Me: Okay, people-we've made it to the 3rd chapter! Surprised, aren't you? I don't own Digimon, nor do I own "Papercut" by Linkin Park.

Takato: Yeah, yeah, yeah-where's Rika at?!

Me: Whoa-touchy, aren't we?

Takato: Being like this has kept me alive for as long as I can remember. Now where's Rika gone to?

Me: She went to look for you-what else would she do?

Takato: Point taken. (races off) Hang on, Rika-I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU!

Me: (groans) He didn't need to act that hyper about it! Oh, well. Onward to the story.







Digimon Tamers: The Lost Tamer

Chapter III-Takato V.S. Daemon







"Well, it seemed like a really good idea at the time!" -Takato Matsuki

"When I get through with you, the Devas are gonna seem like a cartful of kitty cats!" -Rika Nonaka









At least Takato and the Tamers aren't entirely alone in this revolt-Yamaki was the only other survivor against Henry's control over the city. Kazu created a new Modify card, but with the Tamers' numbers seriously depleted, no one had the courage to try it until Takato and Guilmon returned to the Digital World with the others. Now, with the Sword of Courage as part of Takato's arsenal, they've got a fighting chance against Henry and his team of evil Digimon! However, it sounds like the former Tamer's ready for them, and he has a little surprise locked up somewhere. Wonder who it could be?







Takato Matsuki narrowed his eyes and shielded them from the glaring sun that was blazing directly on them upward in the sky. His team, which consisted of himself, Guilmon, Terriermon, Jeri, Kazu and Guardromon, had gotten up directly at the crack of dawn in order to have an advantage against Henry and his band of Digimon warriors. The only problem was that when they'd crawled up from the remains of the school, according to Kazu's watch, it was 10:00 in the morning. They'd lost four hours while just barely making the journey from the Digital World to the Real World! And, they'd lost another 30 minutes just making it over to the old Hypnos building alone.

"So, how are we gonna bust in? Should we ring the bell and announce, 'Hey! Could you guys let us in so we can delete you and absorb your data 'cause with you guys in control of our city, it really gives it a bad name as a proper place to live!'" Terriermon noted cynically.

"Terriermon..." Kazu began irritably, but Takato hushed him with a raised finger up to his lips.

"Let him. It's how he functions during dangerous situations-you should know. He's been doing this ever since he first became Henry's partner, and he's not likely to stop now just 'cause his Tamer changed sides."

"Seriously, how are we going to get in?" Jeri whispered. Takato considered how thick the doors were and how much force it would take to break them down. In response to Jeri's question, he pulled out a Modify card and his Digivice.

"Digimodify." Takato responded quietly, as to not alert any evil Digimon to their location. "Digivolution, activate."

"Guilmon Digivolve to...GROWLMON!!!"

Eyeing the gigantic Champion Digimon, Takato cautioned, "Don't use your PyroBlaster attack."

"Right. Dragon Slash!!"

"Wait-" Takato winced as he heard the attack collide with the doors, effectively breaking them down but making a lot of noise at the same time!

Groaning, Takato glared at his partner as he deDigivolved back into Guilmon, who had a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry."

"Uh-huh. Guys..." Takato made sure to pointedly stare at his partner, Terriermon, Guardromon, Kazu and Jeri before responding in a cold voice.

"Henry's mine."









Why does it feel like night today?

Something in here's not right today-why am I so uptight today?

Paranoia's all I got left

I don't know what stressed me first or how the pressure was fed, but I know just what it feels like to have a voice in the back of my head

It's like a face that I hold inside, a face that awakes when I close my eyes, a face that watches every time I lie, a face that laughs every time I fall (and watches everything!)

So I know that when it's time to sink or swim that the face inside is hearing me right underneath my skin!







Kenta, MarineAngemon and Yamaki had gotten up at the same time as the others, but for them, it had taken longer to arrive at their intended destination since the park at West Shinjuku was a little farther to reach than the old Hypnos building, but they'd made it at the same time the others made it to where they had to be-at 10:30 sharp.

"Remember-" Yamaki narrowed his eyes from behind his shades as he pulled out a .45 automatic and turned off the safety before turning to face the young Tamer and his partner. "-be sure not to miss. In this battle, survival counts for everything. For every shot you make, remember your old friends and family members who died in the beginning days of this war: Wong and his family, Akiyama and his family, Matsuki's family, Nonaka's family...got it?"

With a weak grin, Kenta piped up, "You forgot to mention Jeri's family, mine and Kazu's."

"I meant to. We've got company."

"What?" Turning in shock, Kenta saw a significant number of Virus Digimon were coming in from the horizon, prepared for an attack!

"I'll handle the first wave-you and your partner back me up on any targets I miss."

"Hey! We're supposed to be a team on this, remember?"

"My first priority is to keep you and your friends from Death's door, and I've promised every one of your parents that I would do that-this was before their deaths, by the way. If anything happened to any of you, your blood would be on my hands."

"You didn't make that promise about Takato, but he's out there leading-"

"Enough talking, start fighting!" MarineAngemon spat out impatiently as they were rained on by hordes of Digimon! "Ocean Love!!"

Seconds after the Mega Digimon fired numerous attacks and deleted most of the first wave, Yamaki fired round after round and either deleted or seriously injured the remaining members of the first wave of invading Digimon!

Successfully, MarineAngemon absorbed all the data floating around, and since there was a lot of data, that just made him stronger than before-at least, that's what Kenta hoped.

"This went better than I thought it would." Kenta responded.

"Hey, guys! So glad you could join us for our little party!" a voice exclaimed. Kenta, MarineAngemon and Yamaki all turned to see Henry Wong, a mocking grin on his face.

"It's time for you to meet your Maker!" Yamaki growled while firing shot after shot at the Tamer. Without moving, Henry rose his hand up and a fireball was blasted at them! It collided with the bullets, incinerating them instantly and injuring Yamaki, Kenta and his Digimon!

Getting back up and making sure that Kenta and MarineAngemon weren't too badly hurt, Yamaki glanced over his shoulder and saw that Henry was gone.

"He's lucky I have to reload a clip, or else he'd be exterminated right now!"

"I think we're lucky you have to reload, 'cause more trouble's heading our way!" Kenta pointed out as a second wave of Digimon came their way!







Takato couldn't believe that this old building had a basement in it! So far, they'd searched all over the first floor and most of the other floors above them, but there were no Digimon to be found at all. So, per Terriermon's request, the team headed down to the basement to check out anything suspicious. To their surprise, the instant they stepped out of the elevator, Guilmon's eyes dilated immediately.

"There's a powerful evil here, guys. Be careful."

"Really? How can you tell?" Guardromon spoke up, getting in front of Kazu and Jeri at that second.

"Because he's right in front of us."

Takato groaned, but looked up and saw an old foe...the one who'd caused all of this to occur-Daemon, wrapped up in chains and suspended from the ceiling.

"How'd this happen?" Jeri asked worriedly, pulling out her sword a moment later.

Narrowing his eyes, Terriermon jumped off of Takato's shoulder and landed next to Guilmon. "Who cares how he got here? The point is we can defeat him! Send me in, Takatomon!"

"Huh-? What? Terriermon, what are you talking about?" Takato stammered.

"Last night while you were asleep, I had Kazu make some modifications to your Digivice-you can make both me and Guilmon Digivolve at the same time, if you need to. But for now, just make me Digivolve."

Confused, and really angry at Kazu for messing with his stuff, Takato simply glared at his old friend while he grabbed his Digivice and a Modify card, hissing, "You'll pay for this. Digimodify! Digivolution, activate!"

"Terriermon Digivolve to...GARGOMON!!!"

"Okay, you wanna-be world dominator: This is for Henry, Susie and for everyone who's died while you came in and started taking over! Gargo Lasers!!"

"Gargomon, wait!" Takato warned, realizing his mistake at that second, but it was too late. The tiny bullets actually struck the chains holding the Mega Digimon in place, freeing him and waking him up at the same time!

"Guys...this is something I never would've expected to happen right now."







Chorus: It's like I'm paranoid-lookin' over my back!

It's like a whirlwind inside of my head!

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within!

It's like the face inside me is right beneath my skin!









Yamaki gritted his teeth in silent agony as IceDevimon's main attack froze his left leg to the ground!

"Hang on-I'll get you out!" Kenta insisted, instantly chipping away at the block with his Digivice.

"I really don't think that will work. Try something else!"

"Okay-how 'bout this? Ocean Love!!"

Grinning to himself, Yamaki made sure he could feel his foot and toes before taking a step forward, pulling out his gun again and firing a clean shot directly in IceDevimon's head, instantly deleting him.

"That was for holding Matsuki's son prisoner for five years!"

"You think this is a trap?" Kenta spoke up briefly while making sure Yamaki had feeling in his leg.

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"Every time we take out a wave of Digimon, another wave comes at us!"

"That's true. Once again, what makes you so sure about that?"

"More Digimon keep coming our way!"

Sighing deeply, Yamaki emptied his clip before popping in a fresh one. "I never thought I'd be working alongside one of you Digimon before this."









"YOU!"

Smirking despite the situation they were in, Takato pointed at himself while inching forward. "Who, me?"

"Yes...you. If you had just given me what I asked for, I wouldn't have spent the last number of years trapped in this basement as mere food for other Digimon to feast on and share my hard-earned data!"

"Wait a minute-you're the one who turned Henry into an agent of Darkness, and somehow, I'm to blame for this?" Knowing no one-at least, not in this world-could read minds, a part of Takato truly thought he was to blame for this. "I think it's time for you to die."

"Really? The last time we battled, I defeated you and your friends with just two shots."

"You were at full power then. You aren't now!" Takato held up his Digivice and it glowed brightly.

Biomerge Digivolution!

"Biomerge, activate!!" Takato was transformed into data and instantly merged with Guilmon. "Guilmon Biomerge to...GALLANTMON!!!"

The building shook as Gallantmon reappeared for the first time in over five years!

"Guys..." Gallantmon reported with the dual voices of Takato and Guilmon. "Stay back. You wouldn't stand much of a chance against him."

"And you think you will? Evil Inferno!!"

Grunting, the Mega Digimon blocked it with his shield, barely holding on until the fireball dissipated in the air.

"You call that an attack? Lightning Joust!!"

Takato had a point-even though Daemon was possibly the stronger of the two combatants, he was severely weakened by his fellow Digimon, and the attack injured him even worse than it usually would.

"I was just warming up. This is an attack. EVIL INFERNO!!"

Gallantmon screamed as he was thrown back at the elevator in pain before deDigivolving into Takato and Guilmon! Jeri, Kazu, Terriermon-who'd deDigivolved from Gargomon-and Guardromon ran over to them a second after that, helping them to their feet.

"Now can I go in, Takato?"

"If he was able to take down me and Guilmon...what makes you think you and I would fare any better?"

"Humph. Guess you got a point there."

Hiding his face behind an unreadable mask, Takato plucked out his newest card and hid it behimd his right leg, making sure it wasn't seen.

"Now the game gets serious."







I know I've got a face in me-points out all my mistakes to me

You've got a face on the inside too, and your paranoia's probably worse

I don't know what set me off first, but I do know what I can't stand-everybody acts like the fact of the matter is I can't add up to what you can

But everybody has a face that they hold inside, a face that awakes when I close my eyes, a face that watches every time I lie, a face that laughs every time they fall (and watches everything!)

So you know that when it's time to sink or swim that the face inside is watching you too-right inside your skin!







"Digimodify!" Takato screamed defiantly. "Sword of Courage, activate!"

Seconds later, the Sword of Courage appeared in Takato's right hand and his scabbard was in his left. After buckling the scabbard beside the knife his clone, the late Tamer of Darkness, had used to stab Rika with, Takato suddenly felt himself rising above the ground.

"Whoa! Kazu, what's going on here?"

After scanning the sword again, Kazu chuckled. "Sorry about that, Chumly-guess I forgot to tell you about that little deal-after you've had the sword for either a few hours, minutes, or seconds, the user of the card can fly, as long as they're holding the sword!"

"Kazu, you're gonna pay for this!" Takato exclaimed as he flung himself forward, paranoia taking over his brain at that moment.

Laughing loudly, Daemon extended his hands and held Takato at bay, the Sword still in his grasp.

"You actually thought you would defeat me with a weapon such as this?"

"Well, kinda." At that instant, electricity charged up from within the hilt and numerous bolts of energy was fired as a powerful beam of red and blue streaks! It struck Daemon directly in the chest and he wailed in pain before he exploded in a burst of overload. Data floated around as Takato himself floated to the ground, still clutching the sword in his hand as it vanished. Quickly, Guilmon, Terriermon and Guardromon absorbed the flying specks of data.

"Way to go, Chumly! I knew you could kick that demon's butt!" Kazu cheered. After a moment of hesitation, Takato rose his hand and slapped Kazu a high-five.

"We did it together. Now let's get out of here!"







Chorus: It's like I'm paranoid-lookin' over my back!

It's like a whirlwind inside of my head!

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within!

It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin!

It's like I'm paranoid-lookin' over my back!

It's like a whirlwind inside of my head!

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within!

It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin!







As Takato and his team exited the Hypnos building, Kazu pulled out his comlink and reported, "Yamaki-we've found Daemon and taken him down with a little bit of teamwork."

"Excellent. Well done." Yamaki allowed himself a moment of prayer before reopening his eyes. "That means the Digimon who've fed off of him will lose their energy if your partners were able to absorb his data-they did do that, right?"

"Of course. It's an old habit. We'll be there soon!" The second Takato clicked off Kazu's comlink, Guilmon's eyes dilated once more as the sun seemed to vanish behind the moon.

"An eclipse? Now?" Jeri asked in amazement.

"Looks like it." Kazu responded.

"What is it, boy? Another Digimon attack?"

Shaking his head, Guilmon smiled in response. "Caught a familiar scent earlier, Takatomon. I wasn't sure what it was then, but I know what it is now."

"What is it, Guilmon?" Terriermon asked, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. Looking up at his Tamer, the Rookie Digimon replied quietly, "It's Rika."







The sun goes down....I feel the light betray me...

The sun goes down...I feel the light betray me...

Chorus: It's like I'm paranoid-lookin' over my back! (The sun...)

It's like a whirlwind inside of my head!

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within!

It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin! (I feel the light betray me...)

It's like I'm paranoid-lookin' over my back! (The sun...)

It's like a whirlwind inside of my head!

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within!

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within! (I feel the light betray me...)

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within!

It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin! (song ends abruptly)







At that precise second, the two souls within Takato Matsuki compared memories and happier times so quickly it was hard to separate one from the other. Takato's past half knew without a doubt that back in his time, Rika was still alive, probably wondering what had happened to him, worried that he wouldn't survive this latest adventure he'd been tossed in without her but would never admit it to anyone-with the exception of himself and Renamon. Takato's future half faintly remembered those times himself, but had five years of added memories to include, plus the years of his imprisonment. Throughout those hard years, Takato wondered if Rika was still alive and if she was, why she hadn't braved the storm to find him. Together, upon their escape to the Digital World, the two spirits had come to the same conclusion-Rika was dead. What Jeri had told him only clinched the deal. The only thing that would've kept Rika from freeing Takato was death, and that's precisely what had happened-Rika and Renamon had gone to face Henry to free him and Guilmon, battled and had never returned.

"Takato?"

Turning slowly toward Jeri's direction, the young teenage girl blushed slightly before offering a warning:

"If it is Rika, and she's still alive...?"

Takato waited with patience for Jeri to finish her sentence as Guardromon and Guilmon flew in the direction of Rika's scent.

"...we should consider the possibility that she sided with Henry."

"No way she'd even think of siding with the same person who killed her mom and grandma, but I can't argue with that. Don't worry, Jeri-" Takato whipped out the knife and twirled it around once or twice before choosing to pocket it in his back pocket near his Modify cards. "-I used this on Rika once before, even if my clone did possess me at that time; I can use it again if necessary."

Soon, the Tamers found themselves at a very familiar spot in West Shinjuku-one that Guilmon found very familiar.

"Takatomon, I'm home!"

"Yeah, but it's boarded up! 'No trespassing-land mines inside, could collapse.' Always figured Henry had some talent of humor in him." Terriermon replied, a tiny smile on his face.

"Yeah-whatever. Guys, stand back." Takato warned as Guilmon powered up before firing a blast of fire at the boards.

"PyroSphere!!" The boards were dust seconds later. Smiling, Takato patted his partner on the head before running in and looking at the far wall. What he saw caused his heart to stop momentarily before starting up again.

"Oh, my..." Takato couldn't even finish his sentence, because of the state his other half was in.

Rika Matsuki was suspended in a powerful beam of electric energy, her arms stretched out on either side, her legs dangling underneath her, like she'd been crucified, but wasn't. That wasn't what had shocked Takato, at least not entirely. Rika was basically in the same position she'd been when advising him on how to deal with friends and enemies. There was one major difference, of course.

A long spear protruded from the young teenager's chest, positioned perfectly to have killed her on impact.

Yet through some miracle, she lived.

Whoa! Wonder how Takato's gonna get Rika out of this one, if he can even get her out at all! To see what develops, check back later for another adventure on Digimon: Digital Monsters!