A/N- Wow, I really should stop writing that…its so annoying… Anywho, nice to…um…nice to…what was I going to say again? Hmm…I just can't seem to remember. Ha ha ha! I think I've lost another part of my mind! Isn't that great? Yay!!!
Well, I better start writing before I completely lose my…my…before I completely lose my…uh…oh stuff it!!! Just read the damn story!
PS- It's pronounced: Bew-rah-mon and Mah-sah-hue-mon. Just thought you should know.
PPS- I promise that from now on, all my Digi info will be 100% correct. All the attacks that come from existing Digimon will be right. I looked for them on a Digidex and I have all the ones I need. So…yeah no more complaints over the whole name thing. I have all the Digivolutions and pre-Digivolutions of all the Digimon, including attacks so I can finally get around to what I've been wanting to do!!! Yay!!
Chapter 10So close and yet so far
Rika felt herself slipping backwards off a smooth, wet and very slimy object. Her lower body was totally numb and she couldn't open her eyes.
Okay, we're talking total death here, she thought. No…she just couldn't open her eyes because they were frozen shut.
Okay, so I'm not dead then… She could feel the ice holding her eyelashes together.
Rubbing them was out of the question, since she was holding onto whatever it was she was lying on with only her arms. So, instead, she tried to use her legs to push herself more totally onto the platform that had her in such a loose grip.
But this wouldn't work either. Her legs were numb and she couldn't even so much as wiggle her toes anymore. Everything from her waist down felt like it had disappeared and now she had big heavy weights hanging in their place; pulling her down into the freezing wetness she was half submerged in.
Her breath, the only warm thing left in her, was coming out in a steam that she couldn't see. After a while, she felt this warmness start to loosen the icicles on her eyes and eventually, she managed to open them.
She immediately regretted it though. Her head was pounding and she was shivering with the intense cold that suddenly overcame her. Slipping further back, Rika realized were she was. Her lower body was hanging in the calmer parts of the river that ha brought her here with the others.
She didn't have time to wonder where they were though because she felt herself slide deeper into the arctic water. Summoning all her remaining strength, Rika used her arms to haul herself out of the water. Her hands slipped on the wet rock below her, but after groping around for a few seconds, she closed her fingers around a jagged piece of ice standing upright out of the ground.
The sharp sides cut into her hands, but she ignored the pain and pulled harder until she had her knees on the rock. She was home free from here.
Crawling away from the edge of the rock, Rika collapsed in a heap on the floor, cradling her bleeding hand.
Everything around her seemed so far away. She could hear the gentle lapping sound the water made when it washed up against the rocks. She could hear the vicious crashing of the river rapids as they rushed down the underground tunnel.
Yeah, it was obvious she was underground. It was so dark here…like it had never seen the light of day.
And it probably hasn't, Rika thought. On top of the darkness, every tiny little sound echoed around her until even her breathing sounded like it was a furious hurricane. Shivering against the cold stone and her drenched clothes and skin, Rika sighed and sat up. She knew about hypothermia. Fall asleep somewhere cold and you might not wake up.
So sleep was another no, no. Her breath looked like a mini sauna in front of her face, but she ignored it and looked around. It was too dark to see anything so she waited for her eyes to get at least partially adjusted to the bad light.
Jeez, hasn't this place heard about electricity? She thought irritably. Then a thought struck her.
"My flashlight!" She dug eagerly into her backpack, which was as wet as she was. Pulling out her torch, Rika's face fell.
"Oh right. I forgot about the water. There's no way this'll work now…even if I am away from the data streams." She flipped the switch out of habits sake and curiosity and to her great surprise and joy it flickered to life. She grinned happily and waved the torch around of her.
Okay…so she was on a platform in front of a hole that led to a cave. The river ran alone a low, narrow tunnel that was the exact opposite of travel worthy unless you swam.
"And there is no way I'm going back in there," Rika said, rubbing her shoulders to keep them warm. She jumped when a cold hand touched her arm. Almost dropping it, Rika turned the torch towards what had touched her.
"Hiya, Rika. Are you finished sleeping now?"
"Calumon! What're you doing here?" She asked, lifting him into her arms.
"I dunno. I climbed back in your jacket after you fought that mean old bear. And when I woke up, we were here."
Typical, Rika thought with a smirk. He sleeps through the ride in the raging river. Turning away from Calumon, she ran the circle of light coming from her flashlight along the floor until it reached a yellow figure.
"Renamon!" She got up and shakily made her way over to her, Calumon at her heels. Renamon shifted on the floor when the light touched her and she opened her eyes. Shielding them from the brightness, she looked up and saw Rika coming towards her.
"Rika, are you alright?" She asked sitting upright. Rika nodded and knelt down by her partner.
"Where are the others?" She asked. Renamon looked around and her eyes caught something.
"Shine that over there," she said, pointing to her left. Rika did as she was told and her torchlight fell upon Ryo, Monodramon and Koronamon. Koronamon was awake along with Monodramon and when he felt the light in his eyes, he turned towards it, readying himself for battle.
"Oh, it's just you. Alex has gone looking for you," he said as he lifted Ryo and Monodramon off the floor like they were dolls. He carried them over to Rika and placed them gently at her feet.
"Wake him up," he said to Rika. "Alex is on her way." She watched as Koronamon walked past her into the darkness.
"Is Ryo napping too? Boy, you must have been having a lot of fun if your all so tired," Calumon said, gliding over onto Ryo's chest.
Shaking her head at him, Rika sat down beside Ryo and pulled his head into her lap. There was nasty looking cut on it, which was probably why he was still out cold…literally.
"Renamon, could you dig in my bag and get me my blanket? Oh…and tear a piece of cloth from something" she said. Renamon nodded and got what Rika needed. She wet the piece of cloth in the river, catching on to what Rika wanted it for; she was psychically connected to the girl after all.
"Here," she said, slipping the blanket over Rika's shoulders first. Rika had already pulled Ryo's blanket from his own bag and had wrapped it around him. She took the wet cloth from Renamon and wrung the water out into her hand. Grinning to herself, she slowly dripped the water into Ryo's ear. After a few drops, Ryo started awake and he tried to sit up, but Rika held him down. She laughed at him and grinned evilly when he looked up at her.
"Morning sleepy head. Nice afro." She laughed again when Ryo cocked an eyebrow at her and loosened his arms from the blanket to get his hair into a more decent style.
Stylishly messy and spiky…as always.
"Stay still," Rika said as he sat up, making Calumon fall into his lap. She gently lifted the cloth to his forehead and pressed it to the cut. His reaction was immediate.
"Ow!" He yelped, pulling away from her. She sighed in frustration and put the cloth back against the cut.
"Stop whining you big baby and sit still!" She made him take the cloth and hold it in place and was about to tell him that he was being stupid when Alex arrived.
"So, there you are. I've been looking all over for you." Her eyes fell on the flashlight. "Gee, now why didn't I think of that?" She said with a sarcastic grin. She looked fine now…a lot better than she had before anyway. Her wounds had mostly been dirt that the river had washed away. Rika turned away from her and wrung her hair out, pulling it back into a spiky ponytail. Her trademark style. Alex's hair had come loose too and it now hung roughly mid waist.
Ryo noted, with some curiosity, how she also wrung her hair out by twisting it…just like Rika. Then she tied it up and twisted it again, this time into another messy bun. Pieces of her hair had come loose and were hanging in her face and the strips by her ears seemed to have been purposefully created to hang like Rika's.
Shaking his head free of these confusing thoughts, Ryo looked around. There was nowhere they could go except into the cave so… He looked up at Rika who was searching in her bag and pulling out everything in it.
"Rika, what the heck are you doing?" He asked. Alex sat down beside her and watched curiously.
"Everything's dry!" Rika said, more to herself than to him. "Nothing's broken!" She switched on the Video Data Transporter (VDT) and the screen glowed brightly. It was still perfectly okay, just like everything else.
"Oh, of course!" She said, slapping her forehead and wincing slightly when she hit the long cut on her hand sharply against her own skin. "It's just like Henry and Goggle-head said!" Alex raised an eyebrow at her. This was something Rika might have done, Ryo thought.
"Whose Goggle-head?" She asked. Rika scoffed as she tied another piece of cloth over the wound on her hand.
"Isn't it obvious? The idiot wearing the goggles. His name is Takato…remember?" Alex frowned slightly.
"I'm not stupid, Rika. I know what his name is," she fumed. Ryo jumped in to stop them from starting World War 3. Two female redheads were proving to be more than he could, or wanted, to handle.
"What did they say, Rika?" He asked quickly. She turned to him and dropped the comment she had been about to throw at Alex.
"They said that in the Digital World, things like this," she waved the VDT at him. "Don't know to think that they should get wet in the water so they don't break. We thought we should get wet, so we did.
"It works the same way with breathing. If we think we can breath the water, then we can," she explained. Ryo looked down at all the things on the floor. Sure enough, everything was dry, including the blanket he had around his wet shoulders.
"Oh, I get it," Alex said. "Inanimate things can't think so they wouldn't think to get wet. Pretty clever."
"So, are you telling me we can swim out of here?" Ryo asked.
"Precisely," Renamon said with a nod.
"Yeah, but we're not going to swim. In case you haven't noticed, the water is freezing!" Rika said fervently. "Whether we can breathe under the water or not is beside the point. If we swim, not one of us will make it out of there."
"Rika's right," Koronamon said from where he was standing behind Alex. "We must cut through the cave. What do you think Alexander?" He asked. Alex groaned and shook her head.
"It's the best sounding idea. And for the last time, Koronamon, it's Alex!" She grinned up at her partner and he smiled, something neither Rika nor Ryo had seen him do before and probably wouldn't see again.
"Well," Rika said. "I agree with Dino-boy here. It'll be easier to go through the cave, not to mention warmer."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Monodramon said, jumping up and down excitedly. Rika looked at him curiously.
Weird, she thought. He's so tough and quiet when he's Cyberdramon. But at Rookie level he's more like Calumon. Ryo's right…he really is just a puppy on the inside. She stood up, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders for warmth. Her clothes were still a little damp and they were cold against her skin. Looking over at Alex, Rika noticed that she had actually wrapped two blankets around herself. Rika smirked at this.
If you can't take the cold, get out of the freezer.
Come now, Rika, said Renamon's voice. You're just as cold as she is. Try and be nice to the girl. She's trying to help us after all. And she did say she wanted to be your friend. Rika frowned mentally.
Quit being my conscience Renamon! She thought back at her. The last thing I need right now is to feel guilty about my own thoughts. Renamon smirked at her and walked on. Rika sighed and shook her head irritably. She looked over at Ryo, who was trying to subdue a very hyperactive Monodramon.
"Ooooh, what's that over there? Ryo, what's that thingy? Hey! Can I go play with that sparkly thing?" Ryo groaned as Monodramon struggled against his hold, wriggling and kicking his feet playfully. Laughing quietly to herself, Rika walked to them and tapped Monodramon on the head.
"Hey," she said, still grinning. "Calm down, you're giving poor old Ryo here a hard time…wait a minute." She put her finger to her chin in mock thought, tapping it lightly. "On second thought, that's not a bad thing after all, is it?" She laughed at Ryo playfully. "What's the matter big-shot? Can't even handle a tiny Rookie?" Ryo frowned with the effort of keeping Monodramon still. The fins on his shoulders were brushing against his face and his tail was tickling his nose.
"I'd like…to see…you…do better," he said, straining to keep his arms from coming out of their sockets from all the pulling.
"Maybe I would do better," she smirked. "If I had such an over excited Digimon to handle. Renamon is cool, calm and collected." She folded her arms triumphantly and smiled. Ryo just grinned at her menacingly and before she could stop him, Ryo had tossed Monodramon at her. She caught him out of instinct, but regretted the motion. He wriggled against her with incredible strength for a Rookie.
"Can I play too?" Calumon asked, hopping onto Rika's head.
"Throw me again! Throw me again!!" Monodramon cried happily. Rika grinned.
"No problem." She threw him back at Ryo, who, like Rika, caught him immediately. Then she ran ahead so that there little game of 'Catch Monodramon' couldn't continue.
She laughed as she caught up with Alex, who turned her eyes on Rika, unsmiling.
"So," she said, as if she wanted to strike up a conversation, but couldn't think of anything to say.
"So," Rika repeated, with much the same tone. They walked on in a sudden and very uncomfortable silence. Rika watched her torch light sway lightly as she walked, her hand moving with the rhythm of her body. Renamon's words rang in her head. She was right. Rika really didn't have any reason to be so horrible to the girl. She hadn't done anything to her and Rika had long since dethroned her position of the Ice Queen. On the contrary, this girl had tried to save Seiko and now she wanted to help the Tamers. Heck, she had even helped Rika and Ryo in the battle with the D-Reaper. If it hadn't been for Alex, both of them would have been destroyed in their de-digivolved state.
Okay, okay. So she deserves at least a little trust. Rub it in why don't you, she thought irritably. Clearing her throat, Rika glanced at Alex before looking ahead again.
"How did you meet Koronamon?" She asked, being unable to think of anything else to stay. Alex sighed and looked back at him for a second.
"I'm not really all tha4 sure about it," she said. "My dad is always out and it can get pret4y lonely. I wan4ed a friend and he was just…there one day. It's kind of weird actually. I saw these three big windows and all these Digimon were in them. And when I looked down at my Digimon cards, there was a Blue Card in the pile…so I swiped it and he appeared." Rika listened in confused amazement. It was her experience with Renamon all over again. The only difference was that the Digimon in the three windows that she had seen had all been begging her to train them. She had yelled that she only wanted one strong Digimon to tame and Renamon had walked out of the light. Rika smiled at the memory and told Alex about it.
After a while of silence, Rika spoke again.
"If your dad is never at home, why don't you just spend time with your mom?" She asked. Alex shrugged lightly.
"My parents got divorced when I was seven so I don't really remember my mom to much. My dad told me she died a few years ago, but last month I found out he had been lying about it." Rika looked at her oddly. So, they had more in common than she had thought. And damn, what kind of monster was this girl living with?
"Hey, I know how you feel," she said as she walked. "My parents got divorced when I was little too. Of course my mother never told me my father was dead. I just never wanted anything to do with the bastard." Alex smirked ironically.
"I never wanted anything to do with him either," she said. Rika stared at her curiously.
"With who? My father?" She asked. Alex laughed at this.
"No, mine. He's a total idiot and a self-centered ass to boot. I hate him."
"Why don't you just move out?" Rika asked. Alex sighed again.
"I wish I could, but I'm only seventeen. I can't buy a flat or a house on my name and I know my father won't put one on his name for me. I'm stuck there until I can find somewhere else to stay."
"Bummer," Rika muttered. Talk about a hard life!
A loud beeping tossed Rika out of her quiet thoughts and she stopped walking.
"Where's that coming from?" She asked, looking around.
"I dunno. I…oh wait. It's coming from your backpack!" Alex said pointing to a spot on Rika's bag that was glowing brightly.
"It's the videophone," Rika said, pulling it out. It had turned itself on and there was a small display box on it. It read: incoming message.
The tamers looked at each other for a second before Rika pressed the 'ok' button on the screen. It flashed and there was suddenly a face staring up at them.
"Yamachi!"
"Hello, I see you're all alright. Did you make it through okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, we're all fine." Rika raised the VDT so that they were looking at him on a level field.
"That's good. But where are the rest of the kids?" Rika glanced at Ryo, who shrugged. What were they supposed to tell him? That they had been separated after an intense battle and had been dropped into a raging river of icy water?
"Uh…we got…a little sidetracked. You see, we aren't exactly…sure where they are right now," Rika said tentatively. Yamachi eyed her wearily.
"You mean you're lost," he said.
"Well, we're not exactly lost. We're just…taking a different route. We know where they're going, so we'll meet up with them there," Ryo grinned, his hand searching the back of his head.
"I see… Well, have you had any contact with your parents?" Yamachi asked.
"None."
"Well, you should get a hold of them. I'm sure they'll want to know your okay and it will mean a lot more coming from you," he said seriously. Rika felt a twinge of guilt in her chest. Her mother was probably worried sick. After all, she hadn't said goodbye and it had only been three days after Seiko's death when Rika had left.
"How do we contact them?" She asked.
"Like I told you before. Each of your parents has one of these. I put their numbers on yours and yours on theirs. You'll be able to contact them when ever you want to, and vise versa."
"Okay, thanks Yamachi," Ryo said. They said goodbye and shut the connection.
"Well, at least we know this thing works," Alex smirked. She wasn't planning on taking up Yamachi's advic% any time soon. If her dad wanted to know where she was, then he would just have to find out for himself.
"I'll calmly mother later. I don't really think I could handle her crying right now." Rika closed the VDT and put it back in her backpack. They walked on through the cave and as they traveled further, it became darker; until they needed the combined efforts of three torches to see where they were going.
Renamon shivered intensely and her fur stood on end.
"What is it, Renamon?" Rika asked.
"There is something here…something of great power," she whispered. Rika looked around her, squinting in the darkness.
"Monodramon…I think you should Digivolve," Ryo said quietly. "Do you think you're up to it buddy?"
"I'm always ready to battle!" He said excitedly. Ryo nodded and pulled out his D-power. He reached into his cardholder and pulled out his Digivolution card. It turned blue when he held it in front of him.
"Alright. Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!"
"Monodramon, Matrix Digivolve to…" There was a bright flash that temporarily lit up the cave around them.
"…Cyberdramon!" He growled viciously and flexed his arms in the air. His red wings folded themselves on his back and he whipped his tail. He was ready for action. Alex looked up at Koronamon.
"I think Ryo has the right idea there. You ready?" She asked, holding up her cards. He nodded calmly. Alex pulled out another Blue Card.
"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!" She pulled her card through her silvery blue D-Power and Koronamon started glowing brightly.
"Koronamon Digivolve to…" He started growing larger in size and huge, angelic wings sprouted from his back. His body remained pure white, his neck gracefully long and his chest became a paler yellow. The mark under his eye retracted slightly and then grew out into a delicate, mask-like, blue visor over his eye.
"…Bueramon! Bueramon Matrix Digivolve to…" The wings on his back shrank back into nothing and he fell forward onto all fours. The once majestic body became similar to that of a dragon's and rigid blue markings traced themselves onto his elongated neck and hind legs. His gentle face was covered in a mask similar to Cyberdramon's, but it didn't reveal his jaws. Big bony horns sprouted from his front legs, high on the knee and his feet grew larger and more dog like. His hind feet hand only to toes while his front ones had three; long, black talons tipped each of them. A fin fanned itself out of his neck: thin yellow spikes, connected by an almost transparent, green film of skin.
He roared and reared himself, swinging his neck into the air.
"…Masahumon!" Rika and Ryo gazed up at him wonderingly. He was bigger than two horses combined. When Alex stood beside him, the top of her head only just reached his shoulder. His head, which was raised on his long neck, almost touched the roof of the cave. Ryo lifted his D-Power.
"Masahumon," he read. "A beast Data type Digimon. His special attacks are Ancient Quarry, Tempest Destiny and Orion's Zenith." Ryo looked up at him again. "His power readings are almost off the charts…" Alex smiled proudly.
"Rika, whatever it is…it's coming towards us," Renamon said, standing at the ready. The three Tamers looked to where Renamon was facing. Cyberdramon was growling angrily and Masahumon's entire body was rigid with concentration.
They watched quietly, the air thick with tension. Something black was coming towards them from out of the darkness. Rika squinted her eyes to see what it was and she frowned in confusion.
But that…that's impossible! She thought, her eyes wide. The figure was smaller than Masahumon was, but if one of the Tamers should have stood beside it, they would have been just as tall as it was. Its head might be a little higher than theirs though.
Renamon relaxed slightly when she realized who it was and her demeanor became very similar to Rika's. Shock and confusion.
The figure was limping on very other step and its head was hung slightly.
"We have to help him!" Rika said in alarm, hurrying forward. Renamon ran after her, but the others stayed behind.
"Is she insane?" Alex exclaimed.
"Always has been. Rika, wait!" He called after her. Rika ignored him and ran faster towards the huge, black Doberman that had collapsed to the floor.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Argh! I can't take this anymore! This is the third time in a row that I've walked into my own footsteps!!" Alice said angrily. The Tamers had been walking for hours now and they hadn't made much progress. Kazu and Kenta had been leading them in circles ever since Rika, Ryo and Alex had been swept away by the river.
The wind was howling again and snow had started to fall. If they didn't find a place to stay soon, they were all going to be knee deep in trouble. Heck, the snow was already almost there!
"Are you sure you guys know where you're going?" Takato yelled over the noise of the storm.
"You look pretty lost to me," Terriermon shouted. They had taken temporary shelter behind a large rock formation that they had circled twice already.
"Well, uh…not exactly. It's hard to tell really," Kenta said sheepishly.
"Yeah dude. We found the place by accident you know. A Data Stream took us there," Kazu explained. Alice was shaking with fury and cold.
"Are you two insane!!!?" She screamed, her voice making the wind sound like a gentle breeze. "You've been leading us around here all this time and you don't even know where we're going!! God! I should have gone with Rika and the others!" Henry put a pacifying hand on her shoulder and she quieted down, her chest heaving with her deep, angry breaths.
"Takatomon," Guilmon called. "These rocks look familiar!" Takato looked up and his eyes widened. They were standing behind the three rock formations that they had first seen when they had come to the Digital World the first time. Takato had planted their flag here and they had regrouped here after getting separated. He looked back at his friends, whom were all fighting now.
"Guys!" He shouted. "Relax! I know where we are!" The Tamers stopped arguing and looked at him.
"Remember these rocks? We put our flag here, remember?" Henry, Kazu and Kenta all looked up. Takato was right.
"Hey, chumley! You're right!" Kazu said eagerly.
"Yeah, and we know they way from here!" Kenta smiled, clapping his hands together.
"Oh yeah? So then how do we get to Tornado Valley from here, Einstein?" Alice retorted.
"We climb over those mountains!" Kazu called, pointing up to a huge mountain range. The Tamers gaped at them in shock.
"Are you kidding me?!" Alice screamed. "How in the Hell are we supposed to get up there?"
"Well, we got over by making a kite the last time…" Kenta suggested.
"Don't be ridiculous. How are we going to build a kite?" Henry said reasonably. No one had time to answer him because Guilmon suddenly started growling angrily.
"Takato, something's coming," he snarled.
"Henry…" Terriermon jumped down beside Guilmon. They were both looking out into the snow. The Tamers followed their gazes and Jeri screamed; her voice muffled in the wind.
A huge, square, grey mass was flying towards them with incredible speed considering it was going against the wind.
"What is it?" Jeri cried.
"Hey…" Henry said, squinting slightly. "Isn't that…"
"Guardromon!" Kazu said excitedly. The huge, square, android Digimon landed with a heavy thud in the snow before them. Kazu dove at him, hugging him tightly.
"Oh Guardromon! I've missed you buddy!" He said, crying happily. Guardromon's hand searched the back of his head embarrassedly.
"Hello, Kazu. I've missed you too," he said.
"How did you find us?" Henry asked incredulously.
"We've been following your tracks for a day now. We thought we'd never find you when this storm came…but, here we are," Guardromon smiled. Kenta cocked his head in confusion.
"We?"
"Look!" Said Suzy happily. "It's Lopmon!" The small brown and pink rabbit hopped off Guardromon's head and flew into Suzy's arms.
"Lopmon, you're back! I was so worried about you!" Suzy said, hugging her tightly to her chest. Lopmon choked into her Tamers hold, her face reddening all the way to her three small horns.
"Yes," she whimpered. "But you don't have to choke me to prove it!" She coughed and rubbed her neck when Suzy sheepishly let her go.
"Sorry," she giggled. Terriermon hopped off Henry's head and grinned.
"Well, if it isn't my chocolate flavored clone. How ya doin?" He asked. Lopmon just smiled and shook his ear with her own. Guardromon looked around curiously.
"Where are the rest of your friends?" He asked.
"We were separated," Takato said over the wind. "We're going to Tornado Valley so we can meet up with them."
"Tornado Valley? But that's just over these hills," Lopmon said.
"Yeah," Alice said, scowling at Kazu and Kenta. "We know."
"You'll get there faster if we fly over," Guardromon suggested. "I could take you." The Tamers looked at each other and grinned.
"Okay!"
*~*~*~*~*~*
"Dobermon!" Rika fell to her knees beside the huge black dog and gently touched his shoulder. "Are you okay?" Dobermon turned his big red eyes to her.
"What happened to you my friend?" Renamon asked. He growled painfully and coughed.
"Alice…" he whispered before his eyes floated shut and he fainted. A blinding white glow engulfed his body and he started becoming smaller.
"He's De-Digivolving!" Rika gasped. The glow lit up the cave completely until Dobermon stopped shrinking and the light faded. Lying in his place was a small orange-beige dog. It had a curly pink tail that was a light crimson color. An almost rosy red. There was a tuft of fur on his head that looked like a fringe and his long ears were the same shade of his tail. He had two small markings under his reddish eyes that were also that color. His chest was white and the small claws on his hands and feet were mustard yellow. His head looked almost like the mask of a dog costume; he had fur growing out on it at jagged, zigzagging angles.
Rika gazed down at him curiously as he shivered in a heap on the floor. She raised her D-Power and the screen appeared.
"He turned into Labramon. A vaccine animal type Digimon. Special attacks: Retrieving and Cure Liquor." Renamon leaned over and lifted Labramon off the floor.
"Rest old friend," she said softly, bowing her head respectfully. Ryo and Alex came up behind Rika and looked at Labramon curiously.
"Rika, do you know this Digimon?" Ryo asked.
"Yeah," she said, getting to her feet. "He sacrificed himself so that we could Bio-merge in the real world." She dusted herself off and looked down at the small dog in Renamon's arms. "At least, we thought he did. I can't believe he's still alive!"
"What do you think happened to him?" Alex asked curiously.
"I dunno…he was probably attacked by something," Ryo said. He looked up at Cyberdramon and grinned. "I guess we overreacted huh?" Rika looked around and realized that Ryo was right. They had been so ready for Dobermon to be a Deva that they had made their Digimon Digivolve for nothing.
"Come on," Rika said after a while of silence. "We should keep moving."
"Rika's right. Labramon wasn't a Deva, but there might still be one down here." Alex climbed onto Masahumon's back when he lowered himself down for her. Renamon gently handed Labramon to Rika and they both nodded. Rika set Labramon down and held out her D-Power.
"Digi-Modify! Digivolution activate!"
"Renamon digivolve to…" She swiped her hands through the air, leaving shining marks behind her. The skin and fur on her body was ripped off as a digivolution egg enclosed her form. New skin formed itself on her body as she doubled over onto all fours.
"…Kyubimon!" She stood at the ready until Rika mounted her back.
"Okay, let's get going," Rika said, holding Labramon in her lap. At her words they took off through he cave again, leaving behind a shadowy figure that had been following them silently ever since they had woken up.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, what did ya think? I know that there wasn't any action…again. But the chapter was getting too long. The Tamers will regroup in the next chappy…or not. Whatever I decide ;). Anywho, the fight will be early in the next chapter and there might even be two battles. You'll just have to wait and see…so later!!