"Tai, I'm worried," Kari softly murmured to her older brother, constantly pacing between the couch and window of their apartment, pausing only to look out of the latter.
"You always worry," came the response from the former digidestined leader who was comfortably stretched out on the sofa, taking full advantage of the space. He clicked the remote, apparently more interested with channel surfing then actually watching TV. Kari's response was only a glare that went completely unnoticed. "Gatomon stays out late all the time, you've said so yourself. Why should tonight be any different?"
"Because by the time it takes to get you and Agumon to wake up, she's been back." Tai and Agumon, who had been sitting just in front of the couch the whole time, exchanged annoyed glances.
Kari continued her pacing.
"You're gonna wear a hole in the floor," Tai chided. With a sigh, she stopped and leaned against the sliding glass door.
"Please be alright."
Gatomon shot open her sapphire eyes, ignoring the numbing cold that still clung to her body. Slowly pushing herself up, she tried to decipher new surroundings. It was dark, that much she could tell in her dazed state. It was also dusty, as she collected when she sneezed at the small particles floating in the air.
"Quiet prisoner," a voice snapped. Gatomon quickly shook her head to clear her senses. She found her self staring at the iron bars of a very small, crude cell. A scar-eyed Bakemon seated in a chair eyed her scrutinizingly, a large silver key to his side. Gatomon grinned. Oh yes, she remembered this guy.
"You look tired," she purred, "How about letting me handle guard duty and you get some sleep?" She put her paw out for the key.
He blinked a few times. "Uh, sure. Thanks..." The sheet floated over to hand her the unlocking device, but snatched it away last minute. "Oh no! You and that wizard tricked me once. It's not happening again!" He let it clang noisily to the floor by his chair and settled back into it. Gatomon pouted at the miracle that he'd been able to call her bluff. Even though it was under far different circumstances last time, Bakemon were still dumb enough to fall for something like that. "Where is your friend anyway?"
"None of your business!" she hissed, turning her back to him.
"Whatever. I bet you're wondering where you are and why." She slightly flicked an ear. True, she had been curious as to what was going on, but she held onto her position. The Bakemon waited a few moments for her to ask, but when it was clear she wasn't, he chimed in. "Well, I'm not telling you. That's a surprise." Gatomon stayed silent. Whatever the surprise was, she wasn't going to like it. "Aren't you going to beg me to tell you?" he asked. Gatomon shook her head. "Come one. You're dying to know what it is."
And you seem to be dying to talk. She glanced over her shoulder at the guard, his face pressed against the bars in a taunting manner. Quick as lightning, she snatched the ghost digimon by his neck, pulling him into the parallel iron rods.
"Now listen to me. You have five seconds to open this cage before I turn you into a rag doll." Instead of a terrified whimper, Gatomon's response was a sharp pain going to her side. She dropped the ghost, who scrambled back to his post, and fell to the floor, clutching a huge bruise that appeared on her side.
"You've gotten weak," a voice sneered.
Gatomon looked up with a growl. Staring at her with a smile playing upon his purple lips was the same mask-wearing digimon she had come to hate so much. She'd seen him meet his demise three times, and here he was again, the same as when she first met him.
"I thought only cats had nine lives," she spat, narrowing her eyes to blue slits. Myotismon only laughed, showing off his fangs.
"I'm surprised you recovered from my Nightmare Claw so quickly. It usually would an Ultimate days before they awoke. I guess your not totally useless." It seemed impossible, but Gatomon managed to narrow her eyes even more. The vampire wiped the grin off his face. "Crimson Lightning!" The stream of red energy lashed against her side again, enlarging the bruise. "What did I tell you about looking at me with those eyes!?"
"You don't own me anymore." He whipped her again in the same place, this time causing the skin to open up and a crimson liquid to leak out. "It's a shame I shall have to destroy. You and your pathetic friends."
"They'll defeat you again!" Gatomon yelled, blood dripping off her gloves as she covered her wound.
"Oh really? The only reason you won was because I put too much energy into that attack that was supposed to kill you and your partner, but that idiotic wizard got in the way."
"Don't you dare talk about him that way! He's a better digimon than you'll ever be."
"Don't you mean was?" Gatomon folded her ears back, her eyes shut to hold back any tears. She wasn't about to let him catch her crying. Myotismon lowered his face to her level, even though she couldn't see him and whispered, "You know it's all your fault." before slipping into the darkness. Gatomon gasped, but her former master was no where in sight. She hugged her knees to her chest and wrapped her tail around her feet, letting a few tears escape her eyelids.
Meanwhile, Myotismon was just around the corner. Above his shoulder floated a brown and blue boar-like digimon with fan-like ears and a smokey trail instead of back legs. A helmet rested upon his forehead and a gold ring on his forearm.
Myotismon glanced at his minion. "You know what to do."
"Yes master," the Tapirmon replied, bowing as the vampire left. He silently floated into the other room, unseen by both Gatomon and the now sleeping guard. "Nightmare Syndrome," he whispered as the black mist rolled over Gatomon. She shivered and fell into a fitful sleep. The Tapirmon laughed under his breath. "Let the nightmares begin."