The next day, it happened again. In the center of a baseball field,
another digital field shot from the ground. A hole to the digital world
opened up, and three Fly Beemon came out. Ice Devimon dropped to the
ground in front of them, Rika watching from behind third base.
"They never learn, do they?" Rika asked.
"Fools, the lot of them."
The Fly Beemon charged at Ice Devimon, shooting their stingers at him. He flapped his wings forward.
"Avalanche!" he yelled, sending spikes of ice forward. They deflected the stingers and peppered the lead Fly Beemon. The spikes blew outward, and the bug digimon turned into data. Ice Devimon absorbed it as the Fly Beemon attacked again.
They shot lightning from the spikes on their shoulders, calling out "Lightning Sting!" Ice Devimon took to the air.
"Frozen Claw!"
With a shout, Ice Devimon sent a claw crashing into the nearest bug, pinning it to the ground. The other claw crushed the digimon's skull, reducing it to random data. Ice Devimon absorbed that too.
Outside, Henry came up to the fence, Terriermon having sensed a bio- emergence. He heard a rustling in the bushes, and caught a flash of yellow in the bushes.
"Renamon," he said. "I know it's you."
Renamon got up from behind the bush, brushing her dress off.
"Rika's in there?" she asked.
Henry nodded. "Ice Devimon too."
Renamon snarled. "He has clouded her mind with darkness. I have to find a way to get her out of it."
"It's all because of you, you know," Terriermon said.
"Terriermon!" Henry gasped.
"No, it's alright. He's right," Renamon said, hanging her head. "I wished myself human to get closer to Rika, but it ended up driving us apart."
Behind the two, the digital field slowly faded into nothingness. Ice Devimon had beaten the last Fly Beemon and left with Rika.
"Yeah, what's the story with that, anyway?" Henry wondered.
Renamon closed her eyes, remembering. "It was strange. One minute I was on the roof, wishing I could be human. The next, some strange voice granted my wish. That's why I wasn't able to come and help Rika."
"And Ice Devimon was in the right place at the right time to make her his Tamer," Henry finished.
"I know I can get through to her, get her to realize her true feelings. Ice Devimon will be a problem though."
"If I thought it would help, I'd offer to fight him. Unfortunately, severing the link like that might do permanent damage to Rika."
"Rika has to sever the link herself, but she can't do that if she still thinks Ice Devimon will give her all she thinks she desires."
"Ice Devimon needs to fail her, and you need to step in. The main problem is, Ice Devimon's hellishly strong. I don't think many Champion level digimon could beat him, with his evil power augmented by having a Tamer."
"If anyone can resist Ice Devimon's temptations, it's Rika. I know it's true. It has to be true."
Renamon shook her head slightly, turned, and vanished once again into the forest. She agreed that not many Champion digimon could beat Ice Devimon with the power of a Tamer behind him, especially with a Tamer like Rika. It would require at least an Ultimate level digimon to defeat that one. Renamon knew that if one showed up, she would be there. She guaranteed it.
******
Henry walked away from the baseball field, Terriermon riding on his head as usual. He was deep in thought, trying to figure out exactly how to help Renamon get through to Rika.
"What's wrong?" Terriermon asked, sensing that his partner was worried about something.
"It's this whole situation with Renamon," Henry answered. "It's killing me that I can't come up with a good plan to help her. I feel so useless right now."
"Moumantai, Henry," Terriermon said softly. "Don't take this all on yourself. Don't forget, I'm here to help, me and all your friends."
"I suppose you're right, Terriermon. Maybe I've been looking at this all wrong. Takato might be able to help, give me a fresh perspective on this."
They continued on in silence, each clearly concerned. Henry thought about his relationship with Rika and Renamon. He and Rika had never exactly been friends; their views on digimon were too different. Rika believed that pure strength was the key, while Henry always thought things out before acting. He supposed they both had much to learn.
"Henry! What's up?" Takato said, running up to Henry. Guilmon was nowhere in sight.
"I was just talking to Renamon."
"How's she doing?" Takato asked. "I hope she's all right."
"Physically, she's fine. Mentally, she's a little fragile. This business with Rika is really tearing her up inside. It was an odd conversation, I'll tell you that. What would you have said?"
"I don't know. Guilmon isn't exactly what you could call a normal digimon, you know? We don't have the most stabile relationship either."
Henry stopped, spotting a strange man in front of them.
"Hey, what's the hold up?" Takato asked, coming to a stop beside his friend.
"Are you Takato Matsuki?" the man asked.
"Umm, yeah," Takato replied.
"That must make you Henry Wong."
"Yeah, so?" Henry asked.
"You were hanging around the Big Guard Bridge yesterday. It's a very dangerous game you kids are playing. I suggest you find a new hobby."
"What are you talking about?" Henry wondered.
"Takato!" a girl's voice called. It was Jeri, one of Takato's classmates.
"Consider this a warning," the man said, pushing his sunglasses back on his face. He turned and jogged away.
"Wait! Come back!" Henry said, chasing after the man. "This isn't exactly normal adult behavior, you know!"
"Jeri!" Takato said, startled at Jeri's sudden appearance.
"I don't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it. What were you arguing with Kazu and Kenta about? It sounded like you said you had a real digimon."
"Errr," Takato stalled.
******
A couple hours, and a very strange meeting between Jeri and Guilmon, later, Henry came running up to Guilmon's cave.
"Hey Henry," Takato said.
"I lost him," Henry told Takato, catching his breath. "He's fast, whoever he is."
"What do you think he meant when he said we were playing a dangerous game?"
A loud screech was audible in the distance. Guilmon lowered his head and growled, pupils dilating. He leapt out of the cave and sped off into the park.
"What's that?" Henry asked.
"It's either a digimon, or a train wreck," Terriermon said, dashing off in the same direction Guilmon had gone.
Henry and Takato followed, coming across yet another digital field. In it was Rika and Ice Devimon. Ice Devimon was engaged in a battle with a strange humanoid looking bird digimon.
Henry analyzed the bizarre digimon on his digivice.
"That's Harpymon, with a screech like nails down a chalkboard. Her Wind Seeker attack is strong, but it probably won't do much against Ice Devimon."
Guilmon and Terriermon rushed in to try and help, but Ice Devimon stopped them.
"Avalanche!" he growled, releasing ice spikes from his wings towards the two rookies. They stopped in their tracks, knowing that they didn't want to mess with a pissed Ice Devimon. Harpymon took advantage of the distraction.
"Wind Seeker!" she screeched, sending a razor sharp blade of air towards Ice Devimon's unprotected back. Ice Devimon turned at the last second, batting away the attack with a sweep of his claw. The blade deflected at an odd angle, arching straight towards Rika. She seemed stuck to the spot as the deadly attack streaked towards her.
"Rika!" Renamon screamed, running full speed from behind a nearby tree. She crashed into Rika, sending them both crashing to the ground. The blade flew through the space where Rika's neck had just been.
"What the hell did you do that for, you crazy woman?" Rika screamed, tangled up with Renamon on the ground. As she extricated herself, Renamon spoke.
"Don't worry," she said. "I'll do everything I can to protect you."
Rika blinked, and for an instant, her eyes cleared up.
"Renamon?" she asked, voice breaking. As quickly as Rika had changed, she started to change back.
"Yes Rika! It's me, Renamon! You have to remember!"
"I remember. that Renamon abandoned me! She left me alone! She never cared about be, never loved me like I loved her!"
Renamon's eyes widened as Rika spoke those words, even as Rika's eyes hardened to what they once were.
"Get away from me, you freak!" Rika said, shoving Renamon away and standing up. "Ice Devimon! Stop playing around and get rid of that digimon!"
"As you wish, my dear," Ice Devimon said, bringing his hands in a club onto Harpymon's back. She went crashing into the ground, lying unconscious. The Tamers watched in shock as Ice Devimon dropped to the ground, crushing Harpymon's head with his foot. Harpymon burst into data, which Ice Devimon hungrily absorbed. With the destruction of Harpymon, the digital field dissolved.
"Let's go," Rika said to Ice Devimon. The digimon picked her up in one massive hand, and jumped into the air, powerful beats of his wings carrying them away into the night sky. Henry watched them fly off as Takato went to check on Renamon.
"You all right, Renamon?" Takato asked, offering Renamon a hand. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Guilmon came up to them, and started sniffing around Renamon's leg.
"Renamon?" he asked quizzically. "But, you're not a digimon."
"Long story," Takato told the little red digimon..
"Aarrgh!" Renamon yelled, slamming a fist into her hand. "I was so close! Now, more than ever, I know there's hope for her."
As she started to walk away, Takato called out to her.
"You can't do this on your own! Let us help!"
Renamon paused for a second and smiled sadly. She kept on walking into the night.
"She wants our help," Henry said, "She's just too hard headed to admit it."
"Takatomon! I'm confused," Guilmon said.
"Come on Guilmon, I'll explain," Takato said, leading his partner back to the 'cave'. Henry returned home to try and form a plan to help Renamon.
Renamon walked alone through the woods, the night's events playing over and over in her head. The one thing Renamon watched the most was Rika saying that she loved her. For a brief instant, her true self had shown through. With renewed hope, she sat on a nearby hill and stared at the stars in the sky, waiting on a falling star that it might ungrant her wish.
"They never learn, do they?" Rika asked.
"Fools, the lot of them."
The Fly Beemon charged at Ice Devimon, shooting their stingers at him. He flapped his wings forward.
"Avalanche!" he yelled, sending spikes of ice forward. They deflected the stingers and peppered the lead Fly Beemon. The spikes blew outward, and the bug digimon turned into data. Ice Devimon absorbed it as the Fly Beemon attacked again.
They shot lightning from the spikes on their shoulders, calling out "Lightning Sting!" Ice Devimon took to the air.
"Frozen Claw!"
With a shout, Ice Devimon sent a claw crashing into the nearest bug, pinning it to the ground. The other claw crushed the digimon's skull, reducing it to random data. Ice Devimon absorbed that too.
Outside, Henry came up to the fence, Terriermon having sensed a bio- emergence. He heard a rustling in the bushes, and caught a flash of yellow in the bushes.
"Renamon," he said. "I know it's you."
Renamon got up from behind the bush, brushing her dress off.
"Rika's in there?" she asked.
Henry nodded. "Ice Devimon too."
Renamon snarled. "He has clouded her mind with darkness. I have to find a way to get her out of it."
"It's all because of you, you know," Terriermon said.
"Terriermon!" Henry gasped.
"No, it's alright. He's right," Renamon said, hanging her head. "I wished myself human to get closer to Rika, but it ended up driving us apart."
Behind the two, the digital field slowly faded into nothingness. Ice Devimon had beaten the last Fly Beemon and left with Rika.
"Yeah, what's the story with that, anyway?" Henry wondered.
Renamon closed her eyes, remembering. "It was strange. One minute I was on the roof, wishing I could be human. The next, some strange voice granted my wish. That's why I wasn't able to come and help Rika."
"And Ice Devimon was in the right place at the right time to make her his Tamer," Henry finished.
"I know I can get through to her, get her to realize her true feelings. Ice Devimon will be a problem though."
"If I thought it would help, I'd offer to fight him. Unfortunately, severing the link like that might do permanent damage to Rika."
"Rika has to sever the link herself, but she can't do that if she still thinks Ice Devimon will give her all she thinks she desires."
"Ice Devimon needs to fail her, and you need to step in. The main problem is, Ice Devimon's hellishly strong. I don't think many Champion level digimon could beat him, with his evil power augmented by having a Tamer."
"If anyone can resist Ice Devimon's temptations, it's Rika. I know it's true. It has to be true."
Renamon shook her head slightly, turned, and vanished once again into the forest. She agreed that not many Champion digimon could beat Ice Devimon with the power of a Tamer behind him, especially with a Tamer like Rika. It would require at least an Ultimate level digimon to defeat that one. Renamon knew that if one showed up, she would be there. She guaranteed it.
******
Henry walked away from the baseball field, Terriermon riding on his head as usual. He was deep in thought, trying to figure out exactly how to help Renamon get through to Rika.
"What's wrong?" Terriermon asked, sensing that his partner was worried about something.
"It's this whole situation with Renamon," Henry answered. "It's killing me that I can't come up with a good plan to help her. I feel so useless right now."
"Moumantai, Henry," Terriermon said softly. "Don't take this all on yourself. Don't forget, I'm here to help, me and all your friends."
"I suppose you're right, Terriermon. Maybe I've been looking at this all wrong. Takato might be able to help, give me a fresh perspective on this."
They continued on in silence, each clearly concerned. Henry thought about his relationship with Rika and Renamon. He and Rika had never exactly been friends; their views on digimon were too different. Rika believed that pure strength was the key, while Henry always thought things out before acting. He supposed they both had much to learn.
"Henry! What's up?" Takato said, running up to Henry. Guilmon was nowhere in sight.
"I was just talking to Renamon."
"How's she doing?" Takato asked. "I hope she's all right."
"Physically, she's fine. Mentally, she's a little fragile. This business with Rika is really tearing her up inside. It was an odd conversation, I'll tell you that. What would you have said?"
"I don't know. Guilmon isn't exactly what you could call a normal digimon, you know? We don't have the most stabile relationship either."
Henry stopped, spotting a strange man in front of them.
"Hey, what's the hold up?" Takato asked, coming to a stop beside his friend.
"Are you Takato Matsuki?" the man asked.
"Umm, yeah," Takato replied.
"That must make you Henry Wong."
"Yeah, so?" Henry asked.
"You were hanging around the Big Guard Bridge yesterday. It's a very dangerous game you kids are playing. I suggest you find a new hobby."
"What are you talking about?" Henry wondered.
"Takato!" a girl's voice called. It was Jeri, one of Takato's classmates.
"Consider this a warning," the man said, pushing his sunglasses back on his face. He turned and jogged away.
"Wait! Come back!" Henry said, chasing after the man. "This isn't exactly normal adult behavior, you know!"
"Jeri!" Takato said, startled at Jeri's sudden appearance.
"I don't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it. What were you arguing with Kazu and Kenta about? It sounded like you said you had a real digimon."
"Errr," Takato stalled.
******
A couple hours, and a very strange meeting between Jeri and Guilmon, later, Henry came running up to Guilmon's cave.
"Hey Henry," Takato said.
"I lost him," Henry told Takato, catching his breath. "He's fast, whoever he is."
"What do you think he meant when he said we were playing a dangerous game?"
A loud screech was audible in the distance. Guilmon lowered his head and growled, pupils dilating. He leapt out of the cave and sped off into the park.
"What's that?" Henry asked.
"It's either a digimon, or a train wreck," Terriermon said, dashing off in the same direction Guilmon had gone.
Henry and Takato followed, coming across yet another digital field. In it was Rika and Ice Devimon. Ice Devimon was engaged in a battle with a strange humanoid looking bird digimon.
Henry analyzed the bizarre digimon on his digivice.
"That's Harpymon, with a screech like nails down a chalkboard. Her Wind Seeker attack is strong, but it probably won't do much against Ice Devimon."
Guilmon and Terriermon rushed in to try and help, but Ice Devimon stopped them.
"Avalanche!" he growled, releasing ice spikes from his wings towards the two rookies. They stopped in their tracks, knowing that they didn't want to mess with a pissed Ice Devimon. Harpymon took advantage of the distraction.
"Wind Seeker!" she screeched, sending a razor sharp blade of air towards Ice Devimon's unprotected back. Ice Devimon turned at the last second, batting away the attack with a sweep of his claw. The blade deflected at an odd angle, arching straight towards Rika. She seemed stuck to the spot as the deadly attack streaked towards her.
"Rika!" Renamon screamed, running full speed from behind a nearby tree. She crashed into Rika, sending them both crashing to the ground. The blade flew through the space where Rika's neck had just been.
"What the hell did you do that for, you crazy woman?" Rika screamed, tangled up with Renamon on the ground. As she extricated herself, Renamon spoke.
"Don't worry," she said. "I'll do everything I can to protect you."
Rika blinked, and for an instant, her eyes cleared up.
"Renamon?" she asked, voice breaking. As quickly as Rika had changed, she started to change back.
"Yes Rika! It's me, Renamon! You have to remember!"
"I remember. that Renamon abandoned me! She left me alone! She never cared about be, never loved me like I loved her!"
Renamon's eyes widened as Rika spoke those words, even as Rika's eyes hardened to what they once were.
"Get away from me, you freak!" Rika said, shoving Renamon away and standing up. "Ice Devimon! Stop playing around and get rid of that digimon!"
"As you wish, my dear," Ice Devimon said, bringing his hands in a club onto Harpymon's back. She went crashing into the ground, lying unconscious. The Tamers watched in shock as Ice Devimon dropped to the ground, crushing Harpymon's head with his foot. Harpymon burst into data, which Ice Devimon hungrily absorbed. With the destruction of Harpymon, the digital field dissolved.
"Let's go," Rika said to Ice Devimon. The digimon picked her up in one massive hand, and jumped into the air, powerful beats of his wings carrying them away into the night sky. Henry watched them fly off as Takato went to check on Renamon.
"You all right, Renamon?" Takato asked, offering Renamon a hand. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Guilmon came up to them, and started sniffing around Renamon's leg.
"Renamon?" he asked quizzically. "But, you're not a digimon."
"Long story," Takato told the little red digimon..
"Aarrgh!" Renamon yelled, slamming a fist into her hand. "I was so close! Now, more than ever, I know there's hope for her."
As she started to walk away, Takato called out to her.
"You can't do this on your own! Let us help!"
Renamon paused for a second and smiled sadly. She kept on walking into the night.
"She wants our help," Henry said, "She's just too hard headed to admit it."
"Takatomon! I'm confused," Guilmon said.
"Come on Guilmon, I'll explain," Takato said, leading his partner back to the 'cave'. Henry returned home to try and form a plan to help Renamon.
Renamon walked alone through the woods, the night's events playing over and over in her head. The one thing Renamon watched the most was Rika saying that she loved her. For a brief instant, her true self had shown through. With renewed hope, she sat on a nearby hill and stared at the stars in the sky, waiting on a falling star that it might ungrant her wish.
