And here's the last part of this chapter – hope you enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or its characters.

Hazard of Hatred

ARC 3 - Homecoming

Chapter 8, Part 3 of 3: Reaching Dead Ends

"...and you're sure that you're okay, Rika?"

The answer that followed this question was as simple as it was effective: the redhead that was being asked turned her gaze away from her cards to glare daggers at the blonde girl standing in the open doorway to the garden. The intensity of which had Alice actually back away a step and question if what she was doing was the right thing.

Not that she had been fully convinced in the first place, considering that – although it was Rika who had invited her and it was actual worry about her best friend's wellbeing that had led her to this – she had been sent to spy on her.

'Spy' being the wrong word, in a way, as it was more about gathering information about the carrier of the blue Hazard segment and what she was up to next, doing so out in the open rather than actually doing it in secret. She just... well, technically, 'omitted' the whole part about having defected on the side.

And it was not like this was meant to harm Rika... right?

No. No, even if, she couldn't worry about that. No matter what this actually was about and what purpose it had, even if harmful to Rika, she had agreed to do this. It was part of her contract with her new boss. He had kept his side of the deal and had given her what she desired most – maybe not how she had imagined it, but compromises had to be made – and now it was her turn. It was her time to gain something for once, instead of losing it. It had always just been the others, and whatever they gained, whenever they gained something, it came with a loss for her.

No more.

She wouldn't let it be taken from her another time, no matter the cost. And it wasn't like Rika wouldn't be able to deal with whatever was on the horizon anyway, she was stronger than anyone else that Alice knew and had gone through more hardships in her life than anyone else close to them. Plus, Reika was already around the redhead all the time, it wasn't like Alice had led the thing looking like a human to Rika, she was just helping it. No, she wasn't painting the target across the tomboy's back - Takato had done that already.

And like the moth drawn to the flame, Reika had homed in on it immediately. To her credit, she wasn't entirely mindless in it, where a moth would crash into the clear pane of glass, Reika at least avoided her equivalent of a window, was smart enough to go around them and slip past the barricades to get to the light, but the closer she had gotten, the more eager she had become. And right next to Rika, her flame, now, it was as though she had forgotten all about the many precautions she had taken to approach her.

Now, it was Alice's job to ensure that the 'girl' didn't get burnt on this flame – and damn, even with the occasional babysitting the goth had done, she hadn't been prepared for how hard that would be. It was worse than keeping a four‑year‑old from getting the open cookie jar put right in front of them.

"And as I told you for the sixth time now, Alice..." the venom in Rika's voice had the goth shudder anew, but she stood strong this time, even as the redhead on the bed turned to face her and placed the cards next to herself, "I'm fine. Look, I appreciate you're worried, but this is just... You can't understand this. And I feel stupid that I thought that you or my Mom could!"

Rumiko couldn't understand, Alice had to agree on that – but the irony of the situation was not lost on her. If only Rika knew how much the blonde really could relate, she wouldn't say things like that. And probably freak, considering what relating to the virus-carrying redhead entailed. Freak out, just like she had done, according to Reika, upon their viruses clashing – not only wasn't a backlash anything to joke about, but it occurring in the first place must have tipped Rika off about Reika's true nature.

At least, that was what Reika was worried about, hence why the goth had been sent out to gather intelligence on the redheaded Tamer in her stead. 'To take the heat off the fake human', she had been told.

"This is not what I had in mind when I asked you to come over, and I'm sorry about that."

The somber words of the other girl tore Alice out of her thoughts – again, as she noted herself, this had been happening way too often lately – and focus on Rika, who had returned to just staring at her cards for the moment, but now rose her gaze to meet that of her friend.

"There's just been so much on my mind lately and I... I don't know, I had hoped that sharing some of it would make it more bearable, you know?" Oh, Alice did know, it was easy to relate to that. And still, she kept quiet, instead listening to the faint sound of music coming from where she suspected the living room to be by the entrance to the house – Rika's grandmother was in there, wasn't she? Rika had mentioned that the stereo was kinda broken and would always start at full volume when it was turned on, but to think it was that loud! "I don't know who else to confide in at this point but you and my family. Of course, Renamon and I talk about this, but... she's been behaving kind of off lately. It started when my D-Power vanished, and at first I thought nothing of it. That she was just looking for it, and worried where it might be, but..."

Rika didn't even have to finish. Couldn't either, getting lost in her own thoughts halfway through, her shoulders slumping and her gaze dejectedly returning to the cards now lying in front of her. A justified reaction, in Alice's eyes, and she knew what Renamon was actually up to, meeting Takato in secret and building their futile little resistance group, something Rika was far from even suspecting.

Part of her – the friend in her, actually, the part that had gotten close to Rika following Dobermon's sacrifice and the defeat of D-Reaper, that had spent countless afternoons hanging out with the redhead and her vulpine partner, the Alice in her that absolutely hated herself for what she was doing now by siding with the questionable side of this soon‑to‑escalate war – wanted to just give in and tell Rika everything.

About what was going on behind the scenes and about the Old Ones. About her own involvement and that, at this very moment, she was essentially betraying her closest friend's trust for a selfish goal – in fact, had gone as far as to do something equal to selling her humanity for it. What little had been left after the infection with Dobermon's raw data not too long after D-Reaper anyway, that was, something Rika didn't know about either.

And, of course, first and foremost, she'd tell her about Takato. Considering all the things she was going through because of him, that she was enduring both physically and mentally, she had a right to know. With the knowledge she had from Reika about Takato and his time in the other quadrant, plus what she had learned on her own after his return, not only would she be able to answer most of the biggest questions and insecurities that Rika had at the moment, but together, they undeniably would be able to find wherever the runaway Tamer was hiding at the moment – something even Reika hadn't been able to do yet.

At least, that was what the 'girl' was claiming, though Alice found it hard to believe. And it wasn't like Reika was the most trustworthy being to begin with – even now that they were working together, the goth felt like her supposed 'superior' was continually omitting things, hiding the truth. And if she wasn't, she was bending it like she saw fit, creating her own little reality.

It needed to stop.

"Listen, Rika, about that..." The girl on the bed perked up in response to her words, glanced her way. Tired. It was only now that the blonde really noticed the bags under the Tamer's eyes, something she hadn't even really paid any attention to before. Maybe because she often had them herself and gotten so used to them she hardly even felt they were out of place, maybe because she had been so absorbed in her own problems and her guilty conscience that she hadn't even regarded it. Not that it mattered, it just assured her in this. "There is something you need to know. About..."

The redhead perked up – again. And not at what friend was saying, no, she wasn't even paying attention to that anymore. Staring right through the blonde, it was like she had fallen into a trance, a lack of any conscience, and Alice noticed rather quick by how breathing had become a lot harder for her from one second to the next – both Rika's state, and what was causing it, that was, glowing a bright blue on the back of her right hand and spreading up on it in angular lines of the same pulsing color.

Slowly, Alice narrowed her eyes at the phenomenon.

The Hazard of Sacrifice was reacting to something. To what, was the question, and why now. From what she knew from Reika, it was never a good thing if these things made their presence known – generally, the major viruses of the Digital World remained quiet in their host unless summoned forth, if a major change were to happen in the near future that affected the Digital World, or...

"Takato."

...reacted to the proximity of another!

"Takato!"

Before Alice had the chance to act, Rika was out of her seat and had dashed past her. Nothing, not even her own inhuman abilities, could've prepared her for the strength with which her friend pushed her out of the way – clearly affected by the Digital Hazard segment within her, no normal human was that strong – and made it to the door, Alice still in the middle of regaining balance when the redhead was already out the door.

And that was when it set in – the loud, rude knocking on the front door of the house. Too urgent to be ignored, too loud – and that was what really set off the alarms in the goth's head, though not as much as the fact that Rika had moved before the knocking had begun – to be a mere human, the house should have been way too big and open for it to be heard all the way throughout it.

Something was not right! Everything about this was not right!

She had her cellphone out before she knew it, calling the only person she had on speed dial aside her grandfather. With her left hand occupied with holding the cellphone to her ear, she had her teeth holding one end of the bandage as she moved her infected arm to unwrap it - ever since going with Reika and meeting her boss, gaining her desire, her arm refused to return to normal. Her leg and side, yes, but that arm, it was constantly covered in its corruption now, black as the night, the angular red lines on it pulsing faster than they had ever done before, all of them now leading to the center of her shoulder.

Another compromise that had to be made to get what she desired most. Didn't matter, she'd live with it and what it entailed.

"What?" croaked the voice on the other end the moment her call was picked up, void of any joy, knew what she'd learn next wasn't going to be pretty – Alice never called just to check in on her. Refused to, actually, with how they didn't even get along that well.

"Window." was all Alice replied, so fast she actually almost cut the one-word question off that the call started with. She heard an irritated grunt as a last few letters were typed in on a keyboard, followed by an office chair rolling over laminate, creaking as it was leaned by the person inside it shifting their weight, and blinds being moved ever so slightly – actually saw the last part, too, glancing over to the house of Rika's neighbors.

And couldn't hold the cellphone far away enough from her ear for the loud curse that followed to be overheard or to avoid a tinnitus. Ice-blue met amber as she and Reika made eye-contact, the blind falling back into place only a second later – but not before Alice saw the other girl's eye light up in a bright orange flame.

"Stop her! Damn it, do not let her reach the door, whatever you do! I'll...!" Another curse, something being thrown across the room and hitting the wall, the sound of wood splitting, "I'll think of something!"

End of the call, Reika had hung up on her. Not that Alice had anything else to say, sliding her cellphone back into her pocket and instead picking up the bandage she had been forced to drop from her teeth, again starting to unwrap her arm.

She had made it across the garden and back into the corridor leading to the front entrance, almost hitting an already broken cabinet, half of her arm unwrapped and already expanding into a claw, not caring if Rumiko or Seiko or anyone else would see her, when she heard the front door being opened and her blood ran cold.

"Takat-!"

Too late.

Rika's PoV

No – it couldn't be. This was not right!

This was it. That scene from that weird dream a few days ago! The nightmare!

Standing in the doorway, it was as though time stood still, the smile was still on my face – my body hadn't been able to catch up yet, the joy of being about to see Takato again for the first time in almost one year still filling it. I had clearly felt him, as weird as it sounded, my blue Digital Hazard had reacted to him and told me he was there! Here, finally, gone for one year!

But my mind no longer felt that excitement, for that had seen it and caught on.

The lance, dull in color, silver faded into gray, a black ring near the hand holding it, already pulled back, ready to strike. At the height of my neck, held steady, it's aimed for precision, meant to finish this in one strike.

If this was true to my nightmare, though I couldn't see it as I experienced it from my own perspective this time, my mother – at that point, I couldn't have known about her conversation with Renamon or that the knocking had been the end of it, it wasn't something I learned until much later – was standing just a few steps behind me about to scream, and grandma was clinging to the open door to the living room about to faint. Don't know about Alice, the nightmare hadn't accounted for her.

Could I really call it a nightmare anymore, though? I had written it off as one, told myself it had no meaning other than my fear of not being able to recognize Takato upon his return and yet – yet it had come true. Would, in the next second, once time resumed its flow.

Once nightmare, calling it 'premonition' now seemed more accurate – and terrifying, considering what it meant for both this moment, and what had been the other half of that 'nightmare'. The one where I had been floating high above Shinjuku facing Gallantmon – the one colored right, that was, opposed to the faded out colors on the one before me at that very moment – filled by an inexplicable... anger.

Time starts moving again. Slow, just like in the premonition, everything moving at a snail's pace. This time, though, I can feel my body catching up on what my mind had already realized, can feel the corners of my mouth dropping and my eyes widening. Almost choke on the gasp that's slowly rolling up my throat, but would surely never make it in time, the tip of the lance moving faster than anything else in this second dragged out into eternity, the distance between its tip and me decreasing rapidly.

Can feel it on my right hand, the Hazard of Sacrifice, the itchy feeling that had directed me to open the door turning into pure heat. But just like in my nightmare, my premonition, it wouldn't do anything. Wouldn't be able to change anything.

Behind Gallantmon, faint lines begin to materialize. Yellow, white and purple, I know that it's Renamon phasing into existence in hope of being able to intervene, but for once in her life, she wasn't fast enough. Couldn't have predicted this. I feel no anger towards her, don't blame her for what's about to happen. She couldn't have changed it, I'm very aware of that, and so it's only guilt I feel for leaving her behind like this.

When what was once Takato would take my life.

The lance is past my chin, grazed it, searing pain from the cut. I want to close my eyes and embrace nothingness, don't want to see it, knowing that I'd go out with nothing but remorse and guilt, my faults and insecurities whispering all my past mistakes into my ears. What a lousy person I had been for many years. That I never got to fully reconcile with my mom, knowing it would've taken more than just one year for us to fully make up for all that's been between us for most of my childhood. That I'd never get to tell some people how I really felt about them despite the harsh way I treated them.

It all doesn't matter anymore, though. It's over. The lance touches my throat. In the corner of my eyes, to the left, I see something red and white.

Time resumes its flow.

"HYAARGH!"

The gasp bursts from my throat, but it is drowned out by the loud roar that echoes through the neighborhood, followed by the shrill shriek from my mother just behind me. For the fragment of a second, I can still feel the lance as it pierces my skin, then there's just nothing. My legs give in and I drop onto my knees, can't breathe.

Then, pain claims me and my right hand shoots up to hold my throat.

And still I manage to proceed what had just taken place.

The lance touched my throat, pierced skin. Renamon had faded in, just half a second too late, and followed up with an attack that just harmlessly bounced off the tainted knight's back. The blue light of the Hazard of Sacrifice had become stronger, at least that's what I had thought at first, but in retrospect I can clearly say that it hadn't become stronger – it had just gotten closer. Closer, as my right hand had shot up at inhuman speed, not controlled by me but by this abominable sign upon it, and actually curled around the lance, not to change its trajectory, which I somehow knew it wouldn't have been able to, but to hold it in place for just one more second, stopping it right the instant the tip rested against my neck.

One more second, that was all it took. All the red and white blur needed to slam shoulder-first into the tainted knight at all the speed and power it could muster up, throwing itself and the dark Gallantmon somewhere off to the right into our front yard.

The tip of the lance had dragged along my throat, leaving the faintest of cuts, faint as a papercut, source of my pain.

Then the gasp, Mom's scream, my legs giving in.

The two Gallantmon rolling through the lawn, whirling up dirt, before the red one grabbed its opponent by the back of its neck and slammed it through the wall surrounding our house and out into the street.

Pain. Fear.

The realization that, on any other day, I'd have answered the door as well – not as excited, of course – as with that kind of loud rude knocking, it could have only been for me, only one of my morons would've knocked like that, settling in. Takato – no, that knight, I refuse to believe it's him! – would have counted on it.

Pain.

3rd person

Releasing the breath it had been holding, the red and white Gallantmon glanced the way of Rika to ensure the girl was alright. She looked out of it, eyes wide, mouth open, shivering uncontrollably, but otherwise mostly unscathed. Although she did have her hand on her neck, covering it, there didn't seem to be any serious injury – it seemed to be mostly the shock that had her like that.

Which in itself was already too much damage done, leaving the knight to curse under its breath for having been so slow. Almost too slow, though it didn't dare to think any further about the implications of that. Was just glad that it had made it in time to avoid a more terrible outcome.

Its gaze shifted to the hole it was watching the redhead – and, by extension, Renamon cowering over her, as well as Rumiko tending to her mother, who had collapsed onto a low cupboard – through. Rumiko was going to have her head for that, had it not saved her daughter's life.

"And here I was, wondering when you'd show up."

The red and white Gallantmon whirled around to face the other knight, taking in its ominous colors as it dusted itself off and rolled its shoulders as though it hadn't just been thrown through a solid wall. A snarl rolled in the back of the Royal Knight's throat and it rose its shield and lance, not willing to give the tainted version of itself an edge – for the moment, Rika was safe, but that only applied for as long as it was there to protect Rika from ChaosGallantmon, and would only remain true if it beat the dark knight and drove it away.

This reaction, however, prompted the dark knight to burst into a series of dark chuckles, erupting into sinister laughter not too long after. It was unimpressed by the Royal Knight's threatening stance, and the reason was as simple as it was obvious: The stance was off, one leg threatening to give in, the arm holding the lance shaking. The consequences of the day prior, the duel without honor between the two Gallantmon. It hadn't fully recovered yet, hadn't had the time to.

Hated to see that ChaosGallantmon was in a far better state, too, having recovered in that same amount of time.

"Damn you, Takato..."

Takato, who was at fault for all of this. For not having himself under control. For the Royal Knight not having itself under control. For ChaosGallantmon. For putting Rika in danger. Rika couldn't even fight back as she was, without her D-Power! Not only had he painted a target across her back, he'd also put her out in the open and basically chained her down!

"Heh. Takato." snickered the Chaos impersonated sinisterly, only mockery in his voice for the name, "Don't expect this to end like it did yesterday. Nothing is holding me back this time, there's no distractions around, and once I've removed you once and for all and put you out to pasture, I'll finally be able to...!"

The Royal Knight slammed into him again shield-first in the middle of his monologue, taking him by surprise and pushing him into a lamppost, not only bending it horribly out of shape, but actually causing the light to flicker on despite it being still far from nightfall. Not wasting its advantage, the Royal Knight pulled its shield up and hit the tainted replica in the chin, before hooking a leg behind one of his and pulling them out from right underneath him, sending him to the floor.

He growled, turned his head to glare the way of the brighter colored knight – only saw an armored foot right before it hit him in the helmet, kicking him a few yards down the street.

"I may be far from being in great shape, but I'm still ways off from not being able to take you on. You seem to forget that you're not the only one carrying a virus around here. Yesterday, I was in the wrong – today, it's you!" The Royal Knight glanced the way of the Nonaka House, "But if this is indeed how I'll go out, if this is to end here, then at least I have the comforting knowledge that I tried my best to protect her until the end, did all I could... Even though it'd also mean that I failed not one, but all three of the the things I was created for."

"And that's why you're weak!" At the sound of the dark voice, the Royal Knight turned back to its opponent, finding it already back on its feet. Snarled, anger returning at the sight of just how superior the tainted knight's regeneration was. "You carry this virus, but you're not using it! Have not realized its full potential! You're...!"

"Too human?" The suggestion the Royal Knight made was a mixture of twisted humor and disgust, had it any expression it would've twisted into somewhere between a smile and... sadness. Sadness. Any day before the duel of no honor, it would've been anything else – anger, actual disgust, irritation! But now, now there was only sadness left at the thought of this.

Damn you, Takato.

"That attack just now, though – I have to give you that, that wasn't half bad. Not even waiting for me to finish, that was sneaky! Revolting! Dishonorable!" ChaosGallantmon laughed, "I like it."

"Just like your attempt at beheading Rika just now." The Royal Knight's voice was dry and dangerously low, and it rose its lance and shield just a tad higher as it glared at its foe, "I don't like it particularly, but against you, there's no way around stooping to your level. Beating you in your own game. As it is, you're not Takato, and I..."

It was afraid. Fear ruled the Royal Knight. Of what losing now meant. Of what it was about to do. But it wouldn't get the better of it. Not if it endangered Rika, Renamon and her family any further than it had already done. Even if it meant to go there again, letting it out.

"I don't. You may not think it looking at me, but... I don't fight it. I use it. Let it be my motivation, while feeding the Hazard with it at the same time. The secret is to not get tempted by it. Of course it makes me angry. And of course it makes me want to get revenge. But if I let every little thing get to me like that, where would I be today?"

The Royal Knight closed its eyes – and let go.

ChaosGallantmon had caught on that something was about to happen, but was in no hurry to intercept – if anything, it'd humor it a bit more. What could the Royal Knight do? Hope to achieve? Shield of the Just? A puny Lightning Joust? Nonsense. Both could be effortlessly crushed underneath the tainted knight's armored boot, that was how powerful he was in this form, but...

...was the Royal Knight growing?

Getting a bit uncomfortable after all, ChaosGallantmon summoned the lance he had lost during the tumble back into his hand and took a step forward, his eyes narrowing at the Royal Knight. For a second, he wrote it off as imagination, seeing as the other knight remained stationary, red and white armor reflecting the sunlight, eyes staying closed. Seconds passed, and he felt himself growing impatient, worry shifting into irritation. Staling for time, that was what the Royal Knight was doing! Until the other Royal Knights appeared! But not on his watch!

Raising the lance, he wasted no time in pushing off the ground and charging towards the gallant warrior, only to realize a second too late that this was what the knight had waited for. Suddenly moving again, it swung its arm and ripped its cape off in one fluid motion, throwing it off to the side for the wind to claim it – an action that at first seemed pointless, for it did nothing but take ChaosGallantmon's eyes off the Royal Knight for one second.

One second, in which the right arm of the Royal Knight burst apart, white Chrome Digizoid raining down to the ground, fingers on that hand all but melting together. The Royal Knight's shape grew outwards, becoming bulky, gaining several inches in height at once, and ChaosGallantmon found that his lance would no longer pierce the right spot.

It wouldn't pierce at all, for he suddenly found himself running into the wide open claw of what could only be described as the fusion of Gallantmon and Megidramon gone wrong. Torn off the ground by the talons closing around his helmet, he was swung around, his back hitting the same lamppost as before, lance flying off to the side as his body grew numb in one sweep, right before he was pushed down on the ground.

And as he opened his eyes that he had closed in pain, the face of what was no longer fully Gallantmon's helmet stared down at him, a hidden maw suddenly opening wide, acid saliva dripping down upon his tainted armor.

"I give you one chance, fallen one!" The voice that spoke to him was an odd mixture of the Royal Knight Gallantmon's calm voice and the snarling of a dragon, "As it it, you're not Takato, and I'm but a mindless beast – this is not our fight to finish, not now. Leave this place! Show your face again here, though, and I'll make it mine again – as it should have been! As I was created to!"

Even now, though temporarily caught off guard, the tainted knight didn't feel as intimidated as anyone else held down by this abominable chimera of justice and disaster would have been. He had to admit, this was far from what he had ever expected to stumble upon, far from what he had imagined to ever see – but it was amusing.

"Oh really? You think you can stop me? You just said it yourself, you're-!"

Pulled up into the air as though he weighed nothing, he still continued – and was abruptly cut off as he was slammed down into the asphalt, the ground bending around them under the force. He didn't remain there for long, though, not even given the chance to recover before he was pulled up yet again – this time to be actually thrown up into the sky.

Frowning at this, he quickly summoned lance and shield back to him and shifted his weight so that the world was the right way around again, quickly scanning the ground below for where the Nonaka house and the street in front of it was. Found the chimera, its claw digging into the ground while its other arm – to his surprise that of a human – was balled into a fist and held off to the side. The jaws of the beast were opened wide and it was staring back up at him, perfectly locked on despite his speed.

"Megiddo...!" Even with the huge distance in between them, he heard the deep roar echo through the city, and wasted no second in raising his shield in front of him. Although unsure of the purpose of this or what to expect – sure wasn't one of Gallantmon's normal attacks he was about to face, considering this was the beginning of one of Megidramon's attacks, which had far from enough reach – he narrowed his eyes and began to charge his shield, ready to retaliate the moment he had deflected the incoming attack. "...Lightning!"

His eyes opened wide at the name of an attack he had never heard before, but that was all the reaction he ever managed. For the split of a second, he saw the straight thin line emerging from the chimera's jaw, piercing his abdomen and continuing behind him, even though the unnatural Digimon hadn't even released the bright blue energy in the back of its throat yet. Saw, like the rest of Shinjuku, how all light dimmed for just one second.

He was the only one that never saw the gigantic fireball over Shinjuku, being in its very center after the beam of energy hit him.

Back on the ground, the mutated Royal Knight dryly laughed to itself as it saw the fireball, its maw twisting into a last weak smile - and collapsed, feeling its own body grow unstable. Already shifting into this form that had never meant to have been had taken all out of it, but having put all of its remaining power into the one attack, a terrible gamble with a more terrible cost that had no intention but to save Rika and her family, this was it – all it had left, given up. All but that small amount of energy it needed to live. But even that was flickering, threatening to die like a flame cut off from oxygen.

"My Lord Yggdrasil... I have disappointed you."

Its body shifted slowly, though no by choice, as its body began to revert into that of a normal Gallantmon. Light was dancing in front of its eyes, colors it wasn't sure of it it was from its claw deleting from the talons up, but never forming a new arm, or from exhaustion.

When had it come this far? When had it given up on the one purpose it had been created for, replacing that weakling Takato in his quest to destroy the Old One, to do this? To believe that it had actually done this!

"Damn you... Takato..." What had become all but a chant for everything miserable in its life made it past the chimera's lips, the rest of it almost drowned out by the feeling of the fire within its chest fading, "You and your... cursed feelings that were... imprinted onto me..."

A bluff. An empty bluff, that was what this action had been. Its words to ChaosGallantmon, followed by this attack, the gamble of the Royal Knight's lifetime. Now that there was nothing left, it could only hope that this one final attack had intimidated the tainted knight enough and that he had bought it, that Rika was safe.

"Rika..."

The sound of dirt crunching underneath someone's feet announced the arrival of another presence, but too weak to raise its head, the Royal Knight could merely wait for the other person to speak to know who it was, a silent request quickly answered.

"My liege..."

Crusadermon. Of course. Had it had any strength left, the broken chimera would've chuckled, maybe even laughed, at the irony of this situation. But alas, having not even the strength to move its lips, feeling the deletion of its right arm spreading, it could do nothing. Not even as two hands heaved it up and it found itself in between the pink Royal Knight and her wyvern knight partner, just nothing. Nothing at all.

From the corner of its eyes, it saw Rika standing in the hole in the wall to the Nonaka's front yard, the redhead's eyes wide. How much had she seen? Had she seen... the beast? The chimera? Had she seen what it could become, the abomination never meant to be?

It had to talk to her. Even if it was possibly the last time.

Crusadermon and Dynasmon seemed to feel their superior's urge as they turned towards the redheaded Tamer with the broken Royal Knight still in between them. With this last desire allowing the flame within its chest to flicker up again, the deletion of its body began to slow down – for the moment. The arm was almost gone in its entirety, and nothing and no one would be able to change that.

A random stray thought hit the Royal Knight created in the image of Takato's Gallantmon – with it gone, what would Yggdrasil do? His precious weapon against the Old Ones and the black datachips, gone with the wind – would he simply create a new one? Remove even more 'flaws'?

Heh. He should've used a blank slate to begin with, maybe then the next one wouldn't have to suffer its entire life under the memories of someone it wasn't and had never been, and could never hope to become. Second fiddle, no autonomy, never been and never would be unique!

Of course, that was if he allowed it to die, and wouldn't just mess with its data.

"You're..."

"Not Takato." The Royal Knight interrupted the moment Rika began, but seeing and feeling no relief from the redheaded Tamer, actually managed to laugh. Weak, choking on each breath, but a laugh like it hadn't had in an eternity. That wasn't what Rika had meant to ask, was it? She had not for one second believed the Royal Knight to be Takato, had been able to tell right away that it wasn't the same knight she had seen countless times. Left only one other question it could've been. "Dying? Yeah, guess I am."

"My liege, surely...!"

"Stuff it, Crusadermon. I've never been this much at peace with death as I've been now. Don't ruin it..." Shifting its gaze back to Rika, the Royal Knight sighed. "Though I know you're about to demand countless answers, like how I can exist if there's only one Guilmon, or how I'm related to the one you're looking for, but I'm afraid I can't be the one to answer them – I'm but a Royal Knight, a creation made to do what..." It caught itself from saying Takato's name, though it desired nothing else but to expose the damn boy as he deserved to be, "...someone couldn't. But I've also made it my task to..." It coughed, and the deletion of its arm began to speed up again, much to Crusadermon's panic, "...protect you. Like he would've done."

"Takato?" inquired Rika quietly, not expecting the Royal Knight to hear it and nod, nor for it to suddenly shake free of its two retainers and step forward even though this sped the deletion up even further, placing an oddly heavy and human-like hand on the redhead's shoulder. Eyes wide, she stared into the deep amber ones of the knight that was suddenly up in her face.

"Listen to me, Rika! Who you just saw, what you just saw – he's not who you think he is! ChaosGallantmon is no friend, no matter who it reminds you of!"

"Don't trust him, Rika. Don't trust your eyes."

With Reika's warning from the night she had first seen ChaosGallantmon suddenly on her mind again, this being the second person to warn her of the tainted knight, the Tamer barely even noticed the grip of the Royal Knight fading as it stepped back, only for its hand to be replaced by that of Renamon, gently guiding her back to the house, the soft voice of her partner assuring her that her mother and grandmother were fine safe for the shock they had gotten out of this, and who told her that her mother should check on her next.

And yet, still led by Renamon, Rika couldn't help but look back one last time to see Crusadermon and the oddly beaten up looking Dynasmon meeting their liege halfway, though at this point, one could only wonder how much longer it would last.

She couldn't help it, sadness overcame her as she realized that wherever their path led, it was their perhaps last journey together, the Gallantmon's entire right arm deleted at this point and the rest still on the verge to follow. Before meeting Takato, she wouldn't have cared, but now, that no longer was the case. The cold heart had been warmed again, molten. Beat for others.

Somehow, she knew that though three Royal Knights entered the alley next to her house, only two would reach the other end along with a last waft of data carried by the wind. Leaving only two retainers without purpose left.

In all that chaos, one thing escaped her, though, one she couldn't help but wonder about later. As she entered the house, Alice was long gone.

Meanwhile, Shinjuku Subway

She had to look again, she just couldn't help it – curiosity got the better of her.

Gripping her mother's hand tighter, the little girl turned her gaze away from the window opposite to her, through which she had been watching the stations pass by one after another, and glanced to her left – the way of the strange scary-looking man just a few steps away from her, holding onto the handrail above like he wasn't out of the ordinary in this situation.

So tall his forehead could as well rest against the metal rod - and that, it had done, after he had dragged himself into the subway a few stations ago – he towered above both her and her mother, with his midnight black clothes clinging to his lean stature and his free almost freakishly long arm hanging by his side, the silver talons on it gleaming in the shine of the lights along the tunnel walls that they passed, he just didn't fit into the picture. It was like he had walked straight out of some sinister dream, or a video game perhaps – not normal. He didn't feel normal to be around, either, ha this weird feeling clinging to him.

Didn't seem like he cared much, however, he simply seemed annoyed for whatever reason. He kept glaring the way of some people at the front of their wagon, and every time they would quickly turn away and freeze up. Afraid.

"Humans." she heard him snort in disgust, flashing his sharp teeth, each like a pristine white arrowhead, but couldn't really understand what he meant with that – wasn't he a human, too? He looked like it, for the most part.

Sure, he had those lanky arms, the claws they ended in, and the canines, but past that? If he would take that helmet off, maybe stood upright and do something about his grayish skin (perhaps he wasn't getting enough sunlight?), she was sure he wouldn't look too different from anyone else.

The way he looked, though, he did have something kind of intimidating about him. It did explain why these people at the front of the wagon were so scared of him.

"Pst, hey!" Her mother's sharp hiss had the girl turn her attention back to her, but she swore she saw the man perk up as well before she moved her head, "I told you – don't look! It's rude, and..."

Her mother had looked up and spotted that the tall man was glancing their way, freezing up as her eyes met the deep scarlet of his. Although young, she understood her mother's reaction – her mother was afraid. Just like she was afraid of what might be lurking in her closet at night, but she had her father to protect her from these demons. He would turn out the light and look into her closet, and they would flee in sheer terror of him. She was proud to have a father like that, she couldn't lie.

Why her mother was afraid of this man, however, she didn't really understand. Yes, he did look kinda scary, but...

"But Mom!" she complained, and felt as the scary-looking man's eyes shifted to her, "It's the weird man with wings that helped the knight against that pink blob a year ago!"

Her mother lowered her gaze to her at that in wonder, apparently unsure of what she was saying, but the girl turned to the person in question and smiled as bright as thousand suns up at him, even though he only met her with a glare.

"Whadda'ya think ya looking a, brat?" he eventually grumbled and immediately had the girl's mother freeze up again – but then, unable to help it, a smile crossed his lips, "Never seen a superhero on his way to work?"

The train pulled into the next station and the man glanced out the window to confirm this was his stop, but didn't make any move towards the doors yet. Not without reaching for a pocket on his belt, opening it by pulling on a zipper, and reaching into it to pull out two objects that looked comparably small in his big hands – two bright red strawberry lollipops, one which he offered her and she gladly accepted from his taloned fingers.

Smile on his lips growing bigger and revealing more of his pointy teeth, he unwrapped the other and set into motion just as the train came to a halt and the doors opened, the strawberry treat vanishing in between his white arrowhead chompers.

"Now, on ta findin' Takato..."

Just as sudden as he had entered, he left the train, moving through the crowd he towered over and that made sure to keep a safe distance to him, each of his steps sounding wet and causing water to spill from his boots, echoing through the suddenly eerily quiet station.

And then, and only then, the little girl's mother finally relaxed fully, leaving the girl with the same question the usually winged man had.

Had her mother never seen a superhero on his way to work before?

Hideout

"Sora, do you want anything?"

"Just a cold soda, Mimi."

"Alright, coming right up!"

"Hey!"

Mimi froze in the middle of the doorway from the living room to the hallway, turning her head to glance back the way she had just come to see Tai and Matt, sitting by the desk in front of the window facing the street, glare at her and Sora, the latter of which was just relaxing on the couch with Biyomon and Palmon. Raising her eyebrow at the two, then towards Joe on the other side of the room, who was completely absorbed in a book – scientific, without a doubt, nothing she'd enjoy reading – and then back to the two still glaring at her, she eventually just shrugged, not entirely sure what had made them so angry.

"You're not going to ask us if we want anything?" clarified Tai eventually – and, seeing Mimi catch on and then roll her eyes, only glared even harder. "We've been working on this map of Shinjuku all day, working out new routes to check and marking major locations, while you and Sora were just lazying around – don't we deserve some refreshments, too?"

At this, Mimi smiled sweetly, once again shrugging before she opened her mouth – and then closed it again.

"No. If you want something, get it yourself." Watching both Tai and Matt recoil at the unexpected blunt answer, Mimi instead turned the other way again and smiled, "Joe, do you want anything?"

"A glass of water would be very nice, Mimi."

"No problem, I was going to the kitchen anyway!"

And with that, the girl was out the door and Tai and Matt collapsed onto the desk, groaning, whereas the other two DigiDestined in the room and their partners erupted into laughter at the misfortune of the two.

"I told you two to be careful what you say about her hair. Especially when to say it." mused the oldest of them with clear amusement, actually turning away from his book to glance their way, "She doesn't care if it's just your opinion or not. Nothing irritates Mimi Tachikawa more than being criticized about her looks. And considering how long we all know each other, you should've known."

With another groan, Tai rose his head just enough to peek over his arms, obviously enough feeling miserable, which by itself was punishment enough.

"Yeah, but how were we supposed to know she'd walk in the moment we talk about it? It was one harmless comment about how I think she looked better with brunette hair!" His head sunk back down, "Why do I have this stupid talent of making girls angry? Aw man, this is just like the time I threw up in Sora's hat and...!"

He didn't get to finish, the sofa cushion that the tomboy in question threw hitting him over the head and knocking him off his chair.

"Did you have to remind me?!"

Outside the living room, Mimi rolled her eyes at the antics of her friends and sighed – she wasn't really mad at Tai and Matt if she was being honest, but they deserved to think that for a while longer. Maybe then they'd know better than to just say everything out loud the moment they thought of it, and started to act a little more sophisticated.

She paused. Yeah, right, Tai and acting only after he thought of something. What next, rain'd start falling upwards?

Whatever.

Going back to her original goal, the kitchen, which was the door only a few steps away from her, she rolled her eyes one last time and chuckled. She was in the middle of reaching for the handle, hand already curled around it, when she heard a dull noise to her right, almost as if something had slammed against the front door, followed by what sounded like a key being dragged across the wood from the outside.

Frowning, she quickly went over who it could be, remembering that – with those with her in the living room – about everyone was currently in the hideout. Most of the DigiDestined of the second generation, along with TK and Kari with their partners, were upstairs with Ruki, playing that card game, with only Ken, Wormmon, Izzy and Tentomon currently out to get some groceries. Could be them, though she highly doubted it, considering that they had left only very recently and the nearest supermarket was down a few streets. And since Willis had not come to this Quadrant with them, having to return home, that left only one person, and she smiled, waiting for the door to open.

Which, after a bit more scraping of the key missing the lock, it finally did.

"Hey Takato, about time you show up!" she chuckled even before the door had opened more than halfway, "Everyone's been wondering where you've been all day, vanishing like that without saying a word! I was just about to grab some drinks, do you want som...?"

The door opened all the way, and with it, Takato fell into the room – literally, surprising the DigiDestined of the first generation, a small miracle the only thing that allowed her to react in time and catch him before he hit the ground, already screaming for the others.

"TAI! MATT!"

It was only now that she noticed his state. His 'disguise' was torn, the black jacket had lots of cuts in it, as had his white shirt, but was missing one of its sleeves entirely, whereas his jeans were covered and dirt and... burns? Casting a quick glance into the direction of the still wide open front door, she made eye contact with Guilmon, who didn't look much better but at least seemed to still be able to walk, then back down at the boy in her arms.

Realizing he wasn't even fully conscious, Mimi quickly reached for his forehead to brush strands of his messed up hair, which strangely was brunette despite his disguise, out of his face, only to almost recoil as she felt his temperature – this couldn't even be called 'burning up' anymore!

Fortunately, having heard her panicked screech, both Tai and Matt came bursting out of the door to the living room that moment, took only one quick glance at the situation, and came to her help. With Matt's help, she dragged the almost lifeless Takato onto Tai's back and hurried to follow them back into the living room, the refreshments she had meant to get all but forgotten at this point.

The moment Sora saw the three enter – Guilmon trailing behind to close the front door – and with that inevitably laid eyes on the reason they were in such panic, she jumped off the couch to make room, immediately followed by her and Mimi's partners. Without surprise, at this point, Joe had already made it across the room and was guiding Tai with the barely conscious Takato on his back to the couch, and was cowering next to it even before Tai had put the Tamer down properly.

"What happened?" he inquired in a way more serious tone than before, but nobody knew exactly who he was asking, and no one really had an answer, leaving silence to be the only response, along with Takato's labored breathing – though those closest to him heard something along the lines of 'Royal Knight' in between the boy's hissing. That was as much of an answer as they would get out of him, Mimi could tell – and for whatever reason, Guilmon, still keeping quiet, shrunk away further into the corner at the question.

Ignoring this, however, and Takato's weak attempts at struggling against it, Joe reached behind himself to grab some scissors off the table, using them to make quick work of Takato's shirt and, again with Tai's help, to get the jacket off of the Tamer, leaving his torso completely exposed.

And what they saw would occupy them for a bit longer, Mimi knew it immediately, as did the DigiDestined of the second generation that, at that moment, having been attracted by the ruckus and meaning to check it out, entered along with Ruki.

It was an odd sight to witness, seeing Takato lie there in the remains of his disguise, torso completely bare – and covered in cuts, bruises and what was undeniably weak burns and scorches, parts of his body dissolving into colorful strings of data every other second, something that most of them still haven't gotten used to. A human, dissolving into data when wounded, rather than bleeding, which Takato still seemed to be capable of as well.

But it was what was topping this off that had most of them truly recoiling, the thin white lines beneath the soot and shining through the bruises, forming something angular across his chest, before spreading up his shoulder and down his right arm.

There was no better description: It looked as though the Digital Hazard had been burnt into his flesh – from below it.

"Takato..." Sora whispered in concern, but she, as did everyone else, knew better than to get in the way of Joe, the only one with extended medical knowledge among them. Even hurried to leave the room to get some water and a towel when Joe asked for it, being the first to react while everyone else was still in shock.

With Sora off to grab what he needed to carefully clean Takato's wounds, Joe rose his gaze from his 'patient', and surprised everyone when he whirled around to glare – yes, Joe, glaring! - towards the corner Guilmon had vanished off to.

"What. Happened." the future doctor repeated with more emphasis, and Guilmon's head sunk even lower. Like a dog that was being scolded, he actually laid flat down on his belly with his head between his front paws – and still hesitated, even though the situation was apparently bad enough for even Joe to lose his calm.

Whatever it was that had put Takato into this bad of a state, something about it was either a secret from the DigiDestined or bad enough that Guilmon didn't want to talk about it. And nobody knew which of these possibilities they liked less.

The situation was only somewhere diffused by Sora returning with a small bowl of water and a small towel, both which Joe accepted gratefully and wasted no time in making use of, quickly soaking the towel in the water to then remove some of the soot from the Tamer's wounds. Which actually got a reaction out of him, though it consisted mostly of hissing whenever Joe found a particularly bad spot.

Strangely enough, never close to the lines forming the Digital Hazard on his skin.

"I have no idea what you were up to or what caused this..." began Joe eventually after what seemed like a small eternity of silence in which neither of them aside from the oldest among the DigiDestined ever moved, gesturing to the bruises all over the Tamer, "...but I know one thing for sure, and it's what I've been afraid of all along: You've been overdoing it."

"I have done... no such..." began, to the surprise of most of them, the wounded boy in question, but was quickly shut up by Joe pushing him back down as he attempted to move.

"The bruises and cuts, I have no idea of what caused them, and you don't seem to be willing to tell us, but the rest of your symptoms – the fever, the weakness, the way you're drifting in and out of unconsciousness! Takato, that's exhaustion! Your body, telling you it can't handle all of what you're putting it through! Hazard or not, partially data or not, you're still human!"

No answer from the boy, not even the attempt at one or at protest, leaving some of them to question if he had lost consciousness again, though this was answered by Takato actually lifting his arm to reach for one of the pocket of his jeans. Disbelief spread as they saw him pull out his cellphone – and even more as Joe just snatched it out of his hands and threw it across the room into the armchair there, earning a displeased growl from Takato, still struggling to retain consciousness, and Joe just went back to tending to his wounds right away.

Just what was happening anymore?

"I'm asking one last time, Takato, who or what did this? I've seen you leave several times, but you always came back fine – until yesterday. Yesterday was the first time you showed up hurt, and yet, some of these bruises here are even older than that." Joe poked one and Takato erupted into a scream that had most of the others flinch away at the sight of the Tamer almost shooting up from the couch, only held down by the gentle hand of their healer on his chest, "So what changed all of a sudden? How can you receive these when you and Guilmon are Gallantmon, when it never happened before?"

"I have no idea what you're..." Takato began in a low growl, one of his eyes still closed in pain, the other glaring at Joe right next to him, but found himself interrupted by an unlikely source.

"Because he isn't Gallantmon, isn't it obvious?" Even when everyone's attention shifted to her and Takato's glare found its way to her, Ruki remained steadfast, had decided that this was the end of their charade – Takato was hurt beyond just a few scratches. This wasn't what she had agreed on anymore! "Takato, stop this madness already! Why are you still trying to hide it from them? What are you even trying to hide from them, they've seen it!"

On the couch, the Tamer let out a deep snarl, turning his head away from everyone to glare up at the ceiling. Whether he was just thinking about it, scowling or sulking, Ruki couldn't tell, but she honestly didn't even care anymore. And seeing as Takato wasn't going to do it, it was up to her, and no protest from him would stop her anymore.

"Yesterday, Takato fought Archenemy. Of course, he hasn't told you, it would've meant to 'unnecessarily' worry you – and would've forced him to share what he has kept from you so far, what he found out not too long after coming here."

"Ruki, I'm warning you..."

"See if I care, Takato. I've had enough of you putting yourself pointlessly into danger without any thought or reason! You need someone to back you up other than Guilmon, or this might end real bad one day – and with end, I mean end. And I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you this, right?"

Seeing him hesitate was enough of an answer, which was what she had counted on.

"Takato's been keeping something from you for a while now, and while I can see why he did it, we've reached a point you lot deserve to know what he's been hiding from you: Because of Archenemy's current form, Gallantmon can't hurt it any longer. In fact, none of Guilmon's Digivolutions, with the exception of Megidramon being able to deal at least a bit of damage."

As expected, this got a lot of mixed reactions from the others, but none of them stood out like that of TK, who voiced exactly what Ruki had waited to hear right away, louder than the others, as he turned towards Takato.

"Wait, what?! But if he can't, then how are we supposed to beat...?"

"Damn you, Ruki, that's exactly what I was hoping to avoid..." escaped the boy on the couch, before he turned and forced himself into a somewhat more upright position, even when Joe protested, and continued while still panting, "She's right, I've learned the hard way that Archenemy is completely immune to Gallantmon's attacks, but she wasn't finished. Yeah, Megidramon still works somewhat, but there is another way we can still defeat him. In fact, the only way I could have ever destroyed Archenemy to begin with, but Hazaado didn't share this with me until after I discovered this."

Raising his hand, he gestured Guilmon to come over, which his partner was only too glad to do, seeing his Tamer being in a better state than the one he had carried him to the hideout in. Which, considering he still had trouble speaking, didn't mean much, sadly.

"No sense in beating around the bush: The only way we'll ever get rid of him, and now the only way we'll ever be able to defeat him in his current form, is if I fight him as I am now – as a human, the only way to channel the Hazard's powers in a pure state. I need to be in Sentience Stage II. That's what she meant. Yeah, I've been out, fighting like this, with Guilmon backing me up."

This time, everyone shared the same reaction – silent disbelief, half of them frozen up entirely. He honestly didn't want to know what was going on inside their heads, not after he had been through the same. It had been days before he had accepted it, or at least begun to, and it would be days – weeks, maybe months, even! – before he could even hope to face Archenemy with the slightest hope of winning. Even if he had Megidramon backing him up. Even if the DigiDestined would help him. They wouldn't be the winning factor in this, at least he couldn't imagine how they would be, and that was why he had decided to not drag them into this, to not put them into danger more than they already were!

Why was no one understanding that?

"Night after night, he's been sneaking out while you were sleeping to fight black datachip Digimon, no matter the place, time or weather. That's why he's exhausted like that. For all I know, he's had hypothermia for days!"

"Ruki, they didn't need to know that, too! Thanks to the Hazard, I've been fine, really!"

"Oh heck, if you tell'em, you might as well tell them all of it! Besides..."

A single hand, that was what it took to bring the once powerful carrier of the Hazard crest back down onto the couch – and a surprisingly sinister glare from Joe to keep him there. That was why Ruki had mentioned that!

"Honestly, I should be reprimanding you, but I'm honestly more amazed to see you in this state now – with what I've just learned, it's a surprise that you have even this much energy to talk with us, and aren't just in some state of delirium. What were you thinking, Takato?"

"I think that's the problem, Joe. He wasn't thinking at all."

"Hey!" growled the Tamer, "Stop teaming up on me! I'm not some..."

"Oh yes, to be honest, you are." interrupted Joe immediately, now getting angry and showing Takato a rare side of him that way, "And even then, calling you a child for these actions is probably still putting it too lightly, considering just how little thought you obviously put in them."

"He's right, Takato." added Sora from off to the side before Takato even got the chance to counter, "I can understand if you want to keep your friends and family safe and end this before it really begins, but you leave me no choice but to tell you the same thing I've had to tell both Tai and Matt before: If you keep this up you will, and I can assure you of that, be too weak when it actually counts, gave you ever thought about that for one second? That, for all we know, that could be exactly what Archenemy is waiting for? In fact, probably working toward all along, and you played right into his hands!"

Sora's tone was gentle, no blame in it, and yet didn't fail to get through to Takato, if his reaction was any indication. For a few seconds, he just lay there, not moving at all, staring straight through them – and then, turned to face the ceiling and covered his face with both of his hands, muffling his sigh.

About time he realized he had overdone it, at least in Ruki's eyes. Having met him just before this insanity of his began, the night in which she met him, his fight against Gigadramon having been a major part in him making this choice, she'd been witness to this rapid descent of his, with every event that followed – Arukenimon and Mummymon, Sandiramon, then Crusadermon and Dynasmon, and finally, and perhaps most crucial, his fight against the Royal Knight Gallantmon – only making it worse.

How many black datachip Digimon had he taken on in secret, she wondered, night after night? Even after he had nearly been deleted by his Royal Knight counterpart, he had gone out and dealt with them. It had to stop.

"How did you do that anyway?" asked Yolei eventually, with Takato still in the same position after about two minutes passed, "Even with everything you and Guilmon are capable of, there's no way you could do that all alone, especially without attracting attention. Not with the state you were in."

"Beelzemon." mumbled the boy into his hands, feeling a headache coming up, "Using his bike, we could move around the city fast, and with him not only being a Mega, but a Demon Lord, taking on even multiple Infected wasn't a problem."

"Except it apparently was, or you wouldn't be in this state right now!"

"I never said it went off without a hitch!" The outrage clear on his face, Takato glared the way of TK, but eventually backed back down and snatched the wet towel from Joe in the process. Not to clean his wounds, but to fold it up and place it onto his own forehead, which had the oldest of the DigiDestined sigh and relent to leave the room to grab another, knowing there was no bargaining with Takato at the moment. "Besides, most of this isn't even from that, but the knights..."

It was a low grumble, but still audible enough for them to catch it and wonder what exactly Takato meant with 'knights', though the 'Royal Knights' were the most obvious answer they all quickly reached.

"Knights?" inquired Kari, and was not prepared for Takato to sit up again, so fast that the towel went flying off his forehead and down to his legs, anger getting the better of him again.

"Okay, so I lost control for a while – it was bound to happen, really!" he shot back, though no one really understood what he was going on about, considering it wasn't answering the question, "But Hazaado assured me I didn't do anything serious or drastic while I went berserk. Just a confrontation with a Royal Knight that sought me out, looking for revenge. Apparently, he looked a lot worse than I did at the end of that fight."

Met with silence, he glared through the gathering of DigiDestined, lingering on some of the faces for a bit longer than the rest – and then, like a petulant kid, flopped back down on the couch, put the towel back onto his forehead, crossed his arms, and turned away from them, facing the backrest. End of conversation, the gesture was clear.

Still, what he had said worried the DigiDestined and their partners, and even Ruki couldn't shake off the feeling that especially the last part had been the herald of something bad to come. Takato, losing control, even after all he had done to prevent this? After all the training he had done with Hazaado in between the defeat of Archenemy in the Eastern Quadrant and them moving to the South Quadrant?

An uneasy silence had settled among them, and everyone suddenly seemed to be busy with their own thoughts. Not too surprising, given the bad news, and Ruki had that she had to have been the harbinger of them, but Takato had not given her a choice in this. The DigiDestined had a right to know, no matter what he thought!

Their thoughts were interrupted, however, by a loud beeping coming from the other side of the room, pulling even Takato out of his sulking to glance over his shoulder at the armchair that Joe had thrown his cellphone into. Seeing that no one was making a move toward it, however, especially not Takato, the redhead without a partner let out a sigh and relented to get it. Maybe even get a glimpse of what had caused the sound, with how careless Takato had been around her when punching in his security code.

From the couch, Takato watched her for a second, but feeling his headache getting the better of him again, decided to give up and lie back down, figuring she'd pass him the device anyway once she got it. He felt a few gazes following him, but couldn't really care less at that moment in his current state and mood – which didn't improve with Joe returning to the room, a new towel with him, along with a few medical supplies. Takato just knew it was going to sting a lot.

He felt vindicated when, the moment Joe knelt down behind him, he felt a sharp pain in his back as the oldest of the DigiDestined placed something cool against one of the bruises there.

"If you don't mind me asking, Takato..." Somehow, Takato doubted he had a say in what was going to follow, "...I know very little about your current state, simply due to how unique it is. I can treat your cuts and bruises easily, and I assume there's nothing that can be done about the Digital Hazard emblazoned across your chest, but what about your data? I don't know if you're aware of it, but especially your back is full of these colorful spots... What did you call them again? 'Unstable'?"

"Yeah. It's not unlike a Digimon being defeated and on the verge of deleting." replied the Tamer quietly, still facing away from them, "Don't worry about them, there's little that can be done. They'll vanish once I'll get better, regain some strength. Think of it as my body being too weak to keep itself together at the moment, but not weak enough for the data to get set free."

"Fascinating." Takato felt the DigiDestined treating him touching one of the aforementioned spots on his back, probably being surprised to meet an almost natural resistance, "It's almost as though your body, due to its split nature of organic and data, has developed two different kinds of natural defenses that act independent of another in what they protect you against, but are dependent of another at the same time when it comes to persisting. Is that how they work?"

The Tamer rose his head a little and turned it to frown at the young man behind him, blinked a few times.

"I'm... not really sure." Takato hesitated, "I've never really questioned how my body works since the conversion through the Digital Hazard. Actually, I never really questioned what some of us becoming part data meant in the first place. How we're different from those of us who didn't get the gift... or how I am different from them now, too."

He laid back down and faced the backrest again, giving Joe easier access to the bruises on his upper back. The others in the room and his bad mood momentarily forgotten, he just stared at the deep black backrest of the couch.

"I've come to just accept things like these, they rarely provide answers or make sense, and questioning them is just time you could spend doing something more meaningful. At least, that's my experience since accessing the Hazard's powers." He shook his head, "I probably just would've gone crazy, had I thought anymore about them. Although only as malevolent as his bearer, some of the Digital Hazard's powers are rather... twisted."

"We've come to learn that, Takato." offered Matt with his arms crossed, standing off to the side by the window and the desk he and Tai had been spent most of their day at.

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess. The thing with the harbor was something, huh?" The chuckle that followed was dry and void of humor, and most of those who had been there with him that night could only agree with the notion, "Look, it's been a stressful few days. Once Joe's done treating my wounds, cause I know he won't let me leave before..."

"You got that right, Takato!"

"...I'll go and lie down, rest up. No sneaking out anymore, I promise. I'll contact Beelzemon and we..."

"Your recovery will have to wait, Takato – I'm afraid you've messed up already."

Hearing Ruki's ominous interruption, they all turned to the girl that had gone eerily quiet before. Standing in the middle of the room with Takato's cellphone still in hand, she was frowning down at the device, her face illuminated only by the white shine of the screen, with her thumb hovering over the button to cancel whatever she was seeing on it.

"Ruki?" inquired Tai, and got the girl to glare up at him, though the emotion causing her to did not seem to be directed at him as well. Instead, she quickly looked back down at Takato's cellphone, took a deep breath – and once more became the harbinger of bad news.

"The Queen of Azure and her Knight forged in steel. At the crossing of life before their throne, I'll make them kneel. As the sun falls from the sky, so will their reign, will never be the same – we've stalled long enough, let's play my final game."

No sooner than she had finished, she turned the cellphone around and presented the others with the ominous text, being met with a lot of different reactions – but none was as unique as that of Takato. There was no shock like Mimi seemed to be in, was not uncertain what to do with the information like Joe seemed to be. Instead, his face twisted into something she could only describe as dragon-like, an imprint of Megidramon within him. Full of anger and disgust, and she couldn't even blame him for one second.

Had she been in his stead, even without the circumstances concerning his health, she would probably not have reacted any differently. And this was without him realizing she had just unlocked his phone even though she clearly should not have been able to, a minor thing in comparison, soon to be forgotten. Maybe he knew, and just wasn't mad about it, considering what she had found.

"What's it with that thing and his stupid games?" growled Davis eventually, the first to find something to say, while everyone else was still processing the newest invitation of Archenemy. "What's this one supposed to mean, anyway? Why does he always have to be so cryptic? Gah, where's Izzy and Ken when you need them?!"

"Hypnos." mumbled Takato the moment Davis finished, and scowled straight ahead when the others turned to him, "He wants me as Gallantmon to be at the intersection in front of Hypnos by sunset."

"Sunset?" repeated Yolei, looking down at her wristwatch, "But that's less than two hours away! Takato, there's no way you'll recover until then!"

The Tamer's scowl grew in response and he narrowed his eyes as though deep in thought, the faint 'Won't I?' almost missed even by those standing closest to him, just before something seemed to hit him.

"Yeah, you're right, there's no way I'll be in any state to face him then!" he exclaimed, and had he not continued on, some would've questioned his sanity at this reaction, "But he still expects Gallantmon to show up, and I'm afraid to find out what he'll do if Gallantmon doesn't. So we don't have much of a choice, right? I'm going there."

"What? Takato, you just said it yourself, you're in no condition to...!"

"Not now, Joe." The Tamer removed the towel from his forehead and sat up, this time fully, and turned towards them, lifting both hands,"Ruki, my cellphone! Can't believe I'm doing this, but...!"

Catching on, although not quite sure what he intended to do, the redhead threw the device back to its owner and watched Takato quickly unlock it again. Not to read the message again, though, it seemed, as he quickly punched in a number and then, to everyone's surprise, rose the cellphone to his ear.

Confusion spread among them, the DigiDestined quickly checking their numbers in wonder of who he could be calling, but with only Ken and Izzy out, they quickly found their answer.

At least, until they heard the female voice as the call was picked up, an ear-shattering scream of "Takato?!" that had the Tamer move the device as far away from his ear as he could, one eye closed and the sound ringing in his ears. He waited a few seconds during which the person at the other end of the phone screamed one intelligible question after another, then eventually let out a sigh and interrupted.

"Been a while, has it?" was the first thing he said, apparently met with more disbelief at that kind of question as the voice got louder again, but eventually seemed to gain control of the situation again, "Everything's fine. Well, most of it, or I wouldn't be calling."

No response. Dead silence.

"It's not what you're thinking. Look, I need your help." Laughter coming from the phone, surprising the DigiDestined, "Oh, haha, very funny. You're gonna help or not?"

Silence again, then a grunt.

"Are you up for another fight? I'll text you the details, I've got somewhere I've got to be... Hypnos, sunset." Silence. "Before that, though... I believe you still owe me a favor."

He ignored the displeased grunt coming from the phone just as much as he ignored the confused stares of the DigiDestined, smiled, and paid no mind to Joe's incredulous glare as he just got up from the couch, still not a single piece of clothing covering his bare torso, and with the phone still at his ear, left the room.

And the DigiDestined in the dark once more.

She cast a glance behind her, frowning, scanning the street from beneath her hood to ensure she wasn't being followed. For a normal human, that would've been nigh impossible, given that, even when tinted in the orange of twilight, the sun hanging low over the horizon, the streets of Shinjuku were filled to the brim with all kinds of people – but it sure came in handy she wasn't 'normal'.

With no one focused on her, no one aware of what was walking right in their midst in human guise, her gaze came to rest on a house down the street and remained there for a moment, wondering how it had never stood out to her before until then, how she hadn't realized the subtle aura it was emitting ever since its current occupants had moved in – but it didn't matter. Not right then. She had more important things to do.

Besides, given that it was sunset, she had somewhere else to be. Just one little last thing she had to do before, though, to ensure a certain carrier of the crest of hatred would be in the right mindset. Would have the right motivation for this.

Putting on her sweetest smile – of course, as fake as her human disguise was, perfected but hollow – she turned to the building she was in front of, took a deep breath, and opened the doors.

Immediately, she was assaulted by a warm and homey fragrance, inviting her in, embracing her, welcoming her to step in and relax. And that was what she did, fake smile fading and being replaced by a more genuine one. Whether at the prospect of what she was about to do, or because of this place, she didn't know.

Having heard her enter, the woman behind the counter turned toward her, abandoning the conversation she had been in with her husband standing in the doorway to a room in the back, and offered her a smile and a short greeting. That smile, it wouldn't last long, of course, once the truth would be revealed, but that didn't mean it wasn't pleasant to see. Most things eventually fading were, temporary beauty not meant to last – that was what made it so enjoyable.

A quick look around confirmed that there were no other customers at the moment, just like she had suspected after observing the place for the last hour, but it was still a rather fortunate circumstance not to be disregarded.

She didn't need any potential witnesses for what was to follow.

"Can I help you with anything?" inquired the woman behind the counter, still with a smile, when she didn't move or say anything – but the smile faded as soon as she reached behind her, grabbing the 'open' sign and turning it around so that it read 'closed' on the outside. "Hey, put that back, we're not closing yet! What's the big idea, what are you...?!"

Her right eye burst into orange flames, suddenly casting the bakery in a completely different light, and the woman behind the counter fell silent and, taking a step back, turned pale. Attracted by the noise, her husband came back into the room, and spotting the girl with the burning eye, quickly placed himself in between her and his wife.

But the fear, she could see it in his eyes as well. Her smile grew, a single movement of her left hand – her insignia, her pride, glowing on it in its malevolent orange – willing the doors behind her to close and the windows to gleam in a strange orange opaque that allowed no light to fall through, the flickering orange flame hovering in front of her left eye suddenly the only source of light in the room.

Never before had she looked so sinister to anyone, and she loved it.

"Good evening, Mr and Ms Matsuki... Takehiro, Yoshie." she greeted them. As was right and proper, really, no matter the situation. In response, she saw them back away even further. The man probably thought about using the door in the kitchen to escape, but she had already taken care of that and placed someone there to ensure they wouldn't be... 'interrupted'. She was on a tight enough of a schedule already, someone was waiting for her, after all, and she'd rather not disappoint them.

"I believe we didn't have the pleasure yet... You don't know me, but I know you rather well." Stepping further into the room, she lifted her left arm again, shrugged. "But don't worry, I'm here to correct that. I'm afraid, though, that we don't have much time for this, so let me get straight to the point..."

Raising her left hand even higher, she reached for her hood and pulled it back, allowing her brunette hair to spill out from underneath it, shook it out, rolled her shoulders. Oh, you get pent up if you're angry, if you're in need of revenge! She couldn't wait to get to Hypnos and pay him back!

But first things first, as they said.

"You may address me as 'Reika Sôtai' and I'm here because of... Takato."

Her smile spread beyond human limits. Behind her husband, Yoshie dropped into a chair, her whole body quivering. And the last thing Takehiro should see, as the strange orange flame in front of the girl's eye suddenly extinguished and threw the room back into darkness, was how the 'girl' reached the counter and catapulted herself across it right towards them.

Come morning, the Matsuki bakery was found barren of life.

But before that, a game was to be played.

And there we have it, the third and final part to chapter 18 – and the first of the 'shorter' installments that start a more regular update schedule, as promised last time.

About that – I'm really sorry that it took so long for this to be uploaded, despite what I said last time. Everything was going so well, I was on a roll, as I had mentioned I was going through all the chapters already released to fix mistakes and smooth things out a bit that this chapter was intended to be released with – as I also mentioned, without major changes being made to the plot or similar – and was almost all the way through, more than a week's worth of revision...

And then, a power outage, my USB drive got corrupted, and it was all for nothing. After that harsh of a blow, was it any surprise I lost my desire to write for a bit? Just had to do some other things to take my mind of it, and well, now I'm back.

But at least I can reassure you that, with this, we actually start the more regular updates, and that the next update won't be depending on any fixes of earlier chapters, so it really shouldn't take too long. The whole 'fixing earlier chapters' will just be a thing I'll be doing on the side from now on, hoping to finish it by the time this story also comes to an end. Most likely way sooner.

So yeah, anyway, that's about it. Been an eventful chapter – all three parts of it – hasn't it? First Takato gets involved in a duel of no honor against the Royal Knight Gallantmon,which turns out to be some kind of chimera of Gallantmon and Megidramon due to imperfections in its code triggered by the Digital Hazard, and loses. Then, Rika reveals what's really been happening to her mother and Alice, unaware of the goth's defection, only for that nightmare of hers to become true. At the same time, the Demon Lords betray Beelzemon and Lilithmon's true colors are exposed.

And then, THIS.

Can it get any worse for our Tamer? Only time will tell...