Hey everybody! I'm back with the second chapter of the new and improved Tamer of the Hazard!

There's a serious lack of action in this chapter, but the first two are used mainly for character developement.

And, while this story will be following the Digimon Tamers episodes, event will happen a bit differently, and some may not happen at all. The main reason for this is Takato. His personality is drastically different from the pussy in the series(I'm sure I'm not the only one to notice that Takato is the ONLY "leader" of the "Hero Team" to never punch anyone). This Takato will handle many things in a completely different manner than the canon character. His martial arts training will often come into play, whether he's being physical, or just keeping himself calm in the face of danger. He will also be able to joke and trashtalk with the best of them, coming up with one-liners that would leave even Rika dumbfounded and fumbling for a comeback.

Anyway, on with the story!

XXXX

(Human World)

Takato opened his eyes and found himself in a very odd position...floating about fifty feet above the ground with his arms spread out like he was being crucified. He could feel that he was holding his D-Arc, but didn't know exactly how or why. Hadn't he put it on his nightstand before he went to sleep?

'Sleep, that's it! This is all a dream...just a freaky dream. Now, to pinch myself and wake up...And I can't move my arms, just peachy." he grumbled when he found his arms refusing to budge from their positions. He then had another thought. "Why is it so damned foggy down there?" he cocked his head to the side, seeing as how it was the only bodypart he could move at the time.

As if he had said the magic words, the fog seemed to clear before his eyes, revealing a large, flaming, cat-like beast in the center of it all.

"Huh, a Lynxmon. Nothing special." Takato tried to shrug, then growled when he realized he couldn't even do that! "Fuck!"

He noticed something moving down below, and, apparently, so did the Lynxmon, as it turned its attention towards the newcomer.

"Hmph, just an Armor digimon, and a weak one, at that." the voice of a girl cut through the fog like a knife made of ice.

A red-haired girl, wearing a tan trenchcoat and purple sunglasses, stepped through the fog and gazed coolly at the digimon before her.

Takato saw her and only two thoughts ran through his mind. 'This won't take long.' and 'Why do I have a sudden craving for pineapples?'

The Lynxmon gazed at the human curiously. Weren't humans supposed to be highly skittish creatures? Easily frightened by anything they didn't understand, or something more powerful than they were? Well, he was stronger than any human could ever hope to be, yet this human, this child, was standing up to him, looking him right in the eyes without so much as blinking! Hell, she even looked a bit bored!

The digimon let the comment about his level slide. She knew nothing of his power, but he was more than happy to educate her.

Rika Nonaka, as Takato now knew her, scoffed before pulling off her sunglasses and walking off to the side. As another figure appeared behind her, she called over her shoulder, "Renamon, walk all over him."

Takato knew exactly what was about to happen. He'd seen Rika and Renamon battle Champion and Armor-level digimon before, and Renamon always won, sometimes even without the help of modify cards. Somehow, when Rika and Renamon battled other digimon, Takato always managed to be the only one in the area. Sometimes he thought that the digimon were actually looking for him, but were found by the Tamer and her partner before they found him.

Really, there could only be so many simple coincidences!

But, if it was one thing he learned from those two, other than the fact that digimon cards could be swiped through their Digivices to provide their partners with the same effects as in the card game, it was that a Rookie should never be underestimated. Renamon may have been low in level, but she was strong as hell. Something she was about to prove, again, tonight.

Takato didn't bother to pay attention to the battle, already knowing the Lynxmon would lose, instead, he opted to watch Rika. He saw her looking quite bored with the fight, almost as much as he was. She looked around for something to do, but found nothing. She leaned against a tree, tapped her foot impatiently, then pulled out her Digivice and pointed it in Lynxmon's general direction. A holographic display popped up above the device's screen and she mumbled out the information to herself.

It was then that Takato realized that her Digivice was the same as his! A different color, blue where his was red, but it was the same device! They both had D-Arcs, which had to mean Takato was also a Tamer!

If he had been able to move, Takato would have jumped for joy, but he couldn't, so he settled for a face-splitting grin. Then he noticed that, down below, Renamon was nowhere to be found, Rika was smirking and looking up towards him, and the Lynxmon was standing on the ground looking utterly confused.

Takato looked over and saw the reason for the previously mentioned situations: Renamon had jumped up behind and above the Lynxmon, getting some SERIOUS hangtime, and readying her Diamond Storm attack. For a second, Takato swore the fox looked at him and they made eye-contact, but it was too fast for him to register, and he just shrugged it off. He guessed that he was like a ghost here, and no one could see him.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon spread her arms out and the energy ball in front of her exploded into hundreds, maybe even thousands of small, razor-sharp shards of energy, which rained down on the Lynxmon, destroying it.

Takato gave a yawn as Renamon descended from her jump. "Well, that went on for about...five hours too long." he deadpanned. He suddenly found himself able to move again, and got into a more comfortable position; sitting on air with his legs crossed and his head resting on the knuckles of his right hand.

Down below, the fog was clearing, meaning that anyone attracted by the fog would be able to see Rika and Renamon, which meant they had to leave. Renamon seemed to whisper something into Rika's ear, and they both turned to look directly at Takato, or at least his direction.

Takato rose an eyebrow, wondering if they could really see him. 'Well, only one way to find out.' he smirked, then shouted, "What the hell are you two lookin' at?" he saw both of their eyes widen and they took a step back. "...Whoa, it worked." though he figured they could only hear him, since they seemed to be looking in other directions, not at him.

The two females left after Rika said something to her partner, and darkness overtook Takato.

The teen opened his eyes again, awakening to the sound of persistent and annoying beeping. But not the punishing beat of his alarm clock, this was more high-pitched, almost like a cellphone ringtone.

"Oh, what now?" Takato groaned as he felt around on his nightstand, where he guessed the sound was coming from.

His hand landed on something small, oddly shaped, and slightly warm. He picked it up and turned his head to look at it, bolting upright in his bed when he saw he was holding his D-Arc. The screen was glowing, the thing was beeping like crazy, and it was generating heat. For a second, Takato feared the thing would blow up in his hand, but his fears were squashed when he accidently pressed one of the buttons on the device, causing a holographic display of a red arrow to pop up.

"Whoa." was all the boy said.

Then, without any warning, Takato felt the irresistible urge to leave his home and follow the arrow. Before he even fully registered what he was going, he had pulled on his sneakers, opened the sliding glass door, and leapt off of the balcony to the ground below. Landing in a crouch, he didn't even bother to contemplate what he was doing, he just took off in the direction the arrow indicated.

(Construction Yard)

"Pyro Sphere!" a fireball the size of a watermelon flew through the air and impacted against a wall, frying some rats and making a rather large crater in the concrete.

"Dammit! What's wrong with you? I told you NOT to attack the rodents!" an angry feminine voice screamed in frustration.

"Rodents? I don't see any humans around here." a rumbling male voice boomed.

"Where the hell were you? I've been waiting here for almost ten minutes!" the female yelled.

"Meh, I got lost on the road of life." the male said casually, earning him a growl from his companion.

"What life? You're a damned zombie!" the female screeched.

This was what Takato heard as he quietly stalked towards the voices. He could see trace amounts of the strange fog that had covered the battlefield in his dream, and assumed it was what was left of the Digital Field. The voices were coming from digimon, obviously, and one of them sounded familiar.

"What did it say? 'Pyro Sphere'? I know I've heard that before...Holy shit." he increased his pace as a feeling of immense joy gripped him.

The childish, nasally voice sounded once again. "...You're big."

The booming voice replied, "Yes, I get that a lot."

"...You have a fish on your back."

There was a growl, accompanied by a feminine giggle. "It's. A. Missile."

Takato froze in his tracks. 'A big digimon with a fish-like missile on its back...Oh no.' there was only one digimon that fit that description, and it was notorious for its highly destructive nature and overwhelming berserker method of attacking.

"Hey, you, human, are you gonna stand behind that wall all night, or are you gonna come out to where we can see you?" the female voice said...from right above Takato.

He looked up and was met with the red eyes of a digimon he knew all too well.

"LadyDevimon." he breathed out, though he noticed that her clawed left arm was missing, replaced with a normal one in a long, black glove. And the little gremlin thing on her shoulder was also gone.

The demon woman floating above him actually smiled...LADY-freakin'-DEVIMON SMILED!

"Yep, that's me!" she floated down to the ground and stood before Takato, who marveled not only at her impressive height and imposing figure, but her dark, sensual beauty.

"I...Um...What...Ahhh...Hi." was all Takato could say as he struggled to maintain eye-contact and not let his eyes drift lower. This was a digimon that he, of all people, knew NEVER to piss off.

LadyDevimon giggled, which almost caused Takato to lose it and book right then and there. Evil digimon were NOT supposed to giggle!

"You're so much cuter in person, you know that?" the Ultimate leaned down to Takato's level, and used her left hand to tilt Takato's head up. She leaned in further, her eyes darkening with an emotion Takato wasn't quite familiar with.

Then, just as their lips were about to meet, the ground shook and a terrifying growl sounded from high above them.

LadyDevimon snarled and glared up at the beast, pure rage burning in her eyes. "DAMN YOU TO HELL, YOU BONEY BASTARD!" she shrieked, but was ignored by both the giant digimon and Takato, who were staring at each other.

"...SkullGreymon..." Takato gasped in awe. He knew the Ultimate was big, but he never knew just how big. Of course, since he had never seen a real one, he had no way of knowing that this SkullGreymon was larger than normal because of its uniqueness, as the species went, and its power.

"...Tamer..." a low, growling voice came from behind LadyDevimon.

Both the digimon and the human present turned their attention to the red and black Rookie digimon currently stalking towards Takato, its eyes having gone "Viral".

"Guilmon?" Takato rose an eyebrow, then turned to LadyDevimon. "Viral Instincts?"

Both digimon, who were Virus-types, of course, nodded.

"Yep, but don't worry, he couldn't harm you, even if he wanted to." the demon woman pointed at the device in Takato's hand. "You're his Tamer. And..." she grabbed something that was hanging out between the stitches in her outfit just above her breasts, causing Takato to blush madly, and pulled out a black and grey D-Arc. "You're our Tamer, as well." she handed the boy the second device.

Takato stared at it in awe, then back at LadyDevimon, who was having trouble controlling herself.

'He's just so damned cute with that blush!' the demon woman unconsciously licked her lips.

'It's still warm...' Takato thought as he held the D-Arc. Then he thought of something. "Wait a minute, 'our' Tamer?" something fell on his head, which he caught when it bounced off. It was another D-Arc, this one white with black trim.

"That is correct, you are now the Tamer of the youngling, the woman, and myself." SkullGreymon said, mentally chuckling at the expression on his new Tamer's face; an amusing mix of pain, awe, happiness, anger, and embarrassment.

LadyDevimon glared at the skeletal giant again. "Would it kill you to call me 'LadyDevimon', at the very least?"

The giant shrugged. "I don't know, but I've never been a real risk-taker."

Takato's brow furrowed as he spoke, "But...aren't you already dead?"

Both Ultimate digimon seemed to think about the question for a second, then SkullGreymon replied, "I think that's only a figure of speech. You see, for me to be dead, I had to have, at one time, been alive. Have you ever seen a digimon that even remotely resembles these bones?"

Takato didn't have a reply to that. Despite being of the Greymon evolutionary line, he looked nothing like any other member of the line, or any other digimon period. For one, he was bigger than all of them, besides MetalGreymon, which was the same size. He had a single horn on top of his head, as opposed to the traditional tri-horned Greymon. The bone-leg things on his back, resembling spider legs, were a feature no other digimon, let alone a Greymon, possessed. And he had massive arms with five-fingered hands. Every member of the Greymon line, other than WarGreymon/BlackWarGreymon, had relatively short arms ending with three-fingered hands, each tipped with wicked claws. Even MetalGreymon's Trident Arm only had three claws.

In short, SkullGreymon was unique in almost every sense of the word, in terms of appearance.

Takato's eyes widened as he thought of something. "Oh crap, this is gonna be a problem." he said suddenly.

"Hm? What's that?" LadyDevimon asked.

"My parents. They already know about Lillymon, and she stays at our house all the time, but she's not nearly as...scary as you all. Guilmon, she may be able to deal with. You two, however...Well, one: you're both too big, especially you." he pointed at SkullGreymon, who nodded in understanding. "And you, LadyDevimon, would scare the crap out of my mom."

The "evil" digimon waved a hand. "Oh, don't worry about that, I can de-volve to my Champion form, BlackGatomon."

Takato nodded. "Okay." he turned to the skeletal dragon. "How about you?"

SkullGreymon shrugged. "I'm too powerful to de-volve to Rookie, and my Champion form, BlackGreymon, would still too big for your house." he stayed silent for a bit, then, "...Oops..." he mumbled.

Takato looked at him suspiciously. "Wait a minute, how do you know how big my house is?" SkullGreymon wasn't talking, and Guilmon was off torching more rats, so the only one left was LadyDevimon, whose mind seemed to be elsewhere at the time. "Hey...Hey! Wake up, LadyDevimon!"

SkullGreymon knew exactly what she was thinking about and sighed. "Woman!" he roared, causing everyone to flinch. "Sorry."

LadyDevimon shook her head to clear it and looked at Takato. "Yes?"

"How does he know how big my house is?" Takato asked.

The demon woman began to get nervous. "Well...Um, you see, I...Ah, we've...been spying on you...for the past week."

Takato's eyes widened. "So...Yesterday, when I felt like I was being watched...That was you?"

LadyDevimon nodded, then adopted an evil grin. "And, I must say, I liked what I saw." she grabbed Takato and hoisted him up to her eye-level. "Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted by Skeletor here? Oh yes, about right here!" her lips met Takato's in a deep, though one-sided, kiss.

Takato just hung there limply, absolutely shocked that his first real kiss was from a digimon reputed to be pure evil. Yet, here she was, almost as nice as Lillymon, and, apparently, with the same infatuation the other Ultimate had with him. Though, Takato had to admit, LadyDevimon was much more...aggressive than Lillymon ever was.

Every thought in his mind was effectively shattered as he felt something long, wet, and warm slip into his mouth; LadyDevimon's tongue! She was frenching him now, and she was damn good at it!

Takato's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he moaned in pleasure. He still couldn't properly return the kiss, but LadyDevimon didn't seem to care. She liked being in control, anyway.

SkullGreymon just stood there, pondering just how long the two below him could hold their breaths. He didn't have internal organs, so he didn't need to breathe, eat, or drink, at least in his Ultimate form. But LadyDevimon was one-hundred percent organic, with working lungs.

'Maybe she's sucking the breath out of the kid?' the skeleton thought offhandedly.

After another twenty seconds, the demon woman broke the kiss and leaned back, a thin trail of saliva still connecting her lips to Takato's. She seemed to be in a bit of a daze herself as she stared off into space, still holding Takato, who looked about ready to pass out.

During the kiss, Takato had gotten some form of mobility back and had tried to return the kiss. LadyDevimon, using her exceptionally stretchy tongue, coiled it around Takato's, which was longer than a normal human one, and dragged it into her own mouth. It was in here that Takato started to lick the roof of her mouth, and she LOVED it! It was actually a weakness of hers. Anytime something rubbed the roof of her mouth, she grew incredibly relaxed and went into a sort of trance. She often did it to herself when she was extremely angry, to avoid destroying everything around her. She wasn't SkullGreymon, and she liked to keep it that way. Massive amounts of destruction just weren't her style.

As the digimon's arms relaxed, Takato was lowered to the ground, and then freed from her grasp.

SkullGreymon saw this and cocked his huge head to the side. "You licked the roof of her mouth, didn't you?" he questioned Takato.

The boy nodded, still quite disoriented.

The giant nodded to himself. "I've seen her do it herself when she's mad. Calms her down and keeps her from going all 'Mistress of Evil'."

Takato nodded in understanding, he did something like that when he was frustrated or overly anxious. He liked to pop his joints, neck, and his spine, and crack his knuckles. It irritated and disgusted most people, but it relaxed Takato, so he didn't really give a damn.

Guilmon suddenly looked up from the bulldozer he was sniffing and growled. "Digimon..."

This drew everyone's attention, even snapping LadyDevimon out of her trance.

SkullGreymon looked in the same direction as Guilmon. He didn't have a sense of smell, but he could sense auras very well, which alerted him to enemies that he couldn't see.

"Yes...A Rookie...and a human. Nothing to worry about." he looked at Takato. "Should I crush them?"

Takato shook his head instantly. "No, I think I know who it is. A girl named Rika Nonaka, and her digimon partner, a Renamon. I don't want to harm either of them, and I don't feel like answering any questions she's bound to have. Let's just leave, we'll sort all this out later."

SkullGreymon and LadyDevimon nodded while Takato walked over to Guilmon.

The demonic digimon looked up at her companion. "So, where are you going? You can't stay here without drawing a LOT of attention, and you're way too big to go to Takato's house."

SkullGreymon shrugged. "I figured as much before we ever got here. I'll go back to the Digital World and see if the Boss has anything else planned for me." he turned to Takato. "If you ever require my assistance, slash a 'SkullGreymon' card through my D-Arc, and I'll be summoned to this world to help you."

Takato nodded, then rose an eyebrow. "You know about the Digimon Card Game?" he just received blank stares from both Ultimates. "Right, stupid question. You also call these Digivices 'D-Arcs'?"

SkullGreymon nodded. "That is their proper name. Digivices come in many different models, and the models you, and others of your kind, possess are called 'D-Arcs'. It's not surprising that you knew. When they receive a D-Arc, a human instantly gains certain knowledge. Like knowing the spontaneous fog that appears when a digimon crosses over to this world is called a Digital Field, and knowing the model name of your Digivice. Curiously, this wasn't the case with the first Digivices, but I assume it was a feature programmed into later models to enable humans to be more well-informed so you could prepare yourselves for battle."

Takato nodded, appreciating SkullGreymon's intelligence. "You know, your species has a really bad reputation, but you're alright."

SkullGreymon gave a thumbs-up, since he obviously couldn't smile. "Thanks, but my species' reputation is well-deserved. I'm unique, as SkullGreymon go, and my Viral Instincts lay dormant most of the time."

LadyDevimon smirked. "But you should see him when he's pissed off. I've actually seen Mega-level digimon run away from him."

SkullGreymon chuckled. "So, you finally admit I'm the strongest."

LadyDevimon scoffed. "Hardly. That doesn't prove anything! Megas have run from me, too!"

"Only at certain times. And, at those times, Woman, even I would run from you, if only to get out of hearing range of your rantings."

A tick mark developed on LadyDevimon's forehead. "Just go, already! I'll take Takato back home, you just go away!"

SkullGreymon laughed, then nodded a farewell to Takato before being encased in fog, then disappearing.

"...Nice exit." Takato commented.

"Show-off." LadyDevimon huffed, then turned to Takato and Guilmon, who was no longer in his Viral state. "Ready to go?" she asked them.

Takato nodded, then began to walk out of the construction yard, Guilmon following loyally. He yelped when he was suddenly plucked from the ground and hoisted high into the air in the arms of his new partner.

"Hey!" Takato glared at the demon woman.

"What, don't like to fly?" LadyDevimon smiled mischievously.

"That's not it, I actually love things like hand-gliding. But could you give me a little warning next time? Sheesh!" he squirmed into a more comfortable position, then looked over to Guilmon, who was being held in LadyDevimon's clawed left hand. "Wait a minute, wasn't your arm normal just a minute ago?"

LadyDevimon looked at the arm in question. "Yeah, why?"

"I didn't know you could change the form of the arm...cool."

"What can I say? I'm also unique amongst my species, just like SkullGreymon. I can do things over LadyDevimon can't, like changing the form of my left arm, removing some of these chains, and making the little phantom go dormant."

"What does that thing do, anyway?"

"Honestly, I never bothered to find out. I didn't like it, so I keep it dormant."

Takato nodded. "It is an ugly little thing, ain't it?"

LadyDevimon giggled. "Sure is!"

Before they knew it, they were at Takato's home and LadyDevimon sat Takato and Guilmon on the balcony, then went through the door after them, closing it behind her.

"Okay, Guilmon, you can sleep-?" Takato was interrupted by a snore. He looked to the side and found Guilmon curled up on the floor next to his bed, dead to the world. "Right..." Takato looked at LadyDevimon, who was smirking and giving him the same look she had at the construction yard.

"I think I'll sleep with you, Takato." stalked towards the boy, her eyes glowing menacingly in the darkness of his room.

Takato tried to back up, but he was seized by the Ultimate, then tossed onto his bed. He curled up in a ball, preparing for the "assault", but it never came. Instead there was a bright flash of light, then the shifting of the bed as something much smaller than LadyDevimon jumped onto it.

Takato looked over to find a BlackGatomon smiling back at him.

"Hiya!" the small Champion waved.

Takato sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God." he was then pounced on by BlackGatomon, who, even though she had de-volved, hadn't lost her predatory smirk.

"Don't worry, Takato, I'm not going to do anything to you...unless you want me to." she leaned in and gave his cheek a long lick, then sat on his chest. "Now, I assume you won't be sleeping in those clothes?"

Takato nodded numbly, then watched as BlackGatomon jumped off of his chest and started raiding his dresser drawers.

"Um..." Takato was it in the face with a black A-shirt(better known as a wife-beater), a pair of boxers, and grey sweatpants.

"Now, go change, I'll be waiting." BlackGatomon gave him a wink as he walked by.

Takato chuckled nervously and went into the bathroom, closing and locking the door.

"Aw, you're no fun!" the black cat digimon pouted.

Takato breathed another sigh of relief. 'Damn, she's worse than Lillymon!' he then paled. 'Oh no, what will Lillymon do when she meets BlackGatomon? Or worse, if she meets her as LadyDevimon!' he decided it was too late to worry about such things, and that he'd deal with it in the morning. He changed into his sleepwear, then stepped out of the bathroom.

"Oh, you've got a tattoo? Nice." BlackGatomon purred, still eying Takato with that same look.

Takato rose an eyebrow. "What tattoo?" the digimon pointed at his right arm. "What the hell? This is the same symbol that's on Guilmon!" again, he decided it was too late to worry about anything. "Meh, whatever, it looks cool, so whatever." he laid down on his bed, then grunted slightly as BlackGatomon jumped on his chest.

"Goodnight, Takato." she gave him another lick, though this one was much closer to his lips than the last.

Takato smiled, in spite of himself. "Goodnight, BlackGatomon."

(Morning A.K.A. Four Hours Later)

Takato groaned as a ray of sunlight hit him in the face and tried to roll over, but stopped when he noticed the strange weight in his chest.

'What the...?' the boy thought as he slowly opened his eyes, then stifled a scream when he found two golden eyes staring back at him.

"Morning, Takato!" the BlackGatomon greeted cheerfully.

Instantly, memories of the previous night flooded back to Takato and his eyes widened a bit.

"Good morning, BG." he greeted back with a small, sleepy smile.

The digimon wrapped her arms around his neck, mindful of her claws, and hugged her Tamer. "You've given me a pet name!" she squealed in happiness.

Takato's eye twitched a bit. 'I thought it was just an abbreviation...'

Just then the door to Takato's room opened and his mother stepped in with a smile on her face.

"Glad you're up, Takato. I was coming to tell you that your father and I are going on vacation, and we wanted to know if you'd like to...come...with...us..." Mie finally noticed two new additions to Takato's room. One was the rather large, bipedal, glove-wearing cat standing on his chest, and the other was the much bigger red, raptor-like creature that was now looking at her with curious golden eyes. "Um..."

Takato sighed. "Don't worry, Mom. Remember those kids I told you about before, the ones with the digimon? Well, I'm one of them now! Meet BlackGatomon, and Guilmon."

BlackGatomon waved and smiled. "Hiya!"

Guilmon cocked his head to the side, then looked at Takato. "What's a 'Mom'?" BlackGatomon and Mie facefaulted while Takato just hung his head.

"You're not old enough to know that."

Mie looked at her son oddly. "If you mean what I think you mean, neither are you, young man."

Takato deadpanned. "Dad gave me 'The Talk' a while ago...and he had visual aids!"

A rather large tick mark formed on Mie's forehead and her left eye started to twitch violently.

"Oh, did he, now?" she turned on her heel and walked off. "Takehiroooo...Oh, dear hubby of mine, could you come here for a second, I'd like to speak with you." she sickeningly sweet voice sent chills down even BlackGatomon's spine.

Takato's eye twitched again. 'Dammit, I was saving that!'

Then another female came into the room. "Takato, watch out, your mother's on the warpath!" Lillymon looked back just in time to see Takehiro poke his head out of the bathroom and sneak into the master bedroom. When she turned, she saw the two digimon with Takato and took an involuntary step back, fear obvious in her eyes.

Takato rose an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Lillymon?"

BlackGatomon narrowed her eyes at the Ultimate. "She's afraid of us because we're Virus-types while she's a Data. It's quite natural." she then smiled. "It seems we're all special here!"

Takato looked at the cat, then at Lillymon, who seemed significantly calmer now that one of the Virus digimon was smiling.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm unique amongst my species, Guilmon is the first of his kind, you have three digimon partners, and she is much, much stronger than a normal Lillymon. Also much larger." BlackGatomon let out a yelp when she was suddenly lifted off Takato's chest and put face-to-face with a very angry Lillymon.

"What was that?" she used the same deceivingly sweet voice Mie had.

BlackGatomon smiled sheepishly. "I meant you are much taller than a normal Lillymon. Just look at you! Lillymon are normally just short of four feet, but here you are, standing tall at six and a half feet!" she looked the other digimon up and down with a smirk. "And you're also very...well built." she winked, causing Lillymon to blush and drop her.

Takato then gave Lillymon a brief explanation of what was going on, calming her down and keeping her fears at bay, though she was still afraid of Guilmon.

"Wait, BlackGatomon said you had three partners, but I only see two. Who's the third?" Lillymon asked, silently hoping that it could be her.

Takato and the cat digimon shared a look. "If you're still scared of Guilmon, you'll want nothing to do with the fourth member of our new little group." BlackGatomon assured.

Lillymon gave a hesitant smile. "Oh, come now, I'm sure he's not all that bad!" her smile widened when she saw Guilmon exploring the room, sniffing everything innocently. He certainly didn't betray his type with his actions.

"SkullGreymon." Takato said.

The color drained from Lillymon's face, then she became a gibbering wreck before fainting. Guilmon, moving with surprising speed, caught the Ultimate before she hit the floor.

"She's not as heavy as I thought she'd be." Guilmon observed. "She needs to eat more!" his own words reminded him of something. "Takatomon, I'm hungry!"

Takato chuckled. "I'm not a digimon." he looked at BlackGatomon. "I assume you're hungry, too?"

BlackGatomon nodded with a smile, then hopped onto Guilmon's head and pointed towards the door.

"To the kitchen, Guilmon!" both digimon giggled childishly as the red dinosaur charged out of the room and down the stairs, as per BlackGatomon's instructions.

Takato sweatdropped, then picked up the still unconscious Lillymon. His eyes widened when he saw how easy it was, she really was light! He put her in his bed, then picked out his clothes for the day, and went into the bathroom for his morning shower.

(Twenty Minutes Later)

Takato walked downstairs and was greeted by his "extended family". His mother and father, Guilmon, BlackGatomon, Lillymon. Even Calumon was present, munching on a cinnamon roll.

"About time you got down here! I was getting tired of having to wait for you." BlackGatomon huffed, eying the cinnamon rolls so she could grab at least two before Calumon ate them all.

Takato just grunted. "It's my morning routine. If we're going to be partners, you're gonna have to get used to that." he looked at the rolls. "Oh crap, I just brushed my teeth, too."

"So what? Do it again after you eat!" BlackGatomon didn't understand the effect toothpaste had on the taste of other things.

"It's not that. Breakfast is going to taste horrible, especially the orange juice." he grimaced at the mere thought.

BlackGatomon waved him off while wiping the drool from Guilmon's lips with a napkin. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get over here so we can eat!"

Takato sighed, but complied anyway and took his seat. "Can someone please take the rolls from Calumon? I'm sure most of you remember what happened the last time we allowed him to eat too many of those?"

Everyone but BlackGatomon and Guilmon shivered at the memory, while said digimon just looked on in confusion.

"What happened, Takatomon?" Guilmon asked his Tamer after eating a roll himself. He was much more subdued in his eating than everyone had expected. Takehiro had even suggested raincoats or umbrellas to avoid flying food.

Takato's eye twitched. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that the "Takatomon" thing was going to be a constant in his life from then on.

"Calumon went on a sugar-induced rampage."

Both digimon looked at Calumon, who had moved on to bread rolls now that his sweets had been taken.

"How much damage could he possibly do? I don't even think he's heavy enough to knock over a vase!" BlackGatomon looked on skeptically.

"That's exactly what we thought. He's small, unassuming, and, at least on the surface, quite weak. But he-!" Takato stopped when he was hit in the head with a bread roll. But he just took the thing and ate it, then continued. "But he turned into an unholy terror once he had enough sugar in him. He kept playing pranks on people, making horrible one-liners, speaking in weird accents, and even got into someone's house and ran up their phone bill with prank calls." Takato couldn't suppress a smile as he thought back to him tutoring Calumon in the art of voice mimicry, and the proper way to make pranks calls and one-liners.

BlackGatomon just shrugged. "Doesn't sound all that bad at all." in fact, she was fairly used to things like that. When the Boss' other subordinates were bored, it was nothing but chaos at the base, which was exactly how she liked it. She hated having a tame and predictable life. She craved disorder, and loved to battle more than almost anything. She loved how, even against weaker opponents, the outcome of a fight was never certain. Anything could, and often would happen at anytime. Spontaneous earthquakes, other digimon joining the battle; she once even had to deal with a stampede of at least a thousand Monochromon, led by a very powerful Vermilimon.

This was another reason she knew she would enjoy having Takato as a Tamer. He was already drawing a lot of attention in the Digital World, even more now that he was the first human ever to have three partners. Information may have traveled fast in the Human World, but it was still nothing in comparison to the Digital World. If one digimon knew about something, he/she would tell everyone they knew. Then those digimon told everyone they knew, and so on, until everyone in that quadrant of the Digital World knew about it. Hell, by now, digimon in the Northern Quadrant probably knew about Takato, and were, more than likely, searching for a way to get to him.

It was her job, as well as SkullGreymon's, to protect both Takato and Guilmon from anything that could harm them. They were also to gain power themselves to they would be more useful in the "Great Battle" their Boss had mentioned. This was revealed to be the main reason they were chosen by the Boss for this most important mission. They may not have been his most powerful servants, not by a longshot, but they were two of his most trusted, and he saw the most potential in them. He firmly believed that Takato would bring out that potential, and then some, to make them some of the most powerful digimon in both the Digital and Human Worlds. Neither BlackGatomon, nor SkullGreymon knew what their Boss' true motives behind the plan were, but they knew that the reason for this was that they weren't meant to know, and that was fine with them, for the time being. They had been with the Boss for years, and he had never led them down the wrong path. He never lied to them, or any of his subordinates, he was simply very precise with his orders, and very vague on the reasons for those orders.

'When it's time for us to know, we'll know.' BlackGatomon never once doubted the Boss, not because she feared him, though that was part of the reason, but because he had never given her, nor anyone else, a reason not to trust him. He gave them power, if he felt they had done enough to earn it. He gave them a home, in the form of a massive island and an equally large castle, most of which was underground, hidden from prying eyes. The island was also protected by a strange digital field that kept it hidden from the outside world. As far as she knew, not even the Sovereigns themselves were aware of its location. And, most importantly of all, the Boss had given them all a purpose. A purpose beyond simply gaining power for the sake of doing it. He gave them goals to reach.

Most of his servants didn't even care about being powerful, they just wanted to make a difference in the world. They knew the more powerful you were, the better your selection of missions would be, and the bigger impact you'd have in "The Plan", as it was called. Each digimon under his command had a choice of which out of the millions of missions he/she wanted to take. They also could pick as many other digimon as they wanted to make a team for the mission. Such was the reason she was paired up with SkullGreymon. Many other digimon had chosen the guardian mission, and a decision could not be reached as to who would go. So, they did the only logical thing, and took the debate to the Boss.

(Flashback)

LadyDevimon found herself standing in a huge room with countless other digimon, of all shapes, sizes, and types, waiting along with her. She looked around and cursed, she really wanted this mission, but there were digimon in this room that were not only stronger than her, but all-around more qualified for the mission type; Bodyguard.

Diaboromon, MetalSeadramon, HiAndromon, WarGreymon, Machinedramon, SkullGreymon, BlackWarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, BlackMetalGarurumon, MasterTyrannomon, Myotismon, VenomMyotismon, Lillymon, Rosemon, Imperialdramon, Piedmon, Puppetmon, MetalGreymon, MetalMamemon, MetalEtemon, Garudamon, Phoenixmon, GranKuwagamon, HerculesKabuterimon, damn near everything at Ultimate-level or above was here! Hell, there was even an Angewomon giving her the Evil Eye from across the room!

She happened to look to her right and saw an abnormally large SkullGreymon looking around, seemingly thinking the same thing as her.

"So, you're all here because you want the job of protecting the human known as Takato Matsuki, correct?" the voice of the being only known as "The Boss" rumbled through the room, causing each digimon in attendance to stand at attention.

Every digimon nodded in unison, none daring to speak, lest they anger the being that could destroy them all at a moment's notice.

"Very well then, I will be evaluating you all. Don't worry, this won't take long. If I find you unsuitable, you will be transported back to the mission room, and only ten will remain here. Then I will choose only two out of those ten for this special job." and, with that, a glowing ball of crimson energy started to float around the room, hovering in front of every digimon. It would either tap them and they would be teleported back to the mission room, or it would pass them over, allowing them to stay.

The ball came to LadyDevimon and she gulped nervously. She had seen digimon much, much stronger than her teleported out of the room, and she had no doubt that she was next. She closed her eyes, just knowing that she was going to open them and see a massive list of mission cards laid out before her. A full minute passed and she didn't feel anything, so she opened her eyes and found that twenty more digimon had disappeared, but she wasn't one of them. She was then stuck in between wanted to squeal and jump for joy, or collapse in relief. She settled for letting out the breath she was holding and relaxing a bit.

(Ten Minutes Later)

The floating orb hovered at the front of the room, only ten digimon remaining before it, out of the hundreds that had walked in.

"Well, you ten are at the top of the class, so to speak." the Boss said.

LadyDevimon looked to her right and saw seven digimon: Diaboromon, Myotismon, SkullGreymon, Angewomon -who was still giving her the Evil Eye through that helmet-, Rosemon, WarGreymon, and Imperialdramon. She looked to her left and saw two digimon: MetalSeadramon, and HiAndromon.

The demon woman gulped again. Nine digimon, only two of which she thought she could take; Myotismon and Angewomon. She would have thought about the SkullGreymon next to her, but now that she was closer, she could tell that he was just as strong, if not stronger, than some of the Megas that had been in the room earlier.

"Out of you ten, only two will be picked. Do any of you wish to leave now? Maybe to avoid some form of embarrassment?"

None of the digimon backed down, and one even spoke.

"If you decide that we are not good enough to handle this mission properly, there is no shame in that. Besides, there are those of us here that specialize in destruction rather than protection." this, surprisingly, came from SkullGreymon, and it gained a few nods and chuckles from the likes of Diaboromon, Imperialdramon, and MetalSeadramon.

Even the Boss chuckled. "Glad you feel that way. Now, down to business. I will ask all of you five questions pertaining to the mission. Your answers will determine whether you stay, or not." the orb floated over to Diaboromon. "And, just to make sure none of you copy answers, these 'interviews' will be conducted individually." the orb tapped the Mega and both disappeared in a flash of light.

Two minutes later, the orb returned. Alone. "Next." it floated over to Myotismon, tapped him, and both disappeared in another flash of light.

Two minutes later, the same solitary orb returned. "Next." it floated over to SkullGreymon, and they both were gone.

(With SkullGreymon)

The gigantic Ultimate found himself inside of a room about half the size of the one he was just in, facing the orb.

"Are you ready?" the Boss asked, then continued after receiving a nod. "You have met your new Tamer for the first time, and he is terrified of you. How do you calm him down?"

The skeletal digimon thought about it for a second. This was truly a valid question for him, as his species, in general, were regarded as one of the most physically terrifying of all digimon. And their reputation wouldn't help matters in the least.

"First, I rid him of the fear of my species' reputation by engaging in an intelligent conversation with him. If that doesn't work, I'll simply de-volve to Champion or Rookie to make myself more approachable. I assume he has seen the Digimon television show in his world, and is familiar with both Greymon and Agumon, so I doubt a simple color change will scare him that much."

"So, you hope to turn fear into understanding, and, perhaps, awe?"

"Understanding, yes. Awe, no. I do not want him to be in awe of my power, all that will do is lead to more fear when he starts thinking about what I could do should I turn on him. All it takes is for someone to plant the seeds of doubt into his head, and his own thoughts will nourish those seeds until they grow and bloom into full-blown paranoia. I will not allow that to happen, not to my Tamer." SkullGreymon spoke with clear determination, he meant every word that came from his mouth.

Even if the word's didn't actually come out of his mouth.

"Hm." was the Boss' indecipherable reply. "Next question. Your Tamer has been captured and is being held hostage. How will you manage to get him back unharmed?"

"Well, for one, that is not a job I could do on my own. It requires stealth and cunning. I have the cunning, but stealth is certainly not my strongsuit. I'd, most likely, try to gain the aid of a digimon like a Ninjamon, or Myotismon. But, in my opinion, the likes of Renamon and/or LadyDevimon would be better suited to extracting the Tamer. They can easily sneak in and avoid detection. But, I'd have to go with a LadyDevimon because she has the power needed in case confrontation is unavoidable. LadyDevimon infiltrates the base and reclaims the Tamer, while I create a diversion by doing what I do best." SkullGreymon nodded to himself, committing the plan to memory, for he had a feeling he may need it at a later time.

"Alright then, next question. During battle, a stray attack is on a collision course with your Tamer. What actions will you take to ensure the safety of the Tamer?"

"Well, first, I'd have to keep the digimon I'm fighting at bay. But this question has many different answers, all depending on what kind of attack it is, and who is using it. Is it a Giga Blaster from a MetalGreymon? Or a Giga Cannon from a Machinedramon? Where am I positioned when the attack is used? Is there more than one digimon? How much power was put into the attack? Was it meant for me, or the Tamer? What condition am I in at the time? What condition is my opponent in? Is it all just a trap to get me to turn my back? Again, this is something that I may not be able to accomplish on my own. I would have to rely on my partner to keep the Tamer safe, while I make sure no other attacks get through or passed my defenses. For something like this, the likes of Rapidmon, Rinkmon, Renamon, LadyDevimon, SaberLeomon, or Allomon would be better suited for this because of their exceptional speed. Diaboromon is also a good choice because of his ability to make copies of himself. He may be weakened for it, but he can provide cover for the Tamer at all times. MetalSeadramon is also good, since he doesn't need his entire body to fight, and his defenses are top notch, he can leave a section of his body coiled around the Tamer to protect him from harm. GigaSeadramon is an even better choice. Not as powerful, but has better defenses, and the Tamer is much safer since he can actually go inside of GigaSeadramon and still see what's going on outside, and help me in battle should I require a boost."

The Boss had to hand it to him, SkullGreymon was one smart digimon. 'Just as long as he doesn't go all Super Computer on me, like those Machinedramon...it's creepy as hell.' seriously, never ask a Machinedramon what time it was.

They would answer you to the nanosecond, then keep correcting themselves because they spoke too slowly to keep up with nanoseconds. Ask for a digital display and you'd be fine, but most didn't know the Mega-level androids could do that. I mean really, who would think a machine made for the sole purpose of causing untold amounts of destruction could tell you the time? Then again, who would ask?

"You are quite the knowledgeable digimon, SkullGreymon. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was talking to your Mega form." the Boss referred to Machinedramon, the most common Mega form for a SkullGreymon. Contrary to popular belief, very few SkullGreymon digivolved into BlackWarGreymon. Normally, that form was reserved for the likes of the Virus version of MetalGreymon, usually called BlackMetalGreymon, or VirusMetalGreymon. "Question number four. You are up against an opponent that you have no hope of beating. If you are defeated, your Tamer is as good as dead. How will you make sure he survives this situation?"

"I will do everything in my power to distract the opponent while my partner takes the Tamer to safety, even if it means sacrificing myself to do it. This is why I'd chose a partner that has the ability to fly at high speeds, teleportation, or something of the like, and decent offensive and defensive power. The only digimon I can think of that combines all of these traits is LadyDevimon. Plus her ability to phase through solid objects is a major benefit. As with two of the previous questions, I would do all in my power, but, in the end, it would be up to my partner to ensure the safety of our Tamer."

"Hmm...Very well, final question. Will you always remain by his side? To be there to help him, no matter what his problem is, to the best of your abilities?"

SkullGreymon looked at the orb. "If that is my mission, I shall accomplish it to the letter. I don't half-ass anything, I either do my best, or I don't do it at all."

"And if the mission changes?" the Boss pushed.

"...It will all depend on what kind of...attachment I have to my Tamer. If I do take a liking to him, I will not disobey your orders, should you decide to change the mission parameters, but mark my words, I will find a loophole." emotional attachments were something completely foreign to the Ultimate, for obvious reasons.

The Boss let out a chuckle. "Good, very good, indeed! You, SkullGreymon, are now one half of the team that will take this mission." the orb tapped SkullGreymon and they both vanished from the room.

When they reappeared in the waiting room, they could only think of one thing.

"Where the hell is everyone?" the Boss demanded, seeing only one digimon left in the room; LadyDevimon.

The demon woman shrugged. "I don't know. While we were waiting, I got to thinking. Eventually, I was off in my own little world. I snapped out of it a couple seconds before you got here and saw that everyone had left. Maybe they all had second thoughts?" she was being much too innocent for either SkullGreymon or the Boss' tastes.

"Fine. If you want the mission so badly that you would resort to annoying other digimon, who could destroy you without a second thought, to the point of them leaving the room to be rid of you, I guess you've earned it. Besides, from the answers SkullGreymon gave me, you would be his ideal partner anyway." the orb then disappeared, but the Boss' voice still lingered with his final message. "You both have two weeks until your mission begins. I suggest taking the first to get to know each other better, and the second to learn more about your new Tamer. And one final thing; do NOT fail me. If you do, you will not only face my wrath, but you will be responsible for the destruction of both the Digital and Human World!" then there was silence.

LadyDevimon glanced at her partner, who was staring down at her. "No pressure, right?" the much smaller Ultimate laugh nervously while flying up to sit on the fellow Virus-type's shoulder.

SkullGreymon gave her an odd look, then snorted. "Right, no pressure."

(End Flashback)

BlackGatomon sighed quietly and glanced at Takato. 'I hope I don't screw this up. SkullGreymon would kill me, and I don't want to think of what the Boss would do.' she shuddered, but recovered before anyone noticed and continued to eat.

XXXX

And there it is. Again, I end the chapter with lines from SkullGreymon and LadyDevimon!

A cookie goes to Murasaki Tsukimaru for correctly guessing the two mystery digimon in the first chapter as being SkullGreymon and LadyDevimon.

As you can see, to make up for the lack of action, I put in a bit of LadyD/Takato "action". I'm surprised no one said anything about this in the first chapter, but I said Lillymon was taller than Takato. Anyone that's seen Lillymon in Digimon Adventure(Season One) knows that Lillymon is only between three and four feet tall. Well, I couldn't have that.

In the story I'll be doing some interesting things with digimon, some of which have been seen before, but I'll try to make it original. I've heard that I'm pretty good at that. One thing I'm doing is making some digimon larger based on their power levels.

Like SkullGreymon. For anyone who's wondering just how big he is, he's ten feet taller than a normal SkullGreymon. As mentioned both SkullGreymon and LadyDevimon are much stronger than others of their kind, and the reasons for this will be explained later, but it has something to do with them being some of the Boss' most trusted warriors.

And I'm seriously not aware of what that little ghost thing on LadyD's shoulder is. I know it seems to be a part of her outfit, and it has a chain attached to it, but what does it do? Is it like the chains; just for show? Or does it actually do something? I've never seen her use either that gremlin or the chains for anything. She doesn't even rattle the chains to creep people out!(which she will do in this story)

Oh, and it may not look like it, but "Uniqueness" is a word. Most of you probably knew that, but there are always those few others...

If anyone has any questions, and I know you will, I'll answer whatever I can. I can't think of anything else to address right now, so...

Jason Out!