Henry and Terriermon walked through the crowd; the digimon perched on top of Henry's head, doing his best impersonation of a stuffed animal. He was complaining about Henry's sister's treatment of him, when a strange fog rolled in near the bridge, which Henry recognized as a digital field.

"Here they come," Henry said.

"Digimon!" Terriermon added.

Henry simply sighed and watched it unfold. He didn't move from the spot.

"I realize how nice the view is from up here," Terriermon told him, "but how long do you think it'll stay this way if we don't check it out?"

With that, the little white and green digimon sprinted off towards the bioemerging digimon.

"Hey, Terriermon, wait!" Henry said, chasing after him.

"Come on, Henry!"

Henry caught up and grabbed hold of Terriermon's ear.

"Gotcha!"

"Hey, that hurt," Terriermon complained, trying to free himself.

"We've gotta go home now!" Henry told him, letting go of the ear

"What?"

"We're going home!"

"Wait a minute, please don't tell me you've changed your mind about Susie and that tutu, because I won't do it!" With that, Terriermon once again tried to run off, but Henry grabbed his ear again.

"Henry, let me go, I wanna see it!"

"Terriermon how many times do I have to tell you?"

"I'll look, I won't touch!" Terriermon protested, still struggling to get away

"Will you stop? Why don't we let someone else handle this for a change?"

As he said that, Henry watched a white shape fly overhead and into the digital field.

"What is that?" he wondered.

"Ice Devimon!" Terriermon told him.

"That must mean Rika's there too!" Henry sighed. "Let's go, I need to talk to her."

Henry ran towards the digital field, and most likely Rika. Before he could reach it, however, something odd happened. As quickly as the digital field had shown up, it faded away.

"What was that?" Henry asked.

"Guess someone else handled it."

"Was it Rika and Ice Devimon?"

"No, the digimon never fully bio-emerged. Something else was responsible."

"Come on, maybe Rika's still there."

She was still there, standing next to Ice Devimon. She was wearing a long brown trench coat over her normal clothes, hair blowing in a slight breeze.

"Well, well, well, looky who's here," Ice Devimon said, turning to face Henry.

"You," Rika said. "Stay out of my way. You've been warned."

With that, she turned and walked away, coat flapping behind her. Ice Devimon grinned evilly and faded out of sight.

Henry looked around. At first look, it seemed that nobody had seen what had just happened. He scanned around, catching a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye.

"Renamon?" he asked.

"Where?" Terriermon wanted to know.

He jogged in the direction of the yellow, catching a sight of hair, gold tipped with white.

"No, it's not Renamon, it's that strange woman again! We need to catch her! Terriermon, all we need is a little speed!"

Henry pulled out a card, flipping it in his fingers. He whipped out his digivice, and slashed the card through.

"Digimodify! Hyper Speed Activate!"

With a sudden immense burst of speed, Terriermon blew forwards, circling around in front of Renamon. She turned around and backed up, but found herself in a dead end. Henry stood at the only exit.

"Okay, now it's time for some answers," he told Renamon. "Like who are you, and how much do you know? How about why you look so familiar?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you," Renamon told him. "Now, get out of my way before I have to make you!"

With that, she got into a fighting stance, hands curling into claws reflexively.

"Renamon???" Henry asked, recognizing the stance.

Renamon gave a start, and looked around frantically. A fire escape! She leapt up, grabbing the ladder and climbed up quickly. She reached the first level, and pulled the ladder up, cutting Henry off. She continued to the top of the building, and fled, hopping across buildings.

"Rika was there, with that foul Ice Devimon," Renamon told herself. "I can't believe it. She has to see that everything he stands for is wrong!"

She sat down on the roof, head in her hands, thinking.

"She's. confused. She doesn't know what her feelings about me are. If I could just talk to her, I know she'll come around. I just have to get her away from Ice Devimon."

She got to her feet, resolve steeled. She headed over towards Rika's house, hoping to talk to her, hoping she had gone home after the digital field had vanished. She found Rika's house, and knocked on the door. Rika's mother answered.

"Yes? Can I help you? Like, with some clothes that aren't quite as last year?"

"Umm, yes, hello. I'm, uh, a new teacher at Rika's school. I was wondering if I could speak to her?"

"She's not here right now."

"Well, just tell her Miss Namon showed up."

"I'll do that," Rika's mom said, closing the door.

Renamon cursed her bad timing, and walked away from the house. Night soon fell, and she curled up for another night in the woods. Renamon had one dream that night. It was Rika. Renamon went running up to her back, and Rika turned around. Her body was white as ice, arms distended, eyes cold and dead. She had become exactly like Ice Devimon. Renamon woke up screaming.

******

The next day, Henry met Takato outside of school. Takato was staring off into the distance, apparently lost in thought.

"Hey, what are you doing out here? Have you taken up bird watching or something?" Henry asked.

"I was just thinking of Renamon, wondering where she could be."

"You'll never believe this but." Henry paused, thinking about the right way to say it.

"What is it Henry?"

"Well, you remember that strange woman we saw after Ice Devimon?"

Takato nodded. "Yeah, what about her?"

"I think she's Renamon."

"What? You mean, like a disguise or something? Wow, that's really good. I would have thought she was a real human."

"No, you're missing the point. That wasn't a disguise! That was Renamon as a human!"

"You can't be serious!"

Takato caught the look on his friend's face.

"Of course you're serious. Is that why she didn't show up to fight Ice Devimon?"

"Yeah," Henry agreed. "If she had shown up, Rika might not have gone with him. The question is, what turned her human?"

"I just realized something!" Takato blurted out.

"What?" Henry asked

"I said she was cute! I can't believe it, I said Renamon was cute!"

"What did you just say, Ta-ka-to?"

Takato's friend Kazu came up behind him, Kenta tagging along as usual.

"Did you just say Renamon's cute? Dude, she's a picture on a card!"

"Umm," Takato said thinking. "Henry?"

He looked to his friend for help, but Henry was already walking away, and he only faintly caught their conversation.

"She's more than a picture on a card! She's real! Digimon are real!"

"Real digimon? Who are you trying to kid here, pal? You're a loser and a liar!"

"I am not!"

"Ha ha ha!" Kenta said. "Yeah, and I've got the Loch Ness monster in my bathtub. You want to see him? Show me a real digimon."

"I will!"

"Give it up," Kenta continued.

"I'm not lying!"

"Okay then, prove it," Kazu challenged.

"Well."

"Hey, come on, Nessie's waiting!" Kenta told him.

"All right, you asked for it and you're going to get it! Follow me!"

Kazu and Kenta looked at each other.

"All right," they said together, following him.

******

A short time later, once again a strange fog settled by the bridge. Another digimon was bioemerging. Knowing Rika wouldn't miss such an opportunity, Renamon shoved her way through the crowds of people in a rush to get there.

The digital field had covered a large section of the road, but nobody seemed to notice anything truly out of the ordinary was going on. Renamon stepped into the fog bank, shielding her eyes. Renamon recognized the digimon as a Musyamon, even before Takato and Guilmon showed up and analyzed it.

"Woah, it's the samurai master Musyamon! A Champion level, wizard type. He can slice and dice an entire city with his Shogun Sword." Takato read the information off of his digivice.

"Vengeance is mine!" growled Musyamon, rushing at Takato and Guilmon, his huge sword held behind his head. He brought the sword down in a massive chop, but Takato and Guilmon got away.

Takato pulled out a card and his digivice. Slashing the card, he called out, "Digimodify! Hypersonic Activate!"

Guilmon circled around Musyamon at super-speed. The samurai digimon held his sword level at his side, swinging it at the red reptile. Guilmon jumped out of the way of the slash, and kicked Musyamon away with both feet. Takato pulled out a second card.

"Digimodify! Mega Pyro Sphere Activate! Let him have it!"

Renamon knew what was happening, Takato was trying to use a combination on Musyamon. The question was, where was Rika? She and Ice Devimon should have been there by now.

Guilmon powered up a fireball in his mouth, supercharged with energy from the card. He loosed it at Musyamon, who jumped back, avoiding the blast.

"Taking orders from a human?" Musyamon taunted. "Pathetic."

He charged at Guilmon, trying to impale the digimon with his sword.

"Oh, boy," Guilmon said, sidestepping the sword right into a kick from Musyamon.

"Hey, come on, you can't give up now! You can do it!"

Henry entered the digital field with Terriermon. He spotted Musyamon, who was trying to dislodge Guilmon. Guilmon had Musyamon's arm in his mouth.

"Fight me, you human coward!" Musyamon yelled, shaking off the digimon.

Takato pulled out a third card, and slashed this one too.

"Digimodify! Hyper Wing Activate!"

Guilmon grew wings and leapt backwards away from another slash by Musyamon.

"Something doesn't feel right," he said, going too far back due to the buoyancy provided by the wings. Takato was trying anything to get a combo. Rika would never make such a stupid mistake, Renamon thought.

Musyamon slashed at Guilmon again. Guilmon jumped over the sword, landing on Musyamon's shoulders, bouncing off, and soaring into the sky.

"I can't stop!" Guilmon cried.

"Is that the best you got?" Musyamon taunted.

"That's the best those two losers have. Unfortunately for you, I'm several steps ahead of them."

Rika stepped out of the fog surrounding the battle site, Ice Devimon materializing beside her.

"What's this? Another digimon who's a slave to a human?"

"I am no slave," Ice Devimon told Musyamon. "Rika is my master because we both say it is so."

"Bah! Humans are a scum that I will see eliminated! Starting with your Master over there!"

With that, Musyamon charged at Rika, aiming a slash at her neck.

"I don't take kindly to threats to my Tamer," Ice Devimon said, drawing his white claws back.

Whipping aside her trench coat, Rika pulled out a card and her digivice.

"Digimodify," she sneered. Renamon winced at the malice she heard in Rika's voice. Ice Devimon's influence was growing stronger. "Speed Activate."

Ice Devimon shouted "Frozen Claw!" as his claw extended rapidly, chopping at Musyamon's sword. It broke into two, the two pieces dissolving into data. Another chop to Musyamon's neck sent the samurai master flying. Ice Devimon leaped forward, wings gliding him across the distance. He picked up Musyamon in his claws and flung him high into the air.

"Pull," Rika chuckled, getting another card ready. "Digimodify, Power Activate."

"Tundra Freeze!" Ice Devimon yelled, firing a blue beam from his eyes. It flowed over Musyamon, transforming him into a block of ice. Ice Devimon launched himself into the air, holding his hands together.

"Frozen Claw!" he shouting, bringing his fists down onto Musyamon. The ice block and Musyamon together crashed into the ground, both breaking into a million pieces. The pieces of Musyamon dissolved into data. Ice Devimon threw his head back, hungrily absorbing what was left of Musyamon.

"What a weakling," Rika sneered.

"Musyamon wasn't weak!" Takato protested.

"I wasn't talking about Musyamon."

Guilmon growled, pupils dilating.

Rika chuckled. "Curb your beast, little boy, before I am forced to do it myself."

Guilmon moved forward, claws at the ready. Ice Devimon went into a fighting stance, but Takato held his digimon back.

Rika chuckled again, turning her back to the other two Tamers. Ice Devimon faded away, and Rika started to walk off. Takato started after her, but Henry stopped him.

"Come on, Takato! The digital field's started to dissipate! Get Guilmon out of here!"

He grabbed Terriermon and they ran from the intersection before the people could see what was happening.

Renamon instead trailed after Rika. Renamon caught up with her.

"Wait!" she said, laying a hand on Rika's shoulder.

Rika spun around, dislodging the hand.

"What are you, some kind of weirdo?" she asked, glaring at Renamon.

"No, it's me. It's me, Renamon! Rika, you have to recognize me!"

"You're clearly delusional, woman. Get out of here before I have to hurt you."

Renamon grabbed Rika by the shoulders, shaking her.

"Snap out of it! You have to resist the darkness!"

She took one hand off of Rika's shoulder, and brought it across Rika's face. Rika's head snapped to one side, and her cheek turned bright red.

"You. crazy witch!" Rika yelled, punching Renamon in the mouth. Renamon fell to the ground, a trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth. Rika fled, trench coat billowing behind her.

Renamon sat there, not wiping away the blood. She felt tears well up in her eyes, and she didn't do anything to stop them. She broke down, tears streaking the blood down her neck, turning some of the fur pink. Rika had completely changed, the darkness inside of her had taken over. Renamon refused to give up hope, though. She knew that she would eventually get through to the real her.