Me: As usual, I don't own Digimon. (grumbles bitterly)

Rika: Whoa! You look like I would after a horrid day at school-which is pretty much every day!

Me: Don't change the subject! I accidentally left one of my disks at the computer lab at school, and I don't know what happened to it.

Terriermon: Momentai! All you gotta do is ask the people there if they've spotted a disk in one of their compartments.

Me: I'd be really shocked right now, but I don't have the strength to do that.

Takato: This is really upsetting him, even though he's focused on the upcoming chapter. He reminds me of you, Rika.

Rika: Don't go there now, Takato.







Digimon Tamers: Tamers V.S. Dracula

Chapter II-Destiny unravels at the Transylvanian Alps







"Listen to them...the children of the night. What music they make!" -Dracula

"If this doesn't work, we're sunk!" -Takato Matsuki









While the big, bad vampire is regaining his strength, the Tamers were planning to head out for Transylvania sometime in the morning-at least, they would've, if Takato hadn't overslept. But, he had good reason-he was conflicted by not only a dream of the team taking on Dracula, but a daydream of Gallantmon being defeated by him on the way to the plane! They were lucky they'd made it, and that the Digimon could come onboard. Once the plane took off, Takato described most of Dracula's features, which got Renamon thinking, Guilmon stumped and Calumon hiding. Now that the Tamers are actually at Transylvania, are they truly ready for what's about to come? I hope so!







"Here we are, gang-the city of Transylvania!" Kazu exclaimed while trying to ignore Takato and Rika's heated glares.

As he pulled out a guidebook, Henry noted, "You're a little off, Kazu. Transylvania isn't a city-it's a province that goes up to around...55,146 square kilometers, I think." (A/N: Thanks to Andy for that bit of info!)

"Yeah, whatever. City, province-it's all the same, right?"

Reminding herself that revenge would occur for Kazu later on, as well as Ryo, Rika eyed Takato with a cynical look. "Well, Gogglehead-you suggested we come here, so where are we sleeping at for the night?"

Takato sweatdropped while pulling at his collar. He hadn't expected it to be night so quickly here, but he was lucky he'd remembered the words of wisdom both his mother and Rika's mother had given him-to be sure to find a nice apartment to stay at.

"Uh, I'm sure they don't have apartments of any kind here, so I guess a hotel would have to do for now."

"Figures-he says we get an apartment, but what are we stuck with? A roach hotel."

"Terriermon!"

"Just calling the shots like I see 'em."

Takato sighed under his breath.

"I hope Transylvania isn't all it's cracked up to be!"







As midnight rapidly approached, the Prince of Darkness exited his castle, an evil smile stretched across his face.

"They have arrived! The infamous 'heroes of Shinjuku' are here at last. I must be patient, for soon, they will come to me...but who's ever known a vampire to be patient, huh?"

Chuckling lightly, Dracula focused on a particular spot far upward in the sky and closed his eyes briefly. A moment later, he reopened his eyes, which had taken on a blank stare.

"Come to me, my worthy opponent...prove to me that you are a foe to be feared, or I will drain the blood out of the one who you have pledged yourself to...come to me..."









Takato didn't know much about female attributes-actually, he didn't know anything at all about them, except that one attribute was that one of them could kiss really good! That in itself didn't take away the redness in his cheeks or the feeling of foreboding that creeped inside his heart as he felt Rika's hand grasp his own next to the bed.

"Not only would Rika's mom beat me senseless, but my parents wouldn't let me out of their sight for days, if not for the rest of my life! And, we can forget about the wedding-as far as they're concerned, it's probably canceled!"

Beside him, Rika was silently fuming, if not embarrassed about this whole situation. Thanks to some "problems" with one of the rooms, she'd been forced to sleep with Takato and Guilmon in their room. The Digimon in question was napping away near Renamon and Calumon under the gaze of the full moon. Once again, the engaged couple struck a compromise: while Takato would sleep on top of the covers, Rika would sleep under the covers. Takato wasn't about to agree with that, but a warning that more than a black eye would come his way caused him to see the light.

"Ryo probably took the last room just to spite me, to make sure I didn't try anything on him for what he and Kazu pulled on the plane, and to get me alone with Takato! As if that would make things right. Well, it's not like I don't mind it..."

Rika blushed heavily as she came across some impure thoughts, but she snapped herself out of it as Takato let out a gasp of pain at that second.

"Takato? Are you awake?"

Looking into Takato's eyes, Rika didn't find any trace that he was awake, yet his eyes were open. The brown irises had a glassy, blank stare inside them as the Tamer rose to his feet, grabbed Guilmon by the tail, picked up his goggles, Digivice and Modify cards and left, ignoring Guilmon's pleas.

"Takato, I was asleep! Why'd you have to wake me up, huh? I try not to wake you up when you're sleeping, don't I?"

It occurred to Rika that Takato hadn't changed since they'd gotten off the plane. Turning her gaze at the clock, Rika saw that it was 11:45-15 minutes to midnight! Quickly changing as fast as she could, Rika went to wake Renamon up.

"Renamon, get up! We've got a problem-a big one."

As Calumon yawned loudly, Renamon was instantly alert. "What's wrong, Rika?"

"Takato just got up, yanked Dinoboy out of the room like a sack of potatoes and left! And, when I looked into his eyes, they had this kind of starry-like gaze to them-"

"He's got him!" Renamon interrupted, picking Rika up and preparing to leap out of the window.

"Hey-wait for me!" Calumon yelled out as the Rookie Digimon leaped out into the night a second after Calumon's objection.

"Ohhh...at least I can go tell someone what I know! Hey-Henry, Terriermon! We've got trouble on the horizon!"







"What are you talking about, Renamon? Who's got him?" Rika asked irritably as she yanked out her shades and placed them over her eyes to avoid being blinded by the snow that had suddenly crept up out of nowhere.

"Didn't you read any horror stories when you were younger, Rika? Have you ever heard of a legendary vampire who called himself Dracula?"

While pulling out a Modify card, Rika replied, "Of course-everyone knows about the story of Dracula! But, that's just a legend, isn't it?"

"If the city-province of Transylvania is real, what makes you think the legends behind it aren't real itself?"

Rika narrowed her eyes at that instant as she swiped the card through the Digivice.

"Digimodify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!"

"Renamon Matrix Digivolve to...TAOMON!!!"

"Talisman Spell!!" As a protective shield popped up around Rika and Taomon, the two of them instantly took to the skies, barely hearing Gargomon's protest.

"Hey-hold up, you guys! We're in the room right next to you, and you don't even have the gall to tell us what's going on?"

Extending her shield so that it would encompass Gargomon, Henry and Calumon as well as herself and Rika, Taomon once again took off.

"To be brief, gigantic Energizer bunny-"

"We already know-Dracula's real, he's captured our leader who's yanked Guilmon away by the tail, we've gotta go and save him." Gargomon interrupted, a grin on the Champion Digimon's face.

"That's pretty much it." Rika agreed as they continued forward.









3:00 in the morning. It had taken a while for Takato to reach the Transylvanian Alps, probably because Guilmon continued to protest and plea with his partner, but eventually, they'd made it in one piece.

"Ah, you have arrived at last. This is the legendary leader of the Tamers, the one who defeated the D-Reaper and conquered against the Devas within the Digital World." Snapping his fingers, Dracula watched as the glassy look in Takato's eyes faded to be replaced with a look of confusion.

"Huh? What's going on? The last thing I remember was compromising something with Rika, and-waaaaaaa! You-it's-you're Dracula! You're real!" Takato stammered in surprise.

"I'm flattered that you know so much about me, and in reality, this is only our first meeting. But, enough pleasantries. Let us engage in combat."

"What?!" Takato struggled to clear his head and tried to figure out how he'd gotten there in the first place.

"I'm not at the peak of my powers yet, otherwise, I would be able to read your mind. As it is, I can only glimpse inside certain aspects of a person's mind. To answer your question, I used mind control to bring you here, and you used your strength to drag your partner here."

Getting up off the ground, Guilmon's eyes dilated as his viral side took over. "What right do you have to take over Takato's mind and drag him-and me-over here? To challenge you to a battle? We have twice the power you do, and we're not afraid of some old toothpick like you, right, Takatomon?"

Takato laughed weakly while frantically waving his arms back and forth. "Ignore my friend-it's jet lag! Unlike other Digimon, I created him with crayon and paper, so he doesn't know anything about you."

"Talisman of Light!!"

"Gargo Lasers!! Get away from our friends!"

Dracula roared in indignation as Taomon and Gargomon flew in, Rika, Henry and Calumon protected by Taomon's shield.

"Okay, Henry-Takato's safe! It's time to go Ultimate!"

"Can't argue with you there, Gargomon. Digimodify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!"

"Gargomon Matrix Digivolve to...RAPIDMON!!!"

"You ready to taste some cold steel? Well, here's something even hotter. Rapid Fire!!"

The Prince of Darkness grinned as he avoided Rapidmon's attack while leaping in the air and knocking Takato and Guilmon down!

"Stay away from him!" Rika demanded angrily while pulling out another Modify card in her hand.

"Digimodify! Power, activate!"

"Thousand Spells!!" The evil vampire roared in anger as he was driven backward in the snow at that instant while Rika ran over to help Takato up.

"I'm fine, Rika. How'd you guys-?"

"RAAAAAAA!!!" Dracula growled angrily as he leaped back into the air and punched Rapidmon to the ground, forcing him to deDigivolve back into Terriermon.

"Ahhhhh!" Henry grunted in pain as he was nearly sent over the edge of the Alps!

"NO!" Takato screamed as he gripped his Digivice tightly in his hand, ignoring the fact that it had started glowing brightly.

"What do you want with me? You brought me here-what do you want?!"

Eyeing the angered Takato, Dracula declared, "I want your power, the strength that flows through every Tamer. Once I claim you-all of you-as my own, I can begin my ultimate control over Transylvania."

"Right. If you're planning on ruling over all of Transylvania, you'll have to do it over my dead body! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

As Takato raced forward with Guilmon by his side, he heard Rika and Henry's protests and faintly recalled that he'd heard all of this in his dream the previous night.

"Takato, wait!"

"You can't take him on alone!"

With an evil smile, Dracula bared his fangs at that minute and launched himself toward Takato and Guilmon.

Biomerge Digivolution!

"Biomerge, activate!" Takato screamed as he transformed into data and merged with Guilmon for the first time in five months!

"Guilmon Biomerge to...GALLANTMON!!!"

The Holy Knight Digimon eyed his opponent and rose his right arm into the sky; it instantly changed into a lance at the same time that his left arm changed into an emblazoned shield.

"If you want to drain the blood out of us Tamers, you'll have to get past me!" Gallantmon growled in the dual voices of Takato and Guilmon. "Surrender now or I will be forced to destroy you!"

"If you could do anything to stop me, you would've done so already. And now, the battle begins!"

Gallantmon roared defiantly as he flew upward in the air toward Dracula, prepared to do whatever was necessary to save his friends from destruction!

Talk about tension! Think Gallantmon has what it takes to stop Dracula by himself? The Tamers' first battle against the Dark Prince on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!