Wow, this took a long time. But that is how life can be. I probably would have added more to the chapter, but it was taking long enough to get up. I am sorry; I honestly wasn't working very hard on it for the last year or so.

I also intend to try and revise the earlier chapters soon. Nothing drastic, just some punctuation, grammar and typo checking, there will be no need to reread them if you don't want to.

I don't own anything except for Doublermon-Who is not in this chapter.

Chapter 11: The idea of things

The group of tamers and digimon sat around Guilmon's old hut as they were thinking of what they should do next. The evil Cyberdramon had gone into the Digital World and was likely gathering strength as they spoke, but they all knew they couldn't just go into the Digital World without any way back.

"I'm really wondering if informing the others is a good idea," Rika said while she sat next to Renamon, who was currently sitting between herself and the girl who was also basically herself; Ruki. Truthfully she still wanted to prove Ruki was a fake so she could get rid of her, and her double felt exactly the same. But they both knew Renamon would not let either one even touch the other unless they suddenly decided to make nice and be friends, or sisters, or whatever it was their friends wanted them to be. As it was the two of them had a truce for now.

"Why not, we could use all the help we could get?" Takato questioned, he sat to the left of Rika, opposite to Renamon, while Guilmon sat at his other side. "Is this about telling them about the two of you?" Takato asked after a moment of silence. The two duplicated girls looked away for a moment before one of them decided to speak, it was Ruki.

"While I don't know what exactly is going through the head of my volatile copy," Ruki stated with some venom in her voice. Rika gave her a glare at being called a copy but did not speak as Ruki continued. "But I don't really want to reveal this situation to more people than I have to. At least until I can prove that I am the original," Ruki's words were calm, but everyone could tell that she was holding herself back from screaming these words she believed to be the truth.

"Ruki!" Renamon scolded the girl that was sitting to her right.

"You mean until I can prove that I'm the original," Rika growled as she glared at her counterpart, who glared back. "I will focus on stopping the active threat of the Cyberdramon clone. But I'm not going to ignore the subtle threat that she possesses," Rika stated with finality.

"Rika!" Renamon scolded the girl to her left; just as she had Ruki only a moment ago. Neither girl seemed to hear her.

"You mean the threat YOU posses," Ruki hissed at Rika. The two glared at each other again, looking like they might attack each other at any moment; regardless of Renamon's earlier statement that she wouldn't let either hurt the other.

"Calm down! Aren't you two supposed to be having a truce right now?" Henry-who was sitting to the right of Ruki-pointed out in an attempt to stop a possible fight, the two Rikas eased their glares slightly, but neither backed down.

"You guys have to accept that one of us is evil. We will need to find out whom at some point," the two Rikas spoke in unison through clenched teeth. Their friends could tell that it filled them both with rage just to refer to each other in a way that gave the possibility that either could be the original, especially while the other one said the exact same thing.

"That will be difficult to figure out," Terriermon commented from his position to Henry's right. Henry didn't even bother to correct his partner's tactless comment; it didn't matter at the moment. Ryo and Monodramon sat across from the other tamers and digimon. They glanced at each other before Ryo sighed. He turned to the two Rikas with a glare that surprised all of his friends, except Monodramon.

"Ok, I'm going to put an end to these evil clone accusations, they are keeping us from making progress and overall, incorrect," Ryo stated. Rika and Ruki wanted to yell at Ryo but he didn't give them a chance before he continued. "The splitting of Monodramon and Cyberdramon was a special case. Monodramon was made up of two digimon: one good, one evil. When Doublermon used his duplication attack on Monodramon they seemed to have been split," Ryo explained this to his fellow tamers and their digimon, they only grew more confused.

"Two digimon?" Guilmon questioned, looking over at Monodramon who simply gave a nervous grin.

"…I don't understand Ryo. What do you mean by that?" Takato questioned. Ryo didn't look like he wanted to answer.

"Monodramon is a special case. Let's just leave it at that," Ryo stated, it didn't seem like he would elaborate any further. This all was very confusing for most of his friends. But they didn't question him further when they noticed Rika and Ruki; who seemed to be in thought over what they had just been told.

"So wait, are you saying Monodramon was once two digimon that fused. But Doublermon split them?" Rika questioned. Ryo nodded to Rika.

"And if that were true, that would mean Doublermon doesn't clone things at all," Henry said as he looked at the two Rikas, who were still trying to process what they were being told.

"He splits them…" Ruki muttered, glancing at Rika who looked back at her.

"We…are both the original?" Rika questioned as she stared at Ruki. Neither girl was very sure what to feel right now.

"You're sure of this?" Ruki asked Ryo, he merely nodded in response.

"I honestly suspected something like this…" Renamon stated; both of her tamers looked at her, surprised.

"What do you mean?" they asked in unison. They noticed this and still felt slightly annoyed by it. But they did not snap at each other.

"I couldn't be sure before. But you are my partner; both of you. I felt nothing fake from either of you," Renamon explained. The two Rikas looked each other in the eyes again as many emotions swirled through their heads; ever since Doublermon had used his attack on them they had been arguing about who the original was, and only moments ago were accusing the other one of being evil. Now they were being told that there was no clone, and that they were both the original.

"So, no more fighting. Ok?" Takato said with a nervous smile, hoping neither Rika would see fit to snap at him. They did not. In fact, they didn't say anything. Both just sat their silently, with twin looks of contemplation on their faces.

"Takatomon, they don't look ok," Guilmon pointed out, while looking between both Rikas. Takato mentally agreed with Guilmon's sentiment and was thinking about trying to snap one, or both of them out of it. But it was not needed as Rika and Ruki soon seemed to regain coherence before both looked at Guilmon.

"I'm-We're fine," both spoke, having changed their words mid-sentence when they noticed they were speaking in unison again.

"Are you sure?" Henry asked in concern; both girls looked somewhat shaken by what they had been told.

"Don't worry, we are fine," Rika said, the strength in her voice returning.

"This is hard to take in after what has happened. But we can handle it," Ruki added, her voice mirroring Rika's. Henry gave a small smile at the confirmation, while Takato gave a sigh of relief, before he decided to bring up an earlier point that they still needed to figure out.

"Since we settled that, what about getting the others to help?" Takato suggested.

"NO!" both Rika and Ruki quickly shouted, startling everyone with said outburst. Rika and Ruki took a second to calm down before Rika decided to speak.

"We are not telling anyone else anything about this. That's final," Rika stated firmly. Ruki nodded in agreement. Takato wanted to argue further.

"But guys, they're part of our team. We could use their help. We really shouldn't keep this from them forever," Takato tried to reason with them. But both Rika and Ruki seemed adamant about where they stood in this argument.

"Forget it, Takato. Telling them won't really help anything," Ryo suddenly said, with a sigh. Takato, along with the other tamers and digimon looked at him in surprise. "Don't get me wrong," Ryo began; having seen the looks some of them were giving him. "I don't doubt their abilities or anything, but for what Cyberdramon is planning, we're going to need mega level digimon, nothing less, I'm sorry but the others would just get in the way," Ryo explained.

"Um, how exactly do you know what Cyberdramon is planning?" Terriermon asked, suspiciously. Henry couldn't help but feel suspicious too and looked at Ryo for answers.

"Because he's my other half," Monodramon stepped into the conversation. "As Ryo already said; I was made up of a good and evil digimon. I'm the good half. I know my evil half. I can tell what he is planning to do," Monodramon explained.

"I still don't like keeping things from them," Takato said while crossing his arms. "We're supposed to be a team. It feels like a betrayal," Takato said, looking upset.

"Goggle head, shouldn't it be up to us who to tell about this?" Ruki questioned while gesturing to herself and Rika.

"Ya, we would both rather not have the others know. And if they wouldn't be any help in dealing with the evil Cyberdramon, why should we have to tell them?" Rika questioned as well, agreeing with Ruki, though the two were clearly avoiding looking at or directly talking to each other. Takato wasn't sure how to respond.

"Well…I guess that's true," Takato admitted. Ryo sighed before standing up, along with Monodramon.

"Look guys, there really isn't much that can be done right now. I'll inform Hypnos of this and see if a plan can be formed. You guys just go about your days, you'll be informed when something comes up," Ryo said before he and Monodramon began to leave.

"Well…at least the evil twin theory thing is over," Henry said as he stood while picking up Terriermon. Rika and Ruki glanced at each other before getting up and leaving in opposite directions.

"Yes, but I think we now have a new problem," Takato quietly said to Henry, while they watched the two Rikas leave, both clearly wanted to avoid each other right now, even to the point of just leaving Renamon without any talk of who she would follow. Renamon didn't look like she knew what to do as she looked between both of her partners; leaving in two different directions. She finally lowered her head and sighed.

"Maybe it would have been better if Doublermon split me too," Renamon said in a dejected tone of voice. She got up and quickly vanished before anyone could say anything to comfort her.

"Poor Renamon," Guilmon said; sad for his friend's distress, Takato patted Guilmon on the head.

"Don't worry boy. We'll get this all sorted out before you know it," Takato assured. Terriermon snorted.

"And how exactly do you plan to accomplish that?" Terriermon asked sarcastically. He noticed Henry glaring at him and sighed. "Ok, ok, sorry."

Jeri was walking through the park, thinking. She knew something weird was going on. Rika's behavior for the last couple of days had just been strange; she was hoping she could find her to ask about this. But she wasn't at her house. Now Jeri had come to the park; thinking Rika might have decided to come here. She was trying to think of where she might be when she spotted Kazu and Kenta, along with their partners, sitting around the dinosaur statue that they and Takato would often hang out at before Takato became a tamer. And sometimes still did, though not as often. Unlike usual they weren't playing digimon cards. They were just sitting there, looking at the clouds.

"I think that one looks like Seadramon," Jeri heard Kazu mutter, while pointing at what she assumed was a cloud. Kenta, MarineAngemon, and Guardromon gave a few slow nods, but didn't say anything. Jeri wasn't really sure what to make of what she was seeing. But she decided that she could use some help and began to approach her cloud watching friends.

"I see…Jeri," Guardromon commented; having spotted Jeri approaching the group of four.

"What are you talking about Guardromon? None of those clouds look like Jeri," Kazu stated in confusion over his partner's declaration. Guardromon was quick to specify.

"No, Jeri, right there," Guardromon stated while pointing at the approaching girl.

"Hey Jeri," Kenta greeted, Kazu looked surprised before he glanced up at Jeri who was now standing right over them.

"Hey. So what are you guys up to?" Jeri questioned. Kazu and Kenta both shrugged while their partners just watched the exchange.

"There's nothing going on lately. Everything's just been so boring," Kazu sighed.

"We thought something might be going on when Ryo showed up, but if it did he's probably already finished with it," Kenta also sighed.

"We just feel useless. If there is a digimon problem Rika, Henry, and Takato usually take care of it before we even get there. If we even know about it," Kazu said with a frown on his face. Jeri nodded in understanding, though the way she felt was probably a bit different than how Kazu and Kenta were feeling, she got the general feeling they were conveying. Jeri did remember her concerns about Rika and decided that Kazu and Kenta might be able to help.

"Guys, something's been weird with Rika lately," Jeri blurted out, she was only met by confused looks by her fellow tamers, and their partners.

"Pi?" MarineAngemon muttered as he floated over to Jeri.

"What do you mean Jeri?" Kenta asked, while getting to his feet. "What has been weird about Rika lately?"

"She's been very hard to understand lately for one thing," Jeri answered with a sigh. "She seems to forget things easily. She apologized to me twice for the same thing, which she also did twice beforehand. It's like there's two of her," Jeri explained. Kazu and Kenta almost shuddered at the idea of two Rikas; Rika was their friend and all, but to them that was still a scary thought.

"I'm sure it's fine," Kazu said after a moment before getting up and walking next to Jeri. "So she seems a little off, we're all like that sometimes," Kazu reassured.

"You more often than others," Kenta muttered. Kazu heard him and gave him an annoyed look, which Kenta just shrugged off.

"Hey, there's Rika now, why don't we just ask her?" Guardromon suggested; this surprised the three humans present.

"What are you talking about Guardromon?" Kazu asked, his metal partner responded by pointing ahead of them; where they could see Rika walking with a blank look on her face.

"It is Rika," Jeri confirmed, despite the fact that the one she was concerned about was within her line of sight, Jeri was reluctant to go through with Guardromon's idea. Rika had a bit of a tendency to push others away when they offered her help even now. Despite the fact that she had opened up more since the time before they were friends, Jeri wondered if approaching Rika was really the best course of action.

"Hey guys!" The thoughts of going after Rika-who was getting further away as the minutes passed-were interrupted by the small, in-training digimon that decided to join them.

"Hello Calumon," Guardromon greeted. Kazu and Kenta were surprised by Calumon's sudden appearance. Jeri smiled and knelt down to Calumon's level and patted him on the head.

"Hi Calumon, what are you doing here?" Jeri asked. Calumon liked the feeling of being petted and gave a happy sigh as Jeri pet him.

"I was looking for somebody to play with. I can't find anyone lately. It's like everyone has something better to do than play!" Calumon exclaimed with a frown on his face. Jeri felt a little sorry that she wouldn't be able to play with him. But she felt that what was wrong with Rika was more important than entertaining Calumon. Even if she didn't exactly know what was wrong with Rika.

"Sorry Calumon. I can't play now, but have you noticed anything odd about Rika lately?" Jeri questioned. Calumon didn't look very happy at what she had told him but responded to her question.

"I don't know. I haven't seen Rika lately. As I said, no one's been around," Calumon explained.

"I think we should just follow her," Kazu said nonchalantly. Jeri, Kenta, and MarineAngemon looked at him strangely while Guardromon and Calumon didn't react to his comment. "If we follow her we'll at least be able to try and figure out if something is wrong. She won't tell us otherwise," Kazu said in a sure voice. Jeri and Kenta didn't look so sure of his idea.

"Let's just try asking her first. You never know, she might be willing to tell us if something's wrong," Jeri suggested. She did not really think Rika would tell them. But she would prefer to try before resorting to spying. Kazu looked slightly put off by Jeri's suggestion but there were no arguments before the three humans and two digimon left to follow Rika. Calumon watched them go curiously; he was soon joined by a second Calumon.

"What's going on?" The new Calumon asked the first one who shrugged.

"I don't know, everyone is so weird lately," the first Calumon answered. The two stood there for a moment before they were both grabbed by an irritated Impmon who began dragging them away.

"Impmon? What's happening?" the second Calumon asked the virus digimon who looked really annoyed at the moment.

"Pipe down! We've got a two headed jerk to track down," Impmon growled as he continued to drag the two Calumon who didn't give much resistance in the first place.

Jeri, Kazu, Kenta, Guardromon and MarineAgemon were walking(floating, in MarineAgemon's case) on the sidewalk, a good few feet behind Rika. Rika hadn't noticed them yet as she walked along. In fact she seemed to be kind of out of it in general.

"Ok, she's right over there, go ask her," Kazu said to Jeri in a hushed voice. Jeri looked nervously at Rika before she glared at Kazu.

"Why do I have to do it? Why don't you do it?" Jeri questioned, just as quietly as Kazu.

"It was your idea, besides she'll go easy on you," Kazu reasoned, to which Jeri shook her head.

"Easy? If anything she'll be harder on me if she thinks I've been spying on her, she'd expect this from you so she'll go easy on you," Jeri countered.

"Well why doesn't Kenta ask her?" Kazu questioned while looking at the other boy present.

"Hey! You're the one who said to follow her," Kenta. It wasn't long before the three humans conflict dissolved into a full blown argument.

Rika felt a strange feeling of melancholy despite the fact that she now knew for sure she was the original. The problem was she was also the original. The problem was bad enough when Rika thought she had a clone running around. It was somehow worse now that she had to share her identity with another Rika Nonaka: Not a clone. Not an imposter. But another her; someone who was just as entitled to her identity as she was.

Rika felt herself being pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of several voices that were rising in volume.

"Can't you just go over there?" That was Kazu's voice…

"I don't want to! You do it!" And that was Jeri's voice. Rika thought that seemed like an odd thing for Jeri to say. She looked in the direction that the voices were coming from and spotted Kazu, Kenta and Jeri. None of them appeared to notice her as they argued. Guardromon and MarineAngemon however were staring at her.

"What exactly are you guys arguing about?" Rika questioned. The three previously bickering humans suddenly went silent as they realized the person they were following had spotted them.

"Hi Rika, Kazu, Kenta and Jeri were just-" Guardromon started to say, but he was silenced by Kazu jumping on him and pinning him to the ground-something Guardromon could have easily gotten out of, but saw no reason to. Rika eyed the downed machine digimon and his tamer before turning her eyes back to Jeri, Kenta and MarineAngemon.

"Well?" Rika spoke again, in a sterner tone of voice.

"…We're just worried about you Rika," Jeri admitted her friend. Rika scoffed.

"Don't be. I'm fine," the red-headed tamer lied-she was not going to get them involved with this. Ryo said they couldn't really help anyway. The other three tamers did not look very convinced, but they weren't really sure how to respond to Rika's declaration.

"Um…so when did you start wearing that shirt again?" Kazu suddenly asked. He really couldn't think of anything else to say and Rika hadn't worn the broken-heart version of her shirt for a while. But this question clearly annoyed Rika, who looked at him with a visible twitch.

"It is just a shirt. I can wear it if I want to. Got it?" Rika spoke with firmness while attempting to keep her temper in check. When nobody gave any response she decided she was done and, promptly walked away.

"…Well, that went well," Kenta said after a moment of silence. Kazu and Jeri didn't respond to the glasses-wearing tamer as they watched the digimon queen's leaving form.

"She's hiding something," Kazu muttered, suspiciously. The five of them turned and began to walk in the opposite direction from Rika.

"I got that feeling too," Kenta agreed, with MarineAngemon making some noises in agreement, as he hovered around his partner's head.

"But why is she hiding something?" Jeri questioned, with a worried look on her face. None of her companions seemed able to give an answer as they all walked back to the park in silence. The silence seemed to last for a long time before it was broken, by Kazu's voice.

"Hold up guys," Kazu said, quietly. The other's looked at him with confusion as he held his hands out in a gesture for them to stop

"Kazu, why are we stopping?" Guardromon asked Kazu shushed his digimon; Kenta and Jeri were both confused.

"What's up, Kazu?" Jeri asked. Kazu simply pointed across the street and Jeri and Kenta found themselves staring. Takato and Guilmon were walking along the sidewalk across from them, but it wasn't Takato and his partner that interested the small group, it was the other person that was with them, who Takato was talking to: Rika!

"How did Rika get here from way back there?" Kenta questioned in confusion. His question was left unanswered as they began to listen to the conversation the Rika and Takato were having.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Takato asked Rika, in a concerned voice.

"Why wouldn't I be ok?" Rika responded, softly. Despite her words, she didn't sound too sure of herself. Takato looked to be in thought before he spoke again.

"Well…it's a lot to take in, and the way you both just left was concerning," Takato answered. Rika appeared to be thinking about what Takato said before she responded.

"It's confusing. Just a few hours ago I was sure I had this all figured out, now I feel like I don't understand anything," Rika admitted to her goggle wearing friend. Takato looked at Rika with sympathy in his eyes. Kazu, Kenta and Jeri were confused about what their two friends were talking about but froze when they noticed Guilmon was staring at them.

"I know you need time. I can't say I know what you're going through, but know that I'll support you no matter what-both of you," Takato spoke with conviction and a smile on his face, Rika couldn't help but give a small smile in return.

"I need to think about things, there are more important things going on then my identity problems. I'm going back to Henry's for now," The red-headed tamer said before she walked on ahead of her companions. Takato waved to her as she faded into the distance.

"You know, you've been awfully quiet boy, I'm surprised," Takato mentioned to Guilmon, without looking at him while he waved. Takato looked over at his partner and was surprised to see him staring at something, across the street.

"Hi Jeri, Kenta, Kazu, MarineAngemon and Guardromon!" Guilmon suddenly shouted in a cheerful voice, as he waved to his friends across the street. Takato blinked before looking over at the people Guilmon was waving at.

"He's seen us. Scram!" Kazu yelled before trying to run. But he was unable to, as his sleeves were grabbed by Jeri and Kenta.

"Don't be ridiculous Kazu, it's just Takato," Kenta sighed, as he and Jeri began dragging him across the street.

"Yeah, and I want to find out what he and Rika were talking about," Jeri added, worriedly. Guardromon and MarineAngemon followed in confusion.

"Do you know what's going on?" Guardromon asked his floating companion.

"…Pi," MarineAngemon shrugged.

"Humans are weird," Guardromon stated; MarineAngemon nodded in agreement.

"How much of that did you guys hear?" Takato asked after the five had finished crossing the street.

"Most of it, and we have some questions for you!" Kazu suddenly exclaimed, apparently having forgotten his desire to run away.

"Kazu," Jeri quietly scolded the boy before walking over to Takato. "Rika's been acting weird; we were hoping you might be able to tell us why."

"Why did she say she was going to Henry's house for that matter?" Kenta added. Takato looked between the three humans before looking at Guilmon who just gave him an innocent smile.

"Sorry, but I can't really tell you anything," Takato sighed-he wanted to explain what was going on to his friends, but Rika and Ruki did not want him to tell anyone and he needed to respect their privacy.

"You can't? Or won't?" Kazu questioned, suspiciously. Takato backed away a bit; pulling Guilmon with him.

"Ok. I technically can. But I won't, I'm not the one who should tell you," Takato said before he ran off; pulling Guilmon along the way.

"Hey! Get back here!" Kazu called after Takato. Jeri sighed and shook her head.

"Let him go Kazu. He's probably in an awkward enough position already," Jeri stated.

"Awkward?" Kazu questioned, with a confused look on his face. Jeri nodded.

"I have no idea what is going on. But Takato seems to and he apparently can't tell us anything," Jeri explained. She sighed. "Maybe we should just go home. Rika clearly doesn't want us to know about what ever problem is going on."

"What I would like to know is how Rika could get here before us and already be talking to Takato, when she was going in the other direction?" Kenta said; still unable to figure out an answer to that question.

"Maybe there really are two Rikas," Kazu joked. Kenta chuckled a bit-albeit nervously at the prospect of the idea. Jeri, however seemed to think a bit more about what Kazu had said.

"Maybe that is it…" Jeri muttered, quietly. Kazu and Kenta stopped their laughing and looked at Jeri in surprise.

"Jeri? You think there might be two Rikas?" Guardromon asked-the idea did not seem that ridiculous to him. MarineAngemon looked a bit more skeptical.

"That's impossible Guardromon. Jeri knows that," Kazu argued. "Right, Jeri?" Kazu was looking for a confirmation, but Jeri actually seemed to be thinking about the possibility.

"Two Rikas…could it be?" Jeri muttered to herself. Kazu and Kenta gave each other concerned looks as Jeri tried to think of what to do next.

How was that? Not too bad I hope. Give constructive criticism and your opinions if you wish. Or don't leave a review. It doesn't matter.