Me: Hey, I'm back again!
Tai: Joy….
Me: Oh, be quiet. It's my Digimon's Mood's idea, not mine.
Tai: It's still part of you, though
Me: Yeah, I know, but still….oh yes, (points over to thing impersonating Tai) this is my Digimon Mood, DM for short.
DM: Muwahahaha….
Me: As you can see, he's evil Oo
Matt: Shouldn't you be commenting on the reviews?
Me: Huh? Oh yeah!
Litanya: Glad to hear that you like it so much! I'm thankful that you've been commenting on all the chapters too. Yeah, it's weird, but for some reason I always torture my favorite characters the most Oo. I've noticed others saying this too. Wonder why we writers do that.
Tai and Matt:
Takuya: Congratulations! You have the grand total of one review for the last chapter
Me: Haha, very funny. Well, I'm new, so I'm not expecting too many reviews at once. And what're doing here anyway? You don't show up 'til later! (Pushes him away) Um, anyways, anyone want to do the disclaimer?
TK: Neither The Light's Refrain nor DM own us in any way whatsoever. We're merely working for her because ever since Digimon 02 ended, we've been desperate for work and had to resort to taking roles in fanfics.
Me: Thanks TK, Now for the fic!
Izzy: Finally…..
Data Set 15: Living Phantom
"Now what?" Gatomon murmured, stirred from her slumber once again. She lazily rolled onto her belly and looked down from her almighty branch. Nothing came into her sights, much like before. With an irritated sigh, the purple-striped cat rolled back over onto her back and tried to get back to sleep. Her rather large ears remained alert, twitching a little, while her sinewy tail hung down. It remained slightly curled at the end, to make sure her golden tail ring didn't slip off.
"Hey Gatomon!" a high pitched voice called out.
She immediately sprang up, her white fur now standing on end. Her startled gaze soon found the source; an orange-and-tan creature with big blue eyes and bat wings for ears.
"Hello Patamon….." Gatomon grumbled, with a slight annoyance in her tone. Her fur, sensing no more danger, laid itself back down. "So, what's up?"
"Well….Agumon and Gabumon aren't feeling so great,' Patamon replied, looking a little concerned.
"What's wrong with them?" Gatomon asked.
"Sick,' Patamon responded.
"Well, that figures,' Gatomon stated. "Something's going 'round. I just paid a visit to Tentomon recently, and he was looking pretty miserable. He said something about Palmon feeling really bad too."
"Yeah, I heard about that," Patamon answered.
"And on top of that, Mimi's sick too,' she added.
He chuckled a little. "Well-"
Their casual chatter went no further.
"Gatomon…" Patamon whispered, his small body rigid.
Gatomon's eyes narrowed and her ears went back slightly. It was that presence from before, the once that had woken her up. It was drifting somewhere among the playground of trees, just out of sight. The movement was sluggish yet quite erratic at points, seeming to suddenly be in another place within moments.
Crouched down, her ears now almost level with her body, Gatomon turned her wary glare to where the presence seemed to be. The hairs along the edge of her back and on the upper part of her chest raised themselves up as a low growl was let loose from her throat. Her tail was lifted up high above her, swaying slightly. The holy band upon it was emitting a faint light.
"Show yourself."
And so he did.
Gatomon's expression shifted from suspicion to shock in a matter of moments.
"What the hell?" she murmured, almost below hearing. "Matt?"
His image was distorted by sadistic screeches and aggressive static and flickering. He walked towards in a sleepy state, maybe a dreaming state. Twin shreds of translucent mist spun around him, with random scraps licking at his heads and wrists. At his side was his DigiVice, being torn at by the static just like the rest of him. It gave off a dull red light that never changed its hue. His eyes had a clouded look to them, and their gaze remained on the grassy ground. In fact, Gatomon wasn't sure whether he noticed that they were there or not.
"Matt! Matt!" Patamon cried out, beginning to lift himself into the air using those bat wings he had for ears.
The screeching quieted itself a bit as he paused and looked up at Gatomon. His eyes were looking as drowsy as before, but he had been able to have registered Patamon's presence. Words were dropping out of his mouth, but they had a faded quality to them and their meaning became lost in a cave of echoes.
The looping fog hastened its cycle around Matt, which seemed to force Matt to keep moving ahead and lose track of Patamon.
"Hey wait!" Patamon called out, flying after him.
Matt's body gave a especially violent flicker as the corrupted vapor sped up its rotation around him. Before Patamon could reach him he was gone, vanished from sight. The round field and its surrounding trees fell silent as the screeching came to a sudden halt.
"Something's really screwed up here,' Gatomon hissed, her white fur standing up slightly as her tail thrashed around behind her. "Patamon!"
"Yeah?" he replied a little shakily.
"Go find the others," Gatomon ordered. "I'm gonna try to get a hold of Kari."
Data Set 16: All Together
"Tai! Hang on!" Kari cried out.
His body was flickering viciously, but Tai didn't seem to feel it. He just remained in searing yet tranquil slumber on his side, oblivious to the slices of haze revolving around him. One shred of translucent fog was carrying his blanket around, imitating a pale gray specter. He was threatening to lift off the sofa himself.
Frantic shouts could be heard from a room just out of sight. The yells were brought into being by TK and Sora, something about Yolei. The racket soon died away, replaced by a guilty quiet. Hushed, the two of them uneasily entered the living room.
Before Kari could ask them what she already knew, Sora's cell phone chimed a tune that sounded suspiciously like "Ring Around the Rosies" from the counter top.
Sora picked it up and touched the talk button. "Yeah?"
"Sora!" Joe's remorseful voice answered from the other end. "I-I lost him...only a few more blocks..."
"I see," Sora replied quietly "We just lost Yolei."
"What about Cody?" Joe questioned.
"We lost him about fifteen minutes ago,' Sora replied. "He didn't make it here either..."
"Oh..."
"Look, just come here and we'll try to sort things out,' Sora advised.
"Allright..."
There was a timid click at the other side of the connection.
Sora sighed and clenched her phone. "Dammit..."
"Tai!"
Sora snapped her attention back to the last enduring patient. Tai was now rising well above a foot from the couch.
"Oh no you don't!" Sora protested as she dashed over to Tai and attempted to hold him down. Her hands went straight through him.
An especially strong wave of static rushed through him, and that was it.
Now the apartment was swimming in silence, as everyone's sight was still where Tai once was.
A jolt of noise shot through the soundlessness.
"Kari! Kari!"
It had erupted from Kari's DigiVice.
She plucked it from her side. "Gatomon!"
"Gatomon, what's going on over there!" Kari barked.
"Well...other than the fact that Matt's floating around all staticy and stuff, not much," Gatomon replied, sounding almost casual about it.
"Matt!" TK cried out, running over to Kari. "Where!"
"At the Second Veldt Terminal,' Gatomon responded. "...Do I want to know what's going on over there?"
"Well, not really, but I'll tell you anyway,' Kari answered. "There's some kind of digital virus that's making everyone disappear, but not before making them plenty miserable one week or so beforehand. Matt vanished first, then Cody, then Yolei, then Izzy, and just now Tai. The rest of us are feeling okay right now, but..."
"I see..." Gatomon replied. "Some of the other Digimon have been sick too, but so far it hasn't been too bad...but if it's connected to this virus then...'
"Yeah, I know, Kari replied. "We're going over there now.'
She turned to the others. "Ready?"
They all nodded and brought out their DigiVices, then headed for Tai's room, where his abandoned computer was stored.
Kari was about to enter the room when she saw her mother walk up to her from the corner of her eye. She seemed more than a little frightened, and had every right to be.
"Kari? You will make it back with Tai, right?"
The daughter smiled. "Of course Mom. We'll be right back."
Data Set 18: Tick Tock Tick Tock...
They didn't find themselves in energy form for long. Their bodies returned to their usual shape and size a good ten feet above the ground. They didn't have much time to protest as the lot of them crashed ever so gracefully into the sea of grass.
Sora, lucky enough to be stuck at the bottom of the human pile, found herself spitting out seeds and soil. TK's cap had fallen over her eyes, blocking out her sight.
TK was only a little more fortunate, lying on top of Sora.
Kari rested on top.
"Will you two get off!" Sora barked.
Kari and TK both exchanged startled yelps and began to get up.
Moments later, Joe materialized in the sky and landed on top of Kari.
"Sorry I'm late!" he announced.
A cast of moans and grumbles greeted him.
"Yolei's right..." Kari mumbled. "We really need to start putting pillows here..."
"Kari!"
She looked up to see Gatomon and Patamon hurrying towards them.
"Hey guys!" TK greeted as the group untangled themselves from the heap.
"So anything new?" Kari asked.
"Ran into Mimi a little while ago," Gatomon replied.
"How's she doing?' Sora asked.
"Bout as well as Matt."
Joe's expression got even more worried. "But how'd she get sick? She lives halfway across the world!"
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "We haven't gone to see her in...what, a year?"
"It doesn't make any sense..." Joe continued. "I mean..."
Joe's voice trailed off as he seemed to lose track of what he was saying. Sora was also looking quite drained.
"Guys?" TK questioned, looking anxious. "You okay?
Everyone froze.
"Y-yeah," Joe replied. "It's-it's nothing."
The screeching from their DigiVices that erupted soon after said otherwise. Static ridges coursed up and down their bodies.
"Th-Then again," Joe added, trying to smile.
Their DigiVices switched between red and white, but now the flashes were accelerating at a much brisker pace than before. As such, their symptoms were coming on much faster than the others.
"What the hell's going on here!" TK hissed. He hid his harsher words under his breath.
"Well, everybody's getting real sick with a vi-" Patamon began.
"I know that!" TK snapped.
Patamon backed away slightly and said no more.
"Sorry," he added hastily. "I'm just kinda stressed out right now. First Matt vanishes into thin air, then Cody, then Izzy, then Yolei, then Tai, then we all go here to try to find them and suddenly Joe and Sora are getting real sick. Now..."
An odd pause followed.
"What is it TK?" Kari questioned.
"...You don't think..." TK began. "...that by just being here we're more vulnerable to the virus, do you?"
Me: The plot thickens…..
Takuya: Hey! When do I come in?
Me: Not 'til the next fic
Takuya: What? That long!
Me: It's not that long...