Ben10 & Digimon Tamers

Heroes and Humanity

Part 02: Humanity and Heroes

Another Myself – Chapter 97 Part 3

Originally Written: Monday, October 16, 2017 341PM to October 17th, 2017 358PM

. . . . .

A/N:Trigger warning. -points to genres-

"Hey dad?" A young child with blue eyes and reddish brown hair flopped backwards on an expensive black leather couch. His feet hung over the couch's arm.

"Yes son?" An older man's voice called from further away.

"Do you ever get tired of doing the same old things?"

"Are you bored again?"

The young child groaned loudly. "It's so boring here. There's nothing to do!" He whined.

"You should enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts. When you're older, you'll be wishing you actually had the free time to complain about being bored."

They sighed loudly, rolling over on the couch. "You're always saying things like that. Doesn't stop me from being bored now."

"How about you come help me wash these dishes before your mother gets home."

They made a loud sound of disgust.

The older man laughed heartily. "Have you watched that show this week? Digging-something? Didn't a new episode air recently?"

"Digimon, dad. It's Digimon. And I'm all caught up on the episodes." The child rolled off the couch and walked to the kitchen. The elder man stood at the sink, dutifully sticking his hands in water and soap suds to wash the day's dirty dishes. The child took a seat at the large counter centered in the middle of the room. "Wish I could be like them." He sighed, and propped his head up on his hands against the table.

"Oh?" The man, with short dark brown hair turned around for just a moment.

"They're running around saving two worlds! It's awesome!"

"Think you could do it, eh?"

"I'd be the best. I'd help lots of people. I'd be a Grade A Hero!" The boy held up a fist and smiled a wide bright smile.

"Like that Goku character?"

The boy laughed, "No way! Goku just likes fighting people. It just so happens that while he's fighting, people are getting saved. I'm gonna be a legit hero! Saving people because they need saving and 'cause I want to!" He sighed and slunk in the tall stool he sat in. "If only this place wasn't so boring."

The man only laughed and shook his head. "I'm sure you'll get your chance one day."

"You think?" The boy's eyes shined at him. He kicked his feet back and forth excitedly.

"Of course." The man returned his smile. "Now come and help me with these dishes."

Ryo slowly took steps back from the first floor window of the large two story house. Further behind him, Cyberdramon growled softly.

"Ryo?" Rika looked back at him.

Albedo continued looking, watching the boy and father wash dishes and chat.

Jenrya rested his hands against the window sill, watching in confusion. "He looks different but familiar?"

"That is not a good hairstyle on Ryo. Where's the hair gel?" Terriermon quipped.

The child's hair laid mostly flat against his head with only a few spikes of stubborn hair that refused to stay down sticking up.

Jenrya shook his head, "Where have I seen him before?"

Albedo idly smoothed down the hair on his own head.

"Guys. Away from the window." Ryo ordered in a soft stern voice.

Albedo and Jenrya looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Rika walked towards him.

"That's not me." Ryo looked at them with wide, concerned eyes. He waved his hands at them as though using the gesture to assist his thinking. "It is Ryo, but it's not me. That's a different Ryo than the one we've been seeing."

"Explains the differences." Jenrya folded his arms, thinking.

"That's not the issue." Ryo spoke quickly, "Sometimes, I can see beings who are traveling outside the timeline, whether or not they're hiding themselves."

Albedo's eyes widened, "Does that mean he can see us?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to risk it. I'm not fine with changing any timelines even by accident. So, move." He gave them a partial smile. "Please."

The group ducked and moved away from the medium sized window. They walked around to another side of the large house. Their feet crunched down and flattened uniformly green blades of grass on an equally large yard. They gathered around a tree with a nice sized treehouse built in it.

"I don't remember you living in such a large place." Rika scratched her head. "I can take dimension traveling, but this time traveling thing is driving me nuts."

"I agree." Renamon leaned up against the tree with her arms folded.

Ryo shook his head, and tapped his legs with his fingers as he thought. "Dad and mom used to live in a large house, but they moved."

"Which ones?" Albedo asked. He ignored the scolding glare Jenrya gave him.

Ryo looked at him confused for a few moments. "Oh. The uh, one we're used to." He looked away for a moment. "I don't even know if it matters." He sighed harshly.

"I feel nothing with that Ryo." Cyberdramon growled out.

"That's what was weird!" Terriermon called out.

"Yes, I understand now." Renamon agreed, "He does not feel right."

Ryo looked away once more, "Damn. Is it because he hasn't been to the digital world yet, or because he never will?"

Albedo watched Ryo frown and start to pace. "Does this have to do with Ryo essentially being the human version of Calumon at one point?"

The digimon looked at him confused for a few moments, until Ryo replied with "Yea. That.," in a frustrated voice.

"Oh, Ryo could make us digivolve." Terriermon explained. "Theoretically. I think." He blinked innocently from his place hanging off Jenrya's neck and shoulder.

Jenrya looked at him wide eyed. "Since when?"

"Since around the time Calumon gave up his power." Renamon explained. "I've since felt a connection with him, weaker, yet similar to the bond I share with you, Rika."

Rika looked at Ryo, eyes shifting. Silently she puffed out her cheeks in a huff.

"You too, Terriermon?" Jenrya asked.

"Yup. Guilmon brought it up to us. He asked why Ryo felt like Takato a bit." Terriermon flopped one of his ears. "It took forever to get used to."

"Wait," Rika held up a hand, "That odd bit of time Guilmon kept following Ryo and annoyed the crap out of Takato? That was 'cause of," She waved her hands in Ryo's general direction.

Terriermon laughed a small amused laugh. "Yup. Remember when he bumped into the wall trying to follow Ryo and Takato at the same time?" He snickered. "Comedy gold."

"Hmph." Cyberdramon snorted.

"Huh..." She dropped her arms and looked at Ryo. He had turned away from the house, and watched the cars passing by. He put his hands in his pockets. She walked over to him.

Albedo looked away from her, turning back towards the house. He pulled at his shirt sleeves. He could not explain it, but something felt different from the other times Eon trapped him and the others from watching Ryo, and it was more than just this Ryo being different from the one he was just watching. "We should not be here."

"Technically we shouldn't have been here since Eon drop kicked us through time and space the first time."

Albedo frowned at Terriermon.

"What? It's true."

'Unknown energy detected. Analyzing.' Juggernaut notified Albedo.

Albedo and Jenrya looked at each other. 'Where?'

'Unable to determine location.'

Albedo frowned and rubbed at his temples.

Cyberdramon growled a deep low growl that Albedo felt within his own chest. He startled and took a few steps back. "Eon." He grinned, baring his teeth. "I'll tear him to shreds this time."

"Where?" Albedo looked around.

"My form is wrong."

Albedo looked at the ultimate digimon. His eyes glowed underneath that silver armor of his. He got the feeling that he didn't want to know exactly what the Digimon meant.

"Cool it, Spartan." Ryo snapped softly at the digimon. "Rushing in for the kill hasn't worked the last four times you tried." He folded his arms. "I can feel him slightly, but can't pinpoint it. How about anyone else?"

"It's the same for me." Albedo pulled at his shirt sleeves. "It feels like he could very well be everywhere and nowhere at the same time." He shook his head. "He didn't feel like this before."

Jenrya shivered next to him.

Ryo looked around, "New plan then. We go find him."

"Good." Rika clenched her fists, "I'm sick of him sneaking up on us."

"Yea!" Terriermon agreed.

Albedo looked at Ryo, then Rika and Jenrya who were too focused on Ryo to pay him any mind. He closed his eyes and pointed in a random direction. Such an act worked when he first worked alongside his mentor. Usually. He opened his eyes. Looks like they were headed east away from the house. He looked back at them.

"I guess that works." Jenrya smiled a wry smile.

The small group took off in a slow steady walk down the sidewalk. Jenrya held Terriermon, pretending he was a toy. Renamon disappeared to the shadows. Cyberdramon walked next to Ryo, both tamer and digimon oddly confident that the large digimon wouldn't be seen. Albedo figured it was due to Ryo having experience with Cyberdramon walking down the street next to him over the years.

Albedo stayed close to Jenrya for the few hours they walked around the area. He watched Rika repeatedly reach for Ryo's hand, unsure if the act was comfort for herself or her boyfriend. He watched Ryo ignore it, and he watched her silently fume and puff out her cheeks, narrow her eyes and clench her shaking fists. It reminded him of the few times he met Tennyson before he was trapped in his likeness. Tennyson never paid much attention to him either. Then again, he wasn't ever romantically inclined with Tennyson, thank his stars.

Ryo focused more on Cyberdramon, as though waiting for the digimon to do something that would easily land anyone else in jail for a minimum of five to ten years. He also focused on his surroundings.

Albedo froze, no longer walking. He just watched it, and it only just hit him. Jenrya looked at him, eyes full of concern. Ryo dealt with such a threat, every waking and asleep moment that Cyberdramon was on earth, in any form. He dealt with this in the Digital World, both asleep and awake. He felt cold, and numb. How did Ryo do it? Why did the world, the universe, make him deal with this all the time? After all Ryo did for it? He glared at the sidewalk and frowned.

"Look alive." Ryo commented, "I know we're tired, but this isn't the time to let our guard down."

Albedo looked up. Ryo's eyes still shined like Jenrya's when he was having a good day. Did they look like that before? How did he do that? He shook his head, and nodded. "I'm alright." He nodded to Jenrya who smiled a small smile at him. "I apologize."

Rika shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Gogglehead." Then she smiled alongside Jenrya, though her smile seemed more strained, more forced.

They found no sign of Eon. Even as time passed and moved them into the next afternoon. They found shelter easily enough, with Ryo's experience. None of them dared to question why they didn't feel hungry. Cyberdramon stood watch as they slept in a nearby park. Ryo felt confident enough that the other Ryo was the only one who could see them in the area. Albedo wasn't sure what would happen if they ran into any version of the others, but he figured the chance was slim enough that there were more important things to worry about. Ryo lived a good deal away from the others.

So it came as a surprise when they agreed to check on the other Ryo again, and found him talking to a man with graying brown hair, and dull purple eyes.

"What the-" Jenrya blinked from his position hiding behind a tree.

The younger Ryo had taken a walk around the area after school, too bored to immediately go home and finish his assigned homework. The man followed him until Ryo got annoyed. They didn't know how Ryo knew the guy was there, seeing as they just noticed him now, but Terriermon figured that it was Ryo being Ryo.

Albedo had to agree. "That is Eon." He frowned. A heavy knot settled into his stomach.

"He looks so...different." Rika murmured, "Still creepy though."

"Eon is Tennyson. Just older. The same situation as Ben 10,000. Before he truly delved into solely these mad attempts, he did resemble a human. At least that's what I read in the reports." Albedo explained, his hands pressed up against a tree nearby Jenrya. "I suppose it would be odd to view such an evil as human."

The other Ryo backed away from Eon, an act Albedo thought took him a bit too long to realize to do. Cyberdramon growled.

"Nooooo." Ryo glared at him. He sighed and shrugged as Cyberdramon charged forward, somehow misinterpreting his "no" as "yes".

The other Ryo looked at the large Digimon. His eyes immediately shined. "A digimon..." He murmured. "You're so tall..." He took a few steps back. He blinked in confusion, "How come no one else sees you?"

No civilians in the area gave any attention to the tall digimon who towered easily over even the adults in the area.

"We're a bit outside the timeline." This younger Eon waved a hand as he casually explained, not caring or expecting the boy to understand what he meant. He walked around, closer to this Ryo and Cyberdramon. "Interesting." Eon's eyes searched behind Cyberdramon. He ignored the digimon snarling at him. "There you are." He titled his head, hair falling to the side.

Older Ryo clenched his digivice as he stood behind Cyberdramon. He closed his eyes. "Get away from him." He looked at younger Ryo.

Albedo stood next to him, as well as Rika and Jenrya. Terriermon climbed up onto Jenrya's head as Renamon appeared in front of Rika.

Young Ryo stood frozen, processing the information. Then he took a few steps forward in a run, moving towards his older self. Only for younger Eon to tightly wrap his arm around the boy's waist and yank him up off the ground. His eyes widened and he kicked and struggled, pushing at the man's arms.

"I see you've come to stop me." Eon chuckled confidently.

Albedo feared asking what he meant.

"But, I'm much more determined than you-" He glared as young Ryo kicked his leg once more. "Stop that!"

Cyberdramon growled, and raised his claws.

"No!" Ryo shouted, "You'll hit him!"

Albedo swore he saw no recognition in those eyes as Cyberdramon calmly looked back at Ryo. He did, however, see the digimon judging, thinking. He wondered if this was the look he donned right before he killed and ate those humans. Said digimon turned right back around and fired off a Desolation Claw at both Eon and the other, younger Ryo.

Eon shouted in mocking disbelief as he jumped out of the way of the large blue beam. Younger Ryo screamed as the attack singed off a portion of his hair.

"Oh no! You can't steal my kill!" Eon's shouts degraded into deranged laughs.

"Didn't we talk to you about this already!?" Terriermon shouted at the taller digimon. "Where does your memory go when fighting someone you really hate!?"

Renamon huffed, as though she was about to say something she repeated many times previously. "You cannot attack someone if they're holding a hostage. Especially a human hostage. Humans look down on such an act."

As he looked at the digimon in disbelief, Albedo figured that yes, Renamon had given him that bit of advice many times.

Rika shook her head. Jenrya held Terriermon tightly. Ryo clenched his fists tightly. Albedo saw him shake ever so slightly, and wondered how many times Ryo thought Cyberdramon would do the same to him. He understood why the Plumbers revered Justimon, even as some feared him.

"What do you mean, 'your kill.'?" Ryo calmly spoke, circling around Cyberdramon.

"This one's a bit useless." Eon shrugged his shoulders. "Every once in a while the universe shits out one of you that's really nothing special. Nothing important. Won't be missed."

"One of me?" Ryo narrowed his eyes.

"One, of you." He grinned at him. "Except that makes him an issue, because these boring you's can go either way, and one of those ways is really really annoying. So, I kill 'em to solve the issue before it starts."

"Either way?" Rika snapped, "The hell does that mean?"

"Spoilers." Eon pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh."

"You are not killing Ryo! Any Ryo!" She shouted. Renamon looked back at her and nodded, eyes fierce.

Eon only laughed as Rika biomerged into Sakuyamon. Terriermon dropped to the ground, letting Jenrya pulled out his weapons.

"I dream of finding a really young you, that's nothing special. Mind control would work so terribly on them! A terribly excellent soldier for my army!"

Young Ryo struggled in his arms. "Let me go, you nutjob!" He kicked and squirmed in the mad time traveler's grasp.

Albedo closed his eyes, thinking. This entire thing sounded so wrong. It felt so extremely off he wasn't sure what to make of it. He could almost akin the feeling to his mentor giving Tennyson the Omnitrix. Somehow, it managed to feel...

"Just when I think he couldn't be any more insane." Jenrya muttered.

"This isn't insanity." Albedo opened his eyes. "This is evil."

Eon held his energy blade to young Ryo's throat. "You have a good kick for a no-one-special."

Young Ryo's eyes focused on the blade. He stopped struggling, preferring to lean his head away from the weapon.

"But I'm sick of you kicking me."

Sakuyamon silently and quickly disappeared. She appeared behind Eon and kicked him in the back. Eon stumbled forward, his grasp on young Ryo loosening. Eon's free arm, holding the weapon, fell lax. Young Ryo fell from his arm, and landed on the ground. He circled around Eon, and hid behind Sakuyamon.

"I'll kick you instead." Sakuyamon flipped her hair.

Eon turned around, a glare in his cold violet eyes as he tried to work out the kinks in his arm.

"Desolation Claw!" Cyberdramon fired another shot of his beam attack.

Sakuyamon quickly pulled young Ryo into a hug and leaped out of the way.

Eon went flying forward, tumbling head over foot.

Chills filled Albedo's person. The man only laughed loudly. He fully expected him to scream. Albedo rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Ryo?" Terriermon asked.

Albedo looked at the Tamer. He had seemingly seized up, or froze in place.

Eon recovered from Cyberdramon's attack, an attack that should have killed him, if he were a weaker being. He focused his attention on chasing after Sakuyamon and Ryo, even after Cyberdramon fired more Desolation Claws at him. The attacks crashed into buildings, cars, and just barely missed people, somehow. All in all, Cyberdramon was easily causing more damage than Eon had.

Ryo's eyes closed, and he blinked a few times.

"No." Albedo turned around and looked at the mess of a fight. He looked back at Ryo. He watched the lines appear on his person, through his person. Ryo fell to a heap on the floor, convulsing and holding back painful screams behind clenched teeth.

"What's happening?!" Jenrya looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh! He was right! I was right!" Eon cackled as Sakuyamon continued dodging him. Occasionally Cyberdramon's attacks strayed more in Sakuyamon's direction than Eon's.

"Sakuyamon!" Albedo ran forward, trying to judge how best to get her attention without getting hit by either Eon or Cyberdramon. "Stop it!" He waved his hands.

Cyberdramon growled, and launched a purposeful attack at Sakuyamon. "Stop trying to kill my tamer, you bitch!" He snarled at her.

Sakuyamon dodged his attack and Eon's blade. "It's him! You know it's Eon!"

"No, it's both of you!" Albedo yelled, "Look!" He pointed to Ryo. "He wants us to save that Ryo!"

She performed a backflip, and landed on a parked car. She looked at Ryo. Her Ryo curled up in a ball, flickering in and out of her vision. Jenrya knelt next to Ryo, his eyes wide and brimming with tears.

"I had a bit of an epiphany a few days ago." Eon looked away, thinking. "Was it a few days ago?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Oh who cares?" He pointed to young Ryo, hanging in Sakuyamon's arms. "His timeline is connected with," he pointed to the older Ryo on the ground, "that one's. Isn't it exciting!?" He spread his hands out wide. "Now you know!"

"Know what?!" Terriermon yelled at him, his ears and arms spread wide to his sides.

"What happened to bring our Ryo to this earth?" Albedo closed his eyes. "You kill him." He clenched his fists. "Our Ryo needed someplace to go after determining to save his Earth and Digital World he needed to leave his home. That's what Paradox meant: 'The Universe will fix itself to keep itself properly aligned.' It will fix the inconsistencies."

"W-What?" Jenrya shook his head. "How is k-killing a child making sure all is well in the balance of things!?"

"This world is missing its Ryo, because he's dead." He looked at Jenrya with dull eyes. "But we've already seen that this world greatly benefits from a Ryo being here. A Ryo that is a Tamer. A Ryo that is a Digidestined." He felt many eyes on him, and tried to ignore them.

Eon laughed, spurring Sakuyamon to growl an unbecoming sound.

"Are you saying we should let him die!?" She shouted at Albedo. "Do you hear yourself!?"

"We know what happens when Ryo is at his old home." He looked at Cyberdramon.

The digimon stopped paying attention to Eon and Sakuyamon. He chose to focus on his tamer instead, waiting for him to stand up. He paid Albedo no mind.

Albedo understood way more than he wanted to. Why Ryo secretly hated all that the worlds put him through. He pulled at his hair, hating that he had even set off this set of events in the first place. "You..." He glared at Eon, holding back tears.

Eon only grinned in response.

"No." Sakuyamon spat, though her voice seemed to be more Rika than Renamon at this point. "I won't accept that!"

"What happens if older me stays in his home?" Younger Ryo asked softly.

"He usually causes Armageddon." Eon responded with an eager smile. "Sometimes it even impresses me. Did I say 'he'? I meant they." He pointed to Cyberdramon and then older Ryo. Younger Ryo didn't understand, but those who had come to help him did easily. "Sometimes it works out well, sometimes it doesn't." He shrugs his shoulders.

Sakuyamon held young Ryo even tighter.

"Stop it." Younger Ryo whined. "He's trying to kill me, not you. So, I have two choices: let him do it, or try and fight him off."

"You'll fail."

"Shut up!" Sakuyamon yelled.

"You're so eager to kill your little boy toy, Sakuyamon." Eon wagged a finger. "I didn't know you were that kind of violent type."

Her grip on young Ryo went slack.

"You save little nothing special, you remove your boy toy from the timeline, and save him, letting him create a potential Armageddon. Or you can go the more boring route." He shrugged his shoulders. "Either way is a victory for me."

"This is nuts. This is nuts. This is nuts." Jenrya repeated over and over again, covering his ears with his hands. "What kind of choice is this?"

"Why is this Eon so interested in my tamer?" Cyberdramon asked in his growling voice.

"It's a time loop of sorts, I think." Albedo murmured.

"It is unsatisfying."

Albedo agreed, but he was pretty certain that the reason why greatly differed from what Cyberdramon was thinking.

Young Ryo wiggled from Sakuyamon's grasp. Sakuyamon stood unseeing, stiff as a statue. "You're wrong." He put his hands in his pockets, and tilted his head slightly to the side, the same way Ryo did. And Albedo suddenly understood what that action meant when Ryo did it.

"You kill me, and Older Ryo and I save three worlds. Two earth's, one Digital world." No one saw fit to correct him. The wide smile he gave Eon seemed too mesmerizing to interrupt his moment. "They're older, and they still know who you are, and they recognize who you are, and saw Older Ryo's home, which means that they're still giving you a hard time in the future."

Eon disappeared and appeared in front of him, swinging his blade. The force launched the small child up into the air. Albedo watched young Ryo gripped his teeth, and a loud muffled scream ripped forth from him.

"It's no fun when you want to die!" Eon shouted.

Jenrya screamed, wanting to, but unable to look away. Albedo took small steps backward.

Sakuyamon's form disintegrated, returning back to Rika and Renamon. Renamon held her tamer's arms tightly.

"There's got to be another way!" She looked back at her digimon with wide eyes. She continued shouting, fighting her partner. Renamon shook her head, a frown on her face. She pulled her tamer close to her, shielding her from the sight.

"Scream! Shout! Hate me! Spout some hero nonsense!" Eon screamed in his deranged voice, continuously stabbing the child's chest.

"Does 'You're going to lose' work?" He whispered. He looked up at Eon's young yet still monstrous face with his blue eyes. Slowly the light in them began to die.

Eon screamed a savage roar.

Albedo turned his head. His legs shook too much for him to stand. Too many times Tennyson had done that to him in his dreams with the assistance of the Omnitrix. He fell to his knees. He heard Jenrya crying behind him, and Terriermon muttering incomprehensible words. Young Ryo's blood splattered against the pavement, Eon's clothes, and Renamon's fur. Cyberdramon breathed normally in front of them. Utterly calm. Albedo wanted to shout out the digimon.

'Do something. Anything. Anything to mark that you gave something of a damn about this alternative of your tamer.' His throat felt dry, and he couldn't bring himself to speak. It wouldn't do anything. Young Ryo wasn't his tamer. He cared for no one but his Ryo. Albedo wondered if it was even less than that.

"That little shit." Eon spat. "That little fucking shit."

Albedo shivered. Against his own judgment he looked at the monster before him.

"Lose? Me?" Eon clenched his fists, breathing heavily. He flung his blade out to the side, flicking the extra blood off of it. The rest vaporized from the heat of the weapon. He sharply turned, a wild grin on his face.

Albedo caught where he looked. He tried to scramble to his feet, but he only wound up stumbling. "Run!" He shouted.

Eon swung his blade again.

Cyberdramon roared.

Albedo looked wide at the digimon.

Hideyoshi Akiyama stood behind Cyberdramon, eyes wide in fear. Thick tears ran down my face. "My son..." He murmured, his voice increasing in volume. "What have you done to my son!?"

Cyberdramon jerked forward, with every swing of Eon's blade. Cyberdramon faced Hideyoshi, his back turned to Eon. The digimon roared with every swing. Rika screamed.

Jenrya questioned "Why?," voice barely above a whisper. "Wouldn't he-?"

"His Ryo lives 'cause of him." Terriermon replied. "Ryo lives 'cause of him."

Suddenly Cyberdramon turned around, and grabbed Eon's left wrist. The device on his arm crunched underneath the sudden strength. Cyberdramon glowed a bright, yet dark energy.

"Get. Him." A voice muttered.

Cyberdramon growled, raised Eon up high enough so his feet no longer touched the ground, and even higher than that. He swung his arm in a downward motion. Eon's eyes widened on Cyberdramon's downswing. The purple clad time traveler smashed into the pavement. The pavement sunk in at the force of the swing.

Albedo turned around. Ryo knelt on the ground, holding his D-Arc and a Digimon Card Game card. He breathed in heavily. He tipped forward, and caught himself on his hands. He forced himself back up to a kneeling position and pulled out his deck, in a card holder on his waist. Alongside the sound of Eon impacting the ground, and Eon's cackling screams, Ryo searched through his deck, and pulled out another card. Wordlessly he slashed it.

Cyberdramon roared, and Albedo turned around just in time to see the digimon fling Eon forward.

Renamon circled around her tamer, "Diamond storm!"

"Bunny Blast!" Terriermon shouted.

He saw energy shots from Jenrya's weapons rain on the form.

That's right. They could freely attack him now. He clenched his fists and the bluish pink aura surrounded his hands. He swung his arm with intense force. He felt himself fly off his feet, and back a few inches, as the long, wide energy beam shot forward towards Eon.

An aura of purple energy surrounded this Eon. It blinded Albedo, making him look away.

Albedo somehow managed to land on his feet. "Damn." He muttered.

'Energy detected. Eon.' Juggernaut informed him. '60 percent energy remaining.'

He looked around.

Cyberdramon had turned away from Eon, and held a large golden shield that reminded Albedo of Wargreymon. He protected Hideyoshi with the shield. Hideyoshi still looked past Cyberdramon, frozen, his eyes widened.

"It's time to go, but I'm sure I'll see you again. Then, you're mine!" Eon cackled, disappearing into a bright violet portal.

'Energy disturbance disappeared.'

Albedo lowered his head. He sighed softly. He rubbed his eyes.

Hideyoshi ran past Cyberdramon. He knelt in the blood, and held young Ryo in his arms. The boy didn't move. Hideyoshi shook his head, sobbing against the child's frame. He looked back at Cyberdramon glaring at the taller digimon.

"Why didn't you save my son!?" He shouted. "You're clearly strong enough! I wasn't concerned with me!"

Cyberdramon looked at him with dull, bored eyes. "That Ryo..." He growled out softly, "Was not my tamer."

Hideyoshi looked at him with wide eyes, unbelieving of what he had just said. "Then why me!?"

"You are of use to my tamer."

"Is he always like this?" Albedo looked around at the others, hoping one of them had an answer.

It was their Ryo who eventually spoke, pushing himself to stand on shaky legs. "He's...slightly worse than usual."

Jenrya quickly moved to stand and support Ryo. "This, is slightly worse than usual?" He still had tears in his eyes and tear tracks running down his face. "How are you okay with this?"

Ryo gave Jenrya a look that made him cold.

Jenrya bowed his head. "I-"

"Can you get me to my dad, please?" He asked softly. "I'll be fine to walk in a bit, but..."

Jenrya nodded. Slowly they walked past Albedo, too stunned to do anything other than look at Hideyoshi holding his son, his real, true son. Somehow, he felt uncomfortable watching the sight, and a part of him felt it was not just because a man was holding his deceased child.

They passed a surprised and sad Rika, who sobbed heavily in her hands, inconsolable. Somehow she remained standing as though she felt this was the only way she could defy Eon.

Hideyoshi looked up at Ryo. His eyes widened. "You..." He cried harder.

"He's going to come back." Ryo eventually spoke.

"Because of you." Hideyoshi glared at him. A glare so full of hatred it only served to remind him of the many times Azmuth stood angry and frustrated and disappointed in Albedo.

Albedo took a step back at the same time Jenrya stumbled. He shook his head as Ryo nodded. Not because of Ryo, but because of him. Ryo was just a victim in this, as much as young Ryo, and Hideyoshi.

The man moved to stand on shaky legs, still holding his son. "You..." He spat.

"Hypnos." Ryo spoke.

Albedo wondered how Ryo managed to stay on topic, and remain focused on the main goal. He expected such from a Galvan, not a human. Humans seemed incapable of doing such at times of tragedy, yet here Ryo did, moving on as though an alternate version of him, a fellow human, didn't just die. It made him angry. It made him sad, and frustrated and disappointed. It was necessary, but a human acting this way looked so wrong.

"What?" Hideyoshi looked at him confused.

"When you..." Ryo switched his stance, shifting to stand up straight against Jenrya's frame. "When you remember this, go to Hypnos."

He shook his head.

"When you understand." Ryo's head dropped for a moment. "You'll be safe there."

"Hypnos?"

"Hypnos. Hate me and Cyberdramon for the rest of your life. I won't blame you, or get angry."

Jenrya looked at him wide eyed. He shook his head at his fellow tamer.

"But promise me that when you remember, you'll go to Hypnos."

"Why?" Hideyoshi shifted. "Why should I trust you?"

Ryo made eye contact with the older man as he spoke, "Don't trust me. Trust Hypnos."

Albedo watched Hideyoshi nod ever so slightly.

"Good."

He ran forward as Ryo fell where he stood, unconscious. Jenrya called him a terrible liar as the two of them tried to keep Ryo from falling into the pool of blood. Now he knew. He really understood. He wished so badly that he didn't.