Chapter Seven: Daemon's Revenge

AN: I'm going to take a break from all the sex and violence to do some…character development! (GASP) I felt that the team was still a little disjointed so I think we need to have a little…ahem…"group therapy session" Do a little Breakfast Club stuff.

Anger is short-lived madness. Horace

"Stop following me, Ken!"

"How can I not? You're leading us!"

"Ken, tell Yolei to stop snapping her gum like that! It's driving me nuts!"

"Hey, don't you start on her!"

"I'll stop snapping when you stop singing show tunes!"

"It's a nervous habit! That gum thing annoys me!"

"Your entire existence, annoys me, lamebrain!"

"Who're you calling lamebrain, lamebrain?"

"You!"

"Oh yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"OH YEAH?!""YEAH!!"

"ALRIGHT!! THAT'S IT!" Rika stormed. "WILL YOU TWO NIMRODS CEASE YOUR INCESSANT BICKERING!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IT'S LIKE TRAVELING WITH A BUNCH OF FIVE YEAR OLDS!!"

"Oh excuse me, Your Highness" Davis sneered. "Wer'st we a'bothering you, my liege?"

"How could you not?" Rika called, rolling her sleeves up and cracking her knuckles.

"Guys!" Ryo said, stepping through the crowd and saving Davis from a thrashing at the hands of an angry Rika. "Cut it out! Don't you see? Don't you get it?"

"Get what?" Tai asked. "Why is everyone so irritable?"

"It's the mist!" Ryo explained. "Daemon's data left an impression on the mist! He's the demon of Wrath so everyone's losing their tempers!" Everyone just calm down!" Davis and Yolei glared at each other but shut up. Suddenly, a pained howl filled the air."

"Yeow! Watch where you're stepping, catgirl!" Terriermon howled as Gatomon treaded on his ears.

"Well it's not my fault you have big goofy ears!!" Gatomon snapped back.

Terriermon whipped around. "What did you say?"

"Big…Goofy…EARS!!" Gatomon enunciated

"Okay, that's it!" Terriermon said, launching himself at Gatomon. The two fell into a howling, yowling ball of fur, punching and kicking and biting as they rolled around on the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kari said, grabbing Gatomon by the tail and hoisting her off of Terriermon.

"Momentai, Terriermon!!" Henry cried, puling the agitated rabbit away.

"I'M FRESH OUT OF MOMENTAI, HENRY!!" Terriermon screeched, trying to worm his way out of Henry's grip. "ALL I GOT LEFT IS SLOW…BURNING…RAGE!!"

"Oh no Kari, protect me!" Gatomon squealed sarcastically. "Save me from Dumbo!!"

"GAAAAHHH!!" Terriermon kicked off of Henry's chest and launched himself at Gatomon, knocking Kari and Gatomon over.

"Hey!" TK said, grabbing Henry's shirt. "Control your Digimon!"

"Me? Control your woman!" Henry said, shoving TK

"WHAT?!" TK struck at Henry but the martial artist parried it with expert ease.

"Guys!" Tai said, getting between the two of them. "Break it up!"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

"Stop it Davis!" Yolei bellowed.

"Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious!" Davis pressed on, glaring at Yolei.

"Cut it out!" Cody cried.

"That's enough!" Joe was saying. "Let's all just calm down!"

"Stop it!" Mimi screeched. "Just look at yourselves! You're behaving like animals!"

"Well, soooorrry, Princess Mimi!" TK retorted harshly. "We're not as kindly and gentile, as you are, you spoiled little brat!"

"TK…" Mimi gasped, eyes welling up. "You don't mean that…"

"Oh look at me!" TK said, prancing around. "I'm Mimi! I'm so pretty and popular and I know all the right clothes to wear! Everybody loves me but for some reason I still act like a whiny spoiled little BRAT!!"

"T…K…" Mimi sniffled. "What's happening to you? You're not like this!"

"Oh it's so hot!" he cried, fanning himself with an imaginary hat. "My feet hurt! I need a glass of water! I missed my massage! Does my hair look alright? I feel faint! Do they have espresso in the Digiworld? I need my caffeine! AHHH! I broke a nail! Who cares about the Digital World? MY SOAP IS ON!!"

"TK…" Mimi sobbed. "Stop it…"

"LOL, I'm dating Izzy! Maybe if I hang around him long enough, my I.Q will raise enough to register!"

BAM!

TK fell back as Izzy decked him with more strength than TK thought he had. Before he could get up, Izzy's hand was at his collar and he was shaking the younger boy roughly.

"She's a whiny little brat?! SHE'S A WHINY LITTLE BRAT?!" He yelled. "She didn't cry every time she stubbed her toe or fell down LIKE YOU DID! She didn't go all castrati whenever Kari got a hangnail, LIKE YOU DID! "Oh, Kari! Are you okay? Do you need anything? Drink? Chocolate? Can I carry you so you don't have to walk? BACK OFF, TAKERU!!"

"Let go Izzy!" Ken said, trying to pull Izzy off.

"Stay out of this, Your Highness!" he snarled at Ken, who faltered for a second. "Don't you have a Control Spire to erect or some Digimon to enslave?"

"Guys! Get off of me!" Kari cried as the Digimon continued to brawl on top of her.

"Leave him alone, Izzy!" Yolei cried

"HARK!" Izzy held a hand up to his ear sarcastically. "The Digidestined of Annoyance speaks!"

"Leave Yolei out of this…" Ken whispered dangerously.

"Tell me, Yolei, what wisdom does the ugly duckling have for us to-"

Ken sacked Izzy with a cry of rage and dragged him and TK to the ground. TK got loose and punched Ken who bit Izzy who kicked TK. The three of them rolled around, kicking biting and yelling. Ryo tried to pull them apart but caught a kick from TK. Howling in pain, he dropped an elbow on TK's head

And then all Hell broke loose…

"If you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious!"

"RRAAAGH!" Yolei tackled Davis

"Super…cali…fragil…istic…expi…ali…docious!" Davis finished as Yolei tried to choke them

"CUT IT OUT!" Tai yelled, pulling TK off of Ryo.

"Yeah, knock it off you guys!" Rika said, pulling them to their feet.

"Oh, and now the love struck losers are going to preach to us." Ryo said sarcastically.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, the Rusted Wheel, Taichi Kamiya! Give him a hand, folks! He still can't get over the fact that Sora chose my brother over him!" TK said, clapping dramatically.

"And let's not forget his lovely assistant, Rika Nonaka!" Ryo added. "She irrationally holds on to the hope that the sweet, loveable little Gogglehead, Takato Matsuki will see past her tough demeanor and see her for what she really is…A COLD…HARD…BITCH!"

"GAAGH!" Rika kicked Ryo's legs out and threw him to the ground, pounding on his chest repeatedly.

"She's got a personality only a mother could love!" Ryo was at it again, trying to fend off Rika's blows. "OH! WAIT! I FORGOT! SHE DOSEN'T!!"

"SHUT UP!!" Rika half screamed, half sobbed as she continued to pummel the living daylights out of Ryo. "JUST SHUT YOUR GODDAMNED MOUTH, AKIYAMA!!"

"Guys…" Kari was still pleading with the Digimon wrestling on top of her. "Get off!"

. The Digimon were frozen in fear as their humans were devolving in front of them into hideous animals. They were fighting like dogs, biting like wildcats and cruelly mocking each other like only humans could.

"I'm Mimi and if it's not on E News! I don't know about it!"

"MWAHAHA! BOW DOWN TO THE DIGIMON EMPEROR!! I'M DEALING WITH TEENAGE ANGST BY TAKING OVER THE DIGIWORLD!! BWAHAHAHA!!"

"Kari! Are you OK? Did the wind mess up your hair? Is the sun too bright? I'll turn it down for you"

"OMG! BOYS! I LOVE BOYS! I'm going out with Ken but that doesn't stop me from gushing over every guy that crosses my path!"

"Prodigious! It seems like I've devised a serum that will make me attractive to women! HOW ELSE IS MIMI GOING TO NOTICE ME?!"

"Sora!! SOOOOORA!! WHY WON'T YOU LOVE ME?!"

"You're one to talk Davis! You've been carrying the torch for my sister since THIRD GRADE!! TAKE THE HINT!!"

"Ooh, a basket of puppies! Clobber them, Renamon! We'll put their pelts next to our dead baby seals that we sacrificed to the Shrine of Takato!!"

Mimi, Henry, Joe and Cody watched as their friends tore each other to shreds.

And then it happened. Somewhere in the midst of all this cursing, yelling, kicking and screaming, everyone seemed to hear what Kari said. How this happened, they were never sure but for some reason Kari's voice cleared the petty, feeble squabbling and reached everyone's ears. Six words and a sound all stopped them cold

"Get…off…me…" Kari growled at Terriermon "YOU…LITTLE…RUNT!!"

Slap!

Terriermon fell back from the force of Kari's blow, bouncing on the ground and skidding a couple feet before landing facedown. Everyone froze in mid punch, grab, choke and every insult died in their throats as they all looked at Terriermon.

Terriermon shakily raised a paw and gingerly touched the cheek that Kari slapped, looking at the fuming Kari with wide watery eyes. Kari just sat there, breathing hard and glaring at the little bunny. Then, as her breathing returned to normal, her angry eyed softened, then widened in shock. Her jaw that had been set now went loose, lip curling in ever so slightly. She glanced at her hand, still stinging and red from where she hit the little Digimon and then back at Terriermon who was picking himself up, fighting back a storm of sniffles and wiping his eyes on his big goofy ears.

"Terriermon…" Kari said, reaching her hand out. Terriermon flinched, scampering backwards, tripping over his ears and falling face down against the concrete. He crawled backwards, never taking his wide eyes off Kari as he looked around for Henry in the dense mist. Suddenly his partner scooped him up and held him against his chest, whispering something in his ear as Terriermon buried his head in the soft fabric of Henry's shirt.

"T-Terriermon…" Kari gasped, choking back a sob. "I didn't mean to…you were just…and I was…Terriermon…I'm-"

"Let's take a break." Henry said, cutting her off, turning away and walking towards an abandoned coffee house. "It's really starting to get dark and besides, I think we all need it."

The coffee house where they took refuge was roughly two stories high and big enough so they could spread out and be alone, except for Mimi and Izzy and Ken and Yolei. Kari had locked herself in a broom closet as soon as they had arrived and nothing Gatomon or TK could say would get her out. Joe was reworking Cody's sling, testing the boy's arm to see if it needed a splint while Mimi made coffee. Everybody was just staring vacantly into space, saying little and occasionally shooting glances at each other from across the hall.

Izzy had his head down on the table for the past half an hour, wishing he could just melt into it. Every time he thought of the ugly, disgusting things that slithered out of his mouth he wanted to be sick. How he could say such things to his friends, his best friends was beyond reproach. He was just disgusted with himself. Closing his eyes, he found himself uncontrollably shaking as silent, tearless sobs racked his body, knotting his stomach and making him cold and clammy.

Suddenly he felt a soft, cool hand place itself on the back of his warm neck as another hand laid a small cup of coffee in front of him. He sighed as Mimi slid in to the booth next to him, wrapping her arms around his shaking chest and laying a head on his shoulder. The trembling subsided and Izzy found his voice again.

"How could I have said those things, Mimi?" he whispered, eyes never leaving the polished wooden surface. "I can't believe I actually hit TK…I hit TK…" he shut his mouth as bile forced its way up from his stomach and threatened to make him sick. Mimi gently laid her hands against his feverish face and forced him to look at her.

"It's not your fault." She said, eyes brimming. "We were all going crazy out there. It's this damn mist…"

"You weren't." Izzy said, softly. "You were still trying to get everyone to calm down. Even when TK was saying those awful things…" Izzy's hands clenched

"No, no, no…" Mimi said, removing her hands from his face and taking his hands, unclenching them. "That's enough of that. We've had enough of that for today." She sighed, pulling his head in until his forehead rested on hers. "Let it go."

"But-'"

"Izzy, if you don't let this go then Daemon won after all." Her fingers lightly ran through his hair. "He's your friend. He's TK. He's that goofy little boy that we met eight summers ago. He's the goofy little teenager that worships the ground Kari walks on." Izzy chuckled despite himself. "He's our friend."

Izzy smiled, tearing up slightly. "What is it, Mimi?" he asked, twirling a strand of pink hair.

"What's what?"

"What is it that you like about me? I mean…you could have any rockstar, super athlete, underwear model you want and you settle for me?" he said, looking down. "I can't figure it out…"

She smiled dipping her head so she could look him in the eye. "Do you have to have a reason for everything?" With one move, she leaned up and gently captured his lips, smiling at the sudden intake of breath from Izzy. They had been dating for eight months and she loved the way it still shocked the hell out of him every time they kissed; she would sometimes just kiss him to see how flustered he got. She broke off, looking him in the eye. "Do you really want to know why?" he nodded. "Because…" she said seriously. "You're my lobster." Izzy laughed in spite of himself. Sora was fond of saying that they were "each other's lobster" whatever that meant. She got it off an American sitcom or something.

Izzy suddenly frowned. "How am I going to talk to TK…or Ken…or Yolei. My God, I actually called her ugly…"

"But she's not, and she knows that. That's what great about her; you can't insult her if it isn't true cause she'll call you on it every time." Mimi reassured. "Give them some time…oh and Izzy?"

"Yeah?"

"DID you invent a serum that made you attractive to girls?" she asked playfully. "Is that why I suddenly wanted to make out with you at Joe's party?"

"Maybe…"

"Crest of Courage. Agumon Warp Digivolves to WarGreymon." Henry said, crossing his arms and looking up at Rika who was staring through the board, vacantly. It had been Henry's idea to break out into a card game to try to snap Rika out of the funk Ryo had set her in. So far it wasn't working; Rika played apathetically, listlessly and without any enthusiasm whatsoever. Renamon silently sat at her side, holding Terriermon in her lap and an Ice Pack to his face. Tai, Davis, Ken, Cody, Joe and Yolei were watching their game with deep interest; Digimon perched on the other side of the table.

"Rika, it's your move." Henry said, eyeing her MetalGarurumon apprehensively.

"Huh?" she raised her head. "Oh…Defense Up." She said softly, laying a card down.

Henry blinked. "Are you sure that's it?"

"Yeah." She said

"…you don't want to attack?"

"No." she mumbled.

Henry shared a look with Renamon who leaned down to Rika's level. "Rika, I would suggest taking the offensive. He may be poised to take-"

"You're move, Henry." Rika said softly.

He glanced at Renamon again before sighing. "Okay then. Control Spire, Dark Spiral, DNA Digivolve. MetalGarurumon's on my side, he DNA Digivolves to Omnimon and he attacks you directly since you have no Digimon to defend you." Henry quickly calculated in his head. "Um…I think I just won." He said in awe. Rika stood up silently and wandered away from the table.

"I don't get it…" Henry mumbled. "The Control Spire Gambit is the oldest trick in the book, especially with two DNA compatible Digimon…"

"And Rika's usually good at this?" Hawkmon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The best." Renamon replied, casting a glance over her shoulder at her partner who was staring out the window, vacantly.

Rika stared out the window on to the street, not really seeing anything, just looking. For some reason that Rika couldn't understand, Ryo's harsh words ate at her. Sniffling slightly, she ground her teeth together and squeezed her eyes until the burning sensation went away. Stop it. She willed her self to fight back the tears. No one was ever around to comfort her so she learned just to bite back when she was in public and comfort herself later. But for some reason, the tears wouldn't stop this time. They rebelliously leaked out no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's alright to cry, Rika."

"No it's not." she whispered. Renamon laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I can't cry now; it's not a good time."

"Rika, it's never a good time." Rika's jaw clenched as the last voice she ever wanted to hear again approached behind her.

"Screw off, Akiyama…" she muttered.

Ryo came up beside her, careful to stay out of striking distance. "Rika…about before…I didn't mean to…"

"I don't really care if you meant to or not." Rika snapped back. "The fact is, you did." Rika sniffed back a tear as she ground her eyes tighter. "But let's face it; you did mean it."

"Rika…" Ryo said.

"Go ahead; laugh it up. Come and mock the Ice Queen, she can't feel it! She had IceDevimon knocking at her door to be her partner!" Rika's shoulders shook with the force of holding back her sobs. "Laugh it up with your fan club, Kazu and Kenta. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of this…

"Rika…I didn't know you knew…"

"How could I not know?" she laughed bitterly. "You three aren't that subtle when it comes to whispering behind my back."

"We were just joking around! You know, being idiots. We don't really think you're Icy…" Ryo moved next to her, earning a warning glare from Renamon. "Rika, when we first met you were a nasty little girl…"

"If you're trying to cheer me up, you suck at it…"

"Let me finish. You were a nasty little girl but you changed over time. In the four years that I've known you you've really matured into a kind, thoughtful person. And I know why it is…" Ryo leaned in close enough to whisper. "And I know why you're going back a little right now. It's because he's not here." Rika blinked back a few rebellious tears. "He's been gone a few hours and you're already going to pieces…"

"I hate him…" she said suddenly, voice dripping with venom. "I really hate him."

"What?! Why?"

"Because…" Rika said, her voice quavering to Renamon's shock. "He screwed me up."

"What do you mean?" Renamon said. "Ever since you've known Takato you've been a totally new person, a better person."

"I was the toughest Tamer in the world before I met him…" she sniffled. "And now…I just feel so helpless whenever he's around. And whenever he's not." she drew a quivering breath. "It feels like I'm only half here. Like I'm incomplete." She snorted at the pile of bread, freshly baked that morning. "He even ruined bread for me."

"What?" Ryo laughed. "How'd he do that?"

Rika sighed. "A couple years ago, I started swinging by his bakery after school. Back then, he was still hung up on Puppet Girl...sorry, Jeri. As time wore on I would start helping him with his chores. I even got help him bake. Now...every time I smell Dutch Crunch or Sourdough or Cream Puffs...I think of him all dusted with flour, trying to show me how to work the pastry injector or choking down one of the burnt loaves I managed to churn out." Rika sniffed again "He totally made me useless."

Ryo shook his head. "You have a funny way of showing affection, you know?"

Rika glared at him out of the corner of her eye and went back to looking out the window. Ryo laid a hand on her shoulder. "Caring about other people doesn't make you useless; it makes you human. It's what separates us from Lucemon and his lot. Never forget that." With that he squeezed her shoulder lightly and turned walked away "Fancy going up against a true master, Henry?"

Rika rolled her eyes. "Oh dream on, Akiyama."

Ryo turned on his heels to face her. "I beat you once before, didn't I?"

"If the Digi-Egg of Sincerity hadn't come up, I would have eaten Hawkmon for lunch, that day." Rika said as Hawkmon gave an uncharacteristic squawk and shuffled his feathers indignantly as his friends laughed at him.

"Are you challenging me, my lady?" Ryo asked, sliding into Henry's seat.

Rika pulled out a card, laying it face up on the table. "I'll play vaccine if you'll play virus."

Ryo laid another one down. "Bring it."

"Kari…"

Sniff, Sniff, Sniff

"Kari, open the door…"

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

"Kari, it's Gatomon. Please come out, no one blames you for what happened."

Sniff

"Kari?"

Kari's voice caught in her throat as a small voice came over from the other side.

"Kari your friends are really worried about you. You want to come out? Hmm? Have a biscotti or something?"

Kari chuckled in spite of herself. He was just too cute when he said things like that. Reluctantly she opened the door to see TK scramble to his feet, sending Gatomon indignantly to the floor while Terriermon stood, looking up at her with big, dark eyes.

"It's ALIVE!" the little Digimon cried, throwing his arms up into the air. Kari bent down and took the little bunny in her arms, holding him close.

"Terriermon, I'm so so sorry." Kari said as the little bunny gently touched her cheek.

"Hey…" he said, smiling. "Mo-men-tai."

"Okay," Kari smiled. "I'll Momentai."

Kari looked up to see TK standing there awkwardly holding a tray of coffee with a couple cookies on the side.

"I thought, you know…you might like some coffee…" he trailed off, suddenly awkward.

Kari gently set Terriermon down next to Gatomon and took the tray from TK. Without warning she threw it sideways and threw her arms around his chest. "You're never going to leave me alone, are you?" she mumbled into his shirt.

TK laughed, kissing the top of her head. "Never."

"Everything work out alright, then?" Kari looked up to see Henry scooping up Terriermon.

"Yeah," TK said. "Everything's "Momentai"

Terriermon slapped his forehead. "That's not how you say it! Momentai means Take It Easy!"

"Okay, Okay!" TK said defensively.

Henry waved them over. "Come on. I think there's something upstairs that you might want to see…"

Angemon coughed and heaved, trying to catch his breath as the fiend slammed into him again. Wearily opening his eyes, he came face to face with a devil he thought he had destroyed.

Machinedramon laughed in fiendish delight. "Foolish angel to challenge the almighty Machinedramon. You and your friends gave a valiant struggle but ALL FOR NAUGHT!!" Machinedramon lowered his canon. "Now you will be EX-TER-MIN-AT-ED!!"

Angemon grinned and through the pain he chuckled darkly. What?" Machinedramon asked. "What's so funny?"

"You…forgot…about one thing." Angemon suddenly began to glow. "Crest of Hope!"

"NOOOO!" Machinedramon cried.

"Angemon warp Digivolve to….SERAPHIMON!!"

"NOOOOOOO!!" Machinedramon cried as the angel brought a fist down on his head, cracking the metal and puncturing his hard drive…

"NOOOOOOO!!" Ryo cried as Rika's Angemon deleted his Machinedramon.

"And that's how it's done…" Rika said, folding her arms.

"Awww, did we miss it?" Henry said, followed by TK and Kari. "What happened?"

"Rika's stupid Seraphimon destroyed my precious Machinedramon…." Ryo said, fake sobbing. "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!"

"Revenge nothing." Renamon said. "You're out of life and out of luck."

"Oh really?" Ryo said, drawing one last card. "Crest of Love!"

"NO!" Rika cried.

"That's right! All my fallen Digimon are back in the game and I get 500 life points back!"

"Why you…" Just then the D-Arcs went off. "Two mega level Digimon approaching!" she muttered, gathering her cards and scanning their data

"What?" Tai cried. "Two Demon Lords?"

"Open the Doors." Rika said to Henry.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Izzy cried. "You're going to get us all killed!"

"Maybe they'll just pass by!" Mimi said hopefully.

Henry opened the door and stuck his head out. "HEY!! WE'RE IN HERE!!" he waved three dark figures over. As they stepped through the mist, Tai let out a gasp. One was tall, lanky pale skinned Digimon wearing leather in almost all black and riding a motorcycle just as dark. His claws fidgeted with the straps of a biker's jacket and a pair of deadly looking sawed off shotguns bounced against his leg with every step. The other Digimon was a fearsome, proud looking Digimon that he could have recognized anywhere.

"MetalGarurumon!" TK cried as a human stepped off the bike and brushed his pants off.

"Hey guys!" Matt said, looking up at them. "Long time no see…"

"Who's that with you, Matt?" Tai asked

"Oh, just a friend I caught a ride with." Matt said, nonchalantly as if he hitched rides from pallid demons every day. "This big guy saved us from a bunch of those Mephistomon down by the bay.

Ryo came down the stairs, flashing a grin. "Everyone: Meet Beelzemon, Lord of Gluttony."

AN: For those of you who didn't know, Beelzemon was good towards the end of Tamers. He IS here to help but it was important that he wasn't the Lord of Gluttony. R&R and I'll update as soon as I'm able!

Peace

DOTMW