A shorter chapter focusing on some of the problems involving the Ryan/Renamon/Rika. Things will pick up towards the end though. Enjoy!

Following the escape of Ryan and Renamon from Myotismon's compound, Devimon returned to the main chamber to face his master regarding his failure to destroy either of them for the second time. He knelt down and bowed his head in shame. "Forgive me. They were able to elude us and escape back to the human world."

However, the usually seething vampire appeared to be less enraged than his subordinate thought. "Of course they did… just as I had planned."

Devimon's jaw nearly dropped upon hearing this. Rising from the ground he mustered up all the courage he could to question his superiors' motives. "But, master… with all due respect, I heard you tell the boy that he was no longer of any use to you after he rejected your offer to join us. If that was so, then why would you allow them to get away?"

The ultimate gazed up at the Earth and grinned. "All in good time, Devimon…all in good time."

Ryan made his way back into the Hypnos lounge with a can of cola clutched in his hand and was about to sit down on a nearby couch when Rika approached him. "We need to talk in private if you don't mind."

"Usually when someone starts out a conversation with that it's almost always because they're very happy or extremely pissed off. And judging by the look on your face I'm leaning towards the latter option." When she didn't respond and just continued to stand there with both her arms crossed he knew that she meant business. "Any chance I can finish my drink before we chat?" His query was met with the same response. "Right, let's find some place to talk ASAP."

"Where are you two off to?" Kazu chimed in as he noticed them leaving the room together.

Ryan made a quick kill gesture before exiting. Kazu and Kenta both looked at one another and in unison said, "Dead man walking."

They entered an empty office and closed the door. "Look, Rika, before you say anything I know what this is about and I understand. You're mad because I put myself in danger and Renamon had to bail me out. I'll admit it wasn't the best or smartest plan in the world but I did it to keep her safe. We were completely outnumbered. And I didn't want what happened to her the other day to happen again."

"No, it's not that." A moment of silence between her sentences lasted for what felt like an eternity. "I think it would be best if you and Renamon…didn't spend as much time together as you've been."

"Excuse me?" Ryan could hardly believe what she had just suggested, with a hint of demand, to him. "No offense but who are you to tell me that I can't spend time with my friend?"

Rika became even more adamant about how she felt. "I'm her tamer, her partner. You put Renamon's life at risk because you couldn't just wait for me and the others to get there. A real friend would never do something that reckless."

"First of all I've known Renamon longer than you have. We were watching each other's backs and saving the Digital World from destruction while you were still playing card games for trophies." By going below the belt he instantly silenced her and took control of the situation. "This isn't even about what I did, is it? You're just jealous that she wants to spend time with me. News flash, Rika, she isn't your pet and you're not her mother. She's allowed to have a life outside of battle and isn't required to spend every waking moment by your side."

"How dare you!" Rika exclaimed, resisting the urge to slap him in the face for his words.

"No, how dare you!" Ryan returned fire with fire, something that she was not expecting or used to. "You have the audacity to tell me I'm not her friend and insinuate that I don't care about her well-being! Let me tell you something…I would die for that digimon! Because she's the best friend I have ever had! You know what? I don't need to justify myself to you. This conversation is over."

He took his leave while Rika let out an exasperated sight, turned around and came almost face to face with Renamon. "Were you...listening the whole time? How much did you hear?"

"Everything…" Renamon replied, remaining calm and collected. "…now we need to talk."

Ryo arrived with Monodramon in tow just as Ryan came storming down the hall in a particularly bad mood. "Hey, Ry, what's going on? How are you feeling?" Not a word was exchanged as he walked right on by. "Go ahead. Head inside and tell the others I'll be right back."

The metallic door to the stairwell was kicked opened so hard that it almost flew off its hinges. Ryan ran his hands through his hair in frustration and then leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as if about to experience a panic attack. In an instant he went from docile to incensed, grabbing onto the metal railing and nearly shaking it loose from the bolts. Calm down…calm down…don't let it get to you. Why am I even getting this angry in the first place? What is wrong with me?

"Feeling better?" Ryo asked, having witnessed only the final moments of the teens freak out.

"I'm sorry if I was rude before. Rika just got my blood boiling and good. She practically told me to stay away from Renamon. Can you believe that? I saved her life the other day, not to mention other times in the digital world three years ago and she has the gall to do that to me?" Although his rant was justified the way he was acting was not.

The tamer almost had to laugh but held off from doing so. "Believe me when I tell you that Rika, even though she's gotten better over time, still has the same stuck up attitude and the ability to push a person's buttons. That's just how she is. As for telling you to stay away from Renamon, you're right that it was wrong to say something like that. But think about why she did. Maybe Rika's just worried that if you two start spending a lot of time together that she'll end up losing her best friend."

Maybe he's right. I was too busy thinking about how I felt that I didn't take into account what she must be going through. I did just show up out of nowhere and start spending time with Renamon a lot. "You're right. Thanks for the pep talk. I appreciate it."

"No problem." Ryan let go of the railing and made his way back inside. Ryo was about to do the same when he noticed something strange that stopped him from following. There were finger impressions pressed into the metal.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the Hypnos towers, Rika and Renamon were slow to begin their own discussion, the former having no desire to reveal how she was feeling. "Why did you ask him to stay away from me?"

The vixen's tone of voice was soft and understanding, knowing that Rika had only the best of intentions, but she still needed to comprehend how her partner was feeling. "I don't know what you want me to say. If you heard everything I said you know I did it because he acted stupid by giving himself over to Myotismon. And both of you almost paid the price."

"I'm not sure that's entirely true." Renamon could easily see through her deception. "Something Ryan said made sense. Are you jealous that I've been spending time with him since he recovered from Devimon's attack?"

"No!" The digimon raised her brow, trying to push her tamer into telling the truth. "Well, maybe a little." Renamon mildly cleared her throat. "Okay, yes, I was jealous! You and I have been through thick and thin together. Before you came along I was all alone, mostly cause of my attitude. I alienated everyone, even you at one point. But you never gave up on me. And it was because of you that I met Takato, Henry and the others. We all became a family. I was worried that if you started hanging around with Ryan that you'd…forget about me."

As the tears began rolling down her face, Renamon brought one of her fingers to wipe away the tears. "I would never forget you. You're my tamer. We're a team. I will always be there for you when you need me."

Rika and Renamon embraced each other. "Can I ask you something personal: do you…like him?"

Before she had a chance to respond to the question, Ryan appeared out of the roof access. "There you two are. I've been looking all over the place. But I can come back if this a bad time..."

"I'm actually glad you're here. There's something I wanted to say…" Rika began, wiping the remainder of liquid from her eyes.

"Same here…I was completely out of line before and I wanted to apologize for getting so angry with you. I should have tried to understand how you were feeling rather than flip out the way I did." He bowed to show his respect and shame. "Please forgive me."

"No, I'm sorry. You were right to be mad. I had no right telling you to stay away from Renamon when you've done more for her than anyone. You almost died protecting her. If she'd been destroyed I'd have been devastated. And as far as I'm concerned you can spend as much time with her as you want."

Ryan extended his hand to her as a gesture of friendship. "What do you say? Can we be friends?"

Rika looked at Renamon who slightly nodded before she accepted his offering. "Of course we can. I'd like that."

An alarm began sounding throughout the entire building, alerting the trio who all figured that it meant there was trouble. They hurried down to the control room where Riley and Tally were busy at work tracking an anomaly on screen while Yamaki made his way between different work stations. "Riley! Do we still have time to deploy Yuggoth?"

"Negative, sir, it was too fast for us." The blip on the screen came to a sudden stop. "The wild one is getting ready to bio-emerge sir!"

"We may still be able to do something before that happens!" Yamaki asked, trying desperately to solve the problem without having to involve the tamers again. "What's its location? Where is it going to break through?"

Ryan, who had been staring at the map since the digimon's energy signature stopped, came to a startling realization and answered before anyone else could. "It's outside. Myotismon's bringing the fight right to us."

"That's impossible! There's no way he could know where we are!" Tally exclaimed, working at an increased speed to keep up with Riley.

"Actually, there is..." Out of nowhere he looked up at the ceiling and spotted a mechanical owl perched on a metallic rafter. "Aurumon!"

An eerily yet familiar fog appeared on the street level and began snaking its way up each level until the entire building was encased in it. The power went out, plunging every floor into total darkness. Emergency floodlights turned on and illuminated everything in a red luminescence. "Rika, Renamon get back to the lounge and let the others know what's going on. And where did Ryan go? Wasn't he just here?"

Tamer and Digimon look to their left where Ryan had been standing before the lights went out and find that he is indeed gone. "Where did he go?"

Without warning an earthquake type vibration rocked the edifice with tremendous force. The dome shaped screens that made up the majority of the room began to crack causing shards of glass and bits of concrete to fall to the floor sending the workers running for safety aside from Yamaki, Riley, Tally, Rika and Renamon who all stood their ground in the wake of the impending threat.

To be continued...

Told you things would get more interesting. The lights go out and Ryan disappears just as Hypnos is attacked. Where did he go? Can the tamers find their friend and defeat the forces of evil? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!

Check out Return of the Tamers, Part Two! Coming very soon!

Author's note: I know it's only eight chapters but if it would be at least fifteen or more if it was a complete story like A New Beginning. Plus, I'm trying to add some suspense to major story lines by splitting things up like this. And I want to end stories like some episodes would: with a cliffhanger or problem leading into the next one to make it feel more authentic.