What if, after a fight, your girlfriend began acting weird? Angrier, more violent? As her personality begins to shift for the worse, you begin to wonder. Is it your words, or... is there something else at work here? Next time, on Digimon Ghost Game: I Still See You Arc! Exhaust Fumes!

Today marked the end of yet another long and tiring patrol of 15 hours. To say Clockmon was tired would be the understatement of his entire life. While he did enjoy helping other Digimon and humans once in a while, which was supported by Aegiochusmon, his girlfriend, the burnout was slowly permeating into his soul. It didn't help that Aegiochusmon would make it go on and on with the insistence that "one more can't hurt!" He loved her, he genuinely did. But today just happened to be a bad day.

Aegiochusmon was the opposite, though. She had a skip to her steps, and a grin was clear on her face. Oh, how much fun today was going to be! After months of working tirelessly, it was finally ready! She just had to surprise Time Stopper with her surprise. Barely managed to make it back in time for patrol, but it was going to be worth it! She couldn't wait to see his face when he saw it!

As they drew closer to the venue, she turned back and grinned. "Hey Time Stopper, mind if we go around for a little while longer? Pleaaaaaase? Just one more?"

Now, normally, Clockmon would agree to it. He loved spending time with Aegiochusmon, and he wanted to ensure the safety of the humans he had once nearly hurt.

Today was anything but, and it would soon be proven as he groaned, "Ugh, no way! I'm exhausted, Aegis! This has been happening way too often! You make me do these patrols all the time! Detours and stuff! Not all of us have unlimited stamina, you know?!"

"Bu-"

There was a but to all this?! "Maybe consider how others feel once in a while, you know?! I took up this post to help others and enjoy myself. Sure, I do take it seriously but this is too much! Can you not push everyone to your standards?! Like, it's not easy to always be able to stand toe to toe with you! It drains people! UGH! I'M SO TIRED! IF YOU WANT TO DO THIS SO BADLY, YOU CAN DO IT ON YOUR OWN! SEE IF I CARE!"

Her eyes widened. "T-Time Stopper...?"

He rubbed his temple, averting his gaze to avoid feeling worse than he did and making the situation worse with more shouting. "I'm going to be resting. Just... just this once, Aegis."

"... O-Okay..." she looked down. She hadn't meant to make him feel that way... right?

But as he jumped off, Aegiochusmon headed for a certain location, her heart heavy. She had just wanted... she had just wanted to surprise him. Was that wrong?...

She landed in front of a small store, secluded from human eyes. Taking out her key, she inserted and twisted it clockwise. The sound of a satisfying click allowed her to open the door and turn on the lights.

The room illuminated by her actions was simple. Clocks of all sorts and types were here and there. Some were broken, waiting for loving hands to fix them. Hands she was confident her Time Stopper had. She was sure he would be able to bring them back to life if given the chance. That was what led to all this, after all. To the constant moving around at night. Her lack of sleep. 

But... His words... Had she truly hurt him...?

"He... forgot what today was, huh?" she chuckled sadly. Their eight-month anniversary... He had forgotten all about it. Did it not matter to him, or... or had she pushed him to that brink?

She groaned as she rubbed her temple. She didn't know what to do when it came to emotions! It was so complicated! Maybe she should ask Bo-

Ting!!!!

"H-huh?" She blinked, turning over to the source of the noise. She had installed a computer there, hadn't sh-

She screamed the moment sOmEtHiNg latched onto her. gLiTcHiNg data was all that was left of the fast CrEaTuRe as the ThInG took control of her eyes, ears, and heart. Her crystal glowed PuRpLe slightly before fading off to its usual colour. 

What just happened?!

"Ugh!!! What was that?!" She snarled, eyes narrowed angrily. "What the heck!?"

But as she tried to calm down, more recent events flooded her mind, and her anger exploded again. "Why that little...! He can't even bother to remember our anniversary! Ha! What a whiner! He's the one who exhausted himself! And he blames me! Ugh! Whatever then! This city can get swarmed by Digimon for all I care! I'm going home!"

With that, she stormed back to their shared home, slamming the door close in anger. She was so done with him! 

This did not wake the exhausted Clockmon, although he would soon wish he had woken up to it...

The clock man Digimon stretched as he finally got up from bed. Ahh, that felt nice! He hadn't gotten such a nice rest in so long! He needed an actual sleep schedule. Maybe he could talk to Aegis about it after he apologised. She had seemed pretty down and hurt about his words...

He walked out of the room only to stop upon hearing the sounds of... angry button pressing? It was coming from the living room, which made him stiffen as he prepared his mallet. Who was it? An intruder? Yet as he drew closer, he felt confused when he recognised the voice. Aegis?...

"Ugh, stupid thing! Where are my favourite shows?!" 

He frowned, and decided to check in on her, stepping in to see an annoyed and ticked-off Aegiochusmon furiously pressing on the buttons. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously, as if one word could set her off into a tirade. 

"Aegis?..." He spoke up, staring in surprise. What in the world?... "What are you-"

"Ugh, finally, you woke up," she snarked as she rolled her eyes. "What a sleeping beauty."

Okay, that was not normal. Was this because of their fight? "Aegis, I'm so [not] sorry. I was [not] pretty selfish back there. [You pathetic data cluster.]"

If anything, her eyes narrowed even more hearing those bits. "What did you say?" 

He blinked. Huh? What was going on here? "I said I was [pleased that I had said] so sorry for saying all those words. [You deserved them.]"

"Watch your tongue, time thief! What gives you the right to say that?!" she hissed. 

If anything, Clockmon felt his heart crack a bit at those words. Was... Was she THAT mad over his outburst...? She had seemed... much more hurt than angry back then. 

Just... what in the world was going on? 

He would soon find out, though, that it was not just him. Others were being hurt by this. 

One example was when they went to visit Floramon. The flower Digimon was always pretty friendly to the former Wrath underling, so he was surprised when Aegiochusmon nearly turned her into a Digitama for calling her baking projects a "disgusting piece that makes you want to puke" when really, she had said, "a wonderful masterpiece, pretty mouthwatering too."

And as these incidents kept going on for the next few days, Clockmon only grew more worried and anxious. At first, he thought that Betsumon was at fault, but after checking with the doctor and confirming that Betsumon had been behaving, he found himself at an even greater loss here. 

... Was Aegis sick?

It was only a small suspicion. Minuscule compared to the immense guilt he felt. He couldn't help but think, 'This is all my fault. I shouldn't have snapped at her...'

That was until one night. When Aegis stormed past him, he saw her crystal glow PuRpLe, before returning to normal. 

His eyes widened, his footsteps stopping at this sight. What was that?... 

Was she truly sick?

... He had to find out. 

With that in mind, he grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen and inched into the spare bedroom, where Aegiochusmon had been staying for the past few days following her sudden attitude change. Gently cutting some of her hair which he hoped would be enough for the analysis, he tiptoed out of the house. Hopefully, he could find some answers.

In the hospital, Aliana yawned as she stretched, riding on her Abi's shoulder as Carbunmon. Yet another hard day. She was really tired, honestly. She could count the number of times Hiro had come in for the entire week! It was crazy how much of a trouble magnet he was! How did anyone put up with him!? Least of all her sister! Gosh, it was so tiring! 

She sighed, but as if the day decided it wanted to be worse, a loud and all too familiar sound echoed throughout the ground floor. 

Oh GOD, no. It couldn't be...

But when she and Mummymon turned the corner, indeed, it was. 

"UGH! CAN'T YOU USE DOORS FOR ONCE!?" Aliana yelled at a slightly panicked but still able to be sheepish Clockmon who was holding the bag he had used to get the hair. "For crying out loud, the amount of money Ryubo and Ismaya have to pay for EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU DO THIS is ridiculous!" 

Mummymon couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion. He agreed with that sentiment. However, he could also see that the clock man Digimon looked... scared. 

This was enough to make him place a bandaged hand on Aliana's head as he walked forward. "What seems to be the problem, Clockmon?"

"I-It's... Aegis... I think she's... s-sick..." he answered. 

Aliana felt her worry spike, replacing her annoyance a few minutes ago with record time. What? What did he mean, Aegiochusmon was sick?...

"I see. Please, tell me the symptoms," Mummymon said while taking the bag from Clockmon. 

So he did, even drinking some tea, which he NEVER did (he preferred cola, apparently), as he went into detail about her recent behavior.

Mummymon raised an eyebrow and looked at the hair again. As he stared at it, he saw something purple (?) flash through the hair, but it was gone soon enough. 

Fascinating. This was going to be an interesting search... 

"I will examine this hair and get back to you. Please wait outside the laboratory as I do this," he said to the other, who nodded worriedly as he sat down on a chair. 

"Dad, what's happening to Amit?" Aliana asked him once they were inside the lab. She was clearly worried for her closest underling, Aegiochusmon, also affectionately called Amit by the former Wrath Sin Code Digimon.

"That, I do not know, Aliana, but I will find out," he promised her. He knew that Aegiochusmon meant a lot to her, so he was going to do his best.

Little did they know that back at the store, a small, malicious laugh echoed, before the computer shut off, for reasons unknown...

The symptoms get worse, and your girlfriend is showing no signs of healing. You can't help but wonder at one point; is this my fault? Or is there another, darker meaning behind all this? Time is running out, young time thief~ Will you be able to save her from the dark? Or will you fall at her hands? Next time, on Digimon Ghost Game: I Still See You Arc! Winning Evil!

Okay, this took WAY too long! But I hope you liked it! venusaura