DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Egos
Friday 12th November – 8:57a.m.
Digital World, Ocean Level
"Are you sure this is safe?" Cam asked hesitantly as he strapped himself into a crash chair on the Rosita's command bridge, Gaomon and the rest of the Tamers and Digimon doing the same.
"O' course it's safe!" Owlmon called from his seat at the pilot's station. "I've done it before a thousand times…well, once actually, and then I almost crashed, but still!"
"You have got to be kidding me…" Leomon moaned as he tried to keep down his breakfast.
"O' course I'm kidding ye!" the purple owl cackled. "D'ye think I'd be doing this if I didnae know what I was doing? I'm no' crazy!"
"I beg to differ," Gaomon muttered and rolled his eyes. "Only a madman would suggest this as a way to get to the Jungle Level…"
The canine had a point. The Rosita had diverted from her course towards a nearby portal that would get the Tamers to the Jungle Level of the Digital World much sooner than planned. The catch, however, was that it resided at the bottom of a very large whirlpool. The only "safe" way to use this passage, Owlmon assured them, was for his airship to nose dive straight into the whirlpool and aim for the portal.
"I think I'm throwing my vote into the 'This is Insane' camp," Terriermon moaned, practically every other member of the group nodding with him.
"When did we agree to this anyway?" Kenta asked with a frown. "I sure don't remember taking a vote!"
"Okay, we're here!" Owlmon announced and looked back at the Tamers with a feral grin. "I'd hold on tae something if I were ye, 'cause it's gonna get bumpy!"
High above the azure sea of the Ocean Level, the nose of the gargantuan airship Rosita began to drift slowly downward, pointing toward the shimmering blue mirror below it. The airship began picking up speed quickly as it went almost completely vertical, thundering towards the colossal whirlpool that was the only visible feature on the endless ocean, marking the surface like an oversized bull's-eye. As the bright yellow aircraft drew closer and closer to the vortex, the pilot (who happened to be the only member of the crew who didn't have his eyes shut in terror) could make out a faint green glow emanating from the bottom of the whirlpool. The glow barely had time to register in the owl's digital brain before his ship flew straight down the throat of the maelstrom and tore through the portal…
As they passed through the portal in a flash of light, up became down and down became up for the Tamers and their Digimon. It was at this point that Owlmon let out an exuberant whoop and Kenta threw up. Violently.
Digital World, Jungle Level – 9:00a.m.
The sunny yellow form of the Rosita tore out of the green waters of the ocean like an oversized, ridiculously-cheerful missile. The zeppelin arced upwards until it was several dozen metres above the sea before floating lazily back down to land on the water a few metres offshore, the lower of the gondola's two levels partially submerged.
"Here we are," Owlmon announced as he unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up, his passengers doing the same. "Welcome to the Jungle…hang on…what's that smell?"
Kenta flushed red and looked at the floor in embarrassment as he fumbled with his seatbelt. "I get airsick…" he mumbled as Kazu hefted his vomit-filled backpack with a disgusted look.
"Oh, great. Why did you have to hurl in my bag?" the visor-wearing boy complained.
"It was in your bag or in your face," the green-haired boy muttered in reply.
"Anyway…" Henry sighed as he clamped a hand firmly over his partner's mouth to prevent the deranged rabbit from making a lewd comment. "Thanks for the ride, Owlmon! We really owe you one."
"Och, it's nae problem," the purple-feathered bird replied with a dismissive wave of his wing. "Do me a favour, though – when you run into Zhuqiaomon make sure ye give 'im a few hits from me. Him and his bloody Devas still owe me three hundred clams and a bacon sandwich!"
"We'll…keep that in mind," Ryo assured him, stepping onto a taijitu disc thoughtfully provided by Taomon as he shouted one last farewell. "Thanks again for everything, and good luck with your delivery!"
The other members of the group expressed similar sentiments to the owl and his two eccentric companions as they boarded Taomon's disc. When all of the Digimon and their Tamers were aboard, the disc began to drift slowly toward the shore, carrying them towards a beach taken straight out of a holiday brochure.
"Well, this is nice," Kenta said cheerfully as he stepped off of the taijitu and onto the golden sands of the beach, a huge grin on his face the whole time.
"Pipipipuh!" MarineAngemon agreed, floating out of his Tamer's pocket to enjoy the gorgeous weather.
The Tamers had landed on a beach that could only be described as perfect. An infinite expanse of perfect blue ocean merged into a field of gleaming golden sand. The beach stretched back for about thirty metres to the foot of some five-metre high rocky cliffs, a single, narrow path providing the only safe passage by foot. The cliffs were topped with a thick, beautiful and seemingly-endless swathe of jungle that began a few metres back from the cliff edge and extended over the horizon. The only sounds that could be heard were the very faint, distant songs of what sounded like tropical birds.
"It's quiet," Rika muttered and glared around suspiciously. "Too quiet."
"Ah, lighten up Rika!" Kazu called from the other side of the beach. "I don't see any Digimon around here – do you?"
"Just because we cannot see them does not mean that they are not there," Taomon noted as she de-Digivolved to Renamon in a flash of light.
"Great, who invited the Killjoy Corps?" the visor-wearing Tamer muttered and sat down heavily on a rock.
"Rika's right. Don't let your guard down," Leomon warned. "Danger lurks everywhere in the Digital World. You should remember that given our previous experiences here."
"If only I'd brought my swimsuit…" Jeri sighed, failing to notice the flush that crossed Kenta's face as she spoke.
"We should have a quick scout around, see what we can find around here," Ryo suggested as he glanced around at the area.
"Good idea," Jeri agreed with a firm nod. "Me and Leomon will have a look around."
"You shouldn't go alone!" Kenta blurted out quickly, earning himself a friendly smile from the brunette.
"You can come with us if you want," she offered and the boy nodded dumbly in response and followed her eagerly towards the cliffs.
"There sure is a lot of…chemistry between those two," Henry chuckled and shook his head gently.
"Yeah, why don't they just smooch and get it over with?" Terriermon asked and started making 'kissy' faces, earning himself a chuckle from Cam and a knuckle-rap to the head from his Tamer.
"I've been saying that for months," Rika muttered and sat down with her back against a mid-sized rock, still keeping a wary eye on her surroundings.
"Meh, say what you like, but I don't see it," Kazu declared with a shrug and laid back on his own rock. "I think you're all just imagining things."
"Just imagining things!" Guardromon agreed with a vigorous nod.
So that's why Rika always calls him a moron… Cam thought as the brown-haired boy began dozing off.
Jeri and Kenta returned ten minutes later riding on Leomon's shoulders, while MarineAngemon was snoring softly inside his Tamer's shirt pocket. They reported that they had found a path that appeared to be the only route through the jungle. After waking up Kazu (despite Terriermon's proposal, seconded by Rika, to ditch him) the Tamers and Digimon set out along the path, heading through the trees at a decent pace. Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any forks or junctions in the road, removing any debates over which direction to take. The only change in scenery they experienced was when they passed through a large clump of burnt and splintered trees, some of them still smouldering from whatever had destroyed them. After this, the group increased its pace, hoping to put as much distance as possible between them and whatever had caused the devastation.
Digital World, Sovereign Level – 12:45p.m.
"I'm so tired…" Sam whimpered as she collapsed onto the rough straw mat that served as her bed. "Why won't they just let us go?"
"I don't know, Sam," Steph replied for what had to be the millionth time that day as she slumped beside the girl, gently depositing a softly-snoring Suzie on the mat next to her.
I wish I could sleep like that, the older girl thought ruefully. Recently her sleep had been interrupted at least three times every night by vivid, violent nightmares of suffocation and drowning. Coupled with the intense physical exercise regimen (also known as "bonding sessions") she was being forced to undergo alongside her would-be partner Vajramon, it had reduced the girl to a state of total exhaustion. Apparently, Makuramon had gotten it into his head that humans and Digimon tended to form a bond when forced to endure intense hardship together, so he had decided to inflict as much physical stress and pain upon his captives as he could. All in the name of World Domination, of course.
The younger girls didn't have it much better – if anything their enforced training had been even harder. Sam had been "partnered" with the demented monkey Makuramon, while Suzie was stuck with Caturamon. The rivalry between the two Devas caused them to push their captive Tamers-in-training to incredible lengths in an attempt to outdo each other by being the first to bond to their human. The girls were simply not capable of the ridiculous demands placed upon them by their captors and Steph knew that if they were not rescued soon, they may not survive much longer.
"You – gold-furred human!" a familiar voice barked and Steph looked up to see Caturamon stood at the barred door of their prison.
"What?" she mumbled in reply, too exhausted to be scared of the Digimon.
"Wake it up," he snarled, nodding at the sleeping form of Suzie.
"You can't be serious!" the blonde-haired girl exclaimed, looming over the half-Chinese girl and shielding her with her own body. "We just got back! Can't you see she's exhausted?"
"I don't care. Now move aside," Caturamon ordered as the cell door swung open of its own accord.
"No."
Caturamon moved like lightning. Before Steph could even blink she was laid flat on her back, Caturamon pinning her down easily with his front paws as he bared his massive fangs.
"By the Sovereign, you have no idea how much I want to kill you," the bulldog growled as he reluctantly climbed off of his oldest captive, padding towards Suzie with a malicious grin. "For you resistance, the length of this one's next bonding session will be doubled."
"That's not fair!" Sam piped up, her mouth snapping closed as the Deva fixed her with a hungry glare. Caturamon continued to glare at her until the brunette began to shake with fear and tears were running down her face.
"Pathetic," he spat as he bent down and scooped his charge up in his jaws, carrying her like a bitch carrying her puppy.
"Wha…" Suzie mumbled as she was jolted awake, beginning to thrash and scream as she realized what was happening to her. "NO! Don't take me away! Steph, pwease don't wet him take me away!"
"I…I'm sorry…" Steph sobbed as the cell door slammed closed behind Caturamon, Suzie's screams quickly receding into the distance. "I'm sorry…"
Digital World, Jungle Level – 2:09p.m.
"Uh, guys? I think it's time for a break…" Takato called hesitantly as his gargantuan partner fell flat on his face from sheer exhaustion, de-Digivolving even while his Tamer was still sat on his back.
"Ooh…Takatomon sure is heavy…" Guilmon moaned as the boy climbed awkwardly off of him.
"Because you're in such perfect shape yourself?" Terriermon chuckled from atop his own Tamer's head, leaping nimbly aside as the blue-haired boy made to rap him on the head with his knuckles. "Too slow Henry! Geez, I think you need practice…YOW!"
"Sorry, just practicing," Cam laughed as the rabbit rubbed his sore head and glared at him.
"I think Takato's right. We need to rest," Ryo chuckled as he climbed down from Cyberdramon's shoulder, Gaogamon grunting in agreement as he slumped heavily to the ground. "Guilmon's not the only one who's exhausted."
"Engine…failure…" Guardromon gurgled as his engines cut out, depositing him on the ground with a deafening thud and nearly throwing his Tamer into the brush.
"Hey, give me a little warning next time!" Kazu complained as he leapt from the rust-coloured robot's shoulder.
"I will…try my utmost…to do so…"
"Lightweights," Kyubimon chuckled as Rika patted her affectionately on the neck.
"Not everyone can meet your high standards, Kyubimon," Leomon noted with a weary grin.
"Flattery will get you everywhere my dear Leomon," the kitsune replied smoothly.
"Great…as if Jeri and Kenta weren't bad enough with their flirting…" Rika muttered with a smirk, drawing an indignant blush from her partner.
"I am going to make you pay for that…"
"Of course you are."
The Tamers and Digimon quickly settled down into a large circle, some of them breaking out food and eating through sheer force of habit, others simply sitting and talking. Throughout the duration of the rest stop, both Jeri and Kenta made a concerted effort not to look at each other. Every so often, when they thought nobody was looking, one of them would glance in the other's direction. Most of the time these glances coincided and ended up with the two Tamers making a split second of eye contact before they looked away, blushing furiously. Eventually Rika decided that she had had enough.
"AAAAAHHHHH! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANY MORE! This is extreme, even for them!" she complained to Kyubimon through their telepathic link. "I'm gonna ask what's going on."
"This is going to end badly…"
"I'm going for a walk," Rika announced as she stood up and arched her back.
"What, we didn't do enough of that today already?" Terriermon asked suspiciously, earning himself yet another withering glare from the redhead.
"No. Jeri, you coming?" she asked, making it clear by her tone that the shorter girl had no option to refuse.
"Uh, okay…" Jeri agreed, rising stiffly to her feet and following her friend into the jungle.
"Don't go too far," Takato called after them as Kyubimon de-Digivolved to Renamon and disappeared into thin air.
"We're not stupid, Gogglehead."
Rika led Jeri several dozen metres into the forest, only stopping when they were sure they wouldn't be overheard. Renamon followed them the whole way, teleporting and leaping from treetop to treetop. When they reached a small clearing, Rika turned and glared coolly at her friend.
"Okay, what the hell is going on between you and Kenta?"
"I, uh…I don't know what you mean," Jeri replied, glancing away at the surrounding trees.
"You're a worse liar than Gogglehead. Spill it."
"I…I, uh…oh, screw it! I want to tell somebody so bad!" the brunette squealed with an exuberant smile. "You remember when we first got to the beach and me and Kenta went off scouting alone?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, when we were out there, we were walking under this tree when a coconut fell off of it. It would have landed on my head but Kenta pushed me out of the way."
"So? He's saved both of our lives before. What made this time so special?" the redhead asked with a confused look.
"Well, when he pushed me out of the way, he sort of…landed on top of me…" Jeri mumbled and blushed. "And while he was there, he…HE KISSED ME!"
"The whole point of coming out here was so that we wouldn't be overheard…" Rika pointed out, her ears still ringing from her friend's ecstatic cheer.
Any chance for further conversation was lost as a deafening roar and an equally-deafening explosion echoed from the direction of the other Tamers.
"What the hell…?" Rika muttered and drew her D-Arc.
"Something is attacking the others!" Renamon barked as she materialized behind the two girls, picking up one in each hand and teleporting again without waiting for their permission.
"Rapid Fire!"
"Genocide Attack!"
Rapidmon let out a yell of pain as Megadramon replied to his two missiles with dozens of his own. The strangely-organic projectiles slammed into the rabbit's armour, covering it in dents and sending him crashing to the ground. As his draconic opponent moved in for the kill, Rapidmon fired his back-mounted boosters, sending him slamming head-first into the larger Digimon.
"You will pay for that, rodent!" the dragon snarled and flew high into the air, taking aim with its arm weapons again.
Megadramon was a terrifying Digimon. Over thirty feet tall, it looked like something pulled from one of the old Japanese kaiju movies. It had an orange-skinned humanoid body that turned into a long, serpentine body at the waist. Its forearms had been covered with bulky cybernetic enhancements, each tipped by a trio of metal claws that snapped open to reveal multiple missile launchers. A clump of purple feathers protruded from the rear of the rounded metal helmet that covered the upper half of the dragon-like head and a pair of ragged purple wings protruded from the Digimon's shoulder blades.
"Leave him to me," a new voice snarled. "You take Cyberdramon."
"Fine…" Megadramon replied sullenly and swooped towards Cyberdramon as his newly-arrived ally took aim at Rapidmon.
Gigadramon looked very similar to his ally, with a few major differences. Its body was grey-skinned with a blue underbelly on the serpentine half and its wings were made of metal and more skeletal in shape.
"Hey, you think you're mon enough to take me?" Rapidmon shouted indignantly at the grey-skinned dragon.
"Shut up and die already! Genocide Gear!"
"Talisman Spell!"
A shield of translucent energy appeared around Rapidmon, the storm of missiles detonating harmlessly against its surface. Gigadramon let out a low growl and fired another salvo as Taomon's shield dropped, only for Rapidmon to dodge the projectiles with ease.
"Hey, you're slower than orange boy over there!" the rabbit chuckled as he rocketed towards the grey-skinned android. "How about I show you how it's done? Rapid Fire!"
Gigadramon roared in pain as his attacker fired a pair of missiles at point blank range straight into his chin. The dragon back flipped in mid-air and fell over a dozen metres before it could right itself.
"Now I can see why Megadramon found you so annoying!" Gigadramon snarled and levelled his arm weapons again.
"It's not just Megadramon…" Taomon chuckled as she floated into the air beside her ally.
"Hey!"
"Genocide Attack!"
"Desolation Claw!"
Missile barrage met energy wave in a storm of fire and shrapnel, the attacks obliterating each other and leaving the two combatants untouched.
"You fight well, Cyberdramon," Megadramon conceded with a touch of respect.
Cyberdramon's only reply was a feral snarl as he launched himself at the larger dragon.
"Digi-Modify! Goliath activate!" Ryo called as he slashed a card through his D-Arc, his partner letting out a roar of triumph as he grew to more than tree times his normal size.
"Cyber Nail!" he roared and leapt at his stunned foe with claws outstretched.
Megadramon raised his right arm in an effort to block the attack, his own shrieks matching that of the metal as Cyberdramon's enlarged claws tore through the casing as if it was butter. Cyberdramon let out a snarl as his orange-skinned opponent levelled his remaining missile-arm unleashing a salvo into the black-armoured dragon's chest and sending him plummeting towards the ground.
"Desolation Claw!" the feral cyborg roared in desperation, unleashing an energy wave that tore through one of the wings of a surprised Megadramon.
The two dragons crashed through the treetops at the same time, but Cyberdramon was the first to get back to his feet. The bipedal cyborg ran towards his serpentine opponent and let out a roar as he shrunk back to normal size, the effects of his Goliath card wearing off even as his Tamer swiped a new card.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed activate!"
Cyberdramon thundered towards his prone opponent faster than the eye could track, reaching Megadramon while he was still struggling to right himself. With a roar of "Cyber Nail!" the smaller dragon thrust his claws into the orange-skinned Digimon's chest, the tips bursting out between Megadramon's shoulder blades in a spray of digital blood as Cyberdramon's arm sunk in to the elbow.
"Genocide Gear!"
"Pathetic…" Taomon sneered as she somersaulted over Gigadramon's latest missile volley. "I could have handled this worm as Kyubimon."
Gigadramon's only reply was a bestial roar as he lunged at the kitsune.
"Miracle Missile!" Rapidmon cried, launching a barrage of rockets that struck the dragon right between the shoulder blades and sent him spiralling towards the ground. "You could try actually attacking him, you know!"
"As you wish," the vulpine Digimon shrugged and pointed both of her sleeves at their opponent as he groggily pulled himself upright. "Thousand Spells!"
The flurry of spell papers attached themselves to the cyborg's missile launchers, flashing briefly white before going dark once again. Seeing the apparent failure of his foe's attack, Gigadramon let out a rumbling laugh and aimed his missile launcher arms into the sky.
"Looks like you fired a dud…Genocide Gear!"
As the three claw-like covers to the dragon's missile launchers snapped open, Taomon's spell papers flared white once again. A net of pure white energy appeared over the end of each missile launcher, catching the missiles as they were launched and preventing them from getting near their target. As more and more missiles were launched the nets began to bulge outwards, struggling to contain the sheer volume of fire. After a few seconds, the net rebounded with a sound like a giant rubber band being twanged,sending Gigadramon's attack flying back at him.
The dragon let out a shriek of denial as the missiles slammed into his launcher-arms, reducing them to tiny shards of shrapnel. With a twitch of his wrists, he quickly jettisoned the ruined weapons to reveal a pair of crude but sharp blades where his hands should have been.
"Uh, Taomon?" Rapidmon said hesitantly as a berserk look came across Gigadramon's features. "I think you made him mad…"
The dragon's crazed roar confirmed the rabbit's suspicions and the grey-skinned Digimon leapt into the air, flying towards his vulpine attacker at breakneck speed.
"Rika…"
"I know," the redhead replied as she quickly drew a modify card. "Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed activate!"
Taomon leapt aside with blinding speed, still barely managing to avoid Gigadramon's blade-claws. The dragon wheeled about, launching at her again without hesitation.
"I…" Taomon began as she dodged the second charge. "Could use…a hand…here!"
"Roger that!" Rapidmon replied and took aim with his arm missiles. "Rapid fire!"
The missiles streaked past Gigadramon's head as the dragon launched yet another attack on Taomon. The rabbit fired a second salvo, missing with that one as well.
"Henry, he's too fast! I can't hit him!" Rapidmon complained as his Tamer drew a pair of modify cards.
"I'm on it…Digi-Modify! Target Lock activate! Power activate!"
"ALRIGHT!" the green-armoured cyborg cheered as he soared high into the sky, stretching his arms out to either side as Gigadramon launched another attack.
"Any time now…" Taomon growled as she dodged the attack by a hair's breadth.
"Okay, okay. Geez, hold your horses…" the rabbit muttered as he began to glow red. "Tri-beam!"
The triangular beam of crimson energy slammed into Gigadramon's back right between his shoulder blades. The dragon's furious roar quickly turned into a gurgling scream that descended into silence as the beam tore straight through him, bursting through his chest in a spray of digital blood. His lifeless form slammed to the ground, skidding for dozens of metres as it disintegrated into data that was quickly absorbed by Taomon. The kitsune drifted gently to the ground where she fell to her knees in exhaustion and de-Digivolved to Renamon in a flash of white light. Rika ran to her partner's side, putting her arm around the vulpine Digimon's shoulders in concern. Renamon reassured the girl with a brief telepathic message, narrowing her eyes and looking up as she felt a shadow pass over her.
"What took you so long?" Cyberdramon growled contemptuously.
After the victorious Tamers and Digimon were re-joined by the rest of their group (who, thanks to the either the exhaustion or lack of fighting ability of their Digimon partners, had been hiding in the bushes nearby) they set off along the seemingly-unending path through the jungle once more. They walked for several more hours, continuing more than an hour after sunset until they reached a clearing at the top of a deep ravine overlooking a winding river with brilliant sapphire water. They made camp about a hundred metres from the chasm, putting themselves far enough away that nobody (and everybody's thoughts turned to Kazu at this point) would accidentally fall off during the night.
The children quickly settled down around the fire, toasting marshmallows plucked from a nearby marshmallow bush (a feature apparently unique to the Digital World), exchanging jokes, banter and conversation. It wasn't long, however, before things turned sour.
7:44p.m
"Man, that was an awesome fight!" Kazu sighed as he thought of the events of that afternoon. "I just wish I could have joined in – then it would have been over in half the time!"
"It would have been over in half the time!" Guardromon agreed, prompting an irritated outburst from his Tamer.
"Stop stealing my lines!" the visor-wearing boy exclaimed in irritation.
"Not that there's anything worth stealing…" Gaomon muttered just loud enough for Kazu to hear him.
"Hey!"
"Yeah, you could come up with better ones yourself with one battery disconnected!" Terriermon agreed, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Terriermon…" Henry warned the little rabbit and rapped him sharply on the head with his knuckles.
"Oh, momentai already! I've earned a little fun!"
"No you haven't!" Cam laughed at the rabbit. "You were getting your arse kicked before Taomon came along."
"I had him right where I wanted him!" Terriermon protested with an indignant frown.
"What, were you planning on giving him indigestion?" Rika asked with a chuckle.
"Oh, 'cause you and Taomon did so much better…" Kazu snorted, drawing a glare from the redhead. "Two against one and you could still barely beat him."
"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you do better!" Rika replied, spitting the word 'you' as if it were an insult.
"Kazu, maybe you should just stop now…" Kenta began, but his best friend ignored him, rising to the girl's bait.
"Andromon would have eaten that oversized lizard alive!" the brown-haired boy declared. "Hell, Cyberdramon managed to rip Megadramon to shreds one-on-one so why couldn't you?"
"Rapidmon had already weakened him," Rika replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Besides, Cyberdramon had the type advantage and that stupid Goliath card."
"Admit it Rika – you're just jealous of Ryo's awesome skill," Kazu laughed, the older boy looking decidedly uncomfortable with the 'hero worship' treatment he was being given. "We all know you'll never be as cool as him!"
"I think I'm about to be violently ill…" Gaomon muttered and mimed throwing up, much to the amusement of most of his companions, Jeri in particular struggling to stop herself from falling over with laughter. Kazu and Rika, however, ignored the canine, too embroiled in their rapidly-escalating argument to care.
"Great, advice on my Taming skill from a brainless fanboy…" the redhead sniped. "I don't care what you think anyway. I know that me and Renamon could take you – and anyone else – any day."
"Maybe that was true once, but you've slipped," Kazu sneered. "It's time to face facts – you're just not as good as you think you are."
"I don't have to prove myself to anybody, especially not a pathetic, self-obsessed loser like you."
"I'm pathetic?" the boy laughed. "I'm not the one who let the Devas wander off with three of my friends!"
Ryo tensed as the words left Kazu's mouth, keeping a close eye on Rika and watching for any warning signs in her body language. Takato and Cam, meanwhile, leapt to their feet and waded into the argument.
"HEY!" Takato shouted, staring angrily at the visor-wearing boy. "That's not fair! Rika did her best – none of us could stand up to two Devas on our own!"
"You'd better back off right now, mate," Cam added. "It's a long way to the bottom of that canyon…"
Rika didn't even seem to register her friends' input. She leapt to her feet, fists clenched and voice dangerously quiet.
"You wanna talk pathetic?" she snarled, her violet eyes colder than ice and harder than diamond. "How about being a shallow little fanboy with all the personality of a trained parrot? Or a moron who's so stupid he can't see the truth staring him in the face? You're just a kiss-ass who's too scared to move out of Ryo's shadow in case everyone sees the real you. You're the worst excuse for a Tamer I've ever seen!"
Kazu's eye's flashed. That had hurt more than he would ever let on. Rage and his own (now highly-amplified) sense of self-doubt made him lash out with the first insult that came to mind.
"At least I'm not a spoilt half breed bitch!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Kazu knew he had made a mistake. What he saw in Rika's eyes went beyond pain, beyond anger, beyond anything he could possibly define. She was quite literally mad with rage. The redhead launched at him with a scream of wordless fury, travelling at incredible speed with her right arm drawn back for a punch that would shatter the boy's nose like glass if it landed.
Ryo, however, was faster. He leapt up from his seat, grabbing hold of the girl around the waist with one arm and twisting her right arm into a painless but effective arm lock, stopping her in her tracks less than six feet from her target.
"Let go of me!" she shrieked and struggled against her captor, almost breaking free from the much-taller boy's grasp. "I'LL KILL YOU KAZU!"
"Rika, stop!" Ryo barked, tightening his grip on her. "He's not worth it."
The redhead struggled for several seconds more, slowly calming down until her raging inferno of bloodlust had reduced to the smouldering embers of hatred. Ryo cautiously released her, ready to restrain her if she went berserk again. His caution was proven unnecessary as the girl span on her heel and pushed past him storming away into the nearby undergrowth.
"Rika!" Takato called and started to go after her, but was stopped by a gentle restraining hand on his shoulder. "What are you…?"
"She needs to be alone," Jeri said softly.
"Like hell she does!" the boy replied and shrugged her hand off, following the girl into the jungle.
"Wait for me Takatomon!" Guilmon called, chasing after his Tamer like an over-eager puppy. As the two partners departed, silence descended on the group. It was eventually broken by Kazu – in completely the wrong way.
"Heh, thanks for the help there Ryo," he chuckled and glanced in the direction of their departed friends. "For a minute there I thought I was gonna have to put her down myself! Man, what a psycho bitch…"
Ryo span on his heel and, in the half-second before his fist slammed into Kazu's face, the visor-wearing Tamer saw a rage in his eyes that exceeded even that which he had seen in Rika's.
"Rika!" Takato called as he ran after the redhead, spotting her sat slumped in a clearing at the bottom of a small hill. "Rika?" he called again, more hesitantly this time as he walked towards her with concern written all over his face.
"What do you want Gogglehead?" she mumbled.
The boy flinched inwardly as he moved in front of the girl and saw the look on her face. She didn't look angry as he had expected – she didn't even look sad. She just looked…broken.
"I, uh…I came to see if you were okay," he stammered, sitting down awkwardly next to her. "And you're obviously not."
"I'm fine," she lied.
"And I'm the bad liar?" Takato snorted and shook his head. "Look, about what happened-"
"I don't want to talk about it," Rika interrupted tersely, a hint of anger returning to her voice.
"Okay, then…" the goggle-wearing Tamer replied nervously, glancing around as he searched for another topic of conversation. As he turned his eyes to the sky, a confused frown passed across his face. "Hey, where did all those clouds come from?"
Rika glanced up briefly, returning her gaze to the floor after less than half a second. There were a lot of thick, black clouds in the sky and they seemed to have all appeared over the last minute or so.
"Dunno, don't care," she muttered, looking up again as a flash of lightning lit up the night and the drumroll of thunder assaulted their ears.
"That was a little too close for comfort," Takato began, flinching as another bolt descended from the skies and struck a tree less than twenty metres from them. "Look, I really think we should get out of h-"
The boy was interrupted as a second bolt of lightning struck the ruined tree, a third and fourth following close behind. Rika looked up in confusion as the repeated flashes and bangs finally registered in her brain, her eyes widening in shock as a fifth bolt struck the same tree.
This bolt, however, didn't disappear like a normal lightning bolt. Instead, it remained there, forming a thin rope of constantly-dancing electricity connecting the heavens to the earth. As they watched, the electricity took on a definite pinkish hue and the strange phenomenon began to expand. Within seconds it had completely enveloped the tree it had originally struck along with a sizeable chunk of both of its nearest neighbours. When the violet ribbon measured five metres across it stopped growing and flared bright white, a deafening bang resounding through the clearing as the two Tamers were blinded by the light. When their eyes had cleared, they looked back at where the pink lightning bolt had been to see a perfectly straight beam of translucent pink light. Though neither of them had ever seen this phenomenon before, both children recognized them from their friends' (and Calumon's) descriptions.
"DATA STREAM!" they shouted in unison as the beam of light surged towards them and washed over them.
Guilmon, who had just managed to sniff out the two Tamers watched all of this with a growing sense of horror. With a cry of "TAKATOMON!" and no regard for this own safety, the little red dinosaur threw himself headfirst into the data stream.
"I'M COMING TAKATOMOOOOOOON!"