This story marks the literal birth of the hero for my stories! I'm so excited! I decided to push it up from the sixth story to the fifth because it just made more sense. And, without any further rambling, I give to you...Along Came Renomon!

Twenty four hours had gone by without any sign of Ryan after his mysterious disappearance from the dojo in Fox Hollow, leaving behind very little that could allude to where he currently was which worried all of his friends, especially Renamon who spent the entire day and night looking for him all over the town, to no avail, before returning to Shinjuku with Rika and Zack. They, along with the rest of the tamers, all met up at D.A.T.A. to figure things out.

"Wait…he disappeared from behind a locked door? How…?" Kazu asked, in disbelief about the details.

"If one of us knew that we wouldn't be looking for him, would we?" Rika's response was a tad abrasive and sarcastic, a common occurrence when dealing with Kazu and Kenta's staggering immaturity. "For all we know Myotismon's got him again."

Henry had his doubts about that particular theory. "If that was true he'd have tried luring us into a trap or something in order to rescue Ryan."

"That means we're right back to square one." Zack added, anxiously wanting to find his best friend alive and well. "It's a good thing we've got a three day weekend which helps me cover with Mrs. Riley until tomorrow night. But if he doesn't show up by then, we're going to have a real problem on our hands trying to explain the situation to her. Good thing he told Mr. Tsukino though. He's keeping an eye out for him while we're gone."

The door to the conference room slid open as Yamaki walked in. "Before any of you ask, there are still no updates on Ryan's whereabouts. Every scan of the city, Fox Hollow and the digital world we've done using the ARK satellite has turned up nothing."

"What about his partner digimon? You found white fur in the dojo, right?" Takato brought up perhaps the most important factor. "Could he have something to do with this?"

"That's a good question." Yamaki agreed with the tamers queries. "I've had Daisy going over every inch of Ryan's D-Power to determine if we could somehow get a lock on this "male" Renamon. Unfortunately, the device hasn't yielded any answers. Most of its functions are not functioning properly, including the locator. And without a bio-signature to search for, I'm afraid we're at a complete stand-still. Our only hope is if one of you knows something that could help explain how and why he vanished from a locked lavatory."

At first no one uttered a single word. Conflicted by a promise and loyalty, Renamon, wearing and holding Ryan's Yin Yang medallion for safe keeping, eventually stepped forward which caught almost everyone in the room off guard. "I told Ryan I wouldn't say anything…but if we want to find him, I have no choice."

Myotismon stood on the balcony, in his private chamber, overlooking the entirety of the dark zone: a barren landscape except for the mountains and peaks where his fortress was located. The news of Ryan Riley's disappearance had reached him thanks to Aurumon who had been spying on the vixen during her search for the teen in Fox Hollow. "With that human out of the way and unable to interfere in our plans, the digidestined are vulnerable. We should strike now while they are preoccupied with looking for him."

"No." Although the vampire felt equally as eager, if not more so, as Devimon he could not be sure that his long-time foe was permanently gone. "Not yet at least. There's still the matter of that other Renamon who helped destroy Dracmon. If he is the boy's partner, they could be trying to draw you and I out by making us think we have the upper hand."

"Master, do you really believe the boy would be so ruthless as to use his own allies as bait?"

"Yes…" Myotismon had some initial doubt, until thinking back to when he took control of the then pre-teen's mind and what he learned during that time. "…I do. While highly unlikely, I wouldn't put it passed him for a moment. Ready the shadow slayers. Let us find out for sure if that is indeed the case."

Yamaki took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "Why didn't you tell us he was experiencing these side effects weeks ago when they first started happening!?"

"Because he asked me to keep it between us and I was honoring his wishes." A small part of her that wished she had said something sooner but felt that loyalty was more important when making that promise. "I had no idea it would go this far."

"I don't understand. We ran all those scans on him after MasterTyrannomon destroyed Hypnos and there was nothing out of the ordinary." Janyu added while going through hard copies of the results from those tests. "I have to admit, I'm at a loss for what is happening to Ryan and why for that matter."

Suddenly a call came in on Ryan's cell phone which was in Zack's possession at the time. "It's the dojo's number…" The realization that it could be important made him answer. "…hello? Yeah…we'll be right there. Thanks…" He hung up to address everyone in the room. "…that was Ryan's sensei. His sister Hailey came to the dojo because she got scared by something last night and wanted to talk to her brother about it. Mr. Tsukino's keeping her there so she doesn't go over to my house looking for him."

"Alright, get back to Fox Hollow. Takato, Henry, go with Zack and Rika in case they run into any trouble while they're there." The group wasted little time and made a hasty exit. "In the meantime, Janyu, I need you to contact an old friend of yours. I have a feeling we're going to need his expertise soon enough."

Only a few minutes later, the tamers and Zack made it to the dojo albeit with Renamon invisible, Terriermon pretending to be a stuffed animal and Guilmon, rather than being crammed into a cardboard box, was disguised in a brown trench coat, black derby and sunglasses. "Takato, I can't see where I'm going."

"Don't worry, boy. I got you." What Takato failed to see was the lip of concrete which Guilmon caught his foot on, beginning to lose balance. "Whoa, look out!" The dinosaur stumbled into the hall, crashing into a small display and losing his disguise in the process.

"Smooth move, goggle head!" Rika exclaimed, shaking her head at their combined clumsiness.

Sensei Tsukino and Hailey came running in to inspect the commotion. "A digimon…! Cool!"

Guilmon closed his eyes, smiled and waved to her, with Takato nervously chuckling right next to him, then dizzily saying, "Hi…"

A few minutes later, after making sure that no one would interrupt them, Rika took the liberty of explaining who they were and what was going on to Ryan's sister, seeing no other alternative if they were to question her and maintain a low profile. "Now that you know who we are, can you tell us what you saw last night?"

"First I want to know where my brother is." Rika had left out that detail, unsure of how she would react upon learning of Ryan's disappearance.

Renamon approached the sitting twelve year old, kneeling down in front of her. "Your brother is one of my closest friends, Hailey, and I know he would want me to be honest with you. The truth is we don't know where Ryan is at the moment. He disappeared from this building yesterday and what you saw may help us find him. Please tell us or me if you aren't comfortable talking around everyone."

"How about we let them talk?" Henry suggested which the rest agreed to, leaving the room temporarily.

"Aw…but I want to know what she saw." Terriermon began to whine out of sheer curiosity.

Once they were alone, Hailey seemed to feel more at ease. "Okay…last night I got out of bed and went to get some food. And I saw…" The mere thought of it was enough to bring feelings of fright rushing back. Renamon sensed this and held Hailey's hand. "…I saw eyes…glowing blue eyes looking at me."

A thought came to the vixen's mind which she made a point to ask, "Were they anything like mine?" She looked directly at Renamon's eyes but could not tell for sure. "Would it be okay if I turned the lights off then on again?"

"Can your friend sit with me?" Overhearing the entire conversation, due to the acoustics, Rika walked back in and took a seat next to Hailey. "Go ahead." The instant the switch was flicked down; her eyes became quite luminous in the darkness. "That's what I saw! Please, turn the lights back on!"

Renamon did as the girl wished, illuminating the room again. "I apologize for scaring you." She was silently forgiven yet the experiment yielded a result that confirmed her suspicions. "Can you show us where you saw the eyes?"

Following a short trek back to the Riley household, Hailey led them into the backyard. "That's the kitchen window, so whatever it was I saw had to have been standing right here."

"Whoa…check it out…" Zack pointed at the dirt beneath the window itself. "…paw prints."

Guilmon sniffed the dirt and got a scent that led from ground level up the houses side. Electing not to wait around for speculation, Renamon leapt onto a tree limb that extended directly to one of the upper floor windows, and almost immediately found a second piece of white fur on the windowsill, as well as another print, before leaping back down. "He was here…Ryan's partner. That's who you saw."

"Maybe he was looking for him like we are?" Takato asked, trying to remain optimistic.

"Then why does he show up when it's convenient for him and disappear?" Rika found herself becoming frustrated by the situation. "What kind of a partner is this guy supposed to be? Why didn't he help Ryan during the entire battle with FlameWizardmon? Or when he was attacked in the dojo and by the docks?" She withheld the fact it was Renamon in both of the latter instances due to Hailey's presence then calmed down. "Sorry…I just don't think that other Renamon has his tamers best interest at heart. And that bothers me."

Terriermon, having heard a rustling coming from behind them, turned and gasped. "That's not the only thing that'll bother you! Look!"

A small group of shadow slayers appeared on the opposite end of the backyard, bent on causing some destruction. "Get Hailey inside, now…!"

Zack hurried his friend's sister into her house as the digimon prepared for a fight. But before they got the chance to unleash even a single attack, the white Renamon flipped over the fence and hit one slayer with a flying kick. Using the leftover momentum he back-flipped into position for a diamond storm that ended up obliterating the rest, preventing a bigger battle that would have attracted the unwanted attention of neighbors.

"Oh! That's incredible!" Henry exclaimed, amazed by digimon's display of power. "He got rid of them all in one shot!"

After landing on the ground in a kneeling position, then standing back up, he looked at the trio of humans and digital monsters with curiosity, tilting his head as if studying them. "Um...why is he looking at us like we're aliens or something?"

Though Terriermon and most of the others were puzzled, Takato had the strangest feeling he'd seen that look before. Then it hit him. "Oh…wait a minute…I think…I think he's a…baby." They all looked at the goggle clad teen like he was crazy. "Not a baby…I mean he's acting the same way Guilmon did when I first found him…like he has no clue about anything."

"He still doesn't…" Rika couldn't resist the urge to poke fun. "…but I think you're right."

Sensing another hit and run was about to happen, Renamon took a few steps forward trying to disarm the male and gain his trust, prompting him back up the further she encroached.

"I'm not going to hurt you. None of us are. We only want to talk." It was then he noticed the Yin-Yang belonging to Ryan around the fox's neck, sparking his interest and drawing him in closer. Coming to a stop within a foot of her, he reached up and gently held the pendant in his paw. The two locked eyes which caused Renamon's eyes to widen in shock. "It's him."

Henry was left scratching his head. "Uh…what are you talking about?"

"He's not Ryan's partner…" Knowing that he was no longer going to flee, she took the necklace off and carefully placed it over his head. "…he is Ryan."

Most of you probably suspected it and now it is confirmed! Ryan is a digimon! But that still begs the question...how did it happen? Stay tuned/Keep Reading to find out!