Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A Story for Suzie

Chapter: 25

Impmon leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the beam of light as it sizzled past him and struck the mirror. The mirror, for its part, exploded with ferocious force, forcing 'Rika' to shield her eyes as she summoned an energy barrier to surround herself from the shrapnel. Impmon was surrounded by a barrier as well, but this one of a completely different kind as his body grew and changed until, finally, upon landing, the shell burst apart, revealing his new form of Beelzemon. Rising, the Demon Lord turned his red eyes toward his attacker, fangs biting into his lower lip as he contemplated the situation.

"Hey," he began. "I don't know what's going on, but you've got to…"

'Rika', spinning around to face him, cut him off by slashing her staff downward. White fire erupted from its rings, forming into a blazing fox that crackled and hissed before leaping toward him. Beelzemon grunted as it slammed into him and bit onto his claws, shaking and twisting its head in an attempt to break his fingers.

Thing is solid…and strong, he noted. Nothing I can't handle though.

Shifting his arms so that the arm currently being mauled took the fox's entire weight, he pulled back his free hand, balled it up into a fist, and smashed it into the creature's head. There was a loud yelp and the burning fox vanished into smoke.

"Nice 'Spirit Strike'," Beelzemon grinned. "But you're no Sakuyamon. How about we talk about this, huh? Not that I don't enjoy a good tussle every now and then, but this really ain't the place for it."

'Rika' narrowed her eyes and spread her arms outward. "What have you done with Takato?"

"If you're talking about your knight guy, I can take you to him. He's safe."

"Lies," the girl hissed, her aura increasing in intensity. "You've done something to him. To me. You've pulled us into…this…whatever this world is. I don't know what your master's game is, but I won't let him win."

Beelzemon harrumphed. He was starting to get a bit annoyed by these accusations. "I don't have a boss except for a pair of four year olds. Look, I don't know how things are in your world, but here things are different. I may not be the nicest of guys around, but I ain't got a problem with helping people out…if they aren't trying to blow my mug off. Now how about…?"

Raising her staff again, 'Rika' shot him with a beam of white light, smashing Beelzemon through the bathroom door. He rolled on the ground in an attempt to put out the flames that sprouted up along the length of his leather jacket, bumping into a wall as he did so. Patting himself down, he turned his smoldering gaze up at 'Rika' and bared his teeth.

"All right," he said, standing up. "You can set me on fire and shoot me all you want. But if you're going to keep this up, I'm going to have to take you outside. There are other people here that I'd rather not get caught up in this! I think I've been pretty nice about this, so I'm only going to ask you one last time. Can we just talk about…?"

Light flared around 'Rika's' staff once again as she took aim.

Oh that tears it…

Beelzemon's body responded in kind to his attackers aura as it shone brightly, signaling his mode change. Red eyes changed to green and a pair of black wings sprouted from his back. His power now greatly enhanced, Beelzemon rushed forward quickly grabbed his assailant's staff and twisted it down toward the floor, attempting to break the weapon. The staff refused to so much as bend against his strength as the buildup of energy neared completion. His emerald eyes met 'Rika's' violet ones as he realized he didn't have the luxury of time on his side.

No choice in this, he thought, pulling it back up toward himself and pushed himself against it. Got to soak up as much of this as I can.

He gritted his fangs and stiffened, waiting for the inevitable shock that was to come.

It didn't come from where he expected.

The light around the staff winked out of existence, causing the Demon Lord to blink, startled. However he had no more than a second to wonder what happened when pain exploded along the side of his temple, causing his vision to blacken. He felt the floor hit his body and vision returned to him. His face hurt…smarted more than anything else. 'Rika' hovered across from him, smoke rising from a glove.

She shut down her glow rod and just hit me with some kind of enhanced punch, he thought, tilting his head to one side as she watched him with her head tilted up and eyes narrowed. Guess she's figured out that she can't go off like a cannon in a place this tight.

"All right, toots," Beelzemon said, standing up. "What's next?" His posture was strong. It seemed that even though 'Rika's' attacks were dangerous, they were having a hard time beating their way past his Mega form's durability.

Landing lightly on the floor, 'Rika got into a combat position and light again flickered around her staff. Instead of simply powering up, it took shape, forming a curved blade at the tip.

"This," she said simply. No sooner had she said that, shadows began to move from around her and the Demon Lord, forming knife-like shapes as they rose off the ground and took form.

Well this ain't changing anything real fast… he thought with some bemusement as the darkness closed in on him.

The shadows rose like cobras, pulling back in preparation to strike, and Beelzemon again prepared himself against what he knew was to come. However, before anything or anyone could move to act further, a small feather of light drifted past Beelzemon's shoulder and fell between the combatants. It floated and spun lazily until, suddenly, it burst, filling the hallway with bright light, erasing the shadows. 'Rika' bit back a curse as she staggered backward, covering her eyes.

"Ah! Wha…?" Lowering her arm, she blinked blearily. She saw a group approaching from behind Beelzemon and her eyes widened as she saw who was at the head. "Takato?!"

###

The knight drew up short, eyeing Beelzemon with a touch of alarm. Behind him, he felt Leo tense up, hearing him shifting to take hold of his weapon.

"The Crow god…?" Leo growled, his tone steeped with danger. Turning, he saw Jeri looking at the man with alarm.

"What…? No! That's…That's Beelzemon! He's a very good friend of ours."

Looking past the Demon Lord, he saw Rika—his Rika!—standing ready to fight, a blade spell cast upon her weapon. His hand twitched, aching for his own sword or at least his shield, but he stilled them quickly, reminding himself that this was a world very different from his. Nothing here was the same. Enemies could be friends here. It was a strange thought, especially with someone here that so closely resembled the Crow god, but… His gaze hardened.

Can I take the chance of Rika could hurt him if they're telling the truth?

All of his instincts said no. Closing his eyes, a crimson light fell about him, forming into a single, solitary feather that blew forward, past Beelzemon and between him and 'Rika', finally exploding without a sound, dashing the shadows as they prepared to strike. The light died down, leaving only the empty hallway and one Rika, blinking at his direction.

"Ah! Wha…?"

The knight smiled at her.

"Takato!"

"Hey," he said, stepping past Beelzemon with a wary look. The digimon nodded to him and stepped back, folding his wings behind him. After a moment the knight returned his attention to Rika and his dopey smile returned in full force. "Sorry to make you worry."

"Takato!" she snapped. "Get out of the way! That creature…"

"…is not the Crow god. Well…he doesn't seem to be. I mean, I know he looks a lot like him but…" 'Takato' gave Beelzemon another look before refocusing on the Princess. "…this is going to sound crazy, but we're in a completely different world. Not everyone is the same here." He licked his lips nervously, his brow furrowed in thought. "I'm not really sure how to explain it…but…these people, they just want to help us get back to our world."

'Rika' looked back and forth between her Takato and the others, seeing not only her double, but the knight's as well. Light flared around her and she quickly cast a spell to see if there was anything cast over her knight as she had. Sure enough he, and the big, burly man behind him that she vaguely recognized, had the perception filter over them.

All it would do is make them not question what they see as much, she thought, remembering her own experience. It didn't make me stupid or enslaved. Takato may be naïve but…he won't be readily controlled. Not with the Dragon god's favor guarding him.

Her gaze flickered over to Beelzemon. Yes, now that she had enough time to look him over, he wasn't the same creature as the Crow god. Similar, but not the same.

He wanted to just talk, and he was willing to take a blast to protect others… Perhaps…

Her gaze finally fell on the strangers behind her knight, particularly their doubles as they stood next to each other, both ready to defend their friend. All of them ready. Her aura flared again and she cast one more spell to go along with her previous one. She could now see the bonds between them, tying them all together. She blinked, not expecting that. There was something about the threads between them that seemed…familiar. Not only that, but there was an openness to them that held no subterfuge. They were…clean. She blinked, and at once the threads were gone, and with it her aura.

Relaxing her grip on her staff, her blade spell vanished. Cautiously, keeping an eye on Beelzemon, she approached 'Takato' and after a moment's hesitation, pulled him to her in a powerful hug, her gloved fingers threading their way through his brown hair.

"Um…" began 'Takato', returning her hug rather awkwardly. "I take it that this means you're not going to kill anyone?"

'Rika' gave a small chuckle as she pulled away, brushing his cheek with one hand. "Brush Knight…" she whispered with a note of humor.

After a moment of silence had passed, Beelzemon smirked and looked over his shoulder at the others. "So, who wants to bet that's her version of 'Gogglehead'?"

"No bet here," giggled Terriermon.

###

Yamaki breathed a sigh of relief, at least in so far as the danger had passed and further damage could now be prevented. Clicking the lighter closed, he turned at the sound of running feet to find security rapidly approaching, guns drawn.

"Stand down," he said, raising a hand. "The situation is under control now."

The agents drew to a halt, eyebrows raised, but did as ordered and holstered their weapons.

"I need everyone in the meeting room now," Yamaki continued, turning to the Tamers and their new companions. "I'll be along shortly."

The Tamers nodded as a group and, with a meaningful look at 'Rika' and 'Takato', all cautiously filed out—the three new arrivals more so than the others, 'Rika' especially with a dark look on the group. Yamaki grimaced as the shaman and the knight passed by him. This wasn't how he did things normally, at least not when it came to situations like this. At this point however he needed to make sure everyone had some kind of understanding of the situation and right now the Tamers were arguably the best means of containment should any of their new 'friends'—however loosely the term may apply to them—displayed difficult and aggressive behavior. Beckoning one of the agents over, he flicked his lighter open. He felt a small buzzing in his suit's pocket…his cell phone.

"I want a detailed damage report as soon as possible," he told the agent, pulling out the cell phone. "Including any internal security data that we have on the doubles. Particularly the other Rika Nonaka." The power she displayed… If we can't contain her…

The agent nodded and immediately began directing the other agents to their assigned tasks. The blond-haired head of Hypnos flicked the cell phone open. "Yamaki," he said curtly. He frowned. "Janyu is what?!"

###

Suzie Wong and Lopmon looked around them as the fog began to dissipate, their reactions completely on opposite ends of the others. Suzie, in her childish innocence gazed with a mixture of curiosity and wonder, seeing nothing particularly strange about having been suddenly picked up by a mist that suddenly and unexpectedly materialized out of nowhere. Lopmon on the other hand, trained as a soldier through hard-fought experience, appeared considerably alarmed and guarded. They found themselves in a dark, throne-like room with blackened marble floors and red pillars. Oil lamps flickered with a ruddy light, giving the room an eerie glow while around them, a glowing symbol that resembled the Hazard mark found on the stomach of their digimon friend, Guilmon, began to die down, vanishing into the darkness of the floor.

"Lopmon?" Suzie asked, getting up from where she sat. "Where are we?"

A loud laugh echoed through the chamber, and both digimon and Tamer whipped around to its source, finding their eyes drawn up a mountain of stairs where, at the top, seated upon large seat of covered in spikes and riveted steel, was a tall man with pale-grey skin, a beak-like mask and a leather jacket. Behind him were two great wings folded against his back. Two eyes, blood-red, stared down at Suzie as he got up, uncurling his large, metallic claws. He grinned at the girl, running a tongue over his lips.

"Hello, little girl," he said with a resounding, gravely, husky voice. "Welcome to the tower of the Crow god. I do hope that you will enjoy your stay."

4