s/k: I think this is the darkest chapter I've re-written yet, I won't give away how it ends, but wow…

Ch. 15

When Rika awoke she could feel the band of warmth that Ryo's arm made over her side and where it rested in the sand beside her back. His forehead was just touching the top of her own head, and she could hear each breath he took; it was that quiet. Refusing to acknowledge that she was beginning to come fully awake, she softly ran her fingers over his collar bone and closed her eyes again. Rika was not a person prone to falling into lapses of fantasy, but feeling safer then she had since her last night in her own bed, she drifted away.

---

It was Meiko who had finally discovered a way to remove the half-grown spore embedded in Henry's neck, she had Kenta help her write a sort of make-shift anti-virus program with a salvaged laptop from one of the nearby homes, abandoned and being raided by a group of Pumpkinmon. Hacking through the basic password system had taken a very long time, to say the least, but once into the computer they'd found it relatively easy to take the owners protection system and modify it. Kenta's hobby of writing himself simple games had never proven itself so useful.

Currently, they had Henry's D-arc attached to the computer's USB port, and were waiting while the machine went through and cleaned out the small, black device. Throughout the process, Henry had begun to roll over, wince, or lash out and random intervals. It proved Meiko's theory true, that the reason the spore had managed to take hold so fast had to do largely with his D-arc; from there they could only guess as to why their odd solution was working.

Kira and Oollamon were curled up in the soft, cool sand not far from Meiko, Kenta, and their digimon. Oollamons' flaming paws didn't seem to burn her Tamer, and served as more of a heat source to keep the pair from shivering. Meiko zipped up her red windbreaker, glad she'd thought to bring a jacket. She looked over the sleeping teens, Suzi and Lopmon seemed to be doing alright in her pink vest, and with the couples sharing heat it didn't look like they were going to catch hypothermia or anything. Jeri's legs were tinged blue though, and Ryo and Rika were both covered in goose bumps. Sighing, Meiko turned her eyes back to the softly glowing computer screen. The bar reading progress was at 99, and moments after it finished its job. Henry's eye snapped open and he sat bolt upright. His head whipped around to take in his environment, and as he did so, his eyebrows knit together in a confused expression. Then he registered Meiko and Kenta. "Wha… what are you doing here?" He asked, completely disoriented.

Kenta snorted. "Some way to that the pair of people who just saved your life."

In his own little groove of sand, Terriermon's long ears twitched in his sleep, eventually it was his Tamers' voice that called him into consciousness. "HENRY!" The little digimon cried, hurling himself out of the sand and onto Henry's shoulder. "You're alright? Aren't you? Henry?"

The Chinese boy let his posture slump, and gathered his legs under him cross-legged. "I… think I'm alright." Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Ryo and Rika, his foot lying across her ankle. He ground his teeth together and answered Terriermon again. "Yeah, I'm fine buddy, don't worry."

---

Kira took her turn on watch, and then switched off with Henry, overall, the group had been in the same place for about 7 hours, with patches of sleep and dozing. Henry traded watches with Rika, who went for another hour or so of napping while Suzi took watch. At the end of the younger girls' turn, most of the Tamers were beginning to wake up, many with very, very empty stomachs. The adrenaline of always running had worn off, and the hunger had finally managed to catch up with them.

Kira stood up and stretched, Oollamon beside her mimicking the awakening Tamer, and then sitting down on her haunches to scratch an itch behind her ear. A little ways away from Kira, Ryo kissed Rika's forehead lightly. "C'mon, wakey wakey, eggs and bakey."

Rika looked up at him like he was mad. "Did… you just say 'wakey wakey, eggs and bakey', or am I hearing things?"

Ryo smiled, "I did indeed, my older sister used to wake me up like that at some ungodly hour on Sundays. It was awful."

Rika laughed quietly, and then rolled in and nudged him over quickly before rolling back and standing up. "If you actually have 'eggs and bakey', I will worship you forever. I am so, so hungry."

He sat bolt up-right and looked around for Monodramon, who appeared at his side almost instantly. "Eggs and bakey, Monodramon, we need eggs and bakey."

Silence, a long, confused stare. "…what in the name of data are you talking about?"

Kenta joined the conversation with a well placed definition. "I believe 'bakey' is often a child's first attempt at the word 'bacon', Monodramon, and thus, we have proved that Ryo will never grow up, and is doomed to the vocabulary of a 5 year old."

Ryo stood up and put his hands behind his head. "Aw… that was mean Kenta. Rika! Kenta's beating up on me!"

Rika laughed, and turned on her heal to join the gathering forming under the tree, calling over her shoulder: "Talk to Suzi, she might be able to help you out!"

Marineangemon giggled where it floated just above Kenta's shoulder. The Tamer looked at his digimon pointedly. "Hey! I thought you were on my side! Traitor." This only made the little thing giggle harder. "Pf," Kenta rolled his eyes dramatically, "man, I feel like I've just been the morning's entertainment."

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" Meiko yelled, waking up the stragglers with a giant, mischievous grin on her petite features. Kenta and Rika groaned in unison, Ryo just laughed.

When everyone was awake and together, the Tamers began to plan their next move. Suzi took count of everyone present; it seemed glaringly obvious that Kazu wasn't there. "I think we should stick together, whatever we do." She stated firmly.

There was an agreement of nods. "Our whole purpose was to find and help you guys." Meiko said. "We know how to use the crests you've got, and other then that, we follow your lead."

"We're here to stop Tueno. Simple as that." Kenta clarified. "Not a digimon, not a living organism, not a D-force, just this… thing, that's got its own ideas on what digimon/human relations should be like."

"Do we know what happened to it once the worlds merged?" Takato asked no one in particular.

Jeri shook her head. "I think we would have known if it were still in the area, I mean, would it really have left us alone this long without trying something?"

Guilmon spoke up. "It's nasty, it's dark, and I don't trust it."

Ryo's eyebrows knit together in thought. "Tueno manipulates people, Guilmon's completely right." Here he glanced fleetingly at Henry. "It's very possible it's in the area and trying to lull us into a false sense of security."

"Fair," Rika continued. "But whether or not it's here, we need to move, we need to do something. The people keep disappearing, or hiding, or doing whatever they're doing, but there's less. I don't like it, and I'm positive they're not running away because they can. I mean, where would they go? All of Japan is like one big marshy, half-decayed log."

Kira chuckled. "I'll have to remember that, I've never heard such an accurate description of a situation. Mud and sand guys, mud and sand."

The others looked at Meiko, as if she'd supply a bit more of an answer to what Kira had said. Meiko just smiled and held up her hands in a gesture of unknowing. "I don't understand what she says half the time, don't worry too much."

"Worry plenty."

The Tamers whipped around where they sat, many now crouching instead of truly sitting. It seemed that during the course of their conversation, scores and scores of Scubamon had poured out of the water and surrounded them. Kira stood tall, the other Tamers following her lead, and raised an eyebrow. They came up to about Kira's waist, various hues of blue, with fins in place of ears, and wide, toothy mouths that swept across the front of their faces. Each held a loaded harpoon gun. "So… we're to be intimidated by you… ?" She asked, a smirk playing on her features, Oollamon snarling by her side.

Ryo and Rika swapped almost confused looks, Suzi narrowed her eyes, Guilamon growled in what he believed to be a fierce manor, and Henry stood as if he'd stopped in the street, simply observing the goings-on around him. "What do you want?"

The Scubamon ignored the Chinese boys' words, and instead turned to Kenta. "Hikari is on you, of you."

Kenta looked at the spokes-digimon, clearly confused. "What's Hikari? Are you trying to tell me I've got mud on me or something?" Self consciously, he dusted of his pants, as if that flash of cleaning would stand a chance against the sand, mud and blood.

The Scubamon leveled its harpoon gun at Kenta's chest. "Come with us… "

Kenta shook his head, and would have laughed if it hadn't been him held at harpoon point by such a creature. "No, I've got prior commitments thanks."

Kira glanced at Meiko. "They don't mean Hikari Takaishi, do they?"

Meiko shrugged. "I don't think so, there're plenty of Hikari's in Japan, there's no reason to think they're talking about my aunt, of all people."

Kira accepted that answer, and turned her attention back to the Scubamon. "Bugger off, we've got things to do."

The Scubamon ignored her, but two or three to abrupt notice of Meiko, and the lead digimon brandished its harpoon gun closer to Kenta. "Get the other one, 'we've got things to do'," He mocked Kira, smirking as three or four others separated Meiko from the group, while still others prodded Kenta.

Henry brushed two fingers against Kira's sleeve, and she turned around with a 'what?' expression on her face. Henry just stepped past her, out to talk to the Scubamon. "He dropped himself down to sit in the sand, so he was seeking them at eye level. He didn't sound patronizing, or curious, or even really all that interested when he spoke; it was just a straight up question, and if anything, he could have been described as beaten while he sat there. "Why do you want them?"

The finned digimon considered the boy sitting in front of them for a while, and then one pushed its way to the front, and answered his question. "We want Hikari because she is what we are not. They are like Hikari."

Henry absorbed the information in stride, and asked another question. "Who's Hikari?"

The Scubamon grinned. "Digidestined, she was light, and for a while, the light disappeared. They are not light, but they are like it. She is a person."

Henry nodded politely and then stood up and faced the Tamers, a rueful smile appeared on his face. "Well, interesting as that was, did anyone get more out of that then I did? Because I got about nothing."

Suzi looked at her brother oddly. "How'd you – "

He silenced her with a look. "We can talk about that when we don't have company." TO get his point across, he glanced at the Scubamon. "I don't think this is a good time."

Takato nodded. "Fair. What do we do though?"

Kenta and Meiko exchanged looks. "Can I come back to the group now?" In a silent answer to his question, the Scubamon herded the pair farther away form the group, towards the edge of a particularly deep section of water.

Ryo quietly pulled his D-arc out of his pocket, looking at Monodramon, then Rika, Renamon, and lastly Takato and Guilmon. They nodded slightly back at him, and Takato passed the silent message along to Henry, who also nodded his agreement. Carefully, the quartet began to retrieve their cards and D-arcs from various pockets and belt clips, hoping that none of the Scubamon would notice, Takato let his left hand drift back behind Suzi, where all four could see it. His hand was in a fist, and slowly, he raised one finger. One. Ryo though to himself. Two… Henry counted off. Three! Rika grinned.

"Renamon, biomerge!"

"Guilmon, biomerge!"

"Monodramon, digivolve to… Cyberdramon!"

"Cyberdramon, biomerge!"

"Terriermon, biomerge!"

The four of them slashed their cards in perfect unison, and the effect was exactly what they'd wanted. Kira grabbed Suzi and spun into the centre of the four new digimon, Oollamon and Lopmon at their heels. Many of the Scubamon beat a hasty retreat back into the water they'd emerged from, about 10 of them though, did not. Two of them leaped on Meiko, dragging her down on to the sand, a third pointing its harpoon at her. Another two pulled exactly the same tactic with Kenta. The remaining four calmly restrained the pairs' digimon, Cellomon and Marineangemon, who did not take th action quietly.

Meiko wiggled furiously. "Get your fins off me! Right now! Let me go!"

Cellomon hissed and tried to her claws into one of her captors, but they couldn't seem to puncture the digimon's rubbery skin. Kenta was also yelling, his words punctuated by kicks. "Let me go! Crawl back into the ocean! Get off me!" Marineangemon, on the other hand, was just being crushed in one of the Scubamon's hands, making little sounds of pain and anger.

The Scubamon holding Marineangemon grinned. "Take action against us, and one of them stays with us forever." It's huge mouth was shaped in a smug smirk of self-satisfaction. The Tamers had mostly relied on the Scubamon being surprised enough that they could pick up the others and send the hostile digimon packing. However, their loose plan had completely backfired.

Justimon looked at Sakuyamon, Gallantmon and Megagargomon. "So… next step? Anyone?"

"Stalemate." Megagargomon stated flatly, "we've reached a stalemate and I don't know how we'd break it."

The ten Scubamon on the beach began to slowly move their captives towards the water. Kira and Suzi stood behind the larger digimon, tensely trying to think of a way out of their sticky situation. "You're too big!" Kira called to the four Tamers. "The Scubamon aren't big enough that you can deal with them, de-digivolve!"

Recognizing the truth in what Kira was saying, the four split into their separate persons, Cyberdramon uttering a low rumble at the denial of a proper fight. Ryo vaguely remembered where he'd neatly coiled his whip and hung it up, at the back of his closet, and not on-hand. "This is not a good situation." Rika muttered, glaring at the Scubamon.

With the four threatening figures gone, the hordes of Scubamon poured out of the water once again. Suzi realized how everyone was spaced out, and let out a curse that turned heads, especially her older brothers'. "No!" Henry yelled. When they'd de-digivolved, he, Rika, Ryo and Takato were just far enough away from Kira and Suzi that the Scubamon could isolate the two.

"Do you ever give up?" Kira shouted as they neatly pinned her to the sand, Suzi a few feet to her left.

Oollamon snarled viciously, the water digimon wouldn't touch her for fear of being burned, but that was taken care of. A net sprang from the crowd of Scubamon, and Oollamon was completely flattened into the ground. "What?" She cried. "Can't stand the heat? Cowards!" They too were swiftly moved towards the waters edge.

"Henry…" One of the Scubamon whispered. "Jenrya… come with us…"

Ryo's head whipped around, trying to pin which ones were whispering. It was eerie, and coming from all directions. "Cut it out!"

Henry's eyes were wide with fear, and the voices whispered seductively from everywhere at once. "You understand us Jenrya…"

"Come home…"

"Come back…"

"Leave me alone!"

"Let us go!"

"Get off of me!"

"You're pathetic! Fight us fair!"

"Stay with us… we'll look after you…"

"It's you're fault Kazu's dead… Kenta…"

"No it's not! Stop it!"

"Henry… Jenrya…"

"Why can't you look after your little sister better…?"

"No! Go away!"

Henry fell to his knees in the sand, clutching his head and shaking in terror. "I'm not like that!"

"Come back…"

"Come home…"

"Stop it!" Takato roared, running over to Henry and Terriermon. "Henry, they're just digimon! We can fight them!"

"Why didn't you watch out for her Takato…?"

"Where's Jeri, Takato…?"

Fearful, Takato raised his head and looked around for his girlfriend. She and Calumon were by the water too, caught in the confusion just like Kira and Suzi. "Takato!" She screamed.

More Scubamon rushed forwards and grabbed Takato and Henry, Terriermon was picked up by both his ears, and Guilmon roughly handled towards the water. "Let us go!" Guilmon's cries joined the others

Ryo turned and dashed towards Rika and Renamon, grabbing her hand tightly. "We can't let them separate us!" He said.

Rika nodded. "We've got to do something! The others are going to drown!" A ring of Scubamon surrounded them, harpoons pointed inwards to create a ring of steel points. Through the fog hovering out on the ocean, Rika caught sight of a huge, ominous black silhouette. "Ryo…" She whispered. He looked automatically where her gaze led him, at the dark figure.

Cyberdramon lashed out behind them, brushing Scubamon aside like leaves. "Keep them close!" He growled at Renamon.

She nodded and turned to Rika. "We have to hurry." Ryo snapped out of his reverie and followed the trail Cyberdramon was plowing through the Scubamon, still holding Rika's hand protectively. Renamon followed the two Tamers, hoping to protect the rear. She was swarmed by a score of Scubamon. "Rika!"

Rika whipped around to help her digimon, Ryo felt the jerk on his arm and stopped too. "Cyberdramon! Come back!" He yelled. Oblivious, his digimon kept storming towards the Tamers and the water.

"NO!"

"Let us go!"

"Hel – "

Abruptly, the yelling stopped. The only sound on the barren beach was the surf, smoothing the sand flat in its endless cycle. Renamon was gone, Cyberdramon was gone, all of them were gone. Ryo's grip tightened almost painfully on Rika's hand, and he slowly pulled her closer towards him, wrapping one arm around her waist. There was a whispered conference between some of the Scubamon, and the ring of steel dispersed, all of the finned digimon retreating back into the ocean.

Once they were all completely out of sight, no ripples or bubbles left on the surface of the water, Ryo pulled Rika into a fierce hug. Rika wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, biting her lip to keep from saying anything at all. The finality of it hit them, there wasn't anybody else left.

At the edge of the trees, Tueno smiled.

---

It was everywhere, the water. Suffocating, silky smooth against his skin. No! No it's not my fault that Kazu's dead! I won't let you hurt anyone else! He kicked, thrashed in the waters embrace. It didn't feel like there were any Scubamon restraining him anymore, he felt light, as if he were drifting. Beside him he heard Suzi scream, bubbles rushing out of her mouth and nose. She was drowning.

No!

Come to our Kingdom… come to our palace…

You're killing them! Stop it! Stop hurting them!

Henry was just sinking, he didn't know how to swim. He could see his sister a little ways above him as she screamed under the water. "NO SUZI!" He cried. The remaining air he had left in his lungs floated up to the surface.

Kira and Meiko had managed to grab hands, Oollamon was floating not far from Guilmon and Terriermon, Calumon was kicking, trying to fight his way to the surface.

I can't let them die! I have to do something!

They're coming home… they're going home…

None of them are happy in the world…

Jeri's eyes were wild and scared, brown wells of panic. Takato spotted Jeri, and the expression on his face was so, incredibly sad that Kenta felt himself choke, and try to take in a breath of oxygen. Cellomon and Renamon were thrashing, churning the thick water, a storm of little bubbles coming off Renamon's fur, they watched the little points of silver float to the surface, their lungs desperate for air.

None of them know what it means to be happy…

STOP IT!

Kenta passed out, his mental battle with the Scubamon wearing him beyond consciousness. To his left, Suzi coughed up water and took in a breath of air…