Lots of twists and turns still to come. Please review!

Chapter 14

I sat on a rock thumbing through my all my cards. It was a peaceful night, the sky bright, our world was showing so clearly – even data streams seemed so few and far between. The area we had chosen to stay in was an open forest area that hadn't been destroyed by Flaremon before or after he died. I had come to the conclusion that the forest we stepped foot in on our first arrival was only drained of it's energy because of Flaremon's data in the nearby Crimson Ocean. Except, I was still a little unsure why some areas, too, looked like that old forest.

Leaving out a hard and long exasperated sigh, I felt a hand rub my back.

"You loved her, didn't you?" Sora asked, taking a seat next to me.

Of course, I wanted to say, but thought better of it. I had been lost for words since Rika had left and was nearly killed. Nothing had been going the way I had hopped nor planned. It wasn't that I was ignoring anyone but depression had the better of me. What was there to say anyway? They wouldn't understand. I nodded, continuing shuffling through the cards.

Sora observed me closely. I tried my best to pretend not to notice. I didn't feel like talking, especially to her. "Why did you try killing her?"

Only because every time I looked at her I could see Flaremon, I thought. Instead, I shrugged. She sighed.

"Maybe Leomon's right. Maybe there really is another way to save her without killing her." She reckoned. "And now... Now I'm sure Flaremon won't act so careless knowing Rika would get harmed on his behalf."

I gave in trying to ignore her. "No. It's all the more reason to act imprudent," I told her. "It means he won't care who he hurts to get what he wants. He wasn't acting careless before, he was taking chances. Knowing we'd kill Rika to get to him doesn't phase him; he'll just find a new host." Flaremon now knew what it would take for using to bring him down and would stop at nothing to sought the defeat of the last Sovereign and myself. He definitely would let Rika get killed because he knows full well he could find a new host. Absorbing his data after killing him would only bring us back to the start of this entire mess again. I had even considered absorbing his data for myself, but there's still another way. There's another way to save Rika, too.

I stopped half-way through my deck and found the card I was looking for. I looked down and frowned. Sora placed a comforting arm around my waist, and her head on my shoulder. "Don't give up."

"Do I ever?" I asked with more bitterness than I had intended.

"No. Do you have a plan though?"

Why wouldn't I? I stopped myself from saying. Of course I had a plan. I had one from the beginning. I had never intended to bring Rika to Baihumon; it was only something I said to divert Flaremon. I knew from day one what his intentions were and tried my damn hardest to get her not to listen to him. If only she did, we wouldn't be where we are right now. I clenched the card in my fist, crumpling it. "No."

"I see. I'm sure you'll think of one soon, though. You're the best one for that." She got up and headed back to the camp, leaving me sit alone on the rock.

I looked back down at the ruined card, straightened it out, frowning down at the character staring back. "I hope you can help us, Angewomon."

v^v^v

That night I had a nightmare; I was flying on the back of Kyubimon, but only it wasn't Kyubimon. It was like a mutated deformed version of her. Her skin was a sickening green colour and had scratches, opened wounds, and blood soaked into the fur. Her eyes were black, and empty looking with bloodied W's under her eyes.

The air reeked with death and decay and I remembered seeing the faces of those beneath me, looking up and pleading for mercy. It was a combination of Digimon and humans all looking for safety, begging to be saved. Everything was burning; cars, trees, plants, animals, Digimon and even humans. Lifeless and accusing eyes stared up at the Kyubimon and I as we passed over them and I recalled feeling and sharing such pain. I left out a cry before everything around us changed.

I had stepped off the Kyubimon's back before it suddenly vanished. I was at my home – only it wasn't my home but an image of it. The pathway leading up to my door was disorientated and of multiple colours. As I stepped onto it the world behind me disappeared into nothingness; I was left walking on a non-existent floor, shaking with every step. I felt the urge to keep going and I did. Reaching the door, I pushed it open only to be taken into a new dimension.

Breathing became shallow and hard as I swam to the top of the water. My head poked through the surface of the all too familiar Ocean. Gasping for air, I could feel the warmth of the water's touch surround my very body. Something grabbed hold of my foot and I looked down, leaving out a hallow scream. The bodies of all the Tamers lifeless floated around before finally turning into Flaremon's menacing face.

"Your future."

/

"Rika!"

I sat up and blinked. Everyone gathered around, watching intently. I wiped sweat off my face and swallowed. "Bad dream."

Takato nodded, "so it seems."

"What was it about?" Henry asked, placing a gentle arm around my shoulders. I shivered at his touch.

"I can't remember," I lied, still trying to burn the image of the dead out of my head.

"Liar," Flaremon accused, forcing me to speak. "I was showing her, her future."

"I hate you, Flaremon," I snapped. The others had grown accustom to Flaremon and I. I was glad they had accepted me back into their group, but I was sure it moreso had to do with Leomon being present.

We had run into the others not too long after we escaped Baihumon. Jeri was ecstatic to see her long lost partner, as was Leomon. Kazu and Kenta, too, had been reunited with their partners which left Takato and Henry without theirs. I hated knowing that Takato would forever be without Guilmon because of me, unless we could find the digiegg, but he had forgiven me, which, again I was sure had to do with Leomon.

"Knock it off, Flaremon," Henry growled. I could sense the aggravation glowing from Henry. Probably from being woken up.

Flaremon huffed, but kept quiet. I closed my eyes for a moment. "I'll take watch, everyone go back to sleep."

"No." Takato turned to me, "if you can't sleep, I'll stay awake with you."

"Takato," I began, but then just nodded. I knew there wasn't a use in fighting for it.

The others left moments later for their beds, leaving Takato and I alone. I looked over the flickering flames to see his exausted face. They had been travelling for months in search of Ryo, and were hoping it would lead to Terriormon, but instead, they ran into me who was with Leomon. Leomon explained to them what had been going onlately and how unfortunate the events turned out. He had also assured them that if I was to attack them at some point because of shizophrania, he would kill me in an instant.

Takato gave a cough, twisting his face. He had something to say, it was obvious. I waited patiently. Finally, he looked down at his hands, avoiding eye contact, and said, "no one hates you, you know."

I frowned. "I'm sure they do."

"No," he tried to assure me, shaking his head. "They hate Flaremon."

"Obviously."

"We're going to do what we can to help you. I sent Yamaki a brief message on the communicator telling him we've found you. He's been doing his best to figure out what to do." Takato said. He hugged his knees and looked into the sky. "No matter how long it takes, we'll help you. Maybe, when this is all over, we can go to the Digiegg village to see if Guilmon by chance is there. Renamon, too." I nodded. "Leomon came back. After a year, but he's here. Maybe there's a hope."

"Takato," I began. I moved to the other side of the fire and sat beside him. I lowered my voice. "If we can't find a way to elminate Flaremon, just kill me." He rose an eyebrow, but said nothing. "I've accepted it a while ago. Back when Ryo tried killing me. Regardless if you guys hate me or not, if it comes to it, just do it." I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. "I've already thought about killing myself. Not sure how it'll actually turn out considering I have Flaremon in me, who could stop me. At least he's making amens and letting me talk to you without interrupting."

"Jeri would be heart broken," he whispered after several moments of taking in what I had said. "She never gave up hope on you."

"Jeri has you," I said. "I don't have anything."

"You have us."

My eyes swelled, but I forced the tears back. "And you all have each other. How could I live with myself if I ever hurt any of you."

Takato frowned and didn't answer. "What did you see in your dream?"

I picked up a twig and started flidding with it. "I-I saw the future with Flaremon." He nodded for me to continue. "I saw how he killed everyone and forced me to watch." I tossed the twig in the fire. "I can't do it, Takato. What if I can't control him and the dream comes to life?"

"I'm sure Ryo will figure out a way-"

"-Ryo tried killing me, back with Baihumon. He won't find a way, he'll just kill me." At this point, I couldn't control my emotions any longer. Tears slid down my face and I began sobbing. Takato grabbed hold of me and pulled me into his arms, patting my back. I rested my face between his neck and shoulder, letting the tears spill onto his shirt. In a matter of minutes, the spot was soaked. He never let go nor gave any words of comfort as I sobbed myself to sleep.

v^v^v

"So what do you plan on doing?" Matt asked as I folded out my map. I put together a simplistic one back a few years ago, but with the ever changing internet, it could only go so far. The map shows of the major towns and cities as well as few points of interest. I scratched it in with a digipen I bought at shop. If taken to the real world, the map's images would fade away.

"I plan on finding Angewomon." I said, not looking at him. I traced my finger along the lines of the city where Rika fled with Leomon and the direction they headed in before hitting a data stream.

"And what will that accomplish?" Tai inquired. "I mean, didn't you guys have a Gatomon on your team? Are we finding that one?"

I shook my head, "you were the ones to have a Gatomon, but it's not the one I'm looking for. I'm looking for the Keeper of Time Angewomon."

"The Keeper of Time? I've never heard of such a thing," Agumon put forth. "Are you going to go back in time or something?"

Again, I shook my head. "This Angewomon is the reason the world is as it is. When parts are destoryed, she brings them back. Remember how the world was Myotismon nearly destoryed Tokyo?" I waited for them all to nod. "Angewomon brought everything back together."

"But didn't you say that everything was covered up by the United Nations to look like a UFO attack?" Gabumon asked, scratching his furry head. "I'm totally confused."

I rolled up the map and put it away in my bag. "I did." I took a few steps so everyone was behind me. "Nothing is as simple as it seems. How do you think Tokyo was able to rebuild so quickly?" They all looked at each other confused.

"The UN worked together?" Sora suggested.

"Wrong. Their part in all of this was to cover up each and every attack against Tokyo. The United Nations knows about the Digital World and try to shut it down because they seen what mess they created. They devised the D-Reaper that attacked Tokyo last year." I calmly explained. No use in hiding the truth anymore. "What happened was seven years ago, when I had first come to the Digital World, it was in peace. The United Nations created it with the help of the American and Japanese governments. This world was designed as another world to live in case another war broke out.

"I was called here with the request of Milleniumon, not the government. We fought off the control of the government of which they had on the world. Milleniumon turned on me and left as my partner. He wanted full control of the entire Digital plane. I turned to Flaremon, who was the Keeper of Worlds. Flaremon was created with the government to protect both worlds from being harmed by virus, or evil Digimon. Flaremon became my partner and we, together, took down Milleniumon. I became the King of the Digital World." I paused to let them grasp what I had been saying. It was a lot of information, but not all of it.

Matt pulled back his hair and wiped the sweat from his face. "So you lied to Rika?"

I nodded. "I didn't exactly lie, but told her what Flaremon wanted her to hear. I'll tell you guys the entire story." I sat down and the others followed suit. Cyberdramon stood behind me, which was nice, considering his shadow made a cool breeze. The Digital World was hot today, compared to other days. I took a gulp of water from my water bottle and contiued.

"Flaremon didn't find it fair that a human was to be sole ruler of the Digital World, he wanted it for himself. He blamed his creators for his life and thus started hating the humans. Five years ago, we parted as partners. He had then gathered Digimon as his allies, who, too, shared the grudge against humans. Of course, most of these Digimon were viruses.

"He had teamed up with Myotismon. They devised the plan to bring more humans into the Digital World as a way to open the barrier between both worlds. Flaremon became a tyrant of the lands, pushing me away from the throne, so to speak. Cyberdramon was a creation of myself I had put together. He was as powerful as I could make. Unfortunately, us two couldn't handle an army of viruses. They knew that if their army was to grow in numbers, I would have no choice but to bring in some help.

"I had summoned you all here to the Digital World on random. I created the Digital Crests as you all wear as a way to form an alliance with Digimon. The Crests each had a power to them. Hope, it was used for my purpose of gaining more control over Digimon. Friendship was used for the bonds between humans and Digimon. Courage; we all need the confidence to fight. Crest of Love; it was used as an unbreakable vow between two beings, be it Digital or not. Purity; was a way to contain and control allied Digimon from becoming viruses. Reliability; I relied on you and your partners to help me with this treason. Kindness I created because of Ken and solely for Ken. And finally, the Crest of Light. The Light was which to break through the boundries of both worlds. Are you guys following me so far?"

Tai nodded. I took another long drink of water. "I think so. So we were summoned here four years ago to help you regain control and power over the Digital World?"

"Sort of. I mean, I used you guys to be able fight Flaremon and Myotismon and stop them from getting into the real world. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and they managed to break through." I replied. "Myotismon destroyed most of Tokyo, the government had a field day trying to cover it up. How could they explain they created an alternate dimension; another world within ours and try to not have people hack it in some way?"

"So that's where Angewomon came along?" Sora said, catching on.

"Right. My 'lover,'" I said with much emphasis on the air quotes. "Was killed by Flaremon in the middle of the mess. When you Digidestined were fighting back Myotismon, I was busy with Flaremon. I never really had a lover, but had gained a lot of trust within Angewomon, who at the time, I called Sakura."

Sora twisted her face, "now I'm confused again. If Flaremon killed her, why are we looking for her?"

I knew they would ask that. I twisted my empty water bottle and tossed it aside. "He never really killed her. She's the Keeper of Time. Her sole purpose was and will be to control the mess within both worlds. The UN couldn't possibly rebuild Tokyo in such a short amount of time. Angewomon slowly turned back time into which the buildings were never touched."

"How could the people not know something other than a UFO attack was up?" Tai furred his brow in concentration.

"When Angewomon turned back time, people lost their memories of the attacks ever happening. For those who had miraciously had the same dream of others, a UFO was devised as a distraction. It was only what they could think of back then." I explained. "Unfortunately, when you Digidestined had stopped Myotismon, Flaremon was already strategising a new plan. He used Ken Ichijouji. He promised Ken to be Emporer in exchange for doing his dirty work."

"Right, so that's when you called upon new people to help with that. Why not use us again?" Agumon asked. Everyone nodded in agreement.

I smiled, "that's because Flaremon already knew of your tactics. Knew of your weaknesses. I couldn't throw you guys into a fight at the disadvantage of Flaremon knowing your powers. I needed new people. I spied on Kari and TK for a long time and went with their friends. It was simple, too because it turned out they knew Ken. Plus, they had Cody who was great with computers like Izzy. It's no coincidence every one of you all have striking similarities. I needed brains, brauns, and looks." I winked at Sora. She laughed.

"So that pretty much explains it all. The D-Reaper was formed because of the government to erase the Digital World. Simply because of all the chaos it created. Unfortunately, Flaremon wasn't dead, but he was weak. He was running out of allies. No one trusted him. It wasn't until he found out about the D-Reaper that he tried to destory all humans too. His plan was to bring the D-Reaper to the real world. He succeeded, but the Tamers were a little better." I said. I stood up.

"So, the Soverigns that came out of no where stopped him?" Gabumon asked.

I shook my head. "I created the Soverigns. As a way to bring peace back to the Digital World. Digimon need gods too. Unfortunately, after the D-Reaper was destoryed, Flaremon began killing them. They had used almost all of their powers to help the Tamers take it down. Baihumon manged to kill Flaremon. Unfortunately, with Flaremon's power and will, his data remained in the Ocean of Peace, where I had first brought you all."

"I think I understand everything now." Matt said. "But why did you lie to Rika?"

I shrugged. "I thought it was obvious. If Flaremon knew of my plan, he would have killed her himself."

The others got up, too. Matt stretched, "why did you try killing her?"

I was beginning to get annoyed. "To bring out Flaremon. I wanted him to control her and kill him. I was risking killing her though. It was a mistake." I turned away from them and began walking. "My plan is to get Angewomon to use her one secret weapon to help us. I can't get her to turn back the time for this, but I have another plan."

I just hope it works, I thought bitterly.

A/N: I know it took forever to update, but hopefully this chapter draws out some excitement. I thought it would be kind of cool to throw in what's happening on Ryo's end too.