Authors' Notes: We have collaborated into making our own Digimon fanfic together!  We hope ye enjoy it!  We don't own Digimon sadly, but since Toei's done with Tamers we'll happily give all those characters a new home.  ^_^

This is a continuation story of after the ending of Digimon Tamers, so there will be possible Spoilers; none yet but possibly later.

Dreaming to Reality

By Neon Tiger and Yuki Ryu

Chapter 1: First Impressions

*~*

      Impmon scowled at the scene before him, or rather beneath him, as he sat on a high tree limb.  On the ground below him, Takato Matsuda and Jenrya Lee, along with their digimon Guilmon and Terriermon, were playing and having fun together.  They were all playing tag, with Guilmon currently being the one who was 'it'.

      "Look at those stupid humans and their digi-slaves," Impmon muttered irritably to no one in particular.  "Don't those dumb digimon realize they don't need those idiot humans?"  He looked away from the scene as Guilmon had found Takato and they started mock wrestling playfully together after Takato had been found.  "What losers."

      Impmon made a face of disgust.  While looking away kept him from seeing the Tamers and digimon play, it didn't prevent him from hearing their delighted laughter.  He let out an annoyed growl and stood, fangs bared.  "I can't take this anymore!" he snapped.

      The Tamers and digimon looked up at the yelling to see an angry Impmon, who then hopped down from the tree and glared at them.  "You know, you losers really take the cake, you know that?" he sneered.

      Jenrya rolled his eyes while Takato sighed in exasperation.  "What did we do now to upset the 'almighty Impmon'?" Terriermon asked sarcastically.

      Guilmon just blinked at Impmon in confusion.  "I didn't even know there was any cake," he said innocently.

      "There's no cake!  It was just a figure of speech, you dumb dino!" Impmon snapped at Guilmon.  He turned his attention to Terriermon next.  "As for what you did to upset me this time, it's the same thing as every other time!"

      "Constipation?" Terriermon quipped.  Impmon blinked, then glared as his cheek twitched.

      "Takatomoooon?  What's constipation?" Guilmon asked his Tamer innocently.

      Takato sweat-dropped and rubbed his head nervously.  "I'll... explain it to you later, Guilmon," he said, embarrassed.

      Impmon growled and began to stomp his foot, agitated.  "I'll GIVE ya CONSTIPATION!" he snarled, pointing a claw threateningly at the Tamers.

      "Eww!  Go to the bathroom if you're going to do that!" Terriermon said with mock disgust.

      "Terriermon, don't encourage him," Jenrya scolded.

      "WHAT!?!  THAT'S IT!" Impmon shrieked, waving his fists hysterically.  "I'M GONNA-!"

      Before anyone could react, a hideous shriek pierced the air.

      "LOOK OUT!  NO BRAKES!  NO BRAKES!!"

      "Whuh?" Impmon paused and looked up just in time for the owner of said voice to collide into him at high speeds.

      Impmon shrieked and flailed, unable to do much else as certain pain loomed over him upon expected impact.  Needless to say, it surprised him when he was scooped up and carried for a few yards before the person responsible finally came to a halt.  Impmon blinked repeatedly, then looked up in disbelief.

      Holding him was a teenaged girl with long blond, violet-streaked hair and violet eyes.  It was apparent that she was a roller-blader from the violet roller-blades, with matching padding and helmet she wore over a white T-shirt, white stretch pants, jean jacket, and jean shorts.  She had a pair of rings piercing her left ear with a tiny chain attached to each, and a small teardrop shaped jewel dangling from the chain.  She had a similarly made hair ornament clipped onto the back of her hair.

      Impmon blinked once, then twice, before he puffed his cheeks up and glared.  "WATCH where ya' going, toots!" he barked.

      "SORRY!" the girl yelped apologetically.  "Are you okay, kiddo?"  She then looked over Impmon for injury.

      "PUT ME DOWN!" Impmon barked, totally ignoring her concern with his usual rudeness.

      "Wow, nice Impmon costume...," she commented off-handedly before wincing at his demand.  "Oh, right, sorry!"  She quickly obeyed, setting Impmon down onto the asphalt.

      Impmon huffed and stomped before he turned about and stalked away.  "It AIN'T a costume, TOOTS."

      The girl blinked blankly at Impmon, slowly.  "It's not?" she asked, confused.  "Really good make up then?"

      Impmon smirked and stuck his tongue out at the girl, pulling down an eyelid in the process.  "In your dreams!  There ain't enough make up in the world to make someone look this good!"

      "There isn't enough make up in the world to make YOU look good!" a tiny voice quipped from the bushes.  "Except maybe monster movie make up."

      "OI!" Impmon whirled and growled, shaking a fist at the bushes.  "COME OUTTA THERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!  MON TO MON!"

      "Make me," the voice quipped.

      "Terriermon, be quiet," Jenrya hissed at the bushes.

      "Takatomon, what's make up?" another voice asked.

      "Shh!" Takato hissed quietly at the bushes.  "I'll explain later."

      "Baah, you bunch of digi-slaves!" Impmon sneered.  "I betcha you're too afraid to come out!"

      The girl blinked again and stared at Impmon, not paying attention to the argument with the apparent talking bushes.  "So...  You mean to say you're real?" she asked, disbelievingly.

      "You catch on real quick, toots," Impmon snickered as he tossed a grin at the girl.  "You're lookin' at the real deal, ya know?"

      The girl stared in silence for a few moments as her eyes widened.  Then in an instant she was kneeling down on the ground, scooping up Impmon into her arms, and glomping him.  "WOOOOW, SO COOOOL!" she squealed.  "A real live Impmon!"

      "WHA-!" Impmon squeaked, then squirmed violently.  "LET GO!  STOP IT!  HEEEY!"

      "This is so unbearably cool!" she squealed happily as she snuggled Impmon in her arms.  "Impmon are my most favorite type of digimon in the whole world!"

      To add insult to injury, loud snickering came from the bushes because of Impmon's plight.  The two Tamers couldn't help but sweat-drop nervously at the sight of a girl older than they were reacting in such a way to meeting a digimon.

      Impmon felt his cheeks turn bright red, which only infuriated him more.  He squirmed, yowling and waving his arms.  "LET GO!!  NOW!  HEY!  NO MUSHY STUFF!  HEEEEY!"

      The girl continued to hold Impmon in a firm glomp as she snuggled him against her, ignoring his protests.  "You're so CUTE!"

      The snickering in the bushes turned into full-blown cackling at that comment.

      "I AM NOT!" Impmon shrieked.  "COOL, maybe.  BUT I AM NOT CUTE!"

      "Well yes, you're cool, but mostly cute," the girl pointed out cheerfully.

      "I am NOT CUTE!" Impmon insisted, venomously.

      "Yes you are," the girl responded cheerfully.

      "Aww... don't be so hard on yourself, Impmon," a voice cackled from the bushes.  "You'we the cootest widdle digimon awound!"

      "I AM NOT!" Impmon roared.

      "Takatomon," the other voice in the bushes suddenly said with a sense of urgency.  "I smell a digimon!"

      "What?" Takato gasped.  "Where?"

      Guilmon emerged from the bushes, sniffing the air, before pointing off towards a group of trees.  "There!" he said as his eyes shrank to slits, preparing to battle.

      Jenrya looked at Guilmon and Takato, his expression becoming serious before he looked back at the bushes.  "Come on, Terriermon," he said, knowing that hiding the digimon was pointless now.

      "Aww...  Can't I make fun of Impmon some more first?" Terriermon said teasingly as he hopped out of the bushes.  He was trying to stop laughing at Impmon's plight, but was ultimately failing at it.

      "JUST TRY IT, YOU-!" Impmon struggled and tugged at the girl's arm.  "PUT ME DOWN!"

      "Terriermon," Jenrya muttered in exasperation at his partner.

      "Right, right, Jen," Terriermon said with regret before hopping onto Jenrya's shoulder.  He couldn't help but smirk at Impmon.  "You just sit tight, CUTEY."

      "I'LL SHOW YOU 'CUTEY', YA BUNNY RABBIT FREAK!" Impmon yowled.  He kicked violently at thin air.  "PUT... ME... DOWN!!!"

      The girl mulled Impmon's demand over for a moment.  "Nah, I don't think so," she said cheerfully as she stood up.

      "Heh..."

      The sound of footsteps echoed as the bushes rustled violently.  Seconds later, a lean boy slipped in to view.

      The boy looked to be no older than the Tamers, with messy brown hair and tired looking gray-blue eyes.  He had bags under each eye, which seemed to cast him in a tired light.  He wore loose fitting dark blue jeans, a black vest with matching black belt over a soft gray shirt.  Resting on his feet, comfortably, were black and gray sneakers.  Completing the outfit was a large black backpack with silver trim, which he carried almost casually.

      The boy blinked slowly, then grinned humorlessly.  "... So violent."

      "Eh?  Who the heck?" Impmon blinked, then scowled and resumed struggling violently.  "LET GO, YA CRAZY GIRL!"

      The Tamers and their digimon turned to look at the newcomer, Guilmon growling lowly as he still had the scent of a strange new digimon.

      The boy turned to look at Guilmon, his expression surprisingly calm and almost mocking.  "Is he normally this friendly?"

      "Who are you?" Takato asked the boy.  He then glanced with confusion and concern at Guilmon.  "Calm down, boy," he whispered to his partner.

      Guilmon didn't seem to listen as he continued to growl, his ear-wings bristling slightly.

      "Heh," the boy chuckled, dryly.  "You're a Tamer?  Your own digimon doesn't even listen to you.  How... pathetic."

      "You know about Tamers?" Jenrya asked, wondering if this new boy was a Tamer as well.

      "Hmm hmmm hmmm," was the boy's only response.

      Impmon simply hung in the girl's arms, thoroughly exhausted and bewildered at how strong the girl was.  "... Bleh...," he grumbled.

      The girl held Impmon closely to herself as she glanced over at the boys.  "Neat, a Terriermon and another digimon," she muttered off-handedly.  She then snuggled Impmon closer with a grin.  "You're still cooler than both of them though," she chirped.

      "... At least we agree on something," Impmon muttered, darkly.  The girl just giggled in response.

      "Who are you?" Takato repeated to the boy.

      "Hmmmm," the boy looked at Takato levelly, before he tilted his head and smirked.  "Yours first, if you don't mind."

      "... I'm Takato Matsuda," Takato said hesitantly.

      "Jenrya Lee," Jenrya said, uncertain of what to make of the strange boy.

      The boy turned to look directly at the digimon, each in turn, before looking up at Takato expectantly.

      "Oh, right," Takato muttered.  "This is Guilmon, and Terriermon," he said as he gestured to each digimon in turn.

      "And that digimon being cuddled to death is CUTEYPIEMON," Terriermon snickered as he pointed at Impmon.

      "IMPMON, and don't you forget it, ya reject!" Impmon snarled.

      Guilmon continued to growl in the newcomer's direction, his entire body tense as if he expected an attack at any moment.

      "Hmmm," the boy drawled again, then turned to look directly at the girl.  "I know your name.  Sera, isn't it?  Sera Mitsukai."

      'Sera' blinked at her name being called as she turned to look at the boy.  "Yes, that's my name," she confirmed, confused.  "How do you know that?  I don't think I've ever met you before, have I?"

      The boy simply grinned, then turned to look at Guilmon.

      "He looks like a rabid animal when he does that," the boy observed, before he let out another dry laugh and straightened his shoulders.  "I'm Tsuyosa Tengoku."

      "Tengoku...?" Sera asked thoughtfully.  "Where have I heard that name before...?"

      "Tengoku is the name of the president of Digital Max," a familiar voice replied.  Ruki appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and approached the small group with a cold and emotionless expression.  "You know, that huge company down town that makes electronics and such?"

      Takato blinked, startled at Ruki's arrival as Jenrya nodded thoughtfully.  "I've heard of that company.  They're the ones that made the digimon computer game," he pointed out.

      "Hmmmm," Tsuyosa grinned, slightly.  He continued to look directly at Guilmon, unafraid of the snarling Digimon.

      "Oh, so that's how you know me," Sera commented.  "You own the company my parents work at."

      Tsuyosa didn't reply, simply looking at Guilmon.

      Takato started to become uncomfortable from Tsuyosa's scrutiny of Guilmon.  "Hey, why're you looking at Guilmon that way?" he asked.  "He won't attack you."

      "Hmmm...," Tsuyosa slowly lifted his head to look at Takato.  "He looks like a badly mutated Agumon."

      Takato scowled slightly, insulted.  "Hey!  You take that back!" he demanded.

      "Why?" Tsuyosa smiled, slyly.  "It's the truth."

      "He's got you there!" Impmon giggled.

      "Look who's talking," Terriermon quipped at Impmon.  "You look like a bunny rabbit who wanted to become a clown."

      "And you look like a rabbit mated with a dog!" Impmon spat back.  "Is that your face or did you slam in to a wall a couple HUNDRED times!?"  Sera couldn't help but giggle softly.

      "Guilmon is NOT a badly mutated Agumon," Takato said heatedly as he glared at Tsuyosa.

      "Oh?  A Patamon then?" Tsuyosa blinked, 'innocently'.  "He DOES have the ears... but they're so freakishly small."

      "He's not a mutated ANYTHING," Takato snapped.  "Guilmon's Guilmon!"

      "I see," Tsuyosa smiled.  "Then I guess that excuses the fact that it's pathetic, right?"

      "Guilmon is NOT pathetic!"

       "Of course he is.  You can barely control him.  He's nothing more than a rabid beast."

      Takato twitched slightly as he glared angrily at Tsuyosa.  "Guilmon is NOT a rabid beast!  He's my best friend!"

      "Oh?" Tsuyosa looked at the tense Guilmon once more.  "Certainly looks rabid to me."

      "Hey, come on now," Jenrya interjected, wanting to stop the fight before it got any worse.  "Don't fight."

      "Yeah, momentai," Terriermon added, supporting Jenrya.  He had decided to ignore Impmon now and pay more attention to the argument, as it seemed to get worse.

      "Hmmmm?" Tsuyosa glanced at Jenrya, and then turned to smile 'sweetly' at Takato.  "Oh?  Did I offend you?"

      Impmon watched, curiously, as he idly tapped his claws against Sera's arms.

      "Yes, you did," Takato muttered angrily.  "I'm not going to listen to you bad-mouth Guilmon!"

      "Hmmm, and what are you going to do about it?" Tsuyosa tilted his head.  "Challenge me to a fight?  Digimon to Digimon?"

      Takato went silent at that.  "... No," he muttered after a few moments.  "Besides, you don't even have a Digimon."

      "Hmmm?  Don't I?" Tsuyosa grinned.  "Then what, do you suppose, your GUILMON has been smelling this entire time?"

      Takato turned to look at Guilmon, who was still growling lowly and glaring at Tsuyosa.  "ChibiBa wants me to point out to your mutant Agumon that he doesn't smell that bad."

      "... ChibiBa?" Takato asked in confusion.  He then tensed and glared at Tsuyosa.  "Guilmon is NOT a mutant Agumon!"

      Ruki scowled slightly and looked at her D-Arc.  Her scowl deepened as the D-Arc simply blinked "data unknown" at her.  "..."

      "That's what you keep saying...," Tsuyosa squared his shoulders.  "But I suppose you're just in denial."

      "What kind of digimon is a 'ChibiBa?" Jenrya asked, hoping to cut off any further argument.

      "I've never heard of a Digimon without a 'mon' in their name," Terriermon mused.

      "You'll see," Tsuyosa grinned.  "IF Takato wants to prove me wrong."

      "... No," Takato said firmly.  "I won't make Guilmon fight for no reason."

      "Hmmm... so he's that bad, eh?" Tsuyosa chuckled, then tilted his head again.  He blinked, then burst out in to a huge grin.  "If you really have so little faith in GUILMON...  ChibiBa's offering to accept a handicap."

      Impmon giggled insanely and squirmed in Sera's grip.  Sera didn't share in Impmon's amusement as she watched the argument, uncertain of whether or not she should try to stop it.

      Takato shook with barely restrained anger as he glared at Tsuyosa.  "I have faith in Guilmon," he said through gritted teeth.  "But I won't make him fight just because you want him to!"

      "Still too afraid?" Tsuyosa appeared 'distressed'.  "Wow... is he really THAT pathetic?"  He tilted his head and smirked.  "I suppose it's too late to get a replacement, huh?"

      "I'm not afraid, and Guilmon's not pathetic!" Takato yelled, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.  "Take that back right now!"

      "Hmmm, I don't think I will!" Tsuyosa shrugged, looking 'innocent'.  "The truth hurts sometimes!"

      Takato growled, his expression becoming similar to Guilmon's for a moment, before he calmed himself slightly, unwilling to let his anger get the best of him.  "Take it back," he repeated harshly.

      "Stop it right now, you two!" Jenrya interjected.  "This fighting is pointless!"

      Tsuyosa glanced at Jenrya, then simply smiled at Takato without even dignifying him with a response.

      "Uh oh," Impmon snickered.

      "Who are you to judge Guilmon?!" Takato snapped, ignoring Jenrya.  "I bet this 'ChibiBrat' isn't even a real digimon!"  He pointed an accusing finger at Tsuyosa for emphasis.

      "ChibiBrat?" Tsuyosa blinked, then tapped his jaw.  "Oooh, how original... just like GUILMON, eh?"

      "I think this fight has gotten out of control," Terriermon muttered to his Tamer.

      "No kidding," Jenrya muttered in reply before addressing the two boys again.  "I mean it!  Stop fighting right now!  It's not getting us anywhere!"

      "Hmmm."

      "Hehehe, this is great!" Impmon crowed.

      "You'd better listen to him," Tsuyosa observed, ignoring Impmon.  "It's never a good idea to pick a fight you can't win... especially with your pathetic little GUIL-LESS-MON."

      Takato clenched his fists so tightly that they began to hurt as he glared at Tsuyosa.  "STOP INSULTING GUILMON!" he yelled, enraged.

      Guilmon crouched slightly and growled even louder due to Takato's yelling.

      Tsuyosa simply chuckled dryly, shaking his head.

      Impmon snickered, then blinked.  He glanced up at Sera.  She was no longer paying attention to him so much as she was the argument, which had caused her grip on him to go lax.

       Impmon's eyes lit up and he grinned, happily.  With a shout, he leapt free of Sera's grip and ran like a digimon possessed for the trees.

      "Wha-HEY!" Sera cried out as she quickly tried to snatch Impmon before he got too far.  Her actions were too late, however, as Impmon soon darted up a tree and disappeared in to the foliage.

      Sera frowned sharply as she put her hands on her hips and scanned the trees for Impmon.  "Dang it," she sighed in exasperation as she put her hands on her hips.

      Tsuyosa glanced at Guilmon and Takato, then chuckled.  "You BOTH look rabid now!"

      "Take them back!" Takato growled.  "TAKE BACK THOSE INSULTS ABOUT GUILMON!"

      "Stop it!  Stop fighting!" Jenrya cried futilely as neither were listening to him.

      "No."

      "YOU TAKE THEM BACK RIGHT NOW OR I'LL...," Takato warned.

      "H-hey!  Momentai, you guys!" Terriermon interjected, but, like his Tamer, was also ignored.

      "You'll WHAT?" Tsuyosa purred.  Ruki glanced between the two, then back at her D-Arc.  She scowled as the device still had no data to display on "ChibiBa".

      "I'll..."

      "... Stand there and stammer, right?" Tsuyosa tilted his head as he grabbed his backpack straps, calmly.  "I'm so scared."

      Takato shook with rage as he glared murderously at Tsuyosa, fists clenched so tightly that his nails were cutting into his palms.

      Tsuyosa snickered quietly, and leaned back.  "Hmm... actually, it seems a replacement would be a bad idea.  You're MADE for each other," he winked.  "You're BOTH pathetic."

      Something snapped inside Takato.

      With a cry of rage Takato lunged forward at Tsuyosa, his fist extended and aimed right at the antagonizing boy's face.  Tsuyosa's eyes snapped open with alarm as his expression shifted from calm to surprise.  "TAKE IT BACK!!!" Takato roared as he swiped at Tsuyosa with his fist.  Tsuyosa's expression shifted to pure shock as he stared at Takato.

      However, Takato wasn't able to finish the swing before a loud roar pierced the air.  Within mere seconds, the backpack flew open and a black shape lunged forward and slammed in to Takato's stomach.  Takato was stopped dead in his tracks as he was hit, the air leaving his lungs with an "oof" of pain.

      Ruki tensed and stared, her normally stern expression broken with shock.

      "TAKATO!" Jenrya cried as he rushed over to his friend's side.  Terriermon stared in shock as well, both at Takato's attack and at the attack on Takato.

      "TAKATO!" Guilmon roared in rage as he sprung into action.  He angrily charged headlong at the black shape that had attacked his Tamer.

      Sera's eyes widened as she stared, stunned, at what had just occurred.

      The black shape twisted about and hit Guilmon directly in the face before it flipped back and landed in front of a surprised and mildly shaken Tsuyosa.  The black shape, in fact, was a small miniature Black WarGreymon with piercing red eyes and a snarling expression.  Guilmon yelped, pained, as he fell backwards from the attack.

      "... ...," Ruki stared as Renamon landed beside her, both looking mildly confused.  "... WHAT... is THAT?"

      "A... Black WarGreymon?" Sera asked, confused.  "... But it's so small."

      Jenrya kneeled down beside Takato, who was on his hands and knees on the ground, gasping for air and coughing.  Terriermon frowned at the small black digimon before he hopped of Jenrya's shoulder and went over to Guilmon to check to see how badly hurt he was.

      "ChibiBa...?" Tsuyosa faltered.

      "Don't... EVER... attack Tsu again," the tiny Black WarGreymon growled, his voice surprisingly deep.  "Or I'll do a lot worse than kick you."

      Takato couldn't respond, as he was too busy trying to regain air in his lungs amidst his coughing.

      Jenrya looked back and forth between Takato, Tsuyosa, and the small Black WarGreymon, unable to speak.

      Tsuyosa seemed slightly uncertain for a moment, then shivered and crossed his arms.

      "Hey, buddy, you okay?" Terriermon asked Guilmon.

      Guilmon lay on his back in a daze, his head wobbling from side to side slightly.  "... Can I have some more bread please, Takatomon...?" he mumbled incoherently.

      "Lucky thing he hit you on your head.  It's the hardest part of you," Terriermon muttered, unable to resist making a joking comment despite the seriousness of the situation.

       "Let's go, Tsu," ChibiBa grunted, suddenly.  "We've wasted enough time on this moron."  Tsuyosa nodded slowly, almost numbly, as he started to back away.

      "... Coward."

      Tsuyosa paused and blinked, then slowly glanced over his shoulder.

      "..."

      Takato shakily started to stand with some difficulty.  "... You're the one who's... pathetic...," Takato coughed, his voice rasping as he spoke.  "... You can't even... fight your own battles...  You just make... your digimon... fight them for you..."

      Tsuyosa's eyes widened, then narrowed dangerously.  He slowly turned to face Takato, fists clenching.

      "You don't know anything," Tsuyosa growled.  "ChibiBa protects me.  I don't ask him to, he just does it.  He's not a slobbering, rabid animal like yours.  He thinks for himself and I DON'T need to lock him up in a shrine!"

      "... At least I don't make Guilmon my battles fight for me," Takato hissed as he ignored the insults, his voice steadily becoming stronger.  "... I don't use him like a weapon."

      "Takato, that's enough," Jenrya said, worry filling his voice.

      "... I don't use ChibiBa as a weapon," Tsuyosa replied, sharply.  "I don't make him fight for me."

      "... You wanted him to fight Guilmon when neither of them had anything to do with this," Takato snarled.  "Digimon aren't like guns you can play with!"

      "Bah!" ChibiBa snorted.  "Don't try and pretend like you know anything about me!  If it involves Tsu, it involves me!  PERIOD!"

      "... ChibiBa..."

      "... Can't even think of a good retort for yourself?" Takato asked as his eyes burned into Tsuyosa.

      Tsuyosa glowered back at Takato, his fists clenching.

      "Why should I be the only one to respond when you're insulting ChibiBa?" Tsuyosa growled.  "He's my friend.  Maybe you don't know what that means... but friends stick up for each other.  I thought you would understand that, given your company... but obviously you're too stupid for that."

      "You're the one who's pathetic," Takato repeated, ignoring the insults Tsuyosa said towards him.  "I know what friendship, but obviously you don't if you go around picking fights with people and expect him to bail you out of trouble.  You probably make your digimon do everything for you.  Fight, speak, and he probably even dresses you too."

      Tsuyosa's eyes widened as his body flinched visibly.  Several emotions ran through, clearly visible in his eyes: shock, pain, and then uncontrollable rage.

      "Takato, stop this right now!" Jenrya snapped.

      Tsuyosa's eyes narrowed dangerously as they burned with a hatred so intense that even ChibiBa flinched.

      Takato met Tsuyosa's gaze without wavering.  "The truth hurts, doesn't it," he said flatly.

      "... I don't need ChibiBa to defend me...," Tsuyosa hissed.  "I can hurt you just as much as he can... moreso.  I can make you hurt so much it'll never stop."

      "ENOUGH!" Jenrya yelled, standing between the two arguing boys.  "This has gone on WAY too far!  There's no reason for this senseless fighting!"

      Takato said nothing; he merely glared at Tsuyosa.

      "What do you think, Takato...," Tsuyosa's voice was deathly quiet.  "What do you think would happen if the park security was informed of vandalism at the shrine?  Supposing someone anonymously informed them that something happened to the shrine... prompting them to go check it out?"

      Takato felt his blood run cold at Tsuyosa's words.

      "You know...," Tsuyosa continued, his eyes narrowing even more.  "... The shrine you're always around?  The one where you hide Guilmon?  I've seen you there before... what do you suppose would happen if the park security came to check out the 'vandalism'... and found your nasty little digimon?"

      "... You can't...," Takato weakly whispered.

      ChibiBa fixed a glare at Takato, his expression stern.

      "... That's enough." Ruki grunted.  Renamon crossed her arms and glowered, slightly, as she stood behind Ruki without interfering.

      "Can't I...?" Tsuyosa growled, eyes burning with rage.  "CAN'T I?"

      "Can he, Jen?" Terriermon asked his Tamer in a soft whisper.

      "... I'm afraid he can," Jenrya responded just as quietly.

      "... Why...?  ... Why are you trying to hurt each other...?" Sera asked in a quiet voice.  "...You're both Digi-Destined, aren't you...?  ... Why can't you be friends... and be happy you even have digimon...?"

      "... ... I can hurt you, Takato...," Tsuyosa hissed again, his voice echoing with hatred.  "Don't tempt me... don't think I won't...  I'm not a coward...  I'll hurt you."

      With a snarl, Tsuyosa turned on his heels and stormed for the bushes.  ChibiBa fixed Takato with a glare before making a rude gesture, then racing after Tsuyosa.

      Takato couldn't respond.  Anger burned within him, but that anger was smothered with a cold fear for Guilmon.

      No one spoke as Tsuyosa and ChibiBa both disappeared from sight, their footsteps echoing until they were nonexistent.