Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Digimon Trinity

Chapter: 14/The Dragon and the Queen

"Does anyone know what we're looking for out here?" Takeru heard one of his 'cleanup' agents ask as he approached the scene at the park. Yellow tape was wrapped around the area, warning bystanders to keep away as an investigation was going on. Takeru ducked underneath it, flicking his lighter open and then closed with a metallic click.

"Bio-emergence of a memetic life form," replied another holding a small device in his hands that gave off low, sporadic, clicking noises; a Geiger Counter. "Namely digimon. Didn't you pay attention in the briefing?"

"Sherlock, no way," crowed another with a loud laugh. "With the readings we have? Digimon of this level couldn't get through the firewall. I'm betting this is…" The agent's words died off as he spotted Takeru continuing on by. "Shhh!" he hissed. "The boss!"

Takeru ignored them, continuing to flick his lighter open and closed before stopping at a small digimon playing card, standing with a corner stabbed into the dirt. Bending down, he picked it up.

Children playing games again, isn't that right, Owikawa? he asked mentally. He didn't expect an answer. Not from himself and least of all from the dead man whose digital remains littered the digital world. That's how it started; with a game.

Dropping the card, he flicked his lighter open. Just try and win this one, darkness…

###

"All right, settle down class," Kari called over the chatter of her students in an attempt to corral them into some semblance of order. Fortunately for her head, they did just that and quickly quieted. "That's much better," she continued. "I still have a full and complete minute of your precious time and I intend to use every second of it."

As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Kari closed her eyes, feeling the slight pang of an ache behind her temples. She sighed. "Apparently to tell you that I still have a minute of your time," she acquiesced. "That's it for today!"

The class cheered and immediately began to half-run, half-file their way to the door with something resembling an orderly fashion. Takato got up slowly, his expression distant, barely noticing Kazu and Kenta as they linked up and darted away in the direction of their hangout. They wouldn't be expecting him as he told them earlier in the day he was going to have 'things to do'. Seeing his slowness, Kari approached him.

"Everything all right, Takato?" she asked. Blinking, the boy looked up, and his vision cleared a little.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm just…worried a little. I don't know what to expect I guess."

Worried that the Renamon tracked down Guilmon, she thought, though she didn't voice the concern out loud. "Don't worry," she said. "If there were something wrong, I'm sure your digivice would have let you know." She gave him a small smile. "Mine does, and yours should do."

"Yeah?" Takato asked hopefully, looking up at Kari. She nodded and at once his spirits brightened up. "If you say so," he continued, giving a nervous laugh. "Maybe Ken already arrested her, or maybe she has to wait until after school?"

"It could be, but you shouldn't depend on that," Kari advised. "Remember what we talked about last night?"

Takato nodded.

"Good," Kari said. "Gatomon and I can't be with you all the time, so it's important that you two try to stay as safe as possible until this is resolved. As long as you do as I told you, you should be safe." She pressed her lips together tightly, clearly not happy. Should was the key word here. There was no such thing as true safety even in the best of societies. The best anyone could do is hope and do what they could to avoid danger. Hopefully Takato would be able to do so.

###

Takato made his way through the schoolyard and in the direction of the park, taking no notice of Jeri's eyes as they followed him, a bit of a mischievous look dancing within their amber depths. Takato opted to take the shortest route he could, cutting through his usual hangout with Kazu and Kenta and get right down to business. Hopefully everything would be all right.

Please be okay, Guilmon, he thought, the worry building up in his mind until a loud cry caused him to trip up and nearly face-plant himself on the ground in surprise. "W-Wha…?" he rasped, looking around frantically before finding Kazu already sitting across from Kenta in the dinosaur hut, burying the poor boy in what appeared to be the next round in a never-ending string of defeats. Kenta's face was buried in his hands as his shoulders shook with anger.

"C'mon dude!" Kazu crowed, holding up the card that ensured his victory. Slightly curious, Takato moved a little closer and found him holding up his new, prized SkullMeramon card. "Don't cry, look up! You've got to see this, I am just that good!"

Unable to stop himself Takato moved closer again, chuckling. "You're one humble guy, Kazu."

Looking up in surprise, Kazu grinned. "Hey, Chumley! I thought you had stuff to do."

"I still do," Takato said, giving his friend a regretful smile. "I was just passing through."

"Ah well," Kazu shrugged. "Next time then. I could use a better player to fight against. Beating Kenta all the time is kinda starting to get old."

His head snapping up at that, Kenta adjusted his glasses. "You're…You're a lousy winner!" he exclaimed, trying to sound tough. Unfortunately, long association with Kazu meant that his bravado was wasted, especially when all it did was rile him up.

"Am not!" Kazu defended. "You're just a lousy loser! Do you hear me, loser? Anyway, you'll never get any better until you learn how to use modify cards. That's where a real Tamer shines, and I shine baby!"

"Yeah," Takato nodded absently, remembering yesterday's battle with the girl and her Renamon. "They sure do make a difference."

"See?" Kazu laughed. "Even Chumley here gets it and he's almost as bad as you are!" Snickering, Kazu leaned back in the hut. "Anyway, I think I'm a natural to win the tournament this year."

"You're delusional," Kenta said, still fuming about his latest defeat. "I mean, you're not even in their league, Kazu."

"Am too!" Kazu shot back. "Listen up boyo, a girl won it last year."

Kenta's eyes lit up and all his anger just seemed to melt away. "That…was not just a girl," he breathed.

"Yeah," Kazu nodded, a touch of awe in his voice now. "The Digimon Queen. That's what they call her. Can you believe that? She even lives around here."

At that, Takato's interest was sparked. A master Tamer that lived in their area? Could she teach him how to use modify cards better so he could help Guilmon?

"She's going to wipe the floor with your sorry butt," Kenta continued, sounding defeated again. Kazu snorted and stabbed a finger in his direction.

"Don't think so! She's just never met her match is all! Wait and see, Chumley! She'll be begging me for mercy!"

Not thinking, Takato took hold of Kazu's shoulder and shook it urgently. "I have to find her!"

"Huh?" Kazu blinked, turning toward him. "You have to do what?"

"Where does she live? I need her!"

Kazu could only stare at his friend, stunned at his friend's statement. "Dude, I can't believe what you just said. Did you just say you need a girl? You're out of the club buddy. Hello?"

Takato didn't hear him. He was lost in thought trying to figure out how to track down this master Tamer and convince her to train him. If she agreed, then Guilmon…

"Takato needs a girl? What for?" came Jeri's voice, snapping him back to reality with a startled cry and a blush. Looking over at her, standing across just outside the dinosaur hut, one arm behind her back and holding the other while one foot dug against the ground, Takato's blush darkened in ferocity. She smiled upon seeing it. "Will I do?"

Kazu and Kenta, fortunately, took no notice of it.

"Not unless you can beat up the Digimon Queen," Kenta said, pumping his fists into the air. "Now that's a battle I'd pay money to see!"

"Boys are so weird," Jeri said, tilting her head to one side questioningly. "What's so great about fighting?"

Kazu leaned a little closer to her. "Show's how much you know about being a boy," he said. "It's how we keep score! And anyway, I've met plenty of girls who enjoy a good fight."

"I'm sure you have," spoke up another girl approaching from behind Jeri, a girl with an orange and red-striped T-shirt and copper pigtails. "Lots of them."

"Ayaka!" Jeri greeted in surprise.

"Like Miki," Ayaka laughed, looking over at the dark-haired, bowl-cut girl in a grey dress behind her. "You want to fight with Kazu, right?"

The three girls all gave a loud chorus of laughter, and with that, as if on some hidden signal, Jeri and the two girls parted ways from the three boys, leaving them to stare after them in uncertainty as to what just happened.

"Um…I think we just lost that round, guys," Takato said, scratching the back of his head.

"Phht!" Kazu said dismissively. "Whatever. I'm ready to beat Kenta into the ground again. You sticking around or are you taking off?"

"Ah!" Takato wanted to kick himself for getting distracted. It was no wonder his parents didn't let him have pets. "I'll see you tomorrow!" he said, turning and breaking into a run toward the park. Kazu could only shake his head at him.

"Man, he seriously needs to cut back on the caffeine…"

###

Takato pushed his legs all the harder as he raced in the direction of the park. Reaching an intersection, he noticed a number of black, unmarked vans with satellite dishes on top driving by and he drew up short to watch them pass before crossing. In his mind, he was already forming conspiracy theories as to why such vehicles were out.

Could it be because of that girl? he wondered. His hands tightened as another thought occurred to him. Or could it be because of Guilmon? Because he has that Hazard mark on his chest?

He remembered his research from yesterday and how fruitless it had been. While he had an entry called 'Digital Hazard' (as luck would turn out, it was located in the very last binder tucked in the back), but what information it held was scant at best and from the card game. When he brought it up with Ms. Kamiya, even she knew nothing about it. However, that girl seemed to think it was important, and if anyone else knew what the Digital Hazard was it would most definitely be the government. Taking a look he spotted a gap where the last of the vans was located. Springing into action, Takato darted toward it and raced into the intersection. Within short order he was across the street and entering the domain of Shinjuku Park.

"Guilmon!" he called, quickly locating the stairs that would bring him to his partner's hideout. "Guilmon!"

No answer. The door to the concrete hut was ajar. Panicking, he pulled it the rest of the way open and quickly found that the place was empty save for the broken rubble from Guilmon's digging. "No…" Takato moaned in despair. "They must have found him. I should have hidden him better!"

Already, his imagination was conjuring nightmare images as to who the 'they' were. The girl or the government seemed to be the most obvious choices. If the girl, Guilmon was as good as dead. If the government…

They're probably doing all kinds of weird experiments on him! His head bowed as tears began to well up in his eyes. "He's…He's toast…"

Just then, he became aware that his digivice was beeping at him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled it out, discovering that the compass function was on and ready, the arrow on the screen swinging wildly about. "Huh? Oh! That's right! Ms. Kamiya said that I could use this to find him!"

Come to think of it, isn't that how I found him in the first place? Takato wanted to kick himself again for being so quick to surrender to despair. Turning, he tried to follow the arrow, only to frown as it swung around again, as if in confusion.

"There he…is?" He spun around. "Here! No…there! Ah…how does this stupid thing work?"

Finally, the arrow drew to a halt to a bush directly in front of him, off the side to the concrete hut. It was definitive. This had to be him coming. "Bull's eye, baby!"

The bush shifted and Takato smiled.

"Guilmon? Come on. Guilmon? Are you in there?" He suddenly felt a bit uncertain. Now that he thought about it, did his digivice register Guilmon, or did it do that for any digimon in the area?

As if in answer to the question, Guilmon's head popped out of the bush. "I win!" he laughed while Takato breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's play again!"

Patting his chest to make sure that his heart didn't beat its way out of him, Takato ran over to his partner. "You scared me! Guilmon, I was worried I would find you floating in a vat like on TV!"

The two partners crashed together into a hug, their laughter intermingling.

"That sounds like fun," Guilmon replied. "Can we do that next?"

"You're crazy, boy, you know that?" Takato said, pulling away. "You can't just go wandering around on your own like this. There's no telling what might happen to you out here."

He thought back to the girl from yesterday and shuddered. It was nothing short of a miracle that Renamon simply didn't track Guilmon down herself and delete him.

Guilmon gave Takato a long, measured look. "Nothing bad can happen if you're right there with me," he told him. Takato wanted to feel comforted by his confidence, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do so.

"I don't know about that, Guilmon. You'd attract an awful lot of attention out here. The world is a lot scarier than I thought and I don't know if I can protect you."

"So…" Guilmon tilted his head to the side. "…you don't want to play then?"

"No! That not what I mean, it's just…"

He thought back to what Ms. Kamiya told him last night. True, the mysterious girl and her Renamon were probably still out, but should he let that get in the way of their hanging out?

"Hey, let's go. My teacher made a suggestion earlier that might help."

###

"Stay out where there are lots of people and don't ever be alone if you can help it," Ms. Kamiya had said. Her advice made sense when she explained it. The girl seemed to prefer fighting in isolated areas and where there were few witnesses, which might be why she hadn't been caught yet. The best thing to do in that case would be to not be alone. Shinjuku Park was a haven if you wanted to be alone and away from other people, but the city itself was the exact opposite. Crowded, bustling, and full of life with security cameras almost all over the place. If the girl was trying to avoid being seen when she went about her 'business', this was the best place to be.

There was just the matter of hoping other people accepted his being there. After all, digimon were an oddity in this day and age, and Guilmon was…big for his level.

Still, there was no time like the present for experimenting, so out they went, together, into the wide, crowded world.

Takato could feel the eyes of onlookers, some worried, others merely surprised at the sight of a big, red dinosaur walking side-by-side with a goggle-wearing kid. He could imagine that they made quite the odd pair, but as yet no one seemed to be in a hurry to get away or bothered enough by Guilmon's presence to stir up any trouble.

So far so good.

A young boy holding the hand of his mother, no more than five or six years old, approached and stopped in awe at Guilmon, pointing up at him.

"Hey, what's that digimon's name?"

Turning, Takato first looked up at the mother, who appeared to be in a bit of a hurry but was willing to indulge her son for the moment before replying.

"He's called Guilmon," he said with a touch of pride in his voice.

"I don't know any Guilmon," the boy stated matter-of-factly, clearly having been brought up on the digimon encyclopedia known as the card game.

"Of course!" Takato chirped. "Because I created him!"

There was that prideful feeling again, rising up in full force. It wasn't bad though. How many people could lay claim to creating digimon? Hardly any if he recalled his history correctly.

"Really? Really?" The boy tugged at his mother's arm to get closer, one hand reaching out to pet Guilmon's scales. Takato knew from experience how they felt to the touch. Smooth like silk.

"It's very well made," the boy's mother said, pulling him away from the dinosaur, having finally reached the end of her patience. "Come on, let's go, Riku."

Takato and Guilmon stood there for a moment, waving goodbye to them as Takato felt a surge of relief wash through him.

"No one seems to care about it…" Takato breathed, a smile breaking across his face. "I guess I was worrying too much about this."

Once again Takato's digivice suddenly began ringing in alarm. Pulling it out, he found the screen glowing with an eerie red light. "Guilmon, check this out. What does it mean?"

In response, Guilmon looked skyward and sniffed the air. Growling, he abruptly took off, leaving Takato flummoxed at his partner's motives.

"Wait! Where are you going?! You can't run off by yourself!"

Either Guilmon didn't hear or he didn't care. In the end, he kept running, forcing Takato to chase after him in pursuit.

###

Renamon waited in the darkness of the parking garage, her blue eyes following the direction her senses told her that her company was coming. Finally, the shadow of her prey, Guilmon, painted itself upon the wall as the dinosaur descended down the ramp, the call of his Tamer indicating he was not far behind.

"Guilmon, stop! Right now!"

It was smart of him to be in the city, she thought to herself, standing up from her kneeling position. However…in the end he can't control his digimon. Newborns are slaves to their instincts, and this one is no different.

As Takato and Guilmon entered the garage, Rika slid out from behind a pillar to greet them. Seeing her, Takato stopped in his tracks. "It's you again…"

"Can't get anything past you, can I boy?" she said mockingly. "Are you ready to fight this time? Is your dinosaur out of diapers yet?"

Takato thought back to earlier in the afternoon when Kazu was talking about knowing lots of girls who liked to fight.

Well, here's one of them…

"This is so stupid!" Takato exclaimed angrily. "Why should your digimon want to fight Guilmon? He hasn't done anything to her!"

"Duh," Rika said dismissively as if he were being particularly slow. "That is what digimon do. They fight. And when they win, they get stronger. And when they get stronger, they digivolve. You two are just our stepping stones."

"You can't mean that!" Takato shot at her. "The Digidestined were able to digivolve their partners without…"

"…fighting?" she interrupted. "Give me a break. All they did was fight. Don't tell me you buy that nonsense."

"Nonsense?" Takato's jaw dropped in shock. But we don't want to fight! Or at least, that's what he would have said. The Renamon was too strong, and so was this girl! They were going to destroy Guilmon! "This isn't even a fair fight! You can't let her attack!"

At the word attack, Guilmon's eyes dilated and he leapt forward with a snarl, leaving Takato to wave his hands fruitlessly.

"Guilmon! Not you!"

Renamon danced away from Guilmon and leapt up onto the roof of a car. In the darkness of the garage, she could see perfectly, and judging from Guilmon's movements, vision didn't appear to be a particular problem for him either. "Bring it on, big boy," she teased as he came to a halt in front of her. Rearing back, Guilmon's mouth opened, revealing an ember glow burning in the back of his throat.

"Pyro Sphere!" he shouted, launching a fireball at the vulpine digimon. Renamon deftly dodged it as Takato screamed his name.

"Guilmon!"

7