Werewolf

'Ow... Where am I again?' Lloyd thought as he awoke.

Sitting up, he found he was still in the woods, where he had decided to go for a short walk. Just a short walk, not intending anything else, and somehow he wound up waking up lying on the forest floor.

And without any recollection as to why he wound up like that.

Sitting up, her felt a slight twinge of pain from his ankle, and checked it. He sighed.

'Great... A bite. Doesn't seem too bad, but it really stings...'

The bite itself was just a small red mark, and it didn't seem as if the skin had been penetrated badly. There was a little amount of dried blood, but it seemed the wound wasn't too bad. It did feel very warm though, and as he stood up, it throbbed. It made him limp slightly, but it was just a warm dull pain rather than sharp agony.

'Owch. Stings even more now. But I can put some weight on it at least, and it's not that painful. '

He glanced up at the sky, seeing that the blue above was tinted with orange. The sun was setting, and getting back into town before dark was a good idea, especially if there was something prone to biting wandering about...

As he walked, he felt the pain in his ankle fading away. He was glad of this, as it seemed to be getting darker and darker, and being able to move a little faster meant he could get out of the woods faster too.

'Wait a second... Is this the right way?'

He looked around, not recognising the woods around him at all, and sighed again

'Great. I've got myself lost.'

He pondered climbing a tree at first until he noticed a small rocky hill. It stood slightly above the trees at the highest height, and with his ankle seemed easier to get up and down than the trees themselves.

'It can't hurt to try. Well, it can if I injure this ankle more.'

But his initial assessment was right, and the small hill was easily climbed. However, doing so did take a little longer than hoped thanks to his caution, and the sun was almost setting as he got up.

'Wonderful. Better use what light I have to see where the way back is...'

He looked around, and saw his way back. Trying to memorise the direction in case he couldn't go in a straight line, he suddenly felt a strange sensation. Pins and needles in the ankle, around the bite. And he felt warm. He was sweating, in fact.

'Guess the climb was tougher than I thought...'

A dizzy spell made him stagger, as his ankle began to hurt now, sharp pain. He winced, and pulled his boot off to see the wound was gone almost entirely, but there was instead a patch of brown hair.

'What the...'

In shock, he replaced his boot. And then the heat he felt grew, and the pins and needles spread all over. Followed by a sharp pain.

He screamed, feeling like every muscle was stretched to breaking point all at once as sharp tingling lances like needles bursting from his skin covered him. His jaw ached, he heard a crunching noise, and felt like he was about to snap himself in two as he arched his back.

The screams became closer to howls, and the breaking point sensation lessened. He felt parts of him growing larger, something shooting from his lower back, but the sharp pain was still there. He opened his eyes, and failed to realise he was seeing better in the poor light. There was a distraction.

'My hands... They're bigger, and covered in fur!' He realised. His fingers had torn their way from his gloves, and his nails were blackening and becoming pointed.

His boots gave way also, paw-like feet ripping free, as he began to whine rather than howl. Eventually, he felt the pain and head fade, and tried to stand. He did so unsteadily, glad he hadn't fallen down the hill, and then saw the moon. Low in the sky, and glowing a brilliant white.

He realised he could see far better. That he could smell strange new smells. He heard a distant tree rustle in the wind, and felt all the pain he once had was gone.

He was about to ponder what had happened to him when he saw the moon again.

The new Werewolf couldn't resist the urge, and howled at it.

'No! Don't howl at the moon! Need to head back.. Need to... Howl... need to hunt... need...

Moments after he finished howling, Lloyd went into the forest, away from his planned destination. The werewolf mind had taken him over for the night, and returning to town was not on the agenda.

Ears and Tail

As he lay on his bed, Judai Yuki was confused. He'd won a card game today, but in a strange manner.

"I've never seen that card before... And it's not in my deck at all."

He'd spent the last hour double, treble, quadruple-checking. The card that had won him the result was nowhere. And as far as he knew, no one else had ever seen it. His opponent seemed just as surprised.

"Kitsune Spirit... No one's ever heard of it at all."

He remembered it very well. The card had proclaimed it would give victory to the worthy, and mark them in the ranks of the Kitsune's followers forevermore.

He was starting to think maybe something strange was going on... Maybe if he went to sleep...

***

He knew it was a dream, but it was strange. A fox, just sitting there. And he felt his head tingle and his back too.

"What is this place?" He asked.

"My realm, of course. You're one of my followers." The fox said.

Judai nodded.

"I suppose I am."

The fox stood up.

"Of course, you're not one of my more dedicated followers yet. You're still in that stage where you question things, wondering if it's real. It won't last too long, but sometimes my followers get reluctant to go past that first step of being marked."

A human shape appeared behind the fox, an ethereal young woman. She looked perfectly normal, in jeans and a plain red t-shirt, bar the two vulpine ears on her head, and the orange-red bushy tail swishing around behind her.

"Those are the first gifts. Beyond that, the changes are sensory and mental. Some people seem to be strangely opposed to a better sense of smell or hearing, and very strangely against the idea of having a foxes cunning. Still, for one like you that may be of value."

Judai nodded again. The fox thought he understood, so he humoured it.

"And beyond that, well, you get more gifts. More control over the visibility of your mark, for example. Ability to extend the mark. Not everyone really listens when I explain the first time. I can tell you don't understand, but it's best I be certain every visit here is the same for you until you want the changes to go ahead."

The fox sighed.

"From the look of it, we're out of time, and I'm barely started to convincing you. Take care, my follower."

***

"What a weird dream..." he muttered, rising from bed.

He felt something swishing behind him. Maybe the covers were caught? No, they were still there. He walked away, wondering if he imagined that feeling. In the bathroom, he looked in the mirror.

He kept looking.

He reached up, and felt the feeling of fingers on fine fur before the new ear twitched, even at his own touch.

He had fox ears.

"Then the swishing..." he said to himself, in slight shock.

He turned around and looked down.

His tail wagged, a mind of its own.

He looked back at the mirror.

"...How do I explain this to people?" He asked his reflection. The fox ears began twitching slightly, out of his control.

Digiman

Taiki Kodou had been standing in a wooded area of the Digital World moments ago, but now, he was in a desert lying on his back.

'How did I get here?" He pondered. Where was Shoutmon, for that matter?

A possible source of an answer arrived, as four human shapes in black bodysuits and masks like gas masks landed from the sky, surrounding him. One of them stood in front of him.

"Where did you come from?" It asked,  sounding wary.

"Uh, I don't know. Where am I just now?"

The figure nodded. If it had a face, Taiki suspected it would have smiled.

"You are in what is to you, a parallel world." The figure spoke, and then paused to stare at him.

"Oh, so I'm somewhere else in the Digital World now..."

The four figure seemed to tense up, then shudder. The one who spoke, talked again.

"We have been disconnected from the Greater Network! You are not from our world!"

Taiki was confused.

"You are from another Digital World!" The speaking figure hissed.

"I don't understand..." he began, only for the four figures to tense up as if about to attack.

"Of course you do! You know why you were summoned here."

"I don't! I was in the woods five minutes ago!"

The one that spoke seemed to shift a little, and Taiki had the impression he... she... it, was grinning.

"Then perhaps those accursed guardian spirits have not got to you yet... We shall explain before we delete you."

Taiki did not like the sound of that one bit, but running wasn't an option.

"We are what you humans and the other Digital lifeforms here would call a virus. We have grown and absorbed much of this Digital World. The guardian spirits have tried, and failed, to summon new Digidestined to halt us. So far, we have defeated hundreds of such groups, and have absorbed three thousand and sixteen Digidestined groups with little resistance. We have acted quickly to clean wounds in our world, and we have begun plans to attack the source of our troubles. The Real World."

"You guys used to be human?!"

The Talking One laughed.

"We will be what it means to be human once we have taken the real world and made it perfect. Humans and other Digimon express individuality, which leads to conflict. We are united as one, all a part of the Greater Network."

"But you said you were disconnected..."

"And that is why you must die. People like you have fallen through to our world, and have undermined our rule. They seem undefeatable, but you seem weak. We will delete you, and then we shall reconnect to the Greater Network."

Running seemed a good idea now, but as he tried to stand, he found he was paralysed.

"What the... I can't move!"

The Talking One laughed again.

"That is because we are holding you in place."

"Is that why the other three don't speak?" Taiki found himself asking, also wondering why as he was in mortal peril from these black-suited gas mask weirdos he was asking stupid questions.

"No. We are as one. We have one voice. What logic is there in speaking through more than one mouth?"

The Talking One moved towards him, producing a short knife from nowhere, it seemed. If he wasn't already immobile, Taiki would have frozen up.

At that point, a circle of light appeared around him. The Talking One flinched and jerked away.

"What is this? A trap?"

Talking One seemed to be paralysed, as Taiki found himself standing up and... and floating off the ground.

"I don't think I'm going to like this..." He muttered.

He was right. He felt warmth, as his clothing glowed, and then began to spread all across his body. It was like all his clothing had become liquid metal, as a couple of warm blobs of it flowed up his head. He squirmed and struggled, but the spreading molten clothing was coating him from the neck down. The only unmelted part was his goggles... And now the two blobs were over his ears, and forming into something.

Taiki then felt the warmth fade, as the molten parts shifted and then rapidly cooled. He then found himself dropping to earth, but stayed upright.

Then he looked down.

"What...."

His clothing had become an almost skintight red bodysuit, with some white gloves with black fingers, a white abdomen, and white boots. Two green shoulder pads jutted out beside his head slighly, while the two blobs that had been on his ears had become headphones.

"What just happened to me?" He asked.

Talking One hissed.

"You are one of them! You must be deleted!"

And then the black-clad figure lunged at Taiki. The other three were moving as well, but Taiki found himself somehow leaping out of the way. He suppressed a snicker as the four, supposedly as one, slammed into... themself?

They seemed to act individually as they stood, two of them charging him again, producing small knives themselves. Taiki decided to get rid of them for now, then run...

He dodged their swings, and chopped each of them in the back of the neck. He was surprised to see his hand glow as he struck them.

'What the heck was that?'

'That is the power we have granted you, Shoutman.'

Taiki froze as the two virus-infected figures collapsed.

"Oh great. Now I'm hearing things."

'We are not figments of your imagination. We are the Guardian Spirits of this Digital World.'

Talking One stood and spoke, and Taiki found himself zoning whatever the vocal figure in black was saying as the self-professed Spirits spoke.

"Okay, if I'm not imagining you, what do I do here?" Taiki asked. First things first.

'Use your Purification Fists. Observe the two others you have disinfected.'

Taiki looked at the two collapsed figures. One was a boy about his age with brown hair, and now wearing a blue jacket and grey cargo pants. The other was a girl, in a red shirt and blue jeans, with blue-dyed hair.  Both wore single-colour rectangular shapes with buttons and a small screen on their belts. Taiki presumed that was their equivalent of the X-Loader...

The other two were charging him. He punched Talking One, and kicked at the other. Both of them collapsed, and began to glow. The other ones suit glowed white and seemed to melt down into a pair of khaki shorts and a light brown jacket worn by a boy with black hair, slightly older looking than Taiki, while Talking One... turned out to be a ponytailed brunette girl wearing black knee length bike shorts and a blue and white t-shirt.

"Um... What now?"

The four unconscious freed humans glowed, and then vanished, to Taiki's shock.

"What happened to them?!"

The strange voice in his head spoke once more.
'You have sent them home, Shoutman. They are safe. But for now, I am sure you have questions.'

Taiki growled. He was feeling annoyed at all this. Strange world, strange virus infected gasmask zombie people, strange melting clothes, strange bodysuits, strange voices..."

"Why am I here? Why did my clothes change? What are you and why do you keep calling me Shoutmon?!"

The voice seemed to chuckle. It reminded Taiki of Talking One's laugh, but in his head, and not muffled by a gas mask.

'You are here because we have been forced to use the powers of parallel worlds to summon and modify Digidestined from other realities. We have copied the traits of your partner Digimon in determining your appearance and ultimate powers, and this is why your clothing has changed. It has become your suit of Digi-Powered Armour. It will protect and empower you to disinfect this Digital World. As for your name, we have named you Shoutman. This is because you are a normal human, but merged with the power of your Digimon that we copied. Hence, you are a half-Digimon of sorts, and thus Shout-Man'

Taiki sighed. Maybe he should have asked the questions one at a time.

"So... I've been dragged off to another Digital World. Am I on my own here?"

'No, there are others.'

"Where are they?"

'We shall take you to them...'

"Okay... Wait. You never explained who you were!"

The voice paused.

'In essence, we are the mirror image of the virus. We are an anti-virus, of sorts, and we have found that only by emulating their abilities can we truly defeat them.  In essence, they are the virus, and now, you are a counter-virus. It is your job, along with the others, to quarantine all the viruses. Then we can send you all back to your own worlds.'

Taiki sighed. Maybe if there really were others they'd have had more time to figure this out. Right now, he was confused, still a little spooked, and he just wasn't paying much attention as  the voices spoke again.

'We will bring you to our base now to meet your fellow counter-viruses. Do not be alarmed, the teleportation code will leave you blinded for a few seconds....'

Another bright beam shot out of nowhere at him, and once the promised few seconds of blinding light passed, Taiki found himself in a steel room, facing a number of people wearing suits like his, but in many different colours.

"Great... Another idiot with goggles..." Someone, sounding like a girl, muttered. Taiki noted that at least three of the others in the room glared at a red-haired girl at this. But he was meeting new people. He had to try and make an impression on them.

"Uh... Hi." He said.

The others in the room did not seem all that impressed by the greeting.

"Hey, Guardian Voice People... I have another question."

'Ask away, Shoutman.'

Taiki glanced over the group of at least twenty others like him, all staring with looks ranging from confused to "Oh no, he is an idiot."  and spoke.

"What the hell have you dragged me into?"