Disclaimer: I don't own digimon or the idea of an external soul.

Author's Note: Okay, so I'm sorry it took me so long to update again. All that stupid college application stuff gets in the way. But I'm almost done now! Whoo! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I love it. It was so fun to write, despite the fact that I kinda had to do some research to get the names right. Like I can remember what Guilmon's final form was. Whatever. It's done now, and if there are any errors, well, the Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Well, enjoy and review. Thanx a lot!!

Fighting Fire with Fire

He knew it was a dream, but it excited him all the same. Kari was sitting on the couch and telling him about her day. He couldn't really hear what she was saying, but it was still important. The thing that really caught his attention was her eyes. They were looking at him like he was the most important person in the world. He leaned in to kiss her, but someone grabbed his shoulder to stop him. He turned around and saw Rika standing there, her violet eyes full of hurt.

Something jerked him awake and he stared at the wall.

"What the heck?" He whispered, utterly confused by the dream. What did that mean?

He jumped as he heard her scream.

"Rika." He whispered as he threw off the covers to get out of bed.

Running into the living room, he saw her sitting strait on the couch. She was clutching Torey to her chest, her soul trying to soothe her.

"Rika, are you all right?" Davis whispered as he sat down next to her on the edge of the sofa.

She was breathing hard and there was fear spread across her face. "Davis, what time is it?"

He glanced down at his arm, but he'd taken his watch off before falling asleep. Getting up, he walked over to the kitchen area and squinted at the microwave's glowing clock.

"Five thirty-two." He told her, coming back to sit by her. "Rika, why did you scream?"

Her eyes met his, and he swallowed at the intensity of her fear.

"What did you see?" He asked.

"We have to go back to my world. Bad things are going to happen."

"What's gonna happen, Rika? What did you see?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering. "A new rip is going to open. A big one, and a digimon will come through. If we don't go back, Takato and maybe someone else will die."

Davis blinked and stared at her for a second. "Okay. Just let me get dressed."

She sighed in relief and then hugged him. "Thank you."

"Sure." He said, feeling strangely uncomfortable. She let him go, and he went back into his room.

After taking a few minutes to get dressed and make sure his hair looked halfway decent, he scooped up Demiveemon and came back into the living room. Rika sat on the couch still, but she was fully dressed and had folded up the blanket, laying it over the back of the sofa. When she saw him, she stood, still clutching Torey to her chest.

"What time is it in my world, Davis?"

"I don't know. When is it gonna happen?"

She shook her head. "Soon. Let's hurry. I still have to find Renamon."

He nodded and walked over to the door. She followed him out and he locked it before heading downstairs. Once outside, Rika led the way, Torey running out in front of her. About a block from his building, she turned into an alley and pulled out her digivice. Davis watched her as she activated it, the blue plasma beam lighting up the walls of the surrounding buildings.

"How do you work that thing?" He asked.

She waved him closer to her and held it out so he could see what she did. Slowly, she pointed out the order she had pushed the buttons, and how to activate the blade.

"And then you cut a rip with it." She said, holding the digivice out and swiping through the air.

Davis raised his eyebrows as he saw it cut. It looked so strange, seeing her open a window into her own world, the afternoon sun streaming through tree branches on the other side. World 677, by the screen. He stepped through after her and then watched as she sealed the cut up again.

"Cool." he whispered as she turned back to him. "So, now what?"

"Now we have to go home and find Renamon." Torey said, stretching and then walking around Davis to head off in that direction. Rika paced off after him as the boy fell into step beside her.

"Do you know where the rip is going to happen?" He asked.

"I think so." She answered, glancing off as the sound of kids playing erupted through the trees. "Davis, people are gonna know who you are here. We're gonna have to find a way to disguise you or something."

He looked at her. "Digimon is really that popular?"

She nodded and then slipped one strap of her backpack off, setting it on the ground. She dug inside and pulled out a gray hooded sweatshirt, handing it to him. Demiveemon hopped inside before she zipped it up.

"Put this on."

"But it's way too small." He protested.

"Not really. Just be glad I'm not a girly girl, or else it'd be pink and flowery."

Davis grimaced at the thought of him in that abomination and pulled the thing over his head.

"Put on the hood too." She said, shoving her hands into her pockets as she stood up again and continued walking.

He did, and then followed her as she headed out of the trees and onto the park path. Torey had disappeared so Davis looked around at the kids playing. It all looked normal enough, until he saw two boys playing the digimon card game and a girl wearing a Biyomon tee shirt.

"Whoa." He whispered, staring.

Rika grabbed his arm and pulled him down the path.

"Don't stare. They'll see you. We don't need a scene now."

He was quiet as she led him the rest of the way out of the park. Once on the street, he relaxed a little and Rika started walking a little slower. He looked around at the city. It didn't seem all that different from his world. Except he was a celebrity here. A stroller wheeled by, and Davis saw the toddler inside clutching a tattered Demiveemon stuffed animal.

"Rika." He said uncomfortably, toughing her arm and not taking his eyes off the doll. "I've been officially weirded out. Let's get out of here."

She followed his gaze and saw what he was staring at. "Come on."

They walked faster, eventually getting to less crowded streets. Davis looked at the big houses they were passing. When Rika turned into one of the yards he followed her, and then stopped as he realized something.

"This is your house?" He asked, amazed at the size and grandeur of it.

"Yeah." She answered flatly. "What, have you never seen a house before?"

Davis blinked. No. He'd only lived in cramped little apartments all his life. This was the total opposite of that.

"It's beautiful," he whispered, "and so big."

Demiveemon poked his head out of Rika's backpack. "Come on, Davis. We don't have all day."

He shook his head to clear it and followed her as she pulled open one of the many doors. Inside there was a very clean, rather plain room. Rika pulled open a drawer and took something out, strapping it to her waist. Then she pushed the drawer back in and went outside again.

"Renamon." She called out.

The fox popped into visibility a few feet away from her partner. "We are going fighting?" She asked. "No opponent has come through in a long time."

"Well, one's coming through now." Rika said. "A big one, and we have to get there fast."

"You saw it?"

"Come on." The girl urged, equally to Davis and Renamon.

The cinnamon haired boy ran over to her out, back onto the streets.

"Where is it?" He asked her.

"Not too far." Torey answered as he ran along the top of a fence by their side.

"Takato's playground hideout." Rika added.

"Will we make it?"

She met his eyes for a second. "That's not what I'm worried about, Davis."

He didn't pursue an answer. "What did you get back there?"

She showed him, opening the container she had strapped to her waist. He stared at the cards, trying to think of what to ask first. But Rika didn't give him a chance.

"Look, we fight differently than you guys do. You'll see what we do during the fight. Please don't ask until after."

After a moment of hesitation at her bluntness, he answered. "Okay."

When they got to the playground, there was no digimon yet. Takato, Kazu, and Jeri were sitting on the slide and chatting, their digimon sitting underneath. They all looked up as Rika and Davis ran over to them. And Kazu stared open mouthed at Davis as he realized who the other boy was. Rika seemed to choose not to notice.

"Takato," she called, "a dangerous digimon is going to come through any minute now."

"Huh? Where? How do you know?"

Jeri stood up on the slide. "Should I go get the others?"

Davis glanced behind him as she asked, and saw the rip appear in midair. "Too late." He said.

As soon as the rip opened, a giant creature stepped through. It was bigger than a truck and looked vaguely like a cougar. It was thin, but it's stance made it appear tremendously powerful. And then there was the fur. Each hair looked like it was made from strands of hotly burning coals, glowing orange and red. As the breeze played over the fur, parts of it darkened to a fiery black. And it's mouth was lined with white teeth, a string of napalm occasionally dripping down a fang like saliva.

The humans ran, giving themselves space to get ready for attack. Davis raced over to Rika, pulling Demiveemon out of her backpack. The little cynodont's eyes widened as he saw their opponent. The boy reached for his digivice, but Rika grabbed his arm. She was staring at her own digivice.

"Renamon, get me some data on it." She whispered.

The fox was racing around the fiery cougar, trying to get a fix on it. Gaurdramon digivolved to Andromon, and Guilmon quickly went up two levels to Wargrowlmon. Then Renamon found some data on the giant digimon standing menacingly before them.

"Fauvmon." Rika whispered as she looked up at him. "He's a mega. An extra strong one."

"What?"

"Davis, this is gonna be bad." There was that intense fear in her eyes again.

"What form should I take?" Demiveemon asked from Davis's arms.

The girl blinked and thought for a moment before answering. "Try Flamedramon. He's a better fighter, right?"

The cynodont nodded and jumped out of his partner's arms. "Let's go, Davis."

He quickly became the fire digimon and raced off to help the other three. Rika ran over to stand by Takato and Kazu, so Davis followed.

"He's a mega, Takato. An extra strong one." She whispered.

He just stared at her for a second. "That's crazy. We can't fight that."
"We have to try."

"Jeri," the boy yelled. "Go get the others now. And then go through the rip and see if you can find anybody else."

She nodded and ran off.

Takato turned back to Rika. "So they have to digivolve higher, right?"

The girl nodded. "If they can."

Kazu turned to Davis. "Can Veemon go any higher than champion?"

He shook his head. "I'll need Ken before he can go past that."

"All right." Rika said, turning to Takato. "Let's go."

He nodded and their digivices started to glow. Davis looked away from the bright light, and when it had subsided, they were gone.

"What!?" He yelled, confused.

Kazu pointed at the two new digimon that had appeared on the field, Galantmon and Sakuyamon. "They go inside them in order to get to mega."

Davis stared. "Wow."

He was brought back to reality as Fauvmon struck out for the first time. One giant paw connected with Andromon and sent him flying. Kazu ran over to assist his partner. Davis's attention focused on Flamedramon, now the weakest digimon in the fight.

"Careful." He whispered as he edged closer to the fringes of the battle.

Close enough, Davis. Roxelle said to him as he tried to get even closer. She moved her invisibly tactile body into his way, and he stopped.

Sakuyamon rushed at the huge fiery digimon, but he flicked her away with a kick. Flamedramon shot a blast at his feet, since he was too small to accurately hit much else. Fauvmon growled and leapt at Galantmon, taking his weapon in dripping jaws and clamping shut. The metal dented and then bent easily as napalm saliva heated it to high temperatures. The two backed away from each other. Sakuyamon landed a hit on his hindquarters, and he reared back, angling over to bite at her. She stepped out of the way in time, and Galantmon's shield collided soundly with Fauvmon's skull. The thud had a sickening sound to it, even though it was good for their side. Davis watched as Andromon worked his way back into the battle, standing by Flamedramon as the two smaller digimon provided distractions and back up for the larger two. Until Fauvmon's giant tail swept them across the playground and into the trees. Two large pines topple over and landed on the mechanical digimon as he reverted to his rookie form. Flamedramon pulled himself out from under branches and rejoined the fight.

Galantmon bellowed as the cougar pinned him to the ground. Before anyone could react, he breathed, and flaming napalm spewed out onto the helpless digimon. Sakuyamon ran over and tore Fauvmon off of her friend and threw him away. She dragged Galantmon out of the flames before he reverted back to Takato and Guilmon, both unconscious.

Davis, go pull them away from the battle. Roxelle said to him. Sakuyamon will protect us until we do.

He nodded and ran off toward the pair. He took a moment to think before picking up the boy and throwing him over his shoulders. Then he grabbed the raptor's forepaws and pulled, dragging him toward the sidelines. Only when he had gotten them to safety, did he turn back to the battle. Fauvmon was looking tired, but so were the other two. Sakuyamon attacked but was countered by a smashing headbutt that made her fall backwards. Before she could react, the cougar swiped four long scratches down her chest.

"No." Davis said, running forward instinctively as the female digimon reverted to Rika and Renamon.

Fauvmon stood over them, getting ready to breathe again, when Davis reached the two. Rika lay there, still conscious, but looking like she was about to pass out. He knelt over her protectively and tried to help her up.

"Davis!" Flamedramon screamed, making his partner look up.

Too late. Fauvmon's jaws closed on the boy's shoulder. The pain was sudden and sickening as large teeth pressed deep into his flesh, jaws crushing in on the bones of his shoulder. Davis screamed. A trickle of napalm saliva ran down from the giant digimon's mouth, and the sweatshirt burst into flames.

Somewhere inside of him, Davis felt a little energy leave him.

Fauvmon's mouth opened as he was pulled away from his human prey. More napalm fell onto the deep wounds in Davis's back, cauterizing them before more blood welled up. He fell back, mildly realizing that Rika was slapping around the bite, trying to put out his flaming clothes.

Despite his blackening vision, Davis caught sight of something battling Fauvmon. It took his pain dimmed mind a moment to identify the second fiery digimon. Only when he looked at the solid form beneath it's flaming exterior did he recognize the basic cynodont form. Flamedramon had digivolved.

Davis blacked out.

Post Script: Wow. Wow. Did I just do that? So what happens next, huh guys? I'm not giving you any hints this time. Gotta hurry up and finish the next chapter before you die of curiosity. But doesn't Fauvmon just rule. I usually have him as a good guy, but I thought I'd give him a cameo in this story.

Thanx for the reviews and everything. Glad you like the story.

neoKOS-MOS