Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but my original characters and messed up plot idea Everything else belongs to somebody else who isn't me. Thanks to all those who've been reading and please review, I love to hear from you. Thanks.

Past Phantoms

Arriving in the Digital World it didn't take Rika and Matt long to find their way into the valley where most of the Tamers digimon hung out with each other. They were free to wander of course but they preferred to remain in that area in case someone came to visit. Making their way down the slight hill that led into the valley they were both amused to see that the digimon appeared to be playing hide and go seek since Geomon was currently lifting up big rocks, seemingly surprised when he didn't find anyone under them. He was calling come out, come out, where ever you are but of course no one was answering. Catching the scent of Rika and someone unknown the red digimon looked over and waving wildly rushed over to ask if they'd seen any of the other digimon. "Sorry, we didn't." Rika said with a smile, amused as always by the dimwitted but lovable nitwit. "Matt, this is Takato's Geomon. Geomon this is Matt."

"Your Gabumon's best friend!" Geomon declared, beaming at Matt. "He's been really worried about you but we told him that if you were with our friends there was nothing to worry about! He's around here somewhere. We're playing hide and go seek and I'm it!"

"I can see that." Matt said with a smile, absently thinking that Takato's partner was a hell of a lot like the googlehead. "So what's say Rika and I help you find the others?"

"That would be cheating." Geomon said gravely, shaking his head so fast that he got a bit dizzy. "But thanks for offering, Matt."

"Well then see about finding him for me, okay?" Matt said just as gravely, charmed by the digimon. When Geomon made himself even more dizzy by nodding his agreement Matt had to laugh and that was a surprise. He hadn't expected to really laugh anytime soon. Entertained he and Rika took a seat on the grass and waited while Geomon went back to looking in places where no one in their right mind would expect to find a digimon.

The other digimon getting so frustrated with him it wasn't long before they practically threw themselves in front of Geomon so that they could be caught which meant they could come over to meet Gabumon's tamer. In no time Matt was surrounded by digimon, just not the one that he was looking for. Finally Geomon came running back with Gabumon and Renamon close on his heels. "I found him for you, Matt!" Geomon called out, stopping to catch his breath while Gabumon raced forward to throw himself into a startled Matt's arms.

"Hey, buddy." Matt said as he wrapped his arms around his digimon, returning the unexpected show of affection. He wasn't what you'd call a touchy feely person but he guessed he'd looked like he'd needed a hug. Maybe he did, Matt thought with a small smile as he pulled away to get a look at his friend. "So..what do you think of this place, pal?"

"I like it just fine. How are you?" Gabumon wanted to know since in his mind that was the question that most needed to be asked and answered. Matt looked fine but that didn't mean anything. Matt had more masks then a theater group and he wore them seamlessly.

"I'm good. In danger of Rika's grandmother turning me into a blimp with all this home cooking but otherwise good." Matt said, lifting a hand to ruffle the fur on his buddy's head, reading his digimon easily. "No need to worry. Rika's keeping a close eye on me for you."

Remembering his manners Gabumon looked over to where Rika was talking to the fierce Renamon. He'd only met Rika a few times but she'd always been nice enough and more importantly good for Matt. Matt was always lighter after a visit with Rika. Renamon on the other hand sort of intimidated him. She may have been beautiful but she was also a major butt kicker, just like her tamer and not an easy person to get to know. "Hi, Rika. Nice to see you again."

"Hey, Gabumon. Getting along okay with this bunch?" Rika asked in the process of unzipping the backpack she'd brought along with her.

"Yes, they've made me quite welcome." Gabumon agreed, smiling at her. The truth was he missed his old friends terribly but this had been his choice and he was making new friends. Matt had told him he could stay with the others if he'd wanted to but he'd chosen to come with Matt and he stood behind that choice. Wherever Matt went he would go as long as he could. Matt was his best friend and whether his human friend knew it or not Matt needed him.

"Yeah, he's really fun to play with!" Calumon declared, jumping up and down beside Rika now that she was opening her pack. Rika always brought him and the others treats when she came to visit.

"We're taking good care of him." Lopmon added.

The next week of school went pretty well all things considering but the beginning of big trouble to come came in the form of a sheet of paper posted outside the high school cafeteria. The title of the flyer catching his eyes Matt walked over and reading it raised an eyebrow over it's contents. "Hey, Rika. Check this out. You aren't going to believe this."

"What is it and why am I not going to believe this?" Rika asked as she walked over to his side, reading the flyer he pointed to. "Oh dear God no. You have got to be kidding me."

"What is it?" Takato wanted to know, the two blocking his view so that he couldn't see what they were looking at. "Did someone post up something bad?"

"That psycho crazy theater teacher seems to think that this school is talented enough to put on a production of The Phantom of the Opera. What is she, stupid? She's got to be completely out of her mind to think that there is anyone in this school capable of playing minor roles in the musical, much less the leads. Our choir is enough to make Beethoven turn in his grave for Christ sakes." Rika said as put her hands on her hips. "I mean it would be too painful to watch even as a comedy!"

"What's that play about again?" Jeri asked, biting back a defense of the choir since they really were pretty awful.

"Basically it's about a man who's horrible disfigured on one side of his face at birth. He wears a half mask to hide it and lives in a theater in Paris where he meets a singer named Christine who he falls in love with. He becomes her music teacher but she ends up falling for this other guy. The phantom doesn't take this well and they fight over her and in the end the other guy gets the girl." Matt explained, trying to simplify it as much as possible. "I personally always thought it wasn't the greatest ending but the music is amazing."

"And that's why you think it's a bad thing that we're doing this production." Henry guessed as he read over Rika's shoulder. "Because it's so music oriented."

"We don't have anyone in this school that's talented enough for the two leads." Rika explained, shaking her head at the very idea of anyone in her school trying to pull off the roles of Christine or the Phantom. "Only someone with professional voice training and a great deal of skill should even try out for either role. The drama teacher must have been inhaling some foreign substance when she came up with this stupid idea. Whoever's in this is going to be laughed off the stage."

"It might not be that bad." Jeri said weakly, something in her voice cueing Rika in to look at her friend questioningly. "I kinda already told a friend I'd try out with her." Jeri added weakly, looking more then a little unsure now. "Will it really be that bad?"

"Unless you have two people here with a lot of talent in both drama and music it doesn't look good, kiddo." Matt said with a shake of his head. "I know this play and unless you've got the talent and the means it will fall flat no matter how good some of the lesser roles might be. This play is literally carried on the backs of the two title roles. Without them the show really can't go on."

"Hey, Matt, you sing. Why don't you try out?" Alice teased, elbowing him teasingly in the side as she smirked up at him.

"Thanks but I think I'll skip on that delightful descent into madness." Matt said with a chuckle as he lightly bumped his hip against hers. "This show is gonna have to rise and fall without my help. I'll definitely come to cheer you on though, Jeri." He added, giving the girl an encouraging smile since she looked more then a little nervous about the whole idea now. "What role were you going to try out for?"

"Well Medea wanted me to try out as one of the dancing girls with her." Jeri said nervously, fiddling with her back pack strap. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all." Matt assured her, walking over to sling an arm around her shoulder. "You'd be good in that role seeing as you're into dance, plus you're a cheerleader which means you're used to moving in time with music and others."

"So you don't think that this musical has any chance at all of working do you?" Came a stern, female voice that had everyone turning with varying degrees of dread to see the new drama teacher behind them. A still attractive woman in her fifties she'd once been a famous actress before she'd retired to train the next generation as she'd told it. In Rika's opinion the woman had just finally realized she wasn't that great and had gotten out of the business before it hit everyone that her looks were what had carried her as far as she'd gotten. Now she was trying her hand at their school with mixed results. She knew what she was doing but it was well known around the school that she expected award winning performances from everyone from leads to one liners.

"Pretty much." Rika said smartly, not about to kiss up to some idiot who was preparing to destroy Rika's grandmother's favorite play and one that Rika was fond of too. "You're crazy to think that you can pull this off."

"Is that so? And what would you know about it, Miss Nonaka is it?" Himeno Mido asked sweetly, with a hint of steel disguised in that velvety voice as she met Rika's eyes. She'd heard about the legendary Rika Nonaka when she'd first arrived and had been told she was lucky the girl never involved herself in the arts. But apparently the little hellion thought she could none the less comment on something she obviously knew nothing about.

"It would be and I know plenty, Miss Mido." Rika shot back just as sweetly though unlike Himeno she made not even the slightest effort to hide the steel undertone. "I know that you're going to be ruining one of the greatest musicals ever performed on the stage and that you couldn't pay me enough to come see this monstrosity. I would have thought that someone who once lived and breathed the theater would have more respect for it."

"Rika!" Jeri hissed, fear in her eyes. Oh God, not another fight with a teacher. Rika's record could only take so many more of these before the principal gave up and simply kicked Rika out.

"What she means to say is that you've undertaken an enormous undertaking with a play of this caliber and magnitude." Matt said charming, putting a restraining hand on Rika's shoulder. "I'm sure someone of your talents would have no problem performing any role in this particular production but perhaps it's a bit too much for this school to handle."

"So you think that it can't be done then." Himeno stated carefully, her eyes flashing dangerously. If that girl weren't a student..the girl wouldn't be looking so smugly superior, that's for sure. Well there were other ways to put both of these students in their places. "Well in that case maybe both of you should do what you can to see that it does succeed."

"Come again?" Rika said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. She had a bad feeling about this.

"You'll both be trying out for this play." The teacher informed them, a smile crossing the teacher's face that wasn't exactly nice. In fact it was almost feral. "After all since you two are both so concerned about this then it's only right that you do whatever you can to make this a success. Since this play seems to mean so much to the both of you."

"Ah no, we won't be." Rika said bluntly, looking at the teacher like the woman had lost what little marbles Rika had thought her to have in the first place. "You do know that participation in any extracurricular activity is completely voluntary. You can't make us be a part of this."

"Well I think with your record you're going to want to. Unless you want me to go to the principal about your disrespectful behavior." Was the teacher's oh so smugly sweet response. The too cool for everyone Rika Nonaka was going to be taken down more then a few pegs before she was done with her, Himeno thought darkly. They'd just see how tough the girl was when she was up on stage in front of her fellow students, forced to sing and act. The girl would make a total fool of herself.

"Do you know how bad my permanent record is right now? One more complaint, especially something so minor isn't really going to make even a small dent in it." Rika pointed out coldly, not intimidated in the least. "Go ahead and make your complaint, see if I care."

"And you?" Himeno asked, looking over at the utterly gorgeous blonde who'd tried to smooth things over. He'd be an asset to her production if for no other reason then he was stunning to look at. If he could sing she could definitely use him. She might even forgive him for underestimating her abilities if he was any good.

"I'll have to pass too. I'm new here so I might as well start out with a small dent and work my way up to something big." Matt said with a devilish wink, ever the lady charmer. "But thanks for the offer."

"Well then..I'll just see about encouraging you both to change your minds." Was her reply before turning on her heels and heading off in the direction of the principal's office, her mind full of ideas that would have had both Matt and Rika considering hiring someone to kidnap the woman and pour her into a vat of cement, never to be seen or heard from again.

Meanwhile

Off by himself T.K. sat on the grass on his school grounds, deep in thought as he leaned his back against a sturdy tree. He'd been racking his brain, trying to figure out what might have happened with his brother and what he was coming up with wasn't good. Not good at all. Damn it but why hadn't Matt come to him, T.K. thought darkly, running a hand through his blonde hair in agitation. If Matt had come to him then maybe they could have figured something out that would have let Matt stay, to work things out with everyone. Then again if he'd been in Matt's shoes he would have wanted to get the hell out of here too.

"T.K..?"

Looking over T.K. saw his girlfriend Kari looking over at him, he hadn't even heard her coming. "Hey." T.K. replied, lifting a hand in greeting. "What's up?"

Taking a seat beside her boyfriend Kari leaned her head against his shoulder. "Tai did something, didn't he? He and Sora did something that made Matt go away. You can tell me you know, I won't get mad just because Tai's my brother...because Matt's your brother too."

"Yeah, that's what I think too." T.K. said with a sigh, leaning his head against hers for comfort. "I wanna think differently but watching those two..they're looking way too guilty about something. They're avoiding each other like a plague right now but I'd lay money that all that unfinished business between them finally reared its ugly head and somehow that slapped back at Matt. Hard enough to make him leave and break up with her."

"He isn't eating or sleeping well, Tai I mean." Kari said with a sigh of her own. "I tried to talk to him but he won't talk to me about it. I don't think he's talked to anyone but Agumon and I'm not sure if he's even told him the whole story. I don't know if I want to hear the whole story because I think if I do..then I'm going to have to choose between my love and loyalty for my brother and the fact that I think he's done something terrible, Sora too."

"And I think that's exactly why Matt left." T.K. said softly, turning his head to kiss the top of her head. "He wanted to keep us from having to pick sides. Problem is..I don't think we can not in the end. Eventually the truth is going to come out..no matter what anyone wants. When it does..Pandora's box is going to be wide open."