Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Divided Paths: Factor of X ❯ The Hazard's Reflection ( Chapter 2 )
The rookie Tamers learn a lesson, Takato reaches a turning point, and a new opponent lurks in the shadows...
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.12.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.0K | Visits: 300 | Status: Completed
Notes: Please ignore the chapter summary for this one from the last part. It more or less wound up not applying as much as I thought it would after all this time. Although I don't plan on another seven month gap between chapters, I don't want to fall into that trap again. Thus, in the future, I'm simply going to be giving away the titles for the next chapter, nothing else.
Factor of X
File 1.02 - "The Hazard's Reflection"
Written by Infinity Blade
"I can't believe this!" the Digimon Tamer named Sada exclaimed, waving a finger in fellow Tamer Takao's face. "First, you have to go and act how you did to Shuichon-chan-"
"Well, she was being an ass!"
"It takes one to know one!"
"Oh, right. You know, we're out of elementary school-"
"And secondly, you..."
"Guys!" Inafune Genki's voice suddenly cut in.
The bickering duo turned their attentions forward, and Takao gave a sheepish laugh. "Oh. Heh. Right," Takao muttered before his Partner Digimon, Grizzmon, went flying over their heads thanks to a punch from their opponent, Minotaurumon. Whose presence, it would happen, had just taught Takao a valuable lesson about Digimon levels and actually paying attention to his D-Ark's analyzer screen.
"Grizzmon!" Takao shouted as the large bear landed in a heap behind them. "Are you alright!?"
It took a moment, but Grizzmon groaned as he got back on his feet. "I swear," the Adult-level Digimon grumbled, staring at Takao, "if you weren't my Tamer... I would so completely step on you right now! I just got sent flying by a Perfect... oh, YEAH. I'M FINE!"
"I'm getting the distinct feeling everyone's out to get me today," Takao muttered beneath his breath.
Sada and Genki's partners, meanwhile, were taking a more defensive stance as Minotaurumon seemed to be contemplating his next move. "Well, not like there's much choice," Genki sighed, reaching in his pocket and retrieving a card. "Hookmon! CARD SLASH! POWER CHARGER!"
"Alrighty, horn-head! Suck on this!" Hookmon said, leveling his gun in Minotaurumon's direction. "CAPTAIN CANNON!"
A cannonball-sized projectile shot forth, tearing across the air for its target. Minotaurumon grunted, punching out at it with his normal fist. "DEMON ARM!" the beast howled, his entire arm becoming engulfed in black energy. His fist collided right with the cannonball, instantly making it blow apart into bits of data.
"I..." Hookmon started, blinking while looking down at his firearm. "I think I need a bigger gun..."
Sada grit her teeth. "This is stupid. We can't fight something like this."
"It is true we are outmatched here, Sada-dono," Dinohumon said. "Unfortunately, now that we've engaged him, a Digimon like this wouldn't let us merely escape. We shouldn't be here, but must push on, for the moment..."
Grizzmon stepped up next to the other two Adults, snorting. "Lets see him hit you and have you say that again, buddy."
Dinohumon pulled the giant blade off of his back and hefted it up. Without a word, he dashed towards the angered Perfect. "AKINAKESU!" the warrior cried, bringing the massive saber down at his opponent. Minotaurumon easily blocked the blow with his pile driver and wasn't even pushed back by it.
"You don't honestly think," Minotaurumon grunted, "that this is good enough, do you?"
"No, this is not," Dinohumon said calmly, still pushing against him. "Sada-dono!"
"Ri-right!" the girl said, pulling a card out. "Card Slash! ALIAS!"
A thin smile formed on Dinohumon's lips, before another shout came behind Minotaurumon. "LIZARD DANCE!" Before Minotaurumon could react, another Dinohumon leapt at him from behind, brandishing his smaller blades, which he promptly drove into the Perfect's back. Then, the Dinohumon seemingly attacking Minotaurumon from the front vanished, as if he was never there.
Takao blinked for a second. "What... was that, exactly?"
Sada smacked her forehead. "Don't tell me you haven't bothered to learn these cards yet..."
Takao gave a half-hearted shrug, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Hey, the card game stuff was always my little brother Shoji's thing. I just..."
"Don't have the patience?" Sada asked, a teasing tone in her voice.
Before Takao could retort, Genki cut in. "Alias creates a temporary clone that takes the place of your partner, while your partner himself is transported a short distance away. Dinohumon distracting him with a frontal attack like that was pretty much the only way to get a clean shot from behind-"
"Which means," Takao said, watching as Minotaurumon tried in vain to reach Dinohumon behind him, "he's wide open now! Grizzmon!"
"Right!" Grizzmon shouted, slashing forward with one of his claws and unleashing a curved blade of energy. "CRESCENT DAWN!"
Growling, Minotaurumon suddenly spun around, tossing Dinohumon off of him with his momentum... and right into Grizzmon's attack. Dinohumon screamed as he was blasted back, colliding with the side of a building. The impact was so fierce that the wall actually cracked, rubble tumbling down around Dinohumon as he slumped down to the ground. His body glowed brightly, until he shrunk down into the form of a little warrior in kendo gear.
"KOTEMON!" Sada screamed.
"N-no..." Takao stammered.
"...well, at least I didn't do it," Hookmon muttered with an inappropriate amount of pride.
Minotaurumon roared, his anger obviously past its boiling point. He began to rush towards the group as the Adult Digimon braced themselves, knowing there was little they could do to stop his approach.
"That's quite far enough!" a voice suddenly proclaimed from the air, followed by a shout of, "DESTRUCTION GRENADE!"
There was the sound of whistles, and two small missiles flew down from above, hitting the ground before Minotaurumon's feet and exploding. The Perfect-level stumbled back, looking up... just in time for a giant, red dragon to drop down right in front of him. One of the spikes on the dragon's arms snapped out, electricity surging from it.
"PLASMA BLADE!" the dragon cried, slashing down at Minotaurumon. He tried to block with his pile driver, like he did with Dinohumon, but this resulted in the dragon cutting straight through his arm. It dropped to the ground, exploding into data, while his stump of an arm started to fragment.
A bronze-colored, boxy looking robot then flew down between them, slamming his body into Minotaurumon. He was knocked back, far away from everyone else, and the robot quickly took back to the sky, just as the dragon unleashed a torrent of flames from his mouth. "EXHAUST FLAME!"
Minotaurumon barely had enough time to look up. The flames struck him, and their sheer force plowed right through his body. Within seconds, there was nothing left but data floating in the air.
"Well, that was sure as hell close," a voice muttered from behind them.
Though Sada rushed over to her partner's side, Takao and Genki looked back to find two older teens walking towards them. One, the one who had just spoken, had spiky brown hair and carried a silver & bronze D-Ark. The other also had brown hair, had a red & silver D-Ark, and atop his head wore a pair of yellow goggles. Which really, stood out as sort of odd on a High Schooler.
Both wore uniforms. The one with the gold D-Ark had a red shirt and pants, with a white & blue colored jacket and boots. The other Tamer had a similar uniform, but with his colors matched more to the robot Digimon that had just appeared.
"Hirokazu-san, Takato-san," Genki said. "Thank goodness... we were almost goners there."
"Well, yeah," Hirokazu said. "Considering that you guys shouldn't have even been here in the first place."
"Hey, that thing was about to hurt innocent people!" Takao exclaimed.
Takato sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "That's true, but Ryou told you to stay behind for a reason. Neo Hypnos knew it was a Perfect. That's not a problem for us, but it's still dangerous for you guys to tackle something that strong..."
"Weren't you all taking on even worse when you were younger than us?" Takao asked, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, but we also did a lot of stupid things, and we didn't have the back-up you kids have," Hirokazu said.
"Fine, then if I have to be stupid to get anywhere-" Takao began, but was quickly cut off.
"Do you really want to finish that sentence?" Sada asked. Takao turned to see her standing next to Kotemon, who was using his wooden sword to hold himself up.
"Funny," Takato grumbled. "...you okay, Kotemon?"
The little warrior nodded. "I shall be fine."
"Regardless," Takato said. "Neo Hypnos has its command structure for a reason. You guys are still undergoing training, and, uh..."
Hirokazu gave a grin which seemed sort of... sadistic to the younger Tamers. "You're going to have to answer to your drill sergeant."
The faces of Takao, Sada, and Genki went instantly pale. "I think I'd rather fight the Minotaurumon again," Takao muttered beneath his breath.
"So, uh, Hirokazu," Takato said, turning to him and grinning sheepishly. "Could you possibly wrap things up here?"
Hirokazu raised an eyebrow. "And this would be because..."
"Because, well," Takato began, pausing a bit and scratching his head nervously. "I'm gonna wind up being late to meet Juri... again."
Hirokazu sighed to himself, but nodded anyway. "Alright, sure. But if I've got deal with the authorities..."
"Growmon can take the kids back to Hypnos," Takato said.
"Hey," Takao frowned. "We're perfectly capable..."
Hirokazu waved a finger. "Uh-uh. If you guys can't listen to orders, then Growmon's gonna be the teacher leading you to the principal's office."
"Okay then!" Growmon suddenly shouted happily, pumping one massive claw into the air. "Lets get going!"
"This would be slightly less embarrassing," Sada said, "if he were as mean as he looked..."
Grizzmon groaned loudly, hanging his head. "I've really got to stop listening to you, Takao..."
Shuichon sat on the edge of a bed in the nurse's office. She was feeling fine now that the stabbing pain in her head was gone, but the teachers still insisted on waiting for one of her siblings to come pick her up. Thus, she just sat there, staring aimlessly at the nearest wall, which really was barren of anything noteworthy.
The battle was over. She hadn't seen a bit of it, yet knew it had ended with the invading Digimon's destruction. She knew this simply because that pain was gone. Whether Takao and the others had ended it, or if someone else had arrived, she didn't knew... She was just thankful it was over.
Thankful though she may have been, though, it didn't change the constant sense of frustration inside her. This was the right thing for her to be doing, right? She didn't have any obligation to be out there battling Wild Ones, or the occasional maniacal evil Digimon with delusions of world domination. She became a Tamer because she wanted to follow after her brother, and she wanted to be Lopmon's friend. That was it.
There was nothing in that which said she needed to be out there fighting... killing... watching others die... right?
Certainly, she had a great amount of power at her disposal... more than anyone outside the first generation of Tamers. But it wasn't like there weren't others...
And it wasn't like she could claim she had control over that power, after everything that had happened in the past...
"Sis?"
Shuichon jolted out of her trance, her vision darting to the doorway. Standing there was her older brother, Jenrya. "You alright?"
There was definite concern on his face. As there should be, given that he already had to know why she collapsed. "I- I'm fine, Jen-niichan," Shuichon said, trying her best to force a smile and failing utterly.
Jenrya sighed, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's getting worse, isn't it?"
Shuichon frowned, looking away from him. "It just... caught me off guard. There's no sense worrying about it."
"How can you expect me not to?" Jenrya asked. "If these flashes of pain are getting worse, then we're going to HAVE to worry about it. Or else-"
"You know just as well as I do, Niichan," Shuichon said, pushing his hand away. "When it first happened, right after that battle, the tests they ran... what Mizuno-san said... there's no way to separate it. I just have to deal with it."
"Shuichon-" he began, but she cut him off again.
"Can we just go?" she asked. "I'm getting tired of sitting around in here..."
There really wasn't much else that could be said, so he relented. Neither said anything as they walked out of the school. Not out of anger or any sort of annoyance with each other. It was just an uncomfortable, but long-since typical silence that had lied between them. It bothered her. She knew it bothered him. Yet, somehow, it had been there ever since that one battle...
She truly didn't want to seem angry, but it couldn't be helped... Containing everything flowing through her mind, every feeling, every desire caused by the 'incident' following the first creation of Cherubimon was a full-time job...
Takato cursed under his breath as he checked his watch while running through the crowded streets of Shinjuku. He hated to be late, but there wasn't exactly much that could be done to avoid it.
One of the slight advantages he had being officially employed by the government was that when there was an attack, he basically had a free pass out of school. The downside of that meant that pass always involved a battle of some sort. Yet, it was something he didn't mind so much these days.
That was because of how powerful a combination he and Guilmon had proven to be. Really, there hadn't been a single battle since GranKuwagamon that had been a challenge for them. That was neither a complaint nor him being egotistical. It was just the truth.
The formation of Neo Hypnos had made things so much easier, as well. Now with them on call as they were, any of the Tamers that chose to fight could be to the area of battle, often before the attacking digimon had even fully Realized. It was more efficient. It kept people safe. In the end, that was what most important. To both Takato and all those Yamaki had chosen to be apart of the new organization.
Though there was still a great deal of trepidation amongst the public in regards to having 'children' fight against these monsters, the Tamers also knew it was the safest way. The JSDF had tried it their way for years and failed. So despite the protests of some, their actions were taking great leaps in securing more public trust in the Tamers, and even reducing fear of their digimon. Even if it was only a little bit, that bit helped.
The uniforms they had been saddled with while on-duty were part of that 'gaining public trust' thing, too. Though some amongst the Tamers had complained, it made some amount of sense for the public to know who its defenders were. One particular Tamer had said it, "made them look ridiculous, like multi-colored knock-offs of a Super Sentai." Takato could only grin at that. If anything, that just made him like the uniforms even more.
It was also great for parting a crowd when he was trying to get somewhere fast. As he just so happened to be right then.
He had agreed to meet Juri shortly after he got out of school that day. That, obviously, wasn't going to work out. Such things were actually becoming something of a recurring problem...
Juri didn't go to the same school as Takato, or any of the Tamers. Takato would be lying if he said his work with Neo Hypnos hadn't been hurting his grades. Not involved in the daily rigors of policing invasion from another world, Juri had gotten into a better High School than the rest of her friends. As such, she didn't get to see them nearly as much. Combined with her increasingly spending extra time to help her father's business, and all of Takato's duties...
It made things... difficult, to say the least.
Finally, he reached his destination: the park. Knowing that he could at least say he got there, he finally took a moment to catch his breath, leaning against a tree.
"Only half-an-hour late today, hm?"
Takato jumped, clutching his chest and spinning around to find Juri, still in her school uniform, stepping out from behind the same tree. "Sorry, I, uh," he stammered, grinning sheepishly. "Something came up."
Her eyes went up and down the length of his body, taking note of the uniform. "So I see."
Takato blinked, looked down at himself, and then laughed. "Oh, yeah, well, you see..." he looked back up, quickly adding, "I can go change real quick."
Juri just smiled. Though somehow, it seemed odd. Something about the look in her face and her eyes just didn't seem... right. "It's alright," she said softly. "So, what do you want to do?"
"Well, I am kind of hungry," he said. "I mean, if you don't mind."
She just shook her head as they started to walk. "No, that's fine..."
Takato looked down, again noticing her eyes. They seemed somehow distant, as if she was preoccupied somehow. "Juri? Is everything alright?"
The girl blinked a couple of times before glancing back up at him, smiling. "Don't be silly. Why would anything be wrong?"
Takato didn't really say anything, just turning his attention back to the path they were walking on. It must've just been his imagination. Though, he couldn't help but always second-guess himself when it came to Juri, even after all this time...
In the past, Takao wouldn't have thought it possible to fear for his life simply from someone looking at him. That was before the first time he had made Makino Ruki angry. Unfortunately for him, this wasn't the first time. And he still hadn't gotten used to it.
He sat in a cramped room with Grizzmon's Child-level, Bearmon, Sada, Kotemon, Genki, and Hookmon's lower form, a small, green monkey named Koemon. The latter of which was rocking back in forth in his chair impatiently. Across from them stood Ruki, her long red hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a dark blue uniform, with her partner Renamon by her side.
"So," the redhead began casually, "just what on either world were you thinking? Or were you thinking at all?" All eyes - Bearmon included - turned to Takao. "Gee. I thought partners were supposed to be loyal," Takao muttered beneath his breath.
"You didn't get clobbered by him," Bearmon hissed.
"Hirai?" Ruki asked, eyeing the black-haired boy. "Anything to say?"
Takao clenched his fists. "It's just like I told Takato-san and Hirokazu-san. That Wild One was going to hurt innocent people. If we hadn't done anything-"
"Nothing would have happened," Ruki said.
"But the time between when we got there and Growmon and Guardromon-!"
"They were already there," Renamon stated, drawing blank looks from all six of them.
"...you mean we got steamrolled by that punk for nothing!?" Bearmon exclaimed.
"Pardon me, Makino-san," Genki said, "but if they were already nearby, why didn't they do anything before?"
Ruki smirked. "Simple. To teach you a lesson."
"But one of us could have been hurt!" Sada said.
"Takato, Guilmon, Hirokazu, and Guardromon are all good enough at what they do to not allow that," Renamon said. "You were dealing with a low-powered Perfect, and could have very well disposed of him... yet, the fact that you weren't experienced enough to do so is why you were told to stay behind."
Ruki turned her gaze back to Takao. "Now, the only one of you who talked to Battle Commander Akiyama was you, correct?"
"Yes," Takao said, a low growl in his voice.
"And did you tell the others that you had direct orders to stay behind?"
"No," he muttered lowly.
"And I bet you thought he was an Adult-level."
"YES!" Takao suddenly shouted. "I did! Give me a break, already!"
Ruki sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "Alright, the rest of you can go."
"Alright!" Bearmon cheered as Sada, Kotemon, Genki, and Koemon started to get up. Or, in Koemon's case, bound across the room for the door in a split second.
"Not you," Ruki said before Bearmon had even left his seat. "Partners stick together. You sit."
Bearmon's face went blank, but he then snarled and sat back down, muttering things under his breath that were best not heard out loud.
"Listen," Ruki said, crossing her arms. "I understand that you weren't exactly accepting of this whole Tamer thing at first. And we're not forcing you to fight."
"But I want to," Takao said. "So if you're suggesting I just drop out..."
Ruki waved a hand. "No, no." She paused, sighing again. "Okay, so I haven't quite gotten this whole constructive criticism thing down yet. Just, understand this... No matter how much potential you might have, if you can't work together with your friends and those that have the same goals you do, you're not going to get far. Believe me, I learned that the hard way a long time ago."
Renamon suddenly smiled, which Takao found excessively... odd. "And the same goes for you, Bearmon."
"But I didn't do nothin'," the other digimon grunted.
Renamon shrugged a bit. "You'll figure out what I mean eventually, maybe, if you want to."
"Alright, that's enough," Ruki said. "You both are free to go. Just, next time, actually listen to us when we tell you something."
Takao frowned, nodding a bit. "Yeah... sorry."
With that, he and Bearmon headed quietly out of the room. That silence stuck with them for a few moments, neither wanting to really say anything... at least, until he rounded the next corner in the hallway.
Leaning there up against the wall was another teenager. He wore a black uniform, and had black hair which was grown out a bit, hanging down past his ears. Clipped to his belt was a black & silver D-Ark, and standing next to him was a golden dragon digimon wearing black armor. "I swear, Hirai," the older boy said with a smirk, only glancing at Takao slightly. "If they keep hanging around you, you're going to get Sada-chan and Genki-kun killed at this rate."
Takao grit his teeth. Sahashi Shinichi, and his partner, Ryuudamon. The boy went to the same school to him, and was his senior by one year. He had also been a Digimon Tamer for awhile before Takao.
"Sahashi," Takao growled. "Yeah, those are big words for someone who didn't even come help us."
"That's because I actually called Akiyama myself," Shinichi said. "And, you know, listened to him. How was I supposed to know you'd drag the others with you? You should just be glad Takato-san and Hirokazu-san were there."
"Hey, don't be too hard on him, Shin," Ryuudamon said, smiling. "I mean, look what he has to work with."
Bearmon twitched and stepped forward. "Big words, coming from a bull-headed X."
Ryuudamon stared at him for a moment, and then bared his fangs, snarling. "Why you-!"
"That's enough, Ryuudamon," Shinichi said, pushing off the wall and holding a hand out in front of his partner. "There's no point in going that far."
"Oh, c'mon Shin, lemme at him!" Ryuudamon snapped. "I'll show that walking fur rug just what an 'X' can do!"
"I said that's enough," Shinichi said forcefully. The dragon sighed, backing off, and the older boy turned to walk away. "Really, Hirai, you'd better watch yourself. Just because your daddy is a pain in Yamaki's side doesn't mean you can get away with everything for long."
"My dad doesn't have anything to do with this!" Takao shouted after him.
"Suuuure, whatever," Shinichi said, not even turning to face him, before disappearing around a corner with Ryuudamon.
Finally, Takao just gave a yell and punched the nearest wall. The act actually made Bearmon jump a bit, but the boy just grunted, pulling his fist back and shoving his hands into his pockets. So what if he screwed up? He sincerely doubted he was the first Tamer to ever do that...
It was the most uncomfortable meal Takato ever had with Juri. Well, the real Juri at least. He didn't want to think about the train ride he had with that particular Agent of D-Reaper. Though, it couldn't help but spring up in his mind, much as he hated it.
Something was bothering her. That much was obvious. After all the time she kept her pain bottled up when she was younger, he had learned to read her to an extent. But knowing something was wrong didn't tell him what, and he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't say anything unless she wanted to.
So, the meal passed, with what felt like an invisible barrier between the two of them. Any try at passing conversation didn't last long. He never really felt it appropriate to go into detail about his Tamer battles, all things considered, and she never asked, so that didn't leave him with much else to talk about. Even after two weeks of not seeing one another, they somehow didn't seem to have much to discuss...
After what felt like forever to Takato, the meal ended, and they ventured out into crisp fall air as evening set in. Juri walked ahead of him by a few feet, not saying very much as they headed down the sidewalk. Finally, the Tamer sighed, speaking up. "Hey, Juri?"
"Yes?" she asked, smiling back at him.
He found his train of thought stopping, and he just shook his head. "Uh, nothing..."
"I see," she muttered, frowning a bit suddenly. She came to a stop, turning to lean up against the railing that separated the walkway from the street.
Takato raised an eyebrow, staring at her. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Hey, Takato," she murmured, avoiding his question. She looked up at the sky, staring fairly intently at it. "When you first asked me out, why did you do it?"
That question kind of floored him. What reason other than liking her would he have? He would admit, of course, it took him a long time to work up the nerve... as in, about three years worth after the D-Reaper, but...
"Wh-why do you ask?" he stammered, unintentionally tripping over his words.
She closed her eyes, and her body almost seemed to tense before she asked her next question. "Did you ever... feel sorry for me?"
"Juri!" he suddenly exclaimed. "What kind of question is that?"
Her eyes snapped open, and she bowed her head. "Sorry, I've just... I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I'm just wondering about things..."
"Like... what kind of things?" he asked cautiously.
"It's just, I wonder," she said, "shouldn't we be closer than we are? After all this time... it's been nearly six years since that day, that time... nearly seven since you became a Tamer... and we've known each other for longer than that. I know we're still kids to some people, but after everything we've been through... after fighting so hard, watching those we care about die..."
"Juri, c'mon..." he said as gently as he could, slowly reaching out to her.
She glanced up at him, looking to his hand. "I don't understand it, Takato," she said, tears brimming in her eyes. "Why would you hesitate now, after all this time?"
Takato's hand instinctively snapped back. "I- Juri, I just don't- I don't want to do anything that would-"
"Why is it that you..." she started, pushing off the railing. "Takato, you just keep me at arm's length. You act like you don't know what to do with me... like I'm some frail doll that might break if you do or say the wrong thing..."
"N-no, Juri, I just, I..." he sputtered. All he could do was stumble over his words. He never expected her to start saying such things, never thought of what he could possibly say in such a situation...
"Like last year, before GranKuwagamon attacked," she said. "You kept passing my house... never stopping, always looking at it. Because of what day it was... you've done the same thing for years... avoid me on that day... will you do the same thing this year? Years after that? Do you think I'm so fragile?"
She sighed, grabbing his hand. "I just want to know... I want to know if we're doing the right thing," she said. "Just... how much do you care about me, Takato? How is it you really feel?"
"Juri, I-" he began, but paused a bit, feeling something in her hand. It was some kind of plastic card.
"That's the keycard to a motel room up the street," she said, stepping closer to him, her cheeks reddening from embarrassment. "Like I said... how is it you really feel?"
"Well, that went well!" Ruki exclaimed, stomping into the main command chamber of Neo Hypnos with Renamon trailing right behind her.
Ryou glanced away from the monitors he had been staring at for several hours. Guilmon, out of obvious boredom in being nowhere near his Tamer, was next to him. "That's great!" the reptile exclaimed. "Ryou was just saying how he was going to try and talk you into getting us some food when you got back!"
Ruki just stared at the older Tamer in amazement, crossing her arms. "Was he now?"
"Pay no attention to him," Ryou said halfheartedly, obviously knowing fully that he was already defeated.
Ruki's violet eyes narrowed. "Would you like something to drink with that, too?"
"Sure!" Guilmon exclaimed.
Renamon stifled a small laugh, and Ruki just rolled her eyes. "You know, I should kick Yamaki for putting me in charge of training the newbies."
"Hey, who better than the best, right?" Ryou asked.
The girl just spun around and laughed. "Uh-huh. Nice try, but it's too late to suck up now." That said, she headed back out of the chamber.
Guilmon blinked, and stared back up at Ryou. "We're not getting fed, are we?"
Ryou sighed, slumping down against the console before him. "You've got a lot to learn about women, Guilmon," he muttered, and then squinted at one of the main monitors. "I've seriously been staring at these screens for too long. I would've thought Reika would be done by now, or Yamaki would come back down here... dammit, I'm hungry..." He paused for a moment, and then grinned. "Hey, Guilmon, you're perfectly capable of sounding an alarm..."
The 'Legendary' Tamer then turned around to find Guilmon walking down from the platform they'd been standing on. "Hey! Where do you think you're going!?" Ryou shouted after him.
"Dinner! Bye!" Guilmon laughed, waving back at him.
The Tamer groaned, turning back to the monitors. "I sure hope Cyberdramon's having more fun than me right now..."
Cyberdramon knew deep down that he would never feel like he had a place in this human world. As he flew out across Tokyo, he stared aimlessly about the city beneath him. Many digimon now existed in this world, and yet, most of them came with their own Tamers. That instinct to fight, that love of battle... it still existed within the back of his mind. It would never go away.
He had to resist it, however. For Ryou's sake, to stay in this world...
The other digimon were able to exist peacefully without many problems. He wasn't quite sure how they did it, as it was a struggle for him every day. On the other hand, he doubted there were many digimon out there quite like him...
Suddenly, the dragon felt something. Somewhere... there was something that felt very out of place. Swooping down, Cyberdramon landed atop a building, trying to hone his senses... focus in on whatever it was...
It felt like a digimon, but that much alone shouldn't set off his senses like it was. There was something different about it, and yet disturbingly familiar.
He looked down. There was nothing that seemed unusual. It was just a bunch of humans, going about their business. Then what-
The dragon suddenly tensed, and running on pure instinct, sent his body soaring back into the sky.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
A bolt of a dark energy shot right beneath him, just where he had been standing. Growling loudly, Cyberdramon spun in the air, seeking out his attacker... and, surprising even himself, he froze from surprise.
What he saw was, indeed, a digimon. Only, it was one that looked exactly like Dukemon, if not for its colors. The armor was a dark gray, while his cape, along with the armor on his shoulders and knees, was blue. Like Dukemon, he wielded a long lance and a giant shield.
"I should have figured it'd only be so long until someone like you found me out," the Dukemon double said, his voice booming across the skyline. "No matter. I am ChaosDukemon, and I-"
"I know exactly what you are," Cyberdramon snarled, power already surging from my fingertips. "You... ARE MY ENEMY!"
-To Be Continued
Notes: So, observant readers are going to notice something out of place in this chapter. Or as it is, something that comes from Digimon, but not Tamers, per se. Namely, those uniforms, the design of which coming directly from Digimon Savers. As for what that means... well, just remember I have a love of AU stories. And although everything in the Tamers anime is considered canon for DP, that doesn't mean things from elsewhere can't crop up later on...
That'll all become more apparent later on, but remember this is still a Tamers-universe story at heart. I just get to screw with certain things later on. (Okay, some things maybe a bit sooner than later...)
Oh, and after the next chapter, I'll slightly re-title the overall series as "Divided Paths." Just because I think it looks a bit better, and it's a tad shorter. What can I say? I'm a picky person.
Digimon Tamers: Divided Paths
Factor of X: File 1.03 - "Clash Above Tokyo: Vengeful Knight, ChaosDukemon"