"Ready Guilmon? Digimodify!" Takato said, slashing a card. "Metal
Garurumon Blaster Activate!"
"Metal Blaster!" Guilmon cried, launching an ice breath attack at Dark Lizardmon. Dark Lizardmon collapsed to her knees and fell to the ground. Guilmon watched the digimon intently, still in battle mode.
Takato breathed a sigh of relief.
"Dark Lizardmon was one tough cookie, but you did it!" Takato congratulated Guilmon. That meant one less digimon for Ice Devimon to absorb. It was a small victory, but he took what he could get for Renamon's sake.
"Mmm, did you say cookie?"
"I can't believe you're thinking of food right now."
Just then, a bright light came from Takato's left, growing to blinding proportions.
"What's. going on?"
"Are we supposed to fight them, Takato?" Guilmon asked, referring to the twin helicopters that were the source of the light.
"No! I mean. I have no idea. Maybe we should scram before we find out."
Takato stood there, dumbfounded for a second.
"I want to stay! Make me stronger, make me digivolve!" Dark Lizardmon got out, struggling to get to her feet.
Just then smoke bombs rolled into sight, releasing some strange gas.
"Takatomon!" Guilmon yelled.
"Guilmon, where are you? Guilmon?"
"PLEASE!" Dark Lizardmon cried, advancing on Takato.
Takato cried out in fright, and Dark Lizardmon groaned as cables shot into her body. They pulled her sideways, bringing her crashing to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Guilmon asked.
"Uh-huh," Takato said.
"Well, aren't you going to thank me?"
The strange man that Takato and Henry had seen was there again
"After all, I saved your life. That deserves something. This is dangerous work, little boy. Shouldn't you be napping?
"Who are you?"
"I'll ask the questions. Who do you think you are attacking digimon on your own? Do you think this is a game? They are lethal creatures who should be contained. In fact, for your safety, I should take your little red friend there, too." It was the way the man said it, so cold, so matter- of-fact that scared Takato.
"Leave him alone! He's nothing like Dark Lizardmon!"
"So young, so naïve," the man condescended.
"Who you calling naïve?"
Dark Lizardmon groaned, trying once again to get up.
"I don't believe it!" Takato gasped. "She's alive!"
"And dangerous. Maybe I should take your friend. He could become dangerous too."
"No! You'll have to go through me!" Takato cried, stepping between Guilmon and the strange man
"Well, probably more trouble than he's worth, right?" The man walked away, laughing. "Heh, heh, heh, heh. Don't say I didn't warn you, little boy."
With that, the strange helicopters disappeared back into the night.
"Who is that guy?" Takato wondered, watching the ships fly off, Dark Lizardmon in tow.
******
Back at Guilmon's hideout, Takato was about to leave to go home.
"You, uhh, did great tonight, Guilmon," he said.
"Takato?"
Takato paused, about to walk away. "Yeah?"
"I'm getting better, huh Takato? If I keep winning, I'll get stronger, and stronger, and then I'll digivolve again and I'll be able to help Renamon even more."
"Yeah, sure you will."
"Waiting is hard. I wanna digivolve right now. I wonder when I'll change again."
"Change." Takato muttered to himself, remembering how Guilmon changed when he digivolved to Growlmon, became like a whole different digimon. There were some startling similarities. This whole situation with Rika had made him think about it again.
"No more fights!" Takato said.
"Huh? But no more fights means no more data! How will I get strong enough to help Renamon? I thought. you wanted me to digivolve."
"I don't! You'll change!" Takato said, running out into the night. Renamon watched him go from the roof of the 'cave'.
She supposed she could see where he was coming from, having seen Growlmon's berserker rage against Devidramon. It was a shame. Growlmon's superior flame had great potential against Ice Devimon.
Rika had changed, drastically, but Renamon knew the true her was still in there. That much was evident from the incident with Harpymon. Renamon had to prove that she had never actually abandoned Rika. It was easier said than done.
'She never loved me like I loved her,' Rika's words from the previous night were still fresh in Renamon's head. Love was the key. Only love had the power to break through the darkness around Rika's heart. Jumping down from the roof, Renamon landed lightly on the soft grass.
So much had happened in the past few days, so much changing the fabric of her relationship with Rika. Takato and Henry both were major forces for the change of Rika for the better. They had made her see that she wasn't above everybody else simply because she was a real Tamer. She thought back to her battle with Dokugumon, taking a blast from the spider that would likely have killed Rika. It was Rika's love that had caused her digivice to shine, giving Renamon the strength to digivolve to Kyubimon.
At that point, Renamon thought that Rika had finally understood what it meant to be a partner. Maybe for one, brief, shining moment she had, but she continued to see digimon as nothing more than data. The whole situation now didn't help matters any. If she didn't get Rika back to her old self soon, it would be too late, her heart would be twisted beyond redemption. Renamon raised her fist in the air and swore a solemn oath, that come hell or high water, she would not let that happen, no matter what it took
******
The next afternoon, Renamon sat in a tree, watching Rika in class through a window. Rika sat slumped in her chair, barely if at all listening to her teacher. Renamon watched Rika shrug in answer to a question, saw her say something. The class gasped, and the teacher's face turned bright red. Rika smirked, and the teacher pointed towards the door. Rika got up and casually sauntered to the door, leaving the classroom.
'She's getting worse,' Renamon thought, dropping from the tree. 'We need a strong opponent soon."
Renamon made her way through the streets, finding herself in the playground near Takato's school. Night was falling fast, but there were still some children playing. Renamon sat on a bench, listening to the children laugh. She smiled fondly, thinking about life as a human.
"Being human's not so bad, I just wish it could have happened under better circumstances. It's a shame, this new life has so much to offer, and yet all I would like is for everything to go back to the way it was."
Renamon heard an odd howling, and looked around to see what it was. She looked over to the slide set, and saw it was just Takato and Guilmon. They seemed to be getting along better now, which was good. She watched the team walk off, no doubt back to the hideout. Renamon got up and followed along behind them.
Once they reached the cave, Renamon stood outside with her back against the wall as Takato pulled out a box of digimon cards.
"Hey, Guilmon, now that we're back on track, I have all these attacks I want to try. Maybe we should have a team name too, like Awesome Twosome, or Dynamite Duo. What do you think?" Takato said to Guilmon.
Guilmon didn't seem to be listening, instead concentrating on something far off. The ground started to shake beneath their feet.
"An earthquake?" Takato asked.
He stepped outside as a bizarre vortex appeared in the sky. Renamon looked up at it too.
"The sky.." Takato gasped.
"Takato, something's coming," Guilmon said, lifting his head. "A digimon, and it's really big."
Renamon pushed off the wall with a start. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for. A new opponent was on its way, one with the potential to defeat Ice Devimon.
"Take me there!" she shouted, appearing in the doorway to the 'cave'. Takato and Guilmon looked up at her, looked at each other, and nodded. They all knew what they had to do. It was time to get Rika back!
"Metal Blaster!" Guilmon cried, launching an ice breath attack at Dark Lizardmon. Dark Lizardmon collapsed to her knees and fell to the ground. Guilmon watched the digimon intently, still in battle mode.
Takato breathed a sigh of relief.
"Dark Lizardmon was one tough cookie, but you did it!" Takato congratulated Guilmon. That meant one less digimon for Ice Devimon to absorb. It was a small victory, but he took what he could get for Renamon's sake.
"Mmm, did you say cookie?"
"I can't believe you're thinking of food right now."
Just then, a bright light came from Takato's left, growing to blinding proportions.
"What's. going on?"
"Are we supposed to fight them, Takato?" Guilmon asked, referring to the twin helicopters that were the source of the light.
"No! I mean. I have no idea. Maybe we should scram before we find out."
Takato stood there, dumbfounded for a second.
"I want to stay! Make me stronger, make me digivolve!" Dark Lizardmon got out, struggling to get to her feet.
Just then smoke bombs rolled into sight, releasing some strange gas.
"Takatomon!" Guilmon yelled.
"Guilmon, where are you? Guilmon?"
"PLEASE!" Dark Lizardmon cried, advancing on Takato.
Takato cried out in fright, and Dark Lizardmon groaned as cables shot into her body. They pulled her sideways, bringing her crashing to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Guilmon asked.
"Uh-huh," Takato said.
"Well, aren't you going to thank me?"
The strange man that Takato and Henry had seen was there again
"After all, I saved your life. That deserves something. This is dangerous work, little boy. Shouldn't you be napping?
"Who are you?"
"I'll ask the questions. Who do you think you are attacking digimon on your own? Do you think this is a game? They are lethal creatures who should be contained. In fact, for your safety, I should take your little red friend there, too." It was the way the man said it, so cold, so matter- of-fact that scared Takato.
"Leave him alone! He's nothing like Dark Lizardmon!"
"So young, so naïve," the man condescended.
"Who you calling naïve?"
Dark Lizardmon groaned, trying once again to get up.
"I don't believe it!" Takato gasped. "She's alive!"
"And dangerous. Maybe I should take your friend. He could become dangerous too."
"No! You'll have to go through me!" Takato cried, stepping between Guilmon and the strange man
"Well, probably more trouble than he's worth, right?" The man walked away, laughing. "Heh, heh, heh, heh. Don't say I didn't warn you, little boy."
With that, the strange helicopters disappeared back into the night.
"Who is that guy?" Takato wondered, watching the ships fly off, Dark Lizardmon in tow.
******
Back at Guilmon's hideout, Takato was about to leave to go home.
"You, uhh, did great tonight, Guilmon," he said.
"Takato?"
Takato paused, about to walk away. "Yeah?"
"I'm getting better, huh Takato? If I keep winning, I'll get stronger, and stronger, and then I'll digivolve again and I'll be able to help Renamon even more."
"Yeah, sure you will."
"Waiting is hard. I wanna digivolve right now. I wonder when I'll change again."
"Change." Takato muttered to himself, remembering how Guilmon changed when he digivolved to Growlmon, became like a whole different digimon. There were some startling similarities. This whole situation with Rika had made him think about it again.
"No more fights!" Takato said.
"Huh? But no more fights means no more data! How will I get strong enough to help Renamon? I thought. you wanted me to digivolve."
"I don't! You'll change!" Takato said, running out into the night. Renamon watched him go from the roof of the 'cave'.
She supposed she could see where he was coming from, having seen Growlmon's berserker rage against Devidramon. It was a shame. Growlmon's superior flame had great potential against Ice Devimon.
Rika had changed, drastically, but Renamon knew the true her was still in there. That much was evident from the incident with Harpymon. Renamon had to prove that she had never actually abandoned Rika. It was easier said than done.
'She never loved me like I loved her,' Rika's words from the previous night were still fresh in Renamon's head. Love was the key. Only love had the power to break through the darkness around Rika's heart. Jumping down from the roof, Renamon landed lightly on the soft grass.
So much had happened in the past few days, so much changing the fabric of her relationship with Rika. Takato and Henry both were major forces for the change of Rika for the better. They had made her see that she wasn't above everybody else simply because she was a real Tamer. She thought back to her battle with Dokugumon, taking a blast from the spider that would likely have killed Rika. It was Rika's love that had caused her digivice to shine, giving Renamon the strength to digivolve to Kyubimon.
At that point, Renamon thought that Rika had finally understood what it meant to be a partner. Maybe for one, brief, shining moment she had, but she continued to see digimon as nothing more than data. The whole situation now didn't help matters any. If she didn't get Rika back to her old self soon, it would be too late, her heart would be twisted beyond redemption. Renamon raised her fist in the air and swore a solemn oath, that come hell or high water, she would not let that happen, no matter what it took
******
The next afternoon, Renamon sat in a tree, watching Rika in class through a window. Rika sat slumped in her chair, barely if at all listening to her teacher. Renamon watched Rika shrug in answer to a question, saw her say something. The class gasped, and the teacher's face turned bright red. Rika smirked, and the teacher pointed towards the door. Rika got up and casually sauntered to the door, leaving the classroom.
'She's getting worse,' Renamon thought, dropping from the tree. 'We need a strong opponent soon."
Renamon made her way through the streets, finding herself in the playground near Takato's school. Night was falling fast, but there were still some children playing. Renamon sat on a bench, listening to the children laugh. She smiled fondly, thinking about life as a human.
"Being human's not so bad, I just wish it could have happened under better circumstances. It's a shame, this new life has so much to offer, and yet all I would like is for everything to go back to the way it was."
Renamon heard an odd howling, and looked around to see what it was. She looked over to the slide set, and saw it was just Takato and Guilmon. They seemed to be getting along better now, which was good. She watched the team walk off, no doubt back to the hideout. Renamon got up and followed along behind them.
Once they reached the cave, Renamon stood outside with her back against the wall as Takato pulled out a box of digimon cards.
"Hey, Guilmon, now that we're back on track, I have all these attacks I want to try. Maybe we should have a team name too, like Awesome Twosome, or Dynamite Duo. What do you think?" Takato said to Guilmon.
Guilmon didn't seem to be listening, instead concentrating on something far off. The ground started to shake beneath their feet.
"An earthquake?" Takato asked.
He stepped outside as a bizarre vortex appeared in the sky. Renamon looked up at it too.
"The sky.." Takato gasped.
"Takato, something's coming," Guilmon said, lifting his head. "A digimon, and it's really big."
Renamon pushed off the wall with a start. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for. A new opponent was on its way, one with the potential to defeat Ice Devimon.
"Take me there!" she shouted, appearing in the doorway to the 'cave'. Takato and Guilmon looked up at her, looked at each other, and nodded. They all knew what they had to do. It was time to get Rika back!
