"Calumon isn't bothering you too much, is he?" I asked.

Rika sighed, turning around. "No. He's..."

"Adorable enough to get away with it?" I asked.

Rika frowned, looking back at Calumon, who smiled at her, his eyes wide and innocent, perpetual grin set firmly in place.

Rika shuddered. "Not that annoying." She claimed.

I nodded, before looking to the side. "Hello, by the way."

"Good evening." Renamon nodded.

I paused. Renamon.

"I see how you figured out how to degenerate." I nodded. "Sure makes things easier, doesn't it?"

"It does." She admitted.

"Is there a reason why you're here?" Rika asked.

"Just checking up on Calumon. The little scamp can get into quite a bit of trouble with surprisingly little amounts of effort." I sat down, reaching out to pluck Calumon from Rika's side, depositing him in my lap.

A small black sphere appeared in front of Calumon, and the little ball of fluff began to bat it between his hands, distinctly reminding me of a kitten with a ball of yarn.

Rika shuddered again.

"Calumon..." Renamon began, getting Rika's attention. "Is not a normal Digimon, is he?"

I very carefully didn't react. "What makes you think that?" I asked.

"When Rika was talking to IceDevimon, the moment that Rika's Digivice began to glow,-" Shit. "- the symbol on Calumon's forehead also began to glow." She answered.

Rika startled, looking at Calumon.

"And... the battle with Devidramon." Renamon continued. "When Devidramon Digivolved, I thought that I heard a cry of pain. I did not think much of it, but Calumon's voice..."

I slumped. She was on the trail. "Is quite distinctive, yes." Perhaps I shouldn't have come here.

Rika kept staring at Calumon, her eyes raking over his form.

She turned to me, far, far too curious.

"What I say does not leave this room unless your lives are on the line." I declared.

"Agreed." Rika said. Renamon nodded.

I straightened up. "And I mean that. I really shouldn't be telling you this, because the less people who know about Calumon, the better."

Rika leaned forwards.

"Calumon... is quite a special Digimon, yes." I leaned back. "And, as you may have guessed, Calumon is connected with Digivolution."

I looked up at the ceiling. "The exact nature of that connection, I will not say. It is, quite literally, better for everyone involved that as few people as possible know." I looked at them. "To that extent, I'll have to ask that neither of you go looking into Calumon's nature. At all."

"But-"

"At. All." I repeated. "Calumon is a Digimon that would be hounded day in, day out if the true nature of his existence got out. This would not just be bad for Calumon, it would be bad for every single being in this world, and the Digital World." I stared at them.

"How... bad are we talking about?" Rika asked.

"It varies." I admitted. "At the absolute minimum; we would be talking about the death of thousands of individuals. At the absolute maximum; total extinction of all life that exists in both worlds."

Rika swallowed. Renamon shivered.

"Do you understand?"

Rika and Renamon nodded.

"Good." I straightened up. "I'm sorry to dump that on you."

Musyamon, I concluded, had the worst sense of direction I'd ever seen.

Of all the places for a Digimon to bio-emerge, he just had to pick the middle of the fucking road, surrounded by people in every fucking direction.

Honestly.

Worse, he'd promptly sliced a car in half, sending the driver running terrified out of the field.

Thankfully, there was nobody else inside the field.

"You picked a rather bad spot to emerge, you know." I said. The samurai-themed Digimon turned around, brandishing his sword at me. "Unless, of course, you intended to harm the people here?"

He chuckled. "I will have my revenge."

"When your revenge happens to include innocent civilians who haven't done anything to you, we will be having problems." I held my hand out, a blade of Darkness streaming out.

He stared at me. "Very well. If I have to go through you, then I shall."

He gripped his sword in two hands, tensing.

My blade shifted, lengthening slightly, turning silver. I purposely dulled the blade a little, still keeping it exceedingly sharp, but not so much that it would immediately cut through Musyamon's sword.

It was rare that I actually had a sword fight with somebody, and I liked to take those opportunities when they came. Not the least because, that way, I wouldn't be entirely blindsided when I fought a Keyblader.

He charged, beginning with a stab that I directed to the side, our blades scraping against each other.

I quickly returned the favour, stabbing at his chest. He pushed his sword against my blade, using its superior weight and his superior strength to direct it to the side.

He kept going, trying to fling my blade out of my hands, but I wasn't having any of that. I pulled my arm back, and then slashed at his body.

I wasn't surprised when my blade met his sword, a metallic clang ringing out.

He grunted, and then stepped back.

And then, he laughed.

It was a loud and deep sound, filled with no small measure of amusement.

"You..." He began. "You are quite skilled with a blade."

Was that respect I heard in his voice?

"You're not the worst opponent I've ever faced." I admitted. Not the best -God damn Yugao-, but certainly not the worst. "Were it not for your goals, I might actually be enjoying this. I don't suppose that I can convince you not to try and kill?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No."

"Very well."

I held up my blade, pointing it towards Musyamon. "Prepare yourself, Musyamon. Your-"

A cry caught my attention, a girl running into the Digital Field, chasing after a balloon- and also utterly ruining my planned dramatic speech.

Henry ran in after her, Terriermon on his shoulder. Guilmon and Takato came in only a second later, though they came in from the opposite side that Henry and Terriermon did.

I stared at them.

"You guys have no sense of dramatic timing, do you?" I slumped.

I looked up, and quickly teleported twice, going up into the air and grabbing the girl's balloon, before appearing in front of the girl and tying the string around her arm.

I teleported a third time, appearing back in front of Musyamon. "Thank you for waiting."

He shrugged. "I judged you worthy of that respect."

His stance widened, his sword pointing towards me.

Now, let's try this again.

I brandished my sword towards Musyamon. "Prepare yourself, Musya-"

"Oh good, the goggleheads are here."

God damn it!