DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).


CHAPTER 20

Her Continued Secrets


REAL WORLD

Shinjuku General Hospital

13:27 JST

4th July 2010

Flames crackled as they shrank, the smell of burning metal filling the air as the smoke rose to the sky. The chibi-Kyubimon scowled, vexation and irritation crossing its features as those standing on the rooftop looked at her, trying to figure out what to do.

'Is she hunting down Rey? I can't tell her where Rey is if that's what's going on…' Rika thought worriedly.

"Um…who are you?" Jeri asked nervously, the golden eyes of the fox moving up to look into the amber eyes of the girl, as a look of thought crossed the creature's Taijitu-less face, an odd difference to the Kyubimon they knew as Rika's partner, albeit the Taijitu marks remaining on its body elsewhere. Its golden eyes narrowed, the red lines below pressed closer to them, as it answered.

"That is none of your concern" the Digimon answered, as Jeri raised her D-Arc, Elecmon refining his eyes to highlight the fox.

A look of annoyance crossed the girl's features, as nothing but what Elecmon could see came up on the holographic screen. "There's no data…" she noted, shaking the device lightly. Rika frowned, as Renamon stepped forward.

"Why do you look like my champion form, yet you are far smaller and with minor differences?" she asked, an inquisitive tone in her voice as she tried to avoid the creature deciding to leave.

The Digimon briefly glanced to Renamon, before looking back forward. "I have said, it is none of your concern, and if you will not help me, I'll go and find her myself…" she answered, turning and walking towards the door, pausing briefly to pick up the soda can.

"How do you know Rey?" Takato asked, causing the digimon to turn, a mischievous look on her face.

"Oh, we go way back, but I'm getting my revenge…" she said menacingly, turning and quickly darting down the stairs.

"Come back!" Jeri called. Takato leapt forward, breaking into 'running mode' once again as he paced after the fox, Renamon following promptly after.

'If she's going to hurt Rey, I'm going to stop her!' Takato thought defiantly.


13:32 JST

"Welcome to Shinjuku General Hospital, the happiest place on earth" Yolei said sarcastically as she stepped through the doors, partner following and Ken at her side with his insect-like partner on his shoulder, Cody, Joe, Mimi and TK, along with their assorted partners, following.

"I wonder where we've got to go" Cody thought out loud, as they entered the waiting room area, some of the staff looking up periodically at the Digimon. Then again, Digimon hadn't exactly been a rare occurrence for the hospital that day, with some reports of them wandering the hallways, and hassling staff.

"These places are so depressing" Mimi noted.

"Maybe they could paint the walls bright colours?" Palmon suggested.

"That'd be horrible on the eyes" Ken noted.

TK nodded. "You said it, a touch of colour is one thing but by the sounds of it you want to chuck a whole paint truck through here"

"It was just a suggestion" Mimi answered.

"I thought we were here to see Ryder, not to bicker about painting the walls, ugly as they may be" Hawkmon noted. Yolei nodded.

"Yeah, Hawkmon's right, but where do we go?" TK asked.

"Hmm, I spend every single day in a hospital; you'd think I would have learnt how they are laid out by now?" Joe commented, looking down the corridors.

"Better figure it out soon Joe or we're stuck in here forever" Gomamon replied.

Cody stepped up to a wall sign, glancing through the names of the departments as he looked for something relevant, pausing and shivering slightly when he got to the ICU, the Intensive Care Unit.

"What's wrong Cody?" his armadillo-like partner asked, noting his partner's angst.

"The last time I went to an ICU is when my father died…he wasn't even there for that long in the end…" he said sadly, causing frowns amongst the group.

"Hey, cheer up Cody, no one is going to die this time around, I'm sure of it" Yolei reassured. Cody nodded, while Joe frowned, knowing that her words meant nothing in terms of Ryder's condition.

'From what I've heard and my medical knowledge, I wouldn't be so sure of his chances…' he thought.

"So do you think they'll be in the ICU?" Mimi asked, looking towards Cody, who nodded. Joe equally nodded.

"By the sounds of his injuries, they would've taken him to the ICU straight away" he noted.

"Then let's get moving!" Gomamon cheered.


13:35 JST

The fox-like Digimon groaned, coming to a stop in a corridor and smelling the grim smell of a hospital, a stench of sickness and cleaning products combined. The muttering of people and moaning of pain continued as footsteps drew quickly up on her, causing her to turn to face the approaching figure. She narrowed her eyes at the approaching Gogglehead, vexed by the fact that he was catching up on her once again.

Her vexation increased as her champion level counterpart, albeit in her rookie form, appeared alongside the boy, as determined as he was.

"Wait!" Takato said, coming to a stop and looking down towards the chibi-Kyubimon. "Can we talk?" he asked. The fox frowned, looking aside to Renamon, a glance going between the similar pair, as thoughts occurred to the smaller one.

"Only if you're willing to show me where Rey is…" she answered, Takato frowning.

"We will not show you to her if you are going to hurt her" Renamon replied.

"I have no plans to hurt her…" the digimon replied. "…but I will get payback…" she added.

Takato paused to think, looking at the Digimon, and considering what she was saying. "Can we trust you?" he asked.

"Not my problem" the fox answered.

Renamon frowned, looking to her Tamer's lover, who looked back to her bewildered, before she spoke. "Takato, what do you want to do?" she asked, noting that if her counterpart were to attack, she would have to defend Takato, unless he were to use his powers of Chaos. She had no idea what this other Digimon could do, she looked like a rookie, but she could be anything. The fact she was looking for Rey, a person who few knew to exist, was an indication of this, plus her power when taking down the door earlier. She had clearly been trained in battle to be able to summon up such power easily to take down a door with such ease, and this concerned Renamon. She disliked unknown opponents in her battles, Guilmon being a clear example of one. Bundling through the dust and having teeth bite into her gloved paw was not how she intended her battles to run, particularly back then when Rika insisted on her permanently having the upper hand.

Battles since then had taught her that control over events was never certain. Ryder's latest battle was proof of that, even if he did freeze up of his own accord. Whatever had made him do that, it could be a problem that they would have to deal with. She had noticed the problems stacking up lately, be it Rika's pregnancy or the Demons, their new foes who they knew so little about. Taiki had merely been destructive, but by the sounds of it, these Demons were likely to have a variety of powers, particularly if they were similar yet opposite to the Angels.

Takato frowned, looking back to the smaller fox, and thinking. "Okay…but one wrong move…"

"Relax…" the Digimon answered. "…I only have one move I intend to do…" she added, walking past Takato and Renamon, and along the hallway, before pausing and turning. "So, where is she?" she asked, vexed that the human and Digimon hadn't yet followed.

Takato sighed, as he gestured that he would show the way. This was getting very complicated.


13:39 JST

Mari once again had the room to herself, excepting her near-ever present partner, who stood silently watching once again. Tai and the others had gone to look for everyone else, after a limited conversation. Mari had explained what had happened, but details were still sketchy about Ryder's condition, and she didn't want to let them in on her inner realisation that he simply couldn't pull out of it.

She looked up from the dull speckled floor at the heart rate monitor, as it dropped another place, a common practice it had done for all the time she had sat in the room. She frowned; the display was inching closer and closer to Ryder's fate.

So much she wanted to talk about, so many answers that she would never learn. What was the truth about Ryder's world? Who was Ivy? Even things about the Angels, and how they worked. She presumed that with Ryder gone, she would be the new leader, but the thought didn't bring her any happiness. How could she lead the group after losing him? She'd only learnt of her Angelhood the previous day, how could she cope with being propelled suddenly to leadership?

Rey would be a far better, if absentee, leader than her. But she couldn't be trusted on to be there, and so she could never be a true leader. Kristy was completely out of the question, she didn't even know she was an Angel yet, oddly not noticing despite her necklace being identical to those of the other Angels. Rey was still playing her hand in Destiny clearly.

A faster beeping reached her ears, as she opened her eyes wide and looked up at the machine, the number suddenly and rapidly paling away. She stood up in surprise as the beeps sped up, the number dropping back towards zero.

"No…" she said weakly, facing the fact that this was it. Ryder was going to die. A tear dripped from her duct, splattering over the floor as it was followed by others.


13:39 JST

Takato arrived at Rey's hospital room, the fox-like Digimon walking ahead of him. Rey still lay unconscious, looking innocent in her sleep, a look similar to what Takato had seen in Rika several times. Renamon warily watched as the Digimon walked forward through the room, a particularly large one with two other spare beds in it to either side of Rey's one. Gentle breathing from Rey could be heard at the edge of Takato's hearing, as he and Renamon stepped forward closer to the bed.

The Digimon glanced back to them, her golden eyes glinting, as she suddenly leapt onto the bed, carelessly walking over the sheets that covered Rey's form.

'What is she doing?' Takato and Renamon both thought. Renamon prepared herself to act quickly, while Takato glanced to his side to her, noticing Rika, Henry and Jeri, along with their partners (and a waking up Terriermon), arriving behind them at the entrance to the room, looking curiously and with concern at the events taking place.

The digimon opened her mouth, unceremoniously dropping the can on Rey, it rolling aside as she glared at Rey's eyelids.

"Rey, wake the hell up!" she complained, stepping forward and stroking its tails across the girl's face, as she murmured, her eyes slowly opening to look up at the fox.

'Great, how are we going to explain this?' Takato thought, worried about Rey's reaction.

Rey moaned, stretching herself out, as she opened her eyes fully. She groaned, rolling her eyes. "Realmon, you seriously need to stop sticking your tails up my nose"

The fox growled in vexation. "I got your drink, aren't you happy?" she answered, glancing across to the can nearby, Rey following her glance and nodding, before smiling teasingly at the fox.

"You're not normally this grumpy…"

"Where the hell did you go? I looked everywhere for you!" Realmon complained.

"I fainted, so sue me"

"Why did you faint?" Rika asked, stepping forward in annoyance. She was sick to the back teeth of the secrets from Rey, be it her identity, her cause for going back in time, or information that could help them in battles. Rey had to start telling the truth if they were truly going to be parent and child, even if they were currently the same age.

Rey sat up, glancing across the room at the others, noticing their presence for the first time, before sighing in annoyance. "Realmon, you really need to learn how to be secret" she said.

"Sorry. Now just drink your soda!" Realmon answered in annoyance, grabbing the can with one of her tails and passing it to Rey. "You made me wander around the hospital to get it, and then you vanish!"

Rey chuckled, stroking the Digimon's head. "Sorry…" she said, smiling to the Digimon.

"Rey, answer my question!" Rika argued. "Why did you faint?"

Rey looked across to her mother, trying to keep eye contact with her but failing as she looked behind her, her expression on her mouth drooping. "No reason…I just fainted."

"Stop lying to me!" Rika argued, Rey looking into her determined eyes. Takato looked to her curiously, about to put his hand on her shoulder but stopping beforehand. "I'm so sick of all this crap, I thought we were through with that, but it turns out that we aren't…" she continued, her glare penetrating through Rey's eyes, causing her to break from the gaze once again, looking aside.

"I'm…sorry…" she said. "I don't know what to say…I just fainted, that's all" she said sadly, pulling her best attempt at getting sympathy.

"I think she's telling the truth…" Jeri noted. Rika frowned, about to continue arguing, but pulling herself back from her complaint. Rey inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, as she turned and stood up, noting a hospital gown had been placed over her clothes at some point. She lifted the can with her, looking across to the others, noting Henry, Terriermon, Jeri and Elecmon carefully inspecting her before glancing, to her parents, clearly noting the similarities.

"So…you're really…" Henry began, Rey nodding to pause him in his talk before other unknowing ears could hear. "Wow…" he replaced his sentence with, as Terriermon leapt off of his partners head, grinning.

"So that explains why you can be angry and a dreamer at the same time…" he mooted, not noting Rika and Rey's glares, and Takato's frown. "It all finally makes sense!" Terriermon cheered.

"Terriermon, shut up or I'll shove a soda can down your throat!" Rey complained, clicking open the can, which suddenly burst in a spray of foam, Realmon grinning as Rey looked on with widened eyes as her face was covered in it. Terriermon burst into laughter, and even Renamon smiled, as Rey glared on in annoyance.

"Payback…" she joked. "Do you really think that I could carry a can around the hospital like I did without it being all shaken up?" she added.

"That wasn't very funny!"

Realmon laughed, as Jeri looked on curiously. "One question remains, who are you?" she asked, looking to the digimon that she had heard referred to as Realmon. Realmon and Rey looked to the girl, Rey smiling.

"Rey and Realmon, the ultimate time travelling duo!" she joked, Realmon pulling a face that looked determined, yet the whole act coming off as even cheesier than one of Davis' usual lines as Rey pulled a V sign.

"So she's your partner?" Henry asked, Rey nodding as she broke from her pose.

"Yeah, it's no secret anymore; this is Rejimon's rookie form Realmon" she explained, holding out her D-Vice as the stats flashed up. "Realmon, Vaccine Type, Rookie Level, her attacks are Inferno Spheres and Dragon Revolution!"

"Wow, she'd be cool if it weren't for the fact that she looks like a chibi-version of Kyubimon" Terriermon noted.

Renamon raised an eyebrow as her eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

'Please don't dig yourself a deeper grave Terriermon…' Henry pleaded, knowing it was a worthless cause.

"I'm just saying that Youkomon is much cooler and looks better too, the whole dark thing really looks good!" he explained, confused looks and glares following.

Rey smiled, amused by the whole thing, as Elecmon voiced her thoughts. "Someone has a crush…"

Terriermon blushed through several shades, before turning and preparing to leap at Elecmon. "Hey, take that back!" he yelled. "It's nothing!" he added, pleading his 'innocence'.

Jeri giggled at the scene, amused by how events were unfolding, but some things were still a bit confusing. Realmon leapt onto Rey's shoulder, and she looked on amazed at how they could be so closely coordinated and bonded, even with their little fight earlier and Realmon's 'payback'. Her tails swished around as she landed perfectly on Rey. She smiled, glancing periodically to her partner, as the fox's tails dangled out behind Rey.

"Feels good to be like this again…" Realmon communicated happily to her partner.

Rey nodded, watching the scene as Terriermon was calmed down by Henry as he was placed back on the boy's shoulder. "Don't make me make Suzie get you with Pwincess Pwetty Pants again, unless you actually like that?" he teased, Terriermon pouting and crossing his arms.

"Hey!" he complained, trying to think of a come back. "…shut up…" he moaned sadly, as the laughs continued. Rey for the first time in ages felt happy, as part of a group, laughing and smiling. Happiness, the thing she'd always been seeking, and she finally had it.

Rey suddenly felt herself vanish, as Rika turned to stare on in horror. Her daughter began to blink in and out of existence.


13:43 JST

Mari stood paralysed in fear as her glance moved between the rapidly falling heart rate monitor and the boy, as he murmured before silencing, his body turning completely limp as the monitor's beep turned into a long continuous one, the sign of heart failure. Dr Imai arrived in alarm, looking on at the situation, and racing to grab a defibrillator as doctors and nurses gathered around.

"Come on!" Dr Imai pleaded, a tinge of anger in her voice as she applied the paddles to his chest, a zap of electricity running through him. She frowned at his lack of reaction, rubbing the paddles together once again. "Clear!" she said, determination in her voice as the paddles went down once, then twice, then three times more, her aggravation growing each time.

"He's gone…" one of the nurses commented sadly, as Dr Imai groaned in frustration, almost throwing the paddles aside.

Dr Imai frowned, calming herself down as she looked at her watch, sadly doing her duty in this case. "Time of death…13:45…" she proclaimed, as the nurses and doctors sadly began to scatter.

TO BE CONTINUED…


Not much to say besides reminding everyone to keep on reading!

Next time…

With Ryder dead, how will Mari manage to move on? Will Rey no longer exist?

Find out in 'His Death', Chapter Twenty-One of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.