Amethyst Blizzard: Me is here again to bring you faithful people another chapter of Devil's Advocates. Yes, me is that.

Floramon: Amethyst doesn't know what she's talking about – her brain has sadly evaporated. So that's why I'm here, to take over! Um…ok what now? Yes, disclaimer! Ok, Amethyst does not own much and unfortunately, Digimon is not one of the few things she has control over. Although, she does own her imagination – for now.

A/N: Um…oh, golly! I'd like to thank my parents, um…my cat, and uh…of course my reviewers! Props to y'all!

Floramon: clears throat Um…Ame? We're on live, you know…

Devil's Advocates

Chapter 17: To Fight The Phoenix

-Caught out alone, and I'm trying to be free

Caught up in things that are inside of me

Looking for something that I cannot see – "After Me" –Saliva

Takato resisted a glance behind him and placed his clenched fist out in front of him, visible to all the Tamers, bar two of course. "Tamers ready?"

Henry placed his own cupped hand on top of Takato's, followed quickly by Kazu, Kenta, Ai and Mako. "Ready!"

The battle had begun.

Beelzemon roared and flew high above the others so that he could look down on the battle scene. The Phoenixmon had not moved from its position on the ledge, its golden wings still folded up under its red-tinged sides. It looked untouchable in its current state, however it was far from its prime. This was a battle that neither side would really win with brute strength alone.

WarGrowlmon was the first to attack, launching his power deep into his chest until it swirled into two large spheres.

"Atomic Blaster!"

After they flew from WarGrowlmon's chest, the spheres swirled together to create one large burst of yellow energy. It directed itself forward until it connected in the middle of the Phoenixmon's crested chest. The consequential smoke rose from the blast and mingled with the dust of the still darkening mist that surrounded the area.

Rapidmon stood fully next to WarGrowlmon and without further ado to watch the smoke clear, he pulled his arms close together to create a triangle in the air. "Tri-beam!"

The triangle emitted a green blast that streamed across the air until it, too, reached the Phoenixmon…or to be more precise, the smoke that still hadn't cleared. Rapidmon's attack hit directly in the middle of the rising smoke, where WarGrowlmon's Atomic Blaster had made its explosion.

From mid-air, Beelzemon could see an aerial view of the fight, though not much could be seen through the concentrated residual smoke. A glint of gold flashed through the dust but it was quickly covered up once again by the smoke. Beelzemon sensed the Ultimates' attacks weren't doing much good against the strong defence of the Phoenixmon, though they seemed to be holding out well since the legendary Digimon wasn't fighting back.

Kazu stood with his arms outstretched, D-Power in his right hand, a modify card in the other. Guardromon stood further in front of him, next to a tired WarGrowlmon. With a swift swipe of his left hand, the modify card Kazu was holding slid into its slot in his D-Power, sparking blue electricity embers.

"DigiModify! MegaKabuterimon's Electro Shocker!"

Guardromon's head sparked with electricity, a blue organic horn sprouting from it slowly, the two inner mandibles emitting an electric blast. A spark flew from the mandibles and ignited a sphere of raw, blue energy. Lifting his small, armoured arms up to the middle of his robotic body, Guardromon gave a roar from the unnatural power that was forming on top of his head. The sphere engulfing the dark blue horn spurted forward suddenly, directing its way to the top of the ledge where the smoke still hadn't cleared around the Phoenixmon. The blue sphere of energy hit its fixed target, right in the middle of the smoke cloud where Rapidmon's Tri-beam had connected.

Kazu gave a victorious shout and turned to face his comrades. "We hit him! Did you see it, dude? There's no way he could have survived that!"

Kenta looked at his friend sideways and used an index finger to slide his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "What happened to that 'understanding the enemy' thing? I thought you said it was just misguided."

Kazu pouted. "Yeah," he began. "But that didn't mean don't attack it."

Takato frowned while looking up at the cliff, trying to pierce his glance through the thickening smoke cloud. "Don't celebrate yet. It's not gone."

Kenta and Kazu turned to stare at the unofficial leader of the Tamers. "What are you saying, Takato?" Kazu took a step forward, still clutching his D-Power tightly.

"He's saying," Henry stepped forward from Takato's other side, frowning deeply, "the Phoenixmon is strong, too strong to be knocked back by that attempt. We'll have to do better than that to destroy it."

Rapidmon nodded from Henry's side. "Yeah, he's right, Gogglebrains. Wipe those egos clear 'cause this is an enemy we don't want to underestimate."

Kazu lifted an arm to wipe a drop of sweat sliding down his brow. "Come on! How dangerous can it be, it's a giant bird who can't fight!"

"Just because the Phoenixmon doesn't fight that doesn't mean it can't." The gruff voice that was Mephismon's pierced through the arguing group. "The Phoenixmon does not fight; it rises. Rises above all so that it may rule all. That is a sure promise I will accomplish my ultimate goal."

Rika struggled free of Ryo's grip around her waist and stood a reasonable distance away from him. "They're fighting it out there, now. How long do you think it'll last without fighting back?"

It was not really a question, yet Ryo felt compelled to answer rhetorically. "I am the Phoenixmon and I can assure you, I will fight if need be."

Chilled by Ryo's unnatural croaky voice, Rika fingered impulsively for her D-Power. "How can you be the Phoenixmon if it is out there," she pointed to the far-off ledge to enforce her point.

Ryo sighed, as if pitying Rika's lack of understanding. "I am the spirit of the Phoenixmon. That," he pointed to the cloud of smoke in the distance in response, "is my host. However, I do not completely control the boy you call Ryo Akiyama; he still carries some consciousness in the back of my mind. I can feel him calling, pleading for me to stop tormenting you."

Glaring hard at the boy, Rika took a daring step towards him, closing the gap between them. "Then what about Stacie? What is her role in this?"

"My dear," Ryo held out his hand slightly to trace the edges of Rika's auburn hair, "don't you learn anything? Stacie Tseng and Ryo Akiyama were both given to me to support my spirit, though the girl isn't needed just now. Ryo's desire for you is far too strong for me to ignore."

Rika took a shaky breath, forming the words carefully so as not to wedge herself into a tight corner. "Whatever Ryo's desire," a slight pause, "I am sure I am far from its objective."

Ryo gave a harsh, mocking laugh. "You couldn't be more wrong, child. What, did you think Ryo didn't care for you when he said he did? He desires you and it burns inside of him; I can feel its searing power."

Unnerved with the passion of those words Rika stumbled back, clutching her D-Power tightly in her hand. Thinking quickly, she tried to consider words to throw Ryo back…anything. She needed to catch him off-guard for her plan to work, if she even had a plan anymore. "Then what about Stacie? He was kissing her when we found them, in the castle."

Stepping forward slightly Ryo curled out an arm to wrap around Rika's waist, pulling her closer to him. "Mephismon controlled her to kiss him, to set this whole thing up," Ryo laughed lightly, though the gruffness of his enforced voice seemed to deepen the level of seriousness in him.

Rika was quick to respond. "Set what up?"

Ryo's strangely mocking smirk never faulted as his arm closed more tightly around Rika's waist. "To throw you off, to unnerve you. He knew you were a dangerous threat and would strike if you were in range. He commanded the girl you call Stacie to kiss Ryo so that your true emotions would show, making you vulnerable. This was exactly how he planned it, to have you far away from the battle soon to rage with a brewing storm."

Barely whispering, Rika leaned back slightly and relied on Ryo's embrace to support her. "What…?"

Crimson irises flickered to crystal blue before retreating back to the bloody hue. "How do you feel now, Rika?" Ryo leaned in closer until their faces were only inches apart. "Jealous? Why, you have no reason to be. All you ever wanted is right here, holding you."

His seductive voice caught Rika unawares, though she was quick to recover, pushing him off her and struggling free once again. "This isn't happening. Not here, not now…"

"What, not now not ever?" Ryo gained a step before holding out a hand, which was quickly slapped away. "Rika, what you want is right here."

Staring at his face, his unnatural crimson eyes and the dried blood that was stilled just under his right nostril from the punch she had thrown before, Rika had to force herself to concentrate on what was actually happening. "God, Ryo," she whispered. "Stop. This isn't you."

"No," Ryo bowed his head slightly, down to her level. "But this is you. Forget about him, what do you want?"

Shaking a breath, Rika stood forcibly and motioned for Taomon. "I want you to leave me alone."

Henry glared hard at Mephismon, trying to focus on his crimson eyes rather than anything else. "What's going to happen to us?"

Takato held out a stopping hand in front of his blue-haired friend. "We're going to fight, that's what's going to happen. No matter who stands in our way."

Kazu nodded and glanced towards Guardromon. "Yeah. He's right. Now let's kick some ass!"

Mephismon glared into the crimson dust towards the Tamers. "Just try." The Ultimate shimmered and dissolved into the darkening mist, leaving the four teenagers and two small children to glance up towards the clearing smoke on top of the cliff.

Yamaki paced along the far wall of the small room he was in, lit only by the lights of a few monitoring computers. He held a small phone up to his ear and waited for the receiving end to pick up. When it did, he immediately perked up and put on his best 'boss' voice he could. "Riley," he said, trying to keep professional. "I'm sorry, I know it's your day off, but I need you to come in." A voice spoke on the other end. After a quick pause, Yamaki gestured to the twirling chair Alice was sitting on. "Yeah, I'll explain everything once you're here."

A click of the phone ended the terse conversation and Yamaki came to stand behind Alice's computer chair, which was still swivelling, much to her boss's discomfort. "You know, that's really obnoxious."

The swivelling immediately stopped and Alice turned a curious look to Yamaki. "She's coming, I take it." Without waiting for a reply, Alice turned back around and began typing something rapidly. "What about Tally? Shouldn't you call her?"

Walking over to a large screen that hovered above the row of computers, Yamaki gave a short backwards glance. "Tally's in Prague reporting on natural disasters. Something government related."

Alice shrugged uncaringly. "Oh."

Yamaki flicked a switch situated just below the plasma screen. The screen shimmered to life, revealing several layers of what seemed to be landforms and water features. It was the mirror image of the smaller screen Alice was looking at, just with some technological writing down in the right corner. It resembled somewhat a sphere, though the edges had been shaded in an inky black. It was a topographic map of the Digital World.

Alice typed something – information of some sort – into her computer and in an instant, seven blinking red lights appeared dotted together, the only exception was one slightly aloof from the others. These were transmissions from the Tamers' D-Powers, except there were seven, not eight. And eight Tamers, including the newly added Ai and Mako, left for the Digital World that day.

Alice hesitated before turning her head to glance at Jeri with worried eyes. "Um…we have another problem."

This sparked Yamaki's attention and he glanced upwards to stare at the large screen. He didn't pick up the worrying detail. "What?"

Turning away from Jeri, Alice looked at Yamaki with probing eyes. "There are only seven transmissions. Eight left this afternoon, not including both Alicia and Brad."

Sighing, Yamaki straightened and rubbed a hand over his forehead. "Ok," he croaked. "Try to communicate with them. Find out who's missing."

Alice nodded. Jeri just stared past the two and looked up at the screen, passive tears forming in her bark brown eyes. She squeezed her hands tightly together and bowed her head.

"Do you think maybe we should stay further back, just incase?" Brad held Alicia's arm protectively, keeping her back a little.

Alicia shook her head decisively. "No. They might need our help."

Brad laughed ironically. "Why would they? They're the ones with the Digimon, not us."

Alicia turned to glare at her friend. "Even so, we don't need monsters to be able to help."

Her statement had a funny twist to it, like a trail of regret. Brad gently pulled her in to him so he could embrace her. He knew she was thinking of her 'ability'. He could tell she was scolding herself mercilessly for bringing them all into this mess. Still, he could understand why she had to say something; Ryo had been missing and she knew where he was.

"It's not your fault."

Alicia sighed and surrendered to Brad's embrace. "That is exactly what Henry said before. But it clearly is my fault. I knew how to get into the Digital World; Mephismon made me write that song, that stupid sentence. I knew what power it had, I knew where it led. Still, I couldn't do it alone, I had to bring others into it."

Brad shook his head. "Not just others. The Tamers, the only people that have any form of control over this whole thing. You did the right thing."

Alicia shrugged, giving up. "Maybe."

Takato clutched his D-Power once more and looked to WarGrowlmon for support. "Ok, let's do this. We'll fight this until the end. There has to be some way we can destroy that thing."

WarGrowlmon nodded and walked a pace forward. His boosters ignited and he was lifted up towards the cliff, so he was in front of the cloud of clearing smoke. A sharp beak pierced through the whispering dust, then the long, red-feathered neck. A screech escaped from the Phoenixmon's beak and its head lifted up to WarGrowlmon's height.

The Ultimate reared his head back and gave a low growl, harnessing his power deep within his chest. It surfaced and transformed into two large spheres of yellow energy, circulating on the outside of WarGrowlmon's armour.

"Atomic Blaster!"

His metallic tail flickered around as he let out the incredible power. The yellow spheres swirled together and created one smooth burst of energy that collided with the Phoenixmon's perfectly rounded head. The blast made a direct hit and threw the giant bird backwards into the air.

The Phoenixmon flapped its large, golden wings and suspended itself in the air, while looking down at WarGrowlmon's retreating form. From behind, Beelzemon aimed his gun at the Phoenixmon's ruffled back. Drawing a large circle in the target area of the Mega Digimon, Beelzemon lifted his gun in five directions to create pentagram within the circumference of the ring.

"Corona Destroyer!"

Beelzemon fired his gun through the pentagram and the pink energy morphed into a large sphere that connected with the Phoenixmon's winged back. The bird gave a painful screech and snapped its head around, and with one quick snatch, collected Beelzemon's gun in its armoured beak.

"Hey!" Beelzemon yelled. "I thought you didn't fight back!"

From the ground, Ai and Mako strained their necks to view the scene, all the while yelling and screaming at the Phoenixmon to give the gun back. Rapidmon cleared his throat before putting both of his arms in the air.

"Rapid Fire!"

The two missiles escaped from Rapidmon's cannon-like hands and flew threw the air until they reached the Phoenixmon's neck, resulting in the gun quickly being dropped from its jaws. Beelzemon was quick to retrieve it and held it once again in front of the powerful phoenix.

"Here's a little present from me to you, Birdbrain!" Beelzemon pulled the trigger swiftly and a large, yellow bullet escaped from it, aiming itself at the Phoenixmon's tender neck. However, the Phoenixmon was too swift and bobbed its head to capture the bullet in its mouth, biting down and crushing it with its jagged teeth.

Mako made an exclamation of surprise and gritted his teeth. "No way…"

Guardromon stepped up and aimed his small arms towards the Phoenixmon, determination creeping into him. "Guardian Barrage!"

The two missiles whistled in the air until they reached the Phoenixmon. The Mega Digimon caught both missiles with its clawed feet and trusted them back down towards the Tamers. MarineAngemon flew up towards them and spat from his mouth two tiny heart-shaped bubbles that engulfed the missiles and evaporated them completely.

Kenta wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "Good job, buddy."

Takato ground his teeth together, searching frantically for an answer to their current problem. Nothing seemed to be fazing the enemy, not in the least bit. And still the Phoenixmon wasn't fighting back; it was just using their own attacks against them. Like it's mocking us.

Suddenly an idea came to the teenager. A crazy idea that would most probably evaporate instantly in the blazing heat of the Phoenixmon's power. Still, it was worth a shot. Calling the Tamers to hustle close together, Takato told them his plan.

With Henry at one side and Kazu at his other, Takato began his theory. "Ok. So far none of our attacks have been working, right?"

Kazu shrugged off Takato's stray arm around his shoulder. "Yeah, no kidding. That thing's just repelling our attacks every time. We have to think of something else."

Takato glanced quickly up at Beelzemon, who seemed to be distracting the Phoenixmon, though he didn't really have to. The phoenix Digimon didn't seem to be attacking on instinct at the moment. "Right. So what I was thinking is that maybe we should use its strategy. Fight fire with fire."

Henry nodded slowly. "Ok…but how are we going to do that? It's not exactly attacking at us blindly. It's just dodging us so far."

Takato glanced at each one of the Tamers while wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "Maybe we could make him so furious that he actually will attack. "

"Mm, not a good idea, Gogglehead." Every one of the Tamers turned around to see Rika's walking figure approaching them, Taomon stalking careful before her. Ryo and Monodramon were nowhere to be seen.

Rika stopped when she reached their makeshift circle and Ai and Mako spread apart to make room for her. "You notice that the Phoenixmon is legendary, and if given the chance to use its attacks, it could most probably wipe out this universe. Which is why Mephismon used Ryo and Stacie as host bodies for the Phoenixmon's spirit, so it wouldn't have the chance to fight outside of those bodies."

Henry nodded his understanding, though everyone else seemed to be less convinced. Kazu spoke up and placed his hands on his hips.

"If what you say is true, then how come the Phoenixmon was able to use our attacks against us?"

Rika sighed and glanced quickly behind her before continuing. "Because the Phoenixmon still has natural survival instincts. It's just lost its ability to fight, but not to defend itself."

Takato sighed and threw his hands up in the air. "Then what are we supposed to do? You know we can't take out that powerful an enemy!"

Rika nodded but her nonchalant look was quickly replaced with a smirk. "We take out Mephismon."

Henry frowned. "But how does that help? I mean the Phoenixmon will still be alive, just without its awakener."

Rika nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly." She looked at everyone's quizzical frowns before continuing with an impatient sigh. "If Mephismon is taken out, then his plans will be too. The Phoenixmon will not have an objective, therefore it won't have any reason to be out and then we can, hopefully, restrain it."

Kenta shifted his glasses, finally catching Rika's drift. "Ok, but won't Ryo and Stacie have to be taken out as well? They're as much a part of this as Mephismon."

Henry nodded his agreement. "Kenta's right. Mephismon orchestrated the whole 'mixing of the blood' thing, so Ryo and Stacie will have to be…annihilated."

Ai gasped and Rika quickly placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll handle Ryo and Stacie. You guys focus on destroying Mephismon, if you can find him."

Kazu scoffed. "Well that should be easy. Someone just ask a dumb question."

Mako looked skywards and gave a confused look. "Hey, why are the Phoenixmon's eyes glowing like that?"

Everyone glanced at Mako before looking in the same direction he was, and sure enough the phoenix's eyes were glowing a bright crimson. Henry started and clutched his D-Power tightly.

"Oh no."

Kazu looked irritably towards his friend. "What do you mean 'oh no'?"

Henry slowly looked at each of his friends. "That's what it did when he made Gargomon fight against us." He glanced nervously at Rika, then Takato. "It's calling."

A gruff laugh interrupted the stunned gasps. "Yes, calling. The one constant in its life is calling," Mephismon appeared with a shimmer of collected data. "Are you ready to face a nation?"

The ambiguous question unnerved the group and Takato looked behind him…and quickly regretted it.

"Don't look back, guys!"

Behind them, a herd of storming creatures kicked up a whorl of dust that mingled with the crimson mist and darkened the area. It was impossible to discern just how many Digimon there were, but sure enough the Phoenixmon had called them there.

Rika caught a glimpse of the approaching stampede and grabbed a hold of Ai's hand, motioning for Kazu to do the same to Mako. "You never said don't look forward, Gogglehead! Everyone, hold hands!"

Rika looked behind and motioned to Taomon, who nodded in response. The group huddled closer together, oblivious to the two missing members of their collection who hadn't been 'converted' yet: Alicia and Brad. Taomon's energy shield engulfed the group without a second's warning, though one group member hadn't made it to them yet. Beelzemon was in mid-air, flying to them with as much force as he could, but there just wasn't enough time left. The stampede of renegade Digimon was closing quickly and Taomon had to take into account the safety of the two youngest members.

Ai screamed, catching sight of Beelzemon outside of the strong bubble-like shield. "Impmon!"

WarGrowlmon fell onto his knee and bent down as far as he could, as did Rapidmon. Guardromon lowered himself into a 'sitting' position and used his body to shield the scene behind the Tamers. WarGrowlmon and Rapidmon did the same, though they couldn't stop the incorrigible Kazu and Kenta from squeezing through their armoured bodies.

"Whoa! There's a Tortomon and a Triceramon! And an Apemon and a Mammothmon!" Kazu stole a glance behind him at the others. "Dudes, you gotta see this!"

Rika sighed and sat down quickly in front of Taomon. "Ugh, no thanks. How can you see through that dust, anyway?"

Without turning back, Kazu answered quickly. "Supersonic vision, Rika. It's great."

Standing next to Ai and Mako, Henry glanced worriedly at Rika. "So that plan didn't work. What are we going to do now?"

Rika shrugged indifferently. "Wing it." Suddenly her lips closed in tightly together and recognition was visible in her eyes.

Henry noticed and immediately inquired. "What?"

Rika slowly traced her eyes up to his level, pure terror forming in her ice violet eyes. "Alicia and Brad."

Henry stopped squeezing Ai's hand comfortingly and straightened, looking impulsively outside the bubble, though he was unable to see anything vaguely recognisable. "What are we going to do?"

Standing with a grunt, Rika glanced towards her partner, who nodded in response. "Isn't that the question of the day."

Reaching for her sunglasses, Rika ducked under Taomon's arm and walked straight through her shield and out into the rising mist. Taomon looked at the others sternly when they yelled out her name.

Henry, however, gestured to Takato to take care of the younger Tamers while he followed Rika's suit and dived through the energy shield. He spotted the girl not so far away and ran to catch up with her, grabbing her arm and turning her away from the advancing herd of Digimon.

He nodded his head towards the destroyed castle, where he knew Alicia and Brad would be waiting. "Let's go around the back."

Rika nodded and turned the other way, walking around Taomon's shield, avoiding eye contact with any of the other Tamers. The force of the wind had picked up and was brisk to say the least, blowing up under her hair and wavering it out behind her. She could hear the pounding feet of the stampede but could not look at it. She knew it was close and without her Digimon she could not fight it.

"This is crazy," Henry said from beside her. They were walking quickly but would soon have to break into running if they were to reach the castle without being trampled on.

"I am crazy," Rika responded with sudden direness.

Henry glanced at her before turning to look straight ahead. "What happened with Ryo?"

His question was one of concern but the answer was personal. "Nothing."

Henry respected her decision not to tell him about it and broke into a swift run. Rika did the same until they finally reached the rubble that once was a fairytale castle. Sure enough, Alicia and Brad stood flattened against a wall, trying to be invisible.

Rika stepped inside the castle and looked at her sister. "Hey."

Alicia nodded, as did Brad, before they were both ushered quickly from the castle by a terse Henry. "Come on, we don't have much time."

The three of them ran quickly without noticing Rika's lack of movement. She watched them retreat before glancing up at the ledge where the Phoenixmon sat once again huddled with its wings under it. She heard a soft movement behind her and turned on her heel, her heart pounding with a sense of presence.

A foot stepped from the dark shadows and slowly the figure of a girl emerged in the crimson mist. It was Stacie, her crystal blue eyes now replaced with a sick blood-red colour. "Hey."

Her voice was cool and slick, unlike Ryo's gruff, croaky one. Rika responded quickly, suddenly unafraid of what the teenager would do. "Hey yourself."

Rika noticed the slab of concrete that resembled a pole in Stacie's right hand and breathed in sharply. Stealing a glance behind her, Rika could make out that the three running figures had reached the shield and were safe. Good.

The herd of Digimon was quickly approaching the group when Taomon's shield suddenly gave way to an exert of depleted energy. She couldn't hold up any longer. Rika's heart pounded fast once more and she thought fast of a way out of her situation. Though to no avail because there seemed none. Just to face the music.

Rika took a steady breath in and turned to face Stacie. "So, what do you want? Apart from Ryo."

A smirk played on Stacie's mouth, her blonde hair falling starkly across her eyes and face. "So it worked, you're jealous."

Rika knew the Phoenixmon was inside of the girl but she could sense a far stronger capacity of consciousness from the real Stacie than she did with Ryo. That meant Stacie was more in control of herself than Ryo was, though it seemed to Rika that he was definitely in control of himself during their confrontation. Shivering at the thought, Rika brought her hand up to her face to brush a stray strand of hair from obscuring her vision.

Stacie batted the concrete slab like it was baseball bat and Rika dreaded being hit with it, the cold stone piercing through her skin and tearing it as it connected. "Sometimes rage can be spawned from jealousy. You should know that."

Stacie laughed. "Why, because I lived in your shadow when we knew each other?"

It struck Rika suddenly that Stacie was referring to herself as 'I', unlike Ryo who had spoken in third person. Stacie was in control of her speech and actions; she just had a different conscience lurking in her mind.

Without warning, Stacie sprang from the shadows and swung the concrete pole with precise aim at Rika, who dodged it by inches. Grabbing hold of Stacie's arm under the elbow joint, Rika pulled her down to the ground, moving out of the way swiftly. When the blonde was on the ground with her face down, Rika grabbed the concrete slab and threw it away into a standing wall, smashing the makeshift pole with ease.

Stacie lashed out her arm and grabbed Rika's ankle, pulling her down with as mush force as she could muster from her position. Rika fell down hard next to Stacie and grabbed a lock of natural golden hair, yanking it forward and causing a yell from Stacie. Rolling around quickly and standing up, Rika stepped a few steps back and awaited Stacie to follow her suit. When the other girl was standing, Rika noticed that her eyes seemed to be…pulsing.

Stacie charged forward and collected Rika with her crossed arms, backing her hard into a wall. Rika yelled as the hard concrete collided with her back and on impulse she lifted a foot and jammed it into Stacie's knee, jarring it. Pulling back a tightly clenched fist, Rika drove it deep into the blonde's nose and was satisfied when she saw a trickle of blood.

Rika swung another punch, this time a hook, but Stacie caught Rika's fist with ease and pulled it into her, driving her knee deep into Rika's torso as she bent down. Using her free hand, Rika caught Stacie up under her jaw and pulled her up, pressurising the other's head and causing her to let go of Rika's other hand, which then lifted up and slapped Stacie right across the cheek. Stacie fell back with the force but Rika's other hand was still tightly around her neck. Swiftly, Rika twirled Stacie around with her choking hand and moved her other arm around to the back of Stacie's head, putting a headlock on her.

When Stacie gasped for air, Rika let go of her and allowed her time to catch her breath. When the blonde girl lifted her head up again, Rika drove a punch towards her temple, knocking her unconscious immediately. Stacie fell hard to the ground, this time on her back, and her eyelids closed over, but not before her irises flickered back to crystal blue.

Breathing heavily, Rika stared down at Stacie's figure. She shook her head slightly before picking her way across the rubble and out towards the fight brewing between several hundred Digimon. With one backwards glance at Stacie, Rika thinned her lips into a terse smirk.

"Shame on you."

A/N: Heh, I've always wanted to write those last words…

Floramon: Well, I'd like to say those words to a certain author for not updating sooner…no implications, there.

A/N: Well, it's hard to write on your holidays; especially since they never last that long…Anyone ever noticed that I'm a glutton for commas? I just have…

Until next time, laters!

Amethyst