Into the Void of the Mind

by Cybra

A/N: Hey, y'all! I'm back! What's up? Before we begin, I'd like to say this. Today, my mom went shopping for clothes today for me and my sister. The scary things is that among the three articles of clothing I got were, get this, a button-up T-shirt and khaki shorts. The shirt was green and I SWEAR I had to keep myself from saying, "Couldn't you have gotten this in orange?" Just thought I'd mention that! Oh, and one more thing, when it switches from 3rd person narrative to 1st person, that's a memory. When it goes back to normal, well...that's what is going on. S'all right? S'all right.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the awesome show called "Digimon: Digital Monsters". If I did, I would be writing actual episodes (dang shame I'm not) instead of fanfiction. If you're a studio exec who would love to hire me for this, I wouldn't be too sad if you spoke up! I also do not own the songs in here. However, please, do not sue me. You'd only get my REALLY nifty "Star Trek" collection and my "Digimon" trading cards.

Matt looked around this strange new realm as he opened his eyes. Barriers, walls, tunnels, and passageways were all over the place. He was reminded of the maze inside the temple he'd been in before.

"Friendly-looking place, aint it?" a girl's voice asked sarcastically. Junpuu obviously.

Matt nodded in agreement to her sarcasm. Tai glanced around.

<You know, you can just think what you want to say and people will hear it here,> Cybra told them.

"Yeah, well, I'd like to keep at least ONE thing normal while we're here."

Cybra nodded, then shifted nervously. "I think we should start moving," the human-like Digimon suggested. "The longer we dawdle, the less time Izzy has left."

The group nodded. However, they had no earthly idea where to go. There were so many turns that they were sure to get lost. Tai pointed down one passageway.

"I think we should go this way."

For once, Matt didn't argue with him. Junpuu strode with purpose down the tunnel, Cybra close on her tail. Matt and Tai had insisted on bringing up the rear in case of an emergency. They heard Junpuu gasp.

Standing in front of them was an unusually large black panther. It's green eyes practically glowed in its head. It snarled at them.

"Leave now, trespassers," it ordered them, growling.

"'Trespassers'? We're not trespassing!" Tai declared.

Cybra put her fingers together. "Technically, we are. We weren't invited in. Apparently, his mind's defense systems are still operational."

"But if Izzy's out of it, wouldn't they just...you know...turn off?"

"Not unless he doesn't need to control them anymore. Sort of an automatic reaction."

The panther leaped at them. Junpuu leaped to one side. Tai and Matt yelped as they pressed against the corridor's walls. Cybra jumped up, allowing the panther to pass harmlessly beneath her. It whirled and began to attack again. Tai reached for his Digivice.

"Maybe this will convince you to back off!" Tai said, grinning confidently.

He held out the Digivice, ready for the bright beam that would appear and hold back the panther just like it had done when Leomon was under Devimon's control. Nothing happened. The panther continued coming after them.

"Brilliant, Tai!" Matt snapped as they started to run.

"How was I supposed to know it wouldn't work?!" Tai asked angrily.

"Tai, THINK for a second! This is Izzy's MIND, not the real world or Digiworld. The rules apply differently here. Izzy has total control here...or he would if he wasn't trapped!" Junpuu explained.

"Precisely!" Cybra agreed.

"Crud..." Matt muttered.

The panther ran at a seemingly tireless pace. It leaped onto the Digimon's back. Cybra cried out as she fell flat on her face. Tai turned to help her.

"Keep going! I'll be right behind you!" she told them.

The group of three children took off running.

Gatomon noticed the changes on all four of their faces. They registered pure terror. Her tail swished madly behind her, the charm glinting in the light. She didn't like this one little bit.

'Izzy's putting them through the ringer,' she reasoned. 'One Digimon isn't going to hold off whatever's attacking them. Motimon wants to go, but he's only an In-Training Digimon. Gabumon and Agumon are needed out here. Palmon and Gomamon are out searching for food, and Biyomon's our eye in the sky to make sure nothing attacks us.' She glanced at Kari. 'I'm supposed to protect her, but I want to help them. I hope Kari forgives me...'

She shot over to where the 3 children were touching Cybra's back and Cybra was touching Izzy's cheek. Agumon's head snapped up as he noticed the movement.

"Gatomon, what're you doing?!" he asked in alarm.

The cat-like Digimon didn't answer him. She was too focused in on her mission. She put her paw on Cybra's arm.

'I want to join them. I want to join them. I want to join them,' she repeated over and over in her mind, concentrating on that one single phrase.

"Gatomon, DON'T!" Kari cried.

Her shout came too late. Gatomon's body stiffened, just like the others had done, and her eyes slightly twitched. Sora looked over when Kari had cried out and saw this. Her mouth was agape. Gatomon had entered Izzy's mind as well.

Cybra tried to shove the giant panther off of her. No such luck. Her "Psy-Tornado" wasn't working here at all either. She kicked and struggled, but there was no way she could get out from underneath it.

"Lightning Claw!" came a familiar shout.

Even though the attack didn't work, a furry blur still managed to leap up and swipe the panther across its face. It turned to face the new threat, getting off Cybra in the process. The human-like Digimon rolled away from the gigantic paws.

A familiar-looking white Digimon crouched, ready to pounce again. The black panther screamed and leaped toward the little Digimon. Cybra leaped upwards and kicked it in the side as Gatomon leaped forward and swiped its face. Much to their shock and disbelief, the panther vanished. One obstacle down, but they were unsure of how many were left to go.

"Either you're Izzy's way of helping us get through or you came on your own," Cybra stated, panting.

"I came on my own. I just did what you told Tai, Matt, and Junpuu to do: concentrate and hang on to you." She gave her friend a serious look. "My attack didn't work and neither did yours, why?"

"I'm assuming that Izzy set that up as soon as he'd been in the Digiworld for a few weeks so a Digimon wouldn't have the advantage."

"Smart." Gatomon grinned slightly. "Off-shoot of the human race, huh?"

"Yeah," Cybra answered grimly. She looked at her nails. "I REALLY need to grow these suckers long. I mean, being as human as a Digimon can get is pretty cool, but humans are SO defenseless!"

Gatomon nodded. "True, but we need to find the others as soon as possible."

"Follow me!"

The two Digimon ran down the corridor that the three children had disappeared down, hoping they weren't too late.

"Izzy's pretty paranoid, isn't he?" Tai asked, filling in the silence that had reigned for the past 2 minutes.

"What makes you say that?" Junpuu asked, not really caring to hear the answer.

"All these walls and stuff. He doesn't want somebody to see something they shouldn't."

Junpuu and Matt nodded their agreement. This was one of those times when Tai wasn't that dense at all. Junpuu preferred this Tai greatly over the Tai she normally knew. They continued in silence for another few minutes.

They heard footsteps ahead of them. The small group tensed, ready for a fight. Sora stepped into view.

"Sora?" Matt asked.

"Man, are we glad to see you!" Tai exclaimed.

"Well, I'M not happy to see her," Junpuu grumbled.

Sora smiled at all of them, obviously not hearing Junpuu's comment.

"It's okay, guys," Sora began, "Izzy's doing fine now. He's even talked to us."

They all looked at each other. Smiles lit up their faces. That's when Junpuu began to frown. She turned back to Sora.

"If he's okay, Cybra would known it and broken off contact so we wouldn't be here anymore! So if what you say is true, how come you came in to get us?" she demanded.

Sora's eyes narrowed. Izzy's voice came from her lips as she ordered, "Go away."

Matt's eyes widened. Izzy REALLY didn't like intruders apparently. That's when "Sora" mutated into some sort of half-human/half-frog thing. Junpuu gagged.

"I knew she was some sort of monster, but THIS? GROSS!" she muttered.

"Let's beat it!" Tai suggested.

The 3 of them began running once more. The frog thing was hot on their heels. It snarled and growled as it hopped along behind them. Matt glanced back to see that it was rapidly approaching. Junpuu gave a cry and pointed towards a door. The two boys nodded and followed her as she ran to it. The frog/Sora kept coming, but Junpuu jerked open the door, allowed both the boys in, and slammed the door behind her. The frog thing was still right outside.

"Funny. I would've figured that all those doors were locked up tight," Matt muttered.

"Why?" Tai asked, panting.

"I tried opening a couple, but they were all locked."

"Oh."

Junpuu looked around. She whistled.

"I remember this place! This is the second talent show that Izzy was helped me practice for!!! We're in one of his memories!"

That's when their view of the world changed. The world seemed to move from right to left and a little bit upwards to see...Mrs. Izumi? The three children puzzled over it for a second when they heard a voice ask, "I hope Junpuu and Yuuchiro do well."

"That's Izzy!" Junpuu exclaimed. "Oh my God, that's Izzy!" She grinned. "Apparently, we're going to see this from his point of view."

Matt and Tai looked at each other. They heard the frog/Sora outside the door, still trying to get in.

"I think we should stay in here until that thing goes away or until Cybra shows up," Matt suggested.

"Good idea," Tai agreed.

Junpuu sat down. "Might as well just watch the show then."

The two boys sat down beside her.

"I'm sure they'll do fine," Mom told me.

She had that knowing, motherly look on her face. You know, that one look that tells you that she knows everything is going to be okay. I smiled back at her, then turned my attention up front again. That's when I saw something running towards us.

"Junpuu?"

Tears streamed from her eyes, her breathing came in sobbing gasps. I stood up and received her as she ran up to me, nearly knocking me off my feet. I recovered my balance and put my arms around her, giving her hug. What was wrong with her?

"Junpuu...what's wrong?" I inquired.

"Yuuchiro...won't do it!" she replied, slightly hiccuping.

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"He...hooked up with this other girl to do a different duet and...and he just told me! He waited until...now to tell me!" she cried even harder.

My mother looked torn between coming over to help me and just staying where she was. On the one hand, I was Junpuu's best friend (not a brag, she told me herself) and I wanted to cheer her up. On the other hand, I had this little thing about hysterical people. I could barely keep myself composed whenever something like that happened. I don't like that feeling at all.

I rubbed her back, trying to figure something out. That's when a protozoan of an idea wormed its way into my head.

"Mom, do you think you could take Junpuu to the ladies' room and get her cleaned up?" I asked my mom.

Mom nodded. I turned my attention back to Junpuu whose sobbing had changed to a few sniffles here and there. My shirt stuck to my skin, made soggy by Junpuu's tears. Not a very pleasant feeling.

I lowered the tone of my voice soothingly as I said, "Junpuu, I'm going to talk to the judges and see if I can figure out some way to help. You go with my mom and clean yourself up. Okay?"

She looked up at me, her turquoise eyes more than just a little red. She sniffed and nodded. Mom led Junpuu towards the restrooms as Dad gave me the keys to the car. I had made it a habit to keep an extra shirt in the trunk since you never know when to expect her next prank to get your shirt messy. After doing a quick change, I returned the keys to my dad and walked up to the judges' table.

I quickly checked my watch. 10 minutes left 'till show time. Prodigious! I smiled at the judges.

One of them looked up at me. He smiled in return. After checking his name tag I learned his name was Yuy. Now to see if there was something I could do.

"Excuse me, sir, but may I speak to you for a minute?" I asked politely.

Yuy nodded and waved for me to continue.

"Sir, a friend of mine named Junpuu Hino had a partner doing a duet with her that has skipped out on it. He's doing a different duet with another girl."

"I heard about that. The poor girl was in tears. Is she all right?"

"Still a little upset, but what I need to ask is this, is there any way for Junpuu to still be in the talent show?"

Yuy thought for a second. "If she can find someone else to do Yuuchiro Rei's part, of course."

My mind raced for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of what I was about to say. Finally, I made my decision.

"I volunteer, Mr. Yuy. Junpuu has already given me permission to take any means necessary if I have to."

Okay, I admit it. I lied. It had a large amount of truth to it, however. She HAD given me permission to solve her little problem, but she never said I could go on stage with her.

Yuy raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Name please?"

"Koushiro Izumi."

1 hour and 20 minutes later, I was standing backstage with Junpuu. We were the last act, but Junpuu didn't know I was her new partner. You see, I told her I had found someone to do Yuuchiro's part, but neglected to tell her who. She had been so happy, she had forgotten to ask. I silently prayed she wouldn't destroy me after this was done. The contestants' names were always announced after they performed so nobody would have a bias on who was who.

"That was Usagi Aino and Yuuchiro Rei! And now onto our last act! Another duet singing, 'I Can't Help Falling in Love (With You)'!"

"That's your cue," I hissed to Junpuu. "Get going."

She glanced nervously at me. I smiled reassuringly, appearing more confident than I felt. I took deep breaths as Junpuu sauntered onto the stage as the music began. She sat down at the edge of the stage.

"Wise...men...say..." she began, "only fools...rush...in..."

I walked on stage and allowed my tenor to blend with her soprano. "But I...can't...help...falling in love...with...you..."

Junpuu whipped her head around to see me as I offered my hand to her. Her eyes glittered with more than just a little surprise. Perfect. This was exactly what she had planned to do with Yuuchiro. Might as well make it as real as possible.

"Shall...I...say?" I sang. I helped her to her feet.

"Would it be...a...sin?" she crooned. She looked deeply in my eyes. Just like we'd practiced.

"That I...can't...help...falling in love...with...you..." we harmonized.

I led her easily into a sort of waltz. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see both our parents' eyes bugging out of their heads. And they were all in the back row!

"As the river flows...surely to the sea...Darling, so it goes..." we sang together.

"...some things are meant to be..." Junpuu continued.

"Some things...are mean to be..." I repeated. Then I continued, "Take...my...hand..."

"Take my hand," Junpuu repeated.

"Take my whole...life...too..." we sang in harmony.

There were whistles as we continued to dance and sing at the same time, the slow steady beat making it easy.

"For I...can't...help...falling in love...with you..." I held out the last note, but Junpuu dropped out.

"With you..." she added. Then we both stopped for 2 beats.

"With...you..." we sang together. We stopped dancing, holding each other's hands, still looking into each other's eyes.

The music faded away as the light of a sunset fades into the black night. Thunderous applause filled the auditorium. Junpuu's face was a healthy and happy pink. I can imagine my face had changed to the color of my hair from embarrassment.

We both walked off the stage as the announcer said, "That was Junpuu Hino and Koushiro Izumi! And now, the judges will score them and we will see who our winner is!"

After 5 agonizing the minutes, we received the results of the judging. The next thing I knew, we were at my family's apartment, me at my computer desk and Junpuu lying stretched out on my bed, fiddling with our trophy.

"Are you going to fool around with it all night?" I teased.

"I can't help it! Second place!" she said cheerfully.

I smiled. "I still can't believe we were beat by Heero Pai for his Minute Waltz done only in 48 seconds on his French horn."

Junpuu grinned. "That's show biz."

Tai and Matt's eyes were almost out of their heads. Of course, they had never REALLY heard Izzy sing before, but it was still a bit of a shock. Junpuu was grinning from ear to ear.

'I enjoyed dancing and singing with you more than you know, Izzy,' she thought, then blushed from it.

Tai turned to Junpuu. "He dances, too?"

Junpuu stared at him for a second, then leaned her head back and whooped with laughter.

"Are you kidding?! It took him FOREVER to get those dance steps right! He can run away from Digimon and do splits, but he can NOT dance!" She laughed even harder.

A sudden hiss from outside followed by a familiar battle cry blended in with the sound of the Sora/frog thing's cry of surprise and pain. All three children froze as they continued to hear the sounds of a battle going on outside.

"I think we'd better go help!" Matt suggested.

"For once, Matt, I agree!"

At the same time, they turned to Junpuu and said, "Junpuu, stay here. It'll be safer."

She turned a very angry purple color. She snapped, "I'm not like Sora or Mimi, you know! I cant take care of myself!"

The two boys looked at each other, then nodded. As they opened the door, they were met with a white furry blur shooting in front of them and attaching itself to the creature's back. After a few seconds, they realized that it was, in fact, Gatomon. Cybra ducked under one of the frantic blows of the creature.

"Izzy sure knows how to make things difficult for unwanted visitors!" Gatomon growled.

"I have a feeling that we haven't seen anything yet!" Cybra replied.

Matt ran up and kicked the creature in the stomach. It staggered for a second, then took a swipe at him with one of its webbed hands. The claws on the end of the fingers almost got to him, but Tai punched the wrist, sending the blow into open air. Junpuu ran low and inside to deliver a beautiful uppercut to the jaw. Cybra also went low and nailed the shin, sending it to the ground. Gatomon dug her claws in for one last mighty slice into the flesh, then bounced off. The long furrows in the frog thing's skin showed where her claws had dug into.

It didn't get up and it appeared to be unconscious. Much to everyone's surprise, it vanished, like it had never been. Cybra and Gatomon panted. The children took a few deep breaths, but since they had not been in the battle as long as the two Digimon, that was all they needed. Cybra shook her head.

"That one was a lot...tougher than the...panther," she wheezed.

Gatomon nodded her agreement, still trying to get her breath back. The group was silent for a moment.

'Okay, here's what we know. Izzy's defense systems are designed to take out intruders and the doors are locked to keep out people looking for blackmail material, but why was one of those doors unlocked?' She paused in her thinking. 'How long have we been here?'

"Cybra, how long do you think we've been in here?" she asked suddenly.

Cybra thought for a moment. "About 5, maybe 6, minutes." She paused, then moaned. "We're taking too long."

"That's what I thought. I realized that these doors are all supposed to be locked, but we were able to open that one easily. Why? Izzy's running out of time."

Tai cut in, "But these defense systems are all up and running!"

"Like I said before, it's probably become instinct by now."

Izzy sat down, feeling weary. He could sense that two of his defense mechanisms had been taken out, but that was not his concern. What was his concern was why he felt as though he was being leeched of all his energy. The answer came to him in a nanosecond.

"Never wanted to go out in my sleep," Izzy muttered to himself, "but at least I'll be semi aware of the very second I die."

He thought for several nanoseconds which seemed to drag on. He rationalized that by being stuck here, all his systems were slowly but surely shutting down. Those defense mechanisms in his head were also taking their share of his remaining energy. He didn't have to concentrate very hard to maintain them anymore, but it still didn't mean that they ran on their own independent power source.

That's when Junpuu's smiling face came to mind. He blinked at the image.

"I'll be there for ya, Izzy!" Junpuu's image told him in that ever cheerful tone, her turquoise eyes showing off how much she meant it.

Izzy stood once more. He was a bit wobbly, but he was standing. Junpuu. He had to get through this for Junpuu. If nothing else, he had to find a way out of here for her. She'd be destroyed if he didn't make it.

It was Easter Sunday when I passed Junpuu on the street. She didn't look too happy. I turned and walked back up to her. I easily had my stride match hers.

"Problem?" I asked.

Junpuu turned and saw me. That's when I realized that she was wearing a blue dress that went down to her ankles, matching blue high-heeled shoes, and a WWJD bracelet on her wrist. She obviously looked me over with surprise.

"Why aren't you wearing your Easter stuff?" she asked politely.

I looked down at myself, then returned my gaze to her. "I suppose I'm wearing my 'Easter stuff' as you put it."

She then shook her head. "Sorry, but I have to ask this also, why didn't I see you and your family at church?"

OH! So THAT'S what she had meant!

"I...don't go to church," I told her nervously, unsure of how she would react.

Her turquoise eyes blinked. "You don't go to any church? You don't even believe in God?"

I shook my head. "Junpuu, you're starting to sound like your parents."

That got her to wince. "Sorry, force of habit. They always do that. I guess I'm picking up on it." She shuddered. "Izzy, save me from my parents!"

I laughed, then remembered what I had been doing before I had met up with her. I had been walking to her house (something I had done only once before) to give her something. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small box with something special on the inside.

"I know I don't celebrate Easter the same way you do, but happy Easter!"

Junpuu blinked in shock as I put the box in her hand. She looked at me for a second then opened it warily, as if expecting me to have put something truly vile in there. I saw her eyes light up when she saw what was lying in it.

I had felt absolutely wicked when I bought it. After all, I don't believe in this religious stuff. Still, I had bought it with Junpuu in mind and the money I had originally been saving for a rainy day. You see, Junpuu had been walking around in a gloom the past few days (even though she tried to hide it) and I felt like this was a rainy day.

She put the necklace around her neck. The golden cross charm hung there like a single light in a dark sky. That's when she reached down and hugged me.

"Thanks, Izzy!"

I hugged her back as I said, "You're welcome."

Izzy looked around his prison, his face set in a determined look. His eyes scanned over everything, trying to find a way out, but his legs began to give out. Weariness was catching up with him.

"I have to get out of here," Izzy muttered. "Junpuu's depending on me."

Finally, after 5 minutes of struggling, Izzy sank to his knees, unable to stand anymore. His eyes closed about half-way. However, only one thought was on his mind:

"Junpuu's depending on me."

The little group of 3 children and 2 Digimon continued the trek through Izzy's mind. Since the frog thing's destruction, all had been quiet. WAY too quiet. Matt felt that familiar itch of suspicion. He doubted that Izzy had been so cocky of his defenses being invulnerable that he'd only make 2 and a bunch of detours. Something was up.

Junpuu pointed ahead. "Let's try that door. Maybe Izzy's behind that one."

They had been trying to open doors left and right, but not one had opened so far except for the memory of the talent show. Junpuu tried to appear normal, but she feared the worst. What would happen if Izzy ran out of time and they were still inside his head? What would happen to the group if Izzy ran out of time?

'What would! What would! What would! It's almost as bad as "What if!"' Junpuu thought angrily.

She twisted the knob, not expecting much, and was surprised when it opened, but the door was mostly stuck. She pushed against the door, but it would hardly budge.

"Allow me..." Cybra said, bowing.

She ran a little ways down the hall, turned around, and began running back. The others gave a shout as they leaped out of the way. She leaped up.

"Hiiiiiiyah!!!" Cybra shouted as she kicked the door.

It swung open, banging against the wall on the other side. Cybra's momentum carried her through the door and into the room. There was nothing there, just an empty darkness and a light coming from a door down the "hall" in Izzy's memory.

"It's the Izumi apartment!" Junpuu realized. "Wonder what this one is..."

I walked quietly down the hall, not wishing to disturb my parents if they were asleep. It was quite late and none of the lights were on...except for the light in the living room. Intriguing. It looked as though the TV had been left on. As I peeked in, I saw Mom and Dad sitting on the couch in front of the TV, not watching anything. All that was on the screen was static.

'Interesting...' I thought.

I stood there watching them, trying to figure out what they were doing when Mom and Dad began to talk.

"Don't you think it's time we tell Izzy the truth, dear?" Mom asked.

'The truth about what?' I wondered.

"No, I'm afraid if we told him now, it might be too big of a shock," Dad answered.

My eyes widened as I listened.

"I know you're trying to do what's best, but I worry that once he finds out he'll be upset that we didn't tell him sooner."

I felt tears well up in my eyes. 'No...no...NO! This is NOT REAL!!!'

"Well, we just can't think about that now."

"Tell Izzy the truth about what?" Tai wondered aloud. The others shrugged.

Suddenly, a large skeleton with an attitude appeared out of the darkness. A VERY familiar skeleton with an attitude.

"Skullgreymon!!!" the two boys yelped in shock.

"Skull-WHAT?!" Junpuu demanded.

The stat screen popped up with Tai's voice heard saying, "Skullgreymon is one of the two Ultimate forms of Greymon! Agumon once digivolved into him when I did something really stupid. We're in trouble now!"

"You guys, I think HIS powers will be able to work here," Cybra told them ominously.

"Yup! Let's get out of here!!!" Matt yelled as they all did an about-face and forward-run.

Skullgreymon followed them right out the door and down through the corridors. He attacked again and again, trying to eliminate the intruders.

"I...wonder...why...Izzy has...this guy...in his mind...!" Tai panted as he ran.

"Think about it...Tai...Skullgreymon makes ANYONE run...in terror...!" Matt answered.

"Shut up...you two...and...keep...RUNNING!" Junpuu ordered.

Skullgreymon's bony claw swiped at Cybra's back, sending her flying. Gatomon was next. The three children paused only a second to help their two Digimon friends to their feet. They were almost crushed underfoot as Skullgreymon tried to step on them. As they ran, they turned doorknobs, hoping to find refuge somewhere.

Finally, a door opened for Matt. Matt whistled for the others as they ran ahead of him.

"In here!" he ordered.

The other four didn't argue. They leaped in through the door as Matt slammed the door closed behind them.

Mimi looked worriedly at Cybra, Tai, Junpuu, Matt, and Gatomon. Something was seriously wrong. They were all breathing hard, like they were running from something. That's when Matt and Tai shouted only one word.

"Skullgreymon!"

Joe, Sora, Gomamon, Kari, and Biyomon whipped around immediately. TK ran over to his brother with Kari hot on his heels. The two of them glanced at each other, then nodded. They grabbed Cybra's hand on Izzy's cheek and began to pull it off. Whatever was happening, it wasn't worth losing their friends over it. Motimon stared at them, frozen in place. Joe shouted for them to stop, but was too late.

Tai briefly wondered what memory they had stepped into, and panicked when he saw a lake surrounded by a forest that looked EXACTLY like the one they'd met Liquimon by. He turned to see Matt's wide blue eyes. Yup, he remembered it, too.

"Tai, Matt, Junpuu, Gatomon, Cybra..." a weak voice called to them.

"Izzy!" Junpuu shouted.

Izzy was leaning against a tree for support, his face Bakemon white. He didn't make a move toward them, obviously unsure whether or not he could make it. The group ran over to him.

"Izzy! Man, you look terrible!" Matt stated bluntly.

"I FEEL terrible. I couldn't get out of here."

"Don't worry," Junpuu reassured him. "We'll have you out of here in no time."

Izzy gave a weak smile of thanks. Junpuu put Izzy's left arm on her shoulder while Tai put Izzy's right arm on his shoulder. That's when they felt the pull, like they were being stretched out like a rubber band. Matt vanished, then Gatomon. Junpuu vanished as she opened her mouth to shout something, which took away half of Izzy's support. Tai vanished quickly afterward, causing Izzy to fall to the ground. Cybra's eyes grew wide as she vanished from Izzy's mind as well.

Cybra opened her eyes to see Kari and TK's little hands on her wrist, her hand an inch from Izzy's face. They'd obviously pulled it off. She forced herself not to glare at the two of them.

"What happened?!" Tai demanded.

Agumon and Gabumon had quickly returned from foraging when they'd heard Joe's shout both shrugged, not knowing what happened. Joe decided he'd say it.

"TK and Kari pulled Cybra's hand away from Izzy's cheek before I could stop them. It's my fault, Tai."

Tai looked pretty mad, but told him reassuringly, "It wasn't your fault, Joe." He turned to the two younger kids. "Why'd you two do that?"

"We didn't want to lose all of you guys and when we heard you yell 'Skullgreymon', we thought that Izzy might hurt you guys," Kari explained.

Tai looked like he was still going at a slow boil. Cybra put a hand on his shoulder, which he spun around and pulled his fist back, ready to punch whoever it was. She easily caught his hand and held it in place. She looked at him seriously.

"Tai, don't get mad at them. They were worried about us. We can always reinitiate contact, you know."

"Yeah, but we had him! We had him!" Tai grumbled.

"Tai, I thought something like this would happen, but I know a few little tricks. Psychic bread crumbs."

They all blinked. Matt stepped forward and asked the obvious question.

"Psychic bread crumbs? What're those?"

"You see, if you know the trick, you can sort of sense where you've been in somebody's mind already. Usually, it's so you don't keep going back to the same thing, but you can follow them to get to where you wanted to go. We can get to Izzy and bring him back to the start of the trail. That's where he has to be."

Tai and Matt looked at each other and nodded.

"Cybra, we need to get back in there," Tai told her.

"Wait, Tai! Skullgreymon might still be in there!" Agumon protested.

"Take us with you!" Gabumon added.

"No way," Tai said.

Gatomon held up one of her claws. "Actually, Tai, we should take them with us. We'll need more help in there with Skullgreymon if he's still running loose."

Tai thought about it for a moment. "Okay."

"Get ready everybody," Cybra told them. "Hope you or Agumon don't get vertigo, Gabumon."

Junpuu couldn't resist. "I've seen 'Vertigo' 3 times and I still don't get it."

"Oh, a movie joke," Tai noted.

Matt rolled his eyes Cybra touched Izzy's cheek once more. He closed his eyes as he forced down that nauseous feeling that he had felt the first time when they'd entered Izzy's mind.

When he opened his eyes, they were in Izzy's mind again. Agumon and Gabumon both looked nauseous. Tai had an equally nauseous look on his face.

"Can't you be a little more gentle about this stuff?" he asked.

"Sorry, but I have to punch through Izzy's outermost mental shields. Not a fun experience," Cybra apologized.

"Well, let's use these 'Psychic Bread Crumbs' of yours and find Izzy!" Tai said impatiently.

'Joe was right,' Matt thought. 'He DOES have the attention span of a gnat!'

The group cautiously made their way forward, expecting Skullgreymon to suddenly pop out of nowhere. All 4 Digimon scanned over an area before they proceeded. They were situated in a ring around Tai, Junpuu, and Matt. If something decided to attack them, they'd have it covered. Cybra was in the lead, concentrating hard.

Suddenly, she smiled. "The trail is getting stronger. That means that we've been here recently."

"So what does that mean in plain English?" Tai asked.

Junpuu rolled her eyes. "Even I got that one. That means we're close to where we were with Izzy."

A sudden roar from the rear alerted them to a very nasty Digimon's presence. Agumon, being at the rear, whipped around and pulled his head back.

"Wait a second, Agumon!" Gatomon shouted.

"Pepper Breath! Poi!" Nothing happened. "What?"

"Digimon powers don't work here unless those Digimon are Izzy's defense systems!" Cybra shouted. "I forgot to warn you!"

Tai thought for a split second. "Then let's try a digivolve!"

"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!" Agumon was still standing there. "I said, 'Greymon'!"

"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!" Gabumon blinked. "I guess not."

Cybra exchanged freaked out looks with Gatomon.

"Well, that just killed our last hope," Cybra stated.

Gatomon nodded just before she leaped up into Skullgreymon's face. She swiped at that bony skull, but only a few scratches showed up before she was swatted away. She landed on Junpuu. The girl gave a yelp as she landed on her rear, the cat-like Digimon in her lap.

"My bum hurts," she muttered.

Gatomon looked at her claws. "Looks like I'm going to have to sharpen these things."

"What do we do?" Cybra asked, already having an idea of what to do.

"Running would be a good idea," Matt stated.

The group practically flew down the corridor, Cybra in the lead. She was hurriedly following the trail she had left behind the last time they were in there. Right, left, straight, straight, left. They ran with Skullgreymon right behind them, firing his "Dark Shot" over and over. Even 2 Champions and 2 Rookies couldn't take on one Ultimate. ESPECIALLY without any of their attacks.

At last, the trail stopped at a door.

"This one!" Cybra yelled.

She opened it, let the others run through, ran through it herself, and slammed the door on Skullgreymon. The Virus-type Digimon roared in anger.

Izzy looked up from his kneeling position on the ground to see Agumon, Gatomon, Gabumon, Cybra, Junpuu, Matt, and Tai all standing there, gasping for breath. He didn't have enough energy to call out to them this time. He just hoped that they'd see him.

Junpuu sure did.

"AHH! He's turning into a GHOST!!!" she shrieked.

The others snapped their heads over to where he was. Their collective eyes widened at the same time and rate. Izzy would've laughed...if he could find the energy to.

Junpuu felt nauseated, even more so than after the route it took to get inside Izzy's mind. Izzy had become slightly translucent, not fully solid. And as the seconds wore on, she could see less and less of him.

"Oh crud..." she muttered.

"Come on! We've got to get him out of here!" Tai ordered, helping Izzy to his feet.

Much to Tai's shock, Izzy could hardly stand up anymore. Matt caught the boy as he fell towards the grass beneath their feet. Matt easily picked up Izzy into his arms. It was like he was holding air!

"We've definitely got to get him out of here!" Cybra informed them. "The good news is, he SHOULD be able to recover quickly as we head back to the beginning of the trail. That brings him closer to where his energy is really going. Of course...we have to get past bone breath first."

Matt looked down at Izzy to see that the younger boy had closed his eyes and appeared to be concentrating for all he was worth. The roars of Skullgreymon become weaker and weaker until there was nothing left. Tai blinked.

"Ask questions later. Let's just move it!" Cybra yelled as they ran out the door.

Junpuu kept glancing over her shoulder to check on Izzy, afraid he'd vanish if she didn't. That's when she noticed the change. It was gradual, but there was definitely a change. Izzy was becoming more and more solid as they continued heading towards the beginning of the trail. After a few minutes of running, Izzy opened his eyes and waved for Matt to set him down on his feet.

Cybra hadn't noticed yet. "Crud. We took a wrong turn somewhere. I forgot to lay down the trail again while we were running from Skullheadmon."

"You're going in the right direction," Izzy informed her.

She whipped around to see Izzy standing with Tai's support. He was still weak, but looking much better than he had been.

"Follow me," Izzy ordered.

With Tai's help, they walked through the corridors, through seemingly endless switch backs and twists. Finally, Tai decided to fill in the silence.

"Izzy, what happened to Skullgreymon?"

"I merely informed my defense systems that there wasn't a need for them at the moment which shut them down. However, if anybody intrudes while we're still in here, they'll attack the intruder, but not us. I basically told them I had invited you in."

Tai asked, "Why didn't you do that sooner?"

"I had no idea it was you guys in my mind, Tai. All I knew was that there was an outside presence in my head."

"Oh."

"And as to why I didn't turn them off after you left," Izzy continued, as if Tai had asked another question, "was because I didn't know whether or not you would be able to get back in."

'Well, that answers a lot,' Matt thought.

A minute later, Izzy took his arm off of Tai's shoulder and walked, a bit unsteadily, onward. He knew that they were close to where they should be.

After a minute of walking, that's when he finally stopped, the others almost running into him. He turned and smiled.

"We're here." He looked down at his shoes. "I'd really like to thank you guys for coming in after me. And I would like to apologize for what I've put you through."

Tai grinned. "No sweat, Izzy! That was kinda fun in a way!"

"FUN?!" Cybra, Gatomon, Agumon, Gabumon, and Matt all asked at the same time.

Matt shook his head. "Freak."

Tai stuck his tongue out at Matt. Izzy laughed.

Junpuu looked seriously at Izzy. "Izzy...we saw this memory of yours with your parents talking...what exactly did they mean by 'I worry that once he finds out he'll be upset that we didn't tell him sooner'?"

The boy stopped laughing. Instead, a horrified and hurt look crossed his features. He gave a slight shake of his head and answered, "I have no idea."

Matt knew it right off the bat. Izzy was lying. And from what he could gather, it wasn't the first time either.

Gatomon felt relieved to be out in the real world again. At least in Digiworld, things were at least HALFWAY predictable. Nothing could pop out at you at the drop of a hat like in Izzy's mind. She was tackled by Kari as she moved her tail back and forth, trying to get the feeling back into it.

"You're back!" Kari yelled as she hugged her Digimon friend.

"Can't...breathe...!" Gatomon gasped as she tried to wriggle out of Kari's strangle hold.

Kari only giggled as she hugged the little Digimon even harder. Cybra grinned as Gatomon gave her a pained and tortured look.

"She's YOUR human," Cybra pointed out.

Gatomon continued to try to wiggle out of the little girl's grasp, pausing only to close her blue eyes and stick her tongue out at the Humamon. Cybra put her thumb up to her nose, opened it up, and stuck out her tongue. She wiggled her fingers as well.

"Nyah nyah!"

Junpuu's turquoise eyes narrowed mischievously as an evil plan crossed her mind. She ran forward and tackled Cybra before the Digimon had a chance to get away. Junpuu began to squeeze the life out of Cybra.

"Huh?!" Cybra wheezed.

"You're the best, Cybra!" Junpuu babbled in a mock-happy-go-lucky tone of voice.

Gatomon had by now stopped trying to break free from Kari's hold on her and was laughing her tail ring off. Junpuu gave Cybra one more squeeze before she released, the Digimon gasping for breath.

"I think you crushed my ribs!" Cybra whined.

"My heart bleeds."

The group laughed, glad to see something at least halfway normal going on. Motimon rushed over to Izzy and wrapped his little pink arms around the boy's neck. Izzy smiled and hugged the little pink Digimon back.

"I was so worried!" Motimon exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Motimon."

Motimon didn't answer Izzy since he was too busy hugging his friend. Izzy glanced up to see Cybra and Junpuu mirroring this look that was easily read as "aw". He shot both of them the most powerful death glare that Matt had ever seen. Both Junpuu and Cybra just smiled mischievously, not backing down from the glare.

Gomamon climbed up onto Joe's shoulders, putting the boy slightly off-balance. Then, the little Digimon did the oddest thing. He actually hugged Joe right there, around the neck. Joe reached up and hugged him back, another unusual thing. They continued it until both of them were starting to turn blue in the face.

"Um...Joe? Gomamon? Hellooooo?!" Cybra called to the two of them.

"If I...keep squeezing...I'll have him...out of the picture..." Gomamon wheezed.

Playing along, obviously seeing what Gomamon was doing, Joe gasped, "I see...what...he's trying to do...but I'll...get him...first...!"

"He's...weakening..."

Both of them released at the exact same time, gasping for breath. The two of them were laughing at freaking out the others. Izzy raised an eyebrow as Junpuu leaned her head back and whooped loudly. The two of them hadn't wanted to show that they were hugging each other to avoid cutting off the air supply of one of the members of the group that had journeyed into Izzy's head or Izzy...so they had chosen to hug each other. That would've been too weird for both of them, so they had keyed it to look like some sort of comedy routine.

Matt shook his head as TK and Kari began to giggle. Patamon flapped happily beside TK and was laughing just as hard as the boy was. Soon, the entire group had the giggles and were doubled over, happy to be alive.

Motimon awoke that night some time during Tai's shift. Gatomon felt him move beside her, so she looked up at him to see what was wrong. Agumon had fallen asleep on watch, but Tai hadn't noticed this yet, he was caught up in his own thoughts.

'Why did Izzy lie in there? Doesn't he trust us? What is he hiding?' Tai wondered.

That memory had been important. The door had been unlocked by accident and they had stumbled upon it in the same manner. Skullgreymon had been placed in that memory as a last line of defense. They hadn't seen the whole thing, so they had no idea what Izzy's memory was about.

Motimon and Gatomon walked up beside him, jerking him from his thoughts. Had he been that inattentive? That's when he noticed that Agumon was fast asleep. He sweatdropped.

Gatomon's tail flicked by Junpuu's nose, the end of it tickling it. She sneezed, waking from her dream.

"Bless you," Matt whispered groggily, obviously having been awoken from his sleep.

"What he said," Cybra muttered from Junpuu's side.

Izzy rolled over in his sleep, but didn't awaken. Sora was curled up next to Biyomon, Palmon, and Mimi. Patamon was sleeping underneath TK's arm, buzzing away in that strange snore he had. Gabumon was sleeping next to TK, like Matt had told him to do. Joe was sitting against a tree, fast asleep, with Gomamon in his lap. Kari was sleeping soundly nearby TK.

Junpuu got up and sat down next to Tai, Cybra right on her tail. Matt, figuring he might as well stay up, joined them. He ended up sitting right next to his friend. Both of them nodded to each other to acknowledge the other's presence.

"What are you doing up, Motimon?" Gatomon asked, breaking the silence.

"I just wanted to ask you guys if you saw anything unusual in Izzy's mind, but didn't want to ask in front of Izzy," Motimon explained sheepishly.

Matt answered before Tai could, "We saw this really weird memory where his parents were talking about something that they should've told Izzy, but we didn't see the whole thing."

Tai added, "You wouldn't happen to know what that was all about, would you, Motimon?"

Motimon hesitated. Technically, he had never promised Izzy he wouldn't tell, but on the one hand, it was like betraying his friend's trust. Cybra laid a hand on what she guessed was the little pink Digimon's shoulder.

"It's okay, Motimon, if Izzy told you not to say anything..."

"He doesn't know I know."

The group blinked.

"Say that again?" Gatomon requested.

"He doesn't know that I know. When we were still on earth, at the convention center with all those people under that spell, Izzy went to talk with his parents since they wanted him to. That's when he was told that he wasn't really their son."

The group listened in silence. Junpuu's normally laughing eyes had darkened into a deep colored turquoise, darkened by understanding.

"He's adopted isn't he?" she asked.

Motimon nodded. "I don't really understand what that means, but according to his parents, his real parents died in a car accident. So...his parents...um...Mr. and Mrs. Izumi were asked to take care of Izzy. They said that they had lost their son just a little bit before so they said yes. They weren't going to tell him about it until he was older, but were upset when they found out he had learned it on his own. That's all I know."

Junpuu gave a slight sad-sounding laugh. "I always teased him for having the perfect family in my eyes. Now I'm sorry I ever used his family as ammunition in our little mock-fights. I feel so stupid for not noticing that he always dropped out of the game when I got to that point."

Gatomon's ears picked up the chirps of Biyomon as the bird-like Digimon dreamed of the singing birds outside Sora's home. However, her blue eyes were cast downward.

"Do we tell him that we know?" Junpuu asked Tai, wanting him to make the final decision.

The boy hesitated, then nodded. "But not yet. I think we'd better give him time to get over what has recently happened."

Matt nodded his agreement, then turned his attention to the flames dancing in the fire.

Izzy tossed and turned in his sleep. Reliving what had happened at the convention center and the eavesdropping on his parents' conversation over and over again. Deep down, Izzy knew that he was only dreaming, but he couldn't stop them memories from playing over and over in his head, going around and around like a Ferris wheel.

However, one other memory that would not leave his mind was that of a certain boy by the name of Seiya Fukachi. For some odd reason, that boy's face would not leave his dreams. That same face which always mocked him and laughed at him. When he was finally far enough into slumber that Seiya's face began to fade, the boy spoke to the Digidestined child, laughing.

"I'm coming, 'Lizzy'! You're going to pay for what you've done to me! You may have her now, but you won't keep her! I can't wait to see your face when I snatch her out from under you and humiliate you in front of the entire world!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: And...done! Whew! Took me a little while! I hope y'all like this one! (Me and my slightly Southern accent over here.) :::much crossing of fingers::: Had a lot of fun!

Kudos to: Gomamon of Digimon Isle, I love ya, man! Pix of Digimon Central, you and your muses can drive one up the wall, but you're still the greatest! Her Royal Weirdness from the Fanfic Digiworld (my little creation for fanfic writers), you're pretty darn cool. Kyra also from the Fanfic Digiworld, you're the best and I love your little ideas! (Kyra, Her Royal Weirdness, I must say that you guys give me the most amount of inspiration other than that of my muse! You guys also keep me writing. Constant pestering is a good way to get things going as Izzy will tell you!) And finally, my muse Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi, you're the cream for my...hmm...I don't drink coffee...I know! The milk in my hot chocolate! That's it!

And now, what you've all been waiting for!!!

1 - Your talent was stolen by Vedamon!

2 - That was worse than Demidevimon!

3 - Wasn't too bad, but wasn't too good either.

4 - Was pretty good, but needs to digivolve a little bit so it's a little better.

5 - Your writing is pretty good.

6 - Woah! Joe might want to borrow your notes from English!

7 - Even Mimi couldn't complain about this!

8 - Tai must be slipping you info or something!

9 - Who are you? A professional writer who just happens to like Digimon?!

10 - Prodigious!