(Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Digimon besides OC Characters and Digimon that are a result of my own mind.)

When Is a Hazard a Friend?

Chapter 1: When It Haunts You.

Shinjuku Gyoen
Takato Matsuki, aged sixteen, stood in the massive park that was Shinjuku Gyoen, his fists clenched tightly by his sides. His nails dug into his palms and small rivers of blood trickled from between his fingers. The pain was worse than you would think, but he still didn't feel it, his rage was too powerful for him to feel anything else. Black smoke billowed from his body and defied the harsh wind that was blowing in the goggled teens' face. His usually brown eyes were now deep and crimson, devoid of anything expect for hatred and rage.

And perhaps the creepiest part of what was happening to Takato, was the agonising scream that he let out from the darkest pit of his throat. His voice was just as deep as his eyes and the people around him stood stock still, paralysed in absolute fear. Even his friends.

If the sight of Takato wasn't bad enough, the little red saurian that was his partner, Guilmon, began to glow in a dark light. His body twisted and limbs were broken with sickening crunches and moved around. He grew to an immense height, towering to the size of most of the skyscrapers of Shinjuku-ku. He was now a terrifying monster, for the second time in his life, Guilmon had become Megidramon, one of the four great dragon Digimon, and the strongest of them.

His crimson half-dragon, half-serpent body fed off of the pure hatred emanating from Takato, revelling in its taste, the way it made his blood boil pleased him greatly. The symbol of the Hazard on his shoulders and chest began to glow, the one on his chest piece pulsing violently and erratically. Takato could feel himself lifting from the ground, his hair floating around with the wind, but he was too busy screaming away his fury to even care.

The Tamers' hair turned darker and his jumper became black, along with his wristbands. His grey shorts lengthened out and converted into jeans. His trainers went from green and grey to crimson and grey, all within the space of a heartbeat. Megidramon bared his teeth and saliva pooled out of it and fell to the ground, dissolving it with its acidic properties.

Megidramon lashed out with his tail at a few bystanders, slashing them clean into bits, the people didn't even have a chance to scream or say any last words. The serpent-dragon's deadly gaze locked onto a few familiar faces, those of Takato's two closest friends and their Digimon. Rika Nonaka, Henry Wong, Renamon and Terriermon, all plastered in place with fear.

Megidramon snarled viciously and a flame built up in the back of his throat, heating up to a degree that would do more than just burn your skin. "Megiddo Flame!" He stretched his head back and then flung it forwards, sending the flames spewing out like lava from a volcano. The supercharged attack hit Renamon and Terriermon first, deleting them instantly and burning the data so it could never be recovered.

Rika and Henry were next, the flames licked at the fabric of their clothes, and before the clothing had even burnt away fully, their skin melted from their bodies and was destroyed before it hit the ground. Their bones were heated to ashes which were also destroyed in turn, leaving no evidence of their existence on this planet. Megidramon aimed his attack around various spots of the large park and set it ablaze. People ran away screaming if they hadn't done already, but they too were soon burnt away into nothing, much like Rika and Henry had been.

"RARGGGHHH!" Megidramon and Takato screamed in anger fuelled unison. Takato stepped confidently onto Megidramon's head and the two flew off towards West Shinjuku, and the two daunting towers of Hypnos. As he slithered past, Megidramon slashed at the tower closest to him, cutting it clean in half. He turned and watched it fall to the ground, bringing other buildings down with it and wiping more people from existence.

"Hell Howling!" Takato screamed, once again in unison with Megidramon, who let out a roaring pulse that destroyed the other tower of Hypnos. The concrete on the paving below ripped up and debris scattered away uncontrollably. Megidramon and Takato were on a rampage. Takato had finally fallen pressure to his rage and even if he tried to, he wouldn't be able to snap Megidramon away from his lust for destruction. The most destructive force in the entirety of the Digital World had now awoken completely and there was no known opposing force that could stop it, not even Apocalymon or the Digimon Sovereign.

Megidramon had already devastated Shinjuku Gyoen and Shinjuku-Nichome and was now intent on levelling Takadanobaba to smouldering ashes. The only thing going through Megidramon's mind were pictures of Beelzemon; and as those pictures became clearer and more detailed, his frustration became more evident as the dragon thrashed around wildly, lashing out at whatever was close enough for his tail or arms to destroy. Takato somehow managed to stay sure footed on the monsters' head, not even seeming to lose his footing any time soon.

Megidramon spotted Kazu, Kenta, Guardromon and MarineAngemon trying to escape on Guardromon's back, so Megidramon struck at Guardromon with his tail and crushed MarineAngemon in his claws, deleting them and letting Kazu and Kenta fall to their doom with an abrupt splat on the road far below. Justimon lept in from a nearby building to challenge Megidramon and Takato face to face, but Megidramon stamped him from existence with a lightning fast chomp of his powerful jaws.

Another building was destroyed, it's base caved in and the large skyscraper toppled over, right on top of a crying Suzie Wong who had been trying to hide with Lopmon, both were killed on impact and expunged from the world that Megidramon seemed so committed to ending. Another large complex building was about to be destroyed when something impacted on Megidramon's back, right between his shoulder blades. It didn't harm him in the slightest, but it was enough to make him turn and face the culprit who had dare try to stop him from completing what he was intended to do.

The large purple feathered wings flapped defiantly in the sky, a midnight black gun smoking from the barrel. Blonde hair ruffled from the wind and the bikers' getup showed a light of recognition shine in Megidramon and Takato's eyes. It was Beelzemon in his Blast Mode form. Beelzemon flew towards Megidramon, intent on defeating him once again to save the small areas of Shinjuku-ku that still remained. His gun charged with demonic purple energy as Megidramon charged up flames at the back of his throat, both opponents ready to unleash their most devastating attacks.

Takato shot up to a sitting position, his blankets falling down into his lap heavily. His breathing was erratic and a cold sweat dripped from his hair, cascading around his features and soaking in with either his pyjamas or his blanket. The teen shuddered involuntarily, he felt so cold. The same horrific dream had occurred for the past two nights, three now. He had succumbed to a blind rage and destroyed the place he called home, murdered his friends mercilessly. All alongside the one thing that he both hated and was utterly afraid of.

Megidramon.

But deep down he didn't want to hate Megidramon, he was Guilmon after all. But at the same time, he wasn't. Megidramon was pure evil in Takato's eyes and Guilmon was just too innocent to do anything like what occurred in his nightmare. At least not without Takato corrupting him. Ever since the initial Megidramon incident when Leomon was murdered by Beelzemon, Takato had been afraid of turning Guilmon into that… that thing again.

Takato quaked again and let out a low groan, this time he woke up the little red saurian beside his bead. "What's the matter, Takato?" Guilmon asked groggily, sensing something wasn't right through the bond he shared with his Tamer.

"Just that dream again, boy." Takato looked from his sheets and into Guilmon's golden eyes. "Don't worry about me; it's just a dream, okay?" Takato smiled reassuringly at Guilmon and it seemed to be enough of an explanation for the little dinosaur in his tired state, he just let his head hit the floor, his ears drooping down over his eyes.

"Dreams aren't real." Takato mumbled quietly to himself as he laid back down, pulling his blanket back over his chest. But the statement was too late said, a seed of doubt had just been planted in his consciousness and it seemed to have sufficient nutrients to sprout into full blown worry.

'But that dream where Renamon had fought Lynxmon I had was real.' Takato thought, the night before he had gotten Guilmon, he had dreamt of Renamon fighting and deleting a Lynxmon, Rika was there and Takato had never even laid eyes on or heard of her before. So what was to stop this dream from happening? Who's to say it wouldn't be tomorrow or the day after?

The dream was continually haunting Takato's mind. He became distracted even more than usual when it pushed its way to the forefront of his mind, causing him to screw up peoples orders in the bakery or trip over and fall face first in public, not that he wasn't already used to the latter due to his clumsiness. He was just glad that it was the holidays and it wouldn't affect his schooling any time soon.

Takato couldn't bring himself to sleep anymore that night, every time he was at the brink of sleeping he would snap his eyes wide and begin to fret once again. 'Maybe if I told someone about it?' He mused to himself. It didn't seem like a bad idea and it might even lift away the nightmare from his thoughts, finally giving him the sleep he so desperately needed. But who would he tell?

'Definitely not Jeri, I don't want her to remember the pain of losing Leomon. I know Henry might have some thoughts, maybe even Rika would. Yeah… Henry and Rika.' As he repeated their names in his mind, the image of their bodies burning up under Megidramon's 'Megiddo Flame' made itself known in his mind and he rolled onto his side and squeezed his pillow over his ear, trying to ignore the thought as he finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

Shinjuku Central Park
"Takato is never this late." Henry Wong stood at the top of the stairs that led up to a utilitarian shack that used to be Guilmon's home and also the location of a portal to the Digital World, but after the Digimon had returned, Yamaki, the head of Hypnos, had the hole concreted in once more.

Takato was famous for being late almost everywhere he went, but usually he was never off by more than a few minutes. But Henry, Rika, Kazu, Kenta and their partners had been here for well over two hours now, and Takato always managed to turn up before Kazu and Kenta did.

"Pfft, probably tripped over and can't get back up." Rika mocked, having walked up to stand beside the half-Chinese, half-Japanese Tamer.

"Even so," Henry began, ignoring the comment for the most part, "he would've sent Guilmon ahead to tell us if he wasn't coming." Henry pulled out his green trimmed Digivice an scrolled through its screens via the keypad.

"If there were a Digimon around to have distracted Takato then Terriermon and I would've noticed it." Renamon's voice seemed to come from above; Henry glanced up and noticed she was sitting comfortably in a small fork between two branches high up in the tree. Terriermon was hanging from a low branch by his ears, a happy glint in his eyes.

Terriermon dropped down from the tree and jumped down three steps and sniffed the air, his eyes closed as he focused. "I smell Guilmon. Well, I smell his breath actually." He stated, turning to Henry and smiling widely. Rika folded her arms and looked up at Renamon who in turn, gave an almost imperceptible nod to signal to her Tamer that she had sensed him too.

Sure enough, about a minute or two after Terriermon had mentioned him, Guilmon trudged around the corner, carrying a sleepy Takato on his back with relative ease. "Takato fell asleep on the way." He grunted, setting his Tamer down carefully against a tree in a sitting position after he had climbed the stairs.

"Takato…" Henry called softly, trying to wake his best friend from his slumber. "Taka-to…" He called once more, stretching out the syllables in the unofficial leaders' name to see if it helped any.

Rika sighed in exasperation and clapped, rather loudly, in front of Takato's face. The goggled Tamer lurched forwards and yelped slightly, as if he were a dog that had just had its tail trodden on. "That's how you wake him up." Rika muttered.

"How would you know that?" Terriermon cast an innocent glance at Rika, hoping she would understand the subtle joke he had made. It seemed that she hadn't picked up on it at first but when one gloved arm grabbed Terriermon around the mouth and hoisted him up into the tops of the tree, muffling him from speaking anymore, he knew she had.

"You brought that upon yourself!" Henry called out to Terriermon. "Now, Guilmon says you fell asleep on the way here? What's up with that?" Henry inquired, not letting Takato off the hook easily.

Takato wearily glanced over to Kazu and Kenta who were playing the card game just inside the doorway of the old shed, their partners calling out encouragement to them. He took his time to stand up and beckoned Henry and Rika a little ways into the trees, away from where Kazu and Kenta would be within earshot. Not that they'd hear over their concentration anyways. Renamon followed through the tops of the trees, still holding Terriermon in her grasp. Guilmon just fell in line beside Takato.

After he had judged they were far enough in the trees, Takato turned and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to figure out where to start. "Well, I've been having this dream for the past three nights and..." Takato went into the full detailed explanation of what had happened in his dream, from when he started to radiate hatred, right up to the point where Beelzemon's and Megidramon's attacks collided and he woke up. When Takato had mentioned the way his two friends had died, Rika flinched; she seemed more affected by that then Henry was, the blue haired boy was too into trying to hear all the details. However, he lost focus for a few seconds after he had heard what happened to his sister in Takato's dream, but composed himself and kept listening.

"And I feel like it might come true, like that one about Rika." Takato finished. His eyes widened as what he had just said registered in his mind. Henry saw the apologetic look on Takato's face and the dagger shooting glare on Rika's and assumed Takato had said something that he wasn't supposed to.

'He'll probably let it slip again later anyways.'

Henry surmised, resisting the urge to ask about it. "So you think that this dream may be some sort of…" Henry trailed off, searching for the right word to use.

"Well yeah, maybe." Takato yawned, before Henry could find the word.

"Maybe those goggles are on a little too tight? Loosen them when you sleep, idiot." Rika suggested with a playful smirk on her lips.

"Very funny," Takato laughed sarcastically, "I don't wear my goggles to bed." He finished. Rika just shrugged, she knew that it would take her a little longer than Henry to come up with something that could help so she wasn't going to rush herself.

"Maybe you still feel guilty about trying to kill Beelzemon, and that's your mind giving you something traumatic to snap you out of it?" Guilmon asked, Henry stared blankly at the little saurian, not having a single clue as to what the statement meant, maybe if he had known how to word it a little better it would've made more sense.

Terriermon fell out of a nearby tree and landed on the ground with a thud. He groaned as he shakily got to his feet and coughed up a few leaves. Renamon landed gracefully and quietly next to him, an almost unnoticeable smile on her face. She took a few steps forwards to get closer to the Tamers.

Henry had his hand on his chin in thought, Takato sure did have a problem on his mind, literally. He tried to think of an explanation but so far, nothing useful came to mind. Renamon knelt down next to Rika and stared intently at Guilmon's chest. "What about that?" She probed, nodding towards the Hazard symbol.

"What about it?" Takato repeated, not sure of what she meant exactly.

"When Guilmon first Digivolved into Megidramon, that symbol started to flash and almost destroyed the whole Digital World." Renamon stated, Takato nodded slowly, waiting for her to continue. Even Henry gave her an interested glance. "You said in your dream that the same symbol was flashing again and that he was drawing power from you, right into that symbol." Henry nodded in acceptance of Renamon's theory. He had overlooked that small detail and now that it had been pointed out it seemed plausible.

"I think that Takatomon needs a little sleep." Terriermon jibed innocently, trying to conceal his giggle with one large ear.

"What even was that stupid thing called anyways?" Rika asked, she had to admit that she was just a little afraid of the power the Guilmon had as Megidramon, but much like Takato before, she begun an internal debate on whether Megidramon was actually Guilmon, or something entirely different. He seemed so malevolent, and the little saurian was so pleasant.

"It's called the Digital Hazard." Henry stated. "Here, Lucemon: Falldown Mode has the symbol on the backs of his palms, but I don't think he's as strong as Megidramon though." Henry reached into his card deck, strapped to his belt, and flicked through it until he pulled out his Lucemon: Falldown Mode card. Takato took it and looked over the black and white dressed fallen angel Digimon and sure enough, he spotted the two symbols on the backs of his palms, or rather his gloves.

"So you think that the Hazard has something to do with it?" Rika asked her Digimon, Renamon nodded and cast her gaze back to the symbol on Guilmon's chest.

'How can one little symbol be a representation of such power?' She wondered to herself, she made sure to block her mind out so that her mental bond with Rika wouldn't let the redhead hear her voice in her own mind.

"Maybe…" Henry began, but cut himself off with a quick shake of his head. "No, don't worry." He took his card back from Takato and placed it back in his deck, he only barely noticed the curious glances everyone was giving him and realised that he shouldn't have opened his mouth. 'Now I know how Takato feels.' He mused.

"What?" Takato wondered, hoping Henry would answer but the blue haired teen just shook his head again.

"Henry," Rika said sternly, drawing his attention almost instantly.

"Alright," Henry sighed in a defeated tone, "I was thinking, that since the Hazard is a product of the Digital World that represents a massive amount of power, then maybe the Sovereign Digimon might know something about it." Henry explained. Takato seemed to agree but Rika was just shaking her head.

"I disagree," She spoke up and Henry frowned, "think about it. Not a single one of those Sovereign have the Hazard on them, they may not have a clue about what exactly it does." She pointed out, letting her words sink in a little bit more. "You'd need a Digimon that has the Hazard as well."

"You surely aren't suggesting Lucemon!" Henry exclaimed, "He is literally the leader of the Demon Lord Digimon! The lowest level yet still the strongest of one of the most powerful groups of Digimon." Terriermon sniggered after Henry had finished.

"Don't let Beelzemon hear you say that!" He giggled.

"It's still a good idea Henry." Takato had agreed with Rika the moment he took some time to think about it, if you want to learn about the Hazard, why not go to a Digimon who has it other than Guilmon?

"I'm not saying it's not a good idea," Henry clarified with a sigh, "just that it would be a helluva lot more dangerous than seeing the Digimon Sovereign. What if he doesn't care and just attacks Guilmon for his data?" Takato looked down at the grass beneath his feet, both his friends raised good points and he wasn't sure which one to side with more. Not that he particularly liked having to choose between them.

"What about someone closer to home?" He suggested through a yawn, an idea having materialised itself in his head.

"What do you mean?" Renamon asked, raising one eyebrow in contemplation, she was interested to know who Takato had known about that she hadn't thought of.

"Well there's Shibumi." Takato suggested and Henry seemed to light up.

"That is an even safer option!" He agreed. "And anyways, how would we even get back to the Digital World, let alone home again." Henry added as an afterthought, remembering the hole with the portal had been blocked up after the Parisimon invasion had been dealt with by Gallantmon: Crimson Mode.

"So how about tomorrow we go and see Shibumi?" Rika suggested impatiently, not really in the mood to walk any further than necessary today.

"Henry? Rika?" A voice called out from back where the three Tamers had been an hour beforehand. The voice belonged to Kazu, he had just thrashed Kenta in the card game for the third time that morning when he had looked up and noticed that his friends were nowhere to be found.

"Where are you guys?" Kenta added.

"Alright, we'll meet at Hypnos tomorrow. Yamaki should know where Shibumi is. Nine o'clock sharp." Henry stated, walking out of the trees after Rika and Renamon.

"Don't be late, sleepyhead!" Terriermon chuckled as he ran out of the trees, his stumpy legs making him slower than everyone else.

"With any luck I'll be able to sleep tonight." Takato sighed to Guilmon, the little saurian nudged his arm in support and the duo ambled out a little behind the others.

End of Chapter.

So I decided to write this fic for two reasons.

1) I haven't read too many fics that are mainly based on the Digital Hazard, only have brief story arcs that involve it. The ones I have read though were really good and they inspired me to write my own.

2) The only other fic I'm really working on right now is my main series 'Life as a Tamer' and another one that I've recently begun called 'Digimon: Takato's Adventure 01' but the latter is based off the first season and so I really only need to watch the episodes and change them to add my own twists, so I can basically do that one at any random time when watching Adventure 01. So I figured writing this would be a nice change of pace.

I do intend this fic to be a little more graphic, if possible, as you would've guessed from the first part of the fic. So it'll be rated either T or M considering there may be light swearing, sexual references (they are sixteen after all), death etc. This will have hints of Rukato in it and I may make the Rukato moments stronger as it progresses.

I have amazing things planned for this.

Heh, I should learn to clarify things in fewer words, look at me drabbling on! Enjoy the rest of the fic as I write it! I'll try not to take too long between updates!

-DW96

Next time on 'When Is a Hazard a Friend?'

-"How does he get himself into these situations?"-

-"No, the damned fairy in the woods. Of course him!"-

-"No one has seen him in months and Impmon is away with Ai and Mako's family."-

-"It would be a no, Henry."-