Updated chapter. Some minor grammar improvements, but mostly just the finished chapter. About 16 pages. I'm very happy with finally having the time to be done with this. I hope to be grated some more free time so I can work on the rest. I can't wait to get to the fight. Finally, we are going to get some answers to some of the many questions this series has started. I thank everyone who has been with me this far and I hope I continue to please you all with my meager talent. (If it can even be called that.)

I Want to be a Hero, Just One Last Time

Chapter 11

Somehow extra omelet for breakfast turned into extra pizza at lunch and Tai expressed interest in getting sushi for dinner. Even though the sun had begun its descent, basking the city in its orange glow, Rika was half tempted to take him up on his offer. When he wasn't being ultra dark and cryptic, Rika found Tai to be thoroughly enjoyable. Even after the conversation shifted from Digimon to more mundane topics she never actually lost interest in them.

"No way, I find it hard to believe you're studying computer science," Rika said as she laid on the sofa; her bare feet, having long abandoned her shoes and socks, were lying on top Tai's lap.

"I study Philosophy and Political Science too, but what's so hard to believe about that?" Tai, somewhat pinned to his seat by her feet, questioned from the opposite side of the couch.

"I don't know, it's just those all sound like difficult subjects by themselves and here you are studying all three", she answered as she lifted up her leg and poked his face with her toes. "I'm sure a lot of people would be surprised that Tai, the kid who was only good at soccer, was hiding such a big brain all this time."

"Do you mind not rubbing your sweaty, little girl feet on my face?" Tai asked as he mentally filed that question onto his list of "Things Never to Say in Public or Risk Getting Arrested for".

She gave him a somewhat scornful glare as she poked his face a few more times with her foot. "My mom's a model you know? In a few years, you'll be begging me to rub my feet on your face."

"I think that's more of a reflection of your kinks rather than mine."

She smirked as she used her foot to tilt his face toward her. "Only a pervert would think a little girl has kinks.

"Damn, that's a good argument. It's not like I can honestly deny being a pervert either, Tai commented as he gently took hold of her foot. She flinched at his sudden touch as she held her breath, unsure of what he planned. Her heart raced as he ran a finger slowly down her foot and she forced back a giggle.

"I'm not ticklish," She grunted through clenched teeth.

Tai grinned, "What if I do this?"

His attack was swift and precise as he lunged towards her. His fingers running across her stomach and ribs as if she was a musical instrument and her laughter, the music.

"They get along rather well," Agumon commented as he engulfed a cold slice of pizza.

"Yes, perhaps too well," Renamon replied as she eyed the human pair.

"Do you listen to yourself when you talk like that?"

"I simply wish to watch out for Rika's well-being."

"Sure thing, Foxy." Renamon arched her brow on the unwanted nickname.

"As for me," Agumon continued. "I'm going to enjoy myself. No evil Digimon to fight, good food, good friends, good drink. So long as nobody does anything really stupid it'll be fine. This is like, the closest I've had to a vacation in ages!" The small dinosaur Digimon poured half a glass of soda before grabbing another bottle of amber liquid and filled about one-fourth his glass with it. He gave the glass a few turns with his claw before downing most of it in one gulp.

"Agumon, are you drinking alcohol?" The fox Digimon asked, her voice just an octave higher than usual to express her disbelief.

"You're damn right I'm drinking alcohol. Tai usually keeps the good stuff under lock and key, but you guys have kept him so distracted today I was able to sneak a bottle out and he still hasn't noticed. Or maybe he doesn't care. Either case is cause for celebration!" He took a quick swig direct from the bottle to emphasise his point.

"But what if you have to enter combat? Aren't you afraid you won't be able to fight efficiently?"

"You make it sound like I've never gotten in a fight while drunk, which I have," Agumon assured her. A mild slur making its presence noticed.

Renamon rolled her eyes. "Aren't you the least bit worried about losing?"

"No," the one-word reply was followed by a bit of laughing. "Really, you amateur Digimon are so funny. Even if it did cause a problem it's nothing that a quick digivolve can't fix. See, digivolving not only restores some stamina but also cures minor status ailments like being drunk. So you're worrying about nothing."

Renamon nodded as she filed that bit of useful information. "But can you still digivolve?"

"What are you saying? I'm too old to digivolve?" The scornful gaze the small Digimon gave her was enough to send a small shiver down her back. This was dangerous territory and she knew for a fact that even in his rookie form Agumon had enough power in his small body to rip apart larger champions.

"I meant no disrespect; I just thought after all this time and considering you were only able to achieve Champion level on your own during the second season of the anime."

Agumon shook his head a bit as he finished her drink. "Don't believe everything you see on TV. This is why I don't like dealing with New-Gens that often, so ignorant of how the world works."

Renamon nodded once more and she took the information in. Outside of joking with Tai and making some idle chitchat, Agumon never really said much, at least not to her. Maybe it's because she was a New-Gen, whatever that meant,and he didn't seem to like New-Gens. However, he was quite talkative today and everything he said was riddled with information. She just needed the right questions, but just as she was about to ask she felt a strange, almost primal, pull on her as she turned to face out the window. In the distance, a huge blue beam of light shot into the sky causing a dark ripple or pulse to emanate from it.

"Stop! I surrender. I surrender!" Rika playfully screamed for mercy. She had naturally kicked and screamed from the assault causing her to roll off the sofa. The only reason why she didn't painfully hit the floor was because she had instinctively wrapped her arms around Tai's neck, dragging him down with her. Thankfully, the college student was able to hold her weight up until he was able to brace himself on the floor, essentially pinning the younger girl between his arms, so he wouldn't fall on top of her.

Perhaps it was the light headiness that comes from lack of breath, or the cheesy romance movies her mother liked to watch, or just the natural release of hormones that were normal for a girl her age, but as she stared up into the eyes of the young man who, despite her best efforts, she found being more and more attracted to she let some of her honest feelings slip their cage.

"Why the hell do you have to be so cute?" the young girl mumbled out with a flushed face.

Tai didn't seem to hear her as his attention seem more focused at something out the window, perhaps something catching his eye from outside. His eyes widen a bit as if in disbelief.

"What the hell is that?" Tai nearly shouted as he untwisted Rika's arms from around his neck and stood up.

"Somebody doing something stupid," Agumon answered with a sour tone. Tai looked back out the window taking notice of the direction and the building the light seemed to be coming from as his mind worked to put things together.

"God damn it, Yamcha! When you said 'soon' I didn't think you meant today. Son of a bitch! Everyone outside, now!" Tai screamed as he grabbed his coat and burst out the door taking the stairs down two at a time. Rika followed as she hopped after him on one foot while putting her shoes back on as Renamon dashed out and took to the shadows and roofs as she always does. Agumon, being a bit more patient, grabbed his coat and locked the door before jumping over the second floor railing down to the first floor.

"Jesus!" Tai called as he banged on his first-floor neighbor's door. "Emergency, open up." The door quickly opened up to reveal Jesus in an unbuttoned white dress shirt and blue slacks.

"God dammit, Tai. I just got back from work. What in fuck are you yelling about?" Jesus asked, but even from his first story apartment he was able to see the ominous light show in the distance. He stared wide-eyed as he subconsciously brought his hand up in the sign of the cross. "Santa Maria."

"Moped, now," Tai urged.

Jesus brought out the keys, but a little bit of reason stopped him from just handing them over without question. "But I use this for work."

"I'll rent it from you for the day, how bout that?" Tai compromised as he pulled out a wad of bills and placed them in Jesus's chest pocket before grabbing the keys and running to the blue moped parked nearby. He jumped on the moped as Rika dashed to join him, taking a seat behind him. Just then Agumon landed on the ground nearby from having jumped off the second floor. The Digimon rushed forward and join on the moped by taking a standing spot in the small wedge between Tai and the front of the bike before the engine roared to life and began to speed off.

"Tai," Jesus cried out to him, "There's over 10,000 yen in here."

"That's all I had, sorry," Tai answered back as he exited the small parking lot.

Jesus let out of sigh of defeat as he watched the trio race off. "Stay safe, man. God knows we still need people like you in this world."

As the moped raced off towards the light at a recklessly endangering speed Rika shouted, "Isn't having three people on a moped unsafe?"

"You're damn right it's unsafe! That's why it's fun!" Agumon shouted back from his much less safe and precarious place on the bike.

Tai sped as fast as the moped allowed him, ignoring all but the most necessary of safety laws. Mere minutes had passed before an ominous crimson hole appeared in the sky where the light had first appeared. Even at this distance Rika was able to make out several dark figures racing towards the hole. Though she had a good idea what those figures might be she decided it was best to ask anyway.

"Are those Digimon flying towards it?"

"No sane Digimon would fly towards that thing regardless of how much data was accumulated there. They're smart enough to recognize a trap when they see it," Tai explained.

"Than why would they go near it?"

"Not sure. You heard Yamcha, though. They had a Digimon they could run experiments on. Maybe there's some kind of background command which is triggering the Digimon's base programming to pursue date."

Hearing that, a mild look of distressed passed by the young girl's face. "Should I be worried about Renamon?"

"Not really," Tai reassured her, "She's linked to your digivice, which she instinctively knows provides more data than what that thing could possibly give her. Though if it continues to grow like that it might just start sucking Digimon in regardless. As for Agumon... well let's just say Agumon is old school."

Rika nodded in understanding and even though Tai's explanation rose several more questions she knew now wasn't the time to ask them. She clung tighter to Tai as the moped suddenly lurched as he swiveled it onto the sidewalk in order to avoid the sudden traffic jam that occurred as drivers stopped to observe the event.

"Out of the way!" The college student shouted as he honked the horn on the bike while zigzagging in between the numerous pedestrians who were too slow to jump out of the way. Despite his best efforts, the throng was too much, forcing him to a complete stop as he turned the corner to witness a street jam packed with cars and people. No way through.

"Dammit and we are so close."

"Tai, we should be able to cut through that park and avoid most of the traffic, but we will have to go by foot," Rika shouted as she pointed him in the right direction.

"We don't have much choice right now," Tai nodded as he hastily pulled out a security chain and tied the moped to a nearby light post. "I just hope the situation doesn't change."

As if the world was merely waiting for an excuse to jinx him at that moment a sound similar to thunder rang, accompanied by an earthquake. No, it wasn't an earthquake. It was more like reality shook at its very core as the sky suddenly shattered.

"God damn it! Why can't I get a break today?" He cursed, easily recognizing a tear in the fabric of reality that separated the real and digital worlds. He was also vaguely aware of the nearby store televisions and radios suddenly broadcasting static as a dark voice began to announce what Tai could only assume was some kind of declaration of war. He wasn't too sure as he had stopped listening. If you've heard one evil Digimon's speech to take over the world you've heard them all.

He picked Rika up, against her will and shouts of protest, of course, before he took a few steps back from the road. Once he was sufficient distance away he sprinted forward and hopped on the hood of the car directly in front of him, car hopping across the street to bypass the crowd of people. The former soccer star ignored the angry motorists as he made his final leap to the other side of the road, Agumon right on his heels. Not one to waste the momentum, he dashed into the park towards their destination, all the while still carrying Rika.

"I have my own legs," Rika protested once more when it became apparent that Tai wasn't going to put her down.

"Yeah, but I'm a faster runner."

Indeed, there was little Rika could say to counter that as the college student traversed the distance with the speed and grace of a practiced athlete. In the distance, she could make out Henry. It looked as if the young boy had been knocked to the ground, though by who or what she couldn't tell, at least not from their angle of approach.

"Henry, are you OK?" Rika asked as the group finally stopped at the young boy's side.

"Yeah, I'm OK." Henry stood up and dusted himself off before he observed the pair. A slight look of confusion appearing on his face as he regarded the young girl being carried bridal style, his prolonged gaze causing Rika to become self-aware of her own predicament.

"Put me down," She ordered in a harsh whisper.

"Huh, oh! Sorry about that." Tai set her down, having all but forgotten that he was still carrying her till she brought it up. "What happened to you, Kid?"

"I don't know. One moment I'm walking and the next this guy I've never met with blond hair and a suit grabs me and starts yelling some gibberish on how this was my fault or something," Henry explained as he looked in the direction the stranger had walked off too but found no sign of the man. Tai's eyes narrowed at that description, but there was nothing that could be done about it at the time.

"We should take steps to avoid that guy from now on. For now, let's get going," Rika commanded as they all headed off.

It was only a short dash until the group managed to exit out of the park and onto a bridge that connected them to the building. Nearby they spotted Takato and Guilmon, both looked relieved to see their friends arrive.

"What's the damage?" Tai demanded of the goggle-wearing elementary student.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure there's a wild Digimon on the roof." Tai looked up the building, the impressive size appearing even more intimidating from the ground.

Agumon looked up at his partner, "Can we take the elevator this time?"

"I don't think security is just going to let us waltz right in. Besides, we still need to figure out what's going on up there."

"I'll have Renamon scout the area," Rika interjected.

"Wait!" Tai shouted, but he was too late. Already Renamon had sprinted up the wall and began scales it with leaps and bounds.

"Rika, you can't tell me you are seriously sending Renamon up there without backup?"

"Renamon can evolve now. I can handle it, just trust me."

"Rika, take this evolution card!" Takato shouted as he tossed her a playing card.

Tai snorted in frustration as he pulled his hood over his head. It was time to hunt, not worry about stubborn kids. "Come on Agumon, if we leave now we might be able to reach the roof before anything or anyone suffers long-term damage."

"Where are you two going?"

"Inside, to use the elevator! How else do you expect a ground type Digimon like me to get up to the roof of a ba-jillion floor office building? You think Tai can just swipe a magic card to make me fly. Like something like that exists."

"Well actually... I have this card call "White Wings" that kind of does that."

Agumon's eye twitched as he glared at Takato. "Damn New-Gens get all the cool stuff!" the older Digimon shouted as he turned away to catch up to his partner.

"New-Gen? You're not using that phrase as a derogatory term again, are you Agumon?"

Agumon stammered in embarrassment from his earlier outburst finding himself unable to properly answer the question.

"We spoke about this, Agumon. The New-Gens might have a lot of abilities that didn't exist in our time, but that's hardly a reason to get mad at them. We have plenty of skills that distinguish us from them as it stands too."

"I know... it's just," Agumon's words slowly faded out as the two grew further away from the children and banked around the buildings corner. Rika didn't have time to dwell on their words though as an image of a strange, armored, tiger-like creature flashed across her D-3 holo-screen.

The two entered through the front doors of the not-so-secret secret headquarters of Hypnos, their conversation about whether or not the term "New-Gen" was even a derogatory phrase to begin with and why had grown a tad more in-depth as well.

"I honestly don't think it's a bad phrase, I mean they literally are 'New Generation' Digimon and the phrase is just a shorter version of that," Agumon defended.

"Yeah, but that may be true, but doesn't the phrase unjustly groups them together, alienating them from other Digimon before? This is turn creates a false mentality of 'us vs. them' even though they're still Digimon, just like you or even Veemon."

Tai gave a sharp breath at having so casually mentioned the blue Digimon causing the two to share a short and uncomfortable moment of silence for their former comrade.

With a somewhat forced laugh Tai continued, "Remember how weird we both thought he was the first time we met him?"

Agumon gave a light giggle. "Yeah, a Digimon based entirely around a letter of the alphabet, V-this and V-that. Can you imagine what a Digimon based off the letter 'A' would be like?"

"Excuse me, you can't come in here without an appointment," A female secretary at the front counter told them.

"Pest Control," Tai casually answered her with a dismissive wave of his hand without even bothering to look at her. He continued the former conversation without any loss of momentum. "Yeah, its name would probably be 'Ay-mon' and he'd probably look like Fonzie from Happy Days." They both laughed at this idea as a security guard cut them off before they reached the elevators.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need some identification from you two."

Tai playfully slapped his forehead as if he forgot something obvious. "Of course, show this nice man our id, Partner."

The guard regarded the small Digimon in confusion as Agumon reached into his coat as if to pull something out.

"Hiya!" Agumon's elbow shot out into the guard's stomach causing him to bowl over. Agumon then proceeded to grab the guard's collar and toss him over his shoulder into a nearby wall, promptly knocking him out. Tai quietly waited for Agumon to finish and allowed the Digimon to press the up button for the elevator as well as the button for the top floor.

"I'm glad those Aikido classes paid off."

"You'd get more bang for your buck if you kept practicing."

"I prefer kickboxing."

"Just what the world needs, a soccer player kicking people in the head."

"May trouble you once more, old pal? Think you can break that control panel so our trip up won't be interrupted?"

"Does that really work? I would imagine it would just make us inside unable to enter commands, not those outside."

Tai shrugged, "It works in all the movies. As far as I'm concerned, we don't really have time to risk it not working."

Agumon shrugged with overall dispassion as he casually slashed the control panel into pieces. Neither of them knew if it would work, but for now their only concern was to reach the roof.

"So, how long do you think we'll be here?"

Tai shrugged. "This isn't the tallest building ever made, but it's also not the fastest elevator. Maybe three minutes to reach the top if we don't get stopped."

"Well, considering we wasted just getting here I would guess we're already pushing the 10-minute mark."

"Almost, I should probably check up on the kids." Tai pulled out his cell phone and called Rika. The phone only rang once, before it was answered.

"Tai, where are you?" The young girl could be heard over the line, a slight panic in her voice.

"We're almost at the top. What's the situation like out there? Is Renamon hurt?"

Rika could be heard taking a deep breath to calm herself before she answered. "Yes, but it doesn't seem serious. Terriermon is also down for the count. Guilmon has digivolved to Growlmon and is already on his way up."

"You mean he rushed up there without a plan as well? Didn't you all stop and think that maybe you should use, I don't know, teamwork!" Rika winced a bit at the harsh accusation. Their first real enemy and they all rushed in as individuals.

"Forget about it. Anything you can tell me about our opponent?"

"Yeah, its name is Mihiramon, a tiger Digimon. We suspect it's an Ultimate level that focuses on speed and melee attacks with a flail-like tail."

"That name sounds familiar. Any noticeable patterns?"

Rika was mildly confused by this question until she remembered what Henry said earlier. "Yes! Henry noticed that it always opens up with a charge and side-swipe."

"Always you say? I think I already figured something out. Thanks, Rika. Tell Takato to hold out. We'll be there to provide support in a bit," Tai assured her.

"Tai…"

"You sound worried. Trust me. Everything is going to be alright."

Rika smiled to herself. "You know, I can't help but to find myself believing you with you say that. Good luck up there."

"Be careful Pineapple-Head. If this was a movie you'd be confessing your love for me at this point. See you soon." He hung up the phone before she had time to yell a reply at him.

Agumon shook his head as he head back a small chuckle. "Did you figure something out?"

"Yeah, I suspect this Mihiramon is a sector boss from the video game and chances are he's still running off a pre-generator attack pattern. No real experience. All we have to do is interrupt his pattern and it'll be easy."

"And how do we do that?"

"Honestly, I was thinking a simple brute-force tactic will work. We'll be home in time for dinner…" The elevator interrupted his words with a sudden ding. "This isn't the top floor." The elevator door slid open to reveal a long security guard blocking their path with a Taser gun in his hands.

"I guess the control panel thing doesn't work after all," Agumon commented out loud.

"Both of you put your hands in the air!" The guard shouted, pointing the weapon at each of them.

"You heard the man Agumon, hands in the air," Tai said with a smirk as he slowly pulled his hands from his pocket causing a single 500 yen coin to fall out and hit the floor. The distinct metal "clink" echoed in the empty hall.

"Do you think I could pick that up really quick?" Tai asked as he flashed a smile from under his hood. For a brief second, the guard cast his gaze downwards at the fallen coin. It was all Tai needed as his right leg spun forward into a well-practiced roundhouse kick to the guard's head. The kick by itself was painful, but it was the forced behind it that slapped the guard's head into the nearby wall that truly finished the job. As the elevator doors closed to continue their trip up Tai smiled at his luck for his chosen tactic would not have worked if not for the wide halls and large elevator space, made to allow and transport a large number of office employees at one time. Tai quickly picked up the coin before depositing it in his pocket just as the doors closed and their journey up continued.

The elevator came to a stop and finally opened up to a single dark hallway with the only light being cast by the red exit sign at the top of the door directly across from them. Each put on their game faces as they walked up towards the door. As it pushed open, swallowing them in the skyline lights, they were greeted by the horrific yell of pain coming from the large red dinosaur who they could only assume was Growlmon. An armored tiger, who they assumed was Mihiramon, had its large jaws clamped tightly on Growlmon's shoulder as the smaller champion Digimon howled in pain, his form "glitching" in and out as he desperately tried to maintain his form from deleting.

"Agumon, Digivolve Slam."

A simple fact the two had learned over the years was that a Digimon in motion remained in motion, even after it digivolved. Mean that if a tiny Agumon charged at you at, oh say 30mph, and just happened to digivolve into a one-ton Greymon right before impact it would translate into a one-ton Greymon hitting you at 30mph hour. After that, it was merely a matter of physics.

"Agumon digivolves to… Greymon!" The familiar battle cry went out as the huge dinosaur slammed into the side of Mihiramon, sending him flying and away from Growlmon. Mihiramon quickly recovered as it began to slowly circle to the other side of the rooftop as it tried to sum up its latest opponent. Tai and Agumon took this time to regroup.

"What's your analysis, Greymon?"

"Felt like hitting a steel door. With my current power I say it's about 50/50, maybe 40/60, assuming all else is equal."

"Which it isn't. It has the terrain and movement advantage, plus we need to work quickly so we can treat Growlmon if he's not deleted by that time. Guess we have no choice. Increasing data usage to 50%," Tai said as he pulled out his digivice and pressed several buttons. The small readout increasing with very press from 25% to 50%.

"That's borderline dangerous data usage. Are you sure?"

"We don't have a choice. Besides, 50% of your full power is more than enough to crush a mid-boss. We should have some fun while we're at it."

Greymon looked down at his partner, a rather disturbing grin of razor sharp teeth growing on his face. "Tai, sometimes you are too good to me."

Tai replied with his own near sadistic grin. "Go ahead Greymon. Break him."

Agumon took a step forward as traces of long unused digital data began to swirl around him. It soon began to ionize the very air around him causing rings of electricity to circle him. The very ground which he stood on began to crack at the pressure created by the digital energy.

"Greymon digivolve to…"

At this moment, the gathered energy in the atmosphere struck out, ignoring the numerous lighting rods and streaking directing at Agumon. The lightning bolt struck him dead center knocking a huge pillar of smoke and debris into the air, blocking all sight into the digivolution process. A pregnant pause passed with only the screams of Growlmon's pain echoing in the background.

Tai never stopped staring in Mihiramon, the white of the young man's teeth from his unnatural grin being the only thing one could truly make out from under his hood and through the dust cloud that formed. That was until a huge metal claw shot out of the dust into the rooftop floor and dragged back. As the claw cleaved into the roof ripping up wires, steel, and concrete a pair of red eyes shot open inside the fog of dust.

Mihiramon froze like a deer in traffic at the sight of those eyes only for is paralysis to be broken by the ear-piercing roar that broke the everlasting silence. The haze scattered as if it knew it could no longer attempt to hide what was inside it and from out of its self-made crater arouse a Digimon of legend. One that had not graced this world in many years. A conglomeration of flesh and steel.

"METALGREYMON!"

End Chapter 11