*** Computer: $1,250 plus tax. Internet access on a crappy dialup: $20 per month. Ream of printer paper: $3.50. Purchasing Digimon from Toei: Priceless. (In other words, t'ain't mine, so don't sue me!)

Well, I think this is starting to turn into an alternate universe type fic, sort-of. Maybe. My stories tend to evolve on their own outside a basic plot idea, as they're being written, so I can't make the exact call quite yet. I've been watching too much Beast Machines and X-Men lately.

I deleted all but one section of my previous part II in favor of this. I know it's taken a while for this to come out after part I, but I'd rather have people read something I'm proud of, not a half-assed tale just to satisfy time constraints. I have enough issues with deadlines at my RL job... So, I hope this has been worth the wait, peeps.

Oh, and much deux ex machina abounds, if only to get the real plot moving in the right direction and to make up for things I may have forgotten to insert in the previous fic. Enjoy! o.o ***

As I sped through the city, Izzy's screams reverberated in my ears, and it took my entire force of will to keep from breaking down. The boy was gone -- perhaps captured by that evil black entity, perhaps even dead. But because Joe couldn't drive, at least not in America where we drove on the opposite side of the road as in Japan, I had to keep a tight handle on myself. I could not fall to pieces. Not yet.

Joe's fingers dug into the seat cushions, and he appeared nauseous as his attention divided between the obstacle course of cars ahead of us and whatever might be behind us. If we were being followed, I had no idea -- it was hard enough to worry about what was ahead of us, much less try to look back.

"Holy shit, Mimi," Joe whispered, his face turning an ashen grey in color, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose as he stared through the rear windshield. "You're not going to believe this."

Glancing in the rearview mirror, the morning sky behind me blackened before my eyes, a spreading wave like the rays of a sunrise. Only this sunrise was pure negative, an absence of color that leaked across the sky like a stain. A choked noise escaped my throat, and once again Izzy's dying scream echoed in my memory. My foot planted down hard on the accelerator, and I swerved just in time to pass a bus driving insufferably slowly on the highway.

"I think I'm gonna barf," Joe moaned as his body lurched from the momentum of the car.

"Shut your eyes," I ordered through gritted teeth. "Don't you even think of throwing up on these seats. They're leather." Yes, I know my words were selfish, but they served to bury the fear that threatened to overwhelm me. They kept my mind from giving in.

Joe moaned again, but he squeezed his eyes shut obediently as I made a sharp turn onto our exit. I knew the directions Izzy had given us well -- and in a few moments, we'd be there. I could only hope that the portal to the Digital World would be open and waiting for us. Otherwise...

...I didn't even want to think of it. The black entity steadily took over the sky, and I could see the startled faces of early-morning pedestrians paling, starting to panic at the sight. Just a few blocks more, and we would be there...

I pulled the car to a screeching halt, haphazardly parked in a yellow zone near a dilapidated office building. Vaguely I heard the sound of my old Digivice, kept close to me as always in my purse, letting out an incessant alarum of shrill beeps. Joe and I leapt from the car, and he grabbed my hand tightly in his, using the other to unearth his own device from his coat pocket. He nearly pulled my shoulder out of its socket as he yanked me with him towards the building. A large duffel bag -- the carry-on luggage he would have brought with him if he'd actually left on his flight back to Japan -- bounced against his hip.

The place was deserted, the front lock broken long ago by inner-city looters, and the lobby strewn with dust and decaying couches that had never been removed or considered worth stealing. As Joe and I followed the beeping of our devices, both of us coughing at the dust we raised, the broken windows darkened until we could barely see what was ahead of us.

"Joe, where do we go?" I cried out, nearly stumbling in the blackness that surrounded us.

"This way! I see a light!"

Around us, the building began to fly apart, brick by brick, the dark entity dissolving the layers of decaying construction. How did it know where to find us? I wondered silently, before the truth of it struck me. The phone lines! If it's 'deleting' our friends like a computer virus, it must have traveled across the line when Izzy sent us the email!

The bricks and boards from the office building swirled around us like a vortex, the structure peeled away bit by bit until we were all that was left in the center -- us, and an old "Trash-80" terminal, as Izzy would have called it.

"Oh, please, let this work. Please let this work," Joe begged, dropping to his knees before the terminal, the glowing source of the light. His eyes were wide with fear as he typed commands on the loud, dusty keyboard.

Was it too late? The black entity moved in for the kill as Joe cursed to himself, shaking fingers fumbling at the keyboard. Inky tendrils lashed out towards us, and it was then that some strange form of instinct took over. I pushed Joe's fingers aside and typed in a random command... words that perhaps only Izzy would have understood. Words that just ...came to me, somehow.

Joe's arms snaked around my waist, and the two of us clung to each other as the Trash-80's glow and the blackened entity surrounded us, swirling and churning, as if battling for our very souls. Burying my head against Joe's shoulder, I closed my eyes tightly, not knowing which force would win as unconsciousness took me...

*****
The sound of a loud sneeze woke me from what felt like an eternity of dreamless sleep. Groaning, I lifted my head in time to see Joe, several feet from where I lay, digging a tissue from his pocket and blowing his nose. He sighed, replaced the tissue in his pocket, and gave me an apologetic grin as he heard me stir. "Dust," he explained, and I gave a dull nod in return.

Where were we? A line from an old American song repeated itself in my head: "This could be Heaven, or this could be Hell."

"Joe? I don't understand," I murmured, shaking my head to bring the world back into focus. All around us was silence. Dead silence.

"I think we made it," he whispered, holding out a hand to help me to my feet.

He pulled me up, and as I looked around, I saw the old forest where the two of us had first landed when we had originally been drawn to the Digital World. Only this time, our friends weren't here to share the view with us. Nothing surrounded us, not even a breeze. I might have even welcomed a Kuwagamon, if only to hear something, to know that we weren't alone.

"The Digital World?" I murmured, looking around at the empty forest where nothing moved. "This can't be right! Where's Palmon? And Gomamon?"

"We'll find them," Joe said, giving my hand a squeeze. "We just got here, and the Digital World is a big place. They could be anywhere."

As he spoke, the shock of our situation -- going from real world lovers to near-fugitives in the Digital World in a manner of hours -- hit me at full force. I twisted sharply away from Joe, and tears fell, unbidden, from my eyes, my breath coming in uncontrollable gasps.

"Oh, Mimi," Joe whispered, and he placed his hand lightly on my shoulder. This time, I didn't pull away.

"This isn't right!" I sobbed, turning and burying my face against Joe's shoulder. "The others should be here!"

Joe could only stroke my hair with his delicate fingers as I cried hard against him. "Mimi," he murmured, "if there's a way -- any way -- to bring the other Digidestined back, we'll find it. You can rely on me."

I didn't answer him. All I could do was weep, for our lost friends, for our lost lives, and for myself.

*****
After what felt like an eternity of tears, I finally managed to calm down slightly, and Joe and I began to trek down the familiar path to the cliff where we'd all been cornered by Kuwagamon so many years ago. I nearly burst into fresh tears at the memory, but I managed to keep myself under control. I had to be strong, for my own sake as well as for Joe's.

The empty, unmoving forest soon gave way to the cliffs, and the two of us looked out over the surrounding ocean. Joe hitched his duffel bag up so it settled across his shoulders more comfortably, and he linked an arm around my shoulders.

"It's so quiet," I said, looking to him. "Do you think there's any Digimon here?"

"I wish I knew, Mimi," he replied. "It's not like the Digital World to be so quiet."

"It's quiet because everyone's in hiding," came a soft, gruff voice from behind us, making Joe and I both jump.

"Who are you?" Joe demanded immediately.

The figure stood less than four feet tall and was cloaked in a brown robe that covered him from head to foot. "What, you mean you don't recognize your old friend?" The hood slipped down and a wizened, wrinkled face appeared.

"G-Gennai?" I murmured, blinking at how much the old man had aged.

"You were expecting Obi-Wan Kenobi?" The old man took several tottering steps and proceeded to plunk himself down next to us, looking out over the water. Joe and I both sat down beside him, knowing that if we were to gain any wisdom from him, we'd have to follow his lead.

"It's good to see you," I said with a light smile. "Why are all the Digimon in hiding?"

Gennai sighed, his eyes cracking open slightly. "Because of the Black Virus. It's been trying to break through the barrier to the Digital World. That's why it came after you -- the thing eats all data in its path, assimilates it."

"I don't understand, Gennai. What is that thing?" Joe asked.

"It's a creature of pure evil," the old man murmured. "I don't have as much information on it as I'd like, children. I'm sorry. But I can tell you this -- if it's not destroyed, it will take over the Digital World."

"So... what are we supposed to do now?" I asked. "And where are our Digimon?"

"You must find them before it's too late," he said. "I suspect they're underground, along with the rest of the Digimon Resistance. They're all laying low until it's time to fight, conserving their strength. As for what to do..." the old man continued. "...I want you to give me your Digivices."

"But Gennai--" I protested and was quickly cut off.

"Just do it, child, if you want to live!" he hissed.

Joe and I reluctantly handed over our Digivices, and Gennai typed in several commands. The bits of machinery crackled slightly with an electric light before the old man handed them back to each of us.

"You're data now, children, while you're in the Digital World," he explained. "Data can be given attributes, the very thing that makes Digimon powerful. You weren't given any when you first entered the Digital World, because you were just kids then, and not to be trusted with the power. Now that you're older..." He trailed off and shrugged.

"So how do we use these attacks?" I asked, staring mutely at the Digivice in my hands.

"You have to harness your own power within. Your crests hold the key to guide you."

Joe raised his eyebrows. "Straightforward as ever."

"Information doesn't come cheap these days," said Gennai with a smirk.

I opened my mouth to say something in return, but my voice froze in my throat as I spied something on the horizon -- the sky had begun to grow an inky black, as it had in the real world when Joe and I were being chased by the Black Virus. Joe and I leapt to our feet, but Gennai remained sitting on the ground, calm as ever.

"Come on, Gennai," said Joe, his eyes widening behind his glasses. He leaned over and pulled at the old man's gi, but he didn't budge. "That thing -- the virus. It's still after us."

Gennai yawned, looking as if he were staring at the sunrise. "It's only on the periphery of the Digital World. It hasn't broken through the border yet."

The blackness across the sky raced towards us, and I couldn't help but cry out. "Hasn't broken through?" I exclaimed. "Gennai, it wants to kill us!"

"Not kill you," the old man murmured calmly. "Reformat you. Then assume your information as its own."

The sky grew dark, though this time it wasn't with the wings of many bats, as it had blackened when we fought Myotismon. This time it darkened as the Black Virus spread across it. After some time, Gennai stretched and pushed his frail form to his feet.

"Well, children, I suggest you stand back. I'm going to make sure the Black Virus doesn't break the barrier," he said tiredly. "I also suggest you go underground. Find the Digimon Resistance. You'll probably meet up with some old friends while you're down there."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Gennai, what are you going to do?" I gasped.

"Face my destiny," the old man said with a shrug.

The spreading blackness surrounded us until only a small circle of blue sky was left directly over our heads. Gennai dropped his chin to his chest, letting out a tired sigh, before he burst into a shimmering light, his data decompiling in an explosive charge that knocked me to my knees.

"Gennai!" I cried out, watching his data slowly dissolve and reconfigure itself into a giant net that spread across the sky.

"Oh no!" Joe screamed, bracing his body as the Black Virus impacted the net that Gennai formed from his own life's data. "It's coming for us!"

The explosion of the Virus hitting Gennai's web shook the earth and rained sparks down upon our heads. The ground beneath me began to crack, and I realized too late that it was about to give beneath me. I cried out, "Joe!" as I clutched for purchase that slid out from beneath my hands.

I felt myself falling over the edge of the cliff before a sharp jerk tore at my shoulder. Joe was leaning over the edge, where the earth had given way from under my feet, clutching at my arm with straining fingers. "Mimi!" he gasped, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose precariously. "Mimi, don't let go!"

"Joe, help me!" I cried, kicking my feet into empty air as his fingers slipped steadily, steadily from around my wrist.

The Black Virus made another attempt to break through the net, the world shaking with the impact, and Joe's body lurched nearly halfway off the edge of the cliff. "Oh, please, please, whatever power I've got from Gennai, please let it come to me now."

The third time the Virus rammed the web, Joe's fingers slipped from around my wrist, and I saw his pupils dilate from the shock of it all before I fell down, down, and the rocks at the base of the cliff pierced my back upon landing.

"MIMI, NO!" was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

*****
I awoke from a dark, dreamless sleep feeling confused and weak. My head throbbed, and I thought I could taste blood between my teeth. My tongue felt three sizes too big for my mouth -- perhaps I bit it some how in my sleep. The ground was hard beneath my shoulders, and there were goosebumps forming on my arms because it was so cold. When I tried to sit up, I felt a pair of warm hands on my shoulders, and although their touch was gentle, they easily held me down.

"Don't move, Mimi," came a pained, whispering voice. "You shouldn't, not in your condition."

It took me a moment to place the voice as Joe's. I swallowed hard and drew a shaky breath from an aching chest. Breathing was difficult, as if a belt had been tightened around my lungs, and my voice was a paper-thin whisper. "Joe? What happened?"

"You fell. Hard." I couldn't see his face through the darkness, only the soft reflection from a flashlight's beam illuminating his face.

"Will I be alright?" I managed to ask. Just speaking was getting me out of breath. As I stared up to a rock ceiling, I realized Joe must have carried me into a cave at the bottom of the cliff face.

"Yeah. Sure. Of course you'll be alright, Mimi."

I could tell that he was forcing himself to sound reassuring. I knew him well enough to tell when he was lying.

"What about the Virus?"

"Gennai stopped it. It's still out there, in the sky, but it just can't break through the reinforced barrier."

As weak and as hurt as I was, I could sense that I had some serious injuries. Everything in my body ached, I realized, except my legs. Except -- "Joe, why can't I feel my legs?" I choked out in alarm.

Joe hissed in a sharp breath, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see him move his body down to kneel beside my feet. "Tell me when you feel something," he said, a new tremor causing his voice to shake.

I couldn't tell what he was doing. A numbness had crept over my legs, it seemed, and I was unable to sit up to see Joe's actions. He slid from his place beside my feet, to my knees, then to my waist, where I could finally catch a glimpse of him from my peripheral vision. A sharp prick pierced the edge of my hip, as if Joe was sticking me with a pin, and I winced. "There," I murmured.

"You didn't feel anything else?"

"No?" I whispered, feeling tears starting to burn my eyes.

Joe took my hand in his, and I could feel his fingers shaking. "It could be temporary. There could be swelling on your spine, and maybe it'll go down. If only I had some ice..."

With tears slipping down my cheeks and into my ears, I whispered, "Am I paralyzed?"

He didn't answer, instead burying his cheek against my hand. "This is my fault, Mimi. If I'd been able to hold on to you, this wouldn't have happened. First we lost our friends. Then Gennai... And I almost lost you too."

I couldn't cry for long. I just didn't have the strength for it. The tears stopped almost as soon as they started, and I stared up into the blackness of wherever we were. Paralyzed... The thought certainly hadn't hit home yet. Otherwise, I might want to scream, or to simply go catatonic for a while. The only thing I could concentrate on now was just to breathe, or at least try.

When I looked up at Joe, I could see tears of his own staining his cheeks, the tears of a man who'd done everything in his power only to find out that it just wasn't enough. He looked ... defeated, as if his heart was breaking. And yet, as he cried, a soft glow started to illuminate his face. His tears, glistening a soft blue, fell against my hand pressed so firmly to his cheek, slipped down my arm as far as they would go, radiating an oddly soothing warmth where they touched. I could hear the words of Gennai, rasping yet gentle, "You have to harness your own power within. Your crests hold the key to guide you."

Suddenly, I understood. The glow originated from the crest strung around Joe's neck. However, absorbed in his own self-pity, he didn't realize the energy starting to coalesce within him. "Joe," I whispered. "Your crest."

A sob caught in his throat, and he forced his eyes open. The gleam from his crest had started to gather at his hands, making them shimmer blue and warm. "It's glowing," he murmured, not quite comprehending what was happening.

"Joe, remember what Gennai told us? About our own powers?"

His pupils dilated with the shock of the epiphany. "Mimi, do you think I can?" he whispered, the illumination on his hands spreading wider, brighter.

"I have faith in you. Joe, please."

Choking back the rest of his tears, he leaned over me, pressing his hands to the sides of my face. The light overwhelmed my sight, causing Joe's determined face to disappear in a haze of soft lavender-blue. Ever so quietly, he whispered, "Azure Light."

Although I couldn't see him any longer, I could feel his hands as they slowly moved down my body, and I could sense the light that filled me, warm and soothing. His touch strayed for a time over my hips, and the warmth from him grew to a blistering heat, although it was still a pleasant sort of pain.

Finally, Joe's hands passed over my bare feet and he fell back against his knees with a soft sigh, the light at his hands returning within his crest. Tentatively, I wiggled my toes. Joe let out a shaky laugh at that and removed his glasses to rub his eyes. It no longer hurt to breathe, my head no longer throbbed with a dull ache, and, best of all, I was able to move my legs again.

Still uncertain just how much Joe had healed me, I gingerly sat up so that I could be face-to-face with Joe. He was breathing raggedly -- whatever he'd done had taken a lot of his strength. I reached out to tilt his chin up and to brush away his drying, blue-glowing tears. He'd been strong throughout our entire journey, and had not allowed himself a moment to succumb to his own fears. Yet now, he was vulnerable -- he could use some support of his own.

"Joe, you did it," I said with a smile, meeting his dark eyes.

He stared back at me, his gaze locked with mine, and he let out a shaky laugh as he continued to try to catch his breath. "Oh, Mimi..." he whispered, unable to say more. Instead, he threw his arms around me and rested his head against my shoulder.

I ran my fingers through his bluish-black hair, placing my chin against the top of his head. He sighed and leaned his weight against me easily now. "Thank you," I whispered into his hair.

We held to each other, silently, for a long while. Eventually, I felt his arms slip from me, although his body remained leaning against mine. He was asleep. I roused him just enough so that he could lie down, and I cradled his head in my lap, savoring the feel -- any feeling there.

As for me, I'd done enough sleeping. It was time for me to take watch.

*******
I'd managed to doze off some by the time Joe awoke, with the first streams of the morning's sunrise starting to filter through cracks in the rubble at the mouth of the cave. I felt his body shift in my lap, and I jerked my head up with a start. "I wasn't sleeping," I breathed quickly.

Joe looked me over with his eyes, checking me for any further signs of injury. "I know you weren't," he said softly as he walked over to the pile of rocks that blocked our exit out of the cavern. "The way out was blocked when the Black Virus caused another earthquake. While you were ...unconscious."

"Is there a way out of here?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and climbing to my own feet.

"I don't know," Joe said, musingly. "Looks like we've got two options. We could try to clear the rubble, but there's no guarantee that won't start another cave-in. Or, we could try to venture further and hope there's a second way out."

I nodded, joining Joe at his side. "What do you think we should do?"

"If only Gomamon were here," Joe murmured, his mind on another track entirely. "He could Digivolve and take out this pile of rocks with no problem." He sighed and shook his head. "I don't think we should risk either of us getting hurt...again."

"I don't blame you, Joe. Besides, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with me now." I tried to give him a reassuring smile. "If I hadn't been hurt, maybe you wouldn't have found your power."

He looked over at me, his glasses reflecting the faint light that was shimmering into the cavern through the cracks in the downfall of rocks. "I'd rather you not have been hurt in the first place, Mimi. Either way, these rocks seem like too much for either of us to move on our own. Maybe we should try going further into the cavern, to try to find another exit. I think there's a network of tunnels, from the looks of them."

"Gennai said the Digimon Resistance would be underground. Maybe Palmon and Gomamon are with them."

Joe sighed lightly and nodded. I reached over to touch his shoulder, and he cringed away from my hand.

"Joe?" I whispered, concern in my eyes.

"Look, Mimi -- I... I love you," he admitted in a whisper, although he didn't meet my gaze.

"Joe, I love you too," I said, smiling lightly. "I'm glad it's the two of us together here. I don't know anyone else I'd rather work with, saving the Digital World. Again," I added.

"But --" he trailed off, choking on the words. "No, it's not the time for love. And... if you can't rely on me, then I don't deserve any love."

"That accident couldn't have been helped," I murmured, my face starting to pale again. "You helped me anyway. You learned the true power of your crest."

Joe shook his head violently, his hair swirling about his face. "No. I didn't learn anything. It shouldn't have happened in the first place. Mimi, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I can't do this... Not now."

"I understand," I whispered, although I truly didn't. "Well. Don't expect me to wait around forever."

"Mimi, we have a job to do here," he said finally, resolutely. "We can't let anything distract us from our job." Sighing, he pointed down one of the tunnels. "This way seems the safest. I have a flashlight for when it gets dark."

"Fine."

"Mimi, don't--"

"We have a job to do, Joe," I said in a slightly mocking tone. "Don't get distracted." I know it was mean... but I was so angry, so hurt at his seeming coldness.

Joe nodded sadly, and led the way into the dark heart of the cave.

*****
We steadily made our way through the catacombs, tracking and backtracking. Neither of us said a word to each other throughout the journey. Ten hours of silence. Finally, after we'd worn ourselves out from so much walking, we found ourselves a secluded section of the winding tunnels to sleep for the night.

I woke up once in the night -- if it even was night -- to the sound of a rhythmic sniffling. I realized that Joe was crying again. I longed to reach out and comfort him, but his words from earlier in the day returned to me, and they still stung worse than any physical injury I could have sustained.

I turned over onto my side and tried to get back to sleep. But it wasn't coming easy.

*** Will Mimi and Joe get ever back together again? Will they find the Digimon Resistance? Will Mimi discover the true power behind her crest? What does this Black Virus want, anyway? Is Gennai really Obi-Wan Kenobi in disguise? And is a Mimi x Miyako fanfic called a "Mimimi"? Find out in the next installment! ***

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