Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Less than Human

Chapter: 55/ Merging: Part 1

"Eh?"

Ryo snapped to attention the second that he heard his digivice go off, signaling the bio-emergence of a digimon. Reaching down to his waist the Legendary Tamer pulled out his D-Arc and activated the compass function.

Two signals, thought Ryo with a frown. High class one's at that. Looks like I'd better get out there…

"Ryo," spoke up Jeri from next to him as the boy began to stand up, her gaze focused on his gold trimmed digivice now.

"I'm sorry Jeri," cut in Ryo, giving her an apologetic look. "But Cyberdramon and I have to go."

Jeri looked like she was about to say something in response to that, but then stopped and nodded.

"All right. Just…be careful out there."

Ryo gave the brown haired girl a winning smile.

"Hey, no problem. This is me that we're talking abou…"

Ryo suddenly found his own words stopped up when Jeri fixed him with a look of annoyance mixed with concern. Getting the idea that she did not want to hear bravado, but rather just an acknowledgement that he would be fine Ryo's smile softened and he handed the puppet-loving Tamer the SolMilleniummon card that she had given him to look at. Jeri looked at him in surprise.

"Wha…?"

"I'll be fine out there. You have my word on that."

"But your card…"

Ryo chuckled, but the sound belied how he was really feeling inside. Nonetheless, he pressed on.

"You seem to have done okay with it so far, and you did get us out of that jam yesterday against Argus. I don't think that there's any set of hands that I think that card could be safer in. Besides, maybe, just maybe this way I'll have a little bit more motivation to stay in one piece."

"Uh…uhm…" unsure of what to say in response to that Jeri simply pulled the SolMilleniummon card close to her chest protectively and nodded at Ryo. Returning the gesture the Legendary Tamer looked up at Cyberdramon, who had now left the rooftop of the Katou family residence and was hovering in the air and waiting for Ryo's orders. Leaping up and catching hold of his partner's arm Ryo quickly waved at Jeri before giving his partner the signal to get going. Jeri watched them speed away for a moment before looking down at the card that she held in her hands, her face set in a worried expression.


Cyberdramon and Ryo flew in silence for a few minutes before the cybernetic dragon's gravelly voice spoke up.

"Are you sure that it's a wise idea to leave that card in her hands?"

Ryo glowered. "Not really. You know Milleniummon just as well as I do, if not better so you have better reasons then me to ask that question. His change of appearance on that card worries me, and Jeri's story worries me even more especially since it sounds like she actually talked to Milleniummon. Based on what she told me it almost sounds like Milleniummon's trying to help out and that sounds about as likely as MaloMyotismon not trying to conquer the world or something."

"Milleniummon never does anything unless he feels that he can benefit from it," growled Cyberdramon, flexing his claws unconsciously. "You shouldn't have left that card with her. It has already proven itself to be a link for him to communicate with her and with her digivice he has already proven that he can affect the world."

Ryo nodded. "He may already have a physical form too but…I don't know. Something right now just tells me that it's best to leave it in her hands. She already knows that Milleniummon's an evil digimon so that should deter her from doing anything more with it…"

"And yet you already told her that when you first gave her the card."

"She didn't know the full story then…"

"She still doesn't Ryo. When you first gave her the card she knew that Milleniummon was a dark god of the digital world and yet she still slashed it anyway. She knows more now then she did then but still not everything. And with the card's change who's to say that she won't look at it differently? Who's to say that she still won't slash the card again should the need arise and Milleniummon communicates with her?"

"Even so," said Ryo. "I still get the feeling that she'll be all right with it. I've always trusted my instincts before, so why not now?"

"Instincts," Cyberdramon growled. "For people like you, they have the habit of getting you into trouble."

"But they still get the job done don't they?"

Cyberdramon simply growled and flapped his wings extra hard out of frustration. Looking back down at his digivice Ryo checked the direction that they were heading in against that of his digivice before looking up at the sky. His eyes caught sight of some movement and he pointed it out to Cyberdramon, who quickly loaded the information to Ryo's digivice.

"Sakuyamon," said Ryo a second later. "Looks like Rika and Renamon have that part of the park covered. We'll take care of the closer signal and then join her as quickly as we can."

Cyberdramon just growled in satisfaction and pumped his wings even harder as he flew to the site of the nearest disturbance.


"Well, well, well," said Craniummon coldly as he brought the squirming Dracmon to eye level. "We've been looking all over for you."

Aw…nuts! Thought Dracmon as he squirmed in the Royal Knight's grasp. I really stepped in it this time! Why didn't I think?! Why, oh why didn't I…?"

"BEANIE!" Cried out Miki as she lunged forward, only to be grabbed by Ayaka and pulled back.

"Miki! What are you doing?! You can't go out there! It's too dangerous!"

"But…Beanie! He's in trouble! I've got to help him! I've got to…"

"Miki! Listen to me! This isn't helping! That thing is too dangerous! If you go out there you'll get…"

"I KNOW!" Shrieked Miki as she burst free from her friends grip, surprising the blonde haired, pig-tailed girl, but she quickly regained herself and grabbed the dark haired girl again, trying desperately to hold her back. Craniummon eyed the situation and chuckled.

"Interesting," commented Craniummon as he looked down at Dracmon, who was still struggling in the Royal Knights hold over his tiny body. "So…you've established an attachment to one of these humans, have you? Seems to be quite the common thing to happen to digimon who come here. A pity that you won't survive long enough to enjoy the fruits of that bond. After I've scanned your memory that is and discovered the purpose as to why you X digimon are so interested in this world."

"Ever think of just asking?" Choked Dracmon as Craniummon armored fingers pressed tightly around his body.

"As if I could trust you to do that," said the Royal Knight disdainfully. "Or did you forget that you are at war with Yggdrasil's Chosen?"

"Things have become rather…complicated of late," replied Dracmon as a plan began to form in his mind.

"Hmmph. All the more reason to scan your memories then…"

"You let Beanie go!!" Screamed Miki as she once again broke free of Ayaka's grasp, only to be grabbed and pulled back again. Craniummon watched the scene with a touch of amusement, amazed at the fierce loyalty that the dark haired girl had towards the Rookie X digimon. Perhaps that was something to look into as well.

The mission comes first however, thought Craniummon as he pulled Dracmon up to eye level and his crimson eyes began to glow. Dracmon's body stiffened as their eyes met and then began to relax as his mind became an open book to the Royal Knight. Images began to form in Craniummon's mind as he began to…

"Desolation Claw!"

Craniummon grunted in surprise and lost his hold on Dracmon as he felt a powerful force beam slam into his back. Turning angrily the Royal Knight sighted the familiar form of a Cyberdramon as he flew towards the battlefield, a boy wearing a maroon colored sweatshirt jumping off of his shoulder as soon as they were low enough to the ground. The boy, undoubtedly a Tamer if the digivice in his hand was any indication, felt somehow familiar to him.

Ah. Of course. Justimon is the Mega form of Cyberdramon. I've faced these two before. The Legendary Tamer and his partner. I should have known that we would meet up again. Regardless, I have a mission to fulfill. I cannot allow them to get in my way.

"Legendary Tamer," spoke Craniummon, summoning a massive, double-bladed spear and a large shield.

"Craniummon," responded Ryo as he began to draw cards from his pockets, not in the least bit surprised that the knight digimon knew who he was. In the digital world he was as easily recognizable figure as he was in the real world.

"When last we met, you had grievously injured me and shattered my shield."

"And I thought that you were dead."

Craniummon chuckled. "One such as I does not die easily Tamer. I got better, and this time I'm ready for you."

Ryo raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "Is that so? Wouldn't be the first time I've heard that line before."

"I wouldn't be surprised. You are the Legendary Tamer after all. Everyone knows of your battle against the dark digimon Milleniummon. The Sovereigns, and later my lord Yggdrasil were the ones who drafted you for that task…"

Ryo, ignoring the curious looks that he was now getting from the two girls Ayaka and Miki looked at Craniummon at the mention of the name Yggdrasil.

There's that name again. I still don't know what it means. He claims that I've met whatever this Yggdrasil is but I don't remember anyone by that name. The only ones that I know who got me mixed up with Milleniummon were the Sovereigns and…ENIAC…

"…And now you are here," continued Craniummon. "You are a long way from the home you once knew. This isn't your fight, and this isn't your world. Join me, and I shall return you from whence you came."

Ryo suddenly broke into laughter, and Craniummon cocked his head in confusion.

"Sorry," said Ryo after a couple seconds, surprising himself by realizing that he didn't care if Jeri's two friends overheard him or not at the moment. "But I'm going to have to decline your offer. This world may not be my original home, but it's still home to me all the same. There are people here who depend on me and I'm not going to let them down just because you toss me an opportunity to leave. So what say that we skip all the idle chatter and get down to business? From what I remember you're not interested in listening to reason from me and I can't let you rampage through the city unchecked. So I'm going to have to disappoint you."

"Very well," said Craniummon as he hefted his spear. "If that is your final decision…"

Craniummon offered Ryo and Cyberdramon a quick salute with his weapon and then charged at them, the double-bladed weapon rotating rapidly in his hand. Ryo quickly slashed a card through his digivice and sparks flashed with azure light.

"End Waltz!"

"DIGI-MODIFY! GOLIATH ACTIVATE!"


Dracmon hit the ground with a gasp as the air was suddenly forced from his lungs. Looking up the diminutive, demonic digimon felt as though all of his senses had come to a halt and take leave of…well, their senses as he saw a Cyberdramon suddenly enlarge to frightening proportions to counter the attack from Craniummon. Undaunted, the Royal Knight stormed the powered up Ultimate and tore at the Vaccine dragon's wrist with his spinning, double-bladed spear the second that he tried to grab at him before leaping upwards and smashing his shield into Cyberdramon's face. Howling, Cyberdramon backhanded Craniummon and sent him flying through the park and leapt forward, trees swaying from the wind that had been kicked up by the maneuver and went after the Royal Knight. Slashing his hands through the air, the large Cyberdramon gathered energy in between his claws and launched it in the direction that Craniummon had fallen. A cry of God Breath pierced the air at the precise moment of impact, causing Dracmon to wince.

Idiot's causing unnecessary damage to the area, thought Dracmon as he rolled onto his stomach and blinked back the spots that threatened to overwhelm his vision. But I can understand not holding back on this guy. Craniummon's pretty tough for a Royal Knight, and if what I hear is true his success ratio is double that of any of the others. I wouldn't want to be going toe to toe with him unless I had a lot of power, a lot of backup, and a really, really, really big gun handy. Like a Giga Cannon for instance. Now that's the sort of thing that I feel would make a dent in a Royal Knight's armor. No question about it.

Dracmon gasped suddenly as he felt a pair of hands wrap themselves around him tightly and pull him up from off the ground, pulling him against a body that was already getting up and rushing as far away from the battlefield as it could get with whatever speed that it could muster. And judging from the gray colored dress that billowed around the legs that were pumping for all they were worth, Dracmon could easily guess who it was that had snagged him…again.

"Miki!" Called out Ayaka. "Let's get out of here!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Shouted the dark haired girl over the sound of an explosion and another call of Digi-Modify. "Just one question; where are we going to go?"

"I figure that the government building that the Tamers and I went to before that freaky storm started up is as good a place as any. I remember the Tamers mentioning something about a government agency that deals with digimon being set up there. Don't know if it's safe or not but it should do…"

"No," wheezed Dracmon as he struggled in Miki's grasp, causing the girl to draw up short in confusion.

"Wha…? What do you mea…?"

"Miki! Don't stop now! We've got to keep moving!"

"Not with me you're not," growled Dracmon as he burst loose from Miki's hold on him and landed on the ground. This time both girls looked at him in surprise. This surprise increased ten fold when Dracmon turned around and leapt into a tree branch and began to head back in the direction of the fight.

"What are you doing?!" Yelled Ayaka angrily as she burst in pursuit of the little digimon. "We were trying to get you out of here! Don't you see that there's a digimon fight going on over there?"

"That's precisely it," shot back Dracmon as he came to a halt in a low lying tree branch. "There's a fight going on here that can be easily solved if those two can just put a halt to things and listen to what I have to say. That Royal Knight is here because of me…because of a plan that was put into operation before I even got here but was supposed to help along. By rights I'm supposed to be dead, and from what I've learned recently it would be better if I was dead but seeing as how I'm not I've got to do what I can to put a halt to this before things get even further out of hand."

Miki approached the tree, her hands clasped together in front of her as she looked up at Dracmon pleadingly.

"B-but…Beanie…"

"Don't call me Beanie!" Ranted Dracmon, ignoring Miki's surprised, and hurt gasp. "That's not my name, and I'm not just some pet like that stupid fuzz ball that you had in your house when you took me there! I've got a job to do and you've been keeping me from doing it ever since I got here! I don't even know what is going through your head half the time that even makes you think that we're partners or something but let's get one thing straight between us! We're…not! I never asked for your help and furthermore I don't want it! Especially not with the way that you've been treating me since you first saw m…"

Dracmon was suddenly cut off as the earth lurched violently. Ayaka and Miki stumbled on the ground while Dracmon, whose balance was a bit more precarious then that of the two girls, fell forward. Seeing this, Miki jumped forward in spite of the trembling ground and caught hold of the little Rookie, holding him close to her as they both landed hard against the ground and waited for the ground to stop moving. Instinctively Dracmon clutched onto the girl closer, and when the earth finally ceased, for the time being, the two pulled back and gazed into each others eyes. For the first time Dracmon saw nothing of the possessive fire that had been most prominent in her eyes when they had first met, but instead a protectiveness and a deep rooted concern for his well being. It was a sudden and sharp change of pace and he wondered what could possibly have brought it on.

Miki pulled herself up into a sitting position and lifted Dracmon so that she was looking fully into the painted on eyes of his face mask.

"I…" Miki bit her lower lip and her eyes welled up with tears but she pressed on. "Look. I was wrong to act the way that I did to you. I admit that when I saw you it…wasn't in a way that I should have. I saw another digimon before and all I could think about was how cool he looked and I wanted a digimon like that. When you showed up you looked so much like him that…" Miki choked back a sob and let Dracmon down and balled up her hands into fists on the hem of her dress. "It was wrong, I know it! Ayaka was right. It was all just some stupid crush, and I didn't know what I was getting into but I couldn't just let go of how I felt. I just…I just want to help!"

Neither she nor Dracmon noticed the green and gold particles that were starting to seep out of the ground around them.

"Um…" began Dracmon uncertainly. "…I…uh…appreciate the gesture and everything, and…uh…" Dracmon looked over his shoulder as another explosion ripped through the park. Thankfully it was still a fair distance away although it was cause for worry. "…And I guess I'm sorry for yelling at you like that earlier…even though I don't think that…well, never mind. It's just…you can't help me. You're a human. You're not even a Tamer. I have a better chance of surviving then you do right now…"

"I know," said Miki, her voice low and sorrowful. "But can you blame me for wanting to try? I remember how yesterday, when you were attacked at my house…I couldn't do anything and I had to depend on someone else to get you out of trouble. I wanted to be a Tamer and I…couldn't do anything. I…c-c-couldn't…d-do…a-a-any…"

Miki's voice began to crack now as she finally began to realize her helplessness in the situation and how just in over her head she had been to begin with. She had heard the stories of the Tamers adventures about the hardships that they had to endure, and Ayaka had told her about how terrifying it had been just being in the center of one of those battles, but it hadn't quite clicked with her as to what it was like. She knew that her desire to claim Dracmon as her own partner was motivated by selfishness and she wanted badly to make up for it, but the realization that she wasn't going to get that second chance was utterly disheartening. The world swam in her vision as tears began to spill forth from her eyes and she struggled to speak again.

"J-just…go. D-do what y-you ha-ve to…do…"

For an instant, Dracmon felt a great deal of pity well up in his heart towards the girl who had been his temporary keeper and an all-around creepy girl. He saw that she was seeing the reality of her situation and of the world for the first time in her life and it wasn't doing her any favors. He suspected that she would be able to move on, but right now she was hurting and seeing it happen was pulling at his heart strings. He had seen similar occurrences during his time with the X-digimon rebellion…seeing others come to grips as their world literally came apart around them. Though this girl wasn't experiencing the same thing or even to the same degree, he hated seeing someone in pain all the same even though he had dealt it out all the same to human and digimon alike. The digital world knew no mercy and to survive one had to be just as merciless. But to see this sort of thing coming from a human child, a creature that was so much like others he had known at the Rookie stage…

Dracmon reached out and touched the girl's hand with one of his own and suddenly a great flurry of green and gold particles burst up from the ground around them, startling them both before their bodies were enveloped in a bright, shining tower of light. As Dracmon felt something merge with his essence and his data began to alter he heard a voice speaking to him in his mind.

"My last gift to you Dracmon…for services rendered. Undo what's been done and find happiness for yourself…"

DinoRexmon… whispered Dracmon in his mind and a second later, words emerged from his lips involuntarily, mixing with Miki's surprised scream, though whether of delight or pain he couldn't tell. Though if what he was feeling was any indication, he believed that it was the former rather then the latter.

Show time.

"DRACMON! BIOMERGE TOOO…"


Ryo grunted in pain from within his data sphere as he and Cyberdramon, having biomerged to their Mega form of Justimon as soon as the effects of their Goliath card wore off, slammed to the ground hard. The fight was definitely not going well, and this was quickly noticed by the both of them. Not that there was anything different about this particular engagement when compared to the last one. Craniummon had been pretty tough to take on then too, but this time it felt as though he were having a particularly rough time of it.

I have a feeling that his lack of armor damage from when we last fought has something to do with that, thought Ryo sardonically.

A shadow fell over him and Justimon rolled to the right, narrowly missing getting skewered by Craniummon's Claiomh Solais spear. Quickly enlarging his cybernetic arm Justimon lashed out and slammed it against the spear blade, sending seismic vibrations tearing through the weapon and shattering its lower half. Ryo didn't get a chance to congratulate himself over the maneuver as Craniummon, nonplussed over the damage that Justimon had just dealt, swung down the upper half and smashed the flat of the blade into Justimon's back, sending him careening forward and skidding into the streets at the edge of the park. Not missing a beat Craniummon charged forward and, now using the remaining portion of his spear as a sword, slashed downwards towards the Legendary Tamer as his forward momentum on the road came to a halt. The blade tore through concrete and pavement, easily slicing through steel pipes and underground powerlines without any trouble…

Only Ryo wasn't there.

Craniummon growled at this sudden and unexpected change of events and was just about to take a look around to see where his opponent had disappeared to when suddenly a powerful blow crashed into his helm and sent him careening to the side and back into the area of the park, snapping trees and sending splinters of wood everywhere. Ryo winced at this as he morphed his cybernetic arm into his Voltage Blade and ran forward, leaping up into the air and slashing downwards, sending a boomerang shaped energy blade surging towards his adversary.

"God Breath!" Boomed Craniummon as he brought his shield to bear once again and blocked the attack. The blade bounced off the shield and was sent flying into a nearby building. Justimon didn't have time to wonder if anyone inside had been hurt or killed, as he soon became the main focus of a defensive shield turned into an offensive, bludgeoning weapon that sent him hurtling away from the park and the knight and crashing back into the city streets.

Gotta keep this fight away from the city, thought Justimon, too dazed to figure out whether it was the Tamer half or the digimon half who was doing the thinking. Staggering back to his feet, Justimon shook off the blow as best he could while Craniummon emerged from the park's forest. Raising his cybernetic arm Justimon began to fire a series of blue energy blasts.

"Justice Burst!"

Craniummon advanced, parrying the blasts with his shield and spear-turned-sword, and Justimon began to maneuver to the side, aiming towards the vicinity of the park, hoping that Craniummon would follow him and stay away from the city. Craniummon however, seemed to have gotten the idea of Justimon's intentions and began to charge towards him at a speed that belied his size and once again smashed the flat of his blade into him, sending him crashing back into the streets for the umpteenth time.

"Ouch," groaned Ryo as he got back up to his feet and dusted himself off. "This guy keeps outmaneuvering me. It's not helping that he's practically three times my size and built like a tank. Just how tough is his armor and shield anyway? I've been hitting both pretty hard and I haven't seen so much as a dent or even a scratch on him. The only thing that I've been able to do anything serious to was his weapon and he's still got enough of that remaining to show me his batting average with. I need a new tactic."

"I can fly as Cyberdramon, growled Ryo's partner. If you use high speed cards and strength and power modifiers I can keep him off balance with hit and run attacks."

"That'll take too long though. The only time you did anything effective at the Ultimate level to this guy was when I used the Goliath card on you, and that's used up now."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Not particularly. There's really not a whole lot of choice is there? I can't use any Mega class cards on you without causing danger to the city or frying the park and that's just about the only thing that'll even touch him right now. Last time we took this guy out was because Milleniummon gave us a power boost and…hang on a second."

"End Waltz!"

Justimon barely dodged Craniummon's oncoming attack. Flipping through the air the Legendary Tamer reoriented himself quickly and fired off a quick burst from his cybernetic arm, one of them actually nailing Craniummon in the eye and causing him to roar in pain. Taking advantage of this Justimon increased the size of his arm once again and slammed it into the ground.

"Thunder Clap!"

Shockwaves tore through the city street and slammed into Craniummon full force, upsetting his now precarious balance. Raising his arm once again Justimon slammed it back down, repeating the assault but this time Craniummon jumped into the air, avoiding the attack and throwing his shield like a Frisbee at Justimon. Ryo grunted in pain as the object slammed into his chest full force and knocked him backwards. Landing heavily on his back Ryo had just enough time to register Craniummon landing in front of him, blade held high and ready to deliver the coupe de grace…

"Dark Blast!"

Craniummon lurched to one side as a dark energy blast suddenly collided with him. Seizing advantage of this Justimon slammed his foot into Craniummon's ankle and flipped backwards, avoiding getting crushed by the massive knight as he crashed to the ground. Looking over to where the attack had come from Justimon's gaze fell on the shape of humanoid figure with pale skin flying towards them, black, bat-like wings outstretched. Midnight hair blew in front of the face of what was decidedly a very beautiful woman and a purple robe covering a black, skin-tight body suit billowed around her as she flew. A dark smirk drew up on her violet lips as she landed next to the Legendary Tamer and all of a sudden Justimon got the strangest desire to straighten out his posture.

"So…" began the woman in a sensual tone that echoed of dual voices speaking as one. "Ryo right?"

"Uh…yeah. That's me."

Okay. How did she know who I am? And just who is this digimon anyway? She looks sort of familiar…

The woman indicated the knight with a nod of her head as she placed one, human looking hand on her cocked, left hip. Craniummon was just now starting to get back to his feet, shaking his head slightly as though dazed by the unexpected attack.

"I'm a little new at this," continued the woman in that same tone of voice, or rather voices, as before. "But…um…" the woman frowned and looked a little uncertain now, a look that Ryo could have sworn did not look at all natural on her face. "…I take it that you could use a little…uh…help?"

Feeling on the whole that this was a rather bizarre moment Justimon turned to look at Craniummon before answering. He was now standing and had set himself in a battle stance.

"Yeah. I could do with a little help right now," Justimon admitted. "Just one thing. Who are you?"

The woman flashed Justimon a childish grin and Ryo fought the urge to cringe at it. It just didn't look at all natural compared to the way that she looked and had acted when she first came down to earth.

"Me? I'm Miki. Jeri's friend. I…ah…biomerged with Dracmon and now we're…um…" The woman glanced downwards as though she were looking inwards. "…Dracmon? What did you say that we were again?"

The woman's voice, which had just a second ago been that of an exuberant young girl shifted, becoming rather masculine in tone, but still childish nonetheless spoke up now, and Ryo became even more boggled at the whole thing. Still, his surprise rose to new levels as the voice spoke their Mega form's name.

"Lilithmon."

Oh boy…


"Hah…huh…ah…" Noriko backed away from BlackGuilmon, surprise and fear clearly evident on her face as the black dinosaur crouched low to the ground and growled viciously at the child-like, angelic digimon who continued to stare impassively at it, unmoved by the dragon's displays of aggression.

"So, back to this form again are we? Tell me something. Why do you choose to take this form? It's not even the 'real you'. The boy was more real then this 'thing' that you are now."

Ignoring Lucemon's words, BlackGuilmon began to stalk towards Lucemon, who continued to display no sign of worry at the dark digital dragon.

"It's funny," Lucemon continued, raising his voice now so as to be sure that Noriko could now hear him. "I used to not understand why it was that so many people were upset and angered that I had destroyed the creature after which you had been modeled. After all, it was the incarnation of the Digital Hazard…the greatest collection of that particular data to ever take the form of a digimon known. Dormant data, yes, but with the potential to awaken and become something terrible…something that could destroy my home. My mistress, Ophanimon…I couldn't understand why she didn't want me to leave and find the creature that had nearly ruined the digital world. I thought that I had been doing a great service by ridding the digital world of one of the most dangerous beings in existence before it had a chance to rise again as the D-Reaper had. I had a better understanding after my last battle with the Tamers; how one of them was willing to lay down the sword of vengeance to prevent more bloodshed and violence. Not an easy decision to make even when they knew how much it cost them. They had lost a friend, and another had been injured…twice because of me. Others had something of an effect on me, Noriko's mother for example. She had trusted me…to an extent. Believing that I had an important mission to fulfill, and I suppose that I let her down in that regard, having deprived this world of an important protector. Yet, even then, I didn't completely grasp what it was that I had taken away until I merged with you."

BlackGuilmon paused in his advance, and Noriko blinked in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Asked Noriko tentatively, ceasing to move backwards now.

"It took me a while to figure it out," responded Lucemon. "Emotions…not something that I'm all together used to dealing with, especially that of others. At first I was preoccupied with fighting you and keeping Noriko safe…keeping her from being fully absorbed by you…"

Again Noriko blinked, and at that moment a memory flashed through her mind. A memory of a searing, white hot pain across her chest as something struck her. In a place that was dark…and a feeling of weakening, intense pain that followed after that and then…something that she could only describe as lifting, and then…home.

Noriko rubbed the top of her shirt disconcertedly and grimaced. The memory, she didn't know what it was or where it came from, but there had been no pain with its coming, a strange occurrence she felt given everything else that she had happen to her whenever she had some memory or vision surfacing in her mind. It felt right, and honest. No fear came with it, but something about it made her wonder…

Did I…die? Was I killed in the digital world? What…what happened to me when I was there?

Lucemon continued.

"But then I saw you, in your true form. The child. You weren't what I thought you were. You weren't the monster that would have destroyed the digital world at just a whim. What I saw…what I felt…you were just a child. A part of the Tamer that I had hurt. No…you were the hurt, and you wanted to lash out. Your actions ceased to be important to me when I saw your inner-self. You are the physical manifestation of everything that was hurting in that Tamer that I had attacked. Pain personified, and because of that I have a far greater understanding of what it was that I had taken away."

BlackGuilmon straightened up and looked into Lucemon's blue colored eyes with his gold ones. Noriko looked back and forth between the two and then froze on BlackGuilmon when she saw tears beginning to form in the reptiles eyes.

"I…" BlackGuilmon began and then dropped his head down, his wing-like ears lilting like a dying flower. "…I just want to go home."

"Back to your Tamer," said Lucemon, his tone softening now. BlackGuilmon nodded.

"Before you saw him as a way to gain power. I see that in your memories. You didn't care about him, though you knew that there was a link between the two of you. So why…?"

Lucemon paused and closed his eyes. "Ahhh…I see. The greater part of your essence has awakened because of your merging with Noriko's essence. You have a better understanding of things now. You are still limited by what you are though…what you have become and your own physical presence here in the outside world. You cannot go home."

BlackGuilmon looked down at the ground and began to shiver now as tears rained down upon the ground. Her gaze softening Noriko walked over to the dinosaur and placed a comforting hand on his back. Looking over at Lucemon Noriko spoke.

"You know…I kind of expected you to do something else."

Lucemon shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "You and your mother crammed a lot of 'non-violence' philosophy down my throat during my stay at your home. And as I said, I'm coming to understand Ophanimon's view of things. I don't want to make the same mistake twice…or rather thrice in this case."

"I see." Noriko swallowed inaudibly and bit her lip before speaking again, nervous about what she had on her mind. "Lucemon? Earlier you said something about 'protecting me'. What…" Noriko swallowed again. "What did you mean by that?"

Lucemon sighed.

"It's the main reason why we're like this, and why BlackGuilmon won't be able to rejoin his first partner. You see, he…"

"No."

Noriko and Lucemon turned to look at BlackGuilmon. His body was shaking even worse then before now. Trembling, only with an emotion not only that of sadness, but also of rage as well. Throwing his head up, tears splashed through the air, landing on Noriko as BlackGuilmon glared angrily at Lucemon.

"I want to go home!"

Black light suddenly burst forth from BlackGuilmon's body, engulfing him and Noriko, and a howl of anger and despair filled the air, mixing with Noriko's cry of fear as she tried to jerk away but found herself unable to do so. The black light spread as Lucemon rushed forward to save the girl, and soon he too was enveloped in the darkness's all-embracing touch.


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