I do not own Digimon, it rightfully belongs to its respective owners!

Forbidden Friendship

Chapter 4 – The Calm Before the Storm

To Riley's relief, the rest of the day passed by smoothly, thanks to Akane and her two friends. After lunch, they helped her find her way around the school when she had trouble finding her classrooms, and as it turned out, Riley had discovered that at least one of her new friends seemed to be in nearly every one of her classes, which Riley thought was a pleasant surprise. Jayden especially had been thrilled when he had found out that they had the same Foreign Language class, which just so happened to be English. Apparently, the boy sucked when it came to the English language, but with Riley there to help him out, he may actually stand a chance at passing, or so he claimed.

In fact, Jayden had almost cried tears of joy when Riley had agreed to give him some pointers, but he had quickly gotten into another argument with Kai when the black-haired boy commented that Jayden was being 'pathetic,' and all thoughts of Riley tutoring him in English had been tossed into the wind, much to the girl's amusement. Akane, however, had just shaken her head, muttering lowly about boys being 'idiots.'

Now, it was 3:00 p.m. and students were pouring out of the building, eager to escape the confines of the school as fast as possible, Riley and her newfound friends among them. The sun shone brightly in the afternoon sky, but in the distance the girl could see faint storm clouds gathering, and the light breeze from this morning had picked up some speed, causing the trees to sway a bit more roughly than normal. Riley frowned slightly. She would have to get back home soon, before the rain comes.

Hoisting her backpack more securely on her shoulders, Riley turned to say goodbye to her new friends, but the words died on her lips when she saw that they had fallen several paces behind her, and that the three were conversing quickly, yet quietly amongst themselves in a hushed whisper. And, judging from the way their brows were furrowed, they seemed to be debating something important.

Riley raised an eyebrow, "Uh, guys?"

The three suddenly stopped, and glanced up simultaneously, their eyes wide, and looking as if they had just been caught swiping a cookie from the cookie jar. There was a moment of silence before Akane cleared her throat and decided to speak up.

"Uh, yeah, Riley?" The redhead asked, prompting the other girl to continue.

Riley's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the trio, "You guys okay?"

"Oh, yes, we're perfectly fine!" Akane declared brightly before turning towards the two boys next to her, "Right guys?"

"Uh, right, no problems here!" Jayden said with a wide grin while Kai merely nodded in agreement.

Riley hummed thoughtfully in response, hardly looking convinced in the least. These three were hiding something, she was sure of it now after spending nearly a whole day with them and dealing with their strange behavior, but whatever it was exactly she hadn't the faintest idea. For a moment, the girl debated on whether or not she should call them out or not on their blatant lie, but a soft, low rumble in the distance cut her off. Turning her head, she could see that the storm clouds were steadily getting closer, their ominous, swirling depths sending a slight shiver down her spine, and suddenly Riley's mind was made up. She could always talk to the trio later, right now she had to get home, or her aunt would kill her for staying out with such bad weather on the horizon.

Riley then mentally groaned when she remembered that she also had a Digital Monster to deal with when she got home. After meeting up with Akane, Kai, and Jayden at lunch she had been so distracted that she had almost forgotten about Yaamon!

All the more reason to get home even faster, Riley told herself. The Digimon had been less than helpful this morning to be frank and it had left her with more questions rather than answers. She was going to have a serious talk with him when she got back to the house, and the fuzz-ball was going to finally answer some of her questions whether he liked it or not!

Turning back to her friends, Riley gave them an apologetic look.

"Sorry guys, but I've got to go home," she told them while glancing up the darkening sky, "the storm's coming in pretty fast, so I'll see you later, okay?"

Akane's eyes widened alarm as Riley turned to leave, and after sharing a frantic look with her two friends she hastily cried out, "W-wait!"

Pausing mid-step, Riley glanced over her shoulder and curiously raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Um, do you need any help finding your way back home?" Akane asked after a moment's hesitation, and at the other girl's confused expression the redhead quickly added, "Since you're new and probably don't know the streets that well."

"Well," Riley said slowly, looking uncertain as she contemplated the offer. Carefully, she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket that her aunt had given her earlier that morning. "My aunt had drawn me a map . . ."

"Can I see it?"

Wordlessly, Riley handed over the piece of paper to Akane. The redhead sent her a small smile in thanks before she unfolded it, and once it was open her hazel eyes studied it carefully. On either side of her, both Jayden and Kai leaned over their friend's shoulder, curiosity shining in their eyes as they too read the intricate map scrawled across the thin sheet of paper.

Suddenly, Akane's expression brightened.

"Hey, your house is just a block or two away from Kai's!" The redhead exclaimed, beaming.

"Really?" Riley asked, somewhat bewildered by the strange turn of events. She had no idea she lived so close to the black-haired boy.

"Yep!" Akane confirmed as she folded the map back up. With a smirk, she then shoved the small piece of parchment into Kai's unsuspecting hands, and before he could even utter a single syllable, she non-too-gently pushed the boy in Riley's direction. "Kai can walk you home."

"What?!" Both Kai and Jayden blurted out simultaneously, their eyes wide as they turned to look at their female friend in disbelief. Although, while he didn't look as irate as Kai, Jayden was undoubtedly just as surprised, and seemed more than a little lost at the moment.

Closing his mouth, Jayden glanced nervously between Kai and Riley.

"B-but, Akane, we have to-!" The boy was suddenly cut off when the redhead leveled him with a pointed look.

"Don't worry, Jayden, it'll be fine." She then gave Kai a cheeky grin. "Right, Kai?"

The black-haired boy merely glared at the girl as he crossed his arms, unamused in the slightest. Needless to say, he was not happy.

"Look," Riley spoke up, finally deciding to join the conversation, "I appreciate the help, but if I'm keeping you guys from something don't worry about me, I can find my way back home."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Akane reassured the girl with a smile. Turning towards Kai, she added, "We'll catch up with you later, alright?"

Kai opened his mouth to argue that no it wasn't 'alright,' but a sharp look from the redhead caused his jaw to snap shut. Instead, he sent the girl an icy glare, but she merely rolled her eyes in response, unfazed in the slightest.

"C'mon, Jayden." Grabbing the boy's arm, Akane began dragging her friend down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of Riley's house. Glancing over her shoulder, the girl spotted Kai's sullen expression and couldn't help but laugh. Meeting Riley's gaze, she sent the other girl a teasing grin, "Have fun you two!"

And then both she and Jayden disappeared around the corner.

Riley awkwardly scratched the back of her head. She was very confused at the moment, yet, strangely, at the same time she was also amused by the redhead's antics. Turning around to face Kai, Riley felt her amusement grow at the downright unimpressed and undoubtedly infuriated look on his face. His eyes were narrowed, glaring deadly daggers at where Akane's head had been just seconds before, and his left eye was twitching almost dangerously. His shoulders shook as he tried to hold back his irritation and anger, and his teeth were clenched so hard that Riley could've sworn that she heard them grinding together.

She bit her lip, holding back her laughter.

"Your friends are nice," Riley commented lightly, unable to hold back her grin, her voice filled with amusement. And she meant it, too. Akane in many ways reminded her of Sarah, only not as devious.

The look Kai gave her could've leveled mountains.

"Are you sure it was okay to just leave them like that?"

"Don't worry, Jayden, Kai will be fine." Akane assured the boy as she continued to confidently walk forward down the sidewalk, not in the least bit worried. "Kai need's to get out more anyway and walking Riley home is just the practice he needs."

"It's not Kai that I'm worried about." Jayden muttered uneasily, remembering the furious look in his best friend/rival's eyes. Those eyes had promised a very painful death to him and a certain redhead and they had left Riley with him. Half serious, half-jokingly, the boy then added, "He might scare her off, or worse eat her alive."

"Oh, quit being so over dramatic, I just riled him up a bit is all," Akane said teasingly, a smirk forming on her lips, "It's no different than what he does to you on a daily basis."

A bit? Jayden wanted to ask, but he held his tongue. A moment later, though, the meaning behind his friend's words suddenly registered within his mind, and he sent Akane an affronted look.

"Hey!"

"Anyway, Riley will be fine," the redhead continued, ignoring Jayden's outcry, and she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear when a strong gust of wind blew by, "Kai's just going to have to get used to her, since we'll be seeing her a lot more often from now on."

Jayden's interest suddenly peaked at his friend's words, his golden eyes burning brightly with curiosity and a sense of eagerness.

"So she is one of us. That's why you made me hightail it all the way to cafeteria during lunch." The boy's face then fell as a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he looked over at Akane in confusion. "And . . . you just let her walk away, without saying anything?"

"Boy, you sure are being very analytical today," Akane said playfully, as she good-naturedly bumped into her friend's shoulder. "Who are you, and what have you done with Jayden Ikeda?"

Jayden rolled his eyes, trying to appear somewhat insulted, but the small smile tugging on his lips defeated the look. "You know, I'm not as dumb as you and Kai may think."

"I know. You're just fun to tease."

The boy's smile instantly morphed into a mildly annoyed scowl. "Good to know . . ."

"Anyway, to answer your question," Akane paused as she pulled out her cellphone from her pocket, and Jayden regarded the girl curiously as she began to go through her list of contacts, "I was going to ask Riley to come with us, and maybe explain things to her, but she seemed in such a hurry to get home so I decided against it."

"So then, what are you going to do now?" Jayden inquired. A gasp suddenly escaped from his lips, and his eyes widened in horror. "You're not going to let Kai explain things to her, are you?"

Akane looked up from her phone, and stared at the boy as if he had grown a second head.

I'll take that as a no, Jayden thought quietly, abashed, and feeling quite silly for even suggesting such a ridiculous idea. Faintly, he could feel his cheeks turning pink from embarrassment, and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. He quickly forgot about it, though, when Akane held her cellphone to her ear, and he watched her with a small, puzzled frown. Who could she possibly be calling at a time like this?

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

A cheeky grin formed on the girl's lips.

"Making a phone call," Akane said slyly, giving the boy no other hints as to whom she may have been calling, and the expectant look on Jayden's face promptly fell.

Why were girls always so difficult?

"Where are you . . ?"

Liam's calculative gaze carefully ran across the multiple screens laid out in front of him, and his frown deepened when he once again came up empty handed. The lights from the computers flickered, casting small shadows across the room, and with a ragged sigh the man ran his hand through his hair, looking quite frustrated. Beside him, Alphamon stood to his right, shoulders back and standing firm, like a soldier about to march off into battle, which could actually be a possibility considering the circumstances, Liam realized grimly, and he pressed his lips into a hard line at the thought. However, despite his unwavering appearance, Alphamon's golden eyes held the same resentment and bitter defeat that Liam felt.

They were officially stumped.

Sighing, Liam glanced up at the scanners once again, futilely searching for something that should've been there, but wasn't. The man just didn't understand. A Demon Lord had crossed over into the Human World, yet their equipment still couldn't pick up on the intruding Digimon's signature. He and his men had doubled checked the computers several times now, and yet still nothing. Had Lucemon actually managed to find a way to avoid their tracking devices? He sincerely hopes not, or they would be big trouble.

"Well," Alphamon spoke up as he removed his gaze from the monitors, his voice echoing slightly from within his armored helmet, "at least they haven't destroyed anything yet."

Turning his head, Liam merely gave his friend a look.

"What?" The Royal Knight asked after a moment of silence, confused by the look he was receiving from his human friend.

Liam just sighed, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Sir?"

At the sound of the familiar voice, both Liam and Alphamon glanced over their shoulders to see Mina entering the control room. The woman seemed to have just gotten off of the phone, since she still held the device in her hand, but it was the expression on her face that captured both men's attention. Her eyes were wide, but not from panic, but rather disbelief. Something had indeed taken the woman completely by surprise.

"Yes, Mina?" Liam inquired, turning around to face her fully.

"I-I just got off the phone with your daughter, sir." Mina informed her superior as she moved to stand next to them.

Liam blinked in surprise. His daughter? Shouldn't she still be in school? The man's eyes then caught sight of the clock hanging on the wall. It was 3:11; school had been out for over ten minutes already.

"What did she say?" He asked, returning his gaze towards Mina, and the woman shifted her feet almost nervously.

"She said that she found another DigiDestined, sir."

Both Liam and Alphamon drew back in astonishment. Out of all things, they hadn't been expecting that.

"Another one?" The Royal Knight repeated, and Mina nodded in clarification.

For a moment, Liam was silent. Another DigiDestined had appeared? He then frowned, wondering why his daughter had called Mina instead of him, but then he quickly pushed thought aside. He couldn't think about that right now, he had work to do. Focusing back on Mina, he prompted for the woman to continue.

"How?" He asked.

"Your daughter told me that she had met her during school." Mina explained shortly, cutting right down to the chase.

Alphamon tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow. "Her?"

"Yes," Mina confirmed, "the new DigiDestined is a girl."

A girl, huh? Liam thought with a tiny smile. The man was sure his daughter had been pleased to hear that, having been the only female DigiDestined until now.

"Name?" Liam demanded.

"Riley Tanaka."

"Address?"

Mina wordlessly handed over a piece of paper, and written in the woman's fine handwriting was the location of Riley's home. Taking it, Liam carefully folded the parchment and placed it in his pocket. Motioning for Alphamon to follow, the man began walking towards the door.

"Let's go, Alphamon."

The Royal Knight frowned slightly, and he briefly glanced over at the scanners, "But, Liam, the Demon Lord?"

"We can't do anything until we know where he or she is," the man stated simply, "and I don't know about you, but I need to get out of here and get some fresh air. This place is driving me crazy."

Demon Lords entering the Human World, malfunctioning equipment, and a new DigiDestined all within the past twenty-four hours; needless to say it was shaping up to be a pretty hectic day to say the least.

Unable to argue with his friend's logic, Alphamon politely said his goodbye to Mina, and followed Liam out the door, his cape billowing behind him.

The walk back to her house was a quiet one, but considering who she was walking with Riley shouldn't have been surprised. Kai didn't seem to be a very social person, and after a few failed attempts to strike up a conversation the girl had eventually relented, respecting the boy's wish to be quiet. It still didn't make her walk home any less boring, though, and Riley struggled to find something relatively interesting to keep her mind occupied in the meantime.

The two children turned at the next corner, entering their neighborhood, and as they continued to walk down the sidewalk Riley could begin to make out Shibuya Park, or at least what was left of it. Now that it was daylight, the girl was able to accurately see the damage that Yaamon had caused when he had suddenly crash landed the night before, and it wasn't particularly pretty. The swing set had been blown over, and was bent in odd, broken angles as if a tornado had picked it up and chunked it back out. A couple of the actual swings had come apart, and there were some that were just gone altogether. There was also a large trench that had been dug into the ground, covering almost half of the park, and at the very end, right where the monkey bars used to be, was the crater where Riley had found Yaamon's egg.

Surrounding the crash site were several police officers, news reporters, and journalists, and Riley eventually had to look away, feeling as if she were a criminal returning to the scene of the crime. Inwardly, she knew that she hadn't really done anything wrong, that she was just being silly, but the feeling still remained and she quickly picked up the pace, wanting to get home now more than ever.

Kai, who had been gazing at the park with interest, gave Riley a funny look as she passed him.

"I just want to get home." The girl stated in her defense when she saw the look he was giving her.

Kai's sharp eyes glanced back and forth between the park and Riley, but decided not to comment.

A couple of minutes later, the two children arrived at Riley's house, and the girl inwardly sighed in relief as she once again looked up at the sky. The storm clouds from before had indeed gotten closer, and they now blocked out the sun, casting a gray shadow across the land. The wind was blowing at a constant pace now, and every once in a while a low rumble of thunder would echo overhead.

"Is this it?" Kai asked, coming to a stop next to Riley, speaking for the first time as his blue eyes studied the house.

"Yeah," Riley replied with a faint nod.

Kai grunted, and then without another word he continued to walk down the sidewalk, more than likely heading towards his own house. Riley blinked in surprise, stunned that he would just leave without even saying anything. Then again, she supposed that she would be in a hurry to leave too if she were in his shoes. Akane had kind of forced him to do this for her, but Riley felt bad to just let him walk away without at least saying a simple thank you for his trouble.

"Hey, Kai?" Riley called out over the wind, and the boy paused mid-step at the sound of her voice. Glancing over his shoulder, he raised an eyebrow at her, and the girl took that as an invitation to continue.

"I just want to say thank you, for walking me home," Riley continued, and she gave him a grateful smile, "Akane seems like a pretty demanding person, if you ask me."

Much to the girl's surprise, Kai's lips twitched slightly into a small smile.

"Demanding?" The boy repeated with a faint laugh, amused by Riley's description of the redhead. He scoffed. "Nagging is more like it. She's more like our mother that way."

Despite the semi-harsh words, Riley smiled. She could hear the fondness in the boy's tone, and knew that he considered Akane a close friend.

Kai then adopted a thoughtful expression, and then he smirked. "You know what? I think we'll get along just fine."

Riley just laughed, "So, friends?"

The boy nodded, "Friends."

The sun was just beginning to set behind the mountains in the far distance. Only a sliver of the light's ray could still be seen, peaking behind the ridged peaks, and the golden glow seemed to shine in an almost unearthly manner, like a halo, casting long, dark shadows across the landscape. The sky was a beautiful painting of orange, pink, and purple, with hardly a cloud in the sky, and the trees basked in the warm glow of the setting sun as they swayed from the gentle breeze that blew through the valley floor. All in all, it was a perfect way to end the day.

Yaamon watched the sunset from where he sat, perched on top of his favorite tree branch from his favorite tree, his face stoic and conveying no emotion whatsoever. Below him, he could the hear familiar bustle of the village he lived in, and every once and a while his bright, green eyes would glance down for a brief moment before he returned his gaze back to the looming, cascade mountains that surrounded his small, village home and the sun setting behind them.

He didn't know why he did this every day. It was stupid, he told himself, watching the sunset every single evening as if it were some kind of ritual, waiting for something to happen, something to change. Yaamon inwardly scoffed at his thoughts. He didn't even know what he was looking for, or if he was searching for anything at all! All he knew was that he felt restless, trapped, stuck in a time where he never moved forward nor back, like a never-ending void, bound here for all eternity. Yaamon scowled as looked down. Just like his village. Content with doing the same thing every day with their mundane lives, never changing, never wanting to do something other than continuing on with the boring lives they had settled themselves with here. It was maddening, enough to drive anyone insane!

And Yaamon hated it.

"You must be patient, young one," Babamon, his caretaker, along with the other young Digimon in his age group, had told him the other day when she had noticed his troubles, "your time will come, and one day you can go wherever your heart desires. But until that day comes, you must be patient."

Yaamon snorted.

Foolish, old woman, she was just as bad as the rest of them, telling him what to do and how to live until that day comes. Although, he reluctantly admitted that she was right about one thing, when he recalled some of their previous conversations. Being a newly hatched Digimon, who had just recently reached his In-Training level, he was without a doubt weak when it came to terms of raw power. Even he knew the realization that if he stepped outside the village boundaries he would barely last a day before some savage-like Digimon tore him to shreds. Yaamon's scowl deepened at the thought.

If there was one thing he hated more than this stupid village it was definitely being weak.

It sucked, but there was nothing he could do to change his situation, unless of course he managed to digivolve, but according to Babamon, while it was fairly easy to reach the In-Training level within a relatively quick time frame, it took quite a bit longer to reach the Rookie level.

Yaamon had felt like pulling out his fur when she had told him that, if he had had any limbs.

And so here he was, watching the sunset as he counted off another day of his dull, boring life. Stuck, and without a purpose. Oh, how he wished he was at the Rookie level already!

"What are you doing?" A soft, curious voice suddenly asked, instantly breaking Yaamon out of his inner thoughts.

Startled by the unexpected voice, Yaamon gasped in surprise, and nearly lost his balance on his tree branch. Thankfully, though, he didn't fall, because if he had he would've been extremely irritated. It was hard enough climbing trees once without having any proper limbs, and the young Digimon wasn't very fond of the idea of doing it for a second time.

Annoyed by his sudden interruption, Yaamon turned to give the owner of the mysterious voice a piece of his mind, and boy was he going to get it! Snarling, his bright green eyes met a pair of icy blue ones, and Yaamon quickly studied his uninvited guest with a narrowed gaze, because this was his tree, damn it! No one else was supposed to come up here!

What surprised him, though, was that the newcomer was the same size as him. He's been expecting someone, well, bigger to be honest. He wasn't the most popular Digimon around, and he had quickly gotten on some of the older kids' bad side, but this person couldn't possibly be more than an In-Training level, making her the same age as him.

Right, her. This Digimon was a girl.

She was small, just like him, and was covered in silky golden fur. She had four, stubby paws and two cat-like ears on top of her head. Lastly, she had long, foxlike tail, which was slowly swishing side to side as she regarded him almost curiously with her icy blue eyes. For a moment, Yaamon debated if he should just push her off, that would surely teach her for sneaking up on him, plus it would save him the time for yelling at her, because females weren't exactly his thing. He tended to avoid them like the plague after witnessing the numerous times Jijimon got whacked on the head by Babamon. Even more so after the crazy old man had said that he'd change his mind later on when he got older. What was that supposed to mean anyway?!

After turning his thoughts over inside his head, Yaamon eventually came to a conclusion.

"Scram, Fox-face! Before I push ya off!" He yelled, his lips curling into a sneer as he leveled her with the deadliest glare he could muster. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on people like that?!"

She merely tilted her head, looking almost confused.

"But you have no limbs," she remarked coolly, unfazed by his threat, "how would you push me off?"

Yaamon just stared at her, for once unable to retort back with some smart-mouthed reply.

"Well?" She pressed, genuinely wanting hear his answer.

"Gah! Just go bug somebody else!" Yaamon exclaimed, both frustrated and irritated by the female's persistence. Couldn't she take a hint? Geez, girls were so infuriating. "I'm busy!"

The female Digimon's eyes seemed to brighten with curiosity, "With what?"

"None of your business!" He exclaimed hotly, his temper about ready to explode.

"Babamon says you're looking for something," she continued on, her tone as calm and collected as ever, looking unperturbed in the slightest, "but Kapurimon says that you're a 'no-good, lazy, bump-on-the-log that's just wasting your time away'."

"Why that little . . ." Yaamon growled out between clenched teeth, wishing more than ever that he had limbs so that he go strangle the mangy, metal-wearing mutt himself. Kapurimon was just jealous that he wasn't the first one in their age group to reach the In-Training level, like he had bragged he would be for weeks. No, that right belonged to Yaamon. Kapurimon had come in second, along with a bruised ego.

"So, which is it?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Yaamon snapped back, leaking out some of his pent up frustration on the female Digimon.

"Because I want to know the truth," she stated simply, giving no other reason for her sudden bought of curiosity.

"That's it?" He asked, looking quite incredulous.

The foxlike Digimon nodded. "Yes."

"Why."

"Because truth is knowledge, and knowledge is power." She then paused. "Or so Babamon says."

Yaamon sighed. Babamon, of course. That old hag was always the cause of all his troubles.

"I don't know. There, I answered your question, now go away."

But she didn't move. Instead, she continued to eye him with that steady, icy gaze of hers, never unwavering or diminishing.

Yaamon sent her a nasty glare. "I will push you off if you don't leave in the next five seconds."

A ghost of a smile seemed to form on her lips. "As I said before, you have no limbs."

Yaamon could begin to feel his left eye starting to twitch, and he growled lowly in his throat before he sulkily looked away, decided to glare at the setting sun instead so that he didn't have to see that stupid grin of hers.

"So you really don't do anything up here?" When Yaamon refused to answer she made a dismissive noise in the back of her throat. "Hmm, I guess Kapurimon was right after all."

"WHAT?!" Yaamon exclaimed, and he whirled on the female Digimon, and if looks could kill she would've been a pile of ashes by now. "No he's not! That mangy mutt is nothin' but a liar! I'm just-"

Yaamon suddenly cut himself off, clamping his mouth shut.

"Just what?"

"I-I'm just waiting for something, that's all." Yaamon said after a moment's hesitation as he returned his gaze to the sky. Mentally, though, he was berating himself for saying something so stupid and mushy. He hated that stuff!

"Waiting for something to change?"

Surprised, Yaamon gave the female Digimon a stunned look. "H-how'd you . . ."

"You and I are just in the same boat, I guess." She said with a slight shrug as her icy blue eyes moved to watch the remaining sunset. "My name's Viximon, by the way."

"Yaamon." He replied back slowly, still a bit shocked that there was actually someone else like him.

In the back of his mind, he supposed that in a way things were changing.

Yaamon awoke to the sound of thunder rumbling overhead. Blinking away the remains of his dream-no, memory-away, his green eyes were met with the unwelcoming sight of Riley's bedroom. He scowled, while mentally shaking his head. He had hoped that this had been just a bad dream, but no he was still here, in the Human World, partnered with a human child, and a female one to boot.

The Sovereigns had to be laughing at him, somewhere.

Viximon probably would've too.

Yaamon instantly shook his head, riding himself of such dangerous thoughts. No, he had to stay focused! He hadn't thought of the past in such a long time, and he knew that his sudden transformation back into his In-Training level had probably brought it on, but he couldn't afford to get distracted by what could've been and what if's. The past was the past, he couldn't change anything.

Change, he though bitterly. He had wanted everything to change so much back then. He had been so stupid and naïve. Well, he had gotten his wish.

Yaamon was interrupted from his inner musings at the sound of the bedroom door opening. Looking up, he met Riley's bright, green eyes, so similar yet so different to his own. The girl walked inside, closing the door behind her, and she dropped her backpack on top of her bed before turning towards him, hands on her hips.

"So, partners?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, and Yaamon inwardly groaned.

Today was going to be a long day.

And that's the fourth chapter. My favorite part was definitely writing about the much younger version of Yaamon, before he got mixed up with the rest of the Demon Lords. He's just so easy to rile up, lol. As to how he gets involved with Lucemon and the others, well you'll just have to wait and see. Flashbacks from Beelzemon's past will appear every now and then, helping to explain how he got to where is now, and why his personality has darkened over the years. For those of you who can't tell, Beelzemon will be an older Digimon in this story. Needless to say, he's been around for quite a while.

And Liam and Alphamon are on the move! I bet you can already guess as to how they'll react to Riley and her new partner. You'll definitely see more of them in the next couple of chapters.

Also, Riley was finally able to connect somewhat with Kai, which is good because their friendship is an important part of the story later on.

And lastly, Viximon, who most of y'all know better as Renamon. Yes, she will play a major role in the story, but I'm afraid she won't be showing up until much later.

I'm also still debating if Impmon should have a full evolution line. Let know what you think?

REVIEW PLEASE! Reviews determine if I continue or not!