Digimon Tamers 2: The Rise of Zero

Chapter 20

Zero's dreams were troubled. He trembled in his sleep, often turning violently before jolting awake. After the first time he woke up he had moved away from Renamon, she needed to sleep as much as he did and his movements would eventually wake her up. Now he laid on the floor next to the bed, drifting back to sleep before snapping awake again. He saw them all, all the digimon he had loaded. He saw their faces. He heard their cries. He felt them all blame him for what he has become. He also saw the attack on his village, only he wasn't where he remembered he was. He lead the attack, loading more data than any other digimon. Deleting former friends and family, people who trusted him. Each one he deleted had that same look on their faces. The look of betrayal. He felt himself crave power, demand power. Without it he would be nothing. So he loaded every single digimon in his village, before turning on the others involved in the attack. He loaded them too, until he stood alone in the burning ruins of his former home. He bellowed his victory before the vision turned black and he jolted awake once more.

It was always the same that night. The same dream. The same sudden awakening. But each time it got worse. It felt stronger, more real. He actually began to believe it happened, that he was the one who attacked his own village.

The dream returned as he settled again. He tried not to sleep, but his lack of energy forced him to do so. The visions passed across him again, as he unconsciously clawed the floor underneath him. He tossed and turned in his sleep, unable to break the dream.

Renamon heard the sounds of Zero moving and clawing, and had awoken enough to notice where he was and what he was doing. Before she could do anything else, a terrified scream exploded from his mouth as he bolted awake once more. She was awake in an instant, wrapping herself around him in a vague attempt at comfort. She felt him tremble violently, saw the deep claw marks all around him in the floor. She could see the tears in his eyes and hear his ragged breathing.

This dream was the worst one of them all. He actually saw himself kill his own parents as they looked at him with those eyes. Eyes that carried a deep hurt and betrayal, eyes he never saw in his parents before. Eyes that regarded him as a monster. In just that one look he could tell they no longer loved him, that they no longer saw him as a part of them. They had disowned him, right before he deleted and loaded them. He felt himself laugh maniacally as the horns grew from his head once more, his laugh becoming semi-demonic.

That's when he had screamed. That's when he had awoken. And that's when he felt Renamon hold him close, trying her best to comfort him. She whispered sweet nothings into his ear, coaxing him back to sleep. He drifted off soon after with Renamon still holding him. His dreams remained, but they were not as powerful as they were before. He believed in her. She was his life now. She was his anchor in this world, and he was not about to let go.

He slept slightly better afterwards, only waking up partially before returning to sleep again. Each time he woke he could feel Renamon still holding him, providing the comfort he needed to get back to sleep again. They both remained that way until the morning.

Zero awoke for the last time to be greeted by daylight. He was still very tired, but he had recovered some of his energy despite his turbulent dreams. Renamon was well rested. She had recovered from her ordeals completely, even though he had woken her up during the night. They both stirred and, with much force on Zero's part, rose and left their room. After their morning routing of stretching and a quick bite to eat, they were both ready for the day.

Zero wasn't up to speed yet but he still put on his brave face, hiding the true him behind his mask of strength. He knew Renamon would ask him about last night, but he didn't want anyone else to start asking questions.

A quick spar with Renamon proved his strength hadn't fully returned, but she did soften her blows so they were evenly matched. There was no point in beating the life out of him, it was just a training exercise. And she had already killed him once, hitting him too hard in his weakened state risked killing him again.

They spent the rest of the day patrolling the city whilst not straying too far from each other. Renamon didn't quite trust him to be alone for the time being. What she had seen last night had scared her. She had only seen him truly scared when he was Blood Viximon. Seeing him scared now was worrying, she didn't know what was powerful enough to cause that reaction in him.

They stopped to rest later on that day on a quiet rooftop not too far from Rika's house. Zero needed the rest much more than Renamon since he wasn't fully recovered. She didn't mind though. It gave her a chance to find out what happened last night. As he relaxed on the roof, Renamon took her place beside him.

"Zero?"

He looked over to her.

"Yes, Renamon?"

"What happened last night?"

Zero sighed. "I had a feeling this was going to come up." He shifted his position slightly to get more comfortable. "You remember what I said yesterday, about how I was able to take this form?" She nodded before he continued. "I saw their faces. Every single one. Each pleaded for their lives, asking me to spare them. I didn't. I butchered them all. Then I saw the attack on my village, only I wasn't watching. I lead the attack, slaughtering my own people and loading their data. I watched as my parents died by my own hands. The look in their eyes, I will never forget it even though it wasn't real. They showed betrayal. They looked at me like I was a monster, which I was. I can't shake that dream. It felt so real."

"It wasn't real Zero. Dreams are just dreams. You know what really happened to your village, where you really were that day. Their deaths are not your doing. I told you yesterday that you did what you had to so you could survive. There is no shame in that. The fact you took lives whilst not enjoying it means you are not a monster. You are you, always were. Always will be. Never forget who you are, or you'll have me beating it back into you."

Zero smiled slightly for the first time since he had come back. Normally the thought of Renamon beating him was daunting, but at the moment he was more focused on her words. He knew it wouldn't be easy to forget what he had done, but he did know that she would be there every moment he needed her.

After their rest they continued on the patrol of the city. Zero's mind was clearer now, but he still couldn't completely shake those thoughts from his head.

It was on their way back home afterwards that they saw the blue pillar and felt the bioemergence. Renamon sensed Rika was already on her way, so she joined Zero as they made their way to the digital field.

By the time they arrived the others were already preparing to fight the rogue.

"Rika, it's a Weregarurumon! Ultimate level. We're going to need everything we have to beat this, including Zero!"

Zero shuddered at the thought of fighting again so soon, but accepted that it needed to be done. He took his place next to the other three digimon and prepared to fight as the tamers digivolved their digimon to their Ultimate levels. He released all the data he had stored inside him, but it was not enough to make him digivolve. He cursed to himself and leapt forwards, preparing his first attack.

"Zero! No! It's a Vaccine type!" Henry shouted.

Too late. Zero called out his attack.

"Blood Storm!"

He watched in dismay as his attack bounced off harmlessly, he only seemed to draw the rogues attention.

"Wolf Claw!"

Weregarurmon's attack connected with Zero before he could dodge, propelling him back and into the ground. He landed hard and struggled back to his feet as the others joined the fight.

"Talisman of Light!"

"Atomic Blaster!"

"Rapid Fire!"

Weregarurmon was bombarded with attacks, but he still stood firm. He retaliated with another Wolf Claw attack and brought all three digimon down, reverting them back to their Rookie forms.

"No way! This guy must almost be at mega level to withstand that!" Takato observed before rushing to Guilmon's side, Henry and Rika following suit.

Zero saw them go down. He regarded the rogue with pure hatred. He felt his fury grow, but he suppressed it. His energy still increased, but not from fury. A sphere of data engulfed him as he stepped towards Weregarurumon.

"Blood Renamon Digivolve to... Blood Kyuubimon!"

Zero stood firm in his Champion form, already releasing his first attack.

"Blood Tail Barrage!"

Even this attack had no effect, so he followed up with another. He felt his fury rise again.

"Blood Dragon Strike!"

Again he had no effect. He simply wasn't powerful enough. His fury exploded inside him, no longer able to suppress it. The red aura formed around him again.

"That can't be good." Rika stated.

"No, it isn't." Renamon added.

"Blood Kyuubimon Awaken!"

The horns formed again, similar to his Rookie form, but his claws grew longer and sharper. His mane became more aggressive, and the ghost fire that flickered across him grew to twice its strength.

"Blood Kyuubimon Fury Mode!" Zero once again had a semi-demonic voice, similar to his Rookie's Fury Mode.

He wasted no time before attacking again.

"Fox Tail Fury!"

Nine red fireballs struck the rogue, but he swiped them away. Zero angered further before attacking yet again.

"Fury Dragon!"

Similar to his Blood Dragon Strike, an incandescent red dragon formed from pure fury energy and slammed into Weregarurumon. He staggered slightly, but otherwise showed no effect from that attack. This caused Zero's anger to boil over, and he was engulfed in another sphere of black data. The tamers digivices once again stated the unknown phrase.

"Nightmare Digivolution!"

"Here we go again." Rika stated as Zero began his transformation.

"Blood Kyuubimon Nightmare Digivolve to... Nightmare Fenrimon!"

He immediately attacked with his most powerful ability.

"Howling Nightmare!"

This new attack struck the rogue digimon directly in his chest and knocked him over, pain clearly visible on his face. Zero loosed a rippling growl of victory, before Weregarurmon was surrounded by a white sphere of data.

"That is definitely not good! Come on Renamon! You need to digivolve again." Rika pleaded.

Renamon shook her head. "I can't, too weak."

The data sphere faded to reveal Metalgarurmon. A Mega level. He didn't wait around for anyone to read his stats.

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

Zero tried to dodge, but only succeeded in reducing the attack to a glancing blow. It still hurt, but it wasn't critical. He bellowed a demonic roar of defiance before releasing another Howling Nightmare at the digimon. But Metalgarurmon was too strong, and the attack had no effect.

Zero growled again. He was the only digimon who could fight at the moment, and he was having no effect on this Mega. He could not fail again. Not when the lives of his friends, of his mate, were at risk. He had to defeat this rogue. For them. For her.

A deep power rose inside him, flaring his aura to twice its size. He felt his form twist and morph, but it wasn't digivolution. This was different. The fury essence inside him was released fully, taking over his body and suffusing it with unimaginable power. He grew in size, standing on his hind legs as his forelegs became arms. His claws extended and widened, becoming clawed hands. His head became more reptilian in look as his fur became thicker.

The tamers digivices began wailing, making noises that they should never make.

"Digivolution... Warning... Error... Data corruption... Digivol...error error... Critical flaw... Unstable data... Warning... Errrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Error..."

"What's going on?" Rika asked, looking confused and worried. Before she could get a reply, the digivices all went blank before displaying a symbol. A red downwards triangle with an upwards triangle at each corner.

The symbol of the Digital Hazard.