Well…..there's not much to say here. Disclaimer anyone?

Sora: The Light's Refrain does not own Digimon in any way, shape or form. Thank god.

Okay folks this is gonna be a long, rough chapter here...

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe...

"Uh..." Patamon responded. "It's...possible I guess..."

"Quick! We gotta get these two back!" Kari ordered.

TK gave a firm nod and managed a support Joe up. He held up his DigiVice with his free hand towards the sky. Instantly it parted for him, revealing an ebony sea of emerald zeros and ones just beyond the pale blue covering. He and Joe were steadily rising into the air as deep green strings extended down and whipped around them. Their ascension soon increased rapidly, until their bodies were transformed into energy once more. The two points of rushing light were soon beyond the pale sky covering.

All seemed to go well, as the two points of light found no resistance from the ones and zeros around them. They merely bounced off of them. It wasn't long until there was a bright, shimmering light not far from sight; their destination. You could start to see some of the larger objects in the room, it was so close.

It was then that the virus interfered.

It winded through all the ones and zeroes at a superb speed. The gap between it and the points of light was quickly diminishing, until it was merely a few feet away. Now within striking range, it wasted no time.

It slammed down on them like a giant whip, immediately halting their progress. Moments later, the two points of light reverted back to TK and Joe, unconscious from the blow. The lengthy blade of mist, having served its purpose, dissolved away as Joe and TK slowly began to fall.

After almost a minute falling, TK stirred from his forced sleep. He soon became aware of the static ridges running up and down his arms and legs and the fact that they weren't going up. He glanced to Joe beside him, who was still out cold. He could barely see Joe at all, his body had become so transparent and flickery.

He had looked just in time to see Joe be turned into digital dust.

It was just like a Digimon; first the feet, then the legs, progressing upward until there was no more Joe to see.

TK's words hid in his throat and refused to come out. All he was able to do was stare at the space where Joe was supposed to be.

Before he realized it, he was back in the Digital World, the portal still opened. When he did finally realize it, he ended up slamming into Kari and Sora, who were just beginning to ascend into the air. All three DigiDestined crashed back onto the ground.

"uuuuhhhnnnn..." TK groaned.

"TK!" Patamon exclaimed, flying over him. It didn't take him to notice how random parts of TK were flickering.

"Hey..." he replied. "I don't think we can go back that way..."

"What happened?' Kari asked frantically, as the pile of DigiDestined sorted themselves out.

"I dunno,' TK replied. "One moment I was being converted into energy, and the next I'm falling back to the Digital World."

Then Sora, managing to sit up, noticed something. "Where's Joe?"

It didn't take long for the others to become aware of this.

" I...I dunno," TK responded, also looking around for Joe. Boy, that was a lie. But if only it was the truth. "H-He wasn't with me when I woke up." He wasn't with me for long, anyway...

"Do you think maybe he got through?" Kari asked.

"M-maybe..."

"TK..." Patamon whined.

TK shot a fierce glance at Patamon in case he had anything to say about his story. But he soon realized that wasn't the problem.

Patamon was also flickering somewhat, his little body lined with static ridges. His bat-like ears were drooping a bit, and his eyes looked slightly sleepy.

Before TK had the chance to say anything, though, a pink puffball with a short beak and a single red feather erupted from the nearby woods. Its tiny wings barely managed to keep it aloft, and often it bounced a bit on the ground before it could quite get back up in the air again. The puffball smacked into a couple of trees before plopping near the DigiDestined. It possessed a flickery image.

"Poromon!" Gatomon exclaimed, dashing over to him.

Within a few moments, Poromon's exhausted expression was replaced by a panicky one, and flew up into the air. "Gatomon! He's gone! He's gone! Gomamon's gone!"

"Whaddya mean he's gone?" Gatomon asked. "Gone where?"

"No! No! This is bad! This is bad! Bad bad bad!"

"What's so bad about it?" Gatomon questioned. "He's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

"No no NO! It's not like that!" Poromon exclaimed, flying around in circles.

Gatomon grasped Poromon, whose wings were still flapping hurriedly. "Poromon, calm down! Now what-"

She paused, as did Poromon. Both carefully turned their heads towards the woods close by. Patamon also focused his gaze on the forest, his ears perked up a bit.

"What is it?" asked TK. He didn't have to wait long to find out.

The pinked-haired girl walked through a tree and into sight. The corrupted mist swirled around her, one strand lashing at Gatomon and Poromon. Gatomon jumped back and hissed at it, her fur on end.

"Mimi?" Kari asked.

She gave a quick glance at Kari before she was broken up into fine particles before their eyes.

…..Three, Four, Shut The Door….

Absolute silence.

"Mi...mi?" Sora murmured. The event took its sweet time to seep in. "Mimi!"

"Oh my god...' Kari said in a hushed tone.

"Sh," TK hissed. "Matt, Matt where are you! MAAAAAAAATT!"

Poromon let out a pained wail. "That's what happened to Gomamon..."

"What?" Gatomon whispered.

"Yeah, he got all flickery and dedigivolved into Bukamon," Poromon explained. "Then all of a sudden he yelped and got a lot worse and then...he was gone."

"C'mon, we gotta hurry up and find the others!" TK exclaimed, running into the woody area.

"TK, wait!" Kari called out to him. "What about Sora?"

"Have Patamon and Gatomon look after her,' TK yelled back. "We'll bring the others back here."

"Okay..." Kari responded, then turned to the three Digimon behind her. "You heard what he said. Take care of Sora."

Patamon and Gatomon nodded in unison.

"Wait! Take me with you!" Poromon shouted. "I need to find Yolei. I-I saw her eariler but I lost her."

"Allright,' Kari replied as she picked up the pink birdie ball with wings and rushed after TK

"Matt! Maaaaaaaaaaaatt!" TK cried out, shoving the thick growths aside. "Where are you? Maaaaaatt!"

He caught sight of a flickering image, but it was not his brother. Instead it was that redheaded brainiac that always provided the answers.

"Izzy!" he exclaimed.

His sleepy eyes looked up at him. TK could hear him speaking, but his words were distorted by all the echo in his voice and his tone was very quiet.

"What?" TK asked. "What are you trying to say?"

Izzy's eyes narrowed a little, apparently annoyed. He spoke again.

TK caught the words virus, looked, repeated, and suspicious, but little beyond that. But one pair of words came up over and over again.

As continued explaining, his body began to disintegrate. He seemed utterly oblivious to the fact that the lower part of his body was turning to dust and kept on talking.

"Izzy, no..." TK whispered. "Not you too..."

But Izzy didn't seem to notice and carried on his lecture, right up to when the last bit of him was blown away.

"TK!" he heard Kari cry out, and soon she was right behind him. She immediately noticed his downcast expression. "...What happened? Did Matt..."

"No, Izzy," TK replied. "H-He was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't make out what he was saying because his voice was all warped. I was only able to pick up a few words here and there.'

"I see..." Kari answered, also looking down at the ground.

"But there was one thing that showed up a lot while he was talking,' TK added.

"What's that?"

"Travel Mark."

"Travel Mark?" Kari questioned. "What's that?"

"No clue..." TK admitted, letting his shoulders sag.

"Think that might be the name of the virus?" Kari asked.

"I dunno..."

Poromon perked up and was intensely focused on a certain part of the woods.

"What is it?' Kari asked.

"I think it's Yolei!" he exclaimed, squeezing out of Kari's grip and bounding off into the woods. His voice now had an odd echo to it.

"Hey wait up!" Kari called out, she and TK dashing after him.

They didn't have to run far. In fact, Kari ended up tripping over Poromon and landed flat on her face. She heard distant laughter as TK helped her up.

Standing before them was Yolei, her face cheery despite the fact that her body had static ridges sliding up and down it and that her image was overall distorted.

"Hello,' she greeted, still smiling for whatever reason. The hello repeated itself several times even though she only said it once.

"Yolei!' Poromon cried out, hopping over to her feet.

"Oh hey there little fella!" she replied, crouching down.

"Yolei, shouldn't you be a bit more concerned about your condition?' Poromon asked. At least, that's what Kari and TK figured he'd said.

She shrugged, starting to look more transparent.

"Do you have any idea where the others are?' TK questioned.

"Others...?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"You know, Cody, Tai, Matt," TK added.

She slowly shook her head, picking up the drowsy Poromon.

"Oh..." TK replied, rubbing at a particular spot on his arm that wouldn't stop flickering. "Well, come with us then."

"Okay!" Yolei chirped.

TK and Kari began to walk back. Yolei took a few steps forward, then paused when her and Poromon's body flickered especially violently.

"What's wrong?" Kari asked. Well, that was a stupid question.

"Oh,' she said in a disappointed tone. "I'm sorry, but I got to go now. Bye!"

Before anything else could be said Yolei and Poromon dissolved into dust.

….Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks….

TK and Kari were somewhat shocked at her sudden disintegration, but soon forced the event back a bit in their minds. Right now what they really needed to do was find the others who were still alive, and hopefully get them back to where Sora was in one piece. As for after that...they'd work on that when they got there.

As the children of Light and Hope went deeper into the forest, TK's cellphone started bleeping Pop Goes The Weasel. Annoyed, he plucked the cellphone from his side to see who was calling. Apparently it was Ken.

"We better tell him what's going on,' Kari stated. "That-"

"No,' TK disagreed. "If we call him here, then he'll just get infected like everyone else."

"But it's possible he's already infected by the virus,' Kari protested. "At the very least, answer his call."

"Allright,' TK huffed, flipping the top of his cellphone and pushing the talk button. "Yeah?"

"Hey!" came a happy voice on other end of the phone. "Guess what?"

"What?' TK growled.

"I've got this great new tool in fighting evil Digimon, and even some unruly normal ones!" he explained in high spirits. "It's something I got from an old friend, it really-"

"Ask him if he's feeling allright," Kari insisted, as TK smoldered from Ken's blissful report.

"Look, are you feeling okay?" TK asked somewhat harshly. "You haven't been feeling sick, have you?"

"Huh? Oh no, I've been great, just great!" Ken replied cheerfully. "This thing could probably-"

"That's all we need to know, thanks,' TK responded, slamming the top down on his cellphone.

"That was a bit cold, don't you think?" Kari asked.

"Yeah, I know, but we don't have all day to listen to his story about his wonderful new invention or whatever," TK hissed back. "C'mon let's go.'

Kari followed behind him silently.

It was only a few moments later before the tune of Pop Goes The Weasel was emitting from his cellphone once again.

TK angrily pressed the talk button. 'What!"

"Something's going on over there, isn't it?" Ken asked, his tone back to its usual seriousness. "I can tell by your voice.'

TK let out an aggravated sigh. "Look, just stay out of this. You don't want to get involved."

"Why not?' Ken questioned. "Last time I checked, I was part of this team too."

"This is one of those times when being a team just makes things worse,' TK responded.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that even if you came to help, there wouldn't be anything you'd be able to do," TK replied. "I dunno if there's anyone who'd be able to do anything that isn't already caught up in this mess."

"Are you saying that I'm inferior?' Ken growled. "For your information, I've got this new weapon that'll make any Digimon-"

"WE'RE NOT DEALING WITH A DIGIMON HERE!" TK yelled into the cellphone. 'SO WHATEVER DIGIMON-KILLER YOU GOT AIN'T GONNA DO-'

TK's screaming session was cut off by a loud cocktail of screeches and crackles that was causing the cellphone to tremble in his grasp.

"Wha-" he murmured, and then looked up. Right before them was Matt and Tai.

Tai! Matt!" Kari and TK exclaimed at once.

Neither Tai nor Matt had anything to say, only glancing up at them wearily. The feet hovered just above the ground. The mists coiled around them and laid on their shoulders like serpents.

Matt hovered backwards at a slight angle, passing through an especially large tree.

"Wait!" TK cried out, rushing after him.

"TK!" Kari called after him, but she was given no response. Instead, she focused back on her brother. "C'mon Tai, let's go back. We'll get this all sorted out, I promise."

She took a step forward. He floated backwards an equal distance.

"Tai? What's wrong?' Kari asked.

His empty eyes looked into hers. There was no expression on his face other than some slight confusion.

She tried to lighten up her tone a little. "C'mon, let's go! Sora's waiting for you.'

He didn't move from his spot, only eyeing her slightly apprehensively.

His body flickered more violently, then went through a unstable stage of phasing in and out, but he seemed to be able to stabilize himself again. "But..." he trailed off, the word repeating itself several times, sometimes overlapping each other.

"But what?' Kari asked.

His final words echoed in the air and in Kari's mind even after he became dust in the passing wind.

whoarewhoarehoyouarewhoyouaereyouwhoarewhoarearewhoyouarewho

Who are you?

TK bounded through the woodland, not caring as wayward branches and thorns scratched at his face. The static ridges upon his body were behaving more aggressively and did their part to hamper his progress. Why did all of these trees have to look the same? He stumbled over a piece of root arching up above the ground and landed flat on his face.

"Damn it..." TK growled as he spit out sticks and dirt. "Where the hell did he go?"

He heard a jumble of words come from not far away, in a very familiar voice.

TK turned around to see Matt floating nearby, seeming amused at TK's frustration. He spoke again, and TK was pretty sure he said something like Graceful as ever, little bro.

As his brother hovered backwards a bit, TK yelled. "Hey wait!" With a bit of effort, he managed to get back on his feet and pursued him.

As he followed, an old memory crept into his mind. He and Matt were chasing each other around the park, and Matt always managed to stay one step ahead of him. It must have been before their parents divorced, for they sat on the park bench together, smiling happily as their children played. Yes, they had been very little back then, for Matt himself could barely climb up the kiddy slide they had had there. Of course, TK himself couldn't climb it at all, so he whined and whimpered about it to his parents.

The memory began to overlap his vision, as the flickering Matt, who was now sitting on top of a giant rock, was slowly replaced by a younger Matt standing on top of the kiddy slide, smiling triumphantly.

"Hey, that's not fair!" TK yelled at Matt. He turned to another place, occupied by only trees and shrubs. "Mooooom! Daaaad! Make him come down!"

"Matt, come down from there,' his mother's voice replied. TK saw her sit sitting on the bench, mild amusement in their eyes.

As if hearing her, Matt huffed and let out a quiet "Fine..." before sliding down the rock. He began to run away, only his feet didn't quite touch the ground, taunting "You can't catch me!"

"Oh yes I can!" TK retorted, running after him with a mischievous grin on his face. There was nothing else that mattered; all he had to do, all he had to worry about was catching Matt.

Matt looked back at him and smirked. "You're too slow." He leapt over a large rock that happened to be in his way and narrowly avoided tripping over a dog.

TK ended up tripping over said dog, but he paid little mind to it and immediately got back up and continued the chase, even though it sounded like the dog was trying to talk to him.

It seemed it would never end. There was nothing but neatly clipped grass going on and on, with the occasional tree dotting the landscape to spice things up. But that was fine with TK, because he didn't want it to end. No cares, no problems, just him and Matt playing a simple game of tag.

Matt was thrown off-balance by a stampede of random dogs, and soon ended up falling right on his butt.

TK tackled him all the way to the ground. "I got you! I got you!"

Matt just smiled. "Allright...you win."

Then suddenly TK found himself back in those shadowed woods, on his hands and knees as his brother's data was rising up into the air.

….Seven, Eight, Lay Them Straight…..

TK noticed his name echoing through the woods. It took him awhile to remember who's voice that was.

He managed to force himself back onto his feet. The flickering had only gotten worse since the last time he was aware of his surroundings. This was the reality, this is what was really happening.

Soon Kari came into view, almost as scratched up as he was. Now her right arm was flickering, and she had grown very pale. Her expression only became more worried when she saw him.

"Matt? Did he-" she began.

TK just kept his gaze on the ground.

"Oh...and Tai, he..."

"Didn't make it either?" TK finished for her.

"No..." Kari replied.

Neither one said anything else.

"Guys!" cried out a high, desperate voice.

Moments later a tan, round creature with wing-shaped ears bounced on the scene. Like just about everyone else, his body had static ridges and corrupted mist swirling around him.

"Upamon!" Kari exclaimed.

"I-It's awful!" Upamon whimpered. "Everyone's gone! They just keep on deleting, one by one..."

"Yeah, we know," Kari and TK replied, almost flatly. They didn't really want to get into the subject.

"So...have you seen Cody?" TK asked finally.

"No,' Upamon replied, his ears drooping.

"No?" a voice asked.

TK and Kari snapped around, trying to find the source of the distant voice.

"That way!" TK announced, pointing and dashing off. Kari picked up Upamon and rushed after him.

They didn't have to run far. Soon they came to a somewhat cleared spot, where Cody stood.

Upamon's ears twitched a little. "Cody?"

The boy looked over to Upamon with an odd expression on his face. "Cody?"

"That's who you are!" Upamon replied.

"That's who you are?"

"No, you!"

"No, you?"

TK just shook his head. "Don't bother, Upamon."

"Don't bother, Upamon?"

Kari gave a somewhat scared look over to TK. This was the child of Hope.

Upamon whimpered a little.

Cody whimpered back.

TK said nothing.

"Cody?" Kari asked.

"Cody?"

It was no use.

"...Sorry."

"Sorry?" Cody repeated. But before anything more could be said there was no more Cody to talk to. At the exact same moment, Upamon dissolved in Kari's arms.

Restless quiet.

"C'mon, let's go back."
"She's gone too, huh?" TK asked.

Gatomon and Patamon nodded slowly. Actually, Patamon had dedigivolved into Tokomon while they were gone, and was now white with ziggyzaggy ears.

"We're sorry,' Gatomon responded. "We tried to watch after her, but then she kept saying that she was all alone even though we were right there, and not long after that..."

"I see...' Kari replied.

TK turned around and started going back to the woods.

"Where are you going?" Kari questioned.

"Where else?" TK replied. "I'm going back to find Matt."

Kari was taken aback. "TK..." she said in a pained voice. "Matt's gone."

"What are you talking about? We just haven't found him yet, that's all," TK replied, sounding completely sure of this. "So I'm gonna go find him." His voice had an odd echo to it as he said this.

"No! He's gone!" she cried out, running over to where he was.

"No, that's wrong, that's wrong," TK answered, some mist materializing around him. "I've just...got to find him...I've got to...got to..."

The ground rushed towards him.

"TK!"

Solitary Nine

"Don't you do this to me too," Kari pleaded as she looked over the unconscious TK. He had passed out a little while ago, and was now covered up by some blankets that Gatomon somehow managed to scare up. Beside him lay Tokomon, also in a deep sleep, with his ears completely drooped down. Kari tried to shoo away some of the corrupted mist away, but all it did was make her hand flicker more.

"Gatomon..." she called out to her Digimon. "What should I do?"

The purple-striped cat was sitting nearby, her tail twitching as the golden ring barely stayed on. "I dunno..."

"I see..." Kari replied. Then her face brightened a little. "Hey, what about Gennai?"

Gatomon paused for a moment as she thought it over. "I guess it could work...if we can find him..."

"Any idea where-'

"Unnnngh..."

Kari spun around to see TK finally come back around.

"Oh! Thank goodness you're awake!" Kari stated.

TK managed to sit up, his large white cap falling over his eyes. He gave an annoyed grunt as he pushed it back into place.

"How are you feeling?" Kari asked.

TK didn't respond. Instead he snapped his head in the other direction, a look of rage popping up on his face.

"TK?"

"Damn bastard!"

He leapt to his feet and started throwing punches in midair, determined to beat up this opponent that only he could see.

"TK, what are you doing!" Kari cried out.

"You think you can just enslave innocent Digimon!" TK shouted at the invisible foe, his voice beginning to echo more. "They're nothing but toys to you!" He was knocked back by an unseen punch, then went right on attacking.

Then she remembered. It was the time TK fought with the Digimon Emperor, better known later on as Ken.

The battle stopped, as TK yelled at the nonpresent emperor about being a damn coward.

"TK! Stop it!" Kari called out.

Today I saw my hero fall apart
The one who taught me to be strong

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Gatomon demanded.

On the outside I look fine
But on the inside I am dying
My strength is overcome by pain

"TK!" Kari exclaimed, running over to him and grabbing his arm.

For a moment TK looked back at her, seeming somewhat surprised, but soon after that he became focused on something else that Kari couldn't see.

"Stand back Kari!" he announced suddenly, extending his arms out protectively. "Those things aren't Digimon!"

Kari flashed back to when she was stranded in the World of Darkness for the first time, when he had come to save her. She was trying to help some Scubamon who had Dark Spirals on them. Only these weren't Digimon at all, for when she was able to remove the spirals, they turned into something completely different. It was around then when TK intervened.

"Angemon! Take them down!" TK ordered. Of course Tokomon was still out cold, so he got no reply that Kari could hear.

It's hard for me to see you this way
Losing all your sanity

"Takeru...' Kari murmured. Now that she thought bout it, this was the first time she had ever called him by his true name.

He turned back to look at her, though she couldn't tell if he was really seeing her. "Kari, I care too much about you to let them take you without a fight.'

"Yes, I know..." she whispered.

He gave her a simple smile before his body disintegrated in the wind.

Kari let her legs give way as she stared at the ground. The dam broke at last, and the tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. So much had happened already, but it was only now that the tears broke loose.

My love for you remains the same
The loneliness is sinking in
I have no one to free my sins.

Gatomon approached her carefully and plopped down by her side.

You helped me keep my dreams alive
Without you, how will I survive?

Now I finally understand
I can't run anymore
I can't hide anymore
I can't run anymore
I can't hide anymore

Lyrics courtesy of Papa Roach's song "Do or Die"

I appreciate everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story. Please don't flame me for this chapter, I have my reasons why things happened the way they did.