Hey! This is a companion piece to my on-going story A Fading Hope. This will not make a whole lot of sense unless you read up to chapter six of said story, but feel free to reads it as a stand alone anyway- what you should know: Devimon is back and Izzy's been captured.

Welcome to anyone knew, Hey to all my long time readers. I know you'd probably rather have the next chapter of A Fading Hope but here is some Izzy to tide you over.

Chapter one: Alone

Izzy woke in utter darkness. If not for the sensation of closing his eyes and opening them again, and the throbbing pain in his shoulder, he could have believed he was still unconscious.

Flashes of what happened ran through his mind like bits of tattered film through one of the school's old projectors.

He had been reading the Old Code, trying to translate- something- a prophecy- The Prophecy.

It was about Devimon, and someone called the Smallest. One of his friends.

He hadn't gotten all of it- it had been too complex. Long. But it had been coming together when-

Someone- Unimon?- had shouted his name.

Tentomon digivolved- hadn't he?

Something had exploded.

He'd passed out.

Frustratingly, that was all he could remember. He guessed by the fact that he wasn't stiff- not too stiff anyway- and that he wasn't hungry or thirsty that he'd only been out a few hours at most. It couldn't be too much since dawn- two or three hours at most.

That meant around eight o clock, maybe nine.

That meant that the others would be getting ready for school, or were already there.

And that meant no help was coming anytime soon. Probably.

Most likely they don't know Sora and I are in danger yet. Sora. Oh, crap.

Suddenly everything his logical mind had been screaming at him since he regained consciousness fit together. It was probably a good thing he was still sitting down in the dark corner of- of wherever he was- because his legs went weak.

He'd been captured. By Devimon, probably. Crap.

"Tentomon?" his voice was flat, and echoed slightly. A cave, he was in a cave, likely on Infinity mountain because even though Izzy didn't read fantasy novels like Kari or T.K. or watch action movies like Matt or Tai (Or Joe, surprisingly) he knew that it was always evil villains in evil caves on evil mountains.

There was no response. "Tentomon!" he shouted. "Sora? Biyomon?"

Nothing.

That scared Izzy more than being captured. He was alone, if it was because his friends- his friends!- where being held elsewhere, or because they were- were-

Maybe they escaped. Maybe they got away.

He didn't know.

He would hold on to that hope.

Izzy stood, bracing himself against the cold, stone wall. OK. He was in a cave, in the dark, with no allies or- a quick check told him he didn't have his digivice.

He was a sitting duck. Devimon could come in right now, and-

The room was triangular, ten paces long on two sides and thirteen on the last, he counted involuntarily as he paced his prison. It was easier to think about trivial things like that then what might happen next.

Izzy hated not knowing what was to come, but part of his mind argued that in this case, maybe it was better not to know. The other half argued that it was easier to plan if one knew what was coming, and the first half began to panic about - what plan? What can I do? With no one there, against Devimon?

Izzy began to count again to drown out his own logic.

He remembered something from what seemed like lifetimes ago, before his world had revolved around anything but grades, computers, and school.

He'd feared the dark as a child, and still did, although less so. Now, sitting in the dark, waiting, alone, his shoulder throbbing- he feared the dark again.

Feel the fear till the count of ten.

It had been his mother- who had taught him the rhyme and the way to overcome.

Then count once more to feel brave again.

One. two. three.

He wished his mother was there to hold him like he hadn't needed since fighting Myotismon. But, no, he didn't because that would mean she would be trapped, too, and Izzy did not want that.

So he summoned her words and counted, slowly, allowing his fear to fill him- four, five, six seven eightnineten- and then trying to force it away with Light- tennine eightseven six. five, four, his friends would come for him. Three. Always. Two.

Tentomon would find him.

One.

His fear faded, but only a , he was nothing if not logical. His friends might not make it in time, in time for what he would not let himself think.

The Prophecy. He could think about that. His friends had to know about it, even if he didn't have the details, had to know that only one of them could defeat devimon.

"Cody, Kari, T.K." he said aloud, faces swimming in the shadow before him. "One of them. T.K. beat him before. Might again? But he didn't stay dead. Cody's little, the youngest currently. The smallest. Could be." Though he liked the sound of his own voice in the darkness, pretending he was speaking to someone else, he did not want Devimon to hear. Shadows still filled the room, and Izzy could only tell his own hand as a lighter bit of darkness.

But what if it means Digimon? That might be it. Gatomon's the smallest champion. That argues Kari. She was the Eighth Child. She's shorter than T.K. But Patamon's the smallest rookie. No, Salmon is. Still, Cody's the newest. Why not come out before now? Why now?"

Thinking alone, strangely, seemed to dull his fear, as he tried to sort out his thoughts, not thinking of anything but the problem, not his own situation. It had always been that way, easier to solve something that wasn't about him than to face things so close.

Perhaps that was why he had thrown himself into school and projects when he'd learned the truth about his past, his parents. It was easier to think if you ignored the fears and hurts. But they were still there.

"Why now?" he said again, this time out loud.

This time, a voice answered.

"I am strong enough."

Some pale light shone through a gap in the wall, where what Izzy could see now were two large gears rotated, blocking the entrance. Dimly glowing with what looked like black fire was Devimon.

Izzy stepped backwards, reaching out to the wall.

He might have been less afraid but he wasn't stupid, after all.

"I am not going to kill you, Human Boy."

Izzy's eyes widened. His mother's voice echoed- count once more to feel brave again. And he counted down before asking, his voice shaking only a little.

"What do you want with me?"

"You are bait." Devimon said, as if this was unimportant. "I have watched, through the centuries, through the eons when there were no digidestined in My world and then the last years when you returned. I was not defeated, as you seem have already surmised. I was merely stuck between the worlds of data and this world, My world. I know your habits, your methods of attack, your weaknesses. All of them."

It was too dark to see but Izzy Knew that Devimon was smiling there, showing fangs that Izzy remembered all too well.

Izzy's mind raced. That was not all of it. It didn't fit. Devimon had not been this clever - or had he? He'd separated them, before, and now again.

"Where's Tentomon?"

Devimon did not reply.

"Where's Sora?"

Pause.

"Somewhere close by."

He's lying, Izzy could tell. He's lying, Sora was not there, she got away. She got away, she got away! his mind sang it.

Devimon turned, shadow on shadow, still lit by his ghostly light.

"There was one other thing."

Izzy, still pressed against the wall, went still.

"I will not stop with just this world. Others have tried and failed, but I will conquer your world as well. And you are going to help me."

"No." Izzy said without even thinking. "No, I'm not. I won't, and none of my friends will either."

"Not even to save your lives? Interesting. I do not believe I offered you a choice."

A spot of light appeared and in it a dark ring. Devimon, Izzy remembered, was a master of illusions.

"These delightful devices are the key to my victory, along with my Gears. I have the program almost completed, and when I do, you, human, will be the first test. I have to see if they will work." The ring and the light and the ghostly black fire vanished as Devimon melted into the shadows, leaving Izzy alone in the pitch darkness.

Crap.

The others are coming, they'll be here. He won't win.

But Devimon was stronger now, they'd all agreed, and all it would take would be a few black Gears and their own digimon might turn on them, and the prophecy was so dark- he tried to remember if it said that they would or if they only could win, and found that he didn't remember.

Izzy raised one hand to his shoulder and rubbed it absently as he thought and thought and thought, trying to come up with a way out.

At last he sank onto the ground, in his corner. He had faced death before in the Digital world, but never like this. He'd always - always- had Tentomon, been able to fight.

He could not fight Devimon alone. He was helpless.

As he sat and tried to think about anything but his predicament, he remembered promising his mother he'd be safe. Think about something else.

He was scared, really scared, and shaking not just from the cold that seeped through his clothes from the stone walls and floor.

He remembered something else, from back during his first adventure in the digital world, when Kari had joined them and had nightmares every night- Tai had told her a story.

Izzy knew the story too, they'd been in the same third grade class, though Tai had never really spoken to him before Camp. It was Indian. He didn't remember the words the teacher had used, he'd been working on a computer program more than listening.

But he remembered the Magic circle, that protected the Princess until she left it.

Magic wasn't real, Izzy knew that. It was just a story, a myth, nonsense.

All the same, he felt his fingers tracing a lopsided circle around him, then settled back to try and stop thinking about what would come next.

He was exhausted, but before sleep claimed him in the darkness, he thought he saw a flicker of light, dark purple flecked with white.

Hallucination.

In his head he heard a voice, soft and musical.

Be brave, Wise Child. They come. They are on their Path.

In the darkness, Izzy smiled faintly, then fell into dreamless sleep.

I missed writing Izzy. Anyway, the next chapter of A Fading Hope will be up in a week, the second chapter of this up the following week.

See you then!

Hedgi