-A Nightmare-

Katashi thought he recognized that face, though he hadn't seen it before.

The Digimon that stood in front of them looked utterly battered, with red, rough metal sheets covering his cobalt skin; four wings of the Digimon spread wide open, revealing holes and pours on them. His face was the most unforgettable part, if that could even be called a face. The Digimon's head was in a oval shape, with horns sticking to its back, some fractured while some still remaining sharp. The entire upper head was covered in a light purple visor, and on the visor were dots that shone back and forth randomly, making the Digimon look more robot and less a creature.

And then Katashi remembered. It was Cyberdramon –the Cyberdramon Takumi'd told him about. And if what Takumi had said was true, then Cyberdramon should have been busted into pieces back in the Digital World. Another oddity was that Cyberdramon's head seemed severely damaged, with part of his visor cracking and even some light leaking out from the cracks.

Katashi had been told that Cyberdramon was some kind of mad scientists, but the figure standing in front of him looked purely maniacal.

He didn't have a chance to say a thing before a laughter busted out, with cracking sounds that made Cyberdramon seem easily breakable at any time.

A laughter, from that Cyberdramon. Katashi was more than confused. He'd believed in Takumi's words, since there was no reason not to believe him. But he couldn't comprehend what was going on. If that truly was Cyberdramon, then both him and Kaito were doomed for sure. And he wasn't sure if they were about to just escape.

But Cyberdramon didn't strike, at least not immediately. Instead he was just there, standing and glaring at the Digi-Destined.

"What are you doing here?" clearly ignorant, Kaito asked.

Then there was another laughter, just as maniacal as the first.

That can't be right. Katashi reckoned. Cyberdramon was nothing like that, he could be sure, though he'd never met him –and he'd never wanted to –in person. That laughter was completely something foreign and was clearly a sign of danger.

Despite the laughter, Cyberdramon was completely still, as if the red metal plates all around him were actually clotted blood. The lights on his visor kept beeping, as if those were the words Cyberdramon expressed. And then he spoke, "New faces."

"What do we do?" Grapleomon whispered.

"Take our time and run." Katashi replied, in a voice lower than a whisper.

Cyberdramon had broken off from his stillness, and was approaching the Digi-Destined on foot, not even bothering to fly. His posture was weird, as if he was having an unbalanced body weight. Katashi gestured for the group to back off while he did the same.

Cyberdramon's steps came closer and closer, until eventually when both Katashi and Kaito were leaning against the edge of the wall. From there, any slight movement might mean a fall to the death, and neither of them wanted that to happen. Cyberdramon continued.

"Leave them alone!" Grapleomon charged at Cyberdramon, fists at the ready. Cyberdramon, however, did nothing to respond. He held one hand out, and Grapleomon was flung aside, as if hit by some invisible barrier.

"I know who you are." Demanded Katashi, his voice trembling. "What do you want from us?"

Cyberdramon hissed –another unnatural move for him –as he spoke, creating a disturbing clicking sound as if his head was going to break into pieces as he talked. "Nothing. Why would I want anything from you, whom I've never seen?" he was more like talking to himself. "But because of what you hold in possession, I fear I must exert a degree of violence upon you."

When he finished talking, Grapleomon had already gotten to his feet, ready to protect the humans. But Cyberdramon approached the humans no more. Instead, the Frankenstein-like Digimon took steps backwards rapidly; the uneasy hissing continued.

"What's happening?" Kaito whispered. Katashi could only shake his head slightly to indicate his innocence.

Cyberdramon stopped when they were a few ten meters from each other. That, however, didn't lessen the tension. Katashi kept his eyes glued on him feared that Cyberdramon should make an ambush. But he could see none. He only saw the cracks on the purple visor of the Digimon shining, as though energy actually flowed over those cracks. There was also tiny bits of lights glowing around the visor, as if whatever was inside was leaking.

"I don't need to do anything myself." Said Cyberdramon, "I have my servants. And, watching from the sideway has always been a habit of mine." He said with a laugh again, more maniacal this time, Katashi wondered if Cyberdramon's brain was under that visor, and that it was leaking out, driving the calm Digimon into this crazy version.

"Why are you here?" Grapleomon demanded, but got no answers.

Cyberdramon, acting as if he was the only one there, said, "I should just leave you here, or should I send my creation to you again? I just can't decide sometimes." As he finished, a giant purple Gate appeared behind him, and he jumped backwards into it without even looking back. Grapleomon made no attempt to pursue, knowing that he couldn't win.

"That's a relief." Katashi sighed.

"What's that?" Blue suggested, pointing at the Gate. Even with Cyberdramon gone, the gate was still there, and it wasn't in a stable state. If Katashi needed to describe it, he'd say that it was like a fragile sand castle he saw kids built, readily crumbling.

When finally someone got out of the gate, he froze.


"Where're you taking me to?" Rikuto demanded.

"Somewhere I think you need to be." Ren answered casually. She had an easy expression on her face, coupled with her big, grass-colored eyes. It made her look like just another normal, jolly little girl, unlike the one with the dense expression just minutes ago.

"Somewhere I need be?" Rikuto repeated.

Ren stopped, and turned to face him. "You said you didn't want people to think you need help, right?" she said. "I know a place where you can train to be that way."

"How?"

"You'll find out as soon as you're there." She winked. "As for Green, I believe you'll have fun, too."

They had been traveling for a bit more than twenty minutes, and Rikuto was starting to have the strange uneasiness that he should have felt long ago. They were walking in a path where he, Ren, and Green were the only occupants. He found it unbelievable that in a region as heavily industrialized as Vertro, could actually have signs of flowers, and not just the cheap, artificial cloth flowers, but actual ones, which emitted a relaxing aroma.

"I didn't know there's a path here." He commented.

"These are beautiful." Green said. "What are they?" he was too attracted by the vibrant colors of the flowers. They were walking in a secret path, thus all the wilted petals could be seen carpeting the floor, red and purple and pink. The petals didn't seem dead. On the contrary, they made the place livelier. On the two walls beside the path were the same flowers, brighter in color and more turgid. They looked almost like something straight out of a romance movie.

"I get it." Rikuto uttered. "This is your secret garden, isn't it?"

"Not just mine." Said Ren, she'd turned back so that she was leading Rikuto. "Ours." As she finished, she shoved a few overgrown leaves aside and beckoned for Rikuto to follow.

She looked proud. "Remember when I talked about my former partner?" she turned aside, and shouted. "Valkyrimon!"

Before he could see anything, a Digimon appeared by Ren's side. She stood at about the same height as Ren, had an overall white theme and some golden accessories that resembled armor.

"Valkyrimon, Mega, Vaccine type."

"Valkyrimon, this is Rikuto and his partner, Green." Ren said casually. Valkyrimon stepped up, apparently staring at Rikuto behind his sunglasses-like visor. A few seconds later, she stepped up again, holding her hand out.

"Nice to meet you." She said pleasantly. Rikuto imagined her eyes behind the visor, deciding how they would fit with the little smile on her face.

"Nice to meet you, too." said Rikuto shyly, holding out his hand for a shake. Green followed behind, bowing.

When all this was said and done, Ren guided Rikuto into her secret place. It turned out to be simple, like an abandoned park, except there were no playable facilities. Instead there was a large, black, leathered sand bag hung on a trunk, secure despite the age of the tree. And there was a pile of disposed tires stacking up at a corner, apparently waiting to be used with an entirely different purpose than they were intended.

"So, this is how you greet a stranger?" said Rikuto absently.

"No." Ren replied lightly. "But you're not just anybody, are you? You're a Digi-Destined! I could tell that simply by your Digivice." She sounded excited. "Only those who were born with specific qualities can be one, so I've heard."

Rikuto couldn't quite understand her. "So…what?"

"You remember the incident last year?"

"Of course." Rikuto answered quicker than he'd thought. "Giant Digimon falling from the sky, killing everything they saw. How could I forget that?"

"Well, I've heard that they were stopped by the Digi-Destined."

"So, you're a fan girl of them?"

"A bit," she said, trying to hide a smile. "I look up to them, you can say. That's why I decided to enroll in the Institute in the first place."

Valkyrimon was the next to speak. "Ren was a good partner, and got me Digivolved into a Mega in less than a year." She sounded like Ren's leaving the Institute was nothing. "Unfortunately, Ren's parents would not allow her to enroll, deeming that too dangerous."

"Therefore, I found this place." Ren sounded proud. "This is where we train, mostly me giving instructions and advise to Valkyrimon while she practices target shooting." She walked to the pile of tires. "Wanna watch something fun?"

As she said so, Valkyrimon had already gotten to next to the tires and lifted them with one hand, jumping high and letting go of them. She landed while the tires were still airborne, and aimed at each and every one of them, taking them down with just several shots with her crossbow. It was fast, and there wasn't much to see, just black shapes being flung everywhere.

"That's…" Rikuto started. "Impressive."

"Of course." Said Ren. "But she could do better. It's just not the proper place for her to train."

"I actually find it acceptable." Valkyrimon suggested.

"So…why am I here again?"

"Well," Ren looked unsatisfied. "You said you didn't want to look weak, didn't you?"

"That wasn't exactly the word," uttered Rikuto. "But yeah, I probably meant that."

Rikuto started again. "So, I'm supposed to be here to do...what?"

"I don't know." Said Ren. "I just thought that you might need training as a Tamer."

Valkyrimon stepped forward.

"I think you interest Ren." She said. "She hadn't been so eager in a while."

Rikuto was still confused. "You want to train me?" he said as if that was just a joke.

Ren approached him as well. Without warnings, she held out her hand, grabbed Rikuto by his sleeve, and dragged him farther into the garden. Rikuto mumbled a little inaudible word, but didn't resist. When she finally let go of him, she said, "I can't force you to do anything. But I'd say I'm disappointed to see a Digi-Destined so weak."

Rikito couldn't find a word to argue, because she's just made everything clear to him, and he agreed with her. He didn't want to be saved by others again; he didn't want to be the outsider who would do nothing while Green, and perhaps even Kaito and Blue, was risking their lives battling for whatever cause.

"Alright." he sighed. "How do I begin?"

"That's up to you to decide." Ren said with a smile.


Katashi stood frozen. He was too astonished to comprehend what was happening.

There had been Cyberdramon, who was thought to be dead. The Digimon had struck them, but not lethally. Then there was the disagreement between the described Cyberdramon and the actual, kind of psycho Cyberdramon. And if that wasn't enough, he's just seen another dead person in front of him.

Though confused, he said in a shaking voice. "Kaoru, remember me?"

The other boy was speechless, approaching Katashi. His face was pale and blank, emotionless, more like a sculpture than an actual human face. Mephistomon hovered beside him. Apparently he'd become Kaoru's partner Digimon, if their relationship could be considered a partnership.

Kaoru gave Katashi a questioning look, which explained everything.

So it's true. Katashi thought. He remembered when Yuzuki had described Kaoru as a totally different person in the last fight between. She'd even used amnesia to account for him being their enemy now. And she had been right. Katashi looked into Kaoru's blue eyes. They looked blank, as if the pupils had enlarged fully, leaving only black pits in his eyes. He'd imagined the dead-eyed creatures in books long ago, but Katashi could say definitively that Kaoru's eyes were the perfect example.

"What's going on?" asked Kaito, Blue standing by his side.

"Well." Katashi started. Explaining things to Kaito seemed to lessen the tension, or so he thought. "You remember the incident a year ago? He was my friend, and he was supposed to have di...passed away during the attack."

Kaito couldn't think of what to say upon the mentioning of the pass year's attack. He remembered vividly the images of the bunch of Chaosdramon X descending to the city and killing randomly. It had only been a year, and already those haunting memories had faded away. But now, he remembered how dangerous -or devastating -a Digimon-involved incident could be. He tilted his head slightly, eyeing Blue.

"We are not your enemy." Said Katashi, as calm as he could be, as he approached Kaoru step by step. Mephistomon made not moves yet, which made Katashi feel a little safer. Maybe Kaoru wasn't there to fight at all; maybe he could still convince his resurrected friend to return to their side.

But reality was way crueler than that. As Katashi walked closer and closer to Kaoru, Mephistomon blocked his path, standing between the two boys.

Mephistomon's eyes looked just as spiritless as Kaoru's, like two simple black spheres. Hovering, his limbs were all still, pointing downwards like a puppet in suspension. It wasn't his demonic look that alerted Katashi. Rather, it was his lack of offense that made him look a thousand times scarier than his lamp-like features look terrifying. He seemed hollow, empty, like he was really a puppet.

Kaoru took out his Digivice as well. It was clear to Katashi that a fight was inevitable.

"Grapleomon, get ready!" He shouted, not bothering to stay passive. If a fight were all it took to bring Kaoru back, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Blue!" Kaito got his partner's attention, but was interrupted by Katashi.

"You're not strong enough to take the fight." Explained Katashi.

"You don't get to decide!"

Even as they were arguing, the battle had already begun. Grapleomon rushed forward, intending to deal physical damage upon Mephistomon. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. With light movements, Mephistomon dodged all the attacks just when he was about to get beat. He seemed so casual that it made Grapleomon look like a Rookie.

"The King of Fist!" frustrated, Grapleomon used the turbines on his arms to create a shock wave, sending it straight towards Mephistomon. The wave was fast, maybe even faster than the speed of sound in atmospheric conditions. Still, Mephistomon dodged the strike just as it was about to slice him into halves, almost as easily as dodging any other physical strikes. He moved in a swift motion, almost like a pendulum swing, his limbs motionless, like they were merely attached to his torso.

Blue had Digivolved into Coredramon just a moment ago.

"Blue Flare Breath!" with a shout, Blue flew towards Mephistomon, and aimed at his head from above. A stream of lilac flame found its way to Mephistomon almost instantly, having little delay between the shout and the strike.

Even without looking up top, Mephistomon managed to escape the attack, once again, just as the flame was about to hit him. Bricks flew as the fire struck the floor, creating a dust screen that hindered both sides' sight.

"What is that Digimon?" mumbled Grapleomon. Despite the foggy dust, he could still see well enough that he rushed towards Mephistomon when he was least aware of his surroundings. This time, he got Mephistomon. Using the advantage of his size, he gripped Mephistomon by his neck with one hand, throwing him out into the dust as if Mephistomon was weightless.

"Now!" he shouted.

"Strike Bomber!" Blue did a harsh turn and slammed his tail into the incoming Mephistomon, its spikes hitting him like a maze.

In the midst of all of that, Katashi approached Kaoru, who was still motionless despite the heated-up fight.

When Katashi was close enough, he said again. "Please, you don't have to fight us!" he walked up, and put a hand on Kaoru's shoulder, shaking him. Kaoru, however, didn't even make a move out of irritability. He just stood there, his eyes looking sleepy, half-opened with dullness inside.

"What are you doing?" Kaito demanded. He was more concerned towards the battle between the Digimon, which now seemed that they could actually have a chance to win.

Katashi, however, was not focused on that. "Can't you remember anything?" he kept telling to Kaoru. "Even if you don't recognize he, you should be able to remember Yuzuki, right?"

At the name of the girl, Kaoru flinched.

"Yuzuki…" he mumbled absently. His eyes opened a little wider, having a little emotion shown. "Yuzuki…" he kept mumbling, as if the name was haunted.

"You remember her?" Katashi asked.

But Kaoru didn't answer. He kept on repeating the word again and again, showing no control over himself. He stood steadily, but his hands were trembling. His eyes widened, and he slowly paced towards Katashi. He said something, but couldn't be heard by Katashi. Katashi supposed he was still saying Yuzuki's name, but was more confident now that he didn't really seem aggressive.

Katashi walked up and said. "I can bring you to her if you want to."

Kaoru didn't even look like he was listening. His scanned his surroundings quickly and aimlessly, still walking forward. Katashi could hear him this time, but he was saying something different.

"Enemy…" Katashi could hear that clearly. "Can't…fight…must…obey…" he grew weaker as he continued, saying a bunch of words that didn't make sense. He was leaning forward, losing balance step by step. Katashi ran forward fast, so that he could catch Kaoru as he fell to his knees.

"What're you talking about?" he whispered, holding Kaoru in his arms. Kaoru was breathing fast, like he'd just run for a couple of kilometers without rest, gasping for air as he tiled his head, his eyes meeting Katashi's.

Mephistomon noticed this while he was still fighting the two Digimon. Though he had the upper hand, Kaoru's condition distracted him, allowing Grapleomon to deliver one devastating blow before he flew towards Kaoru. He no longer moved in the ghostly pendulum way, but was rather in a swift motion, almost to smooth for human eyes to catch.

Kaoru suddenly made a snarl, and threw Katashi aside, standing up straight despite him still trembling. Mephistomon was already by his side, kicking Blue, who tried to interrupt, away, slamming him into Grapleomon as they both flew straight towards the edge of the wall, nearly falling if Blue hadn't caught Grapleomon in time.

Mephistomon exchanged a look with Kaoru, and then a Gate opened behind them. Without even a word of warning, Mephistomon flew backward into the Gate while Kaoru was still standing there, his eyes lingering on Katashi before he turned and left.

And then, there was a moment of absolute silence before the Digimon got to their respective partners.

"What was that?" asked Kaito as he approached Katashi, gasping for air. The event had exhausted him.

"My friend," answered Katashi absently as he stared at the empty sky, where the Gate had been. "A friend of my friend, I should say."

"Then why was he trying to get us killed?" Blue asked.

"I don't know." Katashi uttered. He turned to face Kaito. "But I know that I…we must do something to get him back to our side."


Kaoru didn't feel like himself, if he even knew how he was like.

"Something troubling you?" said a voice in the dim light. It was almost so dark that Kaoru could hardly tell if he was sitting or lying on the floor; he just felt disoriented. He imagined Mephistomon hovering beside him, since that all he did all the time.

And then he remembered the boy –Katashi, who'd reminded him of a certain name.

"Yuzuki…" he uttered, sounding tired. "Yuzuki…why do I feel like that name has something to do with me?" he put both his hands behind his head and curled into a ball on the floor.

The voice didn't answer the question. Instead, it simply said, "Why the sudden interest?"

"I don't know." He replied, the words hardly audible. "I don't know, sir. I don't know why I want to know." He closed his eyes, though he didn't really need to do that. He kept telling himself to forget about the name "Yuzuki" and focus on his mission, but the word just kept lingering in his mind. He couldn't get rid of it, and he didn't want to.

"Remember the day I found you?" said the voice. The owner of the voice paced towards Kaoru, and said again. "I'd told you everything I knew about you. I have no idea about the others." He said it so naturally that he sounded just like a human being, not a Cyborg Digimon.

"I just…" Kaoru started again. "Sorry, Cyberdramon, sir. I just can't get rid of the feeling that I should know more." He paused, sucking in a deep breath. "Does that make me strange?"

"Not at all." Cyberdramon answered. "It is natural that everyone wants to know more about himself or herself. I believe you're just one of the many cases."

Most other Digi-Destined probably wouldn't believe this, but this was what he did. Kaoru asked. "Would you ever abandon me if I keep asking? I know this is too much to ask for, but…"

"Why did you think I rescued you?" that's all Cyberdramon would say. "Why would I take care of you for over a year and then abandon you for no reason? Think. It is not rational at all. And whoever left you behind, not remembering anything…if I ever knew who they were, I would've told you. But now, let's just focus on the other missions you must accomplish."

"Yes. The missions."

"Remember this." Said Cyberdramon. The gentility in his words almost made his mechanical voice sound warm. "Everything I've done, it's for you own good."