25Digimon Tamers: The Battle of Two Worlds
Hello my fellow readers and welcome to my newest story and yes, it's not a Pokemon story. I've been meaning to try a Digimon story for some time and what better time that to do that now in the new year. The problem is that, in the case of the Tamers Universe, I find it hard to write something that's interesting when the anime itself can easily top anything I could ever write. So, I have to go AU here. The storyline will still be similar to the animé, but with some changes.
1: A Rika/Takato pairing. I know the animé seemed to push more of Takato/Jeri and Rika/Ryo, but I think these two make for a much more interesting couple.
2: Since this will be a RikaXTakato story, they will have met earlier then when they did in the anime. This first chapter will be that meeting, if you're wondering.
3: While the storyline will be similar to the animé, certain episodes will be either left out because I find them irrelevant or only briefly mentioned. I'm sure this won't make many happy, but it what I want for the story.
And lastly, 4: My own OC. Now to those who've read my Pokemon stories, this WON'T be the same OC, it will be a different OC that will only be used for this and any other Digimon stories that I write(if I decided to write any more.) Now that we got those out of the way, let's get started.
Also, a special shout-out to TMan5636 as his Digimon story gave me inspiration and ideas for this chapter.
Chapter 1: The Meeting
It had been a interesting last few days for 11-year old Takato Matsuki and his friends, Kazu Shioda and Kenta Kitagawa. They had tried for the past year to let them participate in the upcoming Digimon Card Game Tournament and after a while of thought their parents made them a deal: They would pay for each of there entries, but they had to pay for the cards they needed. The three kids accepted and here they were. Things didn't get off to such a great start for the three when Kenta was eliminated in the first round. Takato and Kazu, however were having much better luck than him, in fact, both had made it to the semi-finals and even better, Takato had won his semi-final match and was on his way to the finals where the winner would win 11,882,500 yen(A/N That amounts to $100,000 US, for those wondering.) Right now, Takato was up in the stands with his parents, Kenta, Kenta's parents and Kazu parents as they were watching Kazu in his semi-final match. Unfortunately, things weren't going so well for him.
"And defending champion, Rika Nonaka takes another 100 points. She now leads 900-300. If she wins just one more battle, she'll advanced to the finals." the announcer said.
"Poor Kazu, you have no idea how much he wanted to win this tournament." Kazu's mother said.
"Eh, even if he loses this match, he'll still win 2,376,500 yen(A/N $20,000 US) so even if he doesn't win, I'm still proud of him." Kazu's father said, happy that Kazu's little hobby was now making him money.
"I don't think I've ever seen Kazu beaten this badly. But still, I'm glad it's him in there and not me. Actually, I'm glad I'm not Takato either since he's about to face her." Kenta said.
Takato hadn't spoken a word since their battle started. It wasn't just because he was scouting Rika to see if he could stand a chance against her, but it was also because she seemed familiar. 'Rika... Why does that name sound so familiar?' he thought. Then, after digging into the deepest part of his memories, it hit him.
Flashback(Six years ago)
Takato and his mother were currently walking towards the local park so Takato could play. As they arrived, they noticed an man and a young girl playing on the swings, so Takato went over to the jungle gym. After a while of playing on that, he was walking over to play on something else, when be bumped into a young red haired girl wearing a blue dress causing them both to fall on their buts. The young girl shed a few tears until Takato stood up and helped her up. She stopped crying as she was helped up to her feet and she looked into his red eyes.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah." she responded. Just then, having seen what happened, Rika's father and Takato's mother cam running up towards the two.
"Rika, are you alright, dear?" her father asked.
"Yes, daddy. I fell, but I'm OK." she said.
Takato's mom turned to Rika's father. "I'm sorry about that. My son must not have been paying attention."
"Oh, no. There's no need to apologize. No one was hurt, just a simple accident. Now why don't we leave our kids alone to play?" he said as he and Takato mom walked back towards a bench, introducing themselves on the way.
"I'm Takato." he said, introducing himself as he extended his hand.
"Takato? Funny name." she said as she shook hands with him. "I'm Rika."
"Rika? Pretty name." he said. She had a slight blush on her face when he said that.
"Thank you. Wanna go play with me on the swings?" she asked.
"Sure." he said as the two ran towards the swing set. The two young children ran up to the swings and played on them together. Hours passed as the two continued to play on everything, smiling and laughing every step of the way. Finally, the two stopped playing, feeling tired. Soon, their respective parent came walking up to the two.
"Rika, it's time to go home."
"Us too, Takato. Your father probably has dinner almost ready."
Rika and Takato stood up, both looking upset. "Can we come back tomorrow, daddy?" Rika asked.
"Of course, we can sweetheart. I'm sure Takato will be here waiting for you." he said.
"Oh yes, Takato is here all the time. You two will see each other again." Takato's mother said.
Rika turned to Takato. "Yay, we can play again tomorrow! It'll be fun!"
"Yeah! I'll see you tomorrow Rika. Bye!" he said as he and his mother started walking home.
"Bye Takato!" she said as she and her father went home. Takato was able to take one last look at his new friend before he and his mother walked home to the bakery his family owned.
Flashback end
Takato remembered that Rika and he played in that park everyday for a year when she just stopped coming. He still went to that park till he was about eight and he never saw her again, that is, until today. He came out of his trip down memory lane to find that Rika had beaten Kazu so Takato made his down to the arena to prepare for the finals.
"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Defending Champion Rika Nonaka defeats Kazu Shioda 1000-300 and advances to the finals. Kazu will take home 2,376,500 yen for his efforts here. Well done, young man. Now then, we'll take a thirty minute break and then we will have our final match between Rika Nonaka and Takato Matsuki!" The announcer said.
As Rika was getting her cards, she heard that name and she felt like she heard that name before, but couldn't remember where.
"Uh...good game, I guess." Kazu said, bringing Rika out of her dazed state to Kazu with his hand out, looking for a handshake, but she wasn't one for that.
"Far from it; you were pathetic. How some amateur like you made into the semi-finals is beyond me." she said as she grabbed her cards and walked away.
"Man, what's her problem? Just trying to be a good sport and she says that. I hope Takato creams her in the finals." Kazu mumbled as he walked off.
Meanwhile, Rika was walking in the hallways meeting up with her grandmother, Seiko. Rika's mother, Rumiko was in Paris for a fashion shoot, but Rika didn't care if her mother was here or not. She approached her waiting grandmother.
"Rika, well done in your last match. You must be so happy to be going to the finals!" Seiko said.
"Oh please, that guy was nothing. I've had more of a challenge tying my shoes than beating that guy." Rika said, without looking at her grandmother.
"So, who's this boy you're facing...uh, oh here it is, Takato Matsuki." Once again, that name rang a bell inside Rika's head when she heard it. 'That name, why does that name sound so familiar?' she thought. Seiko noticed Rika confused face when she said the boy's name. "What's the matter Rika; don't you remember Takato?"
"I knew him?" she asked, still confused.
"Oh course dear, you and him used to play in the park all the time when you were little, don't you remember?" Seiko asked. Soon, Rika finally realized why that name was so familiar and, unbeknownst to her, was reliving the same memory that Takato was reliving only a few minutes prior.
"Now I remember. That was the time when dad was around." she said, with a hint of sadness in her voice, which Seiko was able to hear.
"Rika, I know you're not a person who likes to have many friends, but look at who you are. Ever since that day, you've grown so cold that not only do you interact with any of the kids at that private school you go to, but you barely interact with me and your own mother. I think it would do you good to have just one friend to talk to. Please Rika, reconnect with Takato, for me."
Rika thought about it for a minute or so, before answering. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to have one friend. OK, Grandma, I'll see if Takato remembers me and continue our friendship for you, but not until after I beat him in our match."
Seiko sighed. "Well, I suppose that's fine." she said.
Soon, an announcement was made for the finalists to make their way back to the arena so they could begin. Rika said bye to her grandmother and made her way inside the arena and to the table where she and Takato would be playing. She could see Takato already waiting for her. Rika noticed he was wearing a blue jacket, light brown pants, yellow wristbands and weirdly enough, a pair of goggles over his head.
Takato took quick notice of her when she arrived. She was wearing a blue and white shirt with a blue broken heart in the middle and a yellow collar, blue jeans with the left leg having some kind of belt surrounding it, red wristbands, a brown leather belt and red shoes with the ends of them being silver and looking metallic. Takato walked up to her and spoke.
"Uh, hi Rika. Nice to be playing with you." he said. Rika could tell he was nervous, but whether it was because of the upcoming card game or just her presence, she didn't know.
"Hey Takato, been a long time hasn't it?" she asked, getting a surprised expression from the boy.
"You remember me?" he asked with Rika nodding.
"We'll talk later. Right now, I hope you're ready for the worst beating of your life." she said as she put her cards down on the table. When she looked back at Takato, instead of him looking more nervous, he suddenly looked extremely confident.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that happening, 'Digimon Queen'. Prepare to be dethroned!" he said as he put his cards on the table. As the two took their seats, Rika could tell, just by the look in Takato's eyes, that she might have met her match.
And so their match begin and almost immediately, Rika's instincts were correct. Anytime Rika scored points, Takato would score points the very next battle. There were many draws during the match, making it exciting for the crowd as they gathered as close as they could to watch the match. Halfway through the match, Takato managed to take the lead away from Rika, which naturally didn't please her. However, she kept her calm and kept playing since she knew if she didn't calm down, she would start making mistakes and it would be all over. Soon, Rika would get the lead back and started pulling away, but it still remained a tough battle all the way till the end.
"Folks, this final match is everything you'd expect from a final match and then some. Currently, defending champion Rika Nonaka leads Takato Matsuki 900-700. One more win for her and she will repeat as champion."
'Thank you, Captain Obvious.' Rika thought while looking at her current hand while waiting for Takato to make a move.
Takato meanwhile was looking at the board. He had a MetalGreymon out while Rika had a Taomon out. In the previous battle, Takato had used many of his upgrade cards to keep MetalGraymon on the field and to stop Rika from winning. His efforts had resulted in a draw, but Takato knew he had only bought a brief stay of execution. He looked at his hand and after a quick review of it, he realized he only had one move he could make to win; it was risky since he wasn't sure what Rika had, but it was all he could do.
"Well Rika, this has been a great game, but I'm about to end this game one way or another with my next move." he said.
"And just how do plan on doing that, Goggle-head?" Rika asked. Takato felt slightly offended by that name, but quickly pushed it to the side.
"With this card: Ultra Digivolve!" Rika knew that card well, having had one in her deck as well and she knew it was an awfully risky move at this point in the match.
'It must have been his only move left.' she thought.
"I couldn't digivolve MetalGreymon to WarGreymon before since I didn't have the proper digivice card, but with this, I can digivolve him to WarGreymon, earning myself 200 points in the process." he said, tossing his hand into the discard pile, per the card's requirements.
Despite being in a tie again, Rika remained confident. "So, that was your last move?" she asked.
"Yeah, but it's left me with a powerhouse that can take down your Taomon." he replied.
"On it's own, yes. But you also should remember the flip side of your risky move." Takato's eyes widen at what Rika was implying.
"You mean..."
"That's right. I play the Black Gears card, giving my Taomon an additional 100 points to her power and defeating WarGreymon." she said. Takato put his head down on the table in defeat while the surrounding crowd cheered.
"And there you have it folks. Rika Nonaka def. Takato Matsuki 1000-900 and has repeated as Digimon Card Game Champion. Takato will take home 5,340,150 yen(A/N $45,000 US) for second place. Now I shall ask Rika Nonaka to please come to the stage to accept her trophy." the announcer said. Takato rose his head and stood up as did Rika and the two shook hands. The crowd was surprised at that since Rika normally wouldn't shake hands with her opponents after beating them, but they thought she made the exception with Takato, given how close the match was, but that wasn't the case.
"Good game Rika." Takato said.
"Thanks. You played well too." she said, then moved her mouth to his ear. "Meet me in the hallways after the presentation and we'll catch up, OK?" she whispered. When she pulled away, she saw Takato nod. The two walked away with Rika headed for the stage while Takato was consulted by his parents.
After the presentation, Takato told his parents he was going to hang around the city for a while. They said okay, but to be back before dark as Takato bid farewell to them. Kazu and Kenta had already gone home with their parents, so he could reconnect with his old childhood friend without Kazu and Kenta bugging them with questions. He walked down the hallways until he could see Rika talking with some older woman. The woman saw him and motioned him to come over there. He walked over to see Rika turning towards him.
"Hey." she said.
"Hey." he responded, not sure what to say at the moment; after all, he had to choose what he said carefully if he wanted to know what had happened to her.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Seiko spoke. "I'll just leave you two alone. Rika, make sure you're home before dark and I'll see you later." she said, taking Rika's trophy with her. After a few more moments of silence, Rika broke the ice.
"Well, you wanted to catch up right?" she asked. Takato nodded his head. "Well, come on." she started walking out of the arena with Takato walking right besides her.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"I don't know, wherever I feel like going." she said. Takato sighed; getting her to open up would be harder than he thought.
The two had been walking for ten minutes when they walked into the local park; neither Takato or Rika hadn't said a word since leaving the arena. Takato was still trying to figure out what to say, so he just winged it.
"Rika, are you ever gonna speak to me?" he asked.
"I'll talk to you when I feel like it and right now, I don't feel like talking. Besides, what do you and I have to talk about?" she said, not even looking at him.
Takato, having had enough of Rika's attitude, stopped her right in her tracks and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "What do we have to talk about? How about your attitude?" he asked. Rika managed to shake herself free from Takato's grip and turned away from him. "What happened to you Rika? You used to be the nicest girl I had ever met and now I look at you and it feels like you and her aren't the same. For all I know, I'm looking at some alternate version of her and the Rika I know is gone forever."
"That Rika IS gone forever!" she yelled, then turned to face the boy. "Let me make something clear: You didn't know anything about me and I didn't know a thing about you. So let me ask you something, Goggle-head? Who are you to ask me that? Huh?! Who are you?!" she screamed. Takato was silent for a moment before answering.
"A friend who's concerned." After hearing that, Rika froze. She honestly wasn't expecting Takato to say that. She was expecting him to say something that would make her turn around and leave, thinking that this had been a complete waste of her time, but instead, she got the exact opposite of what she thought would happen. Now she was wrestling with the decision of whether to open herself up to Takato.
Takato meanwhile, was incredibly nervous; Rika had been completely still since he last spoke. He was waiting for her to just leave and tell him not to follow her, but that didn't happen. After about a minute and a half of silence, Rika walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. She motioned for Takato to sit as well, which he complied.
"Do you really want to know what's happened to me over the years?" she asked.
"Well, yeah I do. But if you're not comfortable telling me, then you don't have to." he responded.
"It's fine." Rika took a deep breath before continuing. "A few months after we met, my parents started getting into fights. They were almost always about either my mom's career as a fashion model getting in the way of her spending time with us or my dad's... problems." she said, while starting to hug herself.
"Problems?"
"My dad was a drinker and a heavy one too. From what I remember, he'd go to this casino/bar at least 3 times a week and would come home so drunk, it's a miracle that he didn't kill anyone on the way. He also had a gambling problem. We found out later that the reason he kept getting drunk was because he kept losing money in that casino I mentioned and it's because he lost so much and spent so much on beer that my mom had to increase her schedule just so we could keep a roof over our heads."
"Wow Rika..." Takato said, not sure what to say to her.
"It gets worse." she said. "One night, their fighting got to such a breaking point that my mom wanted a divorce, so he stormed out of the house and left..." Rika stopped speaking as she felt a lump in her throat.
"So you don't really see your dad that much?" Takato asked.
"Not quite." she managed to get out as she fought tears from coming out. "He didn't come back home that night, so I went to bed thinking he'd be passed out on the couch when I woke up. What I got instead was my mom talking to some officers. When she saw me, she told me that dad had been in a car accident and that he…he was dead." she got out. Takato was shocked to hear that; now he completely understood why Rika had changed. Before he could speak, Rika continued, after taking in another deep breath, but with tears still fighting to get out. "And as for why I'm like this, it's because I don't...I don't want to feel...weak." she finished as her gaze moved to the ground.
"Rika, there's nothing wrong with feeling sad when you lose someone close to you like that."
Rika's head shot up and she looked Takato dead in the eye; tears still trying to get out. "That might be fine for you Google-Head, but it's not for me!" she yelled as she got up to leave, but Takato grabbed her shoulders again.
"Rika, no person should keep their emotions bottled up like what you're doing. If you keep bottling them up, you're just going to distant yourself from others and spend the rest of your life alone." Takato said. Granted, that was harsh on Takato's part, but it was the truth and he thought that it would happen to her.
"T...Ta...kato..." Rika couldn't find her voice as her lip trembled and the tears in her eyes, nearly out.
"Please Rika, just let it all out and you'll get rid of all that pain inside your heart." he said. And just like that, Rika broke down, tears streaming down her face and her shoulders trembling. She wrapped her arms around the boy. Surprised, Takato stumbled before regaining his balance and put his arms around her. He also had a bit of a blush on his face, but it went away quickly. As Rika continued to cry, Takato felt a lone tear escape from his eye, but quickly wiped it away as Rika continued to cry into his jacket.
"Dad...D-Dad...Daaaaaad!" she whimpered repeatedly. Minutes passed as Rika continued releasing her emotions with Takato holding her, unable to do anything else but support her in her time of need. "Dad...Why...Why did you leave me like that?" she sniffled. Having cried all that she could, she rubbed her eyes and looked at Takato.
"Do you feel better?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess." she said quietly and if Rika could be totally honest with herself, she did feel much better after doing that. The two separated, both with smiles on their faces.
"Great." he said. "So, you want to go over to my parent's bakery?"
"Your parents own a bakery?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, I guess I never told you when we were younger, but yes they do. They make breads, cakes and wait till you try the caramel shortcakes, they're to die for." he said.
"That does sound good. OK then, lead the way, Google-Head." she said as the two started walking out of the park. "And Takato."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks..for back there."
"Anytime Rika. You ever need someone to talk to, I'll be there for you."
Rika smiled a bit as he said that, but them remembered something. "Oh and if you ever tell anyone about that, I'll kill you. I still have reputation to uphold." she said.
"Of course Rika, I'd never tell anyone about that." Takato said, nervously. Rika smirked when he said that; maybe rekindling her friendship with Takato wasn't such a waste of time after all.
End of Chapter 1
So there you go, my first chapter of my first Digimon story. I hope you all enjoyed it. As always, leave reviews for me, constructive criticism is always welcome; it's the only way I'll get better.
I'm also doing a thing here called Question of the Week. If anyone has a question they want to ask me, whether about this story, one of my other stories or something about me, feel free to ask me. Leave it in either a review or PM. I'll only answer one question per chapter, so make it a good one. One rule: Do not ask me any question regarding spoilers for my stories as they will not be answered. Now, how about I answer a question that many of you are wondering.
Q: Why did you choose Digimon as your newest FF?
A: Because I feel like when it comes to Digimon FF's on here, almost all of them are in the Adventures universe and there's not many Digimon Tamers FF's here. I feel like Tamers gets really underrated as a season. It may have started slow, but by season's end, your just amazed. To me, it was a better season than the plot-hole filled season that was Digimon 02.
So that's the end of this and until next time, this is nWore signing out.