Graduate school, work, loss of interest for a while and an endless chapter. Need I say more?"


Scared Renamon began to regain consciousness, cradled gently in Ryan's arms. "Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice nap?"

Ryan helped the fracture up, supporting her with an arm due to the symptoms of grogginess she was exhibiting. "Mm…what…what happened?"

"Well, to keep a long story short, we both admitted our feelings for one another; you kissed me and …fainted." It was a rushed but precise recounting of the last several minutes leading up to the present. "Not exactly how I pictured my first kiss happening, or ending for that matter, but I'm sure I'll get better at it eventually."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean to make you think I fainted because the kiss wasn't good." There was a look of unease on the teen's face followed by one of startling realization on the fox's when she picked up on her poor choice of words. "I mean it was! Only I didn't realize what I did until after I did it and when I realized what I had done it was just too much for me to handle. I'm sorry if I made you feel that your kissing was inadequate."

"Maybe we should continue this conversation back at DATA, after we find the rest of you."

"The rest of me…?" Looking at her body, misunderstanding what he was implying. "What are you talking about, if you don't mind my asking?" Scrunching his face due to an ill-timed slip of the tongue, Ryan now had no choice but to tell her about the accident. "What's wrong?"

"Um…you don't remember but we fought a digimon that Myotismon sent to destroy us earlier today. We won the battle but you…you…" The hesitance was only prolonging her agony so he took a deep breath and said, in one speedy sentence, "…got struck by a bolt of lightning which fractured your data and now there's multiple versions of you roaming the city, each with a different emotional state and you're one of the fractures, more specifically the real Renamon's fear…phew…I think that sums it up in a nutshell. Any questions…?" There was a loud thud as she fainted yet again. "Saw that coming."


Meanwhile, smack dab in the middle of Shinjuku Park, Impmon was lying on a tree branch when he was supposed to be looking for one of the fractures. Suppose I should be looking for fox faces missing pieces. But nobody said I couldn't take a break or two, ha, ha! Besides, it's time for my noon nap.

"Hey, Impmon…!" Calumon happily exclaimed just as Impmon was closing his eyes causing him to fall off the branch and face first into the ground. "Oh!" The tiny digimon's ears shrank right after he floated down to the ground. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

Impmon stood up, spitting out a few blades of grass in the process, looking as if he was going to get mad but remained calm while brushing off. "Forget about it. What are you doing here, you little cream puff? Shouldn't you be with Jeri?"

"Jeri said it was okay if I wanted to go out on my own, like I used to, while she took her brother to the doctor. He's got a yucky cold." Impmon rolled his eyes but knew it would be hard to stay mad at or even insult Calumon given how adorable he was, even to him. "What are you doing here by yourself? Do you want to play?"

"Sorry, kid, I'm on official business for DATA." Proudly stating it with both arms crossed. "No time for fun and games."

"Oh." A disappointed Calumon groaned. "I understand." He glanced up then back to his friend. "You must be really tired guarding this tree. Is that why you were trying to go to sleep?"

"Yeah, I…huh…?" What would have been a sarcastic remark coming from anyone else was in fact what the former catalyst sincerely meant causing Impmon to slap his forehead. "No! I was just…taking a breather, not looking after this overgrown piece of broccoli!" A deep breath and sigh were all it took to calm him. "If you must know, fox face had a close encounter with a bolt of lightning and there are personalities are strutting around town as copies of her. I'm keeping an eye out for them."

Calumon looked over his shoulder. "Huh? But I just saw Renamon. She looked fine to me."

"What!" Impmon's eyes went completely white with exasperation. "Why didn't you tell me that before? Which way did she go?" Calumon pointed in the opposite direction then was seized by his hand and dragged through the air like a kite as Impmon took off running. "Come on, shorty! I got a feeling I'm going to need you!"

Calumon's eyes spun, filled with dizziness, his cheeks began puffing up and the hue of his face started turning green with sickness. "Please…slow down!"


It appears that my minions have managed to locate one of the fractures. But so has Renomon. I must get my hands on at least one of them in order to prevent the digidestined from returning her to full strength. Myotismon watched from his lair Ryan and Scared Renamon made their way out of the woods and onto the path leading back to the Meiji Shrine. Those two may have escaped my shadow slayers but little do they know what other surprises I have up my sleeve.


"Alright, it looks like the coast is clear." Looking high and low to be sure his statement was true before holding up his digivice. "Rika, it's Ryan, I found another one of Renamon's fractures by the Meiji Shrine. Any luck on your end?"

"Sorry, nothing yet…" It was apparent that, though they had already located two of the six pieces to the puzzle, their work was going to be cut out for them. "…any word from the others?"

"No. And I'm not so sure it was such a good idea having Kazu, Kenta or Impmon help us out on this." He never doubted their desire to aid the team but had to cite the trio's seriousness or lack thereof when it came to handling matters of dire importance. "You ever hear the saying the blind leading the blind?"

Rika immediately retorted. "More like clowns if you ask me. They may not be the most reliable but they're all we've got right now."

"Alright, point taken. Listen, I'm headed for DATA to drop this one off then back out to help the others or look for another on my own. I'll keep you updated but if you need me just call. Good hunting." Ryan shut down his D-Power's comlink and retuned his attention to Scared Renamon who looked frozen with fear. "Renamon, what is it?" A sound of incoming projectiles caused him to tackle her out of the way just as three oversized bee stingers embedded themselves deep into the bark of a tree. "Are you hurt!?" The vixen shook her head. "Wait here. I'll take care of this."

Ryan stepped out of from behind the brush to look for the assailant. "Looking for me?"

"A bug…!" Hovering just below the tree line was an insect like digimon with red armor, silver pincers at the end of each limb and a razor sharp metallic stinger to boot. His digivice brought up the core data on it. "Flybeemon, champion level; Special Attack: Lightning Sting." The mere sight of Flybeemon turned his stomach. "Just so we're clear: I hate bugs."

"I'm not that fond of your kind either, human. Whenever one of you sees a fly, a bee, a spider or any insect for that matter your first instinct is to kill it without remorse." A mutual resentment for one another was coming to light. "That is the reason I chose to fight on Myotismon's side and rid this world of humans. And what a day it will be when human kind no longer exists to bring about meaningless death to millions of insects."

"Oh, give me a break. That is the lamest thing I've ever heard in my life. Besides, I never said I hated all bugs." An orange butterfly descended from above and landed on Ryan's extended hand. "Some are actually quite beautiful while others are just creepy and ugly, like you." Flybeemon became enraged by the insult and readied himself for a fight. "I'll spare you the sight of a human and change into something more appealing. I'm going digital!"

The transformation into Renomon did not seem to faze his foe. "Myotismon warned me that you were part digimon. Too bad it won't save you!"


Impmon and Calumon both stood atop some playground equipment, looking for the fracture that the latter had claimed to have seen. "Are you sure this is where you saw her, pipsqueak, because I don't see diddly squat."

"I don't understand." Calumon lightly scratched his head. "I saw her here before I found you."

"She couldn't have gotten too far. Whoa!" Impmon fell backwards and onto the ground, taken by surprise when Renamon appeared while he had been looking through his hands as if they were a pair of binoculars. "What are you trying to do!? Give me a heart attack!?" Feeling incensed from being snuck up on and scared. "Well, at least now I can let your boyfriend know I found one of you. Come on; let's get you back to the others."

Seizing her by the wrist, around the dark green gauntlet, Impmon attempted, and intended, to walk them all the way back to DATA but was met with unexpected resistance. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're rude, obnoxious and immature, amongst other things. Or to put it in simpler terms: you disgust me."

Renamon broke free from his grip with ease and walked in the opposite direction. "Hey! Who are you calling rude, obnoxious and immature, you walking throw rug! Why I ought to…."

A wide eyed Calumon leapt onto Impmon, covering his mouth to prevent any more banter that would undoubtedly cause the fracture to become further disenchanted to the point that they may be unable to get her to come with them. "Let me try talking to her."

"Fine…" Impmon replied after moving the hand away. "…but she better not say anything else about me or Badda Boom."

Calumon's ears perked up as he floated over to Disgusted Renamon who stopped and looked down when the tiny digimon landed in her path with an adorable smile his face, exclaiming in his usually high pitched voice, "Hi!"

For the next several minutes Impmon watched impatiently, sitting on a swing-set, rocking back and forth, from across the playground as the two had a long conversation, the details of which he could only guess. Look at that little traitor over there, laughing. They're both making fun of me. I know it. And I still can't believe that's what Renamon really thinks. I get that I can go a little overboard sometimes poking fun at people but that's just me. Maybe I am a little obnoxious and rude at times, I'm working on it, but that doesn't mean I'm immature!

After what felt like hours, Calumon approached while the fracture stayed where she was. "She said she'll come with us on one condition."

"What condition?"


"Lightning Sting…!" Renomon had to back-flip several times in succession to avoid the multiple miniature lightning strikes coming from Flybeemon's stinger. "Impressive. You've managed to last this long but sooner or later I will destroy you and bring your friend's fracture back to master Myotismon."

"Fat chance, bee brain, Diamond Storm…!"

"Needle Stinger…!"

Over a dozen stingers collided with the incoming diamond shards, negating both attacks but creating an explosion large enough to level several trees, sending Flybeemon flying higher to escape while Renomon dove behind the brush to escape the blast and incoming debris. Oh, man. This bee means business. Where's a can Raid when you need one?"

Scared Renamon, who was busy cowering in cover, nervously suggested, "Maybe I should just give myself up and go with him. This way nobody has to get hurt."

Initially he was going to downright refuse but then reconsidered. "That's not a bad idea."

Flybeemon descended following the blast, still intent on fighting, when he saw Ryan, having de-digivolved, emerge from hiding. "Giving up so soon?"

"After seeing that, there's no doubt in my mind I can't defeat you." Ryan feigned defeat to lull him into a false sense of security. "Please, just let me go and you can have her. I don't want to lose my life over one sixth of a digital monster and I apologize for that I hate bugs comment earlier as well. No hard feelings, huh? What do you say?"

"Hmm…" Flybeemon was contemplating his decision to either let the teenager live or not. "…well, Myotismon never specifically said to destroy you, just to bring your friend back to him. And I am willing to accept your apology for those comments." Using every factor he could to make a definitive choice. "Send her over to me and you can go. Just remember that it was an insect that proved dominance over one human, as a symbolic gesture for bugs everywhere, here today."

"Oh, believe me, I won't forget…" A smirk formed on Ryan's face. "…how incredibly gullible you were. Now, Renamon…!"

"D…Di…Diamond Storm…!" Using all the bravery she could muster up to launch one surprise attack from behind their enemy.

Ryan transformed, seized one of the stingers embedded in the bark of the tree next to him and launched it at the champion digimon, missing him by mere inches. "Ha! You missed!"

"Did I?" Flybeemon turned around in time to see his own discharged stinger collide with the diamonds just as they had before, only now he was caught in the blast radius with no means of escape. The resulting explosion sent a severed tail and stinger right to Renomon's feet where it also dissolved back into data that dispersed into oblivion. "Now that's what I call Pest Control! Right, Renamon? Renamon…?" Scared Renamon had fainted for the third time in one day. "Why do I even bother?"


DarkFox2009: Finally finished this chapter. Thank God!

Ryan: Serves you right for that kiss fake out.

DarkFox2009: You want to die in the next chapter? I'll do it.

Ryan: Yeah, right. Like you'd kill me off...you wouldn't, would you?

DarkFox2009: (Evil grin) No, of course not. Ha! Ha! Ha!