Newest chapter here. I thank all reviewers for reviewing my story. A little surprise is added in this chapter though. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to whoever owns them, not me. I only own Catastrophe, Cyber Agumon, D-merger and Helios. Don't sue. You will gain nothing.

"…"- Talking

'…'- Thinking

Chapter 6: The Faithful and the Faithless

The throne room in the main base of the Alliance Army was a spectacular place. It was very brightly lit with many gigantic chandlers in blue hanging on the ceiling. The candles on the chandlers were burning very brightly and seemed to signify the flame of life. It was well decorated with the banners of the different units of the army. The place looked liked a throne room in medieval Europe. Behind the throne, the banner of the Alliance Army hung proudly. It was a white cross with angel wings. The floorings of the room were made of marble and it was very well polished. One could see their own reflection when looking at it. On the throne, a blonde teenager was sitting there with his eyes closed. He was waiting for the arrival of one of his trusted companion in the past. They were a very formidable team with experience that the Renegade could never match. The teenager gave a small smile. The two would definitely be able to crush the Renegade and his partners with little problem. With the Renegade out of the way, he would not need to fear the sword of destruction, the Catastrophe from destroying the shield erected that protected his base. He adjusted his regal clothing that were blue in color and sat straight as he heard the guards announcing the arrival of his awaited comrades.

With a wave of his hand, he stopped the two from giving him the usual greetings. They were his friends from before and they definitely did not need to greet him this way. This greeting was set up by Jijimon, as it would be good to install respect to the leader of the Alliance Army and also the King of the Vaccine. Giving a warm smile, he greeted the two.

" Well met old friends! It seemed that the two of you are as well as ever!"

Smiling ever so slightly, the girl replied back to him " You seem well Lord Takeru."

Takeru shook his head slightly and said in a tired tone " Come on Juri. We are old friends now. Surely not even you want to address me with this."

" All right than Takeru." Juri answered brightly. " However, what is it that you want me and Leomon for?"

Takeru's expression darkened. Using a serious voice, he told her " The Renegade. I have heard that he is with the Musyamon guerilla unit at the West Mountains. I think that they are aiming to destroy the supply depot we have set up there. I need you to get there and take care of the Renegade."

Juri frowned. Fighting viral digimon is one thing, but fighting against a human that was the same as her gave her doubts. After all, she did not want to kill the man anyway. Slowly, she opened her mouth " Do I have to…kill him?"

Seeing the hesitation Juri had when he told her his request, Takeru was not surprised by her question. Shaking his head he answered Juri calmly. " No Juri. I don not want you to do that. What I want you to do is to take him down, not kill him. For this purpose, I'm going to sent Patamon to help you. Once he and his partners are down, Patamon will take care of everything. All you have to do is follow my instructions. Please, do me a favor."

After hearing this, Juri gave a sigh of relieve. After all, she was no murderer. Nodding her head, she agreed to help him and requested for permission to leave right now. She knew that it would take some time to travel west and she too need time to prepare for it. She headed out of the room with Leomon.

"…"

" What are you thinking about Takeru?"

Takeru twirled around to see his partner Patamon flying towards him. Giving a small sigh, he answered Patamon's question. " Nothing Patamon. Just that I feel guilty for doing this… Juri trust me after all…"

Patamon too gave a sigh. He knew that this would happen since that fateful day where they had done 'it'. However, the most he could do is support Takeru as both a partner and friend. Landing onto Takeru's shoulders, he tried to console him. " Come on Takeru! Cheer up!"

Takeru shook his head at his friend's pitiful attempt to cheer him up. However, a smile did appear out of his face as he was touched by Patamon's thoughtfulness. Adjusting his clothes one more time, he gave Patamon a thumbs up to signify that he was okay. He saw Patamon's relieved and happy expression and gently told him to get ready. As Patamon flew away, Takeru further enforced his mind. ' This would just be like that time… Renegade, be grateful that I'm not going to kill you…'

Passage to Transportation in Alliance main base

" Juri, are you fully prepared for battle?"

Leomon was walking next to his partner. From what he had heard from the Floramon that was the first and only surviving digimon that had ever encountered the Renegade, that person was just a teenager of age about 16-17, only about a year or two older than Juri. However, according to her, he was a very powerful warrior, able to strike down digimon of even ultimate level with his sword. His partners were described to be as powerful as mega, and that there were only of champion level. Leomon did not know whether these were true or not as the Floramon was quite unstable as she told her encounter, by the few boys that returned after an encounter with the Renegade said the same thing as well. Worst, their partners were deleted by the Renegade and his partners and were loaded, thus could not be reborn. Whoever this person was, he must be very dangerous and if he could delete digimon without blinking an eye, what he would do to Juri in battle would be unthinkable.

" Yes Leomon. Don't worry too much. However, we got to be on our toes though… This Renegade seemed to be very powerful…"

Leomon nodded his head. No matter what happen though, he would protect Juri. This was his duty and also something that an old comrade had asked him to swear to do. Even if it means his life, he would protect Juri. He would do so in the place of those who were not able to do so. Following his partner who was waving to him from the transport, he gently put Patamon who was flying frantically to the train onto his broad shoulders and entered the transport. He took his seat beside Juri as usual and closed his eyes. If he was right, he would need this rest to prepare to fight the Renegade and his partners. Beside him, Juri looked outside of the transport's window as it started moving.

' I will fight… for the peace and for the rest of you as well… Ryo, Rika, Takato and Henry…'

In the West Mountains, Musyamon's Camp

Helios was staring into space again. No one around the camp had any idea what was wrong with him. He was only alive during their raids on the supply depot of the Alliance Army. Other than that, he would simply stare into space with his eyes distant, deep in though. Not even his partners Black Agumon and Cyber Agumon knew what was wrong with him. Both of them knew that Helios was a rough and tough man but always had a fire in his eyes. Now, he lost the fire and seemed to be just a walking corpse that lived for combat alone. It was not that the two did not try to talk to him, but they would simply receive no response. Liked Cyber Agumon had said before, when he deleted the children's digimon, it triggered an unhappy memory's return. Whatever it was, it completely messed up with Helios's head and caused him to be in his walking dead state.

' It is all the same… damn it! What the hell am I doing? Why am I sticking my ass in other people's business? I am way too self-righteous and am too arrogant. What made me think that I am here to save anything?'

Helios could only see those flashbacks of that ugly incident. That was his biggest mistake and his worst mistake. He though he had move on from it but in truth, he did not. All he did was hid it in the corner of his mind. He never faced it directly. Worst of all, he had to commit the same stupid crime again despite the fact that he had swore not to do this again in front of his mentor's grave. The only time that he could escape from those flashbacks were during combat and that was why he was so engross in it.

As these thoughts ran through Helios's mind, he did not notice his two partners trying to speak to him. They had been trying for many times now from the day they arrived to the camp till now but he was still not responding. Shaking his head, Cyber Agumon spoke. " It is useless. He is not going to respond."

Black Agumon gave a defiant shake of his head. " No! I will not give up! He will wake up alright! I will show you!"

Cyber Agumon shook his head again and told Black Agumon " You have say that for many times. Listen to me. This is something he have to deal with himself. There is nothing we can do. If he cannot stand up again, then he is weak. Whatever it is, trust him."

Black Agumon nodded his head reluctantly. However, he was not going to give up without a try. Looking at his partner, he threw a weak Pepper Blast on his face to get his attention. Seeing that it did not work, he too walked away with Cyber Agumon. At this moment however, Musyamon walked in with his small unit of six. He had a serious look on his face and the two partners of Helios knew that he was going to announce something important. Making a circle around Helios, they all sat down and Musyamon took out a map and put it in the middle.

" This is the map of the supply depot. As we have only a few soldiers, we would have to think of a plan to remove the supplies from the area and at the same time destroy the base to cripple the offense of the Alliance Army in the West Mountain area. I am open to all suggestion."

After looking at the map carefully, Cyber Agumon gave a few calculations as he studied the terrain of the area, the different rooms of the supply depot and a plan slowly form out of his head. Coughing slightly to get the attention of the rest of the people there, he gave his plan to Musyamon.

" The area around the supply depot are filled with treacherous mountains. For some reason, there did not seemed to be aerial guard for the base. Thus, I think that two of your men should create a diversion and attack from the right while another two of your men attack from the left to act as diversion as well. Then, my partners and I will sneak into the supply depot when things get hectic and destroy their power supply as well as to attract attention. This way, the pressure on your men whom attacked from left and right would reduce and you and your remaining men can carry the supplies away and also destroy the base at the same time. We will be your rear guard."

Musyamon nodded his head and accepted Cyber Agumon's plan. However, he only had one concern and it was the human. He was not very sure if he could depend on him. Sure, he was a formidable fighter and trustworthy comrade-in-arms despite his rather dead attitude when outside combat. However, this was a battle of survival for viral digimon. Could he really be trusted? After all, he was a human and human were the first to initiate the attack on them.

Cyber Agumon saw Musyamon's look of uncomforted directed at Helios and could immediately guessed what was his hesitant. Assuring Musyamon that Helios was not liked other human was quite easy, as he had proven himself in combat and Musyamons respected formidable fighters. After solving this, they set off towards the supply depot of the Alliance Army.

West Mountains, Alliance Supply Depot

The group had succeeded in reaching the camp without detection. Black Agumon saw the fire back in his partner's eyes and knew that he was ready for combat. So far, they were waiting for the right opportunity to strike out at the Alliance Supply Depot. He had yet to digivolve as it would be easier to stay undetected in his small rookie form. Cyber Agumon did the same as well. Musyamon gave a signal to his men on the left and right of the supply depot and thus signified the start of the battle.

From Helios's point of view, it seemed that the plan had worked out perfectly. The guards were all moving towards to the left and right to fight against the Musyamons on the two sides. Seeing the right time, he motioned to his partners to charge into battle. Now, this was a part that Helios had came to like. Combat. It just made you forget about everything else.

' Helios… Don't you know that what you are doing is equivalent to running away?'

Helios tried shaking his head clear as he heard the voice of the little girl in his head again. Whatever she was saying, he was not going to care. There were more serious matters at hand liked how to survive a fight. He saw his two partners digivolved into their Champion form as soon as they had entered the base and started to engage the enemy digimon which seemed to be Gargomon and Clockmon. They were of course no match for the two and the Gargomon and Clockmon group were deleted almost as fast as they had appear. The two loaded their data to remain fresh and Helios felt the raise in power again. Brandishing the Catastrophe from his black coat, he joined the battle as he too deleted digimon after digimon. At the same time, the three of them were moving towards the Power room which supplied power to the base.

As they entered the room however, Black Greymon and Dark Tyranomon were knocked off balance and were sent flying out of the room by an armored angel with a purple sword. Helios immediately sensed a very powerful aura from it and before he could step out to help his partners, he was stopped by a sword. Leaping backwards and at the same time slashing the power and speed boosting cards to aid his partners in combat against whoever that thing was, he turned to face his opponent.

What he saw was a tall lion and man hybrid that was in front of him. He was wearing black pants and he was battle-scarred. From the look of his stance, he seemed to be a very experience fighter. Behind him, he could see a petite looking girl with reddish brown hair standing in front of the main power generator. She was wearing a green skirt with a yellow shirt underneath. She seemed to be holding onto something that looked a little different from the kids before. She wore an expression of pure determination and for some reason, Helios suddenly felt inferior to her. Worst, with the girl here, this meant that he would have to repeat what he had done before. Giving a loud curse, Helios charged towards Leomon with Catastrophe on his side.

On the outside, Black Greymon and Dark Tyranomon were not having any luck against the armored angel known as Holy Angemon. He was way above the two champions' level in terms of fighting experience and power. He easily dodged their attacks and simply cancelled out their melee attacks. The two had already received many wounds and they knew that they would not last. Whoever they were fighting against must be insanely strong as they had their states modified by Helios already. All of a sudden, Black Greymon's world turned black and the last thing he knew was that Dark Tyranomon was flying towards him…

Helios gave a grim smile as he maintained his stance. He was right. The Leomon in front of his was very experience in combat. He had received cuts here and there as he fought Leomon. The girl behind him did not help his situation as she had slashed cards to Helios's surprise and powered up Leomon. However, he could tell that Leomon was in a worst condition then he was as Leomon had even more cuts and was breathing heavily. Strangely, he had felt his partners' aura became weaker. This only tells him that they had been defeated. Helios still remembered the plan and knew that he had to act quick to ensure the survival of the Musyamon unit. Narrowing his eyes, he gave a primal howl and leaped towards Leomon.

Juri was nervous. The Renegade was indeed a formidable fighter and he could even be better than Leomon. She had even slashed cards to help power Leomon but he was still losing. After uttering a quick prayer to her friends to watch over her, she managed to find the card that she was looking for- digivolve into ultimate! Without hesitation, she slashed the card and a familiar blue light surrounded Leomon. The Renegade was knocked back by the light as Leomon digivolved.

Helios gave a curse as he hit the floor hard. He did not expect that to happen. Now, he saw the lionman from before turning into a cyborg with his head still intact. Scanning its info quickly, he realized that this was Grapleomon, the ultimate form of Leomon. As he stood up and readied himself for battle, he heard the Grapleomon speak to him.

" Why do you fight, Renegade?"

Grapleomon was very curious. This Renegade was a very powerful individual. He was even stronger than some digimon he had fought before. The Renegade actually managed to gain the respect of Grapleomon via his excellent combat abilities and his fine moral. Despite seeing Juri slashing the cards to power him up, he did not attack the girl. Not once had he strike at Juri and this was to be respected. This was why he had asked this question.

Helios was unable to answer. Even he himself did not know his own reason for fighting. For the viral digimon? Nah, he was not that noble. Seriously it was to survive. Wiping the sweat off his eyebrow, he told Grapleomon " I fight to survive."

" Then you will lose, as a warrior without a reason to fight is the weakest."

Before Helios could even retort Grapleomon, he was pummeled with his attacks. Grapleomon was much more powerful than his previous form and every punch and kick he delivered hurt. Not only it knocked the wind out of Helios, but it also blocked out all his chances to counter attack. With a roar, Grapleomon delivered a low, middle and high kick combo on Helios and gave him two quick jabs and one strong uppercut. Before Helios could fly off due to the impact, Grapleomon did his Cyclone kick which nailed Helios hard on the head and he crushed onto the floor hard.

Grapleomon was more than surprised to see Helios stood up. Even though it was slow, he was still able to stand. This shows Grapleomon clearly how strong his will to survive was. Not even a mega level digimon could get up so soon after that Cyclone Kick. Grapleomon decided to give him an advice " Why don't you join us? With your help, we can bring forth peace to this land faster."

Spitting his blood onto the ground, Helios spoke, with ferocity. " By annihilating the viral digimon or enslaving them? No way."

Grapleomon sigh as he heard that answer. Calmly, he told Helios, " The virus initiated the attack by murdering our comrades…"

" And they say you all initiated the attacks!"

Before Grapleomon could say anymore, Holy Angemon's broke out, " There is no need to reason with the Renegade, Grapleomon!" As he entered the room, he tossed his two partners that had been reverted to rookie towards him. As he was already winded, Helios failed to dodge and his partners crashed onto him and the three hit the floor together.

Juri could not stand to look at this any longer. Looking at Helios with hopeful eyes, she pleaded to him, ""Please, stop this meaningless fight!"

Struggling to get up Helios retorted " Fighting for ones freedom is not meaningless."

" That is for them. What about you? What do you fight for?"

The question from Holy Angemon shut Helios's mouth. He fought for… what? Maybe his own survival but…

" A person with no reason to fight should just stay out of the battlefield!' stormed Holy Angemon. He slowly moved towards the three fallen fighters as he materialized the Excalibur on his arm. Snapping his eyes wide suddenly, Helios gave a mighty leap with all his strength and hurled himself straight towards the main power generator. He crashed onto it with a sickening thud and he was electrocuted almost instantly. Juri, Grapleomon and Holy Angemon stared at the scene stupefied. They had not expected the Renegade to do something as insane as this!

Breathing, but still barely alive, Helios gave a smile devoid of humor. Well, at least those Musyamon could continue with their plan. He felt so very tired and felt the welcoming darkness calling over to him. However, he refuse to die. He want to live…live!

All of a sudden, Black Agumon was covered in black light. The trio from the Alliance could do nothing but see Black Agumon digivolved into his ultimate form. Black Agumon grew larger than even Black Greymon when all of a sudden his skin fell off, revealing white bones and organs underneath. He grew boned wings and on his back was an organic missile. Black Agumon had digivolved into the nightmare known as Skull Greymon.

With a bestial roar, Skull Greymon rammed himself against Holy Angemon. As he was caught off guard, he got knocked onto the side of the wall. Growling, Skull Greymon attacked Grapleomon with his razor sharp boned claws. It scratched Grapleomon's armor badly and even managed to damage it. Seizing the opportunity, he fired his trademark attack, the Dark Shot at the winded Grapleomon. Grapleomon took a direct hit and got smashed onto the floor beside Juri.

Juri looked at Grapleomon with concern. He was the only one left that she could depend on. He had protected her for so long… She was not going to lose him now! Smiling gently to Grapleomon, she helped him up. Grapleomon immediately understood her intention and nodded his head. Juri's digivice lighted up and Helios could see the bright lights and then a Gold Lion emerged.

The lion had two mean looking teeth and razor sharp claws. Helios could conclude that it was a mega. However, his vision was pretty blur due to the electric shock he had received just now. He did hear the lion said something like " Power without brains to use it is useless" and after a flash, he saw Skull Greymon got knocked back to his rookie form. He could no longer tell what happened as blood from his wounded head was tainting his vision. All he could see was that Holy Angemon was going for the kill at his two partners and without thinking, he forced himself to jump towards them.

Holy Angemon was shocked to see the Renegade jump from nowhere to shield his partners. He was pretty sure he was dead after that electric attack. However it seemed not to be the case. His Black Agumon digivolved due to their will to survive… Looking at his sword that was stained with the Renegade's blood, he could not help but felt guilty as he had harmed a human. The gash on his back was very bad and blood was pouring out of it. Remembering Takeru's orders, he moved back and summoned the Gate of Destiny. Where ever the Renegade go will be his own destiny…

Somewhere

' Come on Helios! You cannot die here! There is still much to accomplish! No, I will not let you die…'

This is all for this chapter. Got to thank Black for pointing out what I lack in my stories. There will be improvement from now on. More interaction before combat then.