DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).
DEVIATIONS
Chapter 7
Role Reversal
Renamon leapt in front of Rika as the flames drew close, while Takato reached into his pocket for the first card he could find.
Renamon screamed in pain as the intense flames hit her, Rika speechless as an element of the Dokugumon battle repeated itself. The flames died away, and Growlmon still looked set on attacking them, as he roared, walking forward and quaking the ground.
"Rika…move…" Renamon pleaded, as Rika grabbed her falling into her arms.
"No…" she replied, trying to move the fox on her own, but Growlmon was moving far faster than her. She looked up to the menacing eyes, towering over her, as his side-claws glowed blue. "Stop!" she yelled.
"DRAGON SLASH!" he roared.
Rika screamed as the blades drew closer and closer, before suddenly stopping. The air fell silent as Takato stared at Rika in shock, Henry with a similar expression as Renamon groaned in her arms.
'Did she just scream?' Takato thought.
'Why'd Growlmon stop?' Henry thought.
Rika looked up to Growlmon, struggling to move as a series of braces and grips grappled his arms back. She was speechless, what the hell had just happened?
Takato glanced to the card he had just slashed, the first one out of his deck, breathing a sigh of relief at his luck, getting a card that he'd normally have treated as useless.
Training Grips
Growlmon roared, struggling at his immobilisers as they began to snap. Takato looked down the stairs to Rika, who continued to try moving Renamon's immobile form. She paused when the sound of snapping sounded, looking up to see Growlmon once again drawing fire into his jaw.
Rika drew the first card from her deck. She only hoped that her partner still had enough energy to pull it off. She paused, before removing another card, a very recent addition to her deck.
"DIGI-MODIFY…Recharge Activate!" she yelled, as Renamon felt energy flood back into her, standing up.
"You won't hurt Rika!" she declared. Growlmon replied with a roar.
"DIGI-MODIFY…Digivolution Activate!" Rika yelled.
DIGIVOLUTION
Renamon Digivolve to…Kyubimon!
'Whoa, two champions…' Henry thought.
'This is going to be an interesting battle…' Rika thought. 'I should be happy, I always wanted to see this…but…I don't anymore…'
'I have to protect Rika, even if this dinosaur is an ally…" Kyubimon thought.
'Ha ha, they're destroying each other! Now this is entertainment!' Impmon thought.
'I have to stop Growlmon before he hurts them!' Takato thought.
"FOX TAIL INFERNO!" Kyubimon called, flames striking Growlmon and pushing him back.
"I have to stop him!" Takato yelled, noticing Growlmon's head now in line with the remains of the bridge he stood on. He, swallowing his fear, ran and leapt off the bridge, Henry and Rika's eyes widening as he grabbed Growlmon's neck, finding a foothold before he fell. "Waah!" he exclaimed, slipping as he grabbed onto Growlmon's fur.
"Gogglehead, get the hell off of your partner, Kyubimon can't attack!" Rika yelled.
"No, I've got to stop him!" Takato shouted, grabbing for Growlmon's hair as he shook, he climbed, as Growlmon widened his jaws.
"Kyubimon, move!" Rika yelled, as fire balled up in the back of the dinosaur's throat.
"PYRO BLASTER!" Growlmon roared. Kyubimon rolled forwards and underneath as the blast struck the ground, before continuing with her move.
"DRAGON WHEEL!" she yelled, a dragon roaring as she flew forward and hit Growlmon's chest, hazard signs still glowing on his shoulders as Takato grabbed on for dear life. Growlmon moved back in pain, as Kyubimon landed. Takato grabbed higher, pulling himself up onto Growlmon's head.
'Oh great, I never thought of what to do when I got here…" he thought in alarm, as Kyubimon analysed Growlmon.
'How can I possibly attack with Takato there?' she thought.
"Kyubimon!" Rika called, running over to her partner.
"Rika, what are you doing?" the fox asked in alarm, Rika having run straight into the line of fire. Rika leapt onto her back, grabbing her mane.
"I'm fighting by your side, that's what I'm doing!" she replied. "Get behind Growlmon!" she ordered. As Kyubimon leapt forward, Growlmon panned his head to follow her moves. She leapt on to the stairs as he opened fire.
"PYRO BLASTER!" he roared, Takato grabbing on for dear life as his partner's jaw opened, fire burning away the remains of that half of the overbridge.
Rika pulled on Kyubimon's mane tighter to prevent herself falling off as the fox's pace increased, reaching the road behind the dinosaur. Growlmon began to turn, Takato holding on even tighter as the forces threatened to throw him off.
"Growlmon!" he yelled, and he swore he saw his partner's ears twitch.
Kyubimon's tails rose, ready to attack. "I can't believe I'm saying this but, avoid hitting Gogglehead!" Rika advised.
Kyubimon nodded, flames burning bright as she flung them forward. "FOX TAIL INFERNO!"
The attacks homed in from all directions, preventing Growlmon swatting them. Takato pulled himself in close, thinking that he could be hit otherwise.
"Growlmon, you've got to stop…" he pleaded, but to no avail, as the dinosaur's mouth reopened.
"PYRO BLASTER!" he roared, as Kyubimon quickly moved aside, Growlmon panning across to keep aiming for all ten seconds of fire. The rest of the bridge was eradicated, and the building across it was scorched. Henry ducked low from his hiding place as the flames drew close, breathing a sight of relief when they stopped.
'What can I do?' Takato thought.
'I'm too close to the battle…' Henry thought. 'I've got to get out of here, but Growlmon will see me!'
'If Gogglehead doesn't get his dinosaur under control, then I don't know what we're going to do!' Rika thought.
Takato recalled how that battle began, and a thought dawned on him.
'Why didn't he attack me?'
"DRAGON WHEEL!" Kyubimon roared, leaping at Growlmon. Rika stared on in shock as her partner turned to a blue fire like substance, which somehow failed to burn her as the stream of flames roared up and hit Growlmon in the stomach once again.
"DRAGON SLASH!" he roared, inadvertently hitting her leg and slamming Kyubimon into the roadway, Rika falling off after she landed. Takato looked down in shock.
"Rika, are you okay?!" he called.
Rika sat up, as Kyubimon groaned, standing herself up. They weren't going to last much longer at this rate.
Takato looked down from Growlmon's line of sight, and came up with a plan. "Rika, I need you to get me off of here!" he called, noting no other way down.
"What?" Rika asked.
"I've got a plan!"
Rika groaned, climbing back onto Kyubimon. "This better work Gogglehead!"
Kyubimon leapt forward at Growlmon, who turned his head as Rika put out her hand to Takato's, grabbing him as they flew past. Takato felt the shock of going from stationary to moving at at least forty miles an hour, as the fox landed. Rika expected Takato to climb onto Kyubimon completely, but instead he leapt off.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, as he ran towards his partner, who looked down at him.
"Growlmon, stop!" he called.
"He's going to get himself killed…" Henry whispered, alarm in his tone.
Growlmon growled, looking to his Tamer, who stared back at him. "Growlmon, I order you to stop!" Takato yelled, Rika surprised at his strange burst of courage.
Growlmon and Takato glared into each others eyes, gold meeting azure.
"Why isn't he attacking?" Rika asked. Kyubimon watched, beginning to suss what was happening.
"Rika, he didn't attack Takato earlier…he hasn't attacked Takato at all…" she replied. Rika's eyes widened, as she looked up at the dino's face.
The hazards on the dino's shoulders flashed, as did Growlmon's eyes, the feral nature vanishing suddenly. Growlmon blinked several times, looking around.
"Takatomon, what's going on?" he asked. Takato smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" the boy asked.
"Yeah, why?"
Kyubimon cautiously approached them, Rika still on her back. Rika glared up at the dinosaur.
"Why the hell did you attack us?"
'Oh the irony…' Takato thought.
"Um…" Growlmon replied. "I attacked you?" he asked.
"Yeah, and you nearly killed us!" Rika yelled.
"Sorry…" the dinosaur replied. Rika turned to his Tamer, looking for a better explanation.
"Gogglehead, your pet is completely out of control, what the hell is wrong with him?" she asked.
"Hey, it's not his fault!"
"Then it's yours, you should learn to keep him under control!"
"Hey, it could be anything…you know…something completely out of our control…"
Rika frowned in annoyance. "You better figure out what it is soon before someone gets hurt, or worse…" she told him. He frowned, looking up to his partner.
"Was I scary?" Guilmon asked.
'Only if you find huge scary things scary…' Takato thought. "A bit yeah…" he answered.
"I'm sorry Takatomon…" Growlmon said emotionally.
"Hey, it's not your fault…"
"Can I be Guilmon again?"
"Um…I don't know…" Takato said, turning to the redhead on the fox. "Rika, how did you dedigivolve Kyubimon?"
"Huh…" Rika said, looking up and paying attention back to the conversation, having become bored with their sappy chat. She glanced down at her partner. "She just…did…it took a while though…I guess I'll have to do that again…"
"Aw, but I can't wait that long…" Growlmon complained. Rika groaned.
"Same old Guilmon, you really can't get anything right, can you Gogglehead?"
Takato nodded. "Yeah, it seems to be a habit of mine…hey, what are you going to do with Kyubimon?"
"First of all Gogglehead, she isn't a huge dinosaur, so she won't be hard to hide. Secondly, she also knows the meaning of the word subtle…"
"Yeah, but she's still pretty large compared to Renamon…"
Rika frowned, glancing to her D-Arc. "Maybe this piece of junk can be useful for something…"
"You mean something other than digivolving, slashing cards and getting information on Digimon?" Kyubimon asked, in a slightly teasing tone. Rika frowned, now even her partner was getting at her.
"Hmm…" Rika pondered, pressing buttons, before sighing. "Nothing, nothing works…" she groaned.
"Maybe there's a card…"
"There isn't…"
"Well then maybe…"
"Gogglehead, none of your ideas are going to work…we've just got to wait, I guess…"
"What if they revert through exhaustion?"
"Which'll take time anyway…I'd like to sleep at some point tonight!"
"Hmm…" Takato pondered, looking at his D-Arc. Rika had begun to ponder how long it was until they had to move, the police would be along soon enough. Then again, Takato was the only one who would struggle with a quick exit, so it was his problem. He held out his D-Arc and a card, sweeping it through backwards. "DIGI-MODIFY…Dedigivolution Activate!" he called.
Rika raised an eyebrow, as he began to blush in embarrassment. "Were you expecting that to do anything Gogglehead? Dedigivolve isn't even a word…"
"I just thought if I used it backwards…"
"Maybe I could dangle you upside down, then the blood might actually flow to your brain…" Rika mocked.
"Um…wouldn't that hurt a lot?" Takato asked nervously.
Rika groaned in annoyance. Why was she still trying to help him, she should've just left him behind to deal with his own problems, but no, she had to be 'caring' somewhat now. "Look, let's just get out of here, find somewhere to hide the pair of them, and then I can be rid of you for another evening!"
Henry watched as Takato nervously agreed, and they proceeded to leave, chuckling at the sight of Growlmon's size compared to everything else. Where were they expecting to hide them anyway? Where can you hide a dinosaur and not have it noticed?
"We can't leave him here!" Takato said, looking at the entrance familiar from their adventure only a few days ago, the tunnel entrance not far ahead. "He'll disappear again…"
Rika groaned, Takato clearly wasn't thinking straight, she had considered dangling him upside-down for real several times on their way here. "Look, that was just a one-off thing…"
"Are you sure?"
"If I wasn't sure, why would I be leaving Kyubimon here?"
"I see your point…"
Rika glanced to her partner as she leapt off her back, Takato clumsily sliding off his. She was surprised that no-one had seen the dinosaur on their way here, but Rika decided to count her blessings as Growlmon and a reluctant Kyubimon entered.
"See, unless he's scared of the dark or claustrophobic, nothing to worry about here…" Rika said, looking into the tunnel.
"And what if he is?"
"Then I don't care…"
They walked for a short distance into the tunnel, to ensure that they were very unlikely to be discovered. "Sorry Growlmon, but anywhere else someone will find you…" Takato told his partner, who nodded sadly, leaning against one of the walls and settling down.
"Sorry Kyubimon, if you get bored in the night, feel free to attack him…" Rika told her partner, who, keeping as much distance between her and Growlmon without going too far, curled on the ground to sleep.
"Hey!" Takato complained.
"He better not snore…" Kyubimon noted.
"Sorry…" Growlmon replied. Kyubimon groaned, she was going to be tired in the morning. She only hoped that'd work to solve her problem, being stuck as Kyubimon, albeit powerful, was annoying, she was unable to teleport at all.
"Growlmon, by the way, please don't leave here, even if Calumon discovers the biggest store of bread ever, okay?"
"Bye…" Takato said, walking away from them, Rika following.
"Gogglehead, how do you always manage to mess up?" she asked him, as they exited the tunnel into the cold night air.
"Yeah, I know, I'm the worst Tamer in the world…" he replied glumly.
Rika smirked. "Gogglehead, there are only two Tamers in the world, so you must be. Let me put it in a different way, if every single person in the world, nay, the universe, in all of time, had a Digimon, or even more, as a partner, you would still be the worst Tamer of the lot…"
"Thanks for the reassurance…"
"Any time at all, and I don't mean that literally…you bug me Gogglehead, so hopefully I won't have to put up with you tomorrow…"
"Well, I am probably going to see you when going to get Guilmon, so…"
"Oh great…" Rika complained.
"Rika…something's been bugging me…" Takato began nervously.
"Hmm?"
"Why are you helping me? I mean, a few days ago, you'd never even consider helping me, but now…" he trailed off.
"Takato, I'm simply sick of seeing your trip over your own feet…" she said, looking into his eyes. "You do not know how tiresome it gets…"
Takato chuckled. "Fine…" he replied, as she turned and walked away.
"See you not soon…" she said.
"Yeah, bye…" Takato replied, walking in the other direction. 'Does the world enjoy throwing me for a loop or something?'
"Aw, look at the little babies sleeping…" Impmon mocked, seeing the pair of champions in the tunnel. "I certainly had good luck with this, now which one to bug first…"
He looked over the pair, considering his thoughts, before making a fireball.
"Who am I kidding, she'd just attack me…" he muttered, walking past the fox and onto the dragon, poking him in the face. "Hey, wake up!" he called.
The snoring continued, as Impmon was swatted aside into the wall. He groaned, standing up annoyed.
"So you want to play rough huh?"
The snoring continued.
"Seriously, get up, I didn't come all this way just to watch you snore! I'm a busy guy, I have…other things to do…are you listening?!"
Impmon leapt in surprise as Growlmon opened an eye. "Impmon…"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not supposed to leave here…"
"Why?"
"Takato said so…" Growlmon replied, closing his eyes again
"Geez…you're just as boring as ever…" Impmon complained. "Listen to me! BADA BOOM!"
Growlmon exclaimed in pain as he was burnt, his eyes shooting wide open.
"Run fatso run!" Impmon joked, throwing fireball after fireball at Growlmon as he ran down the tunnel. Impmon laughed manically.
Takato turned up at the tunnel entrance, bread in hand, bright and early the next morning. He was eager to see Guilmon (hopefully) again, and to some extent Rika and Renamon (hopefully). Unfortunately, things were not to turn out the way he hoped.
"Guilmon?" he called, walking down the tunnel. "Guilmon?"
"Be quiet…" complained a voice, as Takato looked to see Renamon resting against the wall, yawning.
"Hey Renamon, where'd Guilmon go?" she asked. Renamon glanced around, noticing his absence.
"Hmm…I am not sure…"
"Great…" Takato said sarcastically. "Now what do I do? Things couldn't get any worse…" he groaned.
The door opened once again, and Rika entered, glancing to him with a curious expression.
"Did it work?" she asked, as he glanced up uneasily.
"For Renamon, yes…"
"Then that's all I care about…" she replied, as Renamon walked over to her.
"Come on, you've got to help me find him!" Takato asked.
"I told you Takato, I'm sick of having to do that, so bye…" she replied, closing the door again, and leaving Takato to his thoughts. He looked off down the tunnel.
'Maybe he just went a short way down…'
A few minutes later, Takato's legs had begun to ache, as he groaned.
"Where is he?" he asked, looking to see the exit to the tunnel not far ahead. He groaned, seeing nothing as he stepped out.
Around him was Shinjuku Park, the other side of it to be precise. He wasn't heading down that tunnel again for sure, so he walked around, looking for some sign of his partner.
"Growlmon!" he called when he noticed that he was out of earshot. This would be annoying, he had school to go to, and he still hadn't found his partner. 'Why do I always end up looking for him?'
"Growlmon?" asked a voice, and Takato turned to see Henry, looking at him curiously.
Takato sweatdropped nervously, this was getting more and more difficult by the day.
"Imaginary Digimon again?" Henry asked.
"Um…yeah, he digivolved and, I can't find him…"
Henry rolled his eyes slightly, this story was so unbelievable it was deserving of a prize. Firstly, if he really was Takato's imaginary Digimon, why wouldn't he be able to find him? Secondly, why was he in the tunnel if he was looking for a Digimon? Thirdly, school started in less than half an hour, and he had two bags of bread in his hands, which an imaginary dinosaur wouldn't be able to eat. But, Henry would have to believe it to keep up the façade, otherwise he'd probably never have a chance to meet Guilmon for real.
"So…" Henry began. "What are you going to do?"
"I guess I'll keep looking after school…"
"What are you going to do with the bread?"
"Um…" Takato pondered. "Give it to Calumon?" he suggested.
"How are you going to find him?" Henry added.
"Well…I know where he might go…"
"Hmm…why here?" Henry asked, looking around the small concrete abandoned hut.
"I don't know, he just likes this place…" Takato replied, putting the bags of bread down. 'Well, if Guilmon comes back, I guess he can eat it…' "I call it the 'hideout'"
"Why, what do you hide here?" Henry asked.
"Um…Calumon…"
"What's with all the digging?"
"Calumon is very strange…"
"Uh…huh…" Henry replied, not believing a word of it. However, it did tell him one thing. This is where he could find Guilmon.
Takato breathed a sigh of relief once school was over, Henry soon joining him as they left. "So, are you going to look for Guilmon now?" Henry asked.
"Yeah, but I may just give up and re-imagine him someplace else…"
"How do you know when you've found him?"
"Um…I just know, that's all…"
"Right…" Henry replied sarcastically.
"Yay!" Calumon suddenly cheered, leaping out of a bush onto Takato's head, surprising the pair.
"Don't…do...that!" Takato complained.
"What?"
"Leaping out and surprising us like that!"
"But it's fun!"
Henry and Takato groaned.
Despite Takato's attempts at finding an excuse to lose him, Henry was still following him as he walked around the park, Calumon on his head. He'd already noticed that Guilmon wasn't at the hideout, and Calumon had no idea either. Takato was going to use his D-Arc, but with Henry here it would be impossible.
Henry sighed, he'd intended to follow Takato to see Guilmon, but they just ended up going around in circles. He also had to go to his Dojo soon, so he'd have to give up. He had a feeling that Takato was intentionally looking in the same places again.
"Haven't we been here before?" Henry asked, pausing.
"Um…oh yeah, I must be losing myself…"
Henry closed his eyes, ignoring his frustration as he realised he was out of time. "Look, I've got to go to see my Sensei, so I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah, see you later…" Takato replied, as the blue haired boy turned and walked away.
"I'm coming with!" Calumon cheered, following.
Takato breathed a sigh of relief that unfortunately Henry heard, but he decided to keep quiet on it for now. Takato turned, checking that no-one was watching and taking out his D-Arc, switching to the compass. "Now let's see…" he began, before following where it pointed.
He was lead past the hideout (where his bread had been raided), and along several paths until he came to the playground.
"According to this, he should be right over…" he began, moving his D-Arc away and looking up to see a frustrated Growlmon, children playing on him. His eyes widened as he ran over to his partner. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Growlmon looked glum. "Can't move, kids on me…"
It was an hour before Growlmon could move, an hour of Takato subtly feeding him bread and talking about why he ran from the tunnels. Takato had begun to hate Impmon, he seemed to have a pretty big grudge against Guilmon. Then again, it seemed like he also had similar grudges against Calumon and Renamon, so may he just hated everyone. Takato now sat near his partner's head, chatting.
"What I don't understand is, why didn't you dedigivolve yet when Renamon did?"
"Yeah, that's really strange…"
"Hmm…"
"Takatomon, how am I going to dedigivolve?"
"I have no idea…we'll have to hide you again…"
"Oh, but I hated the tunnels…"
Takato groaned. "So what do we do then?"
"I thought Renamon was joking but, sheesh, your partner does some stupid things…" a new voice said. Takato glanced up to see Rika, nodding to her, Renamon next to her.
"Rika…" he greeted glumly.
"Oh come on Gogglehead, at least be annoyed or something…"
"What do I do?"
"Well, you're going to have to hide him again…"
"Yeah, but I hate the tunnels…" Growlmon complained.
"So? Just put up with it!" Rika replied.
"That's not helpful…" Takato replied.
"I'm not feeling helpful…"
"He's not exactly, subtle, is he…" Renamon noted.
"Yeah…" Takato replied. "Hey, maybe we could make him blend in, you know…catsflange…"
"Camouflage Gogglehead!" Rika insisted.
Takato recoiled in worry, before nodding. "My parents have some paint left over from painting the bakery…"
"I presume you want me to help you?" Rika asked. "Well forget it…"
"Come on, it'll be fun…"
"That was not fun Gogglehead, do you know how much crap he has between his toes?!" she asked, in annoyance.
"Then why did you give in and agree to help?"
"I don't know…" Rika replied, breaking away from her normal confident talk. "I just…thought it'd be fun to see you suffer…"
"So that's why I had to climb up to paint him while you didn't bother to do anything out of arms length…" Takato realised.
"Yeah, now I wish I hadn't even done that…"
"I think it works pretty well though…" Takato said, admiring their work. Growlmon was now the colour of camouflage, a plan Takato hoped would hide him in the bushes at least until he dedigivolved.
"Go on then, hide…" Renamon said. "And I'll seek…" she added.
"I have a feeling that this'll be over quickly…" Takato replied nervously. "Anyway, go ahead…" he said to his partner.
"Okay…" Growlmon replied. "Close your eyes!" he added, Rika groaning at how childish it was as they turned around and covered or closed their eyes, hearing ruffling of bushes behind. "I'm done!" Growlmon finished.
"Now that's already a big mistake…" Rika complained. "Saying where you're hiding…" she added, as they turned.
"Well, I have to say, I can't see him…" Takato noted, looking around. "Is that him?"
"That's a stick…" Renamon replied.
"Well, if you look at it from a certain angle…"
"Gogglehead, it's still a stick…" Rika patronised.
"Right…um…Growlmon, where are you?" he asked, looking amongst the foliage for any sign of the dinosaur.
"I can't tell you…" Growlmon replied.
"Yeah, but I have to know, don't I?"
"Then find me!"
"Anyway, I don't think anyone is going to find him there…"
Rika sighed. "Renamon, figure out where he is…"
Renamon lifted a hand, as Growlmon groaned, stepping forwards. "Aw…" he complained.
"What, how'd you do that?" Takato asked.
"A person may not be able to see him, but any Digimon worth their salts, let alone Renamon..., could find him within seconds" Rika explained in a patronising tone. "Now, I'm sick of this, can I go home?" she asked. "And that's not meant as a question…"
"What do I do about Growlmon?" Takato asked, as Renamon stepped over to her Tamer.
"Figure something out, I don't care…" Rika answered bluntly, turning away as the clouds rumbled above.
Takato looked up, finding it oddly fitting given his current situation.
"Oh great, now I'm out in the rain thanks to you…" Rika complained, as the water began to pour down.
"This wasn't in the forecast…" Takato pondered.
"Takato, we have a problem…" Growlmon called, as Takato turned, to see the paint cascading off him.
"We used water based paint?!" Rika questioned. "I wasted all that time!"
Takato whimpered, this was all getting to be too much.
'Why the hell is he crying?' Rika thought as he ran forward to hug his partner.
"Growlmon, what are we going to do? You can't dedigivolve, and I can't avoid oil based paint…" he whimpered.
"Why are you crying?" Rika asked.
Takato turned, a strangely dark expression on his face, that made Rika slightly fearful, and also worried. "Because every single thing I do turns to crap Rika…have you considered what it's like to be in that position? You may find it funny, but I don't! Every single damn thing I do! Guilmon gets out of control, I almost lose him in several battles, I continue to do bad in school, I have very few friends, I skip up on my words so often that I end up in the worse situations possible, and even when I have a chance to make a friend, I screw it up by not telling him about my partner…so you can call me an idiot all you want, because I already know that Rika…"
Rika was about to reply, but she paused, the rain pouring down on them. She didn't feel like replying. Despite the huge potential for teasing him here, something held her back. Something stopped her from going that far.
"Please don't cry Takato…" Growlmon asked.
"Thanks…for calling me that…not Takatomon…" Takato said through his tears, crying into Growlmon's leg as the paint ran.
"No problem Takatomon…"
Rika smiled slightly at the amusing situation, but she still felt bad. What was she meant to do, go over and comfort him and tell him that everything would be okay? She'd never been in a situation like this before, she'd always left beforehand. She glanced to the sky through the gap in the trees as the rain slowed, coming to a complete stop finally.
"Well, that's at least something good then…" Rika noted.
Rays of light shone down on the brunette and his partner, as Rika suddenly noticed a rare occurrence in the sky.
"A rainbow?" she asked.
Renamon glanced to it, looking curiously. "Hmm…I think they are leftover data particles…"
"Take all the fun out of it why don't you…" Rika joked, smiling slightly.
Takato looked up in amazement, his tears stopping. Growlmon looked on in similar shock, as he began to glow.
"What's happening?" Takato asked in amazement.
The data rose into the air from Growlmon, as he glowed a blue hue. Takato, Rika and Renamon all looked on in amazement, as he suddenly (and surprisingly quickly) shrunk back to Guilmon.
"Guilmon, you're back to normal!" Takato cheered, pulling his partner into a hug.
"Sappy as always…" Rika said, a strangely positive tone in her voice. Takato nodded, smiling happily.
"I want to eat bread!" Guilmon cheered.
"Nothing new there then…" Renamon muttered. Rika smiled and nodded, before walking over to Takato.
"Look, take from this what you want, but I think that Kyubimon dedigivolved fast because she's more experienced…" she mooted, leaving Takato to decide whether to interpret that as an insult or an attempt at reassurance.
"Yeah…I see your point…" Takato replied.
"Good, I'm going home now, and I don't want to see you for another week at least!" Rika insisted, walking away.
'Some things never change…' Takato thought, nodding. "I'll try…" he replied.
"Good…"
Rika smiled slightly, enough for only Renamon to notice. She'd helped to some extent, and it felt strangely good.
She wasn't going to be making a habit of it by any means.
The world suddenly felt icy cold for a second.
'Huh…'
TO BE CONTINUED…
I didn't actually expect much of this chapter (in the show it feels a bit like filler, although it was good to see the problems dealt with rather than 'everything is back to normal' the episode after like in most episodes in previous series and other TV series), so how it worked out, particularly with the additional battle, was good in the end. The title I find rather apt in particular.
Next time…
Is Rika going to be nicer? Will Guilmon always need a rainbow to dedigivolve? What was the icy cold that Rika felt?
Find out in 'Fire and Ice', Chapter Eight of Deviations.