DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon, or any of the characters from it. I do, however, own the Cyber and any other original characters…like, for example, "Mystery Woman". Yah-ha.

Note: Hrm…well, now dat I think about it, dis be my first Digimon fic in a while, since Reptilia Draco. Hehe. ^_^ In case you're interested, the Cyber was first mentioned in Reptilia Draco. I forget which chapter, though…go look for it. Pwah. This also takes place around three years after ep 51 of Tamers, so do the math. I'm not doing it for you. It also goes by dub terms, ne? …All right, I'll shut up now…

~:~:~

It was a cool, summer evening in the park. The half-moon hung in the sky, masked by silvery clouds. Well, thought Mitsuo, at least it's quiet. It was getting late. He passed a man sitting on a bench, reading a newspaper. It appears I'm not the only one awake at this hour…

"Well, of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?"

He paused and turned back, slowly, to the man on the bench—except he wasn't there anymore. Instead, there was someone else, a woman he didn't recognize. At first sight he thought it was Riley…but she was too slender, and much paler. Her hair was also shimmering, bright red. She was wearing gloves and a long, black trenchcoat. The only place where her skin showed was her face. "Uh…who are you?"

She smirked. "For me to know and you to find out, Mr. Yamaki. I have some rather interesting news for you."

"What…how did you know my name?!"

She stood up. He felt at sudden unease, but didn't dare move. "I've known it for years, Mr. Yamaki. Ever since Hypnos first awakened the Third World."

"'Third World'?"

"The Cyber. Otherwise known as the very thin barrier between the Real World and the Digital World. Secrets from the Hypnos network have been leaking into the Cyber for ages…I'm amazed you had no idea. Thus, we had been growing strong, fine-tuning your deletion plans without you ever knowing we existed.

"But then, we had a problem. Invaders from the Digital World shut down the network. We were at a loss. Many of us began to die out, and only the strong survived. It was not until the network had been revived that we became stronger again. And then, when it was completely shut down, we no longer depended on it to survive. Three long years have passed since that happened, and now we have the strength, intelligence, and technology to wipe out both the Digital World…and the Real World."

He was at a loss. "But…you…who's 'we'?!"

"Simple. I…and the Shadows of your network, Hypnos."

"Shadows…but…what are you going to do?!"

She sighed. "Sad. I was hoping you would've figured it out by now." She took a step forward; he unconsciously stepped back. He didn't trust her at all. He was suddenly aware of a loud searing noise behind him and whipped around in time to see a large, black streak bolt across the night sky. It was as gone as quickly as it came. "You see…it would be such a waste to misuse all that power. Humans and Digimon are alike in many ways. Both have a certain life force about them…to the Digimon, it is data. To the humans, it is soul. But to us…we call it the main course." She grinned rather evilly, revealing fangs. "Of course, we still have some disadvantages…which is why I'm asking you for help, Mr. Yamaki. If you choose to cooperate with us, then we'll spare you…maybe."

He suddenly snapped out of whatever trance he was in, turned on his heel, and bolted straight for his apartment. He could hear her call after him, "You may run and you may hide, but you will never escape!"

…

He finally reached his apartment, breathless. He fumbled with the lock and quickly ducked inside. Dammit…who the hell was that? I hope they're joking… "Riley? Hey, Riley, are you h—" He walked into the other room and froze at the sight, slack-jawed. Riley was slumped against the wall, surrounded by blood. Her blood. There was a large, jagged hole in her neck. Just above her, there was a message written in the thick, black liquid.

RUN, RUN, AS FAST AS YOU CAN

YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE

WE ARE THE SHADOWMEN

~

"Hey, Renamon, something wrong?"

The fox Digimon paused, turning to Rika. She'd come through the portal into the Real World just this morning. "The Digital World. Something has gone seriously wrong…the other Digimon can sense it, too. It's…weird."

"Like what?" The teen was curious.

"It's like…like there's something out there that shouldn't be."

"Like the D-Reaper?"

"No, far more powerful. And more intelligent, too. I can't really explain it, but…it's almost as if it's something that isn't from either worlds."

"Oh. Do you have any idea of what it could be, though?"

"No. Not any."

"I see."

"Hey, foxface, how's it goin'?"

Renamon paused and turned to the other Digimon. "Shut up, Impmon."

"Whaaaaaaat? It's a simple question!"

She groaned, shook her head, and turned to Rika. "I'd use Diamond Storm on him if he didn't have any tamers, but…"

She suppressed a giggle and turned to Impmon. "And how long, pray tell, have you been here?"

"Eh, 'bout half an hour. The other brats' Digimon are here, too."

"Except Leomon."

"Hey, give it up, already, all right?! That was a long time ago, Jeri's over it, badabing!"

"Riiiiiight. C'mon, Renamon, let's go someplace a little quieter."

"Wait." Renamon narrowed her eyes at him. "Impmon…have you ever felt anything…you know…unnatural, I guess, in the Digital World?"

He thought. "Yeah…yeah, on second thought, I have."

"Like something is here that doesn't belong?"

"Yeah! Yeah, that's it. I wonder what it is?"

"Hey! Hey, you guys, look at this!"

Rika turned to see Takato running up with Guilmon, a rolled up newspaper in his hand. "Here comes the cavalry…"

"Takato…! Slow down, I can't keep up!"

He did so, proceeding to walk to them. When he finally reached them, he unrolled the newspaper. "Didja hear about the murder last night?"

"How could I not? It's all over the damn news."

"Yeah, but do you know where it was? It was in Yamaki's apartment!!"

"…What? Is he all right?"

"Yeah, he's fine, it's his girlfriend that kicked the bucket." He started to skim the details from the newspaper. "'Riley Ootori was found deceased in her apartment, shared by colleague Mitsuo Yamaki. Crime scene investigators later reported that the murder weapon could not be identified and that fingerprints, footprints, and any other related signs of the murderer's DNA could not be found anywhere near the body.' It's like this guy was a ghost, or something."

"Ghosts aren't real, moron. There has to be some evidence…"

"Nope, none at all. It's amazing."

"Like she was killed by her own shadow," muttered Renamon.

"What?"

"…Nothing. Just a thought. I mean, first, all this stuff about some kind of…alien, I dunno, hanging around somewhere, and now this…somehow, it just seems somewhat related. Even a Digimon couldn't be that perfect."

An uneasy silence hung in the air. Then Rika sighed. "Oh, come on, just let it drop. It can't be serious, whatever it is. It's nothing we can't handle."

"Right." She nodded.

Suddenly, Guilmon's eyes retracted to pinpricks as a low, dangerous growl escaped his throat. "Guilmon?" asked Takato quizzically. "What is it, boy?"

"Something's here…"

Rika felt sick for a moment, and turned around, slowly. A white fog was growing. A digital field? Maybe, but it was unlikely. Wild Digimon hadn't come through in ages. Then there was a large, black, misshapen mass of a silhouette. She reached for her Digivice on impulse, then realized that she'd left it back home. She didn't really need it anymore, but she sure did now. She cursed to herself. "Renamon? Do you have any idea what that is?"

"No…and I have a feeling I don't want to…"

Then, the fog suddenly parted, revealing a gel-like, black substance. It looked almost like Jell-O. Then, it started to take shape in a hideous form. It looked like a large lizard, except instead of a head, there was only a stump. It had no front legs and two, large wings. Two thick poles rose out of the stump then was connected at the top by another, thinner one. Another black circle formed around the top pole, then expanded. That's when four large, deadly blades took form on the spinning circle.

What is this? Rika wondered silently. It turned to them, blades spinning spasmodically, spreading its wings. Icy fear filled her entire body and she took a wary step back. A few moments of silence passed, then the thing shivered, suddenly leaping into the air and disappearing. Rika sighed in relief, glad that they didn't have to fight it. Then the relief was replaced with curiosity. "Renamon…? What kind of a Digimon was that?"

"I doubt it was a Digimon at all."

"…What? Then…what could it be?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "We should keep an eye out for it. Personally, I didn't like the look of those blades."

"I don't think any of us did," said Takato shakily, running his hand through his hair. "I hope there aren't many more of those things around. I didn't bring my cards, or my Digivice."

"Neither did I," said Rika. "I still wanna know what that was…or, actually, where it went. Hopefully back to wherever it came from."

"Yeah. What if it didn't?"

There was an awkward silence. "Uh…c'mon, Renamon, I gotta go get my Digivice."

"Yeah, me too. C'mon, boy."

The two went off in separate directions. All the way, though, Rika couldn't shake off this feeling that she was being watched. By what, she had no idea, but something told her it was that black thing they saw today.

When she reached her room, she noticed a piece of paper tacked to her wall. Strange, she thought. What's that doing there? She cautiously pulled it off the wall, reading the thick, barely legible scrawl on it.

BEWAYR OF TH NYTMAYR SHADOZ

WEYRE KUMING FR YU

ND YURE DJIMN FRIND

TH SYBR WIL RUL AL MEER HYUMN

It took her a few minutes to fully understand the jumbled text, but understand it, she did—eventually. It confused her slightly.

Then, she heard a searing noise from outside. She quickly rushed to the door and thought she could see some sort of black thing slither through the shadows of the house. She froze. What was that…?

"Rika? Is something wrong?"

She whirled around to see her grandmother. "Uh…no. Just thought I saw something."

"Oh, okay…odd…what's this?" She reached for the piece of paper but Rika snatched it in time, quickly folding it up.

"Oh, nothing, just something a friend passed me in school today."

"All right. Whatever you say."

…

The next day, she showed it to the rest of the tamers. "Man," said Kazu. "Whoever wrote obviously has worse spelling than I do…"

"Hey, look, it's the eighth wonder of the world!"

"Shut up, Kenta."

"Does anybody have any idea of what it's talking about?" Rika asked, a little impatiently.

"'Beware of the Nightmare Shadows'," repeated Henry slowly. "I think they might be the ones who wrote this, but…who, or what are they?"

Takato and Rika exchanged uneasy glances. "Last night, we saw something," said Takato. "I don't think it was a Digimon…I dunno what it was. It just appeared out of nowhere…and then it disappeared. I think it's still alive, whatever it was."

"How right you are, young man."

The small group was startled and whipped around to see a tall, pale woman with long, red hair and a black trenchcoat. "Who're you?" asked Rika cautiously.

"That's not important right now. What you saw last night was indeed the birth of a Shadow. It's called that because it's impossible to identify it as anything else… It is not a being of the Real World or the Digital World. It is a being of the Cyber, and is thus highly intelligent and very dangerous to all living creatures. It's following you right now because you expressed emotions of harming it. You're playing a very dangerous game. I advise you give up before either you or your Digimon pay the price."

"Who are you, to tell us what we can and can't do?!" snapped Kenta.

She shook her head and sighed. "I am only trying to protect you."

"I think you should leave that up to us," said Renamon suddenly, appearing out of nowhere.

The woman shot her an icy glare, narrowing her eyes. "…Fine, then. But don't say I didn't warn you." With that, she walked off.

There was a bit of a silence. "…She still didn't say who she was," said Kazu.

"Thanks for restating the obvious," said Rika, rolling her eyes.

"You're welcome."

"Hey…you think one of those Shadow-thingies killed that girl?" asked Kenta.

More silence. Well, it made sense. "Yeah, maybe," said Henry quietly.

"It was too perfect for any Digimon, or human," said Rika, repeating what Renamon had said the night before. "Maybe they're called Shadows because, like that woman said, you can't identify them as anything else. And that's why there wasn't any evidence."

"Wait, there's still something I don't get," said Kazu. "When and if one of those things killed that person, the message it left had perfect spelling. How do you explain this?" he asked quizzically, indicating the sheet of paper that Rika found.

"There can't be only one of those things," said Takato. "That lady said that the Shadow we saw was being born. It's obviously not as smart as whatever killed Riley…not yet, at least."

"And it probably won't be long until they strike again."

Henry turned to the source of the voice. "Suzie? How long have you been here?"

"Long enough," said the ten-year-old, walking over to them and unrolling a newspaper. The major headline was yet another murder, much in the same manner as Riley's…the victim this time was Tally Onodera. "See? If we hang around for too long, it won't be long until one of us or our Digimon is six feet under. We need to find a way to get rid of these things, and fast. Otherwise…well, who knows?"

"I agree," said Rika. "We have no way of knowing how long it'll be until another person is killed by these things. I'm guessing that they only come out after sundown, so we'll need to be more alert then." She turned to Renamon. "You up for this?"

"When am I not?" The fox Digimon looked to the sky. "Time to save the world again."

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Kinda short, I know. But, how'd ya like it? Hm? Please review, if only to let me know that my life has meaning!! ^_^