A/N-1: I have come long and far through this story, and am now nearly finished with it. Only one last, remaining chapter after this one is left, the epilogue, and then this fic is done. Now, before any of you continues reading I would like to take a moment to say that there's a good chance that many, if not all, of you will like how the conflict in this story is resolved. I have very specific reasons for ending it this way, largely to do with my own views on matters like revenge, something of which I do not hold in very high regard, particularly revenge, but also because I have sequels planned and that to kill off certain characters at this stage of the overall storyline wouldn't be good. Besides, Digimon, especially Tamers in my eyes, was well known for having a story that could also impart a philosophical and even a moral lesson to the viewers, and I wanted to capture that aspect with this story, as well as try to develop and explore character personalities, and this story gave me a pretty good way to do that. With that said, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Hazard's Sorrow

Chapter: 35/ Under the Same Sky

Something was different. A sign. A feeling. Confusion, remorse, exhaustion, and guilt. These were just some of the feelings that Lucemon had experienced upon that last contact with the Justimon that he had been fighting with. It had all been fleeting, as he stood there over the fallen Tamer and his partner Monodromon, and the angelic digimon hadn't once understood where these feelings had come from. They hadn't been there before, or at least not with the same amount of intensity as before, back when he had his talk with Noriko and then later with the girl's mother, Aiko. And with them was another feeling, even stranger yet and at first he couldn't really describe it, but that contact with Justimon at the end there… something about that digimon had brought him a feeling of connection. Of oneness that he had only felt once before in the loving and caring arms of the three Celestial digimon, and of Ophanimon especially. Did it have something to do with the fact that his opponent was the merged form of a human and a digimon? Or was there something deeper to it? Something more?

He had already found that Justimon, like the Great Beast, contained some quality that made it unlike the other digimon and their Tamers. He was still amazed at how both had managed to survive his attacks, though with the Great Beast of the Hazard he at least had an idea that it was because of his connection with the Digital Hazard that he had drawn on, but the Justimon? What power did he have that had enabled him to survive where most Mega's were destroyed outright? Well, it didn't help him this time. He, they were beaten this time. They lay there, unconscious at his feet… or so it seemed. Given the amount of times that the humans and their digimon partners kept surprising him he wouldn't put it past them to have some sort of trick up their sleeve. Perhaps he should finish them off so that they would be unable to interfere later…

Lucemon frowned. No. All of those feelings that had emerged when he had made his last, desperate attack against Justimon swarmed in on him, and then there were the words of Aiko, also there to block him.

"I know that I don't have any way to hold you to anything, or have a reason to ask this of you, and even though I'm certain that you'll go and do what ever you feel is necessary, and we can't do anything to stop you, but… I want you to promise me that none of the children or their digimon will be harmed. If you want to understand what love is… you will not harm them."

Lucemon raised his left hand and gazed at it.

What did she mean by understanding what love is?

Once again Lucemon looked at the unmoving forms of the Legendary Tamer and his purple colored partner.

Does their combining as one have anything to do with it? That they care and depend on each other so much that they'd join their strength? Is that the whole reason behind humans and digimon even becoming partners in the first place?

As the question hung there in his mind, unanswered, a golden line of energy traced its way across the Hazard symbol emblazoned on his hand, bringing Lucemon out of his reverie, reminding him of his reasons for being here.

Destroy the Great Beast of the Hazard.

As if in response to the thought, the human child that lay upon the ground stirred, causing Lucemon to look at him again and wonder, just what was it about this child that made him so different from the others? And then of course there were his words as well…

"I owe it to Takato though. He's my friend, and more than anyone else here I know what its like to have to face against something like what Megidramon was. The only difference being is that what happened with Takato and Guilmon was more of an accident and a result of anger and horror over the killing of a friend. I don't have that excuse. If nothing else, it would have made much more sense to come after me."

Lucemon shook his head. There was nothing more to be gained here, and he wouldn't find any answers, or be able to complete his mission if all he did was just stand around and stare at the Legendary Tamer. The Great Beast was still out there, and from what he had felt earlier, and by the sounds of things, the monster had emerged into this world and…

But if that was true, a voice whispered in the back of his mind. Why did the feeling taper off? Why has the Hazard's ire weakened? There should be more and yet… it's quieted…

Lucemon once again shook his head, silencing the voice, immediately recognizing it as the doubt that had been plaguing him recently. He still had a job to do, and he was not going to let anyone or anything get in the way of doing it. He wouldn't harm the children… or at least he wouldn't destroy them as he had threatened to do in the past, but he couldn't let them stop him if they got in his way. Too much depended on the Great Beast's existence being purged from all level's of reality to give him pause.

"You don't understand. There was a lot more that went on the day that Megidramon came into existence, and I'm the one who's at fault for that."

Lucemon turned away from the Legendary Tamer, even as the memory of his encounter with Zhuqiaomon's former servant, the Demon Lord Beelzemon, came to him, another silent protester against his thoughts and mission. Why were these memories coming to him, and at a time like this?

The sounds of explosions caught Lucemon's attention, and with a light step and a flap of his wings, the angelic digimon leapt into the air, heading towards the source of the explosions.

"Kazu! Slow down!" Cried Jeri as she chased after the errant visor-wearing child and his overgrown mechanical partner as they raced through the park, oddly enough completely forgetting that the latter of the two had rocket engines designed to render such motion unnecessary, but then, that was Kazu and Guardromon for you.

"No way!" Shot back Kazu over his shoulder. "We've got to help Chumley! I don't care what's going on or what he or Rika said! Troubles coming to town with a capital 'T' and I can't let Takato go through that without me! I can't believe that you let him go off like that! You know that he'll get creamed out there!"

"Kazu… we already discussed this," said Jeri, her voice filling with exasperation. It was true. They had immediately fallen into an argument as soon as Takato had left. Kazu was having difficulty in believing that the former Gogglehead was going to be able to do anything that would affect the outcome of the battle, especially since MegaGargomon and Sakuyamon were already on the case… but then, the battle had been going on much longer then either of them would have expected for two Megas against a single Ultimate… an Ultimate that was at a level disadvantage and, against MegaGargomon a type disadvantage as well. Technically any Ultimate (or almost any Ultimate as Kazu knew full well that there were some digimon that were abnormally powerful on a lower level, though BlackWarGrowlmon certainly didn't fall into that category. That is, if his strength remained comparable to the original WarGrowlmon), would be street pizza by now, so perhaps Kazu had the right of it after all and there was some cause for concern. Even so, Guardromon had just been beaten rather badly and wasn't in much shape for a fight, and Jeri… she could sympathize with Kazu for wanting to do something, even though she no longer had Leomon by her side to help her. But even if Leomon was still with her, she couldn't help but feel that she and Kazu were about to intrude on something that was very personal for Takato, and that by doing so would make it appear that they didn't have any faith in him.

"I know we already discussed this, Jeri," grumbled Kazu as an explosion resounded upon the air, kicking up a powerful breeze. Somewhere nearby they thought that they heard Beelzemon shouting Double Impact, but with so much chaos going on they couldn't tell for sure. "And even though I can tell that this is supposed to be where Takato faces himself and everything… and don't give me that look, I may be stupid acting sometimes, but I do pay attention to these things…"

"At least you do now," said Jeri with a small smile on her face.

"I'm going to ignore that," joked Kazu. "Now where was I? Oh yeah… I can understand Takato wanting to do something on his own but he doesn't have to prove himself to us. More like we've got to prove to him that we care and… uh…because we… um… hang on…"

Kazu paused in his stride and scratched the top of his head, a look of annoyance appearing on his face.

"Could have sworn that I was going somewhere with this…" the boy muttered to himself grouchily. Jeri drew up next to Kazu and Guardromon.

"Kazu… we can't just stop here… not while all this fighting is going on. Now look. Guardromon is hurt, and with what's going on out there I think that we're going to be more of a hinderance, as much as I hate to admit it… and I do believe that Takato needs to do… this…"

Suddenly Jeri halted in her speech, and a look of great sadness overcame her face as she raised one hand to her chest, as though she felt some kind of inner turmoil going on within. Looking over to where the source of the fighting was located, she saw a dark colored, knight like figure that strangely resembled Gallantmon leaping into the air, aiming what looked like a black colored lance at a flying Beelzemon before bringing the weapon down on the ex Demon Lord's skull, sending him to the ground.

Takato…? The girl whispered in her mind, and then her face set itself in grim resolve. Takato's in trouble… I don't know what's going on over there, but somehow I've got the feeling that Takato's in danger… probably more so then he's ever been in before. Why… why does it feel like I can sense his pain? Why…?

Jeri's thoughts continued to ramble on, completely ignoring the fact that Kazu was waving his hands, trying to get her attention. A gust of wind blew through the park, and the massive bulk of MegaGargomon surged up to his feet, having apparently fallen in battle at some point, a dark, metallic burn covering his once spotless face. And then, before anything else could happen, a pink light suddenly lit up the world around the children, causing them all to blink in surprise. The sensation of pain that had been in Jeri's heart just a second ago began to die down a bit, replaced now with a feeling of exhaustion and a sadness that went bone deep. But there was something more floating upon the air now, joining the multitude of Sakura blossoms that inexplicably appeared in the air around them.

"Wha…?" Began Kazu, bewildered as he gaped around him, turning his head left and right, trying to find the source of what was going on. Jeri on the other hand, had a feeling as to what was going on, having recognized Sakuyamon's signature attack, and she let out a sigh of relief and contentment as she let herself become lost in the feeling that hovered in the air, lifting her heart.

Friendship. The feeling that she sensed was all the friendship and love that people could have for each other, shared through the memories of a common bond that had welded them all together since the first days that their adventures began.

Takato… thought Jeri as she closed her eyes and felt herself relax in the feeling that washed over her. He's going to be all right…

The sudden disappearance of that warm light suddenly put an end to Jeri's comfort.

Ryo Akiyama opened his eyes slowly and groaned as an incessantly dull ache ripped its way through his skull, pounding to fit a beat in his forehead. But at least it told him one thing; he was still alive. He didn't know what had happened to Lucemon, but if experience was any judge (and it almost always was), the angelic digimon had once again survived their latest tussle and had gone off to either lick his wounds again or finish the job that he had come here to do.

"Need a hand?"

Blinking, Ryo looked up and found his bespectacled friend, Kenta Kitagawa standing over him with one hand held out for him. Pleasantly surprised by the boy's arrival, Ryo smiled and took Kenta's hand, allowing himself to be pulled up to a sitting position before getting up the rest of the way on his own.

"Hey Kenta," said Ryo as he dusted himself off, looking around him to assure himself that his partner was all right before finding MarineAngemon by his side, tending to the purple reptile's injuries. Once again Ryo smiled before turning his attention to Kenta.

"So… any calls while I was out?"

Now it was Kenta's turn to blink, though it was more out of nerves and some excitement at having found Ryo, his idol, but for the most part he managed to hold back on that (something for which Ryo was immensely grateful for. Kazu probably wouldn't have been able to muster that much self-restraint) as he filled the Legendary Tamer in on the situation as he saw it.

"Uh … well, I was heading down to Hypnos to meet up with the others when all of a sudden I heard some explosions coming from within the park so I got here as quickly as I could…"

"Pihpihpuhpih!" Giggled MarineAngemon as he continued to administer healing hearts to Monodromon as the little Vaccine dinosaur sat up, rubbing the back of his head in pain. Kenta frowned.

"We would have gotten here sooner if you'd just carried me," Kenta complained, which only caused MarineAngemon to giggle once more before continuing with his work. Kenta sighed, but smiled nonetheless as he looked back at Ryo.

"Anyway, I saw MegaGargomon and Sakuyamon fighting what looked like a black colored WarGrowlmon as soon as we got into the park, and it looked like they were in trouble. I was just on my way to help them when I saw you and your partner lying there, knocked out so we had to stop and help."

"Heh. Thanks," said Ryo, nodding his head in appreciation. "Probably a good thing that you're here now. If MegaGargomon and Sakuyamon are having as much trouble as you say they are they're going to need a little help from your partner there," Ryo indicated MarineAngemon with a slight nod of his head. "And I'm pretty sure Lucemon's out there too just dying to join the party so…"

"Wait. You fought Lucemon?"

"Yeah, and I got beat by him. That digimon is a lot stronger then we give him credit for, so watch yourself around him…"

"If… if he beat you then what chance do we have against…?"

"Hey! Come on, Kenta! Don't lose faith now just because I've had a set back. Just because I'm the Legendary Tamer doesn't mean that I'm invincible. Now come on. Lucemon or no Lucemon we've got to help out the others. What is it that Rika always says? 'A Tamer never walks away from danger?'"

"Great. Now you're quoting Rika. Now I know we're doomed…"

Ryo chuckled.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time it's been tried," said Ryo as he looked down at Monodromon, who was now getting to his feet. Before anything else could happen, the air around them suddenly burst into a bright, pink light, and the two boys and digimon looked around them in amazement, at first not comprehending what it was that was going on around them until the light, strangely familiar to the two friends, brought home a memory to them from their last day in the digital world. The last time that they had seen this magnificent display, at least with this kind of intensity, had been that time in the canyon when they were trying to find Calumon, and they had their first encounter with the Chaos, or the D-Reaper as it was more accurately known by the computer programmer known as Shibumi. Rika and Renamon had literally taken a leap of faith to combat the malevolent program and had biomerged together, and with their newfound power of Sakuyamon, had managed to seal away the Chaos.

But that's neither here nor there right now, thought Ryo, as he stood transfixed by the light. A soft Sakura petal floated by him, slowly, gently on the wind before settling on the ground. Ryo looked at it, pondering it for a moment, chuckling at the irony of the image, as though something about the way the Sakura petal had landed said something about Rika's personality. How odd it was that the calmness that he felt in the air just now, the friendship and care, was perhaps one of the few emotions that were most difficult to associate with the Tamer that he regularly called Wildcat. It wasn't that he didn't think that she had those qualities it was just that she didn't show them often. But as he had just thought, that was neither here nor there. Ryo felt himself relax in the light and a small smile crept onto his face.

"We've won," Ryo said calmly, almost confidently, forgetting about all of his earlier worries in the radiance that they four of them stood in. "It's over."

"Huh?" Asked Kenta, a little confused. "You mean… that's it? But I just got here…"

"Pih!" Scolded MarineAngemon suddenly, and Kenta looked down at the ground shamefully.

"Yeah, you're right, buddy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it…"

Ryo laughed lightly at the scene, remembering all the times that Kazu had complained about not understanding a single thing that went on between those two. Apparently the visor-wearing child didn't fully understand what it meant to be partners to a digimon…

Suddenly the sound of something exploding rang out from where the battle had been centering, and the pink light winked out of existence.

Worry filled Ryo's heart and without even thinking the Legendary Tamer dashed forward. Upon seeing his Tamer take off so unexpectedly, Monodromon, surprised by the act, immediately stumbled forward in an attempt to follow the boy before quickly recovering his balance and then falling in sync with his strides. Kenta and MarineAngemon watched them go dumbly for a second before trading glances and then gave chase.

"Hey! Wait up!"

The dark Gallantmon's form, already weakened by the data being released from de-digivolving, slammed to the ground by the force of the attack, phasing in and out of stability as he landed before fragmenting and breaking apart, exposing a dark sphere of data containing a human boy within its embrace. As though Rika, Renamon, and MegaGargomon were watching a replay from the first time they had seen this happen, the dark sphere tore itself apart, unraveling in the same manner as the dark knight had until all that was left remaining, was the battered and bruised body of their friend Takato, lying chest down on the ground, unmoving and unresponsive to the world around him.

"TAKATO!" Henry shouted from within his emerald data sphere, his own voice mixing with that of Terriermon, Rika's, Renamon's, and Beelzemon's. Looking down, he saw the ex Demon Lord, alongside Rika and Renamon rushing towards Takato's inert form and instinctively he took a step forward as well. As he did so, a light caught his attention and Henry remembered that Lucemon was still there in the real world with them. Lucemon… the one who had harmed Takato not once, but twice now…

Looking up at where the Celestial digimon hovered, drawing what looked to be the shards of data that had been released when the dark Gallantmon had been destroyed, incorporating it into his body and fusing it with his own data. He was glowing too, a lot more than a digimon normally would when loading data, but Henry didn't take any notice. All he knew was a rising anger that he felt burning within the depths of his soul. Anger over what he had just seen, what he had been powerless to prevent. They were just about to… well, it didn't matter anymore. Only one thing did right now… only one…

As Henry watched Lucemon's form begin to change, he, as MegaGargomon, took a threatening step forward and the light within his data sphere began to darken to suit his emotions. He felt Terriermon gasp at the sudden change from within his human partner and call out his name cautiously, almost fearfully but he ignored the little dog bunny.

He was going to make Lucemon pay dearly for his crimes…

Henry raised his arms and took aim.

"He's still alive," said Renamon, breathing a sigh of relief as she pulled her paw away from Takato's pulse. "But we'll have to get him to a hospital. His breathing is shallow… I don't know what kind of affect being separated from a digimon in so forceful a way twice in one week can have on a human body. Takato was lucky to not suffer any physical side affects the first time."

"He's so still…" said Rika, a touch of fear creeping into her voice as she carefully touched the side of the boy's face. She looked at Takato with a worry that she had felt before for Renamon when she had been injured, and then later for Jeri after she had lost Leomon. Why did this keep happening? She felt so disgusted with herself that at one point she had loved fighting, enjoyed being caught up in the adrenaline rush that came with risking one's life, but now… she had seen the ugly side to fighting far too many times to like it in the same way that she had used to, and the pain that it kept causing her friends and the world around her…

The feel of Renamon's paw being placed on her shoulder brought Rika back to reality.

"Rika. We have to get Takato out of he…"

"Say no more fox face," cut in Beelzemon as he picked the former goggle-wearing boy up into his arms, taking care not to scratch him with his claws. "I'll have him down to the hospital faster then…"

In what seemed like a never-ending string of interruptions, a light burst forth above the three companions, causing the trinity to look up and see what the source of the illumination was. In the sky above them, collecting the last bits of data from the now destroyed form of the dark knight version of Gallantmon, was the angelic digimon Lucemon, his body barely discernable in the light that was emanating from him as he drew the data into himself. Suddenly, the light brightened and Lucemon's form began to growl larger, lengthen… Renamon's eyes widened as she realized what was going on. Lucemon was digivolving! Downloading the dark Gallantmon's data, the data of a Mega digimon must have triggered its occurrence. It would only be a matter of moments before they would discover just what Lucemon had evolved into, and how powerful it was going to be in lieu of his previous level.

As the light died down, the angel digimon's new form was revealed for all to see. His appearance was now more adult like, larger with a stronger looking frame, lacking the child like fragility that he had borne previously, with an outfit that was two-tone in color, black and white mainly, and down his back were ten wings, one half angelic in appearance and the other half demonic to go along with them, as though matching the black and white clothing that he wore. And from his golden locks of hair, and ankle bracelets were another eight wings in the same arrangement, half and half angel and demon. His facial expression, having lost all child-like grace but still retaining something akin to a harsh youthfulness, remained as cold and as impassive as it had on the day that he had arrived in the real world, as though he were here to do nothing more then to take care of a dirty chore.

Then as she did now, Rika felt a burning anger awaken in her heart at the injustice of it all, at the treatment that one of her friends had received this past week because of a mistake that he had made. And it wasn't like he had actually followed through with it either! He had pulled back at the last second and tried to put a stop to everything, and had in the end become a force for good! But that hadn't been enough it seemed… not nearly enough…

Feeling her teeth grating against each other, Rika pulled out her blue trimmed digivice and stood up, determined to vent her own anger on this digimon that dared to call itself a protector of the digital world. Beside her, she could feel the same emotion coming from Beelzemon. Narrowing her eyes, Rika raised her D-Arc to the sky, preparing to biomerge with Renamon and take the fight to Lucemon's new form. He was doing something right now, a cloud of mist appeared in the sky above him and began to spread outwards… it looked like he was summoning a digital field; probably intending to return to the digital world now that he had finished what he had set out to do, glancing in Takato's direction as though pondering what he should do with the child before continuing with what he was doing. Rika didn't care though. She was beyond caring about what Lucemon was planning on. All she knew was that he had hurt one of her friends, and that she fully intended to pay him back in kind.

Before Rika could call out the words that would activate her biomerge with Renamon, Henry's enraged shout cut across the park, surprising the red headed girl with its intensity and the venom that it bore. Her eyes whirling over to where MegaGargomon stood, all anger seemed to leave her as she took in the form of her friend and fellow Tamer. There was something wrong here, Rika felt suddenly. Very wrong. She couldn't tell for sure through the fog that had now settled upon the park, but it looked like MegaGargomon's armor had adopted a darker shade to it. He was still green though, but it was a darker green from what she remembered.

Maybe it's a trick of the light, thought Rika absently, but something in MegaGargomon's, in Henry's voice told her otherwise.

"LUCEMON!" Shouted Henry, rage and bile thick in his words and earning him the angel's attention. "HOW COULD YOU?!?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM?! TAKATO'S DONE NOTHING TO YOU!!!"

Lucemon simply stared back at the giant mecha, unmoved by his shout of rage.

"As I've told you Tamers time and time again," spoke Lucemon as though he were talking to a slow student. "The safety of the digital world is far more important than anything else. I am sworn to protect its existence above all else, and there is nothing more important than seeing that any and all threats to the digital world are extinguished before they can grow to become a threat to it, no matter how minor they might seem."

From within his data sphere Henry closed his eyes in frustration.

"How can you be so cold? How can you be so uncaring about the things that you destroy? The lives that you take away? Guilmon… Takato…" Henry clutched his fists tightly as he felt his anger lay hold over him. Henry opened his eyes and glared at the angelic digimon.

"I'll make you hurt," Henry growled, and down on the ground, Beelzemon, Rika, and Renamon gasped at his words. "I'll make you feel the pain that you've caused. I'll make you pay!"

And with that, multiple compartments opened up all over MegaGargomon's body. Ignoring the protests of his partner, Henry took aim and let loose with everything that he had.

"Mega Barrage!"

This is not good, thought Beelzemon as he watched MegaGargomon unload a salvo of missiles on Lucemon. He had to admit to having mixed feelings on how to respond to all of this. As angry as he was over what had happened to Takato, seeing this happening, seeing Henry lose his cool like this… it was reminding him all too much of what had happened back in the digital world after he had destroyed Leomon and Takato had given in to his anger and frustration. But there was also the fact that his comrade was now fighting Lucemon… or whatever form it was that he had taken after digivolving. Rika, the only Tamer presently available with a digivice had yet to make an identification as to Lucemon's new name and level, and anything else that it might have to go along with it. Looking over to Rika he saw that she had a deep, introspective look on her face as she watched the battle take place. Renamon watched her partner carefully, not wanting to make a move without her say so.

Beelzemon's claws itched. He had to do something. He couldn't just sit here…

Placing Takato gently on the ground, Beelzemon faced the scene of battle.

"Beelzemon?" Enquired Renamon carefully.

"I'm going in to help out MegaGargomon. I think it's about time that someone showed Lucemon that there are just some lines that you don't cross."

Renamon nodded, and with that Beelzemon took off, spreading his wings outward and drawing his shotgun from his holster, his sights set on Lucemon as the angelic digimon duck and wove between MegaGargomon's nearly inexhaustible supply of missiles with incredible ease. Beelzemon gritted his teeth.

Time to take out the trash, thought the Demon Lord as he drew closer.

Renamon looked carefully over at Rika, wondering what had to be going through her mind. She hadn't said a word since Henry's outburst and subsequent attack on Lucemon. In fact, she hadn't bothered to do anything, not even check her digivice to see what powers and attacks that Lucemon had in his new form.

"Rika?" Asked Renamon carefully, but for some odd reason the girl didn't respond. Instead she continued to watch the battle as it raged before her, her eyes looking as though they were peering inwards.

"Any idea what's going on?" Asked Kazu to Ryo as they raced side by side. They had swiftly met up with each other shortly after the pink light had vanished and now they were deadlocked in a race to get to the danger zone, Jeri, Kenta, and MarineAngemon lagging behind them. Ryo shook his head as he looked at his all-blue D-Arc.

"Can't say that I do. I got taken out somewhere in between when I was fighting Lucemon, so I have no idea what else has developed since I came to. My D-Arc says that there's a big digimon out there, and he's trying to breach the barriers between the worlds, though it looks like he's headed in the opposite direction for some reason. Judging by the sounds, someone's keeping him from leaving."

"Isn't that like the opposite of what we normally want?"

"Usually, and I'm going to find out why."

With that, Ryo found a new burst of speed and was quickly joined by Monodromon. Raising his D-Arc to the sky, Ryo gave a call of biomege activate, and within seconds the light of evolution overtook him. Shortly afterwards the heroic figure of Justimon leapt into the air.

Kazu shook his head in amazement.

"Man, he is so cool! Wish I could do that… Guardromon… are your engine's fixed yet?"

"Sorry, but not yet."

"Aw man…"

"Mega Barrage!" Cried out MegaGargomon as he once more fired dozens of missiles at Lucemon, to no avail. It didn't seem to matter what he did, the angelic digimon continued to dodge the weapons as though they were moving in slow motion. Beelzemon continued to fire away with his own shotgun but didn't seem to be having any more luck than he was. All the while, Lucemon never once lost his cold, unfeeling expression. Of course, this only increased Henry's rage and he continued to fire away, trying to hit his target. An orb of white energy shot out and struck Beelzemon, sending him rocketing away from the battle zone and crashing to the ground, but still Henry didn't care. His partner's cries and attempts to get his attention were far beyond him as well. The entire world in fact, seemed to revolve only around him and Beelzemon. He didn't even see the Justimon that was rocketing towards the fight, already blasting away with his Justice Burst attack, and Lucemon gave him the same response that he had shown Beelzemon. A simple blast of energy that knocked him out of the air, and out of the fight.

Now he was all MegaGargomon's.

His magazines running low, Henry switched tactics, giving only one last burst of missiles Henry rushed forward, preparing to go for a close range assault on the angel. And still, without showing any more emotion than a blank wall, Lucemon evaded each and every missile that was sent at him, and then flew towards MegaGargomon.

"Paradise Lost Punch!"

The next thing that Henry was aware of was a number of punches being delivered to his body at a rate that was impossible for him to quickly recover from. He tried to come up with a counter attack, but Lucemon moved to quickly, battering him relentlessly until suddenly he haulted with his punches and delivered a powerful kick that sent him careening upwards and then brought him crashing down to the ground. Not to be deterred, Henry once again opened up his missile tubes and weapon compartments, determined to do whatever it took to finish Lucemon off, and with a howl of unrestrained rage, let loose another barrage of missiles.

"Mega Barrage!"

The distance between Lucemon and the missiles was much shorter this time, leaving him with little time to react to their approach, and yet he didn't once lose his calm appearance. Instead his wings glowed white and black, and with one, great flap he redirected the path of the missiles and sent them flying off in different directions, exploding along the park indiscriminately, shattering trees and sending fragments of dirt and debris flying every which way, and still more missiles went soaring into the depths of the city, impacting against buildings and crashing into streets before going off. Not noticing, or perhaps not at all caring at the devastation that he was causing MegaGargomon surged back to his feet, the sound of Henry giving a loud and powerful cry as he rushed towards Lucemon, determined to end this battle and destroy his opponent at any cost.

His missile tubes rolled through their magazines and reloaded as he once again took aim, and a split second later more missiles were fired, and they streaked towards Lucemon, who watched them approach him impassively, neither of them mindful of the flash of light or the swift moving figure approaching the two combatants until it had imposed itself in between the oncoming missiles.

From within his data sphere, Henry's eyes widened in shock, his anger evaporating like rain after a storm as he saw a familiar figure place itself in front of Lucemon, raising a shield against his onslaught. How…? Why…? These questions raced through Henry's mind all in the blink of an eye, but it was now far too late to do anything about it. The missiles crossed the distance as quickly as lightning and impacted with the shield, causing Henry to cry out in surprise as he staggered on his feet.

"SAKUYAMON!!!"

Rika had been watching the fight as it progressed, but at the same time not really seeing it, instead focusing inward and reflecting on all the events that had led her and her friends to this point. To say that she had been angered by what had been done to Takato was an understatement. She didn't think that there even was a word to describe just how mad she had been, and she had been more then willing to go after Lucemon and try to tear him limb from limb to exact retribution for what had happened… but Henry…

To hear that same kind of anger coming from Henry, the Tamer who had always preferred to find another way rather than fighting it out unless there was no other choice, the same Tamer who had preached pacifism and had been greatly saddened when, on the day that he had first became a Tamer, he had learned that he had hurt innocent digimon in what he had thought to be a game, and never took any action lightly. The same Henry who thought more with his head than with his heart, preferring to take the more logical course of action and think things through carefully before committing to anything. To hear him sound the way he did, the same way that Beelzemon had when he was trying to kill them back in the digital world, the same way that Takato had sounded when he had lost it in the fight against Beelzemon shortly after Leomon had been destroyed… Rika had to admit; it was pretty unnerving and distressing to witness.

Is this what Ryo saw when he stopped me from trying to destroy Lucemon the first time?

Looking into herself, Rika thought about how she had felt about all this, how she felt about everything that had been happening, all the pain and anger, and… Rika's eyes settled on the park around her. Much of it, at least in this area, had been laid waste. Holes from large feet stamping the ground and special attacks being launched littered the area. The charred and broken remains of trees were scattered… God knew if there was anyone hurt or killed in all of this fighting, especially with the amount of firepower that MegaGargomon had been unleashing since joining the battle.

Rika found herself hating what she was seeing, what she had felt, and hating it even more for coming out of Henry, who had always been something of a monument of peace and calm in her eyes. Turning back to the battle, Rika watched the battle progress a little bit longer before she looked over at Renamon. The vulpine digimon looked back, her azure eyes meeting Rika's violet ones as if she could tell what it was that the young girl was thinking before finally nodding, as though in silent agreement.

Making a decision, Rika and Renamon rushed forward, Rika raising her D-Arc as she did so, and a second later the two of them were enveloped in the light of evolution.

"SAKUYAMON!!!" Shouted Henry frantically from within his data sphere as his missiles impacted with the shaman digimon's Crystal Sphere. The world seemed to become silent all of a sudden, and Henry waited for the dust to settle, fear hammering away in his chest as the full realization at what had just happened impacted with him.

I don't believe it… I… Sakuyamon… Rika and Renamon… I… I may have just killed them. It's all my fault…

The smoke began to clear a bit, and Henry waited, praying that Sakuyamon was all right, cursing himself for giving in to his rage and anger. Even though Sakuyamon had type advantage over him, he wasn't sure if she could withstand all of those missiles that he had fired. All he could do now was wait and pray…

If anything's happened to them I'll never forgive myself… thought Henry as he peered into the smoke, trying to see any sign of his two friends. For the first time, Henry finally realized, Terriermon was rendered speechless.

Henry let out a sigh of relief as the drifting smoke finally revealed Sakuyamon, a little battered from the fire and shrapnel that had managed to get through her shield, but otherwise intact. She was floating in front of Lucemon, who for the first time wore a startled expression on his face. Clearly he hadn't been expecting this to happen.

"Sakuyamon…" began Henry, his voice trembling a little at the memory of what he had just come dangerously close to doing.

"Just let him go, Henry," said Sakuyamon in Rika's voice. "I think that there's been enough damage for one day."

Henry regained himself, feeling his temper rise.

"What? You're planning on letting him go? After what he had just done? Since when…?"

"LOOK AROUND YOU HENRY!" Sakuyamon shouted suddenly, letting her own temper get the best of her this time as she tried to get the boy to see what had been going on. "Do you see what's happened here? All the damage that's been caused? People are hurting out here right now, and continuing this particular fight isn't going to solve anything except get more people hurt…"

"This is what we do though," said Henry, trying to find the proper counter argument, though he was beginning to feel his resolve faltering. "Things like this happen in fights with digimon…"

Henry halted as he analyzed what he was saying. The cloud of anger had lifted just enough for him to think clearly.

Since when have I ever justified violence like that? Sure, I know to expect things like this but I've always wanted to believe that there was a better way to handle things without resorting to violence, or even going so low as to try and get revenge…

"But like what you were doing Henry? I thought that we were supposed to be better than that…"

Henry stood there for a moment, letting Rika's words sink in, and looking within himself, and letting the memories of the past few moments flow through his mind. In his rage he had tried to destroy a digimon who had hurt his friend, not once but twice. It was an understandable reaction, given the amount of stress that he had been under this past week trying to help Takato and dealing with the anger over Takato's loss, and it had been facilitated even more by the close bond that they shared as Tamers and as friends, showing just how strong their connection was but… he had nearly killed another friend. Hadn't even noticed her in fact. He might as well have pointed a gun at her on purpose and pulled the trigger… all because of his desire to get revenge.

He remembered Takato's reaction to Leomon's dying, and how he had created Megidramon as a result of that anger, being so solely focused on making Beelzemon suffer that he didn't care what happened or who he hurt just to do it. His actions that day had wrought far more consequences than he had initially thought. How close his own actions today had paralleled Takato's…

"What have I done…?"

"Momentai, Henry," whispered the voice of Terriermon in Henry's ear as the boy began to cry within his sphere of green data. A bright light enveloped MegaGargomon's form and after a brief moment it died down, revealing a disheveled and distraught Henry Wong kneeling on the ground with Terriermon sitting on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, whispering momentai over and over in a soothing voice within the scene of waste and devestation. Off to the side, Justimon staggered out into the area, leaning against a tree line while behind Henry, Beelzemon appeared, looking equally bruised and battered. And even further off, Jeri Katou, Kenta Kitagawa, MarineAngemon, Guardromon and Kazu Shioda were just now entering the park, looking around them in amazement. Jeri quickly spied Takato's inert form and with a cry ran to him, swiftly followed by the other four. Jeri fell onto her knees and gently took the boy's head and laid it on her lap, tears falling from her face as she did so while MarineAngemon flew up, getting ready to deliver his own brand of first aid.

All this Lucemon saw.

He was no expert on humans, that much was certain, but in his battle against MegaGargomon he had felt a great deal of anger coming from the boy, almost on the same level as what he had felt unleashed in the digital world, only without the amplification and personification that the digital world was normally capable of doing with such strong and powerful emotions. He analyzed the entire situation in his mind, replaying each event as he did so. The reactions of each opponent, the feelings that he could sense beating upon the air, and what he himself was now picking up from the data of the Great Beast that he had recently absorbed. The thoughts of the boy who had so briefly been merged with him…

Lucemon turned to look at the Sakuyamon who still floated in front of him. He nodded to her respectfully, now having a far greater understanding of what had happened in the digital world when Megidramon was first created. Sakuyamon's mouth became angry and viscous. He could sense the amount of anger that was held within her, as well as the glare that was hidden by the mask that she wore.

"Get out of here," Sakuyamon hissed at him venomously. "And don't ever let us catch you back here again!"

Lucemon inclined his head to her, bowing slightly.

"Of course, my queen…"

And before the shaman digimon could do anything else, Lucemon reached out into the layers of the digital field that he had called up, and the real world vanished around him, being replaced by the vast network of computer data.

Off in the distance, just near the edge of the treeline, a young girl gaped at this series of events.

Noriko Nakata staggered away from the battlefield, completely overwhelmed by the things that she had just witnessed. Lucemon… he… Noriko couldn't take it anymore. To believe that she had helped care for that monster! And what had he done? He had gone and fought the Tamers… apparently murdered one of them… ever since she first found Lucemon she had harbored illusions and fantasies of him being like the angels from stories… always loving, caring about others and the world around them… and instead he had shown the opposite of those qualities. Cold, ruthless even… attacking without even a hint of mercy and uncaring as to who he hurt if they got in his way…

Why…?

Why…?

Why had she…?

Why did she let herself believe…?

The world around her became misty as her eyes began to tear up. The mist thickened… and the world around her began to change…

She would have plenty of time to reflect on the decisions that had brought her to this point in her life…

"The Wild One is… returning to the digital world," said Rielly, stunned surprise plainly evident in her voice. Yamaki flicked his lighter closed.

"Good," said the blonde haired head of Hypnos. "Stand down on all systems and sound the all clear. Send in med-evac and disaster relief teams to the disaster zone as quickly as possible. And get me in touch with the Chief Cabinet Secretary… I'm sure that he's going to want a full and detailed report on this…"

"Yes sir."

Yamaki exited the central control room of Hypnos, letting go of a breath that he hadn't known that he was holding. It would seem that ultimately disaster had been averted, though not without the usual amount of structural and property damage that came with such occurrences, but that was to be expected. The head of Hypnos reflected on everything that had occurred, suspecting that he would no doubt hear about it from his superiors for not getting involved when he should have, depending more on the Tamers to do the job that he had done in the past.

But what could he say? He had faith in those children. More faith than he'd ever admit, and they had proven themselves more than capable of rising to the task in the past against digimon that he himself had been unable to defeat with all the resources of Hypnos at his disposal. He'd get through it though. The people upstairs relied on him far too much to do the jobs that they themselves were unwilling to do so as to avoid public scandal. Fools, he thought of them, but sometimes they were intelligent, and even dangerous fools. But at the moment there was something else on his mind, the question of the Tamers. He hadn't received any word from Henry or Rika since they had engaged the dark Gallantmon and were intruded upon by the data signature of the Wild One from earlier this week… Lucemon. The Wild One had managed to return to the digital world after a brief period of battle, its own energy levels growing exponentially shortly before it opened a portal between the worlds and escaped. What did that mean for the Tamers? What had happened to them? Were they all right? Or were they…?

The sound of Yamaki's footsteps echoing upon the hallway was the only answer that Yamaki received. Heading towards a nearby elevator, the blonde haired head of Hypnos and stepped inside, flicking his lighter open once more, and then closed it in tune with the elevator doors at the exact same moment.

Click.

A/N-2: The chapter title, 'Under the Same Sky', comes from the ancient Confucian saying from Chinese philosophy, "No man can live under the same sky as the murderer of their father. In Japan, the Samurai code of Bushido extended it to incorporate master as well, as the lord of the clan that they served was regarded as both the father of his clan in addition to being the leader. Although Bushido has since lost its meaning in modern times with the disappearance of the Samurai class from contemporary society, it wasn't that much of a leap of imagination to believe that, had it still been a cultural force outside of stories and movies, the saying would again have been extended to include close friends. Henry, with his heritage drawing from both China and Japan, as well as his own interests in the martial arts and its disciplines, I felt was perfect for this chapter title that I had chosen (I've always wanted to use 'Under the Same Sky' as a working title), as well as his character (and also to show the strength and depth of friendship that Henry had for Takato). Anyway, hope that you enjoyed this latest installment. 'Till next time then.

-Crazyeight

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