DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).
DEVIATIONS
Chapter 8
Fire and Ice
Music hissed away from a pair of headphones as Rika Nonaka headed down your typical Tokyo shopping street. Signs proclaiming stores names stuck out of the walls, and the pathway was relatively empty, those who weren't lucky enough to be out of school at three like Rika still at work in the busy metropolis.
The music had faded to white noise for the girl, as she pondered another thing beyond what her fellow pedestrians knew about, or had a hope in hell of understanding.
'Digivolving…I don't understand it…'
The previous two days had been a hive of activity for the Tamers. On the first day, after a big fall out the day before, Takato and Guilmon made up on the battlefield and he digivolved to Growlmon. Everything seemed okay; at least until the dinosaur went feral and attacked her and her partner Renamon. It wasn't the first time the Gogglehead's partner had become uncontrolled and violent, and Rika would bet everything she owned that it wasn't going to be the last time either. Then again, who would make such a bet?
The Gogglehead perhaps? He'd been, annoyingly, on her mind lately. Despite herself having far more battle experience, and a far stronger partner, he seemed to get one up on her repeatedly, before messing up spectacularly. She had to admit that Growlmon, while completely insane and lacking any sense of friend or foe (beyond Takato, of course, which had been their eventual solution to the problem), was also very powerful. Scenes of him demolishing the remains of the footbridge came to mind, as well as when Renamon stood in the way of his attack and was almost destroyed. Even Dokugumon had to attack Renamon several times before she managed to get her down.
And why could Guilmon digivolve anyway? Beyond the care and love element that she had begun to understand, albeit only slightly, he had still had no real battle experience. He hadn't even loaded any data, and the only battles he'd been in were against Vilemon, Allomon and of course, her own partner. But he still digivolved, and this bugged Rika.
It felt somewhat unfair. She and Renamon had fought in at least two dozen battles in the course of a month, and yet all it took were five for Guilmon to digivolve. Renamon's digivolution was literally a last-ditch attempt at protecting her Tamer, rather than a strategic move. Sure, Kyubimon was powerful, but even she couldn't subdue Growlmon. Then again, having to avoid hitting Takato on his neck in the process didn't help.
Furthermore, she knew that, if they came up against a series of viruses, at ultimate level as well, Renamon would unfortunately be no match due to her data type. Then again, despite having no weakness, even Guilmon would have difficulties. They didn't have any vaccine type on their team, a pain really compared to the TV series.
"This isn't the TV show you idiot!"
Rika chuckled slightly; she'd fallen foul of her own words. Whatever happened, they'd have to fight, and Renamon would need to get stronger. It could only be a matter of weeks until they faced their first ultimate, as the digimon that arrived seemed to be getting steadily more powerful. But she would ensure that none of them were any match for Renamon.
She'd one-up Gogglehead completely, with Kyubimon at her side. They were unstoppable; she had finally got her wish. The one she had wanted for what seemed like forever.
'Still…'
She recalled the events of the previous day, with the freak rain storm. Renamon had later mooted that it wasn't a natural phenomenon, but that wasn't surprising to Rika anyway. Takato had gotten really emotional, to the point of crying, something that she didn't expect even from him (although she would never have admitted it)…
"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…"
She felt a strange emotion after hearing him talk about it.
Regret.
And then, Growlmon had dedigivolved. All from a rainbow, but…was she missing something here? Kyubimon had dedigivolved naturally, what was going on? Was Growlmon so powerful that he couldn't even sleep it off?
She clenched her fist. Who cared about the Gogglehead and his little problems? Why were they her problems anyway? They weren't, and she was going to keep it that way. Gogglehead was always too busy tripping over his own feet in battle anyway, to be a real ally. All she needed was herself and her Digimon, anyone else was simply cannon fodder.
A sharp chill ran up the back of her spine, and she paused, turning in fear.
Nothing was there. Only the road stretching away, the pedestrians going about their daily business, albeit with a few noticing her odd moves.
"What was that?" she exclaimed.
She stared down the road for a while, looking for whatever it was. She knew that by now, Renamon would be wondering what had concerned her, but it seemed so real. Was she just imagining things? It felt like she had suddenly turned cold, and it'd happened the day before too. Just after Growlmon dedigivolved.
Did this have something to do with Guilmon?
No, that was a silly idea, Guilmon couldn't even fight well in battle, let alone have the powers to pull off such unseen moves. And why would he anyway? Sure, they'd attacked him in the past, but after he attacked them, he seemed truly regretful of it. And besides, he would probably be sitting in his little box eating bread as always.
'I could've sworn I felt something though…'
Rika turned, gasping in surprise at what she saw, before pausing.
"Hey Rika!" Calumon cheered. Rika groaned, and then spoke to him, standing over in a pose that was very intimidating for the small fairy-like creature.
"Have you been sneaking up on me?" she asked.
"Um…no?" Calumon replied, bewildered. "Do you want me to?"
Rika groaned, walking past the fairy.
Henry was reading through a programming manual, one of the things he'd been trying to learn lately. All was quiet as he sat on the comfortable cushions of his living room, his mother with his little sister Suzie at the park, his father at work and his two other sisters, Jaarin and Rinchei, out shopping.
A perfect environment for learning, it seemed, but Henry just couldn't get his mind on the text.
'I know where Guilmon will be hidden, why don't I just go to see?'he thought. He felt reluctant though, for a reason he was still pondering.
Was he afraid of being attacked by the dinosaur? He didn't think so; the dinosaur didn't exactly look like that kind of creature.
Was he afraid of Takato being mad at him? Perhaps, but Takato seemed quite easy-going.
Was he afraid of getting into something that he'd later regret? Probably, the potential for him to be drawn into this new way of life was huge. Then again, he didn't have a partner. Maybe he'd get one though.
He'd always been a fan of Digimon, since the first Digimon V-pets, and in particular the video games. Sure, the fanbase had declined lately, but he still liked it.
But where did these real Digimon come from? How deep did the rabbit hole go, to borrow a phrase from a film he'd seen?
Thinking of rabbits, and video games too, he recalled a few weeks prior when he had received a new video game after his father had received a promotion at work. It was the latest Digimon game, far more realistic than ever before, and allowed the user to pick, train, digivolve, and for the first time, slash cards using the included card reader.
He'd booted it up straight away, well, after a lengthy installation process at least. But that wasn't important, what really mattered was which Digimon he could pick. The game was so realistic, the world itself seemed huge, and the graphics were great. He was surprised that his computer, comparatively feeble compared to a gaming rig, could run such a game without exploding.
First things first, he picked a Digimon. It was a somewhat arbitrary list, the selection of Digimon seemed random, and he had such a choice. But none of them seemed like what he wanted; they all seemed far too vastly overpowered. He wanted a challenge, a Digimon that would feel like a real partner. One with a full evolution line.
Apparently one who could also dance too, he had thought, switching to the next Digimon on the list. It was a Terriermon, and the animation was adorable, albeit unrealistic compared to the rest of the game. It was perfect, Terriermon had a full evolution line, from Baby to Mega, and it'd give him a real challenge facing whatever threats there were in the game.
He had selected it, smiling to see a large expansive desert with rocks and a blue sky. Perhaps a bit barren, but he expected the more impressive stuff to be on later levels. It almost felt like a window on a world in the way it appeared, it was incredibly realistic, far beyond what he expected from computer graphics.
The controls were slightly difficult to master. Your Digimon would move on their own, assisted by encouragement, food, health recovering and a multitude of other techniques. And then came the battles, which truly were random. He'd once had to flee pretty quickly from a MetalGreymon, a pretty strange battle for that early on in the game. He'd tried to avoid anything above a rookie until Terriermon was strong enough to digivolve.
Then he saw it. A Gorillamon, attacking helpless rookies and in-trainings with his cannons. He knew it was only a game, but he had to help. A yearning to assist took over any sense of logic in choosing opponents, and he sent Terriermon in to attack. At first the battle seemed clean-cut, Terriermon was being damaged easily, but then he started to use modify cards.
"Power Activate!"
"Speed Activate!"
"Targeting Activate!"
And then it happened. The words flashed up on screen.
DIGIVOLUTION
Terriermon Digivolve to…Gargomon!
A larger bunny with a cannon on his hand had replaced the small dog-bunny, and he attacked. Gorillamon ran for it, as Gargomon chased after him. Henry had been cheering, but he stopped once Gorillamon was destroyed and his data was loaded by the bunny.
This wasn't fun. It was horrible. The realism only added to it, as the data glowed into the bunny. Why had he kept attacking, Henry hadn't told him to defeat the ape, just to subdue it?
Gargomon was just like all the rest of them. Fight or be killed.
He'd turned off the game, leaving Gargomon running around. That evening, he'd gone to his father, to talk to him about the game.
"The Digimon can't actually be hurt because they don't really exist…"his father had said. Henry wanted to believe him, but returning to his computer, he simply couldn't. His game had kept running somehow, Gargomon had been attacked by a Meramon, and was now back to Terriermon, injured. The pain was so real, the struggle.
He'd closed the game, and left it in its box.
The game still was in his room, the box gathering dust amongst a pile of game boxes. A part of Henry yearned him to play again, told him that it wasn't that bad. If Terriermon had kept moving while he spoke to his father, then maybe Terriermon needed help.
"The Digimon can't actually be hurt because they don't really exist…"
He sighed, he was lying to himself. Ironically, he'd discovered that they did actually exist, but that was in real life, not in a video game.
He hoped that he could muster up the courage to go and find out about the Digimon, and also hoped that the rabbit hole didn't go too deep…
"I don't have any food…" Rika began, turning to face the fairy that had decided to follow her footsteps. "So why are you following me?"
"Wanna play?" Calumon asked, ears out like wings and smiling. Nothing could get him down, could it. "Huh?"
Rika glanced to the posters in the window next to her. 'Terrific, my mother, like I don't have enough problems already…' she thought, looking at the shop displays of her mother modelling their latest range.
"Here I come!" Calumon cheered, leaping into Rika's hands, laughing.
"What are you doing?"
"Eskimo kisses!"
Rika groaned. It was going to be one of those days. Why did Calumon still like her, she'd kicked him for god's sake?
"Rika!" called an all-too familiar voice, Rika doing an about-face to see her mother, running up to her, phone ringing all the while. She groaned, her mother rarely saw her anyway, and this wasn't the best of times to boot. Calumon still smiled widely, to the point where he could easily be mistaken for a doll.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Rika asked, her voice panicky. She didn't want to seem soft of all things, and here she was, carrying a doll-like object that about 99 percent of the female population of Japan would gawp at.
"What a day…we had a photo shoot, but it was interrupted when all these people showed up wanting my autograph and my secrets for my good looks, we just couldn't get anything done…" she ranted, crossing her arms as Rika groaned, not noticing the ironic similarity in their frustrated poses. "Being famous and popular can be a pain in the ass…" her mother muttered, as Rika backed away carefully, noticing a crowd had begun to gather. "You're so glad you don't know how that feels…"
Rika's voice had turned nervous; she hated being seen in public with her mother, or indeed anything to do with her. "Yeah, well, lucky me, I've got to go…" she said, preparing to head back the way she had came, which was not where she intended to go.
"Wait, Rika…" her mother said, Rika turning back to her out of not wanting to look insolent in front of her family, or indeed the press. That would probably cause far more problems than she could deal with, particularly since with Hypnos having seen her, she wanted to keep the number of pictures she had in the papers to a minimum, in other words, zero. "I think your doll is adorable…" her mother finished.
Rika groaned, looking down at Calumon, smiling widely as ever. "You had to be cute, didn't you?" she said spitefully.
Rika finally got away from watching eyes in the park, in an area full of oriental buildings. She could finally get rid of the wretched Digimon, making her life a misery, as she put him down on the ground. She considered drop-kicking him away, but that'd be too much even for her. He wasn't trying to annoy her, he was simply naïve.
'A thing that both he and the Gogglehead have in common…' she noted. She bent down, still towering over the fairy. "Listen you little squirt, I'm immune to your eutsey-cutsey ways, so scram!" he said, standing up again and glaring at him.
He whimpered, running away.
"Keep going shorty!" she called out.
A chill ran down her spine again, and she paralysed in fear.
"Renamon?" she asked fearfully, turning as the chill faded. "Gogglehead?" she called, turning and clenching her fists. "Guilmon?" she called out. "Impmon? Grandma? Anyone?!" she called, now annoyed. Someone had to be hiding in one of these oriental structures, they just had to be. But the door was unmoved, and she hadn't heard any movement behind her.
Renamon teleported in against a tree. "You called?" she asked, looking at her with her blue orbs.
"Where have you been?" Rika asked, her voice with a tinge of spitefulness. Renamon was never there when she needed her, and it'd started to bug her.
Renamon looked to a building nearby. "Watching you from over there, why?" she asked.
"Oh…" Rika replied, realising she'd snapped back into her old habit of being mean to her partner.
"You don't look well, is something troubling you?" Renamon asked. Rika walked away glumly, Renamon stepping towards her and looking around.
"Nothing, I'm fine…" she replied, walking away.
Renamon groaned to see the annoying pest that had been her bane for several days. "Hey Foxy, so we meet again…" Impmon taunted, trying to look tough with his hands on his hips.
"Hmm, I was planning to hunt you down and destroy you today, but this makes things so much simpler…" Renamon replied, looking at Impmon. "Then again, you're no longer even worth attacking…" she added, turning and walking away.
"Hey, look at Mrs High and Mighty!" Impmon complained. "Hey, listen to me! Guilmon said that he wanted a fight and that you're an idiotic yellow furball, are you going to take that?"
Renamon paused. "Guilmon isn't even nearly that coherent…" she replied. "Besides, his Tamer treats him as a pet; he wouldn't be allowed to fight anyway…"
"Not allowed to fight? Listening to his stupid Tamer again, I oughta teach those guys a lesson!"
Renamon chuckled, annoying the imp.
"Hey, what's so funny?!"
"Even Takato could beat you in a fight…" she replied, vanishing.
"Hey, come back, I'm not done talking to you!" Impmon complained. "How'd she do that anyway?"
Rika felt ready to vomit as her mother held up the dress to her. It was awful; she'd do anything rather than wear it. It was disgusting, it was girly…
"Try it, it'll make you look more like a girl!" her mother said cheerfully.
Rika groaned. Her point was proven. And what, did her mother think she looked like a boy then? Boys were stupid, the Gogglehead and the idiots she beat tournament after tournament proved that. Girls were also stupid, bitching about her in school, being pathetic and wimpish. She didn't want to conform to either stereotype, she was her own person, and she didn't care what her mother thought. Rika closed her eyes, her voice taking on even more of an irritated tone. "I told you before, I can't stand cute things like this!"
"Err, what about that stuffed toy earlier?"
"Burnt…"
"Aw, but it was so cute…"
"Hence I burnt it…now I'm out of here…" she replied, walking away to her room.
Rumiko moaned. "I guess she's still into her tomboy style…"
"Rika just has her own style…" her own mother reassured. "There are more important things in life than looking pretty…"
Rumiko looked to her mother, bewildered. "Really? Like what?"
Rika walked along the hallway, pausing when the chill ran through her again, colder than ever before. The air froze, her breath condensing, as she quickly and hurriedly shut herself in her room, breathing deeply in fear as the door handle turned cold, the temperature dropping in the room considerably.
"Renamon…" she called fearfully.
The fox materialised in her room. Rika bent over onto a table on her knees in fear, as Renamon looked at her curiously.
"Go and see what's out there, okay?" she asked, her voice alarmed.
Renamon stepped forward to the door, opening it gently and looking around, before closing it again.
"There is nothing…" she reported.
"Don't lie to me; I know there is someone following me!" Rika complained, looking into her partners eyes as the fox paused. "What's that look for?" she questioned.
"Don't worry, I'll do everything I can to protect you…"
"But why? You don't need to protect me, what's your deal?! What the hell do you get out of all of this?!" Rika questioned, standing up and glaring into her partners' eyes.
"I'm your partner Rika; I have you by my side as my friend…"
"I don't care about all this crap, all this touchy feely crap! Kyubimon was a fluke Renamon and you know it! Growlmon too, the Gogglehead just got lucky again! I can fight on my own, I don't need the Gogglehead, I don't need his pathetic pet, and I especially don't need you! I don't need anybody…" she muttered, leaving the room and somehow managing to slam a sliding door.
Renamon stood still, contemplating Rika's complete reversion to her old self. Even beyond that, she seemed worse than she had ever been. She frowned.
Takato had decided that morning that he was going to be a better Tamer. The previous two days had opened his eyes to the gap which separated him from being a 'Good Tamer', and he had decided to start pulling himself closer to it.
First of all, he had to become better at the cards. He'd completely fumbled the day before, during the battle, and he wanted to avoid any repeats of that in future. He would've gone to Rika, her being the 'Digimon Queen' and all, but he knew that it would inevitably be a fruitless cause, filled with insults and complaints. Plus, he also knew that she wouldn't want him over her house again, not after last time.
And so he sat under the dinosaur, surveying the game he was having with his friend Henry. Henry seemed to play the game with a confident maturity well beyond his years, he didn't boast about his moves at all, unlike Takato.
Takato smiled cheerfully, he was about to deal the finishing blow in one of the rare games that went well for him. "And so Gargomon Digivolves to Rapidmon, and speed activate…"
Henry groaned, sweatdropping slightly. 'Rapidmon is already one of the fastest Digimon around, what's he doing?' Henry sighed. 'I guess I could let him stay alive for a little longer, but then again, he did ask to be taught how to play…' "I have a system crash card…" he said, turning over the card.
Takato groaned, falling back. "Oh man…" he complained. Henry chuckled, Takato was always ungraceful in defeat.
"Maybe you need to go back to the basics…" Henry suggested.
"Yeah, okay…can you teach me about how to use modify cards properly?"
Henry grinned, he knew exactly why Takato wanted to know how to use modify cards. The battle he had witnessed had been a complete and utter debacle of the highest proportions. Takato couldn't afford to fail in the heat of battle like that. Henry nodded. "Sure…" he replied, sorting through his deck for what he needed. He held up a selection of cards. "I'm guessing you at least know how modify cards work?" he asked.
Takato nodded. "Well, I'm not that stupid…" he joked. "I come close though…"
"Right, but you can use two cards in succession effectively in what's called a combo…say, speed and hyper wing…or defence and targeting."
"Yeah, like flying quickly at the opponent or blocking moves and aiming your own more effectively, right?"
"Yeah, kinda like that…" Henry replied, thinking that, if he didn't know Takato's secret, he'd think that Takato was looking way too deeply into this.
"So if I figure out exactly what combos work best, I can be a better Tamer…I mean card player?"
Henry nodded, smiling in amusement. "Yeah, you can get some pretty potent results like this, and give your side a lot of firepower!"
"I can give ya firepower right now, BADA BOOM!" a voice joked, a flame flying through the hideout.
Takato groaned. "Oh great, it's Impmon…"
"Good to see you're glad to see me toots!" Impmon replied, looking at the boy, before turning to Henry. "Hey, ain't I see youse someplace before?" he asked.
Henry shook his head. "No, I've never seen you before…"
"You're lying, I saw ya yesterday right before dat battle with dat Devidramon!"
Henry felt slightly nervous, looking to a bewildered Takato, who Impmon returned his attentions to.
"Hey Takato, not with your little pet Guilmon?! Geez, you're pathetic, why don't he just run away?!"
It was now Takato's turn to be nervous, as Impmon got angry.
"Hey, one of ya reply to me or something!" he insisted. Henry frowned, as Impmon leapt forward, fists out.
"Henry!" Takato yelled.
Henry grabbed Impmon's fist in mid air, throwing him to the ground, to both the Imp's and Takato's surprise. "Now you just wait a minute, why are you attacking us? What's wrong with you?" he asked, pressing the purple Imp's wrist to the ground.
"Hey, get off of me ya lousy human!" he insisted, shaking himself free. "I'm leaving, you're all a bunch of wimps anyway…" he complained, leaping away, as Takato looked to Henry in amazement.
"Wow, that was pretty impressive…"
"I take Martial Arts, that thing couldn't even punch properly, it was easy…"
"Yeah…" Takato replied, surprised by Henry, but also concerned. 'I better go check on Guilmon before Impmon gets to him..' he thought, standing up. "I've got to go now, sorry about this but I've got to go help at the bakery…"
Henry smiled. "Never mind, I can teach you more at another time…"
Takato smiled. "Great. Anyway, see ya…" he replied, walking away. Henry eyed him suspiciously as he headed in the opposite direction to that he normally took to go home. Once Takato was out of earshot, Henry stood up and began to follow. He had a feeling where he needed to be headed.
Renamon frowned, sitting on the rooftop of Rika's home. She had no idea where Rika had gone, she had seemingly just stormed out, and Renamon did not feel like she could follow. The sky had begun to take on an orangey tint, the oncoming sunset not being subtle in any way about its presence.
'Guilmon and his Tamer, their relationship is so different from mine and Rika's…I wonder, if I acted more human would she accept me, would she finally let me get close to her?'
Renamon bowed her head, looking down at the garden below.
Henry looked curiously on from some bushes to one side as Takato arrived at the 'hideout', watching him walk up the steps and ducking slightly when Takato glanced around his back. He was clearly very protective of Guilmon, and by the way he'd acted in the past, was concerned that anyone could find out about him.
"Yay, Takatomon!" Guilmon cheered, stepping to the gate of the hideout as Takato opened it. Guilmon leapt on his Tamer happily.
"Guilmon…too…heavy…get…off…please…" Takato groaned.
"Sorry…" Guilmon apologised, moving to one side as Takato stood up.
"Can you please stop calling me Takatomon?"
"Sorry Takato…"
"That's better…hey, has Impmon been here?"
"No, he hasn't…why?"
"He was annoying me and Henry just now, and I was hoping he wasn't coming to you…"
"Henry?"
"Yeah, my friend, you know, I mentioned him…" Henry smiled; it was good to know that, despite what Takato had said previously, he was a friend to the Goggle-headed boy.
"Oh yeah…can I meet him?"
Takato frowned, moving away from eye contact with his partner. "I'm not sure Guilmon, I'd like you to, but…I don't want to risk losing you if people find out, you know? And I haven't even known him for a week, I'm not sure if I can trust him yet…"
"Okay Takatomon…"
Takato and Henry both chuckled. Clearly, this wasn't a problem that would go away easily. "Guilmon, can you at least try not to call me Takatomon?"
"Okay Takatomon…"
Takato groaned, smiling and checking the time on his D-Arc. "I know I used it as an excuse on Henry, but I actually do have to go to the bakery now to help out…" he said, turning.
"Okay…can you bring bread tomorrow?"
"Of course I will…" Takato replied, turning and walking away. "See ya…"
"Bye Bye!" Guilmon cheered, and Henry watched him return into his 'home', dirt flying out occasionally as he continued digging.
'Hmm, maybe I should cut Takato some slack…he wants to tell me, but I understand why he doesn't trust me yet…I still want to see Guilmon though…' Henry thought, glancing to the time on his watch. 'I do have to go home now, my Dad's going to teach me more about programming…' he thought. 'I really should've finished reading that book rather than playing or thinking though…' he added, standing up and leaving.
Rika walked through a subway station, her fists still clenched in anger, but also feeling tinges of fear and regret. People chatted around her and none paid any real notice to her.
She froze, her pupils dilating as her back seemingly turned to ice. She shivered, crossing her arms and turning quickly to confront whatever it was. "What do you want?!" she asked, surprising two passengers.
"Uh…nothing…" one of them muttered, surprised at her outburst. Rika noticed a ghostly apparition moving out of the corner of her eye on the stairs, and ran between the two men.
"Get outta my way!" she said, running along the platform and up the stairs, fists clenched in anger at whatever was causing this.
She paused on a landing, looking around for the figure which had vanished. "Whatever you are, come out!" she called.
No reply.
She breathed deeply, leaning against the wall and bending over, putting her hand on her heart. Her breaths were shaky and laboured, and she felt fear, and panic, and alarm, sweeping through her. She considered calling for Renamon, but she knew that after what she'd said to her, she just couldn't.
Rika moved to stand with her back to the wall, looking out at the staircases in front of her. Whoever it was would show up sooner or later to get her here, and now she had the best point of view for it.
The wall dropped in temperature, turning icy to the touch as Rika panicked. A pair of arms came out either side of her, one black and demonic and the other icy and cold. They grabbed her, covering her mouth and grabbing her torso with their side, as she struggled to scream for help, her pupils dilating in fear as a mist descended in front of her. The mist swarmed her vision, as an evil laugh ran through her ears.
The landing silenced, as there was no evidence left that either Rika or the arms were ever there.
Rika opened her eyes, holding herself as she felt the temperature change. The area around her was a deep blue, even the floor, and there was no end in sight. "It's so cold…" she muttered.
A pair of wings appeared to either side of her, and she looked up in fear.
"Welcome…" greeted a white demonic head with flat pink eyes and fangs, as she felt herself lifted by the wings. "This is my humble abode…"
"Are you a Digimon?" Rika asked nervously.
"Yes…"
"This is a Digital Field…"
"Exactly, you must appreciate its beauty…it suits you perfectly…"
"Huh?"
"Your personality, your treatment of others, your lack of care for anyone but yourself, cold as ice and beautiful as its structures…you demand perfection or you dismiss others…"
"Yes…" Rika said, unsure of where this was going, and scared of what could happen, and what this being wanted from her.
"Since I understand you and want to be perfect for you, we are destined to be partners…"
"Partners?"
The cold had begun to affect Rika's sense of perception, as she shivered faintly. She looked around slightly, feeling her eyes cold in their sockets. "I…already have a partner…Renamon…" she muttered.
"And she has taken away the softness that I appreciate in you…you have the chance to return to that, to be strong, and you have taken it…be my partner, share your strength with me, and we will be unstoppable…"
"It's no accident that we're a team: share your strength with me, and we will be unstoppable…"
The words were eerily similar to those of Renamon. A shiver went down Rika's spine.
Renamon stood up, hearing Rika call her name. "Rika, where are you?" she asked, walking up the rooftop, before pausing, words running through her head.
"I can fight on my own, I don't need the Gogglehead, I don't need his pathetic pet, and I especially don't need you! I don't need anybody…"
"Rika…" she muttered.
IceDevimon frowned as he felt Rika shying away from him. "Renamon…what have I done?" she muttered, reaching down to her D-Arc. If she were to call her partner, then all of his chances to get her to become his Tamer would be lost in a second. A mere talk between the pair could ruin that, and so he would have to pull out his trump card.
He placed his hand over hers on her D-Arc. "I have to show you something…" he said.
"What is it?" Her voice continued to be monotonous, and yet strangely sad at the same time. It was something he found attractive about her, how even when she was not attempting to be cold, she still managed it. She would be perfect as his partner.
"I have a collection that will prove my power to you…" he continued, raising his wings as the chamber illuminated, highlighting dozens of icicles attached to the floor and ceiling. Rika gasped, every one of them had a Digimon trapped within them, even if Renamon were to do the same, she could never match this particular collection.
He was strong, so incredibly strong, he was perfect for her.
So why did she feel like she didn't want to be his partner?
Calumon floated near people looking curiously up at the ice structure on top of the building. It was an impossible occurrence, ice rarely appeared in Japan normally, let alone in September, on top of a building, and this localised. Calumon looked on in awe, before turning as he felt a Digimon approaching. He smiled upon seeing Takato and Guilmon running determined towards him.
"Hey guys!" he cheered, watching as they hardly noticed him. "Where are you going?" he asked.
Rika looked closer to the creatures in the ice. The Digimon varied extremely. Gotsumon, Vegiemon, Elecmon, Magmamon, Gazimon, Mushroommon, Floramon, Monodramon, Angemon, Tyranomon, all common rookies and champions frozen in the ice, with some rarities as well. Even a MarineAngemon, a tiny being that Rika knew was deceptively powerful from the card game, and a Mega level to boot, was frozen in stasis within one icicle, looking like it was screaming.
"Ice is an impressive power…it can beat anything, nothing can withstand ice that is cold enough…be they Baby or Mega, Vaccine or Virus, Human or Digimon…" IceDevimon noted evilly.
"I see…" Rika noted monotonously.
"I have hunted them for years, hundreds of Digimon, some whose data I loaded, and others frozen for my own amusement…I am that powerful…some may have been friends, some may have been partners…"
Rika gasped, recalling her own hunting of the Gogglehead's partner, which had now ceased when she realised that making him lose his partner was just like when Dokugumon nearly took hers, the Renamon who had cared for her and been there for her regardless of how she treated her. How could she forget that and just tell Renamon that she didn't need her?
"But as you once said, they are mere stepping stones…"
"I never said that…"
"Ah, but you did…I observed you keenly as you fought to make your Digimon digivolve, I fight to do the same…we want the same thing…"
Rika's face turned to one of alarm and worry, as did her voice. "No, I couldn't see it before but there's more to Digimon than fighting, I'd kiss the Gogglehead before I ever let Renamon become what you are…" she said, before her voice took on a grave tone. "A monster…"
"Better a powerful monster than a weak nobody, do you really want to be a nobody?"
"I'll tell you what I don't want to be…" Rika replied, her determination and confidence returning as she forced herself free, leaping down and confronting the demon. "A partner of some freak show Digimon!"
IceDevimon chuckled. "Your words do not hurt me, and I know that is not how you really feel…"
"You think you know everything about me, but you don't, so tell me, what do you really want?"
"You are beautiful when you are angry…I've been searching so long for someone like you, with a heart of ice and will of stone, and now I have found you…I want you to be my Tamer!"
"In your dreams pal!" Rika insisted, groaning as he threw his arm out and grabbed hers. She struggled to break free, as IceDevimon glared to her.
"I know you are only playing hard to get, I want to be the strongest Digimon, you want to be the strongest Tamer, a perfect match don't you think?"
"Never!" Rika replied. She'd never have such a creep for a partner, compared to Renamon this guy was a moth. Renamon could beat him any day, any time, any place.
"Are you thinking of that pitiful excuse for a Digimon that you call Renamon?" IceDevimon asked. Rika broke free from his grip, moving back and grabbing her D-Arc with her hand. "You surprise me, settling for second best, I see hanging around with her and the other human you scarcely call a friend has made you weak…you waste your time with beauty when you could tame the beast!"
Rika glared up at him, as his flat pupilless eyes glared back, she now holding her D-Arc.
"Go ahead, summon her, I will prove my power by wiping her data to shreds…"
"No way…" Rika replied.
"Then I'll just have to call her myself…" he replied, touching his gem on his head and causing a beam of light to fly upwards.
Takato saw the end of the stairs in sight as he reached the rooftop doors, pulling on his goggles. "Ready boy?" he asked his saurian partner, who nodded. "Let's try not to get creamed…" he added, walking forwards as the doors opened automatically, a strange feature on a set of rooftop doors but nonetheless.
The first thing they noticed was ice. Lots of it.
"It's so cold…" Takato said, shivering.
"Hey, it's a big bat thing and Rika!" Guilmon cheered in alarm. It was strange that he still called Takato Takatomon but called other humans by their proper names, something that Takato knew he would need to remedy at some point. Takato looked across the room, lifting his Goggles after he noticed the lack of a mist. He gasped at the sight, as he raised his D-Arc.
"What's going on? Hmm…IceDevimon, Virus Type, Champion Level, attacks Frozen Claw, Avalanche Claw, Tundra Freeze and Evil Wing…" he read, looking up to see the positions of the pair in more detail.
"Ah, it is the pathetic waste of space that you call a friend…" IceDevimon insulted, grabbing Rika's shoulders.
'She called me a friend?' Takato pondered, before realising he had bigger problems. "Let her go now!" he yelled angrily, Rika surprised to see him so angry about what was happening to her. Then again, Takato was kind to everyone it seemed, although even he had a limit which she had crossed several times.
"My Tamer and I were just getting acquainted…"
"She's not your Tamer, her partner is Renamon!"
IceDevimon smirked, looking to his 'partner'. "I think it's time for a little upgrade, don't you?"
"Let me go you frozen freak!"
"Takatomon, what are we going to do?" Guilmon asked, Takato noting periodically that he hadn't rushed in with his eyes feral yet.
"I don't know…he's got her hostage…we need a strategy…I wish I'd listened to Henry a bit more about the cards…" Takato muttered.
"So…do I attack then?"
'Hmm…he's not going to injure her if he wants her as his Tamer…so…'"Yeah, go get him!"
Guilmon growled, rushing forward at speed towards the ice demon. "Let her go!" he yelled.
IceDevimon smirked. "Good, another item for my collection…TUNDRA FREEZE!" he called, as he launched freezing beams from his eyes, Guilmon frozen on the spot by them, mid-run.
"Guilmon!" Takato yelled in fear.
IceDevimon began to laugh evilly, as Calumon sat on the rooftop entrance, watching. "This isn't going well…" he noted.
Takato began to kick the ice, trying to break it, to no avail. He betted that even Rika couldn't break it, and that was saying something.
"Better act quick before he catches Hypothermia…" IceDevimon taunted.
Takato glanced up, noting someone's absence. "Hey, where's Renamon?" he asked.
IceDevimon laughed, as Rika's eyes turned hollow, looking to one side. "Renamon's gone…"
Takato looked up to IceDevimon, his eyes angry. "You loaded her data!" he assumed.
"No…I said I didn't need her…even if I called her, she wouldn't come…" Rika said, her voice and emotions frail.
"It proves she's too weak to have a powerful Tamer like you!"
Rika struggled free, leaping aside.
"You need a partner who understands you and appreciates you! I embrace your cold strength! Embrace the future I offer!"
"Renamon…" Rika moaned, now afraid of the demon which stood arms out in a pose of strength.
The ice suddenly groaned with a collision, as the ceiling glowed and broke. IceDevimon looked up in annoyance, as Takato and Guilmon looked on in shock. Renamon stood above them, as Rika stared on, a mixture of shock and gladness in her about it.
"I don't believe it…" she said in awe.
"Ah, Renamon, I've heard so many pathetic things about you from your Tamer…" IceDevimon greeted. "Shame that I have to destroy you…" he added.
"No!" Rika called, but it was feeble and useless as IceDevimon stepped forward.
Renamon leapt into the air, crossing her arms. "DIAMOND STO…" she began, before IceDevimon winded her with his claws, before sweeping her aside.
"FROZEN CLAW!" he roared, laughing as she hit the ground, weakened already. She looked up and stood up as IceDevimon flew towards her, crossing her arms again.
"DIAMOND STORM!"
"FROZEN CLAW!"
The diamonds fell to the ground as IceDevimon's arm hit Renamon's head. She groaned in pain, collapsing to her knees as Rika stared on in shock. She fell aside weakly, reminiscent of the Dokugumon battle, except this time there was no Rika to catch her.
"Rika, she has to digivolve now!" Takato called as IceDevimon landed.
'I can't let her digivolve; she might end up like IceDevimon…'
Renamon pushed herself up slightly, looking to Rika with her worn eyes. Rika couldn't keep eye contact with her, she looked aside.
'Forgive me…' she thought.
"Why do you look at her with care? A Digimon is only useful if it can fight!" IceDevimon mocked. "Why do you care for this pathetic waste of data?"
"She's my friend…" Rika replied quietly. "I care because Renamon's my friend!" she yelled louder, looking into the demon's eyes as her D-Arc glowed.
Calumon cheered as his ears grew and his symbol glowed.
DIGIVOLUTION
Renamon Digivolve to…Kyubimon!
"Why did you digivolve?!" Rika asked fearfully.
"FOX TAIL INFERNO!" Kyubimon summoned, fires appearing around IceDevimon as she aimed. He leapt up, flying into the air as the flames burned nothing. Kyubimon looked up. "DRAGON WHEEL!" she roared.
"TUNDRA FREEZE!" IceDevimon called, a beam freezing the dragon in mid-air. Kyubimon fell out of it to the ground.
"Kyubimon!" Rika called fearful, her pupils dilated.
"I have to do something!" Takato insisted.
Kyubimon sat up weakly, sending an attack even when she was so weak she could only afford one flame. "FOX TAIL INFERNO!"
IceDevimon simply moved his head, raising his hand. "TUNDRA FREEZE!" he called, the beam flying towards Kyubimon.
'No…' Rika thought weakly, knowing it was too late.
'No…' Calumon thought weakly, knowing that he was helpless to do anything.
"NO!" Takato yelled angrily, strongly and loudly, as Guilmon glowed, the ice shattering as a huge apparition of a tail blew forth from his, colliding with IceDevimon and his attack and throwing him into the wall.
Kyubimon and Rika looked to Takato and Guilmon in shock. Takato's fists were clenched, but they weakened when he saw Guilmon, eyes glowing red and hazard glowing brighter than ever before. He growled.
"Are you okay Guilmon?" Takato asked nervously.
"Are you with me Tamer?" he asked, surprisingly coherently and with determination compared to his usual self.
"Um…" Takato began, looking to IceDevimon flying forth from the wall again. "Right!" he declared, clenching his D-Arc in his hand. 'I hope Henry's combo works…' "DIGI-MODIFY…Speed Activate!" he called, as Guilmon ran forward preparing a fireball in his jaws.
"Persistent aren't we?" IceDevimon noted.
"PYRO SPHERE!"
IceDevimon quickly dodged as the ball of fire hit the wall behind. "FROZEN CLAW!" he roared, Guilmon grabbing the claw violently as it reached him.
'Already he's doing better than Renamon…' Rika thought sadly.
"DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Wing Activate!" Takato called, sweeping the second part of his combo through his D-Arc.
Guilmon, using his already held-claw as a grip, flew forward into IceDevimon, quickly speeding towards the ice wall.
"Let me go!" IceDevimon growled, as Guilmon smashed him into a wall, preparing another fireball as he fell away.
"PYRO SPHERE!" he roared, the ball colliding with IceDevimon's midsection.
"No!" IceDevimon yelled, his last words as he broke apart into data, his arm disgustingly falling near a horrified Rika.
Guilmon quickly absorbed the data, his first data. Takato looked up in amazement, it had worked really well.
He was a good Tamer after all.
The ice faded, and Takato walked up to Rika, Guilmon landing nearby. Kyubimon sat weakly watching the pair.
"Rika, are you okay?" Takato asked, his voice concerned.
"I hate 'em…" Rika cursed.
"Well, thanks to me he's gone now…" Takato noted, realising that the 'thanks to me' part probably wasn't apt only when it was too late.
"Not him…" Rika continued spitefully.
"Huh?"
"I hate Digimon, all of 'em!" Rika yelled. Takato looked on in surprise, Calumon and Guilmon frowned sadly, and Kyubimon stood up. Rika stormed away towards the roof building, and her chance to escape.
"Come on Rika, you don't mean that!" Takato called. He turned to see Kyubimon leap from the railings.
Takato stood, glancing to them.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, aren't you supposed to be friends?!" he yelled. It was too late, Kyubimon had vanished, and Rika had left.
Takato frowned, glancing to his partner. 'Just what was that tail thing?'
TO BE CONTINUED…
A bit of a twist on what you were expecting in the battle, and a foreshadowing of later events. Please review.
Next time…
Does Rika really mean it? Will they ever reconcile? What was that tail thing?
Find out in 'Old Habits', Chapter Nine of Deviations.