Me: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, since Saturday's episodes are repeats-basically, "Lionheart" and "Give a Little Bit"-the first hint of Rukato ever shown in the Digital World, where Rika screamed for Takato when Beelzemon fired his Double Impact attack...

(Rika blushes)

Me: ...hopefully, next Saturday's episodes, shown on June 1st will be new; on the 8th will be a one-hour Season Finale nobody will want to miss! I don't own Digimon, and many thanks to an awesome Rukato writer, Angel-Chan. She was the 100th reviewer for "Tamers V.S. Dracula," and her stories usually leave readers trying to find a handkerchief.

Takato: (sniffs) Yeah...hold me, Rika!

Rika: (hugs Takato gently; still blushing) There, there, Gogglehead...

Me: So, when all is said and done, this chapter is dedicated to her. Hope you enjoy it!







Digimon Tamers: Tamers V.S. Dracula

Chapter IX-Love Counteracts Darkness







"Takato, watch out! TAKATO!!" -Rika Nonaka, "Give a Little Bit"

"We can take whatever you throw at us, so why don't you just give it up, and surrender?" -Gallantmon

"Gallantmon, we can't just talk to it. We must destroy it!" -Sakuyamon, "The D-Reaper's Disguise"







Takato and Guilmon were both possessed by Dracula at the same time thanks to a spell the wicked vampire cast. While Rika protected Takato, Renamon tried to coerce Guilmon , but with Dracula possessing him, it didn't work out. Then, things went from bad to worse when the vampire forced Guilmon to Dark Digivolve into Megidramon, and both Tamer and Digimon headed out towards the Transylvanian Alps! Eventually, Rika and the others caught up to them, but that's when Dracula revealed another surprise-he'd trapped everyone except for Takato and Guilmon behind a powerful forcefield and used Takato's dark nature to summon both Megidramon and ChaosGallantmon! Are the Tamers heading up the cliff without the proper equipment? Let's hope not!







In shock, Takato helplessly watched as both Megidramon and ChaosGallantmon roared out their fury and excitement so loudly that everyone, with the exception of Dracula, had to cover their ears in order to properly hear better!

"How'd these two get here in the first place? I thought Takato only had one evil Digimon, not two!" Kazu yelled out.

Turning to glare impatiently at him, Rika spat out, "I thought a Tamer like you would already know about this! Guilmon has more than just one Mega form, not just Gallantmon and Gallantmon: Crimson Mode. Remember what Calumon just said-Takato's anger ended up creating Megidramon back in the Digital World."

"And what about ChaosGallantmon, huh, Rika?"

Rika felt like slapping Kazu on the side of the head, but refrained herself. "It's a good thing Renamon was awake for this, otherwise, you would be completely in the dark. When I, as Sakuyamon, was hit by the D-Reaper's attack and knocked out, Takato got so angry that he actually Biomerged with Guilmon, but instead of recharging Gallantmon's energy, they ended up creating a new Mega Digimon-ChaosGallantmon. Now do you remember?"

"Oh, yeah-that's right! Why didn't you just say that?"

Rika growled under her breath as she clenched her fists repeatedly before turning back around towards Takato, who was still gazing upward at ChaosGallantmon and Megidramon.

"How was this even possible...?"

Eyeing Takato with a satisfying grin, Dracula explained what he had in mind for the Tamers. "It's quite simple-so simple, matter-of-fact that I won't even have to explain it twice!"

"You do know who you're talking to, right? The Tamer who would forget to put his shoes on, unless his girlfriend reminded him every night before bedtime."

"Terriermon!"

Clearing his throat, the vampire continued speaking, as if he hadn't been interrupted at all. "I cast a spell on you, young Tamer. It caused the feelings of darkness you've kept buried deep within to rise up to the surface, bringing up the other viral Mega forms you've kept locked away in the deepest recesses of your mind-ChaosGallantmon, being the most deadliest; Megidramon, with the firepower necessary to completely obliterate the entire Digital World, or the Real World, if need be. Therefore, since neither of them can truly remain here, I will allow you and a companion of your choice one chance, and one chance alone, to stop them. However, there is a catch. They are connected to you, as your partner is to you. So, if by some blunder they are deleted, you would be instantly killed, and your partner would be deleted as well. Choose wisely, for time is of the essence. Go-until you see Gallantmon and the second Digimon by his side, make sure no one in Transylvania lives!"

Nodding, both Megidramon and ChaosGallantmon flew off, away from the Transylvanian Alps and back toward Transylvania!

Takato grimaced as he reluctantly turned to face the others. Personally, he knew who he should pick to help him and Guilmon subdue these darker versions of himself, but the other Tamers had excellent attributes as well, so he wasn't about to exclude them from this. Knowing time was short-extremely short-he would have to list the pros and cons of everyone who was on the other side of the forcefield. Smiling gently, he felt the top of his head to check if his goggles were still there-once he'd confirmed it, he bent down to knee level and eyed Susie with a happy look.

"Henwy, the angwy kid's looking at me, and he isn't angwy anymore! At least, I don't think he is."

Sweatdropping at that statement, Takato bit back the normal retort he would've said to her and kept the smile on his face. "Hey there, Susie. I bet you want to help me out against those mean Digimon who are going to Transylvania, right?"

"Mmm-hmm! Is Henwy going, too?"

Sighing, Takato suddenly felt uncomfortable while talking to Susie. Being around girls his age was already perplexing, as evidenced by knowing Rika and Jeri. What made him think chatting with a girl who was underage would be any better? Seeing the discomfort in Takato's eyes, Lopmon quickly put herself in between him and her Tamer.

"Susie, I know you want to help Takato against these Digimon-"

"Lopmon, call him 'the angwy kid!'"

"-but, they're both at the Mega level. As strong as I am, I'm pretty sure I couldn't help him out in our current situation. We could help him out best by staying here and out of trouble."

"Thanks, Lopmon!" Takato felt an actual smile reappear on his face. "I couldn't have put it any better myself."

"Probably not, but who knows? You just might get lucky later on tonight."

Takato blushed slightly due to Rika's response, but ignored it and looked over at his two good friends Kazu and Kenta, both of whom were beaming brightly at that instant.







Hearing Dracula's words reverberate through their ears, ChaosGallantmon and Megidramon picked up speed, already sensing Transylvania near.







"Ha! And you thought Chumly would pick Rika over us. Pay up, Kenta."

"You two were betting on me?!" Both Henry and Ryo had to hold Rika back, but Takato's face mirrored how she felt at that moment.

"That's probably one of the reasons why I wouldn't pick either of you guys. You're both good at what you do, and so are your Digimon. The only catch is this-Kazu, Guardromon is only at the Champion level, and so, despite the fact that he can fly, he would be at a serious disadvantage against Digimon like Megidramon and ChaosGallantmon. I hope Jeri will excuse me for this, but remember what happened to Leomon-?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah-we've heard this story a hundred times on the way here and lived through it-Beelzemon went nuts and killed him off. Anything else?"

Angrily slamming his fists against the forcefield, Takato hissed, "Show some respect! At least Terriermon knows when to make jokes--sometimes! And you're lucky-very lucky-that there's a forcefield between you and me right now!"

Struggling to calm down, Takato looked over at Kenta.

"You would be a good choice, Kenta, because out of all of us here, your Digimon partner actually is a Mega Digimon. The only problem here is that his powers are meant for Defense. And, in this type of battle, we'll need Digimon who can handle both Defense and Attack. I hope you understand."

Nodding, Kenta held onto MarineAngemon from within the confines of the forcefield. "Yeah. Take down those Digimon-without killing them, of course."

"Of course."









Since it was morning back in Japan, Rika's grandmother had remembered that Rika had wanted her to give her a call, so back in the hotel, Rika's cell phone started ringing over and over and over until she remembered that it would still be night time over here. A moment later, the ringing stopped.







Staring at Ryo and Cyberdramon, who'd Digivolved earlier to help Ryo get over here, Takato bit back an insult and instead focused on the snow at his feet. "There's plenty of reasons why I shouldn't bring you along, and one is staring at the both of us in the face."

"Mmm-hmm. Can you think of another?"

"Yeah-that no offense, but your Digimon would get so bloodthirsty, that in the heat of battle, he might delete one or both of the Digimon. And if he did that, Rika might get so furious at you that she would corrupt Renamon's data and summon an evil Digimon of her own."

"Undoubtedly so." Cyberdramon agreed.

"There are good traits-you can Biomerge to Mega, and as Justimon, you were a big help against the D-Reaper, even if I didn't get to thank you for that."

"You see, Rika? At least out of the two of you, he actually said 'thank you!'"

Rika "humphed" and turned away from both Takato and Ryo, slightly irritated, but secretly pleased that Takato had put aside his jealousy for even the briefest of moments.









The vampire sensed the evil Digimon approaching the outskirts of Transylvania, and smirked as he realized that his adversaries didn't have much time remaining.

"Pick up the pace, my young cohorts! Time is wasting!"







"Hey, guys." Takato grinned weakly as he approached Henry and Jeri, both of whom had knowing looks on their faces.

"Go on- tell 'em why they wouldn't be able to help you and get Rika outta here." Terriermon quipped cynically.

"Terriermon!" Henry hissed irritably, but the knowing look was still on his face.

"Can I come, Takato, huh? I promise I won't cause any trouble this time." Calumon piped up excitedly.

"If you can slip out of here, then, yeah."

"Yay!"

Takato turned his attention back to Henry and Jeri. "Look, you guys both know that without you backing me up in the Digital World, we probably wouldn't be where we are today, right? But, the both of you have Digimon who, unlike MarineAngemon, have powers meant for Attack. And, in this battle, I need Defense as well as Attack. I hope you can understand-"

Nodding, Jeri pointed in Rika's direction, who was still facing away from Takato. "Go to her, and ask for forgiveness for whatever stupid thing you did wrong, then go stop those Digimon."

"Momentai, Takatomon!" Terriermon added.

A full smile appearing on his face, Takato also felt a hot blush creep up his cheeks as he went to face Rika and Renamon.







"Hey, Rika. Did you have a good night's sleep...?"

Turning to stare Takato down as well as making sure he saw the hot tears running down her face, Rika asked heatedly, "Don't try to change the subject! This entire time, everyone knew you were gonna pick me and Renamon to help you, so why build up their hopes? Why not just pick us and get it over with? Or did you want to give everyone a pep talk and sacrifice the innocent lives of everyone back in Transylvania? Answer me that!"

Feeling his anger resurface, Takato found himself glaring at Rika, neither one willing to back down.

"How can you even say that to me? The others had attributes that made you look like...like..."

"Like what?"

"...like the heartless Digimon Queen I first met in that secluded area outside of my school!" Takato screamed, feeling his anger dissipate, to be replaced with guilt. Rika's face remained impassive, but Takato saw the hurt, and the pain in her violet eyes at that second.

"Rika...I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound like that, really, I didn't. I just didn't want the others to feel left out of this, and I do care about the people we have to protect, but only as long as we stay here. You're the most important person to me here, and if anything happened to you, I'd probably end up destroying the world with my own bare hands."

Rika couldn't help but laugh at that explanation. "Okay-I forgive you. And, you're the most important person to me, too. Now, let's beat down some evil Digimon and show that vampire he can't mess with my Gogglehead's mind!"

Takato nodded as he reached forward with his hand and grasped Rika's hand with it, instantly pulling her out of the forcefield. Renamon-and Calumon-quickly headed after her before it completely reclosed back up.

"You ready, Guilmon?"

"Ready, Takato! Let's show those Digimon what being a Mega Digimon's all about!"

"Game time!" Calumon declared as the triangle on his head started glowing brightly.

Biomerge Digivolution!

"Biomerge, activate!" Takato and Rika chorused as they both transformed into data and merged with Guilmon and Renamon, respectively.

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

"Renamon Biomerge to...SAKUYAMON!!!"







The darkened sky seemed to light up as Gallantmon and Sakuyamon stood side-by-side, weapons at the ready if they were needed.

"Are you ready to take on those evil Digimon?" Takato's voice rang out from Gallantmon.

"I was born ready!" Rika retorted, a grin on her face while inside her sphere.

"Then let's go!" Guilmon added as Gallantmon and Sakuyamon, along with Calumon, flew off toward the province of Transylvania, determined to stop both Megidramon and ChaosGallantmon, at all costs!

All right! Looks like the fight of the century's about to take place. But, what's gonna happen to the other Tamers? And can Gallantmon and Sakuyamon truly stop ChaosGallantmon and Megidramon without deleting them? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!