Rika, Queen of the South Chapter 2: We Are Two, We Are One, a digimon fanfic

Rika, Queen of the South
Chapter 2: We Are Two, We Are One
Rika and Renamon fully commit to each other as more than friends and partners, in the face of something that might indeed break them apart forever.

Hopefully everyone enjoys what is basically one long flashback. But, hey, it's got violence, fusion, Renamon, and girls kissing each other, what's not to love?

This mostly uses material from the animes, with bits from the rest of the universe, but if you're like me and only watched the shows, don't worry; I've kept you in mind when writing this.

Digimon (c) Namco-Bandai.

My copyright policy: "Sharing is caring." Do what you like with this story, not like I can do anything to stop you, in fact I'd be flattered you'd want to share it or save it so you can read it whenever you want. All I ask is that you link back to the original source.

"Rik-"

"Rgh!" Rika's fork clinked against her plate as the grape she was subconsciously batting around was squished underneath it. She looked aside to see Renamon's hand on her shoulder. "What, what is it?" she asked pointedly.

"Is something on your mind again?" her partner said as she withdrew her hand, the tone of Rika's voice seeming to just slide off her.

Rika's did a quick look around the room, glad to see none of the other Digimon staring at her, and tried to relax. Years later, it still wound her up a little when she thought of that day. She gave Renamon a simple answer of, "No."

The Digimon knew better by now, and also knew the right and wrong ways to get Rika to talk. She looked at the Gazimon accompanying Rika, commanding, "Go." They bowed and made their exit, leaving the two of them sitting at the head of the table by themselves. "Shall I dismiss everyone else?" she asked quietly.

Rika shook her head. "No need. I was thinking about the day when we came here for good."

"Ah, yes. But, surely you don't want to dwell on the negatives too much. We've come a long way since then," Renamon offered.

"Yes," Rika said with a nod, "but that was about the halfway point. After that," she grinned as she stood up, leaving the dishes to be dealt with as she walked to the door, "we knew for sure what we wanted to do with our lives."

Renamon followed her down the palace halls, commenting, "I only wish we had realized it sooner."

Rika shrugged as they ascended a staircase. "It probably wouldn't have mattered. We'd still have had to wait for the right spark to start the fire."

Eventually, they reached the top of the palace, where an open space awaited them, something like a runway except, of course, it was meant for flying Digimon. Namely, certain flying Digimon that weren't here yet.

A Vilemon and Demidevimon dozing against a wall looked up lazily at hearing someone approach, and then scrambled to their feet at seeing who had come. "Ah, y-y-you're early," they sputtered, standing at attention.

"Mm hm. Be grateful you didn't actually have something to do right this moment," Rika said.

"Thank you- I mean, yes, Queen Rika," Vilemon stammered. Whatever relief they might have felt dwindled as the pair stepped closer, causing them to shiver.

"I'm, I'm sorry, but they weren't going to be here until you were expected to arrive," Demidevimon apologized.

"And now that we're here, you can go do your job and tell them we've arrived early. You can do something that simple," one more step from Rika, "right?"

"Gyaah, yes, Queen Rika!" they squawked as they turned to fly off the roof.

Alone with Renamon again, the fox smiled slightly as she stood beside her partner. "It's a bad morning to be in your way, isn't it?" she remarked dryly.

Rika tapped a finger on her arm anxiously. "I might have to join in the games, myself, once they start. All this anticipation...I already wanna fight!"

"I'm sure we'll both enjoy ourselves. While we're waiting, since I don't want to rip one of your favorite outfits in a sparring match, why don't you go ahead and stretch out?" she asked knowingly. "You still forget that in the mornings when I don't remind you."

With a nod, Rika crouched down to start properly loosening her muscles up, her fighting spirit continuing to flare up as she thought back on the next big milestone in their lives.

Upon Rika's departure to the Digital World, she and Renamon explained themselves to their master, though they left out the detail of what caused the fight between Rika and Rumiko in the first place, namely that there was a budding romance between them. Best to save that for later, when they had some time to be sure that the interest was mutual. Not like they hadn't cultivated at least some favor with him. While much of their time would be spent away carrying out his orders, the phoenix gave them his approval to officially move into the Southern Palace, and so they did. Attempts by anyone from Earth to bring her back by force (the most annoying reason being "for your mother's sake"; they didn't know her mother before, what did they care about her now?) were answered first with warnings, and then with violence to those who failed to listen, and it didn't take long for them to stop.

Rika wondered why she hadn't thought to stay here sooner; she and Renamon had risen to positions of considerable importance among Zhuqiaomon's servants. Coming up on five years in his service, Rika and Renamon had surpassed their original purpose as members of the Devas and were among his top enforcers in a class all their own, with the appropriate renown and respect. The two of them knew, and were known by, almost everyone who was anyone among Digimon and also those who dealt with them on Earth.

Since they lived in his service now, Zhuqiaomon designated them as his main emissaries between him and the humans, which was facilitated nicely by the D-Power's ability to allow tamers to understand each others' speech...most of the time, anyway. They weren't just a powerful martial force anymore; they had social influence to exploit. Truth be told, they already had a lot of weight to throw around with Digimon and humans; now it was a new responsibility, and with Zhuqiaomon still observing a grudging truce between himself and the humans, he had plenty of use for the sole tamer in his service when he didn't want to personally deal with any humans but her, which was to say pretty much all the time. Rika got no small amount of satisfaction when one of the Japanese government officials she used to give reports to walked into a conference room to see her and Renamon waiting and now had to be diplomatic with them, when before Rika might be treated like a kid who didn't know what she was doing and Renamon might be treated like an animal that could talk.

No longer living in a place where there were any restrictions on what she could wear or carry, Rika made some big upgrades to her wardrobe, namely carrying weapons. While most gear in the Digital World was already owned by whatever Digimon used it, she still visited Earth once in a while, usually chasing down a Digimon from Zhuqiaomon's territory. That left Rika with opportunities to claim spoils for herself as compensation for her services, and over time, her room in Zhuqiaomon's palace was home to a collection of firearms, melee weapons, a set of custom-made riot armor, and a handful of useful gadgets from smoke grenades to night-vision goggles. Digimon they could push around served as suitable practice partners. Granted, most of her weapons weren't very useful against most Digimon, but it sent a clear message that she wasn't someone to be messed with, especially since she dealt with comparatively vulnerable humans so often.

During the first several months of their now full-time service to him, Rika's main interest was seeing how receptive Renamon was to her romantic advances. They kept their relationship private, fearing being ratted out by one of Zhuqiaomon's subjects and having everything ruined again. Still, Rika made use of every moment alone she could to compliment, admire, brush against, and flirt with her partner. Renamon seemed to enjoy the attention, which was a good start, but Rika couldn't tell if she wasn't sure of a right way to return it or if she was still making up her mind. Or maybe she was just being coy. Even though Rika was anxious for some reciprocation, this was never boring. In fact, it was kind of thrilling, wondering if and how Renamon would respond to her advances.

She finally got her answer one day, when she woke up to Renamon laying beside her with her head propped up on one hand and looking down at her suddenly very awake partner.

"Good morning, Renamon."

"It is, isn't it?"

"I...guess?"

"You only guess? Then let me give you a hint as to why. Today's the day we become girlfriends."

"..."

"Something wrong?"

"That's...a lot more...than a hint."

"I'm sorry, I lied. I know you're not a big fan of subtlety and you've been patient enough."

"Y-Yeah..."

"...You seem unsure. Maybe I should give you another 'hint.'"

"...Of...?"

Renamon moved to lie atop her, making Rika's face even redder.

"You said this started when you wondered what it would be like to kiss me. It's about time you got your answer."

She leaned down. Rika leaned up. It was soft. It was warm. It was electrifying. It was kinda fuzzy. It got a bit of loose fur in her mouth. It was amazing.

Now that they knew their feelings were shared, they were ready to tell their master. It wasn't like they wanted to hide it around anyone. So, with Rika so lightheaded and happy she could almost be drunk, they went to Zhuqiaomon to receive their next assignment, but first, they told him of their newfound love.

His reaction wasn't as bad as Rumiko's. It was much worse. Rumiko just couldn't accept their love. Zhuqiaomon forbade it.

In no uncertain terms, he made it clear to them that even after some five and a half years of their distinguished service to him, he still considered the tamers and their partners an offense to the order of the Digital World. The notion that humans could command and empower Digimon was a threat to their right to be the masters of their own fate. Rika and Renamon were the only pair whose usefulness to him outweighed their status as an abnormality, but the notion that humans and Digimon could be lovers...he didn't care if the other Sovereigns were more lenient on this issue, but it was something he would not stand for.

Rika was accustomed to remaining at attention during his outbursts, which was good for both of them because this well-practiced habit was all that was keeping her from ordering Renamon to digivolve and destroy him. They still wouldn't stand a chance and she knew it. So, her face having gone blank to hide the storm brewing inside her, she bowed to him and said she would obey him and not pursue their romantic feelings. To her relief, Renamon joined her.

Unsurprisingly, that wasn't enough for him. Renamon asked what they had to do to prove themselves, and Rika almost rushed him alone when he answered.

"As proof of your continued obedience, you two will cleanse each other of this taint. Fight. Here, now, until I order you to stop."

At first, both of them stayed where they were. Rika's facade broke a little bit when she looked up at him as if to confirm she had heard him right, and every muscle tensed when Renamon's hand clasped her shoulder and pulled her upright.

Renamon answered for him when her other fist sunk into Rika's stomach, knocking the breath out of her and leaving her coughing while Renamon stood before her.

"Get up and fight, Rika. You've taken worse than that."

While Rika got her wind back, she looked at her partner, and saw her lips moving now that her back was to Zhuqiaomon...what was she mouthing...

"We can survive this."

She blinked in realization. Of course...well, she wasn't going to let Renamon down now. Getting to her feet, she faced her partner, and the "fight" began.

Nobody knew them better than they knew each other, especially when it came to combat, and Rika knew that if both of them were actually trying their hardest, Rika would lose. Granted, she'd put up a much better fight now than she would have as a thirteen-year-old, but Renamon was still decidedly stronger, faster, and tougher. That was how she knew that a few of the blows she landed were from Renamon allowing them, all the better of a show for their master...if he could be called that anymore.

While the phoenix watched silently, they kept fighting. Every time Renamon hit her, Rika promised to do the same to Zhuqiaomon, and every time she hit Renamon, it caused her pain as well. Some might say that going through with this, even unwillingly, was at best a twisted expression of love, but to them it was perfectly clear: Zhuqiaomon doubted them and was sure this was all it would take to destroy their bond. But this couldn't break them. They knew who would be held responsible for this, and it wasn't each other.

Finally, when both of them were bruised and bloodied, Zhuqiaomon commanded them to stop. After telling them that was enough and he expected to never hear of this again, he ordered them to leave his presence until he sent for them.

As they bowed to him to excuse themselves, Rika and Renamon caught each other's gaze. It was only for a moment, but there were no words that needed to be exchanged at this point. Rika just knew that Renamon had come to the same conclusion she had. They couldn't go back to Earth anymore, and now there wasn't a place for them in the Digital World either, so there was only one thing to do, and that was reshape the Digital World to suit them...

And to do that, Zhuqiaomon had to go, and they had to be the ones to make it happen so they could take his place.

The problem, of course, was actually doing it. For all their skill and experience, they couldn't slay a Mega-level Digimon, not without strategy and help. Strategy wasn't a problem for them, but help was another matter. It wasn't that they didn't know anyone who wouldn't join them if they rebelled, but this wasn't just a matter of destroying a powerful enemy; they, and only they, had to assume ownership of his throne, and their pride couldn't be compromised now, so regardless of whether they had allies to keep his other minions from interfering, they had to fight Zhuqiaomon alone and win. Finally, there was also the simple fact that Zhuqiaomon was still one of the most powerful Digimon alive.

Ambitious as they were, they already at least considered the possibility of overthrowing him someday, but now their lives revolved around his downfall at their hands. So they did the only things they could do for now: Endure, and bide their time while they looked for the power they needed.

They couldn't risk being found out, so they couldn't kiss, hug, or so much as hold hands. They allowed themselves only brief amorous stares or whispers when they were alone. For Rika, it was nothing short of torture, the object of her affections so close to her so often and yet she couldn't just reach out to embrace her. Still, they had been through too much for Rika to ever give up, and "we can survive this" became their quiet reminder of their shared goal and mutual support, as well as the closest they could come to saying what they really wanted to say to each other.

Such a long period of frustration and scheming caused a slow but sure change to her personality. Consciously or not, she vented her anger in her duties. She became increasingly sharp with everyone she regarded as beneath her: Never unfair, but never caring about them as individuals. To those above her, she was cold but obedient. And, of course, any time she had a reason to fight and kill a Digimon herself, she took it.

Another year and a half passed with their only success being their still-unbroken bond.

While the Digital World had remained mostly peaceful, the peace was finally broken...by a tamer of all things. A fifteen-year-old boy known only as Javier with a BlackAgumon partner, who by most accounts had only been a tamer for no more than four months, was terrorizing both worlds.

Rika and Renamon met with everyone in either world who had information on him. No one knew much about his past; he didn't really seem to exist until other another group of tamer ran into him and his Digimon two months before his attacks started. Javier didn't tell them why he couldn't go home, just that it wasn't an option, or even tell them his full name. They tried to befriend him and give him a new feeling of "home." All they could learn from him as far as where "home" used to be was that he was from Central America, but he never talked about any one hometown; they supposed he had been homeless, so they didn't press the issue.

They also quickly took note that he and his Digimon were natural fighters. It didn't take long for his BlackAgumon to be able to digivolve, and that was when they already noticed a change in the two: They didn't just fight well, they got a real thrill out of it. Attempts to calm them down met with mixed success at best, until he achieved the Ultimate level; then he was out of control.

Why certain humans were selected to become tamers was still not fully understood, but how it was decided that this boy should get a Digimon partner was especially puzzling. Rika couldn't say she was particularly surprised, though. After all, she hadn't been interested in being a big hero of justice when Renamon came to her...or...any other time. It wasn't like all tamers were good guys, either. Digimon were empowered by faith, tamers were people whose faith was much stronger than others, and all of them were ready to fight for their beliefs.

And this Javier? He believed he really, really liked destroying things. He was very right and very good at it. For some two months, he and his partner had appeared and disappeared throughout the worlds, and each time, they left destruction in their wake, like a two-person guerrilla unit with no objective other than "because it's fun."

At first his partner always attacked as a SkullGreymon. Possibly due to Javier's natural hostility, this SkullGreymon seemed to be in enough control that he recognized his partner as "don't attack" and obeyed his basic commands, including de-digivolving so they could run, but other than that he was as brutal as the stories of his kind said. As the attacks continued, concern grew along with efforts to apprehend them. Once the SkullGreymon was replaced with a BlackWarGreymon, leaders in both worlds really started to worry.

His actions had not endeared him to humans or Digimon alike, and he had been spending his time on the run around both worlds. However he learned his skills, he was as good at running and hiding as he was at fighting. Tracking a Mega-level Digimon was easy, but once it powered down and ran off, that was when things could get tricky, like how something that's on fire is easy to find but once it's thrown in a lake it suddenly becomes a lot harder to find again.

While Rika took this threat seriously, as this boy was as dangerous to her as he was to everyone else, she also saw an opportunity to do some research into her own problem. One day, when she and Renamon were sent to Hypnos HQ about a possible success in getting a tracing program to stick to him even when they were laying low and his BlackAgumon was powered down, they spoke to Henry's father Janyu privately.

"As you know, my lord Zhuqiaomon wants these two dealt with as soon as possible. While I'm confident any confrontation between him and Javier would lead to the tamer's death, he has been able to reach the Mega level faster than most. Should his power continue to grow, will my lord be in danger?"

"I suppose so...that's a reasonable assumption, anyway. Or am I missing something?"

"Lord Zhuqiaomon is not merely a powerful Digimon: He's one of the four Sovereigns, Digimon who are looked up to as gods. Can the gods die?"

She knew a question like this must have sounded at least a little suspicious, even after seven years of serving him. But the chance to get an answer to such an important question from someone who had a good chance to actually know made her feel like a child who just noticed the cookie jar had been left open.

"In theory. A Sovereign's power is extensive, but after all this time, I still have no reason to think they're so much 'gods' as they are 'very powerful Digimon.'"

So, as far as a reliable expert was concerned, Zhuqiaomon wasn't an immortal deity and could be killed in battle. The only trick was doing it, but it didn't take anything beyond fighting well enough. Rika could almost jump with joy. But she knew she had to cover her tracks, and excited as she was, she could think of only one way to do it: A fist to the face.

"AH! What the-"

"That was for doubting my lord's power."

Before things could escalate, Renamon set her hand on Rika's shoulder and pulled her away.

"That's enough. We'll be going now."

As they left to return to the Digital World, Rika was smiling so widely on the inside it almost made her face hurt despite her flat gaze. She didn't even have to look at Renamon to feel similar anticipation from her. Even the punishment they would likely get from Zhuqiaomon for their behavior was more than worth it.

When they reached his audience chamber and reported to him, it wasn't disapproval they were greeted with; it was an order that made Rika's blood go cold. His scouts had tracked Javier down on their own, near the Southern Palace, and Rika and Renamon were the most powerful subjects available to him, so they were to go and engage him immediately, before he could come any closer. Before they could ask questions or protest, they were told that his forces would be convening on the rogue tamer soon, so Rika and Renamon had better hurry and back them up.

After running to their room to gear up, Rika clung to Youkomon's back while they rushed to the indicated location, she felt something she felt so rarely she'd almost forgotten what it was like. The sweat, the dim but persistent adrenaline rush, the thoughts that kept drifting to what might happen...it was fear. They'd dealt with troublesome tamers before, but not one like this.

"Hey...Renamon?"

"I know what you're going to ask. I don't have the luxury of being scared."

"I haven't either for a long time. But here I am."

"I thought so. If you have to be scared, just don't let it control you."

"I don't want to run. But I don't want it to end here either."

"It won't."

She looked over her shoulder at Rika, smiling calmly.

"We can survive this."

Rika smiled and nodded back, forcing herself to stop thinking about "but will we survive this?"

By the time they even reached their enemies, Rika could tell she was going to need the encouragement to take this one down. Zhuqiaomon's territory, especially after the post-D-Reaper rebuilding, was mostly arid, with deserts and canyons in abundance; the greenest places one could find anywhere but at the borders were savannas. Even then, as the pair came on a stretch of low rocky hills that had been used as a mining quarry, the landscape looked more scorched than usual, with fresh craters dotting their surroundings and what few trees that used to be here reduced to charred stumps.

No sooner had they arrived than Rika's D-Power beeped to alert her to a nearby hostile Digimon, and just as that happened, a small black figure leaped into the sky from the other side of one of the nearby hills. Youkomon skidded to a stop as she readied herself for the BlackWarGreymon's first move, and then the bright light of a BlackWarGreymon's signature Terra Destroyer attack cast its ominous glow on their surroundings for a moment...before the energy ball was thrown away from them.

Too bad for whatever he used to be fighting, good for Rika and Youkomon that they hadn't been seen yet.

Ducking behind a nearby rock, they considered their next move as the sounds of the nearby battle continued.

"Okay, so the fight's already started. You're not going to last long against him like this."

"I wouldn't say that so soon. They've always fought fearlessly and viciously, but the closest thing to a strategy they've shown is 'smash something, run, and kill anything that chases us.'"

"Renamon...the best you could do is give him a runaround for a while, but you're not strong enough to actually destroy him."

"If we can't kill him...we'll have to do it the other way."

"That is?"

Youkomon looked back at Rika again, this time with grave seriousness.

"Kill Javier."

Rika had a feeling it might come to that. There had been plenty of time for everyone to find out, one way or another, that while the tamers and their partnered Digimon had the potential for tremendous power, that power came from the bond with very special humans, and it also came with a price. When a Digimon partner died, its data could never be reborn in a Digi-Egg and wherever it went, it didn't come back, while when a tamer died, his or her partner returned to the Rookie level and could never digivolve again. Rika couldn't answer Youkomon, giving her time to speak again.

"I know humans are a line we've never crossed. I've never asked you to do anything I didn't think you could do. But do you want to? Or do you want me to do it? Because it's either that or we run."

Rika shook her head.

"I won't ask you to do something just because I couldn't stomach it. But first...I want to at least try to get him to stand down on his own, and his D-Power would detect you coming, so-"

Before they could continue, a scream rang through the air, and a moment later, a Meramon fell next to them, rolling away from the force of the impact before coming to a stop. It only looked back where it came from long enough to scream again before, like a black meteorite, the BlackWarGreymon they were here for dropped on it, instantly stamping it into a cloud of data. Laughing, he reared back and let out a triumphant roar.

Rika and Youkomon started to circle to the other side of the boulder to stay out of sight...too late; he turned around. All three of them froze for a second, and then the savage Digimon's eyes widened and he crouched down, Youkomon darted in front of Rika with her tails unfurled, and Rika took her D-Power in hand to digivolve her. He lunged at them.

Then he skidded to a stop as he started talking to himself, or rather to his unseen tamer.

"Rrrgh, but they're right there!"

Not one to waste such an opportunity, Rika held her D-Power forward, and Youkomon was replaced by Doumon, which caused BlackWarGreymon to shudder like a barely-controlled furnace of rage.

"Let me destroy them!"

Keeping herself between Rika and BlackWarGreymon, Doumon slowly crossed her arms behind her back, the fingers of one hand reaching in her sleeves to pull out ofuda for ready use and the other hand ready to grab Rika and pull her away from danger.

"Fine, but hurry up!"

The staredown continued, with BlackWarGreymon held back only by his tamer's order as he started pacing back and forth anxiously while Doumon remained as still as a statue. Rika tried to think up a battle plan, reminding herself that no matter what happened, she couldn't panic, and they had faced Digimon of similar power before and won, to say nothing of the D-Reaper...even though they had help those times.

The wait ended as running footsteps approached. BlackWarGreymon looked aside to their source...and with his attention lost for just that moment, Doumon made her move. She whipped one hand forward to throw an exploding ofuda at him as she lunged back with her other arm outstretched to Rika. She had just taken Rika's arm in hers when their opponent, rushing forward unharmed through the smoke from the explosion, was suddenly looming over them.

"No...my tamer's been looking forward to this. You don't run, you don't die yet, you don't disappoint him."

Rika couldn't say she was surprised that didn't hurt him; she knew Doumon couldn't overpower him, but she should easily be able to outsmart him. She quickly reminded herself that was just the first plan; they had plenty more. They could survive this.

BlackWarGreymon pointed at Rika.

"You. Weapons, on the ground."

Rika narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head. He growled and reached for her, and Doumon reflexively grabbed his arm, only for him to pull it free and knock her to the ground with a backhanded swipe. Keeping her pinned with one foot, he repeated his demand, pointing at his side.

"Weapons. Now."

As he applied more pressure on Doumon, getting a strained grunt from her, Rika tossed everything she had, weapons and cards alike, over to the demanded spot until she was armed with nothing but her fists. Holding up her hands to indicate she had nothing left, BlackWarGreymon gave Doumon a light kick to send her back to Rika's side, and as the fox-woman sprang to her feet, he brought his leg down again, stamping her weapons into a new foot-shaped hole.

Kept from escaping, they could only wait as their other quarry stepped into view. With his dirty clothes, unkempt hair, and wide smile, he certainly looked the part of a wandering kid who loved to fight and loved it in all the wrong ways.

"Finally, we meet. The Strong-Arm of the South, the Phoenix's Talon...but they say you just call yourself 'the mighty Rika.'"

She humphed at him, Doumon and BlackWarGreymon glaring at each other.

"Most people who address me like that are smart enough to either bow to me or stand at attention."

"Hahaha! As full of yourself as they say."

"If you know about me, then you know what I've done. Who do you think you are?"

"Me? I'm well on my way to becoming the terror of both worlds. I'm gonna leave my mark on history, and that mark's gonna be a smoking crater."

"How original."

"You didn't look bored a minute ago when you were hiding from my Digimon like he was Death itself, and no one's gonna be bored when I do something no one's ever done: Kill a Sovereign."

Rika kept a steely gaze on him, but had to be quiet as she felt a pang of...sympathy? No, she wasn't sympathetic to him; as little as she cared about the lives he'd cut short and the damage he'd done, she was never wantonly destructive. Still, she certainly agreed that killing Zhuqiaomon was a worthy goal, no matter its reason. Of course, she couldn't let him even try to kill Zhuqiaomon, because that was what she, Renamon, and no one else were going to do.

"What? Are you scared? Or...jealous?"

"We finally met and you've already talked too much. Are you going to tell me next about how you're doing this because the bullies at school pushed you down one too many times?"

"Hahaha, I was pushed around and walked all over. But that's done now. Soon I'll go down in history for killing a god."

He reached behind his back.

"But you're a high rung on the ladder, yourself."

He pulled his arm forward, now gripping a pistol.

As soon as it was in view, Doumon's arms whipped out, one flinging an ofuda at him and the other flinging another ofuda at the ground before them. BlackWarGreymon easily blocked the attack on his tamer, and the dust from the other explosion hid them long enough for her to grab Rika and leap away, followed by a scream of frustration from BlackWarGreymon.

Still in the air as they approached nearby piles of boulders, Doumon looked at her partner.

"This doesn't change the plan. We can't overpower BlackWarGreymon, but we can outsmart and outlast him."

"We've lost surprise now. We have to go straight for Javier."

As they landed, Doumon shook her head.

"No. You have to go for him. I have to keep BlackWarGreymon away from you."

Rika knew she was right. She still had to force herself to nod.

"I understand. I won't let you down."

"I told you, I've never asked you to do anything I didn't think you could do. You've faced worse than some kid with a gun."

Rika smiled a little.

"Got that right."

Doumon smiled back, giving the unspoken cue for them to reaffirm each other again.

"We can survive this."

With that, she rushed away, and Rika took a breath to steel herself before she started creeping around the stones, her eyes darting back and forth between where she was going and watching what her partner saw on her D-Power. Doumon hadn't gotten BlackWarGreymon's attention yet, probably waiting to get a good amount of distance between them first.

Rika froze mid-step as she heard footsteps approaching, and when the ground shook with how heavy they quickly became, she knew it wasn't just Javier who was coming.

"RIKA! RENAMON! Come and face me!"

A frustrated grunt later, one of the boulders suddenly flew through the air.

"We came here to kill you! We came to watch you die!"

Wait, weren't she and Renamon just targets of opportunity?

"So come out or I'll blow up this whole-"

Doumon picked the perfect time to interrupt him, an explosion nearby getting a cry of bloodlust from the Digimon as the pounding footsteps ran away. A quick glance at her D-Power and Rika confirmed that her partner was already a good distance away and ducking back under cover. Good...she could play this stick-and-move game with such a bull-headed foe.

"Go! Go get her! Don't stop until she's dead!"

Rika grinned a little at hearing Javier was still here. What an idiot...he didn't even realize that in a fight like this, where he was the much softer and easier target, he was safest with his partner nearby. Their loss.

She peeked around the boulder she was hiding behind. There he was, a stone's throw away, facing away from her and gun still in hand. Now was as good a chance as any. Crouching down, she picked up a fist-sized rock, wound up, and threw it at him, ready to spring forward and take him down.

The rock hit him...damn it, he moved and it hit him in the shoulder instead of the head. It was still enough to get him to squeeze out a shot reflexively as he covered his shoulder with his free hand. Again, what an idiot; he kept his finger on the trigger when he wasn't even aiming. Still, good enough. She took a single running step towards him before he was able to get his senses back enough to aim at her. Damn, that was faster than she expected. She managed to get back behind cover as a couple of bullets zinged off the stones.

"Come on! Come and get me!"

She steadied her breathing as she kept ducking back and forth between cover, hearing his footsteps running in after her, as well as the sound of nearby combat between the two remaining Digimon.

"You'd better hurry up! You might have a chance against me, but your Digimon doesn't have a chance against BlackWarGreymon!"

Rika took a glance down at her D-Power's screen. Doumon wasn't so much fighting as annoying her foe from hiding. That was fine: Keep him mad, wear him out, lead him away long enough that she could circle back and help Rika finish Javier. No, Rika couldn't count on her now; she had to stay focused on her part of the mission.

"Or is she even your Digimon anymore? Haha, I wanted to ask this, and since there'll never be another chance, is it true what they say? That she'd have been your woman if it weren't for your boss?"

Such a taunt barely held her interest anymore. Rumors about them were nothing new, even if they were right. Even before she found herself attracted to Renamon, other human/Digimon pairings had come up, but acceptance of something like interdimensional interspecies romance was often...lacking.

"So come on out! Wouldn't it be a shame if she died and you never told her you loved her?"

Rika was wondering what she had been worried about, if this kid was already so desperate he thought that would work. Time to taunt him back. Picking up another rock, she threw it away from where his voice was coming from. Hearing him run towards where it landed, she crept closer.

"I know what you think you're doing. You think you know how to be sneaky. I've been hiding all my life. But not anymore; now I'm the one in control."

Maybe you should act a little sneakier if you're an expert, Rika supposed.

"I grew up on the street, having to steal and hide to survive. You didn't know what hardship was until you got a Digimon, but I've been fighting all my life."

Rika kept getting closer. Keep talking, stupid; it makes you easy to find.

"Then...four months ago. The Yucatan Outbreak. I know you were there."

She was, indeed. Four months ago, a laboratory tucked in a remote part of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, which had been experimenting with opening portals to the Digital World and capturing Digimon to further experiment on them, bit off more than it could chew when a portal stayed open and more Digimon came through than could be handled. Captive Digimon and wild Digimon alike were set loose and most of them jumped at the chance to rampage, resulting in several days of the surrounding area becoming a war zone.

The Sovereigns contributed to the containment and cleanup efforts, though in Rika and Renamon's case, their master considered this a violation of the Earth/Digital World peace agreements and had a different idea of what "cleanup" meant. His enforcers went in to ensure that whatever research had been carried out ended there: Rika and Renamon oversaw the destruction of everything left of the laboratory and any surviving data before anyone could recover and continue it, only rarely fighting off any of the escaped Digimon. Fortunately, the ones responsible were tracked down quickly (or had already been killed in the chaos), and once the portal was closed and peace was restored, the incident ended without further escalation.

"I was there, too. While Hell was breaking loose around me, I was trying not to be noticed, 'cause unlike you, I didn't have anyone who I could count on."

Whatever. Almost there...just around this rock...

"But I still had to eat. One day, I tried my luck at what used to be a grocery store. A Flybeemon had the same idea. They saw me, I ran, they chased, I-"

His monologue was cut off when Rika rounded the corner and rushed him. He barely had time to realize she was there before she was already on him, knocking the gun from his hand and sending him to the ground with a few quick blows. She picked up the gun as he scrambled back to his feet and charged her, the fury in his eyes a sharp contrast to her confidence. One missed swing from him and an elbow, fist, and foot from Rika later, he hit the ground again.

"When I was your age, I'd already spent years fighting worse things than a single Flybeemon, you embarrassment."

Javier got back up, or at least he got to his knees before she took his head in her hands and brought it against her knee. This time, she took a second to make sure there was still a bullet in the gun's clip before aiming at him.

"Your time as a tamer is over. I hope you enjoyed killing defenseless humans, because this legend you were writing ends with, 'and then he tried to fight someone who could actually fight back.'"

"Shut up! This is what I wished for! When I was curled up in a corner hoping they wouldn't find me, I wanted to have power so I'd never be in a corner again, and I got it!"

"Not anymore."

"You're nothing!"

"I'm going to-"

"NOTHING!"

She was surprised for a moment when, despite having clearly lost, he got back up and charged her again. She dodged the kick he threw, then blocked the swing that followed, catching his arm and hooking her leg behind his to knock him down, and this time, she added a twist of her torso to twist his arm...hard enough to hear a "pop" that got a cry of pain from him as he stayed on the ground this time, clutching his dislocated arm.

After reaching down and snatching his D-Power, she spoke up so he could hear her clearly over his own voice as she aimed again.

"As I was saying, I'm going to count to ten. Either you tell your partner to back off and power down so I can order Renamon to destroy him, or you both die. One."

"Hrrgh...hrf...heh..."

"Two."

"You're no killer. Not like me."

"Three."

"You've never killed your own."

"Four."

"You won't do it, not without your woman to-"

BANG

"For her? I'd do anything. Five."

"Haha...ugh...the old warning shot tick?"

"Six."

"You don't really have what it takes to be the warrior queen you think you are."

"This is getting annoying. Seven, eight..."

"Come on, then! I just would've liked-"

"Nine!"

"To have seen Zhuqiaomon burn you to dust first like he promised me."

"..."

"What? You didn't know? He'd have told you anyway, but this here, that you 'n me've been doing? All part of the plan."

"...Go on. Maybe it'll give you another chance to live."

"Real simple. I told you, I wanna kill him. He knows you do too. That's why we're both here. We made a deal: He gives you to me, and he'll fight whoever lives."

Rika's arm lowered and her thought process shut down while she tried to process what she'd just been told. Fear at being found out before they were ready, vengeance at being set up, anger at herself for not somehow seeing this coming...it was hitting her from too many directions at once and she didn't know how to react.

The sound of gravel shuffling in front of her brought her out of her daze. Javier had started to get back up, and that reminded her of what was important right now: Kill him, then sort out the next step. She raised her arm again and got it halfway up before a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Rika! He's coming!"

She looked back to see Doumon flying towards her, and the fox-woman had gotten close enough for Rika to make out the frightened look on her face when it was followed by another hurried warning.

"Run-"

CRAAAASH

She was cut off when, exploding from a nearby pile of rubble like a cannonball, a black blur suddenly flew through the resulting shower of rocks between them, and he wasn't facing Rika, he was facing her partner...and was right in front of her.

Time didn't actually slow during the next handful of seconds, but every detail was burned into Rika's memory so thoroughly that it seemed like it had.

Before Doumon could come to a stop, BlackWarGreymon pulled an arm back.

Rika started to turn around, her eyes wide and her mouth open.

Doumon twisted her body to try to avoid what was coming.

BlackWarGreymon thrust his arm forward.

Rika dropped the gun and reached for him.

"NNN-"

"RRRARGH!"

His claws found their mark.

Doumon came to a sudden stop, kept in the air by the claws impaling her through the shoulder.

"-OOOO!"

Rika tripped over her own feet as every part of her rejected what just happened, her thoughts having gone from frozen to top speed. As she got to her feet, she kept telling herself over and over this wasn't what it looked like, it was a trick, all part of Doumon's plan to take a hit so she could get an advantage, she wasn't going to-

The pained scream Doumon let out shattered the layers of denial as quickly as Rika had put them up.

Rika had gotten only a few steps before she was broken even further when, still holding Doumon off the ground, BlackWarGreymon thrust with his other arm, and the claws sticking out of her shoulder were joined by more out of the small of her back as a second blow landed in her belly. Her scream was muted to nothing more than a long gasp as she went limp.

Again, Rika came to a stop, staring at her only loved one doubly impaled. Doumon turned her head to look at her over BlackWarGreymon's shoulder, and Rika saw her eyelids beginning to droop. Rika shook her head, this couldn't be happening, her partner couldn't die, she...she...

She wouldn't let their story end like this, not with defeat. Every muscle in her body tensed as her hands clenched into fists. She'd take Javier and his partner down with them if she had to. She spun around, readier to kill than ever in her life.

BANG

It was Rika's turn to scream and collapse as Javier picked up the gun and fired, sending a bullet through her leg.

"Shit...missed."

Clasping the injury, she forced herself to quiet down from a scream to rapid, deep growls, opening one eye to look at him as he picked up his dropped D-Power and she tried to piece together any kind of plan. Forget the leg, anything she could do to save her partner.

"Guess that's what happens when you break my good arm and I'm in a hurry."

Nothing. He aimed again. There was no way out of this.

"Now die."

Click

"..."

Click click

"DAMN IT!"

He threw the empty gun at her in frustration.

"S-So...not so...t-tough now without...without a gun...huh?"

Rika knew she must not look very tough, either, but this was the only thing she could hope for, that he would come close enough for her to get her hands on him again.

"Fine! You watch her die first, then! BlackWarGreymon!"

Pain still clouding her senses, Rika rolled over to see the two Digimon, just in time for BlackWarGreymon to nod as he raised Doumon overhead.

"So ends the rise of the would-be queens..."

His arms tensed, and Doumon grunted as he started separating them.

"...When I tore Renamon in half while her precious Rika watched!"

Rika reached out with a bloody hand, her eyes finally watering. She was about to cry for him to stop.

Doumon's eyes snapped open and a determined grimace crossed her face as she flung her good arm out to throw one last ofuda at Javier. It found its mark. Almost. BlackWarGreymon caught on just in time to fling her away and throw off her aim enough that Javier was only caught in the explosion rather than hit directly. Rika had already tuned Javier out as his Digimon turned to run to his aid, watching her own wounded Digimon bounce roll until she came to a stop from hitting a boulder.

She got to her hands and knees, gritting her jaw at the pain from her wounded leg, and let it drag under her, starting an awkward crawl to Doumon.

"Renamon..."

The Digimon pushed herself up to sit against the boulder, her eyes closed as she panted.

"Please...don't go."

After a heavy sigh, Doumon was covered in purple and white light, and when it faded, Renamon was left behind, tiredly opening her eyes to look at her tamer as bits of data leaked from her wounds.

"Rika..."

Rika crawled faster, trying not to think about how the blood she must be losing would leave her looking like Renamon before long.

"You can't die...you're too strong to die..."

She smiled a little, shaking her head before a grunt took the smile off her face.

"I'd like to be...stronger than Death...but I'm not there yet."

Rika was almost beside her now.

"Get up! I didn't train you to quit!"

"I'm not quitting. I've given you everything I have. But it looks like...mm...giving you my life isn't enough."

Rika shook her head hard enough to flick her tears onto the fur on Renamon's legs.

"I never wanted you to die for me! I wanted you to live for me! We still have too much to do!"

A little bit more, and she was at Renamon's side.

"We still have to kill Zhuqiaomon, become the queens of the Digital World, be the greatest tamer pair who ever lived..."

"I want to do those things too, Rika."

"Change the course of history..."

"But...I wasn't strong enough."

She shook her head again, moving so she was leaning against the stone and pulling Renamon in so her cheek was against the top of Renamon's head.

"Heh...heh...so it was all right, what they say about you two..."

Rika didn't bother looking at Javier as she heard him approaching. All she had left was her partner, the one person who never stopped mattering over the years.

"Javier, don't bother getting up. I'll finish them off."

"No...ugh...I want to see this."

"You're hurt too badly, you need to-"

"Shut...UP! This is over. BlackWarGreymon."

"Yes?"

"Wait until I'm far enough to watch..."

He started shuffling away.

"Then give them a proper send-off."

She reached down to hold Renamon's injured hand, feeling her trying to curl her fingers but only managing to twitch them halfway around Rika's.

"I guess...this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you to forget about me and save yourself."

"You know I wouldn't even if I could. It's like you said, a while back...I walked out on you once. It's never happening again."

"...Heh...yeah..."

She felt Renamon shivering, tightening her hold on her to comfort her. She reached up from around Renamon's shoulders to tilt her head so they could look each other in the eye and was about to speak again when she noticed Renamon was crying, but also...smiling?

"I'm sorry...sniff...I want to be strong for you, but...I'm just...happy."

"...For what?"

"That you always stayed with me, and that we got to be together...at the end."

Rika smiled back.

"I guess there's just one more thing to say, then."

BlackWarGreymon humphed, then leaped into the sky.

"We can survive-"

"No, Renamon. No more of that code, no more hiding what we want to say."

Renamon gave an understanding nod before they spoke in unison.

"I love you."

A high-pitched hum reached their ears as a red glow was cast over them.

"Terra..."

Rika slowly leaned in to say and do what she had been waiting years for.

"No matter where...no matter what...as long as I'm with you..."

The red light brightened.

"DESTROYER!"

"I'm right where I belong."

As the red light brightened further, it was joined by a white light not from above them, but between them, from Rika's D-Power, and the instant their lips met, it shone in a radiance so bright it washed out all the red.

What happened next, Rika couldn't explain, but she understood. She was still herself, but she ceased to be. She was floating alone in darkness, but she knew Renamon was with her...at her side, covering her back, all around, she felt her presence. They viewed the world through senses in a body they now shared. "They" became "she."

And if there was one new thing that hit her hardest, it was power. If she could compare this to anything, it was like when the heat and pressure and gravity in a great cloud of dust in space builds for ages and then, at last, flares out in an ongoing explosion. This was it. This was the long-evasive next rung of the ladder she had been climbing, and she could feel Renamon's familiarity with controlling power all her life. She understood every bit of her power's depths and how to control it, as if the knowledge had been there all along.

Looking up at the ball of energy flying at her, she readied herself for the first test of her power. Grasping the staff she now held, she braced as she thrust the staff forward to block the attack. It hit her, and she expected to have to struggle to remain standing, but as she held her ground, she let out a curious hum because it was...easy. She thought this would be like standing up against a fire hose, but no, holding back this ball of death took so little effort, she grinned as she let one arm rest at her side and scaled back her expenditure of energy so that, while the miniature sun enveloped her and burnt away the ground, she remained untouched.

This wouldn't be a test of her power. This would just be a warm-up.

Soon, the energy from the Terra Destroyer dissipated, and when the dust settled, her grin widened as the laughter from BlackWarGreymon turned to a confused grunt as he saw someone still standing, let alone standing on the lone pillar of land in the middle of a large crater. He could not have been expecting to see a human-looking woman wearing armor and a fox mask patterned after a purple-themed Renamon, carrying a white shakujou staff, and most importantly who had enough power to not suffer a scratch as she was hit by his finishing move.

"What...who...don't tell me..."

She nodded, speaking loudly in her combined voice so she knew Javier would hear her.

"We are two. We are one. We are Kuzuhamon."

BlackWarGreymon trembled with rage, and with a great roar, he launched himself at her. She leaped up to meet him, and their midair battle began...and again, the new difference in power was obvious. BlackWarGreymon was strong and fast, but his every blow was blocked or deflected by Kuzuhamon's staff, if not avoided entirely, while her own strikes started out as restrained and slow but steadily came to land blow after blow while still being able to defend herself. She couldn't help but keep smiling; he wasn't a monster they had no chance against in a toe-to-toe fight anymore, he was a good sparring partner to experiment on.

He must have noticed this, too, putting his claws and her staff in a deadlock long enough to speak.

"There's no way you were hiding this! How are you doing this?!"

"Haha, you're right, I wasn't hiding it. It's as new to me as it is to you."

He growled in dissatisfaction at her answer.

"What happened was, Rika and Renamon stopped holding back and fully committed to what they wanted most..."

She leaned in over her staff, her smile fading.

"...and now that they have, you need to be dealt with so I can move onto what's really important."

"Important...why you...!"

He pushed harder against her, and although her eyes were hidden, she could see the crazed fury in his.

"Both of you are nothing to me! Nothing!"

"Javier said that, too. You'd better try harder to prove it than he did. In fact..."

She broke the deadlock and, after dodging a swing of his claws and answering with a smack of her staff against his head that sent him reeling, flew back to the ground and motioned for him to come at her.

"Go ahead. Take your best shot, and give it all you've got, because one of us is about to die."

"...I...will...CRUSH YOU!"

BlackWarGreymon's hands clasped over his head. Kuzuhamon held her staff before her and gripped it tightly as she readied the first real flex of her muscles.

"BLACK TORNADO!"

He flew at them claws-first, now a whirlwind turned on its side with a drill on top. Her staff glowed pink with the power she channeled into it. He reached her, she braced herself, and when his claws hit her staff, rocks around them were sent flying by the force of the impact, and a cloud of dust was kicked up from the wind blowing out of the black twister. Kuzuhamon was slowly pushed back, but she remained firm as her enemy ground against her staff, its pink glow a stark and symbolic contrast to the darkness that was trying to drill its way through them.

But he couldn't kill her, not anymore, and now, she'd gotten what she wanted from him: Something to which she could compare her new power.

"You...okay...even now, you've still got more brute strength...and maybe you're still tougher..."

Focusing more power into her staff, its glow brightened.

"...but I have much better martial arts skills, control over my energy...and above all, much more experience."

Time to follow through on her threat.

Instead of bracing her staff on its side against him, she turned one hand gripping it upside-down and pushed forward, turning her arms in the direction opposite his spin. Her staff caught between his claws and he came to an abrupt stop. While he was still in midair, before he could reorient himself, she pulled her staff back, focused her staff's power into its head, and whipped it upward, leaving a trail of pink light behind it.

"Ha!"

In the same swing, a split second later, she whipped it back down.

"Hyah!"

A pair of furrows had been sliced into the ground, and a moment later, BlackWarGreymon's arms landed next to them.

Howling in pain, he fell on his face, his arms dissolving into data. She stepped back, her staff still glowing.

"Now for your send-off."

As if she were performing a well-practiced exercise, she wound up her swing and kicked him back into the air. Her arms swung left, and a stream of light followed her staff.

"SPIRIT..."

Then right.

"SLASH!"

A crisscross of pink light was sliced across BlackWarGreymon's torso. Or, more precisely, through it. The four parts he had been cut into didn't even last long enough to hit the ground before they burned away into a black cloud of data, letting her see the x-shaped marks the waves of energy had left on the far rock wall.

Renamon didn't load the data of her fallen enemies very often, finding there was less point in doing so if it wouldn't let her get stronger anyway, but Kuzuhamon spread her arms as she absorbed the former Digimon partner, just to get her strength back so she would be in peak condition for the next fight. Then, there was just one little loose end to tie up before the destined battle.

A quick scan of her surroundings, and she saw Javier in the distance, on his knees and staring wordlessly at her. She turned to approach him, the formerly loud battlefield having suddenly gone silent except for the sound of her boots clicking and the rings on her staff jingling, which was joined by the very faint hiss of static from his D-Power's washed-out screen as she reached him. Nothing was said, and nothing needed to be said as she dispassionately flicked her wrist to swing her staff one more time.

His D-Power cracked, shattered, and disintegrated along with Rika and Renamon's "never killed a human" barrier.

With that finished, Kuzuhamon turned back the way she came, crouched down, and leaped up to fly off and meet her destiny. She smiled again, practically trembling with anticipation. While she knew Zhuqiaomon would be a much bigger challenge than this other tamer, this power still turned her formidable foe into an easy win...and she hadn't even been trying her hardest.

A/N Continued

Digimon (c) Namco-Bandai.