More twists and turns still to come so please read and review.

Chapter 10 – The Colosseum

The doctor immersed into a brown light, his body expanding to the size of its Digimon. As the giant wings formed on the back of the Digimon, they tore into the floor above. The tail stretched out shattering the window behind. Swords formed in front of the Digimon, whom grabbed them as its mask appeared completing its look.

Ryo stepped back in defeat. He was alone, there was no way he would be able to take down the Digimon. He had to buy time.

"Where is Rika?" He asked again, performing a defending stance. Not that it would do much good, he thought. "And what Digimon are you?"

The golden dragon-type Digimon stared down at Ryo and grinned. "I am Owryumon, one of Master Shimizu's strongest guardians." It said, ignoring the question about Rika.

"His guardian? How many does he have?" He said in disbelief.

Owryumon nodded. "That is correct. There are ten of us in total. Each one of us are protecting our Master along his mission. Not that it concerns you. Since the other one failed to eliminate you, it is my turn to prove my worthiness to Master Shimizu." Owryumon rose its swords, swiping them down at Ryo. The left blade made contact with the side of his chest, knocking him down while the right one barely missed, slashing the floor.

Ryo left out a yelp of pain before rolling over to dodge the next set of attacks. Both swords hit either side of him, driving large holes into the floor. The floor crumbled beneath Ryo's weight and he fell onto a bed below. Ryo stumbled onto his feet, managing to miss the swords once more. He ran over to the window, attempting to unlock it before another attack missed his head. The sword broke through the window, falling onto the ground below. He could hear the loud clank as it hit.

"Cyberdramon!" Ryo yelled out the window, but failed to spot the cyborg. He turned around to see Owryumon behind him. The mass of its body knocked over the walls behind it. Ryo could see doctors and patients running down the hall to safety.

"Golden Armour!" Owryumon commanded its attack. The debris and earth around him rose from the ground shooting at Ryo. The attack annihilated everything in its path, smashing Ryo out of the hospital and falling to the ground. With the right sword still in its hand, Owryumon dropped it, tip down, at the falling Ryo. "Good-bye, Tamer."

Nico staggered through the corridor of the Colloseum, carrying a limp and unconscious body over his shoulder. He had anticipated his defeat and had expected no less of the Tamers. His job, however, was to weaken them, not kill them. Shimizu knew that with Nico only having an ultimate level evolution wouldn't be any match for the Tamers.

Shimizu had others out there to help him; much more advanced Spirit Evolutions. He put all his trust into the stronger five, not the weaker ones, which is why Nico was stuck with such a pathetic task. He didn't care though. He completed his task so Shimizu had no reason to discard him like he had done with the security guard. Poor Armo, he thought sadly.

Finally reaching his destination, Nico placed the body onto the makeshift bed. He sat beside it, placing his head onto his hands. What Shimizu had set out to do was going according to plan, so he was pleased. However, none of the Tamer's had been killed. Instead, they all had their partners with them. It was, in fact, a threat to Shimizu, if only a small one. The portal was open and five thousand Digimon were hanging around Italy. Most of which were servants of Shimizu. It wasn't much of an army he had boasted about, hell, there wasn't even an army and Nico knew that for a fact.

It was all a diversion. The true goal of Shimizu wasn't Italy itself, but what Italy had. What Italy contained. That was Shimizu's true goal. Sure, it would have been possible to obtain it without releasing all those Digimon, but Shimizu had no choice. In order to bring in his guardians, he had to open a portal for them. Opening a portal obviously meant stray Digimon would go through. It was a risk that had turned out to be in their favour.

Armies from countries all over had now come into Italy to fight the Digimon that had come through the portal. It distracted them from getting to the Colloseum which contained what Shimizu was looking for. It would be impossible for humans to defeat so many Digimon and it was sickening for Nico to know that so many humans would die because of them.

He grabbed his D-Tector, that was now broken. He threw it against a wall completely shattering it. It was no good to him anymore, he couldn't evolve. He didn't want to evolve. The process was painful and stole too much of his energy. Nico was glad he had lost the battle, even if it left him injured. He turned to look at the figure on the bed, the breathing no longer rhythmic due to injuries, causing him to leave out a sigh. He placed his hand on their face.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, mostly to himself. He was sorry to go against the Tamers, especially Rika. They were friends. No, they were more. She was the first person he connected with and had feelings for. He never meant to harm her so much, but what choice did he have? If he hadn't fought with full potential, Shimizu would have known and Nico would have suffered the same fate as Armo.

Nico looked away from the body in time to see a white ghost float through the wall. He smiled a bit. "I trust you have good news."

Bakemon smiled. "The abandoned hospital is their hideout."

"Good. You've done your share of the work. Here is your reward," Nico thanked him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large white vial. Uncorking it, another Bakemon released itself.

"Thank the Sovereign I am free," it beamed, with a female voice.

The first Bakemon grinned. "I'm so happy to have you back."

Nico could sense the happy ending with the two Bakemon as they floated away. It was cruel to hold one captive to get the other to do his bidding, but his plan worked. He now knew the whereabouts of the Tamers. He got off the bed and headed out the door to his room. Looking back before he closed the door, he smiled at the figure. "I'll be back, Rika."

Yamaki stepped into the abandoned hospital. Turning his flashlight on, he followed the tracks of the Tamers' from their footprints that had uncovered the thick layer of dust. What surprised him most was there was an extra set of them leading into the opposite direction. He decided to follow those ones instead. He rounded some corners and up one flight of stairs. He began to wonder if the Tamers were there at all as he had not seen any light nor heard any sounds.

Before Yamaki turned to head down the stairs, a loud crashing noise caught his attention. He sprinted down the long, dark corridor before coming to a halt outside of the last room. A shadowy figure appeared before him, and he stepped back.

"Show yourself," Yamaki demanded. Pointing his flashlight in the direction. The figure moved into the room. Yamaki followed. "Is it one of you kids?"

The suspicious figure stopped in the corner. "I guess you caught me."

"Who are you," Yamaki asked. The beam of his flashlight touched the figure. "Kazu?"

"That's right, so what?" Kazu defended himself. "Isn't a guy allowed to sneak around a dark and creepy hospital?"

Shaking his head, Yamaki answered in a deep voice, "it's very suspicious. What are you doing?"

Kazu edged closer to the window. "I was sneaking out of here."

Yamaki rose a brow, "and why exactly are you sneaking around?"

"Ryo and Rika went to the hospital alone. I was going to go there, too." Kazu told him. It was the truth, even if Yamaki was still suspicious. Kazu wanted to make sure Rika wasn't in anymore danger and that Ryo wasn't bored out of his mind waiting. He knew the dangers outside and had no idea where the hospital was in the very least, but he couldn't shake his concerned feeling.

"Are they all right?" Yamaki was unaware of what had been happening between the times he had been flying to Italy. It wasn't like he could use his phone on the plane. His main priority was to make sure the children weren't in any danger.

"Rika was badly hurt so Ryo took her to the hospital." Kazu said, sitting down in defeat. "I feel so useless."

"You should," an unrecognized voice said from behind Yamaki. He raised his flashlight behind Yamaki, bringing it down on his head. Yamaki collapsed to the ground. "Where are the others?"

"What do you want with us, Nico?" Kazu asked, raising his fists.

Nico raised his hands, stepping over Yamaki. "Relax, I'm not going to harm you."

"Oh yeah? You just knocked out Yamaki, why should I trust you?"

"Because I have something that you need," Nico grinned.

Kazu didn't trust his words. And why should he? He almost killed Rika. Not to mention he's working for Shimizu. "And that is..?"

"I'll tell you after we get to the others. I'm on your side, Kizu." Nico said.

"It's Kazu."

Nico shrugged. "Whatever. Trust me."

Janyuu rushed into the office. Dolphin sat in front of a giant computer monitor vigorously typing away on his keyboard, oblivious to Janyuu's arrival. Janyuu gave a small cough, gaining the attention of his co-worker.

"Ah, Janyuu, sorry, didn't see you there. I have good news," Dolphin said, not looking up from the screen. The screen displayed green and red coloured dots on the map of Italy.

"I trust you do," he replied, observing the dots.

Dolphin poked a red dot on the screen, "OK, you're never going to believe this. These red dots here indicate the closed portals in Italy. As you can see, there are far more red ones than green."

"Which tells us that the one behind this is could be after the portals," Janyuu said.

"No, that's the thing I called you down here for," Dolphin replied. "Look here," he said, poking a place on the map, "that's where the Colosseum is, but look close. There are three dots, not one."

"Interesting." Janyuu squinted at the place Dolphin indicated. "It's also a lot bigger than the others, too."

Dolphin nodded, "yes, but look even closer."

Janyuu did as he was instructed. He looked so close his nose almost touched the screen. He left out a gasp, "one's still closed, but what does the yellow dot mean?"

"I'm assuming this is where the first portal was opened since it's the largest. I'm still unsure why only one is opened and not the other. As far as the yellow dot goes, I'm working on it. This program is only set up to tell us of portals in the world, the yellow dot just suddenly appeared and I haven't seen any other anywhere else. I'm putting my money on that there being something our bad guy is after at that location."

"So it appears. Perhaps that the other portal isn't known to the one behind this, or maybe he doesn't know how to open it. Still, by looking at all the other closed portals on the map I'm guessing that he's still after them for some reason. It's far too confusing anyhow." Janyuu took a seat beside Dolphin. "Any luck with our portal or finding out about the Spirit Evolution?"

Dolphin shook his head, "no. I think it's a waste of time to create our own portal now. I'm sure the kids' Digimon would have or have managed to come through one of the many open in Italy. I'm going to figure out what's under the Colosseum."

"I hate this guy," Jeri whispered to Takato. He nodded in agreement but remained silent.

"Oh gee, don't I feel loved," Nico said, rolling his eyes, overhearing Jeri's comment. Jeri blushed with embarrassment.

"You should," Henry growled, crossing his arms. "What do you want anyway? I suppose you told Shimizu where we are."

Nico faced him, his green eyes flaring with annoyance, "no, I did not tell Shimizu where you guys are."

"Heh, you probably will soon," Kazu remarked, working up his courage. He leaned against the doors, blocking the path in case Nico decided to bolt.

"Look, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you," his tone was serious, though he knew no one trusted him. "I never meant to hurt you, but I did what I had to do."

Henry shook his head, "the trouble you've caused us? You nearly had Rika and Ryo killed! There's no reason for us to forgive you."

Takato was taken back by Henry's words. Usually Henry is very forgiving, he thought, recalling when they had first met Rika. On several occasions she had tried killing Guilmon. He cast his partner a glance. Guilmon stood beside him, ready to fight when necessary. He turned his attention back to Nico."Why don't you start explaining yourself."

Nico left out a small, irritated sigh. "I was working for Shimizu under a condition of his. It's not like I really wanted to be the bad guy in this. Everyone working for him is the same way. It's uuh, what you call...blackmail, si?"

"Cut the Italian crap you're trying to pull on us," Renamon snarled. She quickly rose to her bed, making her way towards Nico. Grabbing him by the scarf of the shirt, she lifted him up several feet. "Where is Rika?"

"Put me down you damn dog." Nico grabbed Renamon's arm. "She's safe. How did you know I had her?"

Renamon tightened her grip, "you smell like her. Where is she?"

Nico grinned, "it's not what you think. I carried her to my hideout from the hospital before she got killed by one of Shimizu's Guardians."

"His Gaurdian?" Henry rose a brow.

"Yes, now put me down so I can explain myself." Renamon nodded, letting go of Nico. He fell onto his butt and looked up. "That was rude. Anyway, as I was trying to explain... I never intended on working for Shimizu. He has something of mine that I need back. After I did his bidding he still hadn't given me what I'm after." He stood, wiping off his pants. "He has something of all of ours that he's using as blackmail."

"And that is...?" Kazu said, growing impatient.

Nico looked at him, "what he has is something personal for everyone. And I'd be damned if I told you what he has of mine."

"OK, so we've established this blackmail thing. Now, let me get this straight, you are here for us to help you get back what Shimizu has of yours only because he didn't keep his word." Henry caught on.

"Yes. In exchange for helping me, I will give you Rika back." Nico told them.

Renamon bore her teeth, "I don't be thinking so. You will give her back now or I will kill you myself."

"If you kill me, dog, you will never find her. So do we have a deal?"

Takato was furious. He didn't trust Nico, not one bit, but in order to save one of his best friends what choice did he have? He didn't agree at all to any of the conditions Nico had set out in exchange to save Rika even though he had. In order to get his friend back the Tamers had to protect Nico from Shimizu. It wasn't at all that hard to do, but still... he didn't care for the guy so why should his life matter in the very least?

Growlmon gave a jerk with his head and Takato nearly fell off the dinosaur's back. "Sorry Takato."

"It's alright, Growlmon." He assured the dinosaur. They were heading toward the hospital after finding out Ryo's life was put in danger. Kazu, Kenta, and Henry had stayed back with Nico and Yakami – after Kazu pointed out he was there. Despite him being unconscious, Takato felt a little safer having him around.

"You're lost in thought, aren't you, Takato?" Jeri asked, watching him.

He nodded. "Yeah. I just don't trust Nico."

"Me neither, but I'm sure he wasn't lying when he said Rika wasn't in anymore danger." She smiled.

"Why do you think that?" Takato wondered.

"Because I think he likes her." She admitted.

Takato frowned. "How could you possibly tell that."

"His eyes. And the fact he risked his life taking her from the hospital without Shimizu knowing." She told him.

"His eyes? You're joking right? And he probably saved her for blackmailing us." Takato objected the idea. It seemed more plausible to him that Nico was using them, not because he cared for Rika.

"You need to understand love more," Jeri teased. Takato blushed. "Speaking of which, I-"

"I'm sorry, Jeri." Takato cut her off.

"For what?"

"We didn't get to spend much time together. I'll make it up to you, I swear." He vowed. "We'll have a real date when this is over."

Jeri reached her hand over to Takato and clasped his. "Takato, I... Thanks."

"Damn this bastard," Cyberdramon roared. He had manged to catch Ryo in time before the sword sliced through him. Fortunately, it was right before Ryo had hit the ground.

"I know. He's definitely strong." Ryo admitted, watching Owryumon carefully. The Digimon had emerged from the hospital, tearing half the siding along with it. Military fired guns at it with devastating results. Owryumon fired attacks at them destroying their vehicles and leaving them fleeing for their lives.

"We should bio-emerge, Ryo," the cyborg suggested, not taking his defeat so lightly. In fact, Ryo could tell his partner was getting worked up over an overpowering opponent. He knew Cyberdramon wouldn't be satisfied until he had his way.

"Alright, let's beat this jerk quick and save Rika."

Sorry for the long wait. My life is suckingly busy. That's right, suckingly. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and there are still several more to come before the story is over. Also, I found out where to watch the Tamer's episodes in Japanese -squee-. Please review! (BTW, I got rid of the XXX because they looked horrible...)