Rika reached Doumon the same time Suzie reached Harmony.
With a sob, Suzie hugged her sister's legs.
"Everything's fine, Suzie," Harmony assured her. "You're safe now."
"B-but what about Rika?" the young Tamer sniffled and looked back.
Everyone looked at Doumon grimly. The Ultimate smirked. "Don't worry, I just want to talk to her. In a few minutes, you can have her back. We'll even stay in sight, if you want."
"If that's what you want, why kidnap Suzie in the first place?" Takato shouted.
Doumon shrugged. "I wanted to be on the safe side. Now, may I have a word with you in private, Rika?"
Rika glared at him. "All right, but no tricks!"
Her friends watched suspiciously as Doumon and Rika walked away from them.
"I don't like this," Takato muttered.
"Still, it was Rika's decision," Renamon spoke up. "We should respect that. And as long as we can still see them, we'll see if Doumon does anything to her."
"He better not..." Terriermon growled.
Harmony looked after the red-haired girl and smiled. "Don't worry, she'll be okay. I was worried too, but I know her better than you guys. Well, except for you, Renamon! I know that she wouldn't have done this if she wouldn't be certain that she isn't in danger."
----
Rikamon followed Doumon over the flat plains, always on edge. She knew her friends were still behind them, so there wasn't much that creep could do without them noticing.
Then, Doumon stopped. "I believe this is far enough," he said and turned around. He looked down at Rika. "It's really amazing, you know? The last time I saw you, you just were a tiny little baby... and Renamon a small Viximon."
"What would you know about my life?" Rika snapped. "And what do you want from me? If you want to fight me, bring it on!"
Doumon shook his head. "Rika, Rika... If it was a fight I wanted, I could have done this in some other manner. I don't want to harm you. Why, I wouldn't even mind if you wanted to turn into your Hybrid form right now."
Rika looked at him closely.
"Rika Hybrid Digivolution to... Kitsumon!"
And she turned into her two-tailed, antropomorphic Rookie form.
Doumon nodded. "Truly amazing. You don't know how similar you are looking to Renamon now. A shame that Hybrid Digivolution is limited to the use of Tamers like you."
"Stop babbling and get to the point! Who are you and what do you want?"
Deep within her mind, a tiny voice was chanting: 'It can't be, it simply can't be, please don't let him be my father...'
Doumon smiled. "Why, I am surprised that you don't recognize your dear grandfather, Rika."
Kitsumon froze. "What?" she whispered.
"Well, I suppose it has been a long time since we saw each other. When was it, at Renamon's fourth birthday? Things really have changed since then, I admit."
"But... but I thought..." She shook her head. "Nevermind. How did you get here in the first place?"
Doumon spread his arms and let her look at the shimmering white cape that was hanging from his shoulders. "A Cloak of Light," he smirked. "The aura of goodness it gives off is so strong that it will essentially cover all traces of darkness, even those as powerful as mine. Azulongmon wouldn't even be able to detect my dark aura if I would stand directly next to him."
"Whatever," Kitsumon growled. "What I really want to know is, why did you kidnap Suzie? If it's a family reunion you wanted, you could have given me a call."
Doumon laughed. He laughed long and hard. He even wiped some tears out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, Rika, you really have no idea what this is about, do you?"
"Perhaps it would help if you would explain things to me."
Doumon chuckled. "Just like your father, always to the point. Okay, I see: You really have no idea which league I am in." He straightened his robe and portly looked down at his granddaughter. "You have the honor... of being in the presence of the personification of the sin Greed. I am one of the Seven Great Demon Lords, at your service!"
Rika gasped and stared at her grandfather, the incarnation of Greed. Slowly, she sank down to her knees. One of the Seven Great Demon Lords... a member of her family?
This morning she didn't even know about their existence, and now this? This was too much.
Tears were coming to her eyes. "So," she said through gritted teeth. "All that speech of what a nice family we have been, all a fraud to lure me away from my friends? You wanna kill me? Fine, do it!"
Doumon shook his head. "Rika, you do not understand. We Demon Lords might be what other Digimon call 'evil', but we are no soulless killing machines. It is true that each of us carries the sin of our title, but that doesn't mean we are true demons. And you can trust me if I say this: I don't want to kill you! On the contrary, I asked you to come because I want to protect you from all of this."
"Wh-what? you must be daft if you believe me to..."
"It's true!" Doumon insisted. "We, the Seven Great Demon Lords, are following the goal of conquering the Digital World, together with the human world. And to reach that goal, we are gathering the current incarnations of all seven sins. We are aware that there will be confrontations, and that people as well as Digimon will rebel against the new world order we have envisioned."
"You can stuff your world order..."
Doumon interrupted her with a firm gesture. "I don't want to convince you that your way of thinking is wrong, Rika. I know that you are far too attached to the Sovereigns' way of thinking that you would never become a follower of us. What I want you to know is that I don't want to see you hurt. See, I still am your grandfather, even as the incarnation of greed. I want to ask of you: Please, stay out of this battle! I would never be able to hurt you, but there are others among my group that don't have this feeling of remorse. We will reach our goal, Rika, by all means necessary. And I don't want you to be one of the sacrifices of war, don't you see? And you can tell the same to your friends: Stay out of our way, and no one will get hurt! This is a battle between us and the Four Sovereigns."
Kitsumon wasn't convinced. "You said you are the personification of Greed, right? So what stops you from killing anyone to satisfy your desires?"
Doumon clutched his robes with his hands. "Rika, you are right: I would do anything for satisfying this burning desire for power and riches. I am greedy, yes, I am the personification of Greed! But as long as there are ways to reach my goals in another way, I will use those ways. And that's the reason why I'm asking you to not fight us. Stop that fool Yamacus, if you must, but don't interfere with our plans."
Kitsumon got furious. She snarled at the Digimon that was her grandfather. She growled like a vicious beast. And then...
She lowered her hands and looked at the ground with a sigh. "Grandpa, you really don't know what it's like to have friends, right?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Rika looked up at him. "I don't believe that a single member of your group comes even close to what you could consider a friend. I don't know for how long you have been a member of these 'Demon Lords', but I guess it must have destroyed your sense of friendship. You might have some feelings for your family... but you have no friends. And because of that, you would never understand why I'm doing this."
She stared into his eyes with resolution and made her right hand into a fist. "As long as there are humans or Digimon in danger, as long as my friends will risk their lives to fight evil, I will be at their sides. I could never abandon them, Demon Lord! I don't know if you understand even the concept of friendship, but know that I won't stand just down and let you and your 'pals' do whatever you like. I don't know either if I would be able to destroy you... but know that I will do anything in my power to stop you!"
Doumon sighed. He looked really disappointed. "I thought you would think like that, Rika..." he muttered sadly. "Just like your father, always fighting for justice... Very well then, if I can't convince you, so be it."
He looked at her with regretful, but dark eyes. "Do what you have to do, Rika, but remember this: If we were to meet in battle, I would consider you an enemy. Farewell!"
He turned around and his cloak waved dramatically, before he walked away. Rika looked after him, until his form shimmered and wavered, until he disappeared.
Her friends, who didn't understand a single word of the conversation, looked as Rika just kept on standing there, staring into emptiness.
Then she dropped down to her knees and buried her face in her hands.
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(Posted Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:11)
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