Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Hazard's Sorrow

Chapter 14: Check Mate!

Lucemon flew over the city of Shinjuku, trying to catch some sign of his elusive prey, but not finding any success in the matter. From what he had sensed, he had half expected to see the great beast, fully evolved and wrecking havoc throughout the city. However, he did not find that to be the case, and he felt rage burning in his mind because of this. The pain from his exertions from four days ago, combined with the current weather patterns, was making it difficult for him to adequately locate any digimon in the area, and with the Tamer's digimon in the area things only became more complicated. Particularly with the Guardromon, the only other Virus digimon that was partnered with a Tamer. Lucemon supposed that he could remove the obstacle and progress with his search with less difficulty, but he refused to destroy a creature unnecessarily. Guardromon were mostly harmless, bound to do good or evil but far from likely to destroy the digital world the way Megidramon had come so close to doing. If events progressed to the point where it would become necessary, then Lucemon would do just that. Of course, if things went far enough for that to happen it was likely that he would have no problem tracking Megidramon or his lower evolved forms regardless of Guardromon's presence in the real world.

Frowning, the child-like angel ignored the pain that still throbbed within his body, and continued with his sweep over the city, trying to find some spoor of the Great Dragon. No matter what happened, or what creature tried to impede him, he would find it and destroy it. The fate of the digital world depended upon his actions.

Cyberdramon growled threateningly at the rain that continued to pelt his armored form, but he restrained himself from taking out his frustrations on the helpless tree that he stood next to, waiting from a safe distance for his Tamer to get out of school and join him, so that together they could train, find a wild digimon and battle it. There were times when this world of humans strained Cyberdramon's patience. Too much order, too many things that the world refused to allow him to do, and not enough enemies that were powerful enough to give him the satisfaction of a good battle. Fighting was in his blood after all, and he hungered for it the way people hungered for food. However, this was Ryo's world now, not the chaotic digital world that he had lived in for years before the two of them met. Before D-Reaper, before the Tamers, before Milleniummon…

Cyberdramon growled once more as two humans, both female neared his hiding place. Both turned in the direction of his growl, but the great digimon, surrounded by clusters of bushes and the one large tree, was well hidden. Either that or the two females just didn't want to stick around long enough to find out what had made the noise that they had heard. Which was fair enough. Cyberdramon wasn't the type that enjoyed company unless it was powerful and/or gave him a battle. As those two humans were neither, he ignored them. He had to, for Ryo's sake. Besides the fact that the human authorities likely wouldn't stand for a digimon frightening any innocent bystanders (never mind that there was already enough strain building up from the regular invasions from the digital world), there was also his father to consider. Mr. Akiyama had not taken very well to Ryo's disappearance into the digital world, nor did he like the idea of Ryo being a Tamer or the constant media attention that Ryo garnered whenever he went somewhere. And he wasn't at all trusting of the Ultimate level digimon that had a nasty habit of being aggressive towards just about everything that breathed (despite Ryo's assurances that Cyberdramon was really just a puppy on the inside… once you get to know him). Mr. Akiyama had allowed Cyberdramon (as Monodromon) to live with them on the fact that there was very little he could do about what it was that had bonded the digimon to Ryo in the first place. It had simply become a matter of reluctantly accepting Ryo's position as a Tamer, and that due to his unparalleled skills and inner power, he was likely to be called upon again and again by the digital world, necessitating his long absences from home and school. Despite the number of times that Ryo had gone through that with the digital world in the past, his father had yet to fully accept his son's destiny. Not that anyone could blame him. His family life had not exactly turned out the way he had initially thought that it would.

There were times however that Cyberdramon wished that none of these obstacles that were in the human world existed, or that he were still in the digital world. At least in the digital world he could go wherever he pleased and destroy anyone or anything that said otherwise. Things were not so simple here.

Cyberdramon felt impatience rise in his heart and he immediately squashed it. He had to remind himself that Ryo would be out of school soon, and that it did not do to allow himself to be controlled by his fighter instincts, or the Siren call of battle that constantly allured him. He hadn't become Ryo's partner just so that he could give into his instincts. There was more than one way to be strong after all…

Cyberdramon looked up into the sky as he sensed something approaching, something strong, but strangely familiar. And it was trying to get into the real world. Scanning the dark clouds that hung overhead, Cyberdramon debated waiting for his Tamer but decided against it. Ryo and the others were still in school, and if he was able to track down whatever it was that was about to bio-emerge he could successfully eliminate it before it became a problem. Unless that is Ryo wanted it alive…

Snarling, Cyberdramon decided that he would try to do what Ryo would expect of him if he were there, but if the digimon proved to be too strong and dangerous to play nice with, so to speak, then he would eliminate it, no questions asked. His growl deepening, Cyberdramon leapt into the air, his tattered wings spread wide as they caught air. As Cyberdramon flew higher, heading towards the source of the bio-emergence, he found that his only regret was that Takato's partner, Guilmon, would not be there to join him in battle.

Ryo Akiyama sat at his desk, only peripherally paying attention to what his teacher was talking about. Like his other friends and comrades in the field he was thinking about Takato, about the loss of his partner, but also about other things concerning the reactions of the others. It was something of a habit of his, born from an almost constantly strategizing mind that had been trained into him and refined to a razor's edge, allowing him to consider multiple viewpoints and responses to a given situation and try to find a solution for it, just as it was now. He had been shocked to say the least when he had found out about what had happened to Guilmon, and he worried greatly over Takato's reaction to the loss of his friend. During the occasions that he had managed to steal enough time to see his friend and now former Tamer, Takato had been a wreck, but was struggling to cope with it. Rather admirable from Ryo's point of view, as it showed that Takato had a desire to try and move on, but Ryo knew that the going wouldn't be easy for him, and that not everyone was able to get past the loss of someone that had been as close as Guilmon was to Takato. They would all be there to help him through it of course; Henry, Rika, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta… he would also be there too, despite the difficulty that he had with the distance between their respective districts and his own worry about Cyberdramon's aggressiveness. His own honor, and his friendship with Takato, demanded that he do no less. Despite the obvious differences between them, he had taken a liking to the goggle wearing kid. He had known others that were like him in the past, but he was different from them in a lot of ways. Not as confident or sure of himself, but when he was, when he had the moment where all doubts were cast to the wind, he could match, even rival the strength of heart that Ryo had seen from some old friends of his, which was a difficult thing to accomplish. That kind of heart made him more sensitive to the concerns of others, and this trait was only heightened by the vast amount of empathy that Takato had for his friends and others. While he didn't know exactly how much more Takato was feeling because of this, he had a pretty good idea as to the intensity of it. That, coupled with the amount of time that he had spent as a Tamer, might cause him to undervalue his importance to the team (as he had heard the boy himself put it so often, once more reminding him of other people, and another time). Takato was a pretty sensitive kid, made more so by the loss of his partner, and if he couldn't feel useful to his friends, then there was also a chance that he would try to avoid them, something that, unless Ryo missed his guess, would not go over well. Not with any of them, especially those whom he had fought alongside with the longest, Henry and Rika.

From what Ryo had already observed, Henry and Takato regarded each other as being about as close to brothers without being related, making up for each other's weak points and shoring up with their strong ones, balancing each other out. The same was true with Rika as well…

Ryo frowned. Of all the other Tamers, Rika had been the one who had reacted the most to the loss of Guilmon. Well, with the exception of Jeri maybe since she was fairly close to Takato already, but Rika had been the only one to react out of pure rage, directing it at the cause of that anger no less in a way that had surprised him. Well, only to a certain extent. In the time that he had known Rika on a more friendly and regular basis other than Digimon tournaments, the red haired girl had shown a streak for thinking and acting in a way that made others edgy around her. Despite this, she also showed great depths of compassion for others. Though this latter trait didn't show itself as often as the former, it was there and Rika was willing to admit that it existed, but only so far, as she also had the habit of retreating into sarcasm or irritation on those times that she didn't want to admit it. Even so, she had gone and rescued Impmon, and brought him back to the real world despite what he had done, even at the risk of missing the Arc and losing her way home. Her reaction to Takato's loss was justified, but in highlight to what had happened in the battle with Lucemon… it showed how much she had changed since the day that he met her in the digital world. How much closer she had grown to her friends.

Probably closer than she realizes, thought Ryo as a small smile spread its way across his face.

Yes, it was fortunate that Takato had such good friends ready to support him.

Ryo was interrupted from his musings by the beeping sound of his digivice, catching the attention of his classmates, and that of his teacher as well. His teacher was just turning with a raised eyebrow, but he didn't get a chance to ask a question or make a comment. Ryo was already on his feet and heading for the door, flashing him a confident, apologetic, and disarming smile, waving his cell phone in the air.

"Parents," said Ryo, as though it were all the excuse that he needed, never mind the fact that he wasn't supposed to have his cell phone on in class, even though it wasn't actually the case. Nonetheless, the teacher bought Ryo's excuse with a nod, and the Legendary Tamer was out the door and heading down the hallway, already looking through his partner's eyes with his digivice. Mr. Arai always did like him.

Okay, thought Ryo as he got a look at Cyberdramon's progress through the halo circle being displayed above his digivice. Let's see…looks like he's just flying right now. But there's definitely a digimon emerging into the real world right now, and Cyberdramon senses it. Wonder what kind it will be this time. hopefully a lot friendlier than the last one.

Ryo debated as to whether or not he should try to join his partner. It wouldn't be the first time he had skipped school to do so, and since it was well known that he was a Tamer (his life being as public as it was, he had been easily recognizable when he appeared on the TV screens worldwide) it wouldn't surprise anyone that he had made yet another disappearance. Not his fault that he led such an active lifestyle…

Hold on, thought Ryo as Cyberdramon's vision swiveled around, indicating that something was up. What's he doing?

Ryo got his answer a second later, and then he was racing towards the school exit.

Cyberdramon was closing in on his destination when he felt something tug at his senses. Something else was approaching the site of the new digital field. Something strong. Something… familiar. The last time he had sensed something like this had been on the day when Takato's partner, Guilmon had died. Turning his head in the direction of what he felt approaching, a new growl, this one much more vicious came out of his throat. Now he knew the reason why he felt a sensation of recognition at the digimon that was approaching the area.

He had fought it when Guilmon had been destroyed.

Twelve wings emerging from the body of a blonde haired boy seemingly no older than the Tamers; golden bracelets and anklets were attached to his arms and legs, and one hand was emblazoned with the sign of the Digital Hazard. A being and symbol that marked it for what it was and tell of its power, and let the whole world know it and tremble at its sight.

Lucemon, Cyberdramon snarled.

Raw emotion blanketed Cyberdramon's mind. Though he had not developed any feeling of camaraderie towards the crimson dinosaur as Ryo had with him and the Tamers, Guilmon was one of the few beings that whose death Cyberdramon regretted, if only because such a strong warrior (despite his childish nature) was not one who was meant to die in such a way, least of all at the hands of an angel. But then, he had heard that Lucemon tend to be a bit twitchy when it came to their desire to preserve order in the digital world. The cyborg dragon didn't understand the Lucemon's reasons for deleting Guilmon, as he and Ryo had not been there when the battle had started, and Takato had not been very forthcoming with any information regarding it (though Ryo had shared some doubts of his own with him about the nature and reason of the attack), but one thing that Cyberdramon knew was that Lucemon was an enemy of the Tamers, and was also an enemy of Ryo as well.

As much as he would otherwise not like it, were he de-digivolved and in his Monodromon form, Cyberdramon was going to take great pleasure in dispensing with his soon to be angelic foe.

His growling deepening, Cyberdramon changed his course, completely forgetting about the digital field that had been his original purpose and brought his clawed hands together, the talons glowing as he prepared to launch his attack at Lucemon.

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