VIRAL: adjective

of, relating to, or caused by a virus

"Ken-chan, your arm!" Wormmon squeaked.

At his partner's exclamation, Ken's eyes flashed down to the tear in his sleeve. There, left in the wake of the infected digimon's assault, a ragged tear in the fabric of his left sleeve, and two enflamed holes where it had sunk it's fangs into the thin skin of his lower arm. It had all happened so fast, and though he'd felt the flash of pain when it happened, it all but washed away in the surge of adrenaline that followed. His instincts kicked in - he'd wrenched the insect from his arm, flinging off his attacker, and watched it, along with it's likewise affected swarm hiss and skitter away. He'd near forgotten about it until Wormmon drew his attention back. Blood had begun to blossom from the punctures, smearing and seeping into the fabric of his now ruined jacket. Ken clasped a hand over the wound, vaguely aware that his skin seemed warmer there.

"It's ok." he replied breathlessly, "I'm ok. It was bound to happen sometime - I was careless," he reasoned aloud, equal parts attempting to ease Wormmon's worries, and also to calm his own racing pulse. Wormmon looked back at him with soulful blue eyes that didn't look convinced, and Ken attempted a half-smile. Really, it was a superficial wound at worst, and though he knew he'd have to treat it later, now was not the time to worry about his arm.

Ken's D-Terminal had been beeping incessantly for the last half hour, and he didn't have to speculate on who it was, or why; the first email had told him all he'd needed.

Virus located. The usual isn't working. Need your Help. - Daisuke

"I should have evolved as soon as we got here," Wormmon began, "I should have-" Ken cut him off.

"It's not your fault. We were in a hurry. We're still in a hurry. Come on, we have to get to the others," he added.

With that, Ken started moving again, wordlessly expecting his digimon partner to follow. He'd have to tell his comrades about the cluster he'd stumbled upon, so they could be treated before there was further damage. But that could wait. It all could wait. He had to get to them first, he had to help them.

His D-terminal beeped again; another email. Ken just increased his speed. He dropped his grasp on his arm and began swinging both for extra momentum. He was vaguely aware that his left ached with every movement, but he pushed it from his mind. No more distractions. No more taking chances. Ken reached for his D-3, and felt the warm glow of light as Wormmon evolved into Stingmon. The sound of wings vibrating on the air filled his ears as his partner quickly overtook his own speed, lifting him from the ground mid-sprint. The earth fell away from his feet, and his stomach gave an uneasy lurch at the sudden change in trajectory.

Hang on. Miyako-san. Iori-kun. Daisuke. I'm on my way.

They were losing ground. Literally. They'd dealt with plenty of virus-infected digimon in recent months, but never one quite this Large or Destructive. The edge of the cliff was beginning to break away in chunks, sending rocks and dirt cascading down the hillside. In recent years, Viruses had been known to pop up throughout the digital world, and as always seemed to happen, the Chosen Children had been gifted the means to eradicate the viruses on a case by case basis. It wasn't flawless, heck it wasn't even efficient, but it was the best they could do with the hand they'd been dealt. It was like the dark towers all over again, taking down one at a time. Sometimes it was simple, other times…

Ankylomon flew backwards through the air, the ground shaking with the force of impact as he scraped across the rocks. Iori winced sympathetically, his cries of encouragement cutting through the air. Aquilamon had been the first to go down, and Miyako sat crouched behind one of the larger boulders, covered in dirt and scrapes as she protectively cradled Pururumon against her chest. Iori and Ankylomon had been doing their best, and XVmon was backing them up, but it was becoming quite clear to all of them that this digimon was going to take a lot more beating before it was weakened enough to be Treated for the virus that was influencing it.

They needed more firepower. They needed Imperialdramon. Desperately.

Today just had to be the one day that Ken decided that school was still important. It's not like they wouldn't have two more years to think about High School Entrance Exams.

For what must have been the dozenth time in the last ten minutes, Daisuke anxiously punched his fingers on the D-terminal, his back pressed up against another chunk of upturned rock. "Damnit Ken, answer me," he muttered, eyes darting up and around as XVMon's laser attack pierced the sky. Tortured animalistic screams filled the air, and the ground shook with the force of giant feet staggering across the broken earth.

"Motomiya!"

The sound of his name drew Daisuke's attention immediately. Light glinted off his ever-present goggles as his gaze shot up. Daisuke couldn't help the relief that flooded him at the familiar sight, nor the grin that rose to his face as he shot to his feet..

"Looks like the cavalry's finally here!" he crowed, drawing the attention of Miyako and Iori before either saw what it was he was talking about.

There was Stingmon on the horizon, and seated in his folded arms, his dark haired human partner, and Daisuke's best friend of three years. Shoving the d-terminal away into his pocket, Daisuke wasted no time in running to meet them. Stingmon landed softly a few yards away from the action, setting Ken gently on his feet. The goggle-crowned teen was already reaching for his D-3, ready to jump.

"What took so long?!" cried Daisuke, "we're in a real pinch here!"

"Sorry," was Ken's strained reply. Daisuke stopped short. It was only one word, but something was wrong; something about his voice, his face, it was all just… off. "We ran into some trouble along the way."

Daisuke had never been the most observant person in the world, or the quickest to catch onto things, but when it came to Ken he knew his habits and mannerisms almost as well as he knew his own. Call it a side effect of the number of times they'd jogress'd, or how much time they had spent together despite the hours-long commutes between Odaiba and Tamachi. Whatever it was, there was something about the way Stingmon was hovering, the way he got when he was being exceptionally protective of Ken. Out of the corner of his eye, Daisuke saw the flash of soiled, torn sleeve, and the dark stain. For one brief moment, he forgot about the disaster unfolding behind him.

"Is that blood? What happened?" he asked, warm eyes wide with alarm as he instinctively reached for Ken's arm. Ken flinched back, and Daisuke recoiled at the response.

"There's a cluster of infected digimon in the woods south of here," Ken offered, breathless, probably from running. "We'll need to go back and handle them once we've taken care of this."

Daisuke was barely listening, too busy looking. Hadn't Stingmon just carried him in? So why would he be out of breath? And his face…

"Hey man, you don't look so good," Daisuke interjected, his grip on the D-3 tightening. Ken's shoulders loosened up, and he clapped a hand on Daisuke's shoulder.

"I'm fine, it's not that bad. We have more important things to handle right now."

The way Ken held up his own D-3 was a clear message that the discussion was over, and for a moment, Daisuke was appeased. With that, Stingmon launched himself off the ground, and he and XVmon made eye-contact across the battlefield. Both nodded.

"Alright, here we go," said Daisuke, holding up his own D-3. The two digivices flashed, changing to matching colors as they expelled concentrated beams of light. Daisuke, being as he was, dashed off in pursuit of their Digimon.

XVMON!
STINGMON!
JOGRESS EVOLUTION

The two digimons' bodies seemed to dissolve into so much light, and Daisuke waited with baited breath for that familiar rush that came over him every time they initiated the Jogress partnership. It had never just been their Digimon that fell into sync when it happened. Even from the first time, before Ken had been entirely willing to join forces, Daisuke had felt the strong, steady beating inside his chest; his heart, Ken's heart, and it was as if their minds had become one entity, moving in perfect harmony. They moved the same, they knew instinctively what the other was thinking. It was strong, and almost intrusive, and intoxicating in a way that set every hair on the back of his neck standing on end. It was electricity in his veins, and fire in his bones. This time, as he watched the two distinct lights bleed and blend, emerging reformed as Paildramon, Daisuke knew something was off.

Paildramon was Perfect, as he always was in Daisuke's eyes; strong, confident, capable. One more surge of light, and he'd evolve again, and they'd all be standing in the shadow of Imperialdramon, their trump card, their savior. That wasn't what was wrong - Paildramon was already getting in a few good hits before making the leap. There was nothing wrong with Paildramon, but there was something very wrong with him. Instead of the strong, steady thumping of two hearts in his chest, echoing in his ears like a war drum, Daisuke felt overcome by a wave of something hot and sickening. Something skipped and fluttered in his chest, and not in a pleasant way; more like he'd swallowed a bird, and it wanted out of the cage that was his chest. He felt both healthy and ill at once, and for a moment he stood frozen, trying to reconcile the strange sensation as the battle raged on in front of him. That's when he felt the twinge of alarm in the back of his mind, and he turned to look back at his companion.

Ken had not moved from the spot where Stingmon had set him down, but his face had gone from suspiciously pale to downright ashen. Beads of sweat formed along his brow, dampening the fine fringe that brushed his forehead. Not only that, he was staring at the ground several feet in front of him, D-3 clenched in his right hand, while his left grasped at the collar of his shirt. Trying to loosen his collar, or maybe he was trying to catch the bird, or grip onto that stable beating in the center. The distinct lack of synergy was throwing them both off. Daisuke's gaze seemed to will him to lift his chin at that exact moment. Their eyes met, and Ken's widened in alarm, and realization. Daisuke felt it. They both felt it. Time seemed to slow down as Daisuke watched the focus go out of Ken's gaze, eyelids sagging lower as the world seemed to slide sideways even as it remained still and upright. The disorienting, dizzying feeling slowed Daisuke's reaction time, and for a moment the world turned gray. He watched the D-3 slip from Ken's fingers, arms falling slack as his knees buckled and his body swayed forward, pitching toward the ground.

"Ken!" Daisuke dove forward, arms outstretched, just in time to clumsily catch his jogress partner before they both hit the ground. Daisuke hissed, eyes clenched, but the pain passed quickly. He felt the full weight of Ken's body on top of his own, and he sat up, jagged rocks be damned. Behind them, he distantly felt the warmth of light as Paildramon evolved to Imperialdramon. It did nothing to ease the feeling of his heart beating in his throat.

"Hey, c'mon, what's wrong? Pull it together!" Daisuke pleaded, turning Ken over in his arms.

Ken made no reply, except for the strained sound of his breathing. With one arm wrapped under his shoulders, Daisuke gave his best friend a gentle shake. Though not completely unconscious, Ken was practically boneless, the way he allowed Daisuke to push and pull him, his head lolling to one side to rest against his shoulder. Remembering the injury from before, Daisuke reached again for Ken's arm. His partner tensed and inhaled sharply as Daisuke tightly grasped his elbow in one hand, using his other to slide the torn sleeve up Ken's forearm. Gloved fingers grazed over the broken skin, and the grizzly sight caused Daisuke's throat to clench. The wound was swollen, red and angry skin radiating out from the punctures, faint bruising visible beneath the smear of dried blood. Even through the fabric of his gloves, Ken's skin felt hot to touch.

"POSITRON LASER!" echoed in the dual-voiced cry of Imperialdramon as the air crackled with pure energy.

The ground beneath them buckled and shuddered, and Daisuke instinctively pulled Ken closer in a protective grip, shielding him from flying debris. That bird that had been flapping around in his chest was growing sluggish, and Daisuke wasn't sure if he should be relieved or concerned. Aware that things had grown quieter suddenly, he looked up and over his shoulder, just in time to watch the dust clear, their formidable foe lying prone on the jagged, broken ground.

"Miyako! The Anti-Virus!" cried Imperialdramon, as Iori knelt near his foot to retrieve the fallen Upamon.

Miyako nodded, pushing herself off the ground, shifting Pururumon into the fold of one arm as she retrieved her D-3. "Anti-Virus, Initiate!" She cried, and the screen glowed, showering light over the area. The swirling miasmic shadow that had previously encircled their massive opponent faded away until the light had washed out the dark. When the glow dimmed, a tiny blob of a baby digimon laid in the very center of the massive near-crater it had created. Iori seemed to visibly relax, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Geez… Who'd have ever guessed that something little like this could become something like… that," Miyako mumbled, using the back of her hand to wipe her brow. Pururumon shifted in her arms, blinking big eyes at everyone gathered. Miyako stepped forward, staggering over the rocks, and scooping the sleeping baby into her other arm. "Awww… it's actually kinda cute now. Poor little thing."

"Is it just me, or does it seem like these infections are getting more frequent, and harder to fix?" Iori mused

"You think so too? I thought it was just me…"

With the battle over, Imperialdramon turned back to his Partners, no doubt expecting the usual enthusiastic praise that they normally showered on him. When it did not come, there was a distinct shift in mood.

"Daisuke? Ken?"

All eyes had turned to Daisuke then, still crouched on the ground, muttering to the figure draped across his lap. At the sound of his own name though, he looked up at his team, his face panic stricken. "Guys, something's wrong with Ken!" he shouted, pulling his eyes back to the twisted face in his lap.

Imperialdramon dissolved into a pool of light, leaving Chicomon and Leafmon in his place. The bird in Daisuke's chest dissolved along with it, the connection severed. There was no doubt in his mind anymore that he had been picking up on what Ken was feeling, but somehow the lack of connection was even more unnerving; now, he had no way of knowing whether it was getting worse. The way Ken's brow was pinched and his breathing hitched did nothing to assuage Daisuke's concerns.

"C'mon, talk to me. I can't help if I don't know what's wrong," he urged, his voice barely above a whisper.

"It… It just hurts…a little," was all that managed to pass through Ken's teeth, as he reached to cover the bite marks in his arm.

The sound of voices and hurried footsteps gradually drew closer, until Iori, Miyako, and all of the digimon were circled around them. "Daisuke, what's wrong?" Chicomon cried, bouncing alongside their defacto leader. But Daisuke couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Ken-chan? Ken-chan," Leafmon chirped repeatedly, bouncing anxiously, then settling himself onto his partner's thigh. With much effort, Ken pulled himself up, reaching to stroke his little digimon; a desperate attempt to ease his worries, that was fooling no one.

"What happened?!" Miyako demanded, fists clenched and eyes darting back and forth between Ken, Leafmon, and the rest of the group in turn.

"Something bit 'im," Daisuke all but spat in reply. All eyes were on Ken now, but he refused to look up at them.

"We ...ran into...some infected Digimon - on the way here-" he rasped between breaths, focused intently on stroking Leafmon's head. The baby digimon's little leaf drooped as he nuzzled up against Ken, worry pulling at his soft baby features. Daisuke kept an arm at Ken's back, hand planted squarely between his shoulder blades. He wasn't entirely convinced he was going to stay sitting up.

"Was it venomous?" asked Iori

"I didn't think so at the time, but-"

"Then, do you think the Virus…?" Miyako's voice this time.

"I don't know."

"Can you stand? What are your symptoms?"

"How deep is it?" chimed Iori

"Is it still bleeding?"

"Is there any necrosis-"

"Any what?"

"Obviously dead or rotting tissue,"

"Gross, Iori!"

"I'm just asking-"

Their voices were rising into a swirl of bleeding noise, but Ken had fallen silent again. Daisuke felt the muscles under his hand suddenly clench as Ken, wide eyed, lifted a hand to cover his mouth.

Shit, is he gonna throw up?! was Daisuke's panicked thought, and he recoiled reflexively. Blessedly, Ken seemed to choke back whatever wave of ill had crashed over him. Even still, Daisuke's temper had peaked.

"Will you guys shut up! This isn't helping!" he shouted at his comrades, and for one surprised instant they stopped. He'd even drawn Ken's attention.

"You're all making this … a bigger deal than it needs to be," Ken hissed, despite the fact that not five minutes ago he'd been doubling over and falling into Daisuke's arms. It was all becoming just too much attention for Ken's comfort, and he drew away from Daisuke, tucking one leg under the other, fully intending to get back on his feet.

"I just feel a little unsteady, it's probably-"

As it turned out, standing was not a good idea. The sudden change in altitude proved to be too much; no sooner had he pushed himself to a standing position, Leafmon tucked in the crook of his right arm, he swayed and bent over, reaching to cradle his head in his hand. Daisuke was on his feet instantly, catching Ken by the shoulders.

"Stop trying to play this off like it's nothing, you're obviously not okay."

Ken exhaled a ragged sigh, finally leaning heavily against Daisuke's shoulder. "Maybe you're right," he murmured, begrudgingly accepting that things may have been worse than he wanted them to be.

By this point, Iori had his nose practically pressed to the screen of his phone as he scrolled frantically through search results. He may have been the youngest of them at the age of only twelve-years-old, but over the years he had definitely grown to be one of the more resourceful among the chosen - a habit he had probably picked up from Koushiro's influence. Miyako however, was decidedly less composed, hovering around the other boys as Chicomon hopped up into the nest of Daisuke's mahogany hair, fidgeting sadly with the rim of his goggles.

"We need to get him to a hospital," said Miyako, her tone laced with worry.

"And tell them what?" Daisuke asked incredulously, shifting his hold on Ken to pull an arm up around his shoulder, Leafmon jumping to perch in the dip between Ken's neck and shoulder, " 'Hey, my buddy got bit by a maybe-poisonous maybe-not monster from the digital world? Ya got anything for that?' "

Miyako seemed to deflate for a moment. Daisuke had a point, even if it was a rare occasion for him. A second later, Miyako's cheeks puffed out in agitation, "I don't know, but we can't just pretend there's nothing wrong!"

"I wasn't planning on it," Daisuke snapped.

"If it was in fact venomous, he shouldn't move too much anyway," Iori interjected, before Miyako and Daisuke's argument could escalate further. "It says here that movement will increase circulation and spread of venom through the bloodstream, agitating symptoms and causing potential complications. It does say that venomous bites are very rarely lethal to humans-"

"That's good!" Miyako cried in relief, but Iori looked up at her with a mix of unreadable emotions, though none of them was 'hope'.

"But, this article is about spider and snake bites. It might not apply the same to a Digimon bite."

"Well, it's all we've got to go on right now, right?" Miyako replied, almost begging for someone to agree with her grasps at hope.

"Does it say anything else?" asked Daisuke, unable to hide the nervous edge to his words as he looped an arm around Ken's waist, securing his grip on his unsteady friend.

"Just that bites should be kept below heart level to reduce the spread of venom, remove any constrictive clothing or jewelry at the site of bite in anticipation of swelling, and that despite what the old wives tales say, you should definitely not attempt to suck the venom out of the wound," replied Iori, back to his frantic scrolling. "There's also a lot of mention of Anti-Venom, but that's usually only available at and administered by a hospital after you've identified the type of snake, spider, or other insect the bite came from."

"Anti-Venom! That's it!" cried Miyako, nearly dropping poor Pururumon and their sleepy new addition in the process. "Maybe there's some kinda cure, like, a naturally occurring antidote!"

"But how're we supposed to find that? We don't even know what bit him."

"We may be able to find them again."

Everyone's attention turned to Ken at that moment, though it wasn't Ken who spoke - it was Leafmon. "They were traveling in a group in the forest to the south of here."

"Leafmon's right," Ken lifted his head, his voice low and soft, "they were obviously affected by a virus. That's a problem that we need to address anyway before…" he winced, attempting to take more of his weight onto his own feet, "before it spreads."

" 'We' nothing, you're in no shape to go anywhere," said Daisuke, and Ken gave him a sidelong glance.

"Well we can't just leave him here alone," piped Miyako.

"So what do you suggest?" asked Iori, pocketing his phone.

"I'll stay."

Miyako and Iori's heads turned sharply toward Daisuke, staring at him as if he'd sprouted a second head. The words had popped out of his mouth without missing a beat. Even Ken had inclined his head ever-so slightly.

"What? I'll stay," he reiterated, "and you two can track down the infected digimon. Iori, you're better at that research stuff than me or Miyako, and Miyako, you've already got the anti-virus loaded on your D-3. You guys are better off sticking together, and if something comes our way, I'm the best one to get us out of here in a hurry."

"I guess that does make the most sense…" Miyako begrudgingly admitted, even though Daisuke's rare moments of clarity and insight still surprised her, even three years after they'd begun working together.

"Then we shouldn't waste anymore time," said Iori as Upamon, now fully awake, hopped up to sit on his shoulder, "we can keep in contact through email."

Iori turned and wasted no time in beginning to walk south towards the woods. Miyako however, hesitated for a moment - it was all so sudden, she barely had the chance to process that they were already splitting up. While Pururumon had recovered enough to bounce up and perch himself on Miyako's shoulder, the tiny blob she'd rescued from the crater continued to snooze peacefully in her arms. "I'll take this little guy with us," she said finally, "We can drop him off somewhere when he wakes up."

Daisuke nodded. "Stay safe."

Miyako offered a watered down smile and began to walk backwards. "We'll be back soon, so wait for us," she said, before she turned and pursued Iori.

Daisuke stared after their retreating forms for quite a while, almost oblivious to the digimon squirming in his hair. It was Ken who brought him back to his senses, the feel of his slick hair brushing against Daisuke's cheek as he turned to lean more heavily against him. His eyes had slid completely shut, and Daisuke was hyper aware of the sound of Ken's breathing near his ear. Leafmon let out a tiny whine as he nuzzled against Ken's neck.

"I'm sorry," Ken breathed, "I should have been more careful."

"Hey, don't apologize," Daisuke's voice was firm, but he forced a smile. He had to stay positive. "Just relax."

"Is he gonna be ok?" Chicomon asked, pressing down on Daisuke's head.

"Yeah," Daisuke's voice cracked; even his own ears weren't convinced. "...C'mon, let's get you somewhere to lie down."

As Daisuke pulled Ken closer, supporting his every step away from the battlefield, he tried not to think about the unnatural heat that burned against his side.

Author's Notes: And that's the end of Part One. Dang. It's been many, many years since I wrote fanfiction, and this one just kind of popped into my head after letting the events of Digimon Adventure Tri: Confession stew in my head. I'm really concerned about my 02 babies, and also maybe a liiiittle bitter that they haven't shown up yet (I don't count the image of the Kaiser). So, I started speculating what sort of things they could have been up to leading them to the events of Tri, mixed with my own self-indulgent love of angst, and the next thing I knew, I'd written 10 pages in less than 2 days. This definitely isn't meant to lead DIRECTLY into Tri, just something that seems reasonable in a time that assumes Tri is in their future. There's no outline, but I do sort of know where this is going, though I'm keeping it casual as a warm-up return to writing. I don't expect it to be more than 3 Parts total, if that. I'm sure that once Part 4 of Tri comes out at the end of February it will blow any of the vague plot I've set up here to bits, but until then, please enjoy, and let me know what you think.