Madi

The team of four were trapped, the exit behind them, but their pursuers too close to flee from. Madi, standing ahead of Beelzemon, didn't budge. She stares the man down, right at the space his eyes should be.

"Let them go and I'll come quietly." she says, breaking the aggressively stale air between them.

The cloaked man smirks, "You think you're that valuable?"

Beelzemon watches, using the time to try and find a way out of this. Ai and Mako are huddled just behind him, ready to keep fighting. As Madi gives her offer, he objects, "I ain't leavin you behind!"

"You wouldn't be chasing me down if I weren't." She ignores the towering mega behind her.

The silence is deafening, Beelzemon growls, not willing to just walk away. "Listen here princess!" he snaps, "You risked yourself for me. You put your life on the line to help me. I'm not about to be responsible for another good person suffering. Get back here with us right now or I'll drag you out of here by your hair if I have ta!"

"Very well." the cloaked man says. "Your friends are free to go."

Beelzemon grunts, unapprovingly.

Madi turns her back on the man, slowly walking toward Beelzemon. He smirks at his former captor, knowing he just took something from him now. Madi stops, short of the digimon she barely knew. "It's okay." she says. "I can take it." she has tears welling up in her eyes. "It's worth it to keep you from suffering again."

The demon lord digimon is slapped by her words. She didn't know him, here she was trying to take care of him, save him. She was powerless, yet here she was taking control of the situation, fighting for the digimon she'd just freed. Fighting for him.

"I'm not tradin my freedom for yours sweetheart. We're leaving here together!" His cannon opened as it began to charge. "Now get behind me! He raises his arm, firing his corona destroyer at the man. The attack rockets forward, flying over Madi's head as she ducks. The blast makes a direct hit, yet the man just stands there grinning, not phased by the attack. His smirk grows to a smile, then laughter.

"You really think I wouldn't be prepared for that?" he asks. He steps forward, his nonmon legion still as he does. "Madi, you may want to get out of the way." he warns her.

Madi doesn't move, "We had a deal." she stands tall again, not moving.

"No ya didn't, let's get outa here!" Beelzemon growls.

The man stops, raising his arms, "That was nullified when your 'friend' attacked me." he sneers, energy begins to form between the man's outstretch hands. Power pushing out from it in the area.

Madi doesn't move, Beelzemon rushes forward to grab her. If he could move fast enough, he could turn, grabbing his tamers and rush for the exit. The attack came too quickly. It rushed forward as Beelzemon's out stretched hand came inches from Madi. She brings up her digivice, yelling "Shield!" a blue wave of light comes from it in response, protecting the four from the attack.

The damage to the building was great. But as the dust began to clear, there was no sign of the three humans and the digimon. The roar of a motorcycle could be heard. The man steps forward to where Madi was standing, just moments ago. Her digivice lays on the ground, falling apart pixel by pixel. As he reaches for the last of it, his hand goes through the energy that remains, the digivice fading to nothing. The man frowns,

"Pity..."

Beelzemon had the three humans squished on his motorcycle, moving as fast as it would go away from the hell he'd been imprisoned in. Madi was unconscious. Ai and Mako held on to her, letting their partner drive. He wasn't sure where he could go, or where he was even.

Bearmon

The other tamers that were with the group had arrived. Kenta and Kazu, along with their partners, MarineAngemon and Guardromon. They had a giant rental truck to house every one. As the door to the rear of the truck came up, the tank like Guardromon stepped forward, hopping down from the truck. The landing sending a shock through the ground. The suspension pushed the truck back up, letting out a groan of relief. MarineAngemon, the tiny little digimon, stuck close to Kenta at all times. There was a surprise in the truck though, three more tamers and their partners. The ones that Madi and Bearmon had met early on.

It was an awkward reunion, Bearmon didn't say a lot. Once things had settled down, everyone started to break out their sleeping bags near the fire. Bearmon didn't sleep. Instead, he climbed up on top of Dr. Wong's van, looking up at the stars. Him and Madi used to do this when she was younger. They had a shed that was easy to get on top of. Looking up at the stars, thinking of his best friend, that's what relaxed him enough to close his eyes and drift off.

Bearmon suddenly found himself in a field. Madi was sitting on a tree stump, looking at him. Her expression was blank. As Bearmon started toward her, his tamer's appearance started to shift. Her face changed, the hair getting shorter, her shoulders getting a little wider. As Bearmon reached her, she wasn't the same. She wasn't Madi anymore, she was Matt.

"Hey..." Matt said blankly.

Bearmon, confused, answered back. "Hi. What's...going on?" he asked.

Matt looked in his direction, but it was as if he was looking right through him. "You forgot me..." he says lowly. "All that time, and you gave up on me.".

Bearmon looks up in horror, "No I didn't!" he objects.

"You decided to go with her." Matt answers, accusingly, "You left me, forgot all about me. Decided you needed to protect her instead of just be with me." he stands, lunging for the digimon, wrapping his hands around the his neck. "But you won't leave me now. You're my digimon again. You'll never leave me again. You'll never forget me again." The dull, haunting voice rings out.

Bearmon reached to pull Matt's hands from his neck, but they don't budge. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He cant get out any words.

The little bear's code starts to give in to the attack, pixels of his vision turning black, little by little. But suddenly, his neck is freed. He lays on the ground, his chest rising up and down. His vision starts to come back into focus and then, he hears her voice.

"Bearmon!" it's Madi.

He jumps to his feet, stumbling as he reaches an upright position. Madi is there, fighting Matt. He has both her wrist and starts pushing her back.

"You took him from me. You'll never take him from me again!" his voice grows louder and louder as he speaks, "He's my digimon! You're a fake!"

Madi is slammed against the tree trunk, which has grown to the size of a house. She gasps from the pain of being pinned to it. "I don't know what you are, but you will NOT HURT MY FRIEND!" She yells, kicking his shin. He doesn't move, doesn't budge, until he starts to laugh in a low, ominous, tone. The laughter grows and turns to a maniacal, deep cackle.

"I am going to enjoy killing you Madi!" he says, "Just like you killed me."

The words sting, hitting right where they would do the most damage. Madi had felt some guilt over transition. She did lose family and friends over it, but she wouldn't allow that to stop her. She told herself that she didn't lose them, they lost her.

Madi can't move, her struggle ceasing at the attack of her former self. Matt pulls a leg back, preparing a new assault on the woman. Before he can connect, however, Bearmon intervenes. The digimon attacks the fake with a bear roll attack, freeing Madi, who collapses to her knees.

"Don't listen to him." Bearmon says, "He's not real."

Madi looks up, tears in her eyes. "Is it really you?" she asks, curious if this is more than a dream.

"Yes." he says, reaching a paw up to wipe a tear from her cheek. "Sorry we got separated."

The tamer lunges forward, hugging her partner. "I was so worried!" she yells in relief. "I thought I'd lost you forever!"

Bearmon squeezes her back, looking over to the victim of his attack. "Madi, I don't think we're done here." he whispers.

She nods, pulling back. "I know, sorry." she smiles, turning her head to look at her former self as well. "What is that?"

Bearmon shrugs, "I'm not sure." he answers. "Honestly, I'm not even sure how this is possible. You shouldn't be able to be in my dreams." an idea hits him, "Unless, you're data. You're in the digital world. This is our connection doing this!"

"I don't know where I am right now." she confirms, but yeah. "We were fighting that man that showed up as a projection. I shielded a friend from his attack and then I don't remember anything. It must have knocked me out."

The digimon looks back to his friend, their eyes meeting again, "I'm going to kill him." he says darkly.

Madi's shoulders drop at this tone, "Hey, no more of that kind of talk!" she yells, seeing him snap out of the dark thoughts. "You fight, I fight."

"You fight, I fight." He answers back.

She stands as they both face the doppelganger. He stands as Madi does, his body looking disfigured, bones appearing to crack. His hair turns white and grows out, wings stretch out from his back, his body takes a more muscular and prismatic form. He looks like a nonmon now. "It would appear the master has underestimated the both of you." He says, his voice much deeper than before. "I am Project Morpheus. Bringer of nightmares and your deaths."