In the End

by Fizzy 13

Um... Something a friend and I cooked up. It's a kinda dark songfic cotaining Linkin Park's 'In the End' lyrics. Let's just put it this way: Rika loses her championship title to a mysterious guy and vows revenge... What she doesn't know is that 'Arvin' pl

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Tamers. If I did, then Jeri would've been killed during the final battle, Guardromon would've bio-merged with Kazu, Ryo would've had hair that matched his eyes, Yamaki would've been an MIB reject (actually, he really is) and by the time the series ended scheduled to marry Riley in the next few weeks, and Terriermon would've been a Happosai wannabe. As for Arvin Sloane, the name belongs to J.J. Abrams, the genius who originally got the idea for making such a topnotch series such as ALIAS. If I owned him, he would've been Sydney's father, and Jack would've been the Director of SD-6. The Arvin Sloane in this fic belongs entirely to me. Why I used the name was a complete mystery so don't ask me why.

AN: This came into my head when I was watching a rerun of that episode that shows a brief history of Rika's becoming Queen of the Cards, and how she met Renamon. The lyrics might not exactly match the theme, but I figured that the song as a whole would set a perfect atmosphere for this fic. At least I think so… try listening to Linkin Park's 'In the End' while reading it to find out. Anyway, expect some evil, evil, evil, more evil, a lot more evil, and a hell of a lot more evil on Rika's part. As for Renamon, well, she can… um, I dunno, go to hell or something? This is also a post-reaper where she loses the championship battle to… not Ryo (He's taking a break from card battling), but some mystery evil guy… who isn't me, that's for damned sure. Warning: some minor to major OOC, some cursing, some line of thought, some murderous ideas, some more cursing, some more murderous ideas, many evil moments, character death (maybe), attempted rape, psychological torture on Rika's part, and some gratuitous babbling by me. Hell, I think I'm already babbling! I had to research the mechanics for Digi-Battle Card Play for this, and even afterwards my idea of how it works is extremely sketchy. That's what I get for having a most highly unreliable source *points accusing thumb at younger brother*. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Here's another thing: Before reading this, I suggest you conduct whatever Holy, Sacred, Blessed, Consecrated, Hallowed, Deified, and Goody-Two-Shoes Protection Rituals you know of using any related artifacts you have, because you are about to enter the realm, world, existence, universe, cosmos, but most accurately, insanely warped, twisted, and sinisterly evil mind of THE MASTER OF DISASTER. If you're done with that, then please go ahead and read this little thing I call:

In the End

A Tamers Fanfiction

By Fizzy 13 and newbi

(It starts with)
One thing / I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time

"The Winner and National Champion: Arvin Sloane Jr.!" announced the tightly dressed man in a business suit as he lifted the aforementioned person's right arm in a victory gesture. Sloane was, to put it simply, foreign. That could be discerned from the outfit he wore. It was your standard turn-of-the-20th-century American boy's clothes: black beret covering his messy dirt blonde tresses, roughly textured long-sleeved granite-colored suit with white undershirt, and brown, high-cut, thick-soled mountaineering shoes. He smirked wryly, his crimson eyes boring holes deep into the greatest adversary he'd ever had: the redhead sitting at the front row dressed in a blue-hearted T-shirt and jeans who was returning his stare with one that gave an impression so cold that you would freeze down to the core if you weren't careful.

Arvin leisurely recalled, with a sense of sadism, how he had defeated that girl with his so-called 'Reaper Combination'; how she had thwacked the playing table in frustration and seemingly undeniable rage at him. His smirk widened into a grin that showed his toothpaste-commercial-perfect teeth as he felt her stab him with imaginary frozen daggers that shot out from her spiteful lavender eyes. Such a wasteful combination of beauty and talent, he thought of an old poem that would match her perfectly. My queen's love was smooth and cold like a frozen landscape, a sharp and deadly scimitar, beautiful and painful as the fire that berths the flowering of lavenders in the spring. How I wish I knew the best way to love her back - how I wish, in my undeserving state, I could love her back at all... It's not even a useful combination in the first place.

He'd emigrated from America of his own accord, his family far behind him. At 17 and living large, he found his own way around Japan by living off income from large-scale investments made by his father in the Japanese economy around two decades ago, as well as continuous grand-scale e-commerce referrals. His current total income was at least 50000 Yen daily and growing. Playing with DBCs was merely something he did for free time, a goal aside his main goal. He didn't gloat his victory at all simply because he didn't consider it a victory. He considered it a simple child's game, unlike some of the obsessed Digimon fanatics who were also present in the room, jealous that he won a trophy that they should've won; a trophy that wasn't even made of real gold. That he learned when he tried to bite the card player's hand and consequently spit out the gold paint that covered a cheap piece of plastic junk.

All I know
time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away

Rika Nonaka glared ever so hatefully at that haughty-looking young man standing up on stage, holding up an already damaged IDBCA 1st place trophy as he flashed his blindingly shining teeth in her direction. For a moment, she could swear that a flashbang grenade had exploded directly in front of her, the only difference being that the explosion lacked the deafening sound that all grenades let out. As far as she was concerned, it was supposed to be her standing up there on stage, holding up that very same trophy - undamaged, mind you - and smiling evilly at him as he sat in the very monoblock chair she was sitting in right now, glaring back at her. Right now, the name Arvin Sloane Jr. was the most horrid one she could ever think of, the subject of all her anger and hatred.

Frankly put, it was pointless to hate somebody who was simply better than you at what you did, since it just proved that somebody in this world was more obsessed with your kind of hobby than you were. Rika wasn't the kind of person to consider points, though. Besides, just by looking at his eyes, she could tell that he wasn't interested in the craft itself, that he was doing this simply because he had nothing better to do. It was bad enough to lose to somebody who was more of a fanatic than you were, hell, even understandable, in fact, judging from the given points. It was far worse to lose to the kind of person who merely played the game out of boredom from doing all of his business transactions.

She saw him now as a pitiful and cowardly weakling who hid within this world of hers - this domain that she ruled (used to at least) - to get away from the sick realities of life. All the more an excellent reason for why she was going to make Arvin Sloane Jr. pay very dearly for this outrage. One way or another, she was going to regain the title 'Queen of the Cards'… if it was the last thing she ever did. Rika took another look at him as she stood up to leave, noting the way he kept his eye on her… it was as though he had some deep inner desire for her… perhaps to see her dead - maybe even worse. She shook the disturbing idea that loomed on the horizon out of her mind before it could even get there as she briskly walked out of the Audio Visual Hall and of the building.

It's so unreal
Didn't look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on / but didn't even know
Wasted it all just to
Watch you go

The clouds were dark gray, the possibility of rain becoming imminent in this metropolis of Tokyo. People never stayed put there, ever. Day in and day out, it was always a flood of vehicles and pedestrians clouding the streets and sidewalks of this great complex of steel and cement. Always present, however, were the hidden forces that truly drove the nature of this concrete jungle… forces that were understood only by few. The last of the sun's visible rays glinted off the city hall's tall structure, ricocheting from the tinted window of the car that it hit, and finally found its way to temporarily blind the wearer of the sharply crafted, dark blue sunglasses, namely Rika Nonaka.

She strolled down the busy sidewalk of the city, headphones attached to the sides of her head, playing another one of the bitter tunes that she was so used to listening to. Home wasn't too far away from the IDBCA's competition hall, just a few blocks… Home, eh? They said that home was where the heart lay. Where did hers? She couldn't tell. As far as she knew, it was gone. Did that mean that she no longer had a home to go to? Her gaze fell onto the flamboyant billboard that announced the IDBCA's National Championship round for the current date. They should change that space now… The mental comment was simply a lie to herself. She didn't really care about that damned billboard anyway. She was really thinking more of how to regain that title that she lost. More importantly, however, was the fact that the procedure running through her head had something to do with the torment of Arvin Sloane Jr.

"Sloane…" Rika hissed just as the image of his mutilated corpse appeared in her head. She shook her head in disgust at how low she was getting. The easiest way to get rid of this kind of mentality was to fix the problem… by any means possible. That was when she collided with somebody. "Watch it will you, buddy?" she turned to see who the dimwit that bumped into her was. A slight gasp escaped her lips as she now looked into the carmine irises or that whom she now hated the most. "Arvin Sloane…"

I kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart
What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I tried
so hard

The bereted boy smiled the kind that could kill as he picked up something that Rika had probably dropped onto the pavement when they made contact. "Sorry…" he handed her a mostly white, irregularly shaped electronic device, its screen surrounded by blue. From her experiences in life, she could conclude from several sources, including expression, tone, even eyes, whether the person was sincere in what he was saying or not. The apology was too obviously artificial. What was the deal with that? Did he want her to know that he was insincere, or did he just slip? He wasn't the kind to screw up, though. He looked more of the cold and calculating kind of person. "I think you dropped this," she snatched her Arc from his open palm, clutching it so tightly to her chest that her fist started to spasm.

"Humph…" she clipped it back onto her jeans with sharp precision as she walked around, and eventually, past him, leaving behind a trail of seething cold. Evidently, she didn't notice him keep his eye on her as she slowly vanished from his sight.

Arvin Sloane Jr. smiled menacingly to himself, frightening others that dared to even look at him. The boy looked pretty much ridiculous, holding up a trophy in the middle of the sidewalk, smiling awkwardly, as though he were posing for some kind of invisible photographer. Right now, though, he completely ignored the odd stares people were giving him. In fact, he ignored everything on the planet except that very trace of metaphorical frost that continued to trail on, as well as its owner. I felt that, girl… You really want to settle it that way, eh? So be it. By tonight, you will be mine!

(I tried so hard)
 And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter

"Well it's not like he took your virtue or anything like that…" Rumiko Nonaka stopped short of completing her statement as her daughter threw her a quizzical look; complemented by the somewhat more negative stare her mother hit her with. Indeed. Sometimes, the supermodel didn't even realize what she was saying until it was too late to do anything about it. She silently chewed the tempura she had put into her mouth after being silenced by both earlier mentioned parties, slightly embarrassed at what she said about that Sloane person. She didn't even know what he was like, so what right did she have to judge him?

"You don't get it," Rika explained, "It's not that I don't like losing to him. It's because I don't like him!" She realized then that whenever she saw him - whenever she even thought of him - she felt unnaturally frightening chills claw their way up her spine, tormenting her senses. "He's strange… almost… scary." The bamboo pipe at the residence's pond tilted at this, unloading its liquid payload into the transparent collection of water, scaring away a nearby goldfish, the wind howling almost ominously in consecutiveness. What was it about him that scared the redhead? It was those eyes, mainly… those murderous, blood-red, spiteful eyes. She felt as though they were the only things among all others that could possibly penetrate her frozen fortress and enter the very depths of her soul itself.

"Scary?" her grandmother inquired, skeptical of what had been said of this Sloane person. Surely, she was merely exaggerating. "In what sense?" Of course, Rika was very accurate on several accounts, relying only on what she saw, and what she felt about what she saw. Seiko wondered what that Arvin Sloane Jr. looked like to have broken her darling little granddaughter's iron composure. He must be more of a monster than a man to have shaken her that much… I'll have to consult with the mystics on this. Those books were always the most useful ones. Even in the advanced times of today, modern science could not explain how they were so accurate… most of the time, anyway.

One thing / I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme
To remind myself how

"It's like whenever we're in the same room, I'm always his center of attention." The youngest Nonaka at the table shivered slightly, "Even when I don't see him, I can feel him… watching me. And when I turn around, there he is, staring at me almost… lustfully." She shivered yet again, apparently frightened by what had just left her own tongue. So now Arvin Sloane has some deep, suppressed desire for me? She reassured herself, What's next? Rika slowly brought a Maki to her lips, savoring the seaweed-crepe-wrapped fish-rice-vegetable combination in its sheer perfection before she began to chew, spreading the flavor all over her mouth, and later, down her throat as she swallowed the strictly Japanese dish.

"Well, don't worry about that anymore. It's not like he's one of those digimon you used to fight with everyday." 'Used to'… what did her mother mean by that? It hurt, although that was a fact. Digimon… the real digimon, at least, were a thing of the past… three years and running, to be more precise. Nothing exciting whatsoever has happened since all of their partners were sucked back into the Digital World - the Internet as Director Yamaki put it. Ever since that time, Rika had been wishing - no that wasn't strong enough - praying for some kind of miracle to occur that would reunite her and Renamon. Every night, no matter the day, date, or even occasion, she would lock her self up in her room, ask to remain undisturbed for the rest of the night, and after hitting the light switch, get down on her knees and start reciting every religious chant she knew, begging the gods - if there were really any - to bring Renamon back.

You can have whatever you want. Take my friends… take my family… I don't even care if you take my soul after I die! Just give Renamon back to me… She had mentally written that piece at school, missing half of the extremely interesting lecture concerning why time didn't exist. Their Professor sounded like one of Einstein's 'Relativity Club' cohorts who thought up of completely nutty theorems that benefited humanity in no way at all whatsoever. So what if time didn't exist? The only thing that thing nullified was the possibility of Time Travel, a concept which, within itself, was also hardly possible. The plate at her seat, empty, was pushed back, and the former Queen of Cards stood up to finish her day.

I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I'm surprised it got so (far)

"Investigation teams from an assortment of local law enforcement agencies are now tracking down deranged psycho-genius Arvin Sloane Jr., disowned son of highly renowned multi-billionaire Investment Banker, Arvin Sloane Sr.. Sloane Jr. has just escaped from Fairfax County Asylum last month and is rumored to have smuggled himself into Japan, living on sold stock investments and prize money from Digi-Battle Card tournaments." the news reporter announced, something that caused Rika's eyes to widen at what she heard. By the time that the D-Reaper was defeated, she had saved enough to manage to buy a 15-inch screen-TV for her room. Although it wasn't cable ready, the reception was good enough and certainly much better than having none at all.

"Local Intelligence Sources indicate that he is to be considered armed and dangerous. Volunteering eyewitnesses report that he was last seen at the IDBCA building in downtown Shinjuku, snatching the Championship out of the hands of four-time National Champion and 'Digimon Queen', Rika Nonaka, daughter of famous supermodel Rumiko Nonaka." That statement should've caused her blood to boil to the point that she would scream in rage had it not been for what she had heard about Sloane earlier. Is that why he's been looking at me all the time? She considered the possibilities of what he planned to do to her. They were so many. Among the most possible on her list included murder, next to which was kidnap for ransom… or maybe even worse… rape.

The queen (she still considered herself the queen) shivered at that last thought. There was no way he was going to let that son of a bitch kill her, or even steal her chastity like what her mother joked. She was saving that moment for somebody special… somebody who understood her situation… somebody who understood her… somebody whom she doubted, already existed at this time. Rika sighed at that. In any case, however, she had to stay on her guard for the next few nights - the next few months if she had to - or, more specifically, until the authorities caught him. If that nutcase thought that he was getting anywhere within a two-meter proximity of her, he was wrong… dead wrong. And she was going to prove that fact.

Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me
In the end

Unbeknownst to anybody save herself, Rika had gained illegal possession of a .44 magnum revolver for the occasion when somebody or something broke into the house with plans that weren't exactly good for her family. Ever since Renamon and the others returned to the Digital World, she felt the urge to keep it somewhere more accessible than the bottom back corner of her drawer. However, if she did try something like that, her grandmother would, no doubt, find it there and probably interrogate her on why she kept a gun in her room. She knew that a valid answer such as 'for safety precautions' would prove to be invalid to the overprotective Seiko.

Three gentle knocks on her paper-wood door made notice that her grandmother already wanted her to sleep. The redhead Nonaka switched her boob tube off, setting to strip herself of her standard attire and change into something more suitable and comfortable for the next activity… sleep. The set of pajamas that she had since she was a kid (well, in the series, she has worn pajamas, I think) wasn't exactly something she would've worn to a party, but it was comfortable enough to lull her into dreamland in a matter of minutes.

You kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart
What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I
tried so hard
 

The next day, Rika woke up refreshed after a good night's sleep. Well, maybe not so good. She had nightmares about Arvin Sloane Jr. and being caught, tortured, and even 'used' by him. So she was forever turning around trying to wake up, and after waking up, trying to get to sleep again. So... she had bags under her eyes in the morning. Well, maybe not so refreshed either. Still, she did wake up, tired and grouchy as she is.

Anyway, that day was actually Sunday, which meant no school. Not that it was that different for Rika. She never did have many (if any) friends in her small private all-girls school. All the other tamers went to another school that was slightly further away, but her mother insisted that she stayed at her old school, as it was said to produce top students. Of course, it said nothing about digimon tamers...

After Rika got up and had her breakfast, she did her daily chores, like washing the dishes, tidying up her bed. It was the usual, and she never really minded doing them, not since she got used to them at a pretty young age.

Well, after she finished her chores, she decided to start doing her weekend homework (since Arvin Sloane Jr. was still at large, she had stopped her activities outside, like going to the mall. As far as she is concerned, she is on a self-induced curfew, which is on the whole day). Just then, the phone rang, and Rika picked it up. After listening to the voice from the receiver, a look of joy and astonishment appeared on her face, and she rushed out of the house.

(I tried so hard)
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter

Now what could have caused our dear Rika to break her own 'curfew'? Especially on the day she started the thing? Well, none other than business related to Digimon Tamers, of course. In fact, that was Takato Matsuki on the phone. He had called her to tell her that Yamaki and the Wild Bunch had finally managed to develop a program to bring back the digimon from the Digital World, aka the Internet. Hearing the wondrous news, Rika raced away to the Hypnos towers (which were rebuilt) immediately.

At the Hypnos towers, things were more clearly explained to the Tamers who gathered there. After all, you could not blame the Gogglehead for being anxious at breaking the news to Rika, and thus missing many important points. The tamers gathered there learnt that though the device itself was complete, the digimon themselves still have to be found and gathered. The Wild Bunch have sent a drone into the Digital World, and expected all the digimon to return as a group to the real world, one day after the briefing, which meant that the Tamers can expect their digimon back by Monday.

After the gathering and the briefing, Rika walked back to her house with a spring in her step. In fact, she was so happy that she did not think of anything but Renamon. Finally, her three years of waiting have paid off. She will soon be together with Renamon again. This is the time that she had been waiting for all these years.

Upon reaching her house, Rika noticed that it was awfully quiet. On the table in the living room, she found a note from her grandmother, saying that they would be out shopping and that they would be back pretty late. In fact, when Rika found the note, it was already late evening, as the briefing took pretty long, and Rika also took the chance to catch up with everyone else's lives (even the annoying Ryo's), so it was a long time before she started for home.

Just when Rika was walking from the living room to the kitchen, to cook herself some noodles, she heard a noise. Fast as lightning, she whipped out her .44 magnum revolver and aimed it at the source of disturbance. Delirious as she is on having Renamon back, she is still forever alert. After all, it would be pointless to be captured just before she meets Renamon again.

Pointing her revolver in front of her, Rika crept out silently to the yard, where the sound originated from. Turning the corner, her violet eyes met the eyes of someone (or rather something) she had dreamed of many times, and yet have never seen for three years. Someone named Renamon.

In a shaky voice, Rika asked, "Is that really you, Renamon? But…how? I thought the Wild Bunch said that you would come tomorrow."

In her forever calm and never-faltering tone, Renamon replied, "We managed to find everyone ahead of schedule. Then, we contacted the Monster Makers, and were brought here, as a sort of surprise."

Dropping her revolver, Rika rushed into Renamon's arms, embracing a dear friend who she had not seen for three years. Life, however, can be cruel. Just as she was about to touch Renamon, Renamon disappeared, and metal bars sprung up around her. Before her brain registered what had happened, she had already been injected with a sleeping serum. The last thing she saw before falling into a blissful (okay, maybe not so blissful) slumber, was a blurred image that resembles something she had not thought of in about ten hours. Something (or rather, someone) that had haunted her since her loss of her title 'Queen of the cards'. Some psycho named Arvin Sloane Jr.

I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
And for all this
There's only one thing you should know
I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
And for all this
There's only one thing you should know

Arvin looked at his captured prey in glee. His trap worked perfectly, and she reacted as he had expected. After all, he was not labeled a "psycho-genius" for nothing. He had secretly tapped Rika's phone line by tapping the lines outside. This way, he had known about a meeting for "Digimon Tamers" at somewhere named "Hypnos". He originally could not believe his ears when he heard that Rika would be getting a "Renamon" back, but he soon got the gist of things. When Rika was away, he spent his time hacking into the Hypnos' system (since the only clue he got was the word "Hypnos"), and discovering what Rika actually meant, why she was so happy, and the real meaning of "Digimon Tamers" overall. He also got all the details of the project that the Wild Bunch were working on.

Knowing thus many things, Arvin had started setting up a trap. First, he set up a hologram at a spot in the yard. Then, he carefully and meticulously planned out every single detail of his trap. He made sure he got the hologram to look just like the profile available in Hypnos' system, and he made sure the voice waves were the same as well. Then, he cooked up a perfect excuse for Rika to come to Renamon without suspecting anything, and he had tested the trap many times, and each time the result proved satisfactory.

In fact, Arvin Sloane Jr. had raised stalking and hacking to an art. What he expected out of himself is perfection. There must not be a single mistake. He had kept practicing on his victims, so that he would not lose his perfect skills. The prey that he captured was nothing but a by-product of his genius, and he treated them any way he liked. This is the reason the police, and the media, labeled him "psycho-genius". He could hack into any computer he liked, and yet would not leave a single trace of evidence pointing to him. In fact, he would not leave any evidence at all that the computer had been hacked into.

Now, Arvin is moving towards the sleeping Rika. But while his body moved, and prepared to do what he does to almost every single victim, his mind had already moved to the next victim, someone he had picked out of the list that he had seen in Hypnos. Someone named Jeri Katou.

I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter

The End

AN: Okay, so there wasn't any use for that "Research" I did on Digi-Battle Card mechanics in the fic, but what the hey? I was planning to put a battle scene between the two of them, but I realized two things. One, I haven't the slightest idea of how Sloane could possibly do a so-called "Reaper Combination", when I don't even know what cards Rika could possibly throw at him and cause such a thing… in short, I don't even know what the *bleep*ing hell I'm talking about! And two, a card battle scene would just make it a lot longer. Finally, I'd like to give credit to newbi, who did an extraordinary job with finishing this fic that I couldn't. He had officially turned this little thing I cooked up into his very own story. An internationally acclaimed novelist once told me that once you can turn a piece of writing that's given to you into your own story, then that simply means you're good. Congratulations, newb. You've earned it.

[A/N: newbi here. As to Fizzy 13's request, well sorta, I'm doing the ending for this fic. (Thanks Fizzy 13!) For an ending, it's pretty long. For a continuation, it's pretty short. Especially when compared to the rest of the story. Well now, enough of this. On to the 'ending'!!]

[A/N: Well, hoped you enjoyed that. The story itself is only about in a time span of two days or so, but somehow Fizzy 13 and I managed to write 9 pages about it. Main credit goes to Fizzy 13, since I can't write anything without ideas, and I rarely have ideas of my own, not those that start from scratch. Hope you liked the story (and the ending.) I'll try to update my own story as soon as possible, given all the work I have to do.]