A/N: It's been…what? Two years? Nearly that anyway. Apologies for the long wait and I hope that with this chapter it's been worth it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A Realm of Fear

Chapter: 03

Rika spotted Takato and Jeri standing outside the store, waiting for her. She felt her hands tighten around Kyubimon's ribbon and jealousy flashed a fiery river through her. This was followed swiftly by shame and self-loathing.

They're my friends, she thought as she and her partner bounded ever closer. Two of my best friends.

Yet, try as she might, it didn't change the fact that, in her eyes, they looked so good with one another. So right. Even as Takato's eyes swung up toward her and she caught a glimpse of anxiety and happiness in them at her approach, it didn't change how she viewed them. And a part of her wanted so very badly to be mad about it.

We can't be friends, she thought again, remembering the way she felt when he held her in his arms. Not with the way I feel now.

She kept her face calm in spite of her roiling emotions and upon landing, she hopped down and planted her hands on her hips.

"So, this is where you two disappeared," she said, giving the pair a smirk that didn't reach her eyes. "Are you two dating again?"

At the sight of their pained expressions, she instantly regretted having said anything.

I am such a gogglehead, she grimaced. "Sorry," she said, folding her arms together and looking away. "That was stupid of me."

Jeri gave Rika a soft, knowing smile before glancing sidelong at Takato. The boy, taking no notice of Jeri's look gave a light chuckle and shrugged.

"W-Well, at least you're in good company," he stammered out, trying to keep the mood light. Rika glanced at him, an apologetic look on her face. Deciding that it was best to put things behind them as quickly as possible (and to give the pair something else to dwell on) the brown-haired girl gave a light giggle.

"Did you like the picture I sent you?"

At once, a slight crimson rose upon both of their cheeks and Rika's eyes swung over toward Jeri. The fire-haired girl pursed her lips together as if to silently scold her before returning her attention to Takato.

"Like I said, Yamaki called while you were out costume-shopping. He's calling a meeting."

"Never a dull day around here," Takato nodded with a sigh before looking at Jeri apologetically. "Sorry about this. Do you want me to walk you home or…?"

Jeri shook her head, again glancing over at Rika as she did so. The girl had become unreadable, but she had an idea what was going through her mind and heart.

"It's all right," she said, turning back to Takato with a bright smile. "Duty calls, remember?" Her eyes softened and worry filled their amber depths. "Be careful. Please."

"We will."

With nothing more to be said, Jeri turned away and headed off. Rika drew abreast to Takato, and they stood there together for a moment, watching her leave. After a moment, Takato ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh.

"So, ah, any idea what Yamaki wants to meet with us for?" he asked. Becoming aware of his proximity, Rika blushed lightly and jammed her hands in her jacket's pockets.

"Give me a break," she hmphed, starting back toward Kyubimon. "Yamaki telling us everything we need to know will be the day Terriermon learns manners."

"Doesn't he already know what those are and he just chooses to ignore them?" Takato asked, following after her. "And didn't a flying pig digimon get released in the last booster set?"

"Terrific," Rika grunted, hoisting herself back up onto her partner's back. "Just what I need. You goggleheading up my point."

"Sorry," Takato replied. He pressed his lips together worriedly. She was upset about something. He could see it in the way she held herself; the way she spoke and avoided looking at him. She seemed frustrated so much lately. He wondered if Jeri was right and that he was the cause for it. Because she felt the same way about him that he did about her and his hesitancy to admit it to her was grating on her nerves.

Rika adjusted her seating and then held her hand out to him. "Well? Come on. While we're young."

Again, he hesitated as he looked at her hand. He held it only a handful of times and it was the same hand as before. But at the same time, it was different. His eyes snapped over to Rika and saw her frowning at him.

"Right," he said, clasping her hand before she could say anything. His heart jumped at the touch of her palm against his and hammered nervously in his chest as Rika helped hoist him up. Settling down, he looked around questioningly, realization dawning on him. What was he supposed to hold on to?

"What?" Rika asked. Takato flushed and gestured.

"Um… H-How do I put it? I, ah…" He coughed, the heat in his face growing. "It's been a while since…t-the last time and you…me…"

I-It's not like when we were kids, he frazzled mind thought, his eyes tracing along Rika's figure and the curved shape she had taken since puberty began. Seeing his look, Rika blushed bright red in understanding. She turned away.

"It's still fine," she said stiffly. "Just…don't be grabby. Okay?"

"I promise," Takato swallowed. Drawing closer, he wrapped his arms about Rika's waist. He felt her stiffen at his touch and he heard the sharp intake of her breath.

"Are you alright?" he asked, swallowing the hammering beat his heart.

"F-Fine," she said. Leaning forward, she took hold of her partner's ribbons. "Kyubimon."

And just like that, they were off.

Takato groaned mentally as Kyubimon leapt into the air, causing the wind to slap at both Tamers in one mad rush.

Try not to think about it, he told himself as Rika's ponytail played along his face, leaving him all too aware of the feel of his friend in his arms. Try not to think about it. Try not to think about it.

"You might as well quit while you're ahead, Takatomon," the voice of Terriermon said inside his mind. "You know you're going to think about it anyway."

Takato squeezed his eyes shut. Of course, his imagination would curse him with Terriermon at a time like this.

I'm starting to think I should have let Rika send him to the moon. At least he'd be a little bit quieter.

###

"Stupid Yamaki, calling a meeting at a time like this! I swear, he's in cahoots with Renamon or something."

Henry sighed as he exited the train doors back in Shinjuku. He had been made to listen to his partner's complaints ever since he received Yamaki's message before they even got into a costume store. It had gotten old very fast.

"Terriermon, I'm pretty sure that Yamaki has better things to do than make sure Renamon wins a costume contest for Halloween."

"You're saying that as if Yamaki actually has better things to do," Terriermon huffed from his spot atop the boy's head. "He's even worse than you. Makes me wonder what Riley sees in him. The guy's married to his job just like you are."

"Terriermon…"

"What? Are you going to tell me that I'm wrong?"

"Well, you're not exactly Renamon."

Terriermon looked down at his Tamer with a wounded expression "Heyyy… You mean to tell me that you buy what Guilmon says about Renamon being right all the time? Henry, I am shocked! I thought after all this time you would know that I'm way more right than Renamon. In fact, I'm so right that I'm my own measurement of right! Like a math equation or something."

Henry gave a light chuckle. "Sounds more like you're being delusional."

"It's about time you laughed at something. You've been treating our outing like it's a chore. What's up with that? Don't you like hanging out with me anymore?"

Henry looked up at that, and Terriermon shifted his weight at the motion. "Hey, you know that's not true."

"Sure doesn't feel like it."

Henry sighed as he plodded along. "Do we have to have this conversation again?" he asked.

"I'm just trying to understand, Henry. That's all. You never want to have fun anymore and you're always making time for homework. I get that you're trying your best to get into Stanford, but come on." More shifting. "We've got to have some time in before you leave. We've been arguing about this for so long, but can't you at least give me this without making it feel like I'm forcing you into it?"

Henry closed his eyes briefly against his partner's words. Yet all he saw was his partner being pulled away from him; drawn back to the digital world by the very same program that saved both that dimension and his own.

"It's not like we won't have time to have fun when I'm at university," he said, trying to assuage his partner's concerns.

"Yeah? And do you really think Stanford is just going to let me chill out there? Because I don't think anyone's going to be buying the stuffed toy idea for a long, long time. You've seen the hard time Takatomon has just trying to get Guilmon on a plane or tr-Henry! Watch out!"

Henry's eyes snapped open just in time for him to collide with a girl around his age. His martial arts training allowed him to maintain his footing, but the girl, distracted by the cellphone in her hand, went sprawling to the ground.

"I'm sorry!" Henry exclaimed, dropping down next to her as Terriermon hopped off. "Are you alright?"

"Henry, she had a date with the floor. Do you think she's not going to be a little roughed up?"

"Terriermon…"

The girl looked up at Henry with wide, blue eyes framed by short, closely cropped blond hair. She pressed her lips together and Henry braced himself to be yelled at, only when her eyes took notice of Terriermon's presence did her already wide eyes grow even larger. A wide grin exploded on her face and she was on her feet almost immediately.

"I am absolutely fine!" she proclaimed. "You don't need to worry about it at all. I was, ah, distracted after all and I'm sure you had a lot on your mind, what with you being a Tamer after all!"

The girl gave a bright laugh and then leaned forward, examining Henry closely. "You must be the one called Henry, am I right?"

"Whoa, Henry!" blinked Terriermon, rather taken aback by the girl's forwardness and knowledge of his partner's identity. "Did you get yourself a stalker or something?"

"No need to be silly," the girl giggled, patting Terriermon on the head. "Kenta talks a lot about his friends. I have always wanted to meet you in person, but there's never been enough time."

Again, Terriermon blinked, an act that was, this time, shared by Henry. This was rather unexpected.

"Hooold everything!" Terriermon exclaimed as his partner rose back to his feet. "You mean to tell me that of all the people to bump into by sheer chance, it's Kenta's girlfriend?! And that he actually has a girlfriend?!"

"My name is Yua Imai." The girl blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "Ah, he did say that no one would believe him. When I heard about your Halloween party, I thought this would be a good time to prove you all wrong." She wagged a finger with a red-painted nail at the duo. "Shame on you."

"Momentai," Terriermon giggled. "If you knew Kenta as long as I have, you'd probably be a bit surprised to. I…" The long-eared rabbit suddenly stopped and frowned at the girl. She smiled at him and tilted her head to one side.

"Is something the matter?" she asked. Terriermon's frown deepened.

"No," he said after a minute. "For a second I thought… You don't have a partner digimon somewhere abouts, do you?"

"Nope," the girl chirped. "But I sometimes wish that I had a partner of my own just like you." She reached out and booped Terriermon's nose with a finger. "I've often wondered what it must be like to have a friendship like that. It must be amazing."

Henry smiled at that. The girl was a bit odd and spoke a little funny as well. A foreigner perhaps? Her eyes and hair color suggested as much, but she looked very much at home here and he detected not a lick of accent. Perhaps she was like him and Rika. Either way, she seemed nice enough and with the interest in digimon it was no wonder Kenta had fallen for her.

"It sure is an experience like no other," he said aloud, looking at his partner. "I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Not like you could even if you wanted to," Terriermon giggled. "What's that saying in the west, Henry? I'm like a bad penny that keeps turning up and always when you least expect it."

"There are, of course, some downsides," Henry added, leaning down to give his partner a light bop on the head. The girl cocked her head to one side questioningly.

"Really? Like what?"

As if in answer, the alarm on Henry's digivice went off.

###

"Report!" Yamaki ordered, storming into the main control room. From above, swiveling about in her chair, surrounded by numerous computer screens and readouts, Riley Ootori and her companion, Tally Onodera, hurriedly typed in commands to their consoles.

"Two Wild Ones have broken off from the main group and are attempting to bio-emerge," Tally reported. Her chair swung around and Riley now faced Yamaki.

"One of them is a low-level type but the other is higher. Tracers are on their way, but the data stream is congested. We may not get a visual."

Yamaki gripped his lighter tightly. Even with its upgrades, Yuggoth would be useless here, he thought to himself, weighing his options. Many of the signals reported were above the digimon level of Rookie and one in particular in the mass of signals marching along the dimensional barriers suggested it was more than capable of defending itself against an attack.

He flicked his lighter open with a click, making his decision.

"Our best option is to wait until they've bio-emerged into the real world, where their data will be unstable," he said to himself. Flicking his lighter closed, he turned his attention up to Riley and Tally. "Activate the Zero Arms units and calculate when and where the Wild Ones will bio-emerge. They're under standing orders to capture them alive."

"Yes sir," replied Tally. "Shall I also inform the Tamers?"

"Yes," Yamaki nodded, a small smile gracing the corners of his lips. "Though if I'm not mistaken, they're already on their way."

"Guess we'll see how the Zero Arms units will compare to the Tamers," Riley said, sending out the signal with a push of a button.

###

Henry stood ready with his digivice in hand and his eyes scanning the sky. His digivice clearly indicated that whatever was coming, it would be here so there was little need to move.

"Yua," he said, turning toward the blond-haired girl. "You need to leave. Things are about to get dangerous here."

Indeed, she was currently one of the few people still left in the street. The city alarm warning about an impending bio-emergence had sounded and people were scrambling for shelter and distance, but Yua for some reason remained rooted where she was, her blue-eyes shining with excitement.

"Ohhh… But I wish to see it!" she exclaimed. "I have never had a chance to see you Tamers fight a digimon before."

"That's because we're so awesome the fights end before they even begin," Terriermon boasted with a smirk. "But Henry is right. This'll probably get ugly and I don't think Kenta would be happy if you got hurt or anything."

Yua pursed her lips together, clearly thinking of a retort that would enable her to stay, but before she could even do so, the air above them warped and ripple like water. A fine mist began to leak from the epicenter of the ripples and then, from it, burst forth two figures.

One was ball-shaped with a pair of fluttering, bat wings and clawed feet. A stitched mask barely obscured its dark fur, but mischievous yellow eyes peered out from behind it. It tsked as it looked about, baring its fangs.

"Where are all the humans?" it asked, whirling about in midair as its companion landed atop a car. The other digimon sported a short, human-shaped, badly sewn potato sack for a body with a large orange Jack-o'-lantern pumpkin sitting atop its misshapen shoulders. An axe was imbedded at its top. Its carved mouth squeezed shut in similar manner as its cohort.

"They must've heard we were coming and all went to hide," it said, turning about. Upon spying Henry and Yua, it grinned. "Oh! Except for these two. We can start on them for a light snack."

"Perfect!" the bowling ball snarled gleefully. "They'll make a perfect test!"

"You'll have to get through me first!" Terriermon said, stepping forward, tiny fists clenched into fists. "Henry?"

"Let's do it!" Henry said with a reluctant nod. "Go get them, Terriermon!"

6