(Screams in frustration) This world is out to get me! Finals and starting up my summer job have seriously delayed everything. I am so sorry about that. I wrote this up as quickly as I could. Please forgive me for taking so long.
This takes place back in the tamer universe. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for being so patient with me.
The familiar clicking of a lighter filled the silence as the man brooded on the situation. Yamaki didn't like the idea of simply waiting around, unable to do anything to help. This time, there wasn't even any way to know what was going on. Lacking both actions to take or information to study, the adult tamer was left on the lake shore with only his thoughts to occupy him. He'd accepted that in many cases dealing with digimon, there were others better equipped to handle it. But he generally at least knew something about the situation. If the Monster Makers couldn't tell him what he needed, then he could have Tally or Riley check the various sensors or databases Hypnos had access to.
Riley. The blond man smiled slightly at the thought of the technician. While they kept completely professional at Hypnos, she was far more than just another employee. She was someone special to him, though he would never admit it in public. As far as anyone would know, Riley was simply his subordinate. The only one who had the opportunity to see anything beyond that business-like relationship (though whether he would be able to properly interpret the couple's behavior as more than "friendship" was highly questionable) would be Calumon. The little white digimon didn't spend most of his time at Yamaki's home, but he was there often enough to certainly notice the woman's continued presence there. Of course, the man held his suspicions that Tally knew exactly what his relationship with Riley was and was secretly collecting bets on it.
The one question Yamaki feared being asked, one that men often feared, would be for Riley to ask him where their relationship was going and if they had a future. Honestly, if she did ask him that, he wasn't sure what he would say. He didn't know whether or not she'd even want something more than what they had. If one of them wanted to ever take the next step and the other wasn't, everything could be ruined. Rather than risk losing Riley by "moving too fast," the man kept their relationship at a controlled constant. As long as he could control something in the entire, chaotic world, he would. If there was any possibility that remaining the same in the relationship would keep it stable, then he would be as unchanging as stone in that respect for the sake of keeping her.
Considering that she stood beside him as he went from one of the least tolerant man in regards to digimon to a tamer of one, he likely had little to fear in regards of her leaving him. No matter what occurred to Hypnos or to him, Riley remained with him. Maybe he was worrying too much and should take the Wong boy's partner's advice.
"Momentai," Yamaki muttered to himself, flicking his lighter shut.
He glanced further down the shoreline where Suzie and Calumon worked on a sandcastle while Lopmon supervised. The girl and white digimon seemed so carefree and innocent. They might be in the digital world, missing several of the tamers, and have no idea of how to find those they came to rescue, yet those two acted like that wasn't really a problem. The rabbit-like creature at least realized the gravity of the situation, but she still smiled as her tamer described the type of princess who would live in her castle.
"Dry land!" a relieved voice declared.
Yamaki turned to discover that a colorful portal now stood ten feet from where he was. In addition, the cloaked figure of Destiny, the Kitagawa boy, and his pink mega partner were present. Other than a white rectangle hung around his neck and a shell-shocked expression, Kenta seemed to be unchanged from before they separated.
"Pii pu-pi," remarked MarineAngemon, calling the glasses-wearing tamer's attention to the adult's presence.
Blinking in surprise, Kenta remained silent for a moment before asking, "Did you know we're apparently going to be fighting someone near here? Because that's what Destiny just told me."
Cyberdramon, still in a near frenzy with the desire to fight, seemed too eager to learn that DemiDevimon already had a new opponent in mind. Ryo, on the other hand, was growing more concerned. His partner already faced Vilemon, LadyDevimon, and Myotismon that day. Now, they were after someone called SkullSatamon. The human boy wondered if the ultimate could handle the constant battles, but Cyberdramon was leading the hunt for the next target. The vaccine moved so quickly in his eagerness that he nearly left the tamer and rookie behind as the traveled over the rugged terrain.
"Hey, buddy," DemiDevimon called. "What's your rush? You don't even know where the guy is."
"He's on this level," growled Cyberdramon. "I'll find him."
Ryo could sense other digimon lurking in the shadows, watching the trio pass. Apparently they were low in level and could see the sheer savagery of the ultimate since they remained out of view beyond the occasional set of glowing eyes. Every now and then, the vaccine would glare at the hiding creatures and growl. This would cause the lurking observers to scurry away for a time, but they would return after a time. This carefully watched traveling continued for some time until Cyberdramon stopped in his tracks.
"I spy an interesting new digimon on this level," a dry, rasping voice commented as a set of clicking footsteps began to approach them. "And a human child as well."
Looking vaguely insulted, DemiDevimon shouted, "What about me?"
The voice gave a dry chuckle, "You may be present, but you are not the one the whisperers say destroy both Myotismon and LadyDevimon. The gossiping rookies were too easily impressed by that feat, but it is impressive enough. That loss opens up new hunting grounds for those desiring power. But I'm getting topic now."
The speaker stepped into view, his appearance equally as creepy as Cyberdramon's earlier opponent. Black, tattered wings, metal enshrouded shoes, and a long staff with a crimson hook on one end and a yellow sphere on the other didn't quite distract Ryo away from the fact he was a living skeleton. The bones were crimson red except for his black skull. His steps were slow and deliberate, each footstep clearly audible as the metal-covered foot connected with the stone ground.
"I heard you were searching for SkullSatamon," he remarked in a raspy voice. "Here I am. The question is, though," he shifted his staff slightly in his grip, "can you handle me?"
Snarling, Cyberdramon launched himself at his newest target. The cyborg-dragon tried to slash the skeletal creature, but the virus moved at an insane speed to intercept him with his staff. The two ultimate regarded each other's presence, sizing up their opponent's potential after the quick initial attack. The vaccine growled softly.
"Such an interesting creature," SkullSatamon commented dryly. "Bone Blaster!"
His long staff, aimed at Cyberdramon, produced a sinister-looking dark energy that shot out towards the vaccine. It reached him nearly instantly, producing a pained cry from the victim. The ultimate's partner flinched in and sympathy selected a card quickly from his deck.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed Activate!" called the tamer, sliding the card through his D-arc.
With renewed speed, Cyberdramon shrugged off the paralyzing nature of his opponent's strike and retaliated with a growl, "Cyber Nail!"
Ryo frowned in concern. Either SkullSatamon was far more powerful than the other two ultimates or his partner was far more tired than before. His attack on the virus seemed to lack its earlier strength. The boy knew the vaccine must still be tired from earlier and even with enhanced speed, the fight would end up being close. Unfortunately, even if he used a card to raise his partner's power, it wouldn't necessarily be enough.
Glancing at DemiDevimon, who he was feeling increasingly wary of as the greedy grin spread across the bat's face, the tamer asked, "Do you have any suggestions or ideas to help him?"
"Hm?" blinked the rookie. "Well, there is one thing…"
"What?"
The bat grinned, "Go to the mega level."
"He just reached the ultimate level this morning," reminded Ryo. "With Destiny's help, no less. How is he…?"
The boy paused as another memory flickered through his mind. The D-reaper was consuming the city. The blob body of the digital monstrosity sprouted smaller beings connected by red wires that attacked the familiar figures of Sakuyamon, MegaGargomon, and Gallantmon. He was in his larger form of Justimon. He knew, somehow, that the three megas weren't what they seemed. They were a melding of two beings, a digimon and a human. And when he realized that fact, he understood how he became Justimon. He Biomerged to form another dual-minded being. This combining allowed Cyberdramon to become a mega, just like the others of his memories. And now he could remember how.
"Never mind," Ryo finished, gaining a look of confidence across his face. "I've got the idea now. Cyberdramon!" he called. "Need some help?"
The vaccine simply growled and nodded as he dodged another of SkullSatamon's attacks.
Taking a deep breath, the tamer gripped his D-arc and closed his eye. The memories of his forgotten past guided him through the process.
"Cyberdramon Biomerge to… Justimon!"
Ryo could feel the rush of power as the strange and familiar change washed over him and his partner. In one sense, the boy found himself in a tall body with metal-protected limbs, a long red scarf fluttering in the breeze. But on another level, he was floating inside a strange sphere. He could feel his partner's presence with him. But there was a fainter, darker, stronger one that hid in the edges of his awareness without exerting any influence of them. Still, Ryo could tell he was truly Justimon and they could handle SkullSatamon.
"Now that's impressive," commented DemiDevimon. "Alright, then. Show this bony brute who's boss."
The mega nodded and leapt into the air, "Justice Kick!"
"So we've been to the desertish-wasteland, the black-and-white town, and now we're in a forest," Kazu muttered, staring at the leafy canopy. "Didn't we meet on this level? Back when you were an Andromon? And you were trying to take out that one digimon, Orochimon, that Leomon and Jeri finally took out with a LadyDevimon card?"
His mechanical partner remarked, "I believe so. Though, if I was given a little more time, I am certain I would eventually have defeated that foe myself."
"Especially after you gained me as a partner," the boy nodded, not wanting to admit that the robot had been reduced from ultimate to champion by that point and would have proved difficult to defeat without the rare card his fellow tamer possessed. "But my point is we needed to get to this level anyway, to find Floramon's village, and you've been here before. Which means you could guide us there where we can try to get our friends back."
"Uh… Kazu, even though I dwelled on this particular level in the past, I do not know how to navigate the entire area," Guardromon explained.
"So you still don't know where we are or how to find the village," he sighed, reaching up and adjusting his hat. "I guess we go back to the 'wander around and hope for the best' strategy." The boy sighed and glanced at his other companion, "Unless Behemoth feels like giving us directions."
The demonic motorcycle revved its engine, sounding particular infuriated with the tamer. Kazu wondered if the sentient vehicle growled this angrily with everyone or if it hated him in particular. It was too bad that Behemoth happened to get caught by the data stream with them. But the bright pink light appeared out of nowhere unexpectantly and none of them had time to escape. So they were still stuck with Beelzemon's bike and were lost in the forest level.
"You know, Guardromon," commented the brown-haired tamer slowly, "it would be too easy to leave the psycho motorcycle here. After all, we can't ride it safely and it'll just slow us down if we push it. It only makes sense to do that."
The next sound the bike produced sounded indignant and frustrated, delivering a burden of guilt upon the boy. Obviously, Behemoth didn't particularly like the idea of being abandoned and left to rust alone. It wanted to drive and needed either a random rider or its master in order to enjoy that. It wouldn't be fair to leave him there.
Kazu, mentally arguing with his inner-Rika about the idea he was reluctantly considering, sighed and addressed the vehicle, "Look, if you promise to go slow and stay next to Guardromon, I'll ride you and you can come with us. Deal?"
The motorcycle remained silent for a few moments while the robotic champion tried to remind the boy what happened last time. Finally, the bike produced a reluctant rumble that sounded vaguely like a resigned agreement. Kazu nodded and slowly approached the same machine that previously gave him the most terrifying ride of his young life.
"Guardromon, if it tries to run off with me again," the tamer instructed, "shoot out its tires immediately."
Closing his eyes, he placed his hand nervously on the bike. He was shaking uneasily at the thought of climbing back on the demonic motorcycle. It was an insane idea, but Behemoth was, at least kind of, one of the team. It was Beelzemon's vehicle. Kazu couldn't just leave it behind.
"You are officially the craziest boy in both worlds," his voice of reason shrieked, sounding exactly like the red-headed tamer. "Did you learn nothing from earlier?"
"Isn't there a phrase about climbing back on after falling off?" mumbled the boy.
"Yeah, about horses. Not demonic, rider-possessing, digital motorcycle," snapped his sub-conscious. "Get away now or I swear that I'll have Taomon seal you up in a bubble."
Shoving Rika's voice out of his thoughts, Kazu sat down on the bike. His eyes were shut and his teeth were clenched. If he had the nerve to look, he knew his knuckles would be white as he gripped the handlebars tightly. He was waiting for the explosion of speed as Behemoth took off towards the horizon. Surprisingly, the moment where the bike sped off never came. Instead, the motorcycle remained in place and simply rumbled in a manner that he could only describe as grouchy.
"Thank you," the tamer sighed. "Thank you for not trying to give me a heart attack again. Now, let's find our friends."
Behemoth began to move. Much to the surprise, and relief of Kazu and Guardromon, the vehicle was actually moving at a walking speed. It was a velocity that the robotic digimon could match and was too perfect for traveling.
Even more surprising was when the boy heard a soft response from his voice of reason, "That… was unexpected. Nice job, Kazu."
The tamer grinned and wondered if he would ever completely stun the real Rika to this level. It would be worth his entire collection of cards to see the expression on her face in this situation. Or even better, a photograph of her after watching "the craziest boy in both worlds" pull off the impossible.
"The rescue party is on the way," he muttered. "And once I figure out how to activate my crest, no one will stand in the way of Guardromon, Behemoth, and BlackWarKazumon!"
Finally got this chapter finished. Again, I'm sorry about the delay. I hope you enjoyed it. Kazu finally got a break and Behemoth is no longer trying to make the boy miserable (though the bike still doesn't particularly like him). I will try to keep updating this story, but my summer job will like steal most of my time. Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated.