Digimon VIRAL
Episode Four
Of Ice And Wind

   "This is the most uncomfortable walk I've ever been on..."

   "Ugh, why couldn't this be snow?"

   "It's gettin' in my eyes, it's gettin' in my eeeyeeesss..."

   One by one the team took turns complaining about their current situation. It seemed like hours had passed, completely uneventfully as they trudged by the tracks, over the great field of pure white salt. The sun had finished rising now, and it was unfortunately clear that the temperature was not going to stay at a comfortable level. The two Digimon that could do anything to help, did. Every-so-often Kotamon would freeze a patch of the salt, or Lutramon would fire water into the air and let it fall like a quick rain. But this was only a temporary solution, as neither of them could constantly use energy in a situation like this. The blue horizon was ever so slowly creeping closer, so they could at least find solace in the fact that it wasn't an illusion, and that they were indeed making some progress. It was extremely rare for them to find any other signs of life, other than the occasional Digimon flying far overhead.

   "Sometimes I just want to call up to whatever's flying up there and ask if they know a better way through here..." Gin muttered.

   Lutramon looked up at her, "I don' think we have a choice other than walkin'..."

   "Ospreymon, you get up there...and scout." Canismon ordered his comrade, a little too tired to even turn his head towards him.

   "No."

   "...Why not?"

   "Can't be bothered. Plus I'm waaay too tired."

   The dog just grunted in response. It was almost a hundred percent chance, though, that Ospreymon wouldn't find much other than whiteness, the forest behind, and the blue horizon. They continued to walk on in silence, as another two Digimon flew overhead.

   --------------------------------------------

   "Ooh! Ooh! There they are! I can see 'em, I can see 'em!" One of the flying Digimon called out to her partner.

   "Nn." The bat-like creature responded.

   "Ohhh have some energy Zotzmon, we both know it's good news that we've found them!" Her transparent wings were flapping faster with excitement.

   "Hmm."

   "...Don't make me hit you."

   "Oh just shut up, Muzenmon."

   The two flew in a straight line, not lingering over the salt desert lest they attract the attention of the Chosen Children. Muzenmon, the far more talkative one, was a bee Digimon. Her head elongated back into long fur, and the tips of her antennae were attached to balls of fluff. The same fluff encircled her neck, waist and stinger, as well as her limb sockets. It was impossible to see at this moment, but when her wings were still, one could see that the ridges of them were ruffled. Zotzmon, one who considered silence to be something excellent, looked like a long furred, tired bat. His neck and waist were wrapped up by thick belts with large studs. His wings and feet had two claws each, and the wing membrane was a creamy yellow, a big contrast to the dark, dusty purple of his fur. To top it all off, his tail was something like a rabbit's, round and soft.

   "Well, you don't have to be so rude about it, humph." Muzenmon rolled her eyes in annoyance, then took another look at the tiny specks far below her. "Ohhh, but I can't believe that with all those other stupid cronies dispatched, we were the ones to find them!" The bee laughed happily, flying around in cartwheels.

   "Stop that at once. The last thing we want is for them to get curious and send that bird of theirs up here."

   --------------------------------------------

   "Haha, hey look! One of them's rolling around!" Nathan had his head tilted towards the sky, still keeping pace. As walking was extremely boring, whatever flew overhead was almost always stared at.

   "Maybe it's some sort of Digimon mating ritual?" Gin laughed at her own suggestion.

   "What? I'm there!" Ospreymon flapped his wings once, picking up off the ground.

   "NO YOU'RE NOT." In unison, Lutramon and Kotamon tacked him into the salt, keeping his struggling form from becoming airborne.

   --------------------------------------------

   "Oh don't worry your pretty little head about it, Zotzmon~" Muzenmon returned to flying in a straight line. "Besides, if anything, we just take off and he'll never catch us with this much of a head start on our side."

   "Hmph."

   "Mrrr...well, it's about time we get back to Nagamon. I'm sure this is a report that he's been anticipating."

   "Just no more cartwheels."

   Muzenmon laughed at her partner, for a very long time on the flight back, until she received a well-deserved smack over the head and remained silent for the remainder of the journey.

   --------------------------------------------

   Gin and Zuru sighed in unison. While Gin was athletic enough to stand the walking, she hated the ever-increasing heat, and the situation was reversed for Zuru.

   "This wouldn't be so bad if it was more eventful..." the black-haired girl muttered, flapping the front of her hoodie in an attempt to cool down.

   "Careful Gin, you don' want to jinx it." Lutramon piped up.

   Canismon's ears pricked up and he turned to look at the others, "I think...she already has."

   And with those few words, the salt a few meters away began to rise and stir. Within seconds, it fell back towards the ground, revealing a hairy yellow primate, with slate-colored skin and a large bone strapped to its back.

   "Apemon!" Kotamon remarked. "Damnit, they just won't leave us alone now!"

   The new Digimon let out a loud yowl, baring his long fangs and moving his limbs into a fighting stance.

   Ospreymon sent it a look, "Well at least this one knows when to verbally shut up."

   Kotamon pulled her paws apart, forming a few arrows, "Unlike you."

   "Hey! That was-"

   "Not important! Time to fight!" Canismon cut off the bird, leaping onto him and then straight off, his paws beginning to glow a red color. "Landmine!" He ran around the Apemon, while Kotamon called out her attack and shot the arrows, but the primate dodged the ice and aimed a kick, hitting Canismon in the stomach and knocking him away.

   "Canismon!" Nathan called out, running to the side and leaping to catch his falling partner, "Oh man, you've been getting all the beatings lately!"

   "It wouldn't be so bad if we would have more time to recover..." Zuru was tending to an injured Kotamon, who was knocked away right after Canismon.

   Ospreymon peeled his face out of the salty ground, shaking it a few times. "Lutramon, looks like it's our turn." He spread his wings and flew a few feet into the sky.

   "Right on!" The otter opened her mouth, tentacle-hair rising. "Marine Crash!" Her attack left Apemon soaked in scalding water, and also rather infuriated.

   "Lightning Typhoon!" A twister of electricity streaked towards the primate, shocking it and preventing it from moving closer.

   "Time to get physical! Aqua Twister!" Lutramon spiraled forward, ready to cause some damage.

   "HRROAARGGHHH!!! BONE ROD!" With a well-aimed smack the Apemon knocked Lutramon out of the way like a hairy baseball, and without missing a beat smashed the bone into Ospreymon, who was on his way in for an Electrical Outlet attack.

   "Lutramon! Oh god, please be okay!" Gin ran over to her partner, lifting her head up with her hands. She calmed down a little when Lutramon let out a little sound, signaling she was still alive.

   "Ospreymon...!" Audrey had caught his partner, but was knocked back from his weight.

   "Thanks Aud... I'll be okay, but I think we should get out of here."

   "He's right..." Canismon was on his feet again. "Both Ospreymon and I are too tired to even try to Evolve. Out best bet is to try to... outrun it as best we can..."

   Nathan stared at his partner. "You've gotta be kidding me. There's no way we can outrun that thing."

   "But we can damn well try...!" Gin called out, as she ran past with Lutramon on her back.

   "Right!" Zuru climbed to her feet and followed, with Kotamon and the rest of the team in tow.

   "Hruh?" The Apemon looked at his retreating opponents in disbelief. He blinked a few times, before realizing the ones he was supposed to destroy were getting away. Angrily he let out a growling roar and stomped up and down, waving his bone in fury. He swung the thing backwards and forwards and took chase, slowly gaining on the eight.

   "We can't keep this up, he'll catch us." Audrey bluntly stated. His good running ability had carried him to the front, but even he couldn't outrun a rampaging Apemon.

   "Oh shi-!"

   Kotamon turned to find her partner face first in the salt, and immediately stopped and ran back. "Zuru!"

   "Aughhh..." The chestnut-haired girl pulled herself up. "I'm okay. I think. The tracks tripped me." She looked up at the rest of the team, who had also stopped running and were now heading back. "No! Keep running, don't come back!"

   "Come on!" Kotamon grabbed her partner around the waist and hoisted her up, ready to continue running. With the distraction neither of them had noticed just how close Apemon had gotten, until his bestial cackling was right behind them. He stretched out a slate-skinned claw and grabbed Zuru's foot, throwing her backwards into the salt, and taking a swing at Kotamon with the other, bone-equipped hand.

   "Kotamon!" Zuru called out, spitting out the salt that got in her mouth as she called out. The primate had struck Kotamon over the shoulders with his bone, and the others had just gotten all the way back, but were forced to keep their distance. "Damnit, leave her alone!" This time, it was Zuru's Digivice that began to glow, and its bright green light caught the Apemon's attention.

   The blue feline clawed her way to her feet, and began running at the primate, who had once again switched targets. "Oh no you don't! KOTAMON EVOLVE..."

   The first thing to change was her tail, which split into four and each one became covered with storm clouds. Her size and posture became a lot more lumbering, and while the claws on her paws elongated, some of her bandannas vanished. White fur sprouted over her muzzle, and the fur around her neck became thicker and trailed down her back. A purple wind chime hung from her neck, and a heavy yellow sack was slung over her shoulders.

   "FUURINMON!"

   Apemon's giant bone collided with a clawed paw, and his pissed off expression switched into one of surprise. The bone was then smacked away, and sent flying off into the salt.

   "You just lost." Without giving him time to react, Fuurinmon whipped her tails around, knocking the yellow Digimon off-balance and away. "Compass Star Tornado!!" Her tails thrashed and then stiffened, each pointing into what one could assume were north, south, east and west. The storm clouds kicked up and she pointed the mouth of the sack at Apemon, where upon opening it shot out half a dozen spinning, silver winds which collided in a cloud of salt. Once it cleared, the others saw the Apemon half frozen.

   "Fuu...rinmon...!" Zuru stared at her newly Evolved partner.

   A loud howl rose from Apemon's mouth, as he struggled to free himself from the ice that bound him. "GRRRRR, BONE SHOWER!" He stuck his arms out and the previously knocked away bone flew back into his grasp. He smashed the bone into tiny fragments with his own claws. The fragments began to glow, and shot out like a rain of needles, aimed at just about everyone.

   "Not so fast..." Fuurinmon opened the mouth of the bag once again, and controlled the wind to make it slice through the bone pieces, tearing them apart in mid-air. "All of you come attack and completely underestimate us. Well I think..." A circle of wind began swirling around Fuurinmon. "You should all..." The winds grew higher, spinning faster. "Go to HELL! ICE BARRIER!" The circle broke and the wind travelled towards the Apemon, freezing along the way. The spikes of ice were higher as it moved forwards, and try as he might Apemon was unable to free himself from the ice of the previous attack. With a final howl of protest from the primate, the ice spikes shot through and past him, finally stopping a little ways into the distance. His frozen form burst into fragments of data, as the ice shattered from the shock. A small computer chip was left in his place, but was quickly destroyed by a shard of ice that landed right in the center of it.

   "Well well, not too shabby!" Ospreymon flew over first, with a whistle. "Hell, I'd hit it." His little remark earned him a swift smack down by one of Fuurinmon's tails, exasperated and annoyed expressions from the girls, a face-palm from Nathan, and a slightly confused blink from Audrey. Canismon seemed indifferent.

   "Nice timing, Kots!" Gin turned back to the large blue cat, and smiled.

   Zuru walked up from behind her partner, running her hand down the long fur around her neck. "Whoa... Thanks. You pretty much saved me."

   "Well this time it was a little different, Kotamon was the one in immediate danger." Nathan pointed out, a slightly thoughtful expression on his face.

   "And I think I've figured something else out..." Audrey half-mumbled.

   "Whassat?" Lutramon looked up at the boy.

   "You mentioned in our first battle, with the Hydramon, that one of their attacks was unnatural. During the last three fights, based on your reactions, there were the same situations." He turned to look at the now melting pile of ice shards. "I have a feeling... that those computer chips have something to do with those weird attacks. Plus they all seem to be following a master of some sort, so maybe he or she is the one responsible for the chips? Or maybe it's something else, I..." He cut himself short and looked at the others, who were all staring at him. He blushed a little and mumbled the rest of his speech. "I don't...know. Er, sorry, I got a little...carried away..."

   "Wow. That was the most I've heard you say like...ever." Nathan remarked.

   "Heh, Zuru was right, you are smart." said Gin, smiling.

   Audrey turned away.

   "In any case..." Canismon began. "Audrey's probably right. I'd been...getting a sneaking suspicion about the chips...but he nailed it. Unfortunately...there isn't much we can do...about them, until...we get to the source of the matter."

   Zuru nodded. "Which probably won't be revealed in the middle of this desert..."

   Fuurinmon tilted her head to look at her partner, readjusting the bag of endless wind on her back. "I think I might know a faster way through here, but I'm not ecstatic about the idea of having all of you on my back..."

   "Hey, I did it. It's only fair." Ospreymon had crawled back, just to have some input in the conversation.

   "You know a way? Oh pleeease Fuurinmon~! You know how much we can't stand this~" Zuru gave her Digimon partner the best pleading expression she could muster.

   "Oh all right, all right. Just don't touch my storm clouds." She responded, twitching her four tails away from the others.

   Careful to follow that remark, the others climbed onto Fuurinmon's back, finding it a little less roomy than Gavindramon's. Once they were assembled, Fuurinmon walked over to the tracks, standing right over them.

   "Now you don't have to worry about the salt, the wind will keep it away from you. And this isn't exactly going to be as fast as flying, so no complaining." With that, Fuurinmon tucked her tails underneath her, and opened up the yellow sack once more. Instead of releasing a slicing wind, the zephyr mingled with the storm clouds, lifting Fuurinmon a few inches off of the ground. The salt underneath her bulk was sent flying out, but whatever threatened to fly at the team was blown away. Slowly at first, the large blue Digimon began to float forwards, but she picked up speed until she was steadily moving, faster than the speed the team could run at.

   "Whoa, Fuurinmon, this is pretty cool!" Lutramon called out from the back, part of her voice carried away by the wind.

   "We'll hit the blue horizon in no time." Zuru said to no one in particular.

   --------------------------------------------

   "Any news?" A silky voice carried itself out of the shadows.

   "Nagamon, sir, we have located the Chosen Children and their Digimon partners." Zotzmon spoke into the darkness, bowing a little on one knee.

   "They were in the middle of the Saline Desert, sir. They should have been intercepted by Apemon by now." Muzenmon was bowing lower, though smiling a little.

   "Hmm, Apemon had, however, failed..." A glowing screen in the dark room showed the two Rookies a computer chip, identical to the one Apemon had used, but it was signaling a disconnection with the server. "It is likely one of the Digimon evolved to defeat him..."

   A moment's silence from the two smaller Digimon, until Zotzmon spoke. "Our deepest apologies sir, had we remained behind we could have aided Apemon."

   "No, no... For now, it's best they don't see who you are. After all..." Nagamon shifted, the side of his angular face faintly illuminated by the glow of the screen, and his lime green eyes shining from the shadows. "We've still got a plan to set in motion..."

   The dark room's walls bounced around the sound of laughter, the quiet, deep voices of Nagamon and Zotzmon, and Muzenmon's shrill cackles.



BACK