Digimon: Reloaded

Chapter 9

Heads up, this is a Takuya-centric chapter, so not much of what happened to Takeru and Kouichi because I am mean and I like to make you suffer. 

Anyways, without further ado, chapter nine, the chapter where I probably overuse italics:

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Takuya's first coherent sensation was floating.

He was drifting through endless space, his hair and clothes being tugged every which way. A familiar weight missing from the top of his head was an instant giveaway that his hat was missing. A flare of panic rose up in his gut and he tried to open his eyes or move his hands to scrabble for it desperately. He found with an increasing wave of apprehension that he couldn't.

He couldn't move.

He tried, he really did, but each movement he tried to make felt dull. Muffled by an invisible weight sitting down on his chest.

He continued floating through the endless air. Drifting aimlessly. Where was he? Did it even matter? The only thing Takuya remembered was staring down into that swirling pool of data that ripped Dagomon and Kouichi before him to shreds. Takuya had summoned all of his courage (which surprised him at the time because wow there was a lot of it) and jumped after him.

The data bit at him, pulling him every direction imaginable until he felt a shattering sensation that started at his toes and spread. Like every part of him was slowly breaking into dust, scattering. He couldn't feel his toes, couldn't wiggle them when he tried, and the feeling just kept moving. It reached his head and then everything had gone black.

Now he was floating who knows where in whatever world that portal had thrown him through. Maybe he really had died. Maybe Kouichi had too and Takuya had jumped for no reason. Or maybe Kouichi was just fine and Takuya's loyalty had finally gotten the better of him.

The final thought scared him. Because as far as Takuya was concerned, he was alone. He didn't hear any muffled voices that made his head pinch and ache, or even a gentle wind brushing through his hair. He reached out, searching inside his soul for Agnimon, who had been a constant vigil ever since his return. Even Agnimon seemed to have abandoned him, too, because the fire that burned in his gut near constantly seemed to have fizzled out and died. In fact, there were no traces of Agnimon anywhere within Takuya's soul.

Takuya's heart skipped a beat. He hated being alone more than anything. And now he was here, scared and alone and robbed of his sight. Or maybe it was more than his sight. Perhaps the fall had paralyzed everything and he'd be stuck in this endless expanse until doctors eventually decided to pull the plug on their patient and let him die. Takuya hated that thought.

Breathe, he reminded himself and suddenly Takuya realized that he actually couldn't. He tried to suck in a deep breath to steel his nerves, only to find he couldn't inhale. He was holding his breath, it seemed, and he had no idea how long ago he had taken a breath. The thought made Takuya feel increasingly claustrophobic, and he felt the beginnings of a panic attack starting to rear its head.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe!

He tried to inhale again. He would have taken anything - a sucking sensation as his nostrils stuck together uncomfortably. Choking because he accidentally breathed in too fast. Just anything.

But there was nothing.

It took Takuya a moment to realize it as he fought the hopeless battle to take in a deep breath, but he was falling. Sinking through the expanse, steadily gaining speed. As soon as he realized what was happening, he was positive he had left his stomach somewhere up where he had been floating.