Open Windows

by rgm0005

The door to Dukemon was closed…but Takato has many open windows to choose from.

3. Second Window: God Steps II

Open Windows

Second Window: God Steps

Part Two: Relativity

XxXXxX

Takato looked down at his Digivice in confused uncertainty.

Was Rinkmon …running?

Why?

He'd been winning!

With some smart card usage, Takato had managed to hit him—well, to let Guilmon hit him, at least.

Once.

But only once and Takato knew that trick wasn't going to be working again. He was going to need to try something different each time; that was why he'd prepared so many cards. And even with all of them, Takato fully expected an uphill battle.

Surely Rinkmon must have known that as well. But if he did, why was he running?

Had he been scared off by that one hit?

But then…

Why was Guilmon chasing him?

"It's because Rinkmon's not running." A voice said behind him.

Only Takato was alone in his room.

Or he should have been.

Takato whirled around as fast as he could.

And then he blinked in stunned surprise.

There was a knight in his room. A real, actual knight with shining armor and a red cape and everything. He had a red, draconic visor and Takato saw symbols like the one of Guilmon's chesk on his armor.

A moment later, Takato blinked again, because being a knight still didn't explain why he was in his room.

"Who are—" He began to ask.

The knight cut him off with a dismissive gesture.

"A projection from your Digivice." He answered calmly. "Or rather, a virus in your Digivice that's causing a projection. I suppose you could further clarify that I'm a manifestation of the Hazard. But none of that matters."

The Knight was suddenly beside him. Not knowing that he'd just switched the location of his projection, Takato was surprised by his speed and nearly jumped in surprise.

"Rinkmon is trying to kill you." The Knight said without preamble.

Takato simply stared at him for a moment.

What did he just say? He thought.

And then the words hit home.

Takato's eyes widened.

"M-me?"

The knight simply nodded.

"Wha—b-but—"

But if he tries to kill me, I'll have no choice but to die. He wanted to say.

The Knight extended a hand towards the cards Takato had set aside as useless. He placed a finger on it, but didn't move it, for obvious reasons.

Takato reached for it and looked at it.

"This is…?" He frowned in confusion.

"If you slash that card, you'll be…safe."

Takato noticed the pause and had to ask.

"Really? I'll be safe?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

What followed was a short empty silence.

It dragged forth words from the knight.

"No, I suppose not." The Knight closed his eyes then, almost sadly. "The moment you became my Tamer, I took away any hope of safety you might have had."

Became his Tamer? Takato wanted to ask. But he wasn't his Tamer. He was Guilmon's.

Then the Knight's eyes opened and they were hard and resolved.

"But if you slash that card, I can at least ensure that you survive today."

But Takato was already thinking of something else.

"How does Rinkmon even know where I am?" He asked.

The knight lapsed into silence again and bowed his head so that Takato could not see his eyes.

"Tell me." Takato insisted, feeling this was important.

"…He doesn't." The Knight said, but it was obvious he didn't want to.

Takato blinked at that answer.

"Then how…?"

"He's going to kill people until he finds you." The Knight replied. "He knows you're probably a child and that's enough for him to act on. This city's children will die. Every single one of them."

"Die?" Takato said, horrified and hardly able to believe this. "B-because of me?"

"No!" The Knight instantly denied. "Not because of you! It's because of Rinkmon! He's a monster and he always has been! He tormented the people of the West so much that we had to send a Royal Knight to deal with him!"

An armored hand became and armored fist and then suddenly relaxed, as if all the life went out of it.

"And…it's because of us, too." He admitted. "If we had killed Rinkmon…if we hadn't let the Twelve…if we just hadn't come here, then you…none of you would be dying right now!"

He looked at Takato and there was shame and pain in his eyes.

"Takato, I can't stop Rinkmon. Not before he kills a lot of people. But…please slash that card, so that I can at least save you." He pleaded.

Takato looked down at the card and then back up at the knight.

"If I slashed this card," Takato asked. "All those people would die."

The knight couldn't deny that.

"And…what about Guilmon? Would he be safe, too?" He wondered.

His hand clenched around his Digivice.

"No, even if he was safe, it wouldn't be okay. I can't just let those people die and…I don't think Guilmon could either. So…even if we left, we wouldn't be okay. Doing something like that…I think…for us…that's worse than just dying."

He looked at the knight with eyes that were too serious for a child. And behind those eyes was a mind making choices children shouldn't have to make.

"So…I can't run." Takato said. "We can't run. I know I'm just a kid, but…to protect all the innocent people in this city…I won't run, even if it costs me my life."

The knight met his gaze for a long moment and then closed his eyes. He nodded slightly.

"As expected from our Tamer." He said. "You are kind and brave to the point of stupidity."

Takato got the feeling he was smiling under that helmet.

"But I'm…glad." The knight continued. "It's weird, but I'm glad. That you didn't run. I'm upset and angry and terrified, but…I'm really happy that you would do this to protect innocent people, even if you know you'll die. Goodbye, Takato."

He was about to disappear when Takato shook his head.

"No." Takato said.

The Knight blinked slowly.

"No?" He asked, not understanding.

"I'm…not going to die." Takato said. "He is. I'm not going to let him continue this anymore. I'm going to stop him. We're going to stop him."

"…How?"

"You…" Takato ignored the question in favor of asking his own. "Why did you come here? Why did you ask me to run and even show me the way out?"

The knight was silent for a moment, as if not understanding the question.

"Because…loyalty to one's lord is expected of a knight, isn't it?" The Knight said, sounding confused.

"Then…will you help me again?" Takato asked. "I won't run, but will you help me fight instead?"

"…What do you need of me?"

Takato told him.

"That's insane, suicidal, reckless, and, quite frankly, kind of stupid." The Knight replied immediately.

Takato nodded.

"But do you think it'll work?" He asked.

"…Are you sure about this, Takato?"

"I'm sure. At least…sure enough to put my life on the line. Just…have faith in me for a little while."

"…I'll…need some time to pull it off."

"I'll buy you as long as I can."

XxXXxX

He chased Rinkmon, of course. Through unfamiliar streets, across rooftops, around the city he chased him.

He didn't catch him, though.

And Rinkmon left corpses in his wake. Some he cut cleanly. Others were left in visible spots; presents for Guilmon to see.

He looked at each in turn, unwilling to look away from his failure. But then he had to continue the chase.

That's what he told himself.

He didn't want to believe he was running away.

When Guilmon caught up to Rinkmon, it was atop a field of corpses.

"Killing Humans is pretty different from killing Digimon." Rinkmon said, his back to the stunned and horrified Guilmon.

He'd obviously been waiting here for him, or else he wouldn't have been able to catch up.

Which meant this had all been set up just for him.

"Rinkmon, you…" Guilmon whispered, wide eyes taking in the scene.

Rinkmon turned around and smiled.

"They're a lot easier to kill than Digimon, don't you think?" He asked, and Guilmon could that there was no remorse in him. If anything, he sounded bored.

But he hadn't expected any.

Rinkmon had never shown remorse.

But his words planted something within Guilmon; something dark and terrible and wicked.

Wrath.

He would kill Rinkmon, if he could, and he'd enjoy every second of it.

"Rinkmon, you…" Guilmon's pupils narrowed abruptly. "You bastard!"

Rinkmon clicked his tongue.

"Are you sure you should be insulting me?" He questioned. "I mean, I could always just…run off again."

Guilmon fell silent at that and simply seethed for a minute before speaking.

"What do you want?"

Rinkmon smiled at him.

"At the moment? Amusement. Kill all these humans would grow dull quickly, I'm sure; it'll be a long and tedious minute, no doubt. I mean, I've already gotten tired of killing just children, as you can see."

Rinkmon gestured around and Guilmon suppressed a grown. Of course he'd noticed; there were more than just children here. There were adults now, too.

But he didn't believe for a moment that it was just because of boredom.

Rinkmon was making a point; setting the stage for whatever he was about to do next.

"I could butcher everyone in this city." Rinkmon mused, and Guilmon trembled because it was true. "Zhuqaiomon-sama wouldn't care if some humans died. But…there's another way, isn't there?"

Guilmon didn't know what he was talking about.

No; that was incorrect.

Guilmon refused to acknowledge the choice Rinkmon spoke of.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"I don't mind killing all these Humans." Rinkmon replied. "But there's only one that I'm after.

Don't say it, Guilmon wanted to scream.

"Tell me where your Tamer is and I'll spare this city." Rinkmon said. "Otherwise, this massacre will continue."

XxXXxX

Takato slashed two cards.

"Super Slow Speed Worm, Activate. Slowest Speed Worm, Activate." He said.

Guilmon, I need you buy me a little more time, he thought.

And:

I'm sorry.

XxXXxX

Time slowed again.

It wasn't enough; the world around him had become so slow, and even so, it wasn't enough. Time had slowed to a crawl all around him but it wasn't enough!

He wouldn't be able to stop Rinkmon like this; he was but a hundredth of Rinkmon's speed.

Takato's cards accomplished only one thing; they hurt Guilmon.

Not physically; or, perhaps, not just physically. He could barely feel the pain of his body anymore, so what were a few more drops of agony?

They were nothing compared to the pain that struck Guilmon to the core at those cards.

Maybe, Guilmon thought as he felt those cards. Maybe even now, Takato still believes in Guilmon.

And that thought burnt like fire.

Did Takato know Guilmon had failed to protect all these people?

Did Takato know that right now, he was walking in the blood of innocent men, women, and children, who he'd failed to save?

Did Takato know Guilmon couldn't stop Rinkmon?

Did Takato know that it was he who'd brought this death and destruction upon this place?

Those questions raced through his mind and each caused him pain, but there was one more question that made Guilmon want to crawl away and die.

Did Takato know that Guilmon was thinking—honestly thinking—about trading his life away?

No, he probably didn't.

Anger and self-loathing war within Guilmon.

"Rinkmon," Guilmon snarled. "Why are you even asking me this?"

"Didn't I already tell you?" Rinkmon wondered to himself. "Amusement. Watching you struggle with the choice between betraying your friend and the lives of thousands of innocent people is really fun."

Realization struck. Not due to his words, but simply because, in that moment, Guilmon remembered, truly remembered, who he was dealing with.

"You…would actually let them go." Guilmon said, sounding stunned.

An ordinary person wouldn't have noticed, but Guilmon was a former Royal Knight.

He could tell when someone was lying to him.

It was a necessary ability, because a lot of people lied to him.

And he could tell that Rinkmon was honest. And he even knew why, because he also knew Rinkmon.

The lives of these humans…they meant nothing to him. To Rinkmon, people didn't matter if they were weak. He terrorized the Villages of the West, avoiding anyone he couldn't beat, but those weaker than him…

Sometimes he killed them.

Sometimes he didn't.

He decided life and death on a whim.

It was the same here; he couldn't care less whether the humans lived or died. If he had to kill them, that was fine. If he didn't, that was fine too. As he'd said before, he'd probably get bored with killing them eventually.

And that made the choice even worse.

If he'd been talking to Demon and been offered this choice, he could dismiss it easily with the knowledge that Demon wouldn't really let them go.

But Rinkmon would.

Rinkmon really would spare a thousand lives in return for just one; not because he was kind, but simply because he didn't care. To save himself a minute of work, he'd spare a thousand lives; that was how trivial they were to him.

Rinkmon just looked back at him.

And for a moment, it was like Guilmon's world halted.

In that moment, he honestly was sure what to do.

In all his lives, he'd always run forward, looking ahead and never hesitating.

But now, he didn't want to. He didn't want to move forward; he didn't want to make this choice.

And, as if sensing his partner's indecision, Takato made the choice for him.

XxXXxX

"…It's done." Said the Holographic Knight.

Takato didn't say anything. His eyes were glued to his Digivice and the scene of horror upon it.

All those innocent people…

His fingers tightened around his Digivice.

Unforgivable…

The Knight didn't bother looking at the Digivice; he was already inside it.

He knew exactly what was on it and the sight made his blood boil with rage.

He hated Rinkmon; he despised him and wished for him to die. No! He wanted him to suffer!

It was a good thing he was nothing but a hologram; a pale imitation created by the real thing somewhere deep within the mind of Guilmon.

If he'd been real…

The delicate balance that separated the Knight and the Dragon might have been broken in that instant.

But through the anger, he felt something else.

Fear.

Knowing what Rinkmon could do—what he had done—made him afraid; not for himself, but for the boy he stood beside.

Ten years old…

So young…

Why was it that a child had to risk his life?

He spoke because of that feeling.

"Last chance to back down."

There was only one answer.

It came as surely as the dawn.

"Do it." Takato said.

XxXXxX

All of Tokyo came to a halt when a pillar of light connected Heaven and Earth.

It was huge; a hundred meters across at least and it pierced the sky like a spear.

It was bright; for a minute, Tokyo was illuminated as if by the sun.

And it was blue; the bluest blue you ever would see.

XxXXxX

"W-what?" Rinkmon wondered, having been forced to avert his eyes. "What the hell is that!"

Guilmon just stared. He looked into the light and didn't blink—couldn't blink—even as they began to hurt.

He knew what it was; knew with every fiber of his being. He knew in a way that was beyond all doubts and needs for explination.

And it amazed him and awed him and terrified him in a way only Rinkmon had equaled.

Takato…Oh, Takato…

He knew what it was.

That was Takato's Light.

XxXXxX

And atop the roof of a house across the city, in the Ward of Shinjuku, Takato stood. He held his Digivice in the air and was bathed in its life. It felt like his eyes were burning, even though they were closed. At the center of the light, he felt like he would go blind.

But he had to do this.

He had something to say and this was the only way he knew to say it.

He wouldn't—couldn't—run away. He'd drawn a line inside himself and he had only one direction he could move and it was against the coming tide.

Rinkmon was killing innocent people. He was slaughtering them for no reason other than the fact that, by existing, they have a slight chance of being Guilmon's partner. Rinkmon didn't know who he was or where he was, but he would continue killing until he found out.

Takato couldn't let that happen.

But he had only one way to stop it.

Rinkmon was searching for him.

Well, he was right here.

XxXXxX

High above the Buildings of Tokyo, the Pillar began to unfold. Wings spread out from it; blue draconic wings. Their wingspan was enormous—hundreds of meters from tip to tip—but not what drew the most attention to them.

There were words on those wings. Words carving into the blue light as if it were solid; darker patches blemishing its radiance.

It was a challenge directed at one Digimon and it said:

'Come Get Some.'

XxXXxX

In the moments following that display, which had stunned Tokyo for nearly a minute and was only now beginning to fade away, Guilmon thought, but did not say:

Damn it, Takato.

He risked a glance at Rinkmon who wasn't even looking at him.

He's attention was completely captured by the fading light.

Seconds ticked by and to Guilmon they felt like hours; though the time dilation might have had something to do with that.

And then Rinkmon spoke.

"Your Tamer is pretty ballsy, huh?" He said.

Shit.

He knows.

Guilmon nearly smacked himself at that thought.

Well of course he knows. Takato had somehow managed to create a huge pillar of light announcing his presence. From which giant blue dragon wings extended, upon which had been written a challenging message.

You would literally have to be blind to miss it.

What's more, Rinkmon knew enough about UlforceV-dramon to recognize those wings for what they were, too.

What happens now? Guilmon wondered.

From a certain point of view, things were better now. Takato had decided to give his life to protect the people of this city and no more of them needed to get hurt. It was a heroic act of self-sacrifice.

Takato would die, Guilmon would follow him shortly into the grave, and no more innocent people would need to get hurt.

It should have been fine that way.

But things were different now.

Takato had been willing to give his life of his own free will where Guilmon had, in a moment of weakness, been weighing the possibility of trading it—trading it, even though it was not his.

That light—Takato's Light—had blown away more than the darkness with its arrival.

Guilmon's doubts and hesitations had been erased as well. And it was like something that had been covering his eyes had been removed.

He'd been afraid of moving forward, he realized.

For the first time in his existence, he'd been honestly afraid of moving forward. He'd been afraid of making hard choices.

He'd heard that he had only two options and he'd halted in his tracks. He'd heard that it was Takato or the city and that choice had frozen him in place.

What the hell had he been thinking?

He was a Knight. A Royal Knight. It was his job to protect the innocent and the weak.

What right did he have to even consider trading their lives?

Doubt and hesitation had been replaced by shame and disgust.

Takato, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I nearly…you…oh, God, I'm pathetic. But I won't make any excuses; not when I can still make up for my mistakes.

He'd been so horrified by the two options that he had been presented that he'd failed to even try looking for another one.

"Yeah," He said, finally replying to Rinkmon's question. There was no longer any point in trying to hide Takato, for he would not hide away. The pride in his voice was just as impossible to hide. "He is."

He'd failed to look for any other options.

But now, he could see it. Illuminated by Takato's Light, he could see another way.

And there was one.

"You realize I'm going to go kill him now, right?" Rinkmon asked. "And then I'm going to kill you."

There was one other option, but fear and indecision had blinded him. He'd known it was an option, but he'd never had the faith to actually think 'this is possible.' Not just as a passing thought or an impossible dream but as 'something I can do.'

"Not…" Guilmon began, eyes and resolve hardening.

But it was there.

It had always been there.

"…If I kill you first!"

Rinkmon was long gone, but he was already in pursuit.

His body glowed and something shifted and moved within him.

Something was happening to him and he didn't know what.

But it didn't matter.

This was a fight he couldn't allow himself to lose.

Nothing else mattered.

He had something to do; something he had to show Takato.

The thing he would create…!

Takato…I'm sorry…for bringing Rinkmon here…for being weak…for almost betraying you…I am so, so sorry. But…please…watch me! Stand back and watch me! Support me for just a little while longer, Takato! I'll show it to you! You and I aren't going to die tonight, Takato! So…let me show you the future!

XxXXxX

ERRORS DETECTED

ALGORITHMS ONE THROUGH SEVEN HAVE CONFIRMED FLAWS

'ADULT FORM' CANNOT BE LOCATED

SEQUENCE CANNOT BE CONTINUED SAFELY

ATTEMPTING TO REPAIR ALGORITHMS

…

FAILED

ATTEMPTING TO HALT PROCESS

…

FAILED

MANUAL OVERRIDE ACTIVATED

EVOLUTION

XxXXxX

Takato was standing in his room when Rinkmon arrived.

Rinkmon wasn't one for wasting time—unless he thought it would be amusing—so he just slit the boy's throat with his right blade without a second thought or a moment's hesitation.

Or tried to, anyway.

It passed through the boys flesh as if through mere air and didn't leave a single wound.

Rinkmon's eyes narrowed beneath his mask.

"An illusion?" He wondered, though not to anyone specific. He tried again, just to be sure; delivering a backhand that would—and already had several times today—snap a human's neck. It too passed straight through.

"Close, but not quite."

Rinkmon whirled around so fast that he seemed to change the direction he was looking in without covering any of the space in between.

Another Takato was leaning against the wall.

One of the blades on Rinkmon's arms rake across the wall behind him after sliding through his throat.

Rinkmon frowned down at the boy he was now looming over.

"Not an illusion, hm? Then what are you, I wonder?"

A third Takato now stood behind Rinkmon. He held his arms out to each side.

"I'm a hologram." He—it—said.

The third disappeared and reappeared—or perhaps it was a fourth—in the center of the room, arms still outstretched.

He smiled at Rinkmon.

"It's cool, isn't it?" He asked. "My Digivice did it. The light show, too. That knight guy had a field day inside that thing, I swear."

Rinkmon didn't understand that last sentence, but it really wasn't important.

He wanted to kill this boy.

This boy had a way of hiding himself.

That was all he needed to know.

He thought about the situation for a moment.

If it was a hologram, it had to be coming from somewhere. As such, the boy was probably nearby.

"Where are you?" He murmured scanning the room.

"I'm right here." A dozen voices replied.

He was now surrounded by false copies of the boy, all looking very casual. One was sprawled out on the bed, reading a fake book. Another sat by him, but upright, feet dangling off. A third sat with a back to the wall, looking at Rinkmon calmly. A fourth wasn't paying attention to him at all; instead, he was looking out the window. The rest were scattered around the room.

"Let's play a game, Rinkmon." Takato said in a dozen voices. "It's called Hide-and-Seek. You're it. Find me before Guilmon gets here, which will be…quite soon, I imagine, and you can take my life. But if you lose, Guilmon will get here and it will be the end of you."

Rinkmon snorted.

"You think I'm afraid of…Guilmon?" His chuckle became a laugh.

"Yeah." They said. "Or else, you wouldn't be here. You tried fighting Guilmon but he kept getting fast and fast and so you went running scared. You're afraid, because you've realized it; you can't beat Guilmon. So you went to find people weaker then you, so that you could pick on them. You're afraid, coward. You're afraid of Guilmon and you're even afraid of a human like me."

Rinkmon flushed.

"Your little pet is nothing to me. If he arrives, that just means you'll die together."

"Well, if that's true, run, run, run, as fast as you can. Maybe you'll even find me in time."

A new Takato flickered into existence right in front of Rinkmon and gazed into his eyes with a challenging smirk.

"Go."

Rinkmon tore through the entire house in a second—in more ways than one. His blades raked the walls, he upturned tables and chairs, and he tore open closets and tossed out their contents.

But he didn't find the boy. Not even holograms of him.

They were only in that one room.

Meaning…

He returned to the room mere moments after he'd left. It had been torn apart, too, of course, but to holograms hadn't moved an inch. The two that had been on the bed were now floating in midair; the one by the window peered through its shattered remains.

They took notice of him almost immediately.

"Back again, Rinkmon?" They asked.

"It appears I've lost." He said, amusedly. He'd gone along with the game for no other reason than because it had sounded amusing.

He'd won this battle the moment he walked through the door. He could create a storm, now, and it wouldn't matter what holograms this human was hiding behind.

It didn't matter how powerful 'Guilmon' was or could become; his Tamer would die at his whim, now.

But before that, he had something to tell this impudent little boy.

"As per your rules, I suppose this is the end of the handsome Rinkmon!" He continued, overdramatically.

He paused for a moment in silence and then chuckled.

"Ah, but where is my would-be executioner?" He asked, mirthfully.

The Takatos frowned at him.

"Do you know what we were talking about before your little display?" Rinkmon asked. "I made your partner an offer; your life for your city's. And you know what? He was considering it. You interrupted us before he could answer, but…what would he have chosen I wonder?"

There was mockery and scorn in Rinkmon's voice and his words were full of venom; his eyes were like daggers and his smirk full of nothing but teeth.

But they didn't impress Takato. They tilted their heads, some still not looking at him, and then they chuckled and spoke in unison.

"That's fine." They said, freezing Rinkmon in his tracks.

"W-what!" He demanded, recovering quickly but unable to stop a stutter.

"I said that's fine." They repeated. "Guilmon had a choice between me and thousands of innocent people and he wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't just throw away that many lives, but he couldn't just throw away mine, either."

The Takatos all looked at him, then.

"Do you think that's a betrayal, Rinkmon?" They wondered, smiling like they knew something he didn't. "That Guilmon's heart was too kind to make such a decision lightly? I wonder…Rinkmon, if you had a choice…between your life and every person in this city, what would you chose?"

"Mine." He answered, without hesitation.

They continued to smile at him, but now they were full of contempt.

"I know you would, Rinkmon. But Guilmon wouldn't. Even though he doesn't know the people of this city, he'd still give his life to protect them. And it's not even because of me; if he and I had never become partners, I truly feel that Guilmon would still make that choice. Because…he's Guilmon. And he's better then trash like you. I'm glad you told me that, Rinkmon; I have no doubts any more."

Rinkmon chuckled.

"For someone whose better, he's not here to save your life, is he?"

"He'll be here." They said with complete certainty. "He'll show up just in time to save the day, like a hero should."

"Oh, really?" Rinkmon asked with fake curiosity. "Let's test that theory, shall we? Quadruple Storm!"

The four tornados converged on Rinkmon, but it didn't matter; the entire room was affected. The torn remains of the room were picked up and flung around, the broken remains of the windows broke even further, the walls were smacked roughly with debris, and the ceiling…

Flickered.

A moment later, Takato lost his grip on the top of the shelf and was promptly smashed into the ground.

It hurt. A lot.

In fact, Takato was surprised nothing was broken. That was one of Rinkmon's strongest attacks, right?

The Digivice was right; he really must be weak.

More than strong enough to kill a human, though; he'd proven that quite thoroughly.

The storm stopped the moment he touched the floor.

Takato took a moment to recover and then looked up at Rinkmon, who was gazing at the ceiling.

"A hologram?" He asked.

"You wouldn't know, since you've never been in my room, but my ceilings about two feet higher then I made it look." Takato explained. "While everyone was still distracted by the light, I ran down to my room, climbed onto the highest thing I could get on top of, and made a hologram to hid myself, since I knew you'd come here."

"Cute." Rinkmon admitted. "I didn't even think of the ceilings being fake."

"I know." Takato said, grinning.

Rinkmon rolled his eyes beneath his mask, but let that remark slide; he'd won and the boy was at his mercy now, so that plan he was so proud of didn't matter now.

"Now…where were we?" Rinkmon wondered. "Ah, yes. You said something about him showing up just in time, right?"

Rinkmon showed him the blades on his arms with a smirk.

"Well, it's now or never."

Rinkmon flickered towards Takato at a speed he could not hope to track.

But he didn't lay a hand on him.

Because in that moment, a giant fist literally punched through his bedroom wall and hit Rinkmon right in the face.

And most of the upper body, actually.

"Oh Yeah!" A thunderous voice cried.

A grin stretched across Takato's face.

He didn't even need to turn around.

He already knew who it was.

That hand and arm were too big, but…

There was only one person it could be.

He'd done it! He'd distracted Rinkmon long enough!

"Welcome home." He said.

"Ah…Sorry I'm late." 'Guilmon' replied. "Traffic was a bitch."

Takato shook his head, back still to his partner.

He felt like laughing.

And crying.

"You're not late." He said instead. "The party's just getting started."

XxXXxX

Rinkmon bounced off the ground and crashed into the outer wall on the other side of the house and fell to the ground. He'd crashed through several other walls before hitting it, too. And a floor. He was now on the opposite side of the house and a level lower than the boy and his Digimon.

He laid there for a minute, one thought running through his mind.

What the hell?

He'd just gotten punched, obviously.

It had hurt, too, but that wasn't the point.

There had been someone there to punch him.

If he thought about it logically, only one other person should know his exact location. And while there was always the possibility that someone he wasn't aware of had tracked him down and come after him, it was unlikely.

How many people would notice him, care about him, and be able to follow his speed?

It was a pretty short list, even in the Digital World.

In the Human World, it would be single digits at best, and probably just one.

In fact, he'd be pretty shocked if there was more than just one.

But…

That hit…

He'd already been punched by 'Guilmon' once, if that was the name of that strange Digimon. And it had hurt, but not as much as the one that had just hit him.

He pushed himself to his feet and shook off the dust and powder that had covered him when he'd hit the wall.

And the size of that fist…it had been the size of his chest.

It wasn't Guilmon's; he wasn't that big.

But Guilmon was the only one it could be, even if he was the only one who knew.

After all, he was a Digimon.

Evolution.

Shit.

It was a possibility, and a likely one at that.

Which was really bad.

Wait, he told himself, stop.

Level alone wasn't everything.

Guilmon was stronger than him physically, due to his mass change. Evolution making him bigger didn't matter; if he could touch him, he could eventually tear him apart.

Keyword being 'if.'

Rinkmon was weak, offensively.

He knew that better than anyone.

Generally speaking, it didn't matter.

If one of their hits was worth ten of his, it was fine as long as he hit them twenty times, right?

If Guilmon evolved, he'd be bigger and more powerful, sure, but that didn't necessarily mean he would win.

When evolving, you gain new traits and powers, but you lose some as well.

He himself could evolve to the Perfect Level anytime he chose; he was powerful, even for a Rinkmon. He was one of Mercurymon's most trusted soldiers, after all. He simply chose not to evolve, because doing so held the risk of taking away his great speed.

If Guilmon had evolved, it went without saying that he would be stronger.

But was strength alone a virtue?

What had happened to his speed?

Rinkmon was at the doorway of the boy's room a moment later.

No one was there.

He frowned.

It was obvious where they went; there was a hole in the wall leading outside.

But…

Why?

It made more sense to stay inside; in the limited space of the house, it would be harder for him to move. The same was true of Guilmon, of course, but given the speed difference between them, slowing him down was probably the most important issue for him.

Not to mention that it was the boy's house, so he should have the advantage of knowing the territory. Though Rinkmon had already eliminated that advantage; he'd probably seen every inch of this house.

So if he was still taking him outside, then…

Rinkmon smiled.

So he was right.

It was possible that they simply didn't want to ruin this house, but that was extremely unlikely; the boy had drawn him here in the first place and he'd already torn the place apart. There really wasn't much left to save.

Then the most likely explanation was…

He was too big to fight in the house. The size of his fist supported that conclusion.

He was bigger than he had been before, as was usual for evolution.

Which meant…

He was probably slower, too.

Perfect.

XxXXxX

'Guilmon' set Takato down gently on the ground outside the house.

Even as he hurriedly sorted through the cards he'd grabbed, he spared Guilmon's new 'form' a worried glance.

Maybe it was his fault. He'd never gotten around to designing an Adult form. Maybe that was the reason…

It was like someone had peeled off Guilmon's skin; if there was a red framework beneath his skin, that is. He kept all the strange enhancement's Takato's card's had granted him and he was bigger now, too, but his shape…

It was like his body couldn't decide on one.

Before Takato's eyes, Guilmon's body flowed and lengthened, becoming lobster-like, though Takato thought he could still see draconic features—without any skin, it was hard to tell, though.

And for a moment, it seemed as if Guilmon would stay that way—zeroes and ones ran across the surface of Guilmon's flesh and it seemed, for a moment, that this was it. That this would be the form Guilmon chose.

And then a shape sound from his Digivice broke the moment.

Takato looked at its screen and it said this:

Improper form selected. Evolution to Ebidramon failed.

Guilmon's new form trembled for a moment, as if trying to fight what was to come, but his resistance failed and suddenly he snapped back to the form of Guilmon, though his skin did not return.

"You…"

Takato's head snapped around.

Rinkmon stood across the street.

Takato hadn't even seen him arrive.

"You…" Rinkmon's smile seemed to falter for a moment but then returned with interest. "Your constitutional data is failing?"

Rinkmon suddenly laughed.

"Oh, God, this is rich." He said, mirthfully. "When I came out here, I was expecting you to be so big and bulky that you stood no chance against me, but…this is even better! Your body can't even decide what shape it's supposed to be in and so you have none!"

His smile suddenly took a wicked turn.

"Without a body to protect you…I don't need to tell you how vulnerable you are, do I?"

Takato's eyes widened, but the battle was already on.

Guilmon's arms lengthened, even as his body tried to flow into that of a squid's, but Rinkmon lashed out with a fist and it sunk into his flesh.

There was a moment of silence before Guilmon gave a pained cry and—with another sound from his Digivice—shrank back into his own form.

Takato watched with panicked eyes as Rinkmon refused to let up.

It should have bounced off, Takato thought, fear now gripping his heart. Every other punch Rinkmon had delivered had just connected and done little.

But not now.

Now, Guilmon was being forced to dodge someone a hundred times faster than him.

…It was going as one would expect it too.

It made sense, Takato realized a moment later. If what Rinkmon said was true, Guilmon was fighting skinless, and everything his skin should have protected was out in the open.

"Defense Plug-in C, Activate!" He cried, sweeping the first defensive card he found even as the two opponents were moved so fast that he could not even see them. A moment later, he found a much better card and slashed that, too. "Brave Shield, Activate!"

The battle came to a temporary halt a moment later, as Rinkmon slammed into the shield and bounced off of it.

Both the impact with the shield and the following one with the ground looked painful, Takato noted with satisfaction.

But he was surprised when Guilmon didn't press the advantage.

"Guilmon?" Takato asked worriedly, looking at him.

It was easy to see what the problem was. Even without his skin there to show the wounds, it was obvious that Guilmon had been badly beaten in the few seconds it had taken him to find the right cards.

Guilmon's body tried to grow into the form he recognized as Greymon, but another sound from his Digivice foretold the inevitable.

With a pained groan, 'Greymon' collapsed back into Guilmon.

"Guilmon, stop." Takato pleaded. "You're trying to evolve, right? You don't have too; you can win without evolving."

"No," Guilmon stated bluntly after a long moment of silence in which he tried to catch his breath. "I can't. I can barely keep up with him and eventually these cards are gonna run out. I have to end this as quickly as possible."

"Guilmon, at this rate, all you're going to end is yourself!"

Guilmon—the framework that had been Guilmon—panted for a moment and replied.

"I have to take that risk. You don't feel it, Takato; you can't. There's so much power, just out of reach. If I can just take a hold of it, then I could crush RInkmon and protect everyone. I just need to find my Adult form—any Adult form that works—and I can win this!"

But Guilmon, Takato wanted to say, you have no Adult form! I never gave you one!

But he caught his partner's 'eyes.' He saw something there—he wasn't sure what, but it convinced him.

He took a step back and nodded.

"Just…try to buy me some time, Guilmon." He said. "I'll find an Adult Form for you."

Even if I have to make it myself.

XxXXxX

Guilmon could tell that Rinkmon was really getting tired of being thrown around.

He would have liked to mock him about it, but he'd taken a Hell of a lot worse and wasn't really in a position to.

"Okay, this is getting annoying," Rinkmon said, tilting his head to the side and cracking his neck.

He turned his head and more than anything else that had happened that night, that terrified Takato's partner.

Rinkmon wasn't even looking at Guilmon anymore.

He had eyes only for Takato, now.

If Guilmon had a heart, it would be thundering in his chest.

He supposed it was too much to hope for—that Rinkmon would show honor.

He'd known long ago that Rinkmon was a dishonorable bastard. And if he hadn't, he would have learned it quite thoroughly tonight.

Even worse, he was a smart bastard.

He knew that Guilmon was in no condition to fight. Nothing had changed with his attempt to evolve; he was still weaker than Rinkmon.

No—he was even weaker now.

But there was a variable in this equation.

The same one that had been there since the beginning.

Takato.

Even when he had been a Child Level against one of the faster Digimon in the Digital World, Takato had been able to even the odds, bit by bit, until he could, if nothing else, fight back. He'd closed a gap that had seemed unfathomable and made Guilmon believe—truly believe within his heart—that he could win this. That he could beat Rinkmon.

And now, even with Guilmon's constantly failing attempts to evolve properly, he was a source of danger to Rinkmon.

Guilmon was weak now, and easily hurt besides. Rinkmon should, in theory, be able to pick him apart. Hell—not 'in theory.' Rinkmon had been picking him apart. It had been obvious that Guilmon would lose this fight and die; it had simply been a prolonged battle in order to reach that end.

But with Takato nearby, was that really the only option?

No.

Not with Takato.

If he'd closed the gap between Guilmon and the relativistic Rinkmon, then closing this gap wouldn't be particularly hard for him, either. It might hurt, like it had before. And it might involve looking a bit freakish.

But Guilmon truly believed that Takato could let him win this.

And Rinkmon believed it too.

Today, the two of them had experienced firsthand, the power of a Tamer. It had been a painful and drawn-out lesson on both their parts, but they'd learned their lesson and taken it to heart.

And while the mere thought of what could happen next—what plans and powers would come to him from the mind and cards of his Tamer—brought joy and vicious excitement to Guilmon's heart…

It terrified Rinkmon.

Guilmon could see it, reading Rinkmon's face like an open book. He tried to hide it, but he couldn't.

Not anymore.

Had it been there earlier? Had it been fear that had driven Rinkmon from the park? Had he just been too blinded by his own fear to see it?

Maybe.

But it didn't matter.

All that matter was that, here and now, Rinkmon was afraid. Here and now, Rinkmon honestly feared for his life. He was afraid that Guilmon and his Tamer would finally make him pay for all his crimes—and they would, if Guilmon had anything to say about it.

But that fear drove him to action.

Like a cornered animal, Rinkmon would do anything to save his own life—and he hadn't had many limits to begin with.

Whether it had been fear or spite that had originally driven Rinkmon after his Tamer…

It was fear now.

He was afraid of Guilmon, even in this horribly weakened condition, but mainly, he was afraid of Takato.

And he would do anything to kill him now.

He would fight as if his life depended on it; and oh, how it did.

In a way, little had changed, between when Rinkmon first entered the city and now.

But there were wounds on Rinkmon now and a madness starting to consume his eyes and Takato was so close. So very, very close. Guilmon could hear him, smell him, feel his Tamer behind him.

He was so close to him and so close to Rinkmon's blades as well. It wouldn't take much; faster than the human eye could hope to follow, in the space of an microscopic fraction of second, Rinkmon could cover the distance between them and those blades would split human flesh as they had so many times this night,

The thought would have made Guilmon's blood boil, if he'd had any.

He was the only thing that separated Takato and Rinkmon and he had to succeed in making things stay that way.

Succeed, even if he'd failed to stop Rinkmon so many times already.

Guilmon's nearly feral eyes met Rinkmon's and there was enough reason in them to fight, but nothing more. They held gazes for a moment.

And then Rinkmon twitched and they were off.

Guilmon bounded forward as his body lengthened and shifted into the form of Lighdramon. He leapt forward, taking across the grounds as a biped. It was a form of movement that was unfamiliar and yet it came naturally to him.

At a speed that could have outraced lightning bolts, he streaked across the street outside the ruin of Takato's house, diving into the way of Rinkmon as he tried to rush past him.

Guilmon knew that he held his Tamers fate in his hands.

And he knew that he wouldn't fail him while he did.

Guilmon knew that this was probably one of the fastest forms he was likely to 'evolve' into and fully intended to make use of it while he still could. Like Rinkmon, Lighdramon was an evolution originally caused by the Digimental of Friendship, only with V-mon rather than Hawkmon.

Of course, there was nothing to say that say that this Rinkmon had evolved from a Hawkmon.

But that wasn't the point.

The source of their power was originally the same. Rinkmon was faster naturally, but…

This form was nothing to sneeze at, either.

Rinkmon, not expecting to suddenly be fighting a Lighdramon, crashed into him.

Guilmon winced.

It hurt him at least as much as it had hurt Rinkmon.

Probably more.

It didn't matter.

This evolution could fade at any moment and he had no time to waste. He sank his claws into the street even as the collision sent him skidding back.

He pushed forward again almost as soon as he stopped.

He and Rinkmon fell into a mass of claws and blades a fraction of a second later. He tried to lay open Rinkmon's throat, but was blocked in an instant by a blade. Guilmon wrapped his fingers around the blade as much as Lightdramon's form would allow. He pressed himself against it with all his weight, even as it cut into his fingers. He twisted and lunged towards Rinkmon's face, mouth opened wide to show off his teeth.

Rinkmon flinched back before he could take a bite of him, but it accomplished its intended purpose.

With Rinkmon off balance, Guilmon gave a final push with all the force he could muster and manage to force Rinkmon to the ground. He pinned the blade he held to the ground, restricting Rinkmon's arm with it.

Rinkmon quickly tried to counter, lashing out with the blade on his other blade, aiming it to slit 'Lighdramon's' throat.

Guilmon managed to lower his head enough to hide his neck and caught the blade instead in his teeth.

Both blades were restrained.

Guilmon saw a chance and he took it, lifting his remaining forepaw with the intention of crushing Rinkmon's head.

Rinkmon thought fast, as he did all things. He quickly drew his legs to his chest before kicking at Guilmon's.

Rinkmon extended his legs as far as he could, even lifting his waist and lower back from the ground and all but standing on his upper back and neck.

'Lighdramon's' attack missed, of course, and he was forced to let go of the blades in his grasp as he was thrown away.

Now free, Rinkmon executed some complicated maneuver that began with a storm of upside-down motion and ended with him spinning like an ice-skater on his feet.

Wow, Guilmon couldn't help but think, you should enter dance competitions.

Then he caught himself complimenting his foe and added a belated '…in Hell!'

Skiding across the ground was getting old, but at least Guilmon was getting experience with recovering from them, so he stopped his motion quickly and skillfully.

He didn't waste time with self-admiration, though; he knew he was awesome.

Instead, he dove for Rinkmon's throat again, even though he knew he'd almost surely miss.

There was, after all, always the remote possibility that he wouldn't.

He did, however, as Rinkmon, apparently unaffected by what had just happened, smoothly leaned backwards and allowed Guilmon to fly over him.

He immediately straightened, not even looking at Guilmon.

Rinkmon knew that Guilmon wasn't his objective and he wouldn't allow himself to be distracted.

He'd kill him after the human was dead.

And so his eyes sought out the boys face as he lifted a hand to initiate an attack that would end with the boy's death.

He wasn't able to finish the attempt before 'Fladramon' tackled him from behind.

When 'Lighdramon' had landed he hadn't even bothered turning around, aware that his partner's life was in danger and unwilling to waste any time while he was in danger.

He discarded Lighdramon despite its usefulness and began changing back into Guilmon. He didn't even wait to let himself finish before 'evolving' into another form. He never turned around; Guilmon just became taller and leaner, transforming into the shape of Fladramon.

But when he finish, he was facing the opposite direction and now faced Rinkmon's exposed back. He shifted his entire body to face different direction without moving and when he saw what Rinkmon was doing, he tackled him boldly and without a second thought.

They rolled to the ground in an undignified heap and immediately wrestled for dominance in a storm of blades and claws.

'Fladramon' tried to repeat his former feat and bind Rinkmon's limbs. This time, he'd know to keep an eye on his legs as well and wouldn't be caught by surprise again.

But the same trick wouldn't work on Rinkmon twice.

Now prepared, Rinkmon had rolled perfectly with the blow and brought up an arm in a instant. Even with his back to the ground and his body in midair, he didn't slow down in the slightest—as always, he was unbelievably, impossibly fast and he knew exactly how to use it.

The blow slammed into the side of Guilmon's head, sending stars across his vision. In that instant, Rinkmon was out from under him. He barely had time to realize that before another blow slammed down hard on the back of his neck and a rough kick slammed harshly into his side.

The breath was immediately forced out of him and he fell to all fours, even as Rinkmon continued to slam blow after blow into his side.

It was fine. As long as Rinkmon was wasting time with him, it was fine. It meant Takato had a chance to finish whatever he was doing and…he had a chance to put his plan in action.

He'd long since finished the piece of code he'd been working on, but…now wasn't the time to use it. He would probably only have one shot with it and he had to make it count—in his current form, even if he landed the hit successfully, it still probably wouldn't do what he wanted it too.

But he could adjust it easily to do something a bit differently.

His form was, at the moment, mercurial. And while that opened him up to attacks and made him weak, it did have certain advantages—such as surprise. Originally, his data had tried to form random chains in an attempt to 'lock on' to the proper evolution, or at least one that was acceptable. Each time, it failed, and it would continue to do so, because no such thing existed. Afterwards, his form had shifted back to 'Guilmon' as the code reverted back to its natural form before trying again.

With his knowledge of programming, he'd streamlined the process, allowing him to shift from form to form. He'd shifted into two forms, Fladramon and Lighdramon, due to their similarities in code, as both were evolutions of V-mon.

However…now he felt he could control the shift a little bit more. Maybe even completely, as long as he had knowledge of the proper code.

Oh, hey, look; it's the data of the Digimental of Friendship.

He'd used it before, as a test, shifting into Lighdramon by filling in the blacks of the Digimental's code with V-mon's, which was easy for him to remember.

But with some effort, he should be able to influence his next shift into another evolution related to the Digimental. He just needed to fill in a little bit of data to 'direct' the process.

After one more savage kick, Rinkmon turned away from his downed opponent, suppressing his anger violently to refocus his attention where it should be—on Takato.

And as he immediately dashed for the young Tamer, it was like the world slowed down before Guilmon's eyes.

It was not fear or dread that caused it, nor his mind playing tricks on him. From his point of view, it was like the world had really slowed down.

Just for a moment, he felt like he was back to himself again.

And so, as Rinkmon sped towards his Tamer, 'Rinkmon' rose behind him and chased quickly after.

Rinkmon noticed almost instantly, but at their speed, that 'almost' meant he was far too late.

His reaction to the sight of a skinless, red framework version of himself didn't help much—he froze at the sight, his eyes growing wide.

In truth, that fact was a blessing for Guilmon. Despite his form, he was not truly Rinkmon—he was a pile of links of code trying and failing to become Rinkmon. He could barely draw on a pale shadow of Rinkmon's power and only because he already possessed the date of the Digimental of Friendship.

Even with that, he could just barely draw on some of Rinkmon's speed. He couldn't use any of Rinkmon's attacks in this form, just like he couldn't use the powers of any other Digimon whose form he tried to take.

Even with all his speed enhancing cards in effect, he could only barely match Rinkmon's speed—and he had no way of knowing how long this transformation would last before he was forced to move on to the next one.

So, to him, Rinkmon's hesitation was a godsend. It only lasted a moment, but it was enough for Guilmon to catch up, despite his opponent's head start.

As soon as he caught up, he did something he would never get tired of doing.

He punched Rinkmon across the face.

And the moment he did, their battle resumed.

In that first second, hundreds of blows were exchanged. Each stepped back many times, trying to get either breathing room or a perspective on the battle, but it never lasted more than a microscopic fraction of a second before they were back at each other's throats.

At times, it almost seemed like they were dancing—a deadly dance to be sure, full of whirling blades and swinging fists—but a dance nonetheless. They skated around their battlefield, like Olympic Medalists trying to outdo each other. Their battle was not restricted just to the area in front of Takato's ruined home, for when Rinkmon tried to shift the battle to endanger Takato, Guilmon would always subtly turn it way, taking the battle up and down the street.

His tactic showed his faith, revealing it through his action. He was not hesitating, or withdrawing, or fearing for his life in the slightest. He backed off only when moving forward would put him in a bad position, and as soon as a new path opened, it was taken.

It was not the reckless assault of someone who thought he would die, but the action of a man who truly believed that as long as he moved forward, victory would always be possible.

At some point, along the way, he'd lost that. He didn't know where—maybe that one time it had seemed like it wasn't enough, when he'd lost to Mercurymon despite everything. And yet, here he was. Thanks to the actions of his friend, here he was.

He'd forgotten the aspect of himself that before he'd always clung too, and he was ashamed at that.

But he had it back now and he wouldn't lose it again.

He truly felt that he would win—that he could win—and he knew exactly how.

He believed in his Tamer.

He believed in Matsuda Takato.

His Tamer had promised him a miracle and he believed that Takato would deliver. He believed that as long as he bought Takato the time he needed, he would open up a path to victory and see him through.

But if you rush a miracle worker, you just get lousy miracles.

So he would put his life on the line to buy him the time he needed.

Even if it may have seemed foolhardy to attack a furiously as he did, it kept Rinkmon away from his Tamer for another second—and that was worth it.

In the next second, Rinkmon tried a different path of approach—and then another and another. He circled around the block, took shortcuts through alleys, made his own short cuts through houses—but each time, Guilmon appeared in his way.

In the next second, his strategy changed slightly. Rinkmon tried to lure him away from Takato each time he attacked and fell away, hoping to open a path to the Tamer, but it never worked. No matter what he tried, Guilmon stuck by his Tamer, always in motion, moving so fast he knew Takato couldn't possibly see him—but even so, he hovered over his friend like an invisible guardian angel.

Rinkmon then tried to hammer through his defenses, knowing his unprotected hide was his weakness. The attacks came a hundred times—a thousand times—directed towards his eyes, his head, his groin, his legs, and ever place Rinkmon knew would hurt. Guilmon couldn't stop him in a straight clash of powers, so each time, an arm or a blade slipped into the way of the attack, sliding it gently out of the way.

For Rinkmon, this was a battle of pride—a battle of who was the better Rinkmon. He had thought he would easily win, as he had far more experience at being Rinkmon. But Guilmon had more experience in general, and knew how to fight at speeds like this, even if he was in a different body.

But for Guilmon, it was just a fight for his Tamer's life. He fought as a Knight would to protect his Lord.

And he had decided he would do anything to protect his friend.

So when he felt his body start to shift again, he fought it with all his might. He prolonged his existence as 'Rinkmon' for as long as he could, until it began to become nearly painful to hold on.

Maybe it showed on his face, or in his movements, or in something else, but Rinkmon must have picked up on it somehow. In those next few moments, his assault increased dramatically, trying—and succeeding—in wearing down the transformation.

Whether it was the pain or relativity, those seconds felt like an eternity to Guilmon.

He slide aside a blade that would have gouged out his right eye, pushed away an attack that would have cut his thighs, pushed down a thrust that would have pushed a blade straight into his groin and tried to kick out with the blade on his left foot and turn the flow of the battle in his favor—but it wasn't meant to be.

Was he was slowing down?

Whether it was due to the transformation or exhaustion…he was.

He had to something. Now. He needed to buy a little more time.

But if he stayed on the defensive, Rinkmon would just continue to wear him down.

But would it help if he went on the offensive? Would he be able to accomplish anything?

…He had to try.

His transformation was about to fade and before it did, he had to try.

Rinkmon was a storm of blades, so…Guilmon became one, too. Putting the last second of his transformation into it, he clashed with all his might, hoping for another miracle.

Perhaps it came, when, during the clashing of a thousand blades and as many fists, he managed to slip a single punch past Rinkmon's defense. Noticing at the last, Rinkmon tried to dodge, but Guilmon still hit him in the shoulder.

Maybe that was the miracle.

But if it wasn't, what happened next definitely was.

Suddenly, Rinkmon's armor began to glitch. It flickered in and out of stability, as if near deletion.

With a gasp, Rinkmon retreated all the way down the street in a second, even as Guilmon shrank into his normal form.

It was only then that sound caught up with the pair.

"—Armor Pause! Activate!" Takato cried.

'Hell yeah, Takato,' Guilmon thought.

He understood the effect of the card almost immediately. It uploaded a virus in an enemy Armor Digimon, disrupting their evolution in the hopes of returning them to their lower leveled forms.

In the card game, it was a perfect effect, unless countered. Once played, the opponent would immediately revert to their Child level form and that would be the end of that.

In Reality, things were not so simple.

Things weren't as simply as 'work' or 'doesn't work.' The results were dependent on a number of factors; the power of everyone involved, their skill with code, the amount of time they had, the stress of the situation, etc. Otherwise, there was probably a card out there that let you automatically win the battle or devolve your opponent to Child or something, and it would pretty much make whoever had it God.

On the bright side, Guilmon was very skilled with writing Digital Code. Even as the remains of two former Royal Knights, he was one of the best around, combining, at least, a shadow of Dukemon's skill with a shadow of UlforceV-dramon's speed.

Rinkmon couldn't beat him in that department.

But he hopelessly outmatched him in most others, at the moment. He was stronger, faster, and of a higher level.

But, again, things weren't as simple as that. While Rinkmon's natural firewalls and anti-viruses were enough to keep him for actually reverting to a lower level, it wasn't enough to truly ignore the effect—even now, the virus was playing havoc with Rinkmon's systems.

The term 'Armor Digimon' was somewhat misleading. He wasn't truly wearing 'Armor;' or rather, his armor was a part of his body. In addition, the body 'beneath' the armor was itself a part of the armor—Fladramon was not simply a V-mon in a fire-themed armor, for example. An Armor Digimon's entire form could be considered their 'Armor,' so what was being torn apart at the moment was Rinkmon himself.

Even so, Rinkmon was quickly trying to counter the problems in his system, and slowly succeeding. His armor still fluctuated, but it would be only seconds until he recovered.

Guilmon did the obvious thing and attempted to approach, hoping to use his opponent's weakness to win, but as soon as he began moving, Rinkmon backed up twice that distance.

Understanding, Guilmon stopped.

As expected, Rinkmon was pragmatic. He wasn't going to try and fight through his weakness; he'd simply wait at a distance until he'd fixed himself. He'd stay close enough to view whatever was happening, however, not wanting to be surprised.

But Guilmon would never be able to get close enough to hurt him without Rinkmon coming to him. Rinkmon was moving slower, now, but it didn't matter. Even if he was at a tenth of his normal speed, he was still ten times faster than Guilmon.

And as soon as he fixed his problems, he'd go right back to his full speed.

Then…what was the point of this Takato?

"Get ready, Guilmon; this is it!" His Tamer said, ignorant of his questions. In the distance, Rinkmon tensed wearily. "Full Charge! Holy Healing! Ultimate Recovery! Activate!"

In an instant, the cards began to take effect, healing all the damage that Rinkmon had done to his skinless hide, bolstering his already powerful healing abilities. In moments, he was recovered—but it didn't matter. In moments, Rinkmon would be as well and they'd be right back where they started—with Rinkmon ripping him to pieces.

All this had done was reset the battle.

But even so, Guilmon believed Takato had a plan—and his faith was rewarded by his Tamer's next words.

"Are you ready, Guilmon? Because I'm done! Aim for the Strongest Evolution! Activate!" He said, slashing one more card.

In that moment, everything that was wrong became right. His systems realigned and corrected all errors, easily finding an answer that hadn't been there before Takato had created one for him. Power filled him, along with a bottomless joy and anticipation, and he knew exactly was it meant.

He was evolving.

His framework shifted and expanded, no longer uncertain in its path. His limbs lengthened, as did his teeth and claws. He felt hair begin to sprout from his scalp, as bladelike growths began to extend from his arms.

And then, best of all, tough, armor-like skin began to grow around him, finishing the picture. His body was colored red and black and his hair a stark white.

He snorted plumes of smoke from his nostrils and narrowed his eyes at Rinkmon. Even though he hadn't moved a step, Rinkmon took a nervous step back.

Suddenly, Guilmon shuddered, his body bulging in strange places—his arms, his neck, and his back, mainly—as the 'enhancements' caused by the cards began to add themselves to his new form. For a moment, he thought they would tear there way out of his flesh again, but just as they seemed ready to do so, they slide smoothly through instead.

"Are you ready, Growmon?" Takato asked, naming his new creation. At his words, that name carved itself into his partner's data and suddenly became so obvious to Guilmon's mind that he wondered how he hadn't known it before.

He nodded to his partner's question, narrowing his eyes.

He exhaled a sudden burst of flame, more as a distraction than anything else. At their speed, it burnt through the air so slowly that a tall candle could have melted fully before it reached Rinkmon—well, if a candle could burn normally from their perspective.

But even at speeds like theirs, a sudden burst of flame could be distracting and distractions could still be dangerous.

Growmon covered the distance that separated him and Rinkmon in a blur of red and black. The blades on his arms had extended and begun to glow an electric blue—unlike the fire, they were actually part of his body, and would move as fast as he could swing his arms.

But even distracted, Rinkmon was on the lookout for attacks, due to his weakened state, and immediately retreated at the sight of Growmon's approach.

Rinkmon may have had only a tenth on his normal speed and Growmon, whether because of something Takato had included in his design or because he was now able to draw on more of his former power in his new form, could at least match that, but a hundred meter head start wasn't something that could be removed that easily—especially when Rinkmon now had a tremendous desire to stay away from him. They both knew that Rinkmon was in trouble. They were now in the same ballpark, speed-wise, but it was obvious who was the more powerful—if he could land a single, solid attack, he was fairly sure he could kill Rinkmon.

So Rinkmon had no intention of letting him land that attack.

But he had to end this, soon. He had Rinkmon backed into a corner at the moment and he had to kill him quickly, before he had a chance to recover his speed—last time Rinkmon had been backed into a corner, his solution was to kill hundreds of innocent people; he knows what he might try to do, now?

Best case scenario, he'd run away and get away with his crimes.

More likely, he'd start involving innocent people again and taking hostages. Growmon may have been able to keep him away from Takato, but they were in the middle of a city full of innocent men, women, and children—he couldn't protect them all.

This had to end, here and now.

But by the time Growmon had reached the place he'd been and swung a plasma coated blade through the space he'd occupied, he was on the sidewalk in front of the red colored building down the street. By the time his fist had crushed the side walk an instant later, Rinkmon had backed up to a telephone pole nearly a block away, which Growmon immediately chopped down, missing his opponent completely.

The pattern continued from there, Rinkmon dodging leaving Growmon to wreak havoc wherever he had stood. Growmon was wise enough to avoid harming any of the buildings where people might have lived, but there were destroying this street. Every light and telephone pole had fallen, claws and blades had left gouges in the streets and walls, and the surface of the road had long since been reduced to rubble.

Tearing a mass of the street out of the ground, he chucked it at Rinkmon in frustration, knowing it had no chance of hitting. Absently flickering back to his Tamer's side, he batted away the shrapnel that was falling towards him 'slowly,' which could have torn him apart.

He couldn't catch up to Rinkmon like this. To do that, he'd need Takato's help, but therein lay the problem.

All through the fight, Takato had been making him faster and faster, in order to compete with Rinkmon's speed. But his Tamer wasn't sped up with him, which had caused more and more delays in his reaction times, from Growmon's perspective. Hours of combat could—and had—been fit into the time Takato needed to choose and swipe a single card.

Why, right now, he was in the process of slashing a card, but in Growmon's eyes, he was a statue—

And then Growmon's eyes caught glimpse of the card in his Tamer's hand.

Ah.

Of course, he wasn't the only one to realize that problem—naturally, Takato was even more aware of it then he was.

And he'd solved it the only way he could—he had planned all his moves in advanced.

Growmon's eyes flickered over his Tamer's other cards in an instant and he understood what Takato had planned. Naturally, Takato wasn't fast enough to communicate his plan to Growmon, so he had operated under the hope that his partner would be able to figure it out on his own.

And Growmon thought that maybe he had. And with that knowledge…it was obvious what he had to do.

He had to adapt his own strategies to make the plan work.

Pursuing Rinkmon was futile and, thanks to Takato's plan, unnecessary. As such, it was a better idea to simply stand guard over his Tamer, just in case, so Growmon did.

Rinkmon watched him silently for a moment, expecting a trap or another sudden attack that was sure to fail—but it never came. Growmon just huddled around his Tamer, ready to spring to his defense in an instant, if needed, but unwilling to move otherwise.

Surprisingly, this complete lack of action unnerved Rinkmon more than any amount of deadly attacks, because the predatory gleam that promised death never left Growmon's golden eyes.

But even so, Rinkmon silently continued to repair the damaged areas of his own data, for that was all he could do. No matter what happened, he would rely on his speed to see him through it, as he always did.

For his part, Takato surely must have noticed his partner looming over him—but to his credit, he didn't waste even a moment acknowledging him and swept the card.

From Growmon's perspective, it had taken ages from that card to slide through his Tamer's D-Arc, though from Takato's, it had happened in a second.

But either way, it was definitely worth it.

"Common Switch, Activate!" Takato said, but nobody heard. His Partner was long gone and by the time his voice reached him, both he and Rinkmon would be moving far too fast to perceive sound meaningfully.

The purpose of 'Common Switch' was simple: It switched Growmon's location.

One moment, he curled protectively around his Tamer.

The next, he was right in Rinkmon's face.

Even as Rinkmon's movements were paralyzed by surprise, Growmon swept a glowing blue blade down like an executioner's ax. Recovering in an instant thanks to his training and experience, Rinkmon tried to dodge—but his movements were slowed by Armor Pause.

By some miracle, he managed to avoid dying—but Growmon's plasma-like blade opened a deep wound from shoulder to waist.

Growmon was moving too fast to hear sounds effectively, just as Rinkmon was moving too fast to speak in any way that could be understood.

Otherwise, Growmon and Takato would both have been able to hear him scream.

While a bit disappointed about that, Growmon knew better than to not follow up while he had the chance. He continued to lash out in a storm of plasma blades. Rinkmon dodged as well as he could, but they were equally matched in speed at the moment and Rinkmon no longer had the advantage of distance to protect him. He used his smaller size as best he could, but glancing blows still made it through to cut at his flesh.

If things stayed like this, Rinkmon would die before long. Even if he could completely dodge ninety-nine out of a hundred attacks—which he couldn't—the one that remained would still hit him and they were moving so fast that a lot of attacks would hit him every second. He couldn't even counterattack—well, he could, but this new form had been keyed towards preventing damage and Rinkmon's attacks would probably just bounce right off of him.

Then, the only variable was whether or not Rinkmon could regain his speed.

—But even if he did, it wouldn't matter. He and Takato had prepared for even that. As long has he could at least drag this on long enough to let Takato slash those next two cards, then it wouldn't matter whether Rinkmon regained his former speed. He'd long since finished the code he'd been working on, so all the pieces were already in place.

Rinkmon had already lost this fight.

He just didn't know it yet.

Growmon began aiming slashes at Rinkmon's legs as he knew he was running out of time. Several seconds had passed since he'd first used Armor Pause, and he was surprised that Rinkmon hadn't countered it already, but at this point, it was probably just a matter of moments.

Even if it probably didn't matter, if he could score a few wounds on Rinkmon's legs, it would do nothing but help.

And also…

For their plan to work, he needed to buy his Tamer a second or two of 'normal' time to slash another card. Preferably, two cards.

Each of his blazing hot blades sheered through space at relativistic speeds, blows falling like rain.

Sometimes, he pushed forward, hammering down on his opponent with all his might, raging like a storm, yet tightly controlled, making each blow count.

Sometimes, he fell back, just a step, before sliding forth a blow with unbelievable speed, sliding his blades in at angles that should have been nearly impossible to strike from, or extending a blade past Rinkmon to pull it back like a scythe, trying to remove entire limbs.

He swung his blades forward, pulled away to strike with the back, and even used them as spikes, drawing from his knowledge of battle to use the weapons in any way that could give him an advantage.

And in the end, Rinkmon realized something.

If he wanted to survive, then he would have to attack. Even though his opponent could match him in speed and was superior in all other ways, if he wanted to survive until his speed returned, he had to do more then be pushed back—he couldn't retreat from this opponent, so he had to advance.

So he did.

As he moved back to avoid a fatal blow from Growmon's blades, he turned the step into a speed that could have left lightning feeling slow.

"—Spinning Cutter."

He put his all into it, releasing a multitude of blue lasers and a massive gust of wind. But long before the wind got, the much faster lasers burnt through the space separating him from his opponent, slamming into his chest with surprising force.

Even if he was slower, the speed of his attacks hadn't changed. They probably didn't hurt his opponent—much—but Rinkmon was sure, down to the core, of his being, that Growmon hadn't expected him to suddenly stop retreating.

And Rinkmon was right. Having fought him before as an Ultimate, against whom Rinkmon had no hope of even attempting mount a defense, much less an attack, Growmon had seen Rinkmon as someone who's fight or flight instinct was set purely to the latter.

But Takato hadn't seen that fight. He didn't know how Rinkmon had acted against a much stronger and faster opponent many years in the past.

All he'd seen was the Rinkmon here and now. And all he knew was that he and Guilmon had been pushed deep into a corner—and had come out swinging.

And he had prepared for Rinkmon to do the same.

And so, just like that, Rinkmon began to sink into the grave Takato had dug for him.

"Counterattack, Activate!" Takato had said, a second before or hours, depending on who was asked, though no one could hear his words in the first place.

One moment, the attack had taken Growmon by surprise. Striking him in the chest, he had fallen a step back with widened eyes, and Rinkmon was already taking advantage of it, rushing forward in the hopes of changing the tide of the battle.

And the next moment, things were completely different. Growmon was back on his feet, an arm raised but sweeping down towards Rinkmon, who was too slow to hope to dodge.

There was time between these moments. Growmon had not covered the space between those two positions—he had simple been in one place, and then the other. It was like a movie had skipped a few seconds ahead, but Growmon was the only one the change places.

In that moment, Rinkmon truly though he was going to die.

But then, a program finished executing and the last of the errors in his system were repaired.

In a fraction of a second, he was leaning back and the suddenly sluggish blade passed slowly in front of him.

For a second, Rinkmon thought he was safe and was preparing himself to finish things.

But in truth, all he was doing was falling deeper in the trap that was closing around him.

"—Consecutive Attacks, Activate!" Takato had said, just seconds before, to unhearing ears.

It was like Growmon rewound. Again, he was standing, blade sweeping down, though now with a differently angled attack. If Rinkmon had a heart, it would have skipped a beat.

But it didn't matter, he thought, calming himself in an instant. Another attack didn't matter at all, since it was still moving so sluggishly.

He began to take a step back—and in that moment, he hit the bottom, as a program finished executing.

Where did Rinkmon's speed come from? Not 'how did it work'—he knew the answer to that—but where had his ability to move so fast come from.

The original Rinkmon was a result of Hawkmon evolving with the Digimental of Friendship. His speed could not have come wholly from Hawkmon, for Hawkmon was not particularly fast. And yet, it could not have come wholly from the Digimental, for not all Armor Digimon that came from it could boast of such speed.

No…that speed came, without a doubt, from the combination for both Digimon and Digimental. Somewhere, in the code resulting from Hawkmon evolving with the Digimental of Friendship, was the data that allowed from Rinkmon's speed.

And within Guilmon was the data of the 'Digimental of Friendship.' In which, to puzzle out the truth behind 'Rinkmon,' all he needed was the data of 'Hawkmon.' He had no such thing, sadly, but…if given time, he could figure out how to make the code work based of the results of different codes.

And he'd had all the time in the world.

From his perspective, how long had this fight been? How many days? Or had it been weeks? Months?

It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he'd had the time and he'd made it work.

The algorithm that gave Rinkmon his speed? Right now, it was inside Growmon, too.

It wasn't perfect—well, the code was, or close to it, but it wouldn't run perfectly. It was a code meant for 'Rinkmon'—naturally, it would run differently if used by Growmon. They were basically two vastly different programs—even if they were commanded to perform the same operation, there would be differences between the two. He was running a program meant for something else.

For him, making full use of the program was impossible. He'd never be able to go from normal speed to ninety-eight percent the speed of light.

But, if it was simply to make him move ten times faster, that was still possible.

In that instant, Rinkmon and Growmon were suddenly the same speed.

And that blade…it went without saying that Rinkmon had no hope of dodging.

And just like that, it was over.

Rinkmon's back hit the ground. A moment later, his legs hit it as well, before exploding into data, which Growmon swiftly absorbed.

"Gah…kuh…" Rinkmon tried to speak and failed.

But if he had been able to…what would he have said?

Would he have cursed his opponent?

Growmon no longer cared what he had to say.

Would he have begged for mercy?

Growmon's eyes made it obvious that he had none to give.

Rinkmon could say nothing, but in the end, there was also nothing he would say.

Growmon loomed over his fallen opponent, golden eyes focused and sharp.

"I hope you don't believe I'm going to let you live after everything you've done." Growmon said, grabbing Rinkmon in one mighty hand and lifting him from the ground. His grip was painfully tight, to the point that if Rinkmon had been a human, he would have coughed up blood at the force of it.

Growmon raised him to eye level while Rinkmon could do nothing but glare in one final act of defiance.

"I can't think of any way that I could make you suffer enough for everything you've done—and even if I could, I probably wouldn't have the time to do it. So thank your Olympians for getting such a light punishment as this."

And with that, Growmon exhaled in a slow sigh, breathing out a small cloud of fire that covered both Rinkmon and his hand.

The flame danced gently across his scales—he felt nothing but a soothing warmth from the flames.

Rinkmon, however, immediately caught flame.

Even if he hadn't had the power to speak, he apparently still had enough to scream. Growmon watched dispassionately as Rinkmon began to burn alive, his eyes already distant.

Rinkmon was already dead to him, even if he continued to scream. As such, Growmon was already thinking about what he would do next, and truthfully…the future troubled him.

It was only after Rinkmon released a final scream and burst into data that Takato began to approach. Growmon focused on him completely, even as he loaded Rinkmon's data, because there was simply something about Takato's eyes…

Without a doubt, they were completely focused on Growmon. And the look in them…

He knew.

"What now?" Takato asked, though he sounded like he already knew the answer.

Growmon forced himself not to look away. The enhancement's Takato had given him had finally begun to fade, receding smoothly into his skin.

"…I thank you, Takato. For everything. If not for you, I wouldn't be here—"

In more ways then one.

"And I never would have been able to beat Rinkmon. But now…"

"You have to go back to the Digital World." Takato stated.

"I can't stay here," Growmon tried to explain. "If I do, more Digimon will be sent after me and more innocent people will get hurt. Maybe even you, Takato. So I have to go back."

Takato nodded.

"I know." He said. "So…when do we leave?"

"…What?"

"…I know you have to leave. I can even understand why and accept it. But…did you think for a second that I'd let you go without me?"

"Takato, you can't do that." Growmon said firmly.

Takato ignored him completely, quietly gathering up his cards.

"You'll be in danger if you go," He tried.

That got the Tamer's attention, and he turned around with a glare.

"And you'll die if I don't!" Takato all but shouted.

Growmon opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say.

It was true, after all.

He'd won against Rinkmon because of Takato and his cards. If he had to fight Mercurymon's forces alone, he'd surely die.

But even with the power his Tamer could give him, if he had to fight Mercurymon, they would both die.

"…Are you that eager to leave, Takato?"

The Tamer looked at the ground.

"Of course not. I wish we could both stay here together and never have to worry about fighting. But…more than anything else…I am your Tamer. And I can't just let you do this alone, right?"

"And what if I just go alone?" Growmon challenged.

"Then I'll follow you into the Digital World." Takato stated quietly, but his resolve was clear. "Even if it puts me in danger, I won't let you die. And besides…do you even know how to get to the Digital World?"

Growmon winced at that, but quickly recovered.

"I'll find a way," He claimed.

"I'm sure you will," Takato smiled, showing that he didn't doubt his partner's words for a second. "But you're the one in a hurry, right?"

"And you have a way to the Digital World?" Growmon asked, attempting to appear dubious.

It largely failed, because the boy in front of him had just given him the power to match Rinkmon.

"Of course I do." Takato said. "So…are we gonna do this or not?"

Growmon stared at him for a long moment.

And then he laughed. Uproarious, uncontrollable laughter that seemed natural to him, though Takato had never heard him laugh like this before.

Calming in flash, he nodded.

"Are you sure about this, Takato?"

"I've never been surer about anything in my entire life."

"Then lead the way."

Takato smiled and drew a single card.

He glanced one last time at his house—the ruins of his house, really. For a moment, he closed his eyes.

I'll be back, he promised.

And then he swept the card.

"—Dimension Crossing Hero, Activate!"

XxXXxX

Minervamon closed her eyes in annoyance.

"I've already told you what happened," She said, doing her best to keep her tone diplomatic.

She was annoyed, but it was important to be diplomatic—or, at least, to seem like they were all diplomatic. That was one of the unspoken rules of the Olympus Twelve. As an organization that could rival even the mighty Royal Knights, it was important they stay on good terms with each other, less someone find a way to turn them against one another.

If things degenerated, the other Olympians would get involved, which she didn't want to happen.

"And I'm telling you it's a lie." Mercurymon growled, apparently not feeling any need to do the same.

Minervamon could not fault him for his impatience. She could understand why he was unnerved by what was happening—and given his speed, who knows how long he'd already waited, from his own perspective.

So she decided to take the higher road and repeat herself.

"I pursued Dukemon while you were recovering from your battle and killed both him and the injured UlforceV-dramon. Whether you believe that I killed them or not, I'm sure you are well away their neither of them were ever seen again."

"You still expect me to believe that, Minervamon? Even when I can sense him so clearly!" Mercurymon demanded.

If it was meant to shake Minervamon, it failed. Her usually childish expression was a carefully constructed mask of boredom. This situation was as unnerving for her as it was for Mercurymon, if for somewhat different reasons.

"I fail to see what that had to do with my report," She replied, her feelings completely hidden. "If I remember correctly, you assured me that the virus you had had infected him with would keep UlforceV-dramon from reforming, even as a Digitama."

Mercurymon snarled.

"Don't you think I know that! Dukemon must have done something!"

"I'm afraid that I wouldn't know. And we can't ask him, either—because he was nothing but data when I left." Minervamon stated firmly. It was easy to do, because it was actually true. "The only question is what do we do now?"

Mercurymon's emotions had apparently calmed—though when exactly that had happened, she had no idea. After all, he moved and thought so fast, keeping up with them with complete accuracy was impossible, even for her.

"I've already sent Rinkmon after him. By now, he should already be dead." He said, apparently believing those words.

Minervamon wasn't sure how feel about those words.

On one hand, Rinkmon had been sent, which could ruin everything.

But on the other hand…

"Are you sure, brother? Because I don't sense Rinkmon at all—and UlforceV-dramon's presence has done nothing but grow." She said.

Mercury paled almost instantly, though she only caught a glimpse of the expression as it shifted just as quickly through shock, rage, and finally settled on disgust.

"Rinkmon!" He spat. "I can't believe you managed to screw this up!"

"He was humiliated by UlforceV-dramon in the past," His sister pointed out. "He probably lost his temper and acted stupidly. I admit he'd a good choice if you look at his powers alone, but…you should have sent someone more levelheaded."

She chided her brother, knowing it would anger him and that anger would be directed towards Rinkmon. While he was distracted, she could gain control over her own emotions, as well as the situation.

Sure enough, Mercurymon took the bait.

"That stupid little—He better hope he got deleted! If I see him again, I'm going to crush him!"

"I can't be helped now," Minervamon said, sighing as she stood. "Perhaps this is a situation where leveler heads will prevail. I shall send some of my own forces to deal with him. The Southern Quadrant…"

She nodded to herself, purely for show.

"Witchmon and Wizarmon should be able to pierce the barrier between worlds. Shall I send them brother? Opening a gate large enough to send Rapidmon or one of your other Servants may take some time."

This was a fortunate turn of events. Getting a Perfect level Digimon into the real world was much more difficult than getting an Adult or Child through. If Rinkmon had died, Mercurymon would continue to send his forces through, even if someone who had defeated Rinkmon could buy some time.

But she was well aware of the type of things Mercurymon's men were capable of doing. If she could convince him to wait until sending a more powerful Digimon, it would save lives on both sides.

Mercurymon opened his mouth, but his reply never came.

As one, the siblings shifted their eyes to the South as the Dimensional Boundary shook as something tore through it—from the opposite side.

That…without a doubt, someone had entered the Southern Quadrant from the Human World by simply brute forcing the boundary.

And their senses made it obvious who it was.

"Hmph. Hiding in Zhuqaiomon's realm?" Mercurymon spat. "I hope you don't think that's enough to save you, you bastard! What should we do, Minervamon?"

His sister didn't reply.

"…Minervamon?" He asked, frowning.

Again, she didn't say a word.

No…rather, she couldn't say anything. In that moment, she was truly speechless.

Her emotions raced so fast that, for a moment, she thought she could understand what her brother felt like all the time.

Annoyance at how her plans were destroyed before they could even begin—but that guy had never followed anyone's plans, had he?

Anger, not at anything in particular, but simply at how things were developing, far beyond her control.

Fear, partially for herself, but mainly for the one who was now in so much danger.

Pain, sorrow, guilt, melancholy, despair, and hope race through her mind as she remembered what had happened in the past.

So many feelings threatened to overwhelm her as she stared towards the South. But in the end, the one that came out on time was a quiet, simple happiness.

'Welcome home, my love.'