DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

DEVIATIONS

Chapter 10

Morals

"We need to talk…"

"Huh?" Takato asked curiously, still stumped by how the vixen managed to appear from nowhere without any warning and present him with the question.

"To be entirely truthful, I would rather talk with someone else, but given that my options are somewhat limited, Calumon having the attention span of a fly, Guilmon having the intelligence of a fly and Impmon being as annoying as a fly, I am forced to talk to you…"

"What about talking to Rika?"

Takato thought Renamon frowned, it was the impression he got from her, although it wasn't all that clear. "I was aware that you are not the best at judging was to ask in uncomfortable situations, so I'll let that one pass…"

Takato frowned, as Renamon glanced aside.

"I presume you also have plenty of questions to ask…but I wish to talk about the more general issues at hand…"

"Okay, but I'm meant to be…" Takato began, before reconsidering. "…okay, let's talk…" Takato finished, deciding that facing the wrath of his mother was something he could at least survive one more time. Renamon's orbs returned to face the brunette.

"I presume you know of somewhere less public near here?"

Takato nodded. "We could try the hideout, but I presume that you don't want Guilmon to hear, but there's a playground nearby, shouldn't be anyone there…"

"Good, because even though I am voicing my thoughts Takato and will hopefully be able to find some answers, you are still not to mention this to anyone…"

Takato frowned; Renamon seemed just like Rika in being closed about her emotions, possibly less so than her Tamer however, given that Renamon was the one who made the redhead become more caring in the first place, although the brunette liked to feel he helped, even if it was only a little. Takato nodded, and Renamon gestured for him to lead the way, before disappearing once again. He glanced around, confused, wondering why she had left, before coming to the assumption that she already knew where they were heading.

Rika's attempts at going to bed early had failed to make her sleep, as she lay awake, staring up at the beams that made up the traditional ceiling of her home. It was not that her futon was uncomfortable, nor that it was too hot or cold, nor that any loud noises (excepting Calumon, of course, who had left nonetheless earlier, happy as ever) had kept her from her rest, but she simply couldn't shut her mind off. She hoped that she would get tired soon, because she was sick of thinking about the situation. She'd said that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with Digimon, why couldn't her emotions and thoughts accept that?

She sighed, glancing across to the D-Arc and card holder that Calumon had left on the floor. She'd made no attempt to move them or do anything with them, she'd probably stick them back in the waste bin the next day regardless, but at the moment it wasn't worth the effort. She did ponder for a second what her grandmother, mother or the garbage man would do if they were to discover the odd device, but she dismissed it, she wouldn't tell them, and it could go through the incinerator for all she cared.

She wasn't a Tamer anymore…that life had brought nothing but pain to her, and she was sick of the constant expectations of her and the changes in how she was meant to feel. Why should she care for something she felt no need to care about? She hated all Digimon, be they Renamon, the one who never gave her a true reason for being her partner, Guilmon, the childish buffoon who had a darker side to his abilities, Impmon, enough said, Calumon, the annoying puffball who always made her mind insist on putting the word 'cute' at the forefront, or any old random Digimon that simply wanted to fight and kill.

Takato would probably be freaking out by now about all the responsibility he now had about dealing with the wild Digimon. Either that or, knowing him, he'd be having one of his insane fantasies about being the best Tamer ever. What exactly was it with Takato, anyway? Why did he act the way he did? Why did he insist on trying to be friends with her, even after she shot him down countless times? Was it more than that, more than just an attempt at friendship?

Rika shook her head, that was silly, and even if the Gogglehead did have feelings like that, she couldn't care less. The words 'in his dreams' came to mind, but, then again, that had happened before, so it wasn't as impossible as the phrase suggested.

He was probably doing something stupid right now.

Sure enough, Takato's assumption at where the vixen had gone to was accurate, as he arrived at the playground, the 'dinosaur', swings and various play-structures scattered around as always. Renamon had positioned herself on top of the bar of the swing set, and Takato felt nervous as her gaze burned him, watching as he walked, before deciding to settle on a roundabout. He put his legs to the ground hard to stop it turning, an attempt that failed as he pushed too hard, pushing the roundabout round and making him fall over. He blushed with embarrassment, before sitting up and scratching the back of his head. He noticed that Renamon had failed to smile, at an act that even Rika would've found amusing, albeit incredibly stupid and a chance to insult him several times. Then again, she did seem to find it vaguely amusing whenever he did something stupid.

Renamon frowned. Perhaps speaking to Takato wasn't the best idea? She didn't exactly characterise him as mature, although he did have the occasional flicker of brilliance that seemed to tie hand in hand with that. But she needed someone to voice her thoughts to, no answers had been forthcoming to the bigger questions that plagued her mind, and another view on it could help.

She hadn't even considered seeing Rika. The Tamer that had, even after all the fox had done to help her, deserted her completely. She was at her wits end with the girl, she could wreck her life however she wanted now, and Renamon couldn't care less. She was now her own mon, no partner to belong to, and she would fight her own battles.

"Um…so are you going to talk first or am I?" Takato asked nervously, noting the silence and the narrowing and widening of the fox's eyes as he waited for something to start. She was thinking about something, and he wasn't sure what it was, but he hoped that she was considering trying to reconcile with Rika.

"I wish to talk about the state of affairs regarding the purpose of Digimon and humans in this world, and whether Digimon need Tamers at all…"

Takato frowned, this sounded somewhat familiar, the ideals of the purple imp that had bugged them repeatedly came to mind.

"There must be something more than just what we've done so far, mustn't there?" Takato asked.

Renamon frowned. Takato's words had at least a semblance of a point; it did feel like they were waiting for something bigger to happen. Then again, this did also appear to be one of Takato's TV series fixations again, and had she been Rika she would've insulted him on it. But she wasn't Rika, she no longer had any connection to the redhead, and she had no interest in creating one.

"I'm not sure…" Renamon replied. "The question is, even if there is, will Tamers and Digimon really be needed in it, or will Digimon suffice?"

Takato frowned, looking to the playground concrete. "I've always thought that together, Guilmon and I manage to fight well…"

"But Guilmon requires a Tamer to do well, I do not in my opinion…Rika has held me back…"

"Are you kidding? You two are better than Guilmon and me!" Takato replied, surprised at how Renamon was thinking.

Renamon frowned at the immature reply, doubting the wisdom of talking to this particular person. "Hardly an accolade…"

"Hey!" Takato exclaimed.

Renamon ignored the continuing immaturity of the responses, and continued speaking. "Perhaps we managed to attain some level of power, but I now believe I would have achieved a higher level of power in the same time-span without her…"

Takato frowned; he wasn't sure how to respond to this argument now. It was clear that mentioning the idea of being partners wouldn't help. Another train of thought came to his mind. "What about the pair of you caring for each other? Helping each other out in battle, to survive. I know the pair of you really care for each other; you just don't show it…"

Renamon looked to him, pausing periodically, before her expression altered to one of questioning. "Takato, allow me to ask you this, when was the last time that Rika helped me in battle?"

"During the Growlmon battle, she used modify cards on you…"

Renamon frowned. "She did nothing to help me…she never has…"

"Huh? But…"

"During the IceDevimon battle, were you paying any attention at all?"

"Huh? What did I miss?"

"Rika didn't help me at all, even when IceDevimon threatened to destroy me…she has never truly helped me, in every battle her use of cards only negated the fact that otherwise I would have the element of surprise, and the superiority of not having to protect a pathetic weakling…"

Takato was surprised at how Renamon referred to Rika, no-one had ever dared call Rika a weakling before (and even if they did, Takato doubted they would've lived to tell the tale). Takato frowned, glancing to his shoes, pondering and deciding whether to say what had come into his head, before looking up to the fox again. "I think Rika does care…I think she's more than she shows…and I can see it…I know you think the same, why else would you have stayed with her?"

Renamon frowned, looking sadly downwards, before looking up to Takato, her blue orbs filled with sorrow and regret. "Hope…hope that that was the case…turns out I was wrong…"

Takato frowned as the fox vanished into thin air, his chance to help the pair now gone. Then again, he doubted that he could think of anything to make her change her mind. Sighing, he stood up off the roundabout, and began to make way for home, his enthusiasm drained.

His mother was going to kill him.

Thankfully, Takato managed to survive the scolding of an enraged parent for that evening, and so, albeit his mind slightly lamenting losing his chance to change the situation the previous evening, he was once again back to his cheerful self, as he exited the school, pausing as if wanting to hear something.

Henry cocked an eyebrow. Takato looked like a gazelle trying to listen for a lion coming, what was he doing?

"Takato?" Henry asked, attracting the boy's attention as he spun round to talk to his friend.

"Yeah?"

"What…what are you doing, have you taken up bird-watching or something?" Henry asked, afterwards thinking that he should by now have become use to Takato's unusual behaviour and tangential mind.

"No…I was hoping another Digimon might attack, I'm ready for battle!"

Henry frowned. Takato still seemed to derive pleasure from battling, was this really the right way to go about things?

"I want to use that combination on Guilmon again…"

"I think you need a vacation…"

"Huh?"

"You're getting a bit obsessed about all this fighting stuff…I mean, you sound like you enjoy it…"

"I do…"

"But fighting just for the point of enjoyment is wrong…that's what I've always been taught…"

"Yeah, but at the same time we're protecting the city, so does it matter if I enjoy doing so? If I was a superhero, I'd enjoy flying and using my powers, even if the point of my powers was to save the city…"

"Maybe…"

"Hmm…I'd love to be able to fly…maybe I'd have wings…yeah, red wings like Guilmon's, and then I could fire energy balls from my hands, and it'd be really cool!"

Henry sighed. Takato's imagination was triggered once again; he only hoped that something came to distract him.

Thankfully, something did. Unfortunately, that thing presented another problem, and brought his own musings back to the fray.

Takato pulled his bleeping D-Arc out of under his pullover using the string attached to it. He grinned, smiling to see the compass.

"Finally!" he cheered.

Henry frowned. He decided to follow, he was curious to see the battle, but he decided also to try and avoid getting involved, for fear of losing his friend or even himself in the process.

"Let's go get Guilmon!" Takato said enthusiastically.

The air blurred in a fashion akin to heat haze as the first stage of the Digital Field began to take form, a mist beginning to appear soon after. The events were unnoticed by the shoppers of the busy district (although the drivers noticed to some extent by sounding their horns when the traffic light switched to red), but were noticed by two humans and a digimon rapidly approaching the area, and a series of humans working within an agency that none of those on the street knew of, excepting the boys and the dinosaur-like Digimon.

"Tracer is locked and Yuggoth has been deployed…" the red-haired woman, Riley, reported, as both she and her counterpart typed away.

"Why have you dispatched Yuggoth? We were going to use DFDP on the field!" Yamaki scolded. Riley frowned, she had hoped that her boss hadn't noticed, but it was clear he had.

Thankfully, a gasp from Tally interrupted the proceedings, as she began to type away at her keyboard. "Yuggoth has been destroyed, wild one is about to breech…it's the same one from before! It survived!"

"Stop it doing so!" Yamaki ordered, hiding his true annoyance at DFDP failing to prevent the Digimon returning again.

"Wild one has breeched…" Tally sighed, as Yamaki flicked his lighter, the eerie anticlimax of his reaction leaving worry in his employees. He turned walking towards the door.

"Where are you going sir?" Riley asked.

"To see this battle personally…" the blonde replied.

A driver screamed in fear as a pair of feet landed on his bonnet and shook the car. He dove out the door as his car was cut in two and blown to smithereens, running to grab a random stranger, who looked to him bewilderingly as unbeknownst to them a dinosaur and two boys passed behind.

Takato pulled down his Goggles and ran into the mist, Guilmon following. Henry paused; he'd already told Takato of his intentions of not entering the battlefield.

"Greetings…" said the deep voice, as their foe began to talk. Guilmon growled as Takato raised his goggles, pointing his D-Arc to the samurai-like Digimon with orange and dull green armour and a golden mask-like crown shaped like a mythical monster on his head, a mass of purple hair coming from the rear of his head, and running down his back. He brandished a sword in his hand, and glared at the human and Digimon.

"Wow…" Takato exclaimed. "Musyamon, Virus Type, Champion Level, his attacks are Shogun Sword and Ninja Blade!"

"Vengeance is mine!" Musyamon roared, racing forward with sword held forth.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Speed Activate!" Takato called, Guilmon rushing to one side as Musyamon attempted to follow, growling.

Guilmon turned, running towards Musyamon and leaping around him, kicking out with his muscular legs and throwing the samurai to the ground. They moved apart again, as Takato slashed another card.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Attack Boost Activate!"

Guilmon drew his mouth wide, a ball of flame prepared. "PYRO SPHERE!" he roared, a larger than usual ball of flame hurtling towards Musyamon, who slashed through it and smirked as it broke.

"Taking orders from a human? Pathetic…" he mocked, rushing forward.

"Oh boy…" Guilmon complained, as he dodged to one side, before becoming the victim of a kick.

"Come on Guilmon, you can't give in this easily, you can do it!" Takato cheered.

Henry frowned, his sight into the digital field having been absent for a while now. He hoped that Takato was okay, as he listened to his fellow pedestrians gawp about their lack of visibility of the pedestrian crossing signal through the fog.

A red balloon was let loose, and a young girl with a pink bandana, navy and white shirt and blue dress ran after it.

"Where are you going?" she asked it, as if she expected a reply.

Henry's eyes widened, that girl would get slaughtered in there. He'd said he wasn't going to follow, but it looked like he no longer had a choice.

He ran past his fellow pedestrians into the mist, pausing only to place a pair of green tinted sunglasses over his eyes. He looked into the field, seeing Takato and Guilmon still engaged with the Digimon, which he identified from the card game as Musyamon, and the girl crouched into the foetal position crying about her balloon, not noticing the monsters battling nearly. Henry stopped in his tracks, he knew enough from his sister that it'd be hard to get this girl to move, and she was a target, while Guilmon struggled to fight the samurai, with limited degree of success.

"This is bad…" Henry summarised.

Musyamon shook Guilmon off his arm and leapt backwards, Takato using the chance to swipe another card.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Wing Activate!"

"Something's wrong…" Guilmon moaned as the white wings materialised on his back. He leapt back to avoid the blade slicing at him.

"Use the wings like last time!" Takato advised in alarm.

"I'll try…" Guilmon replied, leaping at Musyamon, who missed as he slashed. Guilmon continued up into the air, having lost control over his new feature, and floating into the air.

"Is that the best you've got?" Musyamon taunted, as he turned upon noticing the quivering girl.

"Takato, watch out!" Henry called.

"Henry?" Takato asked, surprised that his friend had entered the Digital Field.

Musyamon walked forward menacingly, laughing as he approached his easy target, the girl not even glancing up.

"What now?" Henry asked himself in alarm. He didn't want to fight, why was he in this situation? But how could he get out of this without fighting? Maybe Takato was right, maybe they had to fight?

Takato panicked, seeing the oncoming fate as the girl whimpered, Musyamon raising his blade.

Henry raced forward, hoping that his next move would work. Takato looked on in shock as Musyamon glanced aside, murmuring in surprise at the human racing to attack him, before Henry slammed into his side, knocking him off balance and sending him flying to the floor. The sword clattered to the ground, as Takato looked on in amazement. Henry, not pausing in the process, bent down and picked up the blade, Musyamon growling when he saw the boy holding it menacingly towards his neck.

"Stay away!" Henry warned, his voice determined in spite of his rampant fear.

Musyamon growled, before smirking. The girl looked up in surprise, as suddenly Musyamon vanished, Takato and Henry looking around.

"Where'd he go?!" Takato asked in alarm.

Henry suddenly felt something wind him, and dropped the sword, collapsing to the ground as the sword vanished. Takato ran over to his friend, as Guilmon landed with a bump, holding the balloon in his hand.

"Here you go!" he said happily, as the girl smiled in thanks.

"Thank you…" she said happily, gripping the string tightly.

"Did he…escape?" Henry asked.

Takato nodded, as he glanced at his D-Arc to see the compass again. "He must be this way…come on Henry; we've got to catch up…"

"Right!" Henry replied, determination filling his veins as his pain in his gut faded. They raced out of the fading fog to leave the girl before anyone noticed, before racing off in the direction of the compass.

"Mom, I met a Digimon! And they were real!" the girl cheered happily.

"Sure…that's great dear…" her mother replied, taking her cell phone off her ear for a second.

The cars continued to drive, and a blonde frowned. The battle had been unclear, but the 'Tamer' had presumably won. He spat at the thought, humans interacting with Digimon to fight others. How could a human interact with data as if it were a living being?

'Uh-oh, this neighbourhood is getting far too familiar…' Takato thought as the residential streets ended and the pathways began, as they chased after their compass. Musyamon seemed to have no idea that they were pursuing, and was running in an arbitrary direction, but suddenly the distance indicator seemed to start decreasing only. Takato cocked an eyebrow, as they turned a corner.

Renamon faced Musyamon, outside the front gate of the Nonaka household. Musyamon growled in annoyance, as Renamon glanced over his shoulder to the humans and Digimon behind.

"This is my battle…" she warned, intended towards Takato in particular, the brunette looking on in concern at the battlefield.

"I owe a debt to killing them first, so you'll have to wait…" Musyamon replied, turning to face Guilmon and the two humans, the saurian growling.

"Allow me to clear your debt then!" Renamon called, leaping into the air. "DIAMOND STORM!" she yelled, the diamonds slamming into and obliterating the champion's back, as he growled in pain. His data burst, and Renamon absorbed it.

"That was…fast…" Takato noted in shock, surprised at how easily she had dealt with him. Renamon landed from her absorption, and smirked.

"I have proved it…I do not need a Tamer…" she decided, disappearing before Takato could object.

"Hey, come back!" he called, to no avail as he stepped forwards to where they had fought. He sighed in irritation, looking down to the ground.

"For god's sake Gogglehead, go away!" a new voice yelled, as he looked up to see an angry Rika glaring at him. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked.

"Renamon…was fighting Musyamon, and just beat him…"

Rika frowned, pausing. "I don't care" she spat, turning back to walk through her gate.

"You don't care?!" Henry asked, his voice annoyed. Rika cocked an eyebrow, and turned. "I would do anything for a partner, and you don't even care that you have one…"

"Who's your little friend Gogglehead?" Rika teased spitefully.

"Listen to me!" Henry called. "How can you just think that Digimon are data? Sure, literally they may be, but you must have seen, they have emotions and everything, just like humans…"

Rika glared at him, then back to Takato. "Who is this Braniac?"

"His name's Henry, Rika…" Takato insisted. "And I want to know too…"

Rika frowned, turning once again. "I told you I hate Digimon, and I haven't changed…NOW GO THE HELL AWAY!" she yelled, Takato quivering back slightly as Rika stepped through her gate and slammed it. Takato frowned, looking to the ground.

'I failed again…even in battle I failed…I failed at even just talking…'

"Takato, are you okay?" Henry asked. Takato turned to him, frowning.

"Yeah, but I'm a lousy Tamer…I couldn't even deal with that threat, I just reused the same combo again without using tactics…I'm sorry Guilmon…"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it; everyone's a rookie at some point…" Henry reassured, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Particularly me!" Guilmon cheered. Takato smiled weakly.

"I know but…I've battled so many times that you'd think I'd have the hang of things by now, but, I just don't…but, I'll work at it Guilmon, and we'll do better next time!"

Guilmon nodded, smiling. "Yeah!"

"By the way Henry, that was pretty brave what you did back there, you saved that girl…"

"Yeah…" Henry replied, what he had done truly dawning on him. 'I guess I can help…I just hope that I'm not always left on the sidelines…'

"Come on; let's go back to the park before Rika kills me…" Takato told him, the blue-haired boy nodding.

Rika landed back on her futon, still in annoyance at the pair. 'Who the hell does that new kid think he is? He's not even a Tamer, he's lower than Takato to me, and I didn't even think that was possible…'

TO BE CONTINUED…

Again, changes to the original storyline, ones that fit better with the different setup. Anyone whose read Dimensions should note the reference in this chapter, I thought it would be amusing to have Takato's imagination like that.

Next time…

Will Rika and Renamon ever get back together? Will Takato ever be a good Tamer? Will Henry always be left on the sidelines?

Find out in 'Roam Alone', Chapter Eleven of Deviations.