Me: Okay, I know I said I would have a chapter or two out within two days-actually, Terriermon said it, so kill him, not me.
Terriermon: Hey! You said I could tell 'em what you were planning, so if anyone should get the axe, it should be you!
Me: I was gonna say you couldn't do it, but you butted in, like you usually do-
Takato: (hears faint arguing in background; sighs) Our "in control 24/7" author doesn't own Digimon, nor does he own the quote used in this chapter. The song will be used in this story, but you guys won't see it until the end.
Rika: See what?
Takato: The song he's got planned for the final battle. (grins broadly) What else is there?
Rika: This-to Lan Hikari, our aforementioned author has decided to take you up on that offer and is, at this very moment, trying to create a level higher than Mega.
Me: No way! There's no way Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode can beat Gallantmon: Crimson Mode! Are you crazy?!
Terriermon: It could happen!
Takato/Rika: (groan)
Takato: Then again, it'll take him some time before he can try to get us to go beyond Mega.
Digimon Tamers: A Rukato Wedding
Chapter IV-One last Adventure
"The rage in my eyes...could have compared to the eye of the sun..." -Creed, Scream 3: The Album
"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to destroy you." -IceDevimon, The Icemon Cometh
Takato was lucky-if he hadn't been holding onto a Spiritual Ring that Henry's father had given
him, who knows what could've happened to him and Guilmon when the Ice-Reaper attacked?
The Tamers were forced to go back into the battlefield one last time when the Ice-Reaper tried
to kill Takato and Growlmon. Even though the Digimon had Digivolved to their Champion
levels, with his own Spiritual Ring on his finger, the Ice-Reaper was one tough cookie to crack!
To make matters worse, after they'd Biomerged with their partners, the Tamers still couldn't
make a dent in the Digimon's head, especially after he'd decided he was going to use Takato
and Guilmon as bait to try and lure Rika in. Aw, man! Tell me this can't be happening!
Rika groaned while struggling vainly to free herself from her block of ice. Terriermon and Renamon had somewhat recovered from their harsh and brutal experience.
"Hold on, Rika. This shouldn't take us too long." Renamon advised grimly.
"Yeah! It's kinda like the game of 'Life'-all it takes is time." Terriermon quipped. A second later, Henry, Rika, Calumon and Renamon eyed the Rookie Digimon with quizzical looks on their faces. Slumping his shoulders in irritation, Terriermon grumbled, "Never mind. You'd probably take too long to figure it out, anyway-"
"Desolation Claw!!"
Rika gaped in surprise as two, then two more blue blades flew through the air and punctured her icy prison before it shattered into pieces around her, effectively freeing her! Henry was freed in the same manner. Narrowing her eyes while Renamon helped her up, Rika soon found herself staring at Cyberdramon and...
"Ryo. What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was on my way to a wedding event-your wedding, if I remember-when Henry called and said something about a Digimon appearing in front of the church. I get here, expecting to see three Mega Digimon battling an extremely powerful Digimon, and instead, I see you and Henry-you who once again, needs me to save you. So, now that I've saved you not once, not twice, but thrice, I think that calls for a little reward, wouldn't you say-?"
Despite how cold she felt at that second or how angry she was at herself, Rika found the strength to grab Ryo around the neck and choke him! Growling, Cyberdramon started lunging forward, but as Renamon put herself between her Tamer and the Ultimate Digimon, Ryo held up a hand, advising him to stop.
"I'm not in the mood for your 'I'm the Digimon King; all others are helpless babies who need me to bail them out' speech, Ryo! Takato was just kidnapped by an old foe, when, as much as I hate to say it, your arrival could have kept him from being taken in the first place! And you-" Rika then focused her anger on Jeri, who was running in alongside Leomon and the others. "-what happened to you?! If you'd all gotten here earlier, we could actually have the wedding now instead of a month from now!"
Jeri grasped what Rika was talking about and struggled to fight the onslaught of tears threatening to roll down her face; Kazu and Kenta had stupefied looks on their faces.
"'A month from now?!' Why'd Chumly say it was gonna be this month when you're telling us it's gonna be a month from-"
"HE'S GONE!" Rika screamed angrily, suddenly letting go of Ryo and pulling her fist up until it was parallel with Kazu's nose. "Why else would we be standing outside, me only seconds away from beating up on all of you, Einstein over there, still as analytical as ever, and you, the comic relief, who only help when they're called upon!"
Growling low, even lower than Cyberdramon could, Rika turned and stormed off toward the church doors in a huff, trying to hide her tears of indignation and guilt from the others, until Renamon appeared in front of her, stopping her from going any further.
"I'm not in the mood for philosophizing, Renamon, so get out of the way!"
"Rika, you know as well as I do that what just happened wasn't your fault, nor was it any of the others'. They're here now, and this is when we need to prove we can still be a team, united in one common goal-to save our friends from this menace, just as they saved you so long ago."
Rika forced herself to remember what had happened over seven years ago, when they'd first been introduced to IceDevimon-basically, he wanted to be the strongest Digimon, so he went in search of the strongest Tamer-enter Rika Nonaka. In the end, Takato's partner Guilmon had delivered the death blow and had absorbed IceDevimon's data, so the threat was evidently gone, for the moment. During the time when the Tamers had to track down Jeri, Calumon and Takato, who, as Gallantmon, had been captured by the corrupted data for reasons no one still had any knowledge of. Rika had decided to strike a rescue mission on her own then, and she'd ended up in the Dark Ocean. To this day, Rika still finds it hard to believe that the Dark Ocean from the TV show actually existed! She and Renamon had been forced into battling IceDevimon, who had returned from beyond the grave. This time, Rika herself had finished off her own personal foe, thanks to Takato's belief in her and her abilities as a Tamer, with the Daggers of Love, a Hybrid-type weapon that was as strong as the Sword of Courage. Now that he was back as a supposed Mega Digimon, Rika found out that no matter what you did in life, some things-or Digimon-just never seemed to die away.
"I know, Renamon, but...I felt so helpless! I still do! What if we can't find him? What if something bad happened to them?"
Calm as ever, Renamon eyed her Tamer with a patient gaze in her eyes. "If something was to happen to Takato, you would feel it because of your link. And, if the Ice-Reaper had only wanted to hurt him, he could have easily done it here instead of wherever they're at right now."
Closing her eyes briefly, Rika gritted her teeth and nodded, turning back to the others with fire blazing in her violet eyes.
"I'll admit that what I just said about you guys was wrong, and it was wrong of me to say it. The
one thing I can't take back-that Takato's gone. This may take some time, so you'd better get
something to eat while you can-it'll be quite a story."
"Where a-are you t-t-taking us?" Takato stammered, his body feeling like it was going into shock since, unlike the others, he was still trapped within his block of ice. Guilmon had revived and was, at this time, trying to free himself so he could free Takato and together, they could get out!
"You'll see, future King...you'll see."
Takato's eyes narrowed at that statement. "'Future King?' What are you talking about?"
The Ice-Reaper grinned as they crossed the barrier separating the Digital World and the Dark Ocean before explaining. "You are intending to marry the Digimon Queen, right? So, in title, that would make you her King. But, in all reality, you wouldn't truly be the king until you bested the current King in battle."
Realization came to Takato like a jab in the chest, and, despite his attempts to stop it, he felt jealousy tear away at his heart like strings on a guitar. "You mean R-Ryo? We already tried that, and-"
"This time..." The Ice-Reaper's smile grew ever so slightly as the three of them flew gracefully over the Dark Ocean, Takato's pupils widening in surprise as he figured out where they had, for the moment, gone to. "...you won't be interrupted by my Tamer. Not this time. She'll be too busy dealing with affairs of her own."
"How many times d-do I have to t-tell you?! Rika isn't your T-Tamer...she's-"
"ENOUGH!" Takato gasped loudly as he felt a hand close around his head and slowly start putting pressure on it. "She will be my Tamer, even if I have to kill every single one of her friends to do it!"
"Rika...help me...!"
As Rika finally finished telling the other Tamers what had happened, a sharp pain of cold had struck Rika's head like an arrow made entirely out of ice.
"Rika...help me...!"
"Rika? What is it?"
Barely noticing Renamon and the others appear by her, Rika waved them off, but at the same time, she explained what had just occurred.
"It's Takato...he needs me...we've got to go, now!"
Rika sighed lightly as the coldness she felt in her head had vanished while getting up to her feet.
"Go where, Rika? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Guilmon's home wrecked by the residents of this fair city, which wouldn't include us?"
Rika turned to snap at Kazu bluntly, but after remembering that he was one of Takato's closest friends, she forced herself to relax.
"We'll find a way...There's gotta be a way!"
"Think about this..." Takato advised, feeling his skull start to cave in on him. "...if you kill me, what would happen to Rika?"
After careful consideration, the Virus Digimon released Takato, and found the remaining barrier they needed to go through.
"And now, future King, we shall enter your final resting place, because when you come here, you'll never get out."
"Well, I say 'never say never!' Right, Takato?" Guilmon snapped angrily, struggling to get free again.
"Something like that, but I don't see how that could help us out right now-"
A second later, the ice keeping Takato's body trapped suddenly cracked and, the Tamer was freed, but to his surprise, he wasn't wearing his tuxedo anymore-just his normal Tamer garb, goggles and everything! Amazed by this transformation, Takato felt inside his pocket and found the silver ring in it next to his Modify cards, his Digivice still clipped to his side.
"We're here...your final battleground..." The Ice-Reaper started laughing loudly as Takato realized where he and Guilmon had been taken to...the realm that had once belonged to the D-Reaper over seven years ago, but now the entire realm looked like it had been frozen in the course of one day!
"Takatomon, I don't think we can win this alone..."
"Really, Guilmon? What was your first clue?!"
"Okay-here's the plan: Henry, Ryo, Jeri, Ai, Mako, Susie, all of our Digimon-plus me and Renamon-are gonna try to find a way back to the Digital World. From there, we'll have to find some sort of barrier that can lead us to the D-Reaper's realm-"
"Hold on there, Queenie." Kazu interjected cynically, Guardromon nudging his Tamer in the side, begging silently for him to be quiet for once. "Two questions: One, why aren't Kenta and I in your little 'rescue group?' And two, don't you mean the Ice-Reaper's realm? If IceDevimon really did merge his data with the D-Reaper's, he wouldn't just leave the place as it was the last time we were there."
Rika had to fight to keep herself from lashing out at Kazu for those statements. It was one of the many ways in which she and Takato complimented each other, or completed each other.
"One, the reason why you and Kenta aren't going with us is because we need to stall the wedding and make sure none of the guests leave. So, as much as I'm gonna regret saying this, I need the two of you to stall my wedding."
"And the second reason?" Kenta added briefly. Rika rolled her eyes before coming up with a quick answer. "Of course I meant the Ice-Reaper's realm. I'm still getting used to the fact that those two freak Digimon-or computer program, whatever the D-Reaper was-combined! Now, let's get going before I end up a widow!"
That said, Rika started forward, already having a pretty good idea on where to look first, with Renamon by her side. Henry and Terriermon followed soon after, with the former holding onto Jeri's hand as she and Leomon kept stride with them, Susie and Lopmon on Henry's other side, Ryo and Cyberdramon gone up to the sky, and finally, Ai, Mako and Impmon bringing up the rear, Kazu, Kenta, Guardromon and MarineAngemon watching the band of heroes go.
"Hey, guys! Wait for me!" Calumon yelled out while flying after the Tamers as fast as possible.
"Kazu...do you really think they'll be able to find Takato? It's not like I'm saying that he isn't gonna be found, just that...the chances of him still being alive are one-in-a-million." Kenta cautioned.
"Kenta, old buddy, if there's one thing I've known about Takato ever since I found out he was a Tamer, there's always a reason to keep on going. In one case, it was Jeri, another case, Guilmon. This time, which'll undoubtedly be the last time, Chumly's reason to keep going on is Rika. He wants to get married with her, and with a declaration of love like that, there's no way he'll check out...not now, not ever!"
"Not now, not ever!" Guardromon agreed bravely, until Kazu eyed his partner with a look of irritation.
"If you do that one more time, I'm gonna have you be my personal robot slave at the college-you'll serve everybody free drinks! No beer, 'cause that stuff's too creepy to even think about
drinking."
It had taken them about a little over a half an hour, but at 9:35, the Tamers had reached the center of Shinjuku, where Gallantmon had been captured by the D-Reaper's minions following his battle with Justimon.
"Any reason why we came back here? Just to shoot the breeze?" Terriermon cracked, a broad grin back on his face.
"Funny. No, we're here because this was where Takato disappeared when those minions of the D-Reaper-whatever they were called-took him to their world."
"I think she means the ADR's." Jeri's sock puppet responded, to which Jeri nodded in agreement.
"I'd have to agree with you on that one."
Rika rolled her eyes at seeing Jeri still with that puppet, but pushed that thought aside.
"Okay, everybody-Digivices out!" Henry advised calmly, holding out his Digivice and, at the same time, pulling out a card that looked similar to the Blue card, except it was red.
"Hey, guys, look-an upgrade on the Blue card!" Terriermon announced.
"Pretty color, too." Calumon added.
Raising an eyebrow upward, Renamon asked, "And this is supposed to do what?"
"Before we had to battle the Ice-Reaper, my Dad pulled me aside earlier and gave me this Red card that a friend of his made-I think he said his name was Shibumi. Since the Ice-Reaper had to have changed everything about the realm the way it worked before, that means we probably won't be able to Biomerge over there. Or, if we are, we won't be able to hold our Mega forms for that long a time. So, this card can help us fight in that other realm."
"What about Lopmon and me? We can't Biomerge like you can." Susie objected.
Rika had to smile. Even though Susie had seen a lot of destructive things ever since becoming a Tamer, she still managed to retain her youth and innocence that had caused her to become a Tamer in the first place. "Maybe not, but you guys can stay here, and if any evil Digimon try to come through, you'll push them back."
"That could work, Susie."
After Susie nodded, Rika, Henry, Jeri, Ryo and Mako held out their Digivices.
Digimodify!
Henry started his sequence of swiping the card through, but instead tossed it toward Jeri, who watched the Red card slash through her Digivice, then it slashed straight through Rika's Digivice before flying through Ryo's Digivice, slashing through Ai and Mako's shared Digivice before landing back into Henry's outstretched hand and completing the sequence of slashing the card through.
"Digimodify!!"
Rika's eyes narrowed, that same fire burning in her violet irises as she declared, "For Takato!"
At that second, a portal opened right in front of them, sending the Tamers and their Digimon to the ground!
"That was fun, until we all fell down. Let's go again!" Calumon cheered.
"It's time to go in! Ready, Terriermon?"
"Like you even had to ask."
Biomerge Digivolution!
"Biomerge, activate!" Henry, Jeri and Ryo chorused as the three of them transformed into data and merged with Terriermon, Leomon and Cyberdramon, who, for once, hadn't deDigivolved into Monodramon.
"Terriermon Biomerge to...MEGAGARGOMON!!!"
"Leomon Biomerge to...SABERLEOMON!!!"
"Cyberdramon Biomerge to...JUSTIMON!!!"
As Impmon changed into Beelzemon: Blast Mode, he carefully picked up Ai and Mako before flying straight through the portal, yelling out, "Don't you get yourself deleted, Pineapple head-we still got a match to finish!"
"We're coming, Takato, and we're not giving up!" Henry said bravely inside his sphere as MegaGargomon flew inside the portal after Beelzemon.
"You and Henry didn't give up on me, Takato, so I'm not giving up on you!" Jeri added as SaberLeomon headed in the portal after MegaGargomon.
"This time, it's personal, Ice-Reaper!" Ryo responded as Justimon leaped straight in.
Rika stood there, contemplating on what was about to happen, what would soon occur-the biggest battle of their lives since the D-Reaper, and even though they'd all grown up, as Takato would say, it still seemed like they hadn't changed at all! Her train of thought was broken by a voice that sounded familiar, but wasn't.
"Shards of Ice!!"
"What-?!" Rika, Susie and the three Digimon-Renamon, Lopmon and Calumon-turned to see Lady Sakuyamon shimmer into view and start attacking innocent people at Shinjuku Park!
"We can't leave those people, Renamon! We've got to help!"
Renamon nodded as the three Digimon, Rika and Susie started forward, knowing what they were possibly sacrificing by not going inside the portal. "Let's just hope we're not too late, Rika!"
"To save these people, or to save Takato?"
After a moment of thought, Renamon's response was quick, but it cut Rika to the core of her heart.
"Both."
Let's all just hope they're not too late-to save those people, or Takato! Watch what happens next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!
