "IMPOSTOR!  IMPOSTOR!  WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH OUR FRIEND??!!"  Even Auramon was against him.

  "No," Necromamon pleaded.  "I am your friend.  I was forced to dark digivolve."

  "Who forced you?" asked Erika.  "Yourself?"

  "By me."  Aeronumon stepped into the moonlight.

  "But you're so nice!" Angewomon exclaimed.

  "Things aren't always what they seem," said Aeronumon, grinning.  Suddenly, two white fangs protruded from his mouth.  "I am not Aeronumon."  He was speaking in a different voice.  The transformation Necromamon had seen reversed itself, and Myotismon was standing where the gentle Aeronumon stood a few seconds earlier.  "I am Myotismon!  MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

  "That's it, fang face," said Erika.  "What have you done with Wizardmon?  I know you're involved in this plan somehow!"

  "Ah, I see you're smarter than you thought," said the vampire, motioning towards Necromamon.  "He's standing in your presence."

  Kari looked at the dark sorcerer.  There was something strange about his eyes that seemed very familiar.  "But all I see is—" she began, then realizing something.  "No.  No!  It can't be!  NO!"  She began to cry.  "Wizardmon!  You're evil!"

  "Don't believe that, Kari," pleaded Necromamon before he was cut off by Myotismon.

  "I'm afraid your pleas aren't completely understood, Necromamon," said the vampire, advancing on Kari, who slowly backed away.  He floated behind her and set his hands around her neck, digging his sharp nails into her flesh and piercing it.  "Your friend or your life.  What's more important to you?"

  Kari cringed as she felt blood flow down her neck and the nails digging deeper into her skin.  Still, she could see something about Necromamon… something she hadn't seen before.  Those weren't the eyes from her nightmare.  The eyes were compassionate and full of light despite the darkness outside.  Could the sorcerer be telling the truth about himself?

  "LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!" the angel screamed, zooming right at Myotismon, who instantly produced a whip of his Crimson Lightning and forced Angewomon to hit the ground so hard she hurt too much to attain balance and wasn't able to get up without feeling pain.

  "Your little angel cannot save you," said Myotismon, closing in on Kari.  He was either going to drain her blood or strangle her to death if the sorcerer didn't do something.  "You must choose between your digi-destined friend or your life."

  "Save me!" Kari gasped as she was enclosed in the vampire's cape.  She could feel the presence of the cape around her as the heavy dark material was wrapped around herself.  She felt herself dying and knew she didn't have much time left before her life ended.

  The sorcerer knew he had no choice.  He had to rescue Kari or else she would die not knowing that he was actually good.  He took a deep breath and replied straightforward, "I choose Kari and choose to end this miserable life as a virus."

  "Done!"  Myotismon let go of Kari, who fell to the ground.  He grabbed Necromamon by the wrist.  "You made a very heroic choice," he said.  "Too bad it's your last choice as well!"

  Necromamon hung his head as the other four realized something they hadn't realized before he made his vital choice.

To be continued…