OK this is pretty lengthy in itself. But it's finally uploaded ^.=.^

RD belongs to  rainbowdragon

Digimon belongs to Namco Bandai =3

---

Strict training.


Doru sighed, it took a bit but he managed to get RD into a space within the digivice where they could talk in peace "Okay...first off...WHY did you eat me?!" He crossed his arms. "I got us to where Were was...and didn't you find Drill because of that?!"

I ate you because you lied to me, and because of that dorulumon nearly exploded because of the darkness inside of him" RD glared at him "I can't stand liars"

Doru rolled his eyes at that. I made no LIE. You asked where WERE was. Not Drill, hence I gave you the answer you asked for, not the one you were essentially HOPING for." He took a deep breath. "Do you have any clue why Drill was there in the first place? Ok...Echo take us to Were's tavern right away!" He growled out. The Shoutmon yelping at the Dorumon's sudden commanding voice.

RD shook his head, crossing his arms. "I saw him writhing on the floor of the tavern. Why would he be down there in the first place? And if you gave me the directions to DRILL ahead of time we could have prevented that. If not for my Digivice there's no telling what would have happened!"

Doru held a paw up, taking a deep breath as he straightened himself "And I thank you for that, but do you understand WHY Drill was keeping an eye on the tavern. Why the organizer of this whole competition of all people would be taking the lowly task of working the shop?"

RD shook his head "Because all the matches for that day were organized and he had nothing better to do? That doesn't change the fact that you put him in excruciating pain just so you could selfishly stuff your face" RD growled in irritation that Doru was acting as if putting Dorulumon in such big danger was not a big deal

Doru rolled his eyes "It was not my doing that got Drill in danger. And I doubt it's the tournament itself that had him targeted by Myotismon, but rather what it was he was to protect."

Echo started panting, turning on the display on the digivice so they could see the tavern "I-I'm here...now what?"

Doru rubbed his forehead, sighing. "Go inside and Tell WERE to unlock the door to the cellar." This confused Echo, but he still did as the beast digimon told him.

RD shook his head "But because of what you did I didn't get to Dorulumon as soon as I could have, what he was protecting in the tavern has little importance on his own pain and suffering, and you prolonged it by lying and whatever this is doesn't excuse the fact that you lied and prolonged it"

Doru growled at those accusations. "One- I had no knowledge of him being attacked beforehand. I hadn't prolonged anything and there's no way I could be all knowing. two- It has everything to do with it. He protected a valuable secret that may turn the tide of the battle in due time."

Were took the digivice from Echo's hand, staring at the display at Doru. "Is...it time sir?" He scratched the back of his head, It was strange for an ultimate such as Were, to be showing such respect to a beast type like Doru. But none the less it was happening as a metallic clicking sound could be heard outside of the digivice.

"What exactly is it that you're trying to protect? And how is it so important that you would put Drill in such a dangerous situation?" RD halted his speech when he heard Were's respectful tone toward Doru and stared at the digi. "He just called you...SIR. How long are all of you going to keep us in the dark."

Doru nodded a few times "Drill would probably act differently as well once I've shown you this." Doru walked over to a chest crafted of chrome digizoid. After picking at the lock for a bit he took out what looked to be the same blue orb that was inside of the hidden base below the town "I'm sure Growlmon showed you this down below...This is an orb that calls the Royal knights to our presence. Of which I was once part of. I was the leader of the Royal knights, Alphamon."

RD stared at him for a good while, sizing up Doru as he held the sphere and rolled his eyes. "Why keep this hidden? Why aren't ANY of you trying to do anything about Myotismon...or the rest of his cohorts for that matter!"

Doru caught wind of RD's irritation and growled "Don't presume to know anything dragon. Let me ask you something, YOu already know the status of the digital world. You also know that Myotismon is targetting the royal knights, I'm sure you don't realize that half of them have already been converted to the darkness. Those that DO remain...are here." He gestured to the orb of light in his paw. "Or what's left of them."

RD Glanced at the orb of light, growling somewhat. "Don't PRESUME, I'm to know everything already. You hold so much from us that it's irritating! I'm about to blow my top because everything is being hidden from us and you're giving us no leads whatsoever! I'm sorry, you may be a royal knight but I find you personally responsible for the problems this world is having right now."

Despite RD's rising anger, he maintained his guard "If we could give you the answers straight away we would. Even the smallest lead puts everyone in danger! Hell, Me giving you this bit of information is enough to warrent Myotismon trying to level the whole town or Belphemon crawling out of his hole. You don't seem to understand the severity of the situation. You think we keep you out of the loop because we WANT to?" He walked over to RD, growling face to face. "You want the hard cold truth? We're losing. And there's nothing you can do right now in your present condition that can change that. That's the cold truth."

RD grinned, nodding as he crossed his arms. "Yes, now was that so hard. But why keep such a large secret. And why not tell us sooner that you are Alphamon, it could have saved us a lot of trouble, it's why we entered the tournament in the first place."

Doru shook his head, crossing his arms "You couldn't be more wrong. I WAS Alphamon. Now if you'd be so kind as to...what is it the humans call it? Chill...out? Then I'll be more than happy to explain to you. YOu want the royal knights to help? Want Yggdrasil to get off his butt? he was put into hibernation. A virus that we have yet to figure out how to fight. 8 of the 13 knights have succumbed to the darkness and the rest have gone into hiding. Some have relinquished their powers all together, waiting until they can reclaim it to finally start doing some good once we have a good solid lead."

"Ah so you were let go just like Max's grandpa was, and if you want me to 'chill out'" Now it was RDs turn to get in dorumon's face "Apologize for lying and stringing me along"

Doru growled, pressing snout to snout to RD, despite his small frame he seemed well suited to stand up to RD. "I will not. Until you understand the burden of protecting an entire world for centuries. Biding your time for the right moment when you could everything back into place. You will get no apologies from me. Show some damn respect to me, to Max's grandpa, and above all to your fellow Digimon." With that Doru backed up, Were grabbing him by the shoulders and giving them a firm rub to cool off the small digimon.

RD sighed, he dipped his head and scratched his head. "Yes and that's where we came in the first place, but here's the thing, we volunteered, gratefully and happily, we LIKE being heroes, but if anyone's learned anything about me the hard way so...I'm sorry."

Weregarurumon growled, he was about to rip into RD but Doru grabbed his paw with both. "Go check on Echo." He commanded with a soft voice. "Make sure he isn't...flipping out over everything." When the huminoid canine started stepping upstairs, Doru stretched out, feeling better after the shoulder rubs. "We both got a little heated. As I am now I can't help anybody. I've already infused my powers into each of your digivices. Furthermore." He lifted the orb infront of RD. "One of the four high lords had already been targeted by Daemon. I'll have to deliver that news to Blade as soon as I am able." He lifted the orb into the air, watching it expand to replay Daemon's assault on Azulongmon. "believe me I understand your reasoning. And had I had any power I would have acted. This...ScavengerDragon, managed to get us one solid lead but until all of you have at least reached ultimate level, it would be foolish to persue it. I tell it to you know but only out of clear responsibility towards the situation at hand. Daemon let slip that his base of operations is the dark network, while we've always suspected it we don't however yet have a means of accessing it"

"That's easy" RD smirked "I have a spirit of darkness merged with me, if anyone can reach the dark network it's him....."

"You have a spirit of darkness merged with you for a time. Not perminantly...furthermore...you yourself are a pure spirit of light." Dorumon pointed out with a claw, smirking. "It would be wise to wait for this Jesse character to return. Unlike other humans, he has direct connections to the darkness and would be the only one capable of safely passing through it and opening a clear cut gateway for the others."

RD nodded "True and the light is probably needed to combat the dark network anyways. We need as many soldiers of light as we can get.....however" RD looked up "There is a problem, I'm being expected to use the light and darkness in tandem, for how long I don't know but I'm undergoing training for it, and also undergoing training for the light"

Doru nodded a few times "That's the problem isn't it...you'll have to surrender the spirit in a few days once Smithy completes his work." Doru took a deep breath "I don't have the strength to combat you. Be that as it may Were will have to suffice until I can call on the other half of Guilmon's power...We can probably get you to use the darkness naturally...but probably not as effectively."

RD nodded and then blinked "Wait the other half of max's grandpa's power? You can call that?"

Doru nodded a few times "Not in the way you might think. He's a contestant in the ultimate division of the tournament. A Triceramon that has a pretty rugged disposition."

That threw RD for a loop, he nodded none the less. "Oh ok, in any case you were referred to me by that growlmon from underground, for training I mean And my anger caused me to completely forget about this up to this point" RD shrugged "I'm very emotional as you're no doubt aware now."

Doru nodded "I know. I was the one who picked him to guard that place. Maybe in time I can take part in the battles to come. Until then I can only supervise. Now..." He walked up the stairs and pulled Were over "You two play nice. While I go get our...third player..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Were however couldn't help but sweatdrop "It's not easy you know...he loses his temper just as well...but it's important we keep this facade out in the public. He can digivolve to Dorugamon but that's about it. The rest of his power was split among the eight of you."

RD winced, before summoning a pike of light into his paws. "He sacrificed more than he let on then. I probably could have been a little more understanding...Still...can we start?"

Were nodded a few times "He and the other knights. The only one still running full blast as far as I know is Ulforceveedramon, but he's looking for someone to take over the mantle. The true meaning behind the chosing of you eight was to select eight new knights." Were took a deep breath and moved over to a shelf, taking off what looked to be a gallantmon's lance "Show me what you're made of."

RD nodded as he started to show off a bit, twirling his lance a few time, throwing it up in the air to catch it, etc. Once he was satisfied he charged at weregarurumon

Were was personally unimpressed. Sidestepping and using the gallantmon's lance to catch the side of RD's own pike and whacking him on the side "Don't show off. It gives your opponant a chance to strike."

RD blinked as he was struck "I only did that to make sure I knew how to handle the thing, then again..." RD threw the lance, unleashed a G shurunen at it, and then caught it as he then shifted to jump on gallantmon's lance to make sure it wasn't used to block him.

Were blinked, watching the whole meanuver with a collective eye, he switched his grip of the lance to his left hand and grabbed at the wooden point of RD's pike, the steel blade just inches from his chest "Excellent meanuver but too predicable! Don't rely on weapons alone."

RD smirked as the G shurunen that was merged with his pike went flying off "Who said I was just using my weapon?"

Were blinked, feeling the pike going through his chest almost completely, yet no data seemed to be flowing from the wound, strange "Wolf claw!" He roared out, getting his claws down to bare at RD's head*

RD winced, as he brought his light shield up to block the basic attack, surprisingly for a rookie he was doing pretty well

Almost as quickly, a furred foot came at his stomach "Full moon kick!" Were roared out as his foot came swining at RD.

RD spun out of the way "Nice!" RD said "My fighting experience needs some work...."

Were shook his head "Not at all. YOu just need to tailor your fighting style to your opponant. They won't all fight the way you expect them too..." Were was about to give RD a lecture until he heard the celler doors open again Dorumon poking his head in "Both of you would you mind coming outside?"

Both Were, and RD stared at one another, then back to Doru, though it was Were who replied. "Of course Milord. We'll be right there."

When they made it outside of the tavern, the two had to stare up at the massive dinosaur standing before them. It was none other than the Triceramon that Doru had mentioned previously. "RD, Were, let me introduce you to Triceramon. Mind the horns..." He joked, smirking.

"Erm....WHY is guilmon's other half here?" RD asked before catching himself. Oh right you called him here never mind" RD looked visibly embarrassed

Doru gave him a look of confusion for a moment before nodding "I told you such."

The Triceramon stared down at RD grumbling in what was obviously annoyance. "This little guy is supposed to be my opponant?" He sounded as if he were protesting. "Don't get me wrong...size doesn't make the warrior, but I WAS in the middle of a nap."

"Wait you were resting? I get grumpy when woken up early" RD spoke out, nervously shifting on his feet, any rookie would be nervous staring an irritable ultimate leveled dinosaur.

Triceramon nodded a few times, yawning wide, showing RD his rows of sharp teeth "My opponant today didn't have any buisness entering the tournament and I just finished belching out his digiegg..."

Doru chuckled, patting Triceramon's leg, it was a wonder how he could stand so close yet not show any signs of fear amidst such a large predator. "Triceramon is very unique...his very stomach is a primary village of it's own as strange as it sounds...instead of his opponants going to the regions primary village, their egg forms inside of him."

"Sounds tasty....wait why did I say that" RD caught himself and smiled nervously. "Anyways this is just training honestly"

Triceramon rolled his eyes "I'm guilmon's dark half. In other words...I'm pure darkness. It is my understanding by lord Alphamon here..."

Doru shook his head "Not a lord anymore...but I appreciate the consideration for my former position."

Triceramon quickly rebutted with a low growl. "You ARE Lord Alphamon regardless of your current situation. I'm sure this Dracomon would agree." He said addressing RD. "You are under training to harness your own darkness."

"Yes and to gain more battle experience, I'm a bit too predictable" RD pointed out, rubbing the back of his head.

Triceramon nodded, extending his claws a bit. "Then I'm the ideal training partner. Unlike Were...I couldn't care less if my attacks reduce you to mush. Maybe that'll get the results you're after if you have someone who will truely push you to your limits." His eyes narrowed, completely serious and looking ready to destroy RD if need be.

If RD was scared by that proclaimation he did his best not to show it, and it worked. He knew that Triceramon had a point there. "Actually I think that was the problem the last time I was in training, I was holding back too much"

Triceramon nodded, getting himself ready "In that case. Come at me. And remember that you were told before combat the risks of this spar. I won't be responsible if you are reverted to an egg or worse...deleted." His tone growing dark.

"Maybe it'll help me not to hold back" RD said making two spears and holding them in a defensive stance after having digivolved into Coredramon.

Triceramon nodded in agreement, With that he charged forward, horns and claws first in a mad dash toward RD frightening speed, unlike Growlmon, his speed didn't seem to suffer from his bulk. "Mega dash!"

RD was surprised that the triceramon was so quick for it's size, but RD planted one spear in the ground then leapt and threw the other one then in a single motion he picked up the second one and tried to skewed triceramon with it

Triceramon growled, surprised that RD had managed to leap out of the way, but his tail was already at work, when RD made his move it swiped at him with a hard smack that would knock the wind right out of him.

RD only took a second to catch his breath, darn it he THOUGHT he was going all out but something was apparently off in the way he did things, he made a club and then leapt, midway making it super heavy and expanding it just to make sure it would hit, of course he was also getting increasingly frustrated with himself so he wasn't as focused.

Triceramon kept a cold gaze over RD, catching the club halfway, his arm straining to keep it up right before yanking it out of RD's hand "Impatience will get you killed!" He lifted a foot and swiftly tried bringing it to bare on RD, it was clear he was showing no mercy.

RD rolled out of the way before simply firing lasers at Triceramon he was also getting a little bit frustrated and running out of ideas, probably due to the fact that he wasn't good at making a ton of plan B's.

Good thing RD had rolled away, as the area that he had been occupying was cratered by Triceramon's foot stomp. He lifted one paw to shield his head from the lasers and growled irritably. He snapped his jaws a bit "Tri-horn attack!" He roared, three beams of energy making their way straight to RD, it was starting to look like a light show with all of the attacks being thrown around.

RD made his shield, then he thought of gallantmon, to his stunned shock the shield did an almost perfect imitation of a 'shield of the just' beam

Finally, a reaction out of Triceramon who despite having the speed to get out of the way, decided to take the hit like a mon. When the dust settled, he remained firmly in place, his teeth clenched in what looked to be an amused grin "I think you've gone as far as you're going to get in that form. Don't get me wrong it was effective. But only so much. And you'll exhaust your resources repeating it."

It was true now RD was exhausted, it wasn't that he didn't have the killing instinct or anything like that, it was that like Max there was a massive difference in sparring with someone you know you don't want to kill but wants to take you down, and taking on someone that you actually are angry with or typically don't like. RD knew consciously he had to go all out but subconsciously he was getting nowhere and there were no shortcuts it seemed

Triceramon grinned "You're not going to defeat Blade with the way you're going. He won't kill you sure...but that doesn't mean he won't stop at anything less than incapacitating you." His tail twitched "But I'm not him. And I already made my point across that I don't personally care if you're injured or likewise..." He licked his lips, starting to drool as he approached RD

RD felt like giving up, what the heck was he supposssed to do, he seriously needed someone to tell him what to do straight up because he wasn't ever going to win like this ever

Triceramon grinned, grabbing RD in his claws as Doru sweatdropped "I...did tell you he was the dark half of Guilmon."

That was when Loweemon's spirit woke within RD, speaking to him."So that's it? you're gonna just give up and spend a night in this dino's belly?"

RD was annoyed, no he didn't want to do that but everything he was doing was failing, he already tried everything so what was he supposed to do?!?

Triceramon licked his lips, obviously ready to take in RD. "You have two problems kiddo...First...you're too reliant on others and TWO...you're too soft. Kindness is great and all, as long as you don't let it cause you trouble down the road." Triceramon reminded him, odd he was taking so long to eat him "Do you know why Max's old man left when he did?" He asked, dangling RD in his claws, not taunting him but just trying to get his attention from the spirit.

"Not at all, he never mentioned it when we visited him" RD said slowly, holding his head as he was being held upside down.

"He hated humans...still does, but he never brought himself to take a life, even for his son and mate. He let his tender heart get the better of him." He snorted "I always told him growing up it'd get him and his friends killed."

RD now somehow managed to knock triceramon away, landing on his feet. "I'm not soft, the only reason I gave up is the only thing that worked on you exhausted me, I'm going all out and nothing's working. You know why I rely on others? Because back when I was human I pushed others away and that never made me stronger. In fact that made me absolutely helpless. Trying to think for myself only got me in deeper trouble. So tell me this, you say i'm soft but the one time I wanted to actually do some damage I exhausted myself. What good is damaging your opponent if you destroy yourself in the process. The opponent can simply wait you out."

Triceramon shook his head, flexing his claws "You have friends now. Above all you'd think wanting to make sure their safe would make you push yourself harder." He turned around and gave RD a hard smack with his tail* "The answer should be obvious. If your current form can't get the job done then you accelerate into the next stage. You're but a champion, you're only half of what you can truely become."

RD picked himself up and dusted himself off "And yet no amount of danger i'm put in gets me to ultimate....are you sure digivolution is the answer here? You seem keen on the digivolution kick.....that tears it" Suddenly several swords surrounded triceramon.....it was a testament to how desperate RD was that he made so many.....RD just stood there staring as instead of going at triceramon they instead went all over the place, off the walls, through the air, some even came back at RD who knocked them away.

Triceramon blinked when he watched the swords going haywire, he then took a deep breath, slamming his paw towards RD, pinning him to the taverns wall effortlessly. "I don't know! Why not spend a night in my gut to figure it out!" He roared it out, his stomach growling as if agreeing to the proposition. Mouth open wide as he started trying to scoop the dragon into his jaws

RD just shook his head as the swords hadn't stopped coming, apparently that was all he needed as one sword got into his claw and he jammed it, right through the roof of triceramon's mouth "That was it...."

Triceramon's eyes went wide in surprise, letting out a startling howl of anquish as he started prying the sword out of the roof of his mouth, bits of data coming out of it as he roared "Gah! The hell was that?" He asked, spitting RD out with a growl.

When RD was spat out, he was covered in drool but he banished the discomfort and disorientation out of his head. He looked different in that he finally had it figured out."That....was you getting overconfident and not seeing the true purpose to the attack at hand....I may have given up. But now....I'm sick of that and I see an opening" RD started jamming sword after sword through triceramon's mouth, some going into his mouth down his throat and into his stomach "Maybe Max made the same realization. Honestly I can't go at an opponent guns blazing. That's impossible for me, so I see a pattern, and then I exploit it. Your pattern had no weaknesses at first, then I realized something so simple a baby form digimon could see it. Your insides are a LOT softer than your outsides. You have a body that can withstand a lot of punishment. Mega level attacks like shield of the just seem to only put a dent in you. Yet we're all soft on the inside. Our inner flesh can't take the same punishment." RD's swords started doing a number to triceramon's insides, RD looked tired but there was also something else, like that look a scientist gets when he makes a major breakthrough "I'm sure you'll recover from this. It's not enough to take down someone like you with all your experience, but it helped me realize something. I'm NOT fighting according to my own fighting style. I don't do straight up offensive assaults...I wait...I lay traps....I counter....that's it."

Triceramon growled the whole while, clutching at his neck, as well as his stomach as he swallowed the swords, spitting a few out in disgust "YOu left out one major detail in all of that..." He groaned, rubbing at his stomach* "Like you said, you don't do straight up offensive attacks, and there's no doubt that Blade's body is more susecptible to damage than my own. But that means he'll be like you, waiting for an opening as if it were a game of chess with swords."

With a sigh, RD nodded. "Exactly, which means I'll have to trick him into thinking i'm doing the same old attack" RD grabbed the swords again "But instead do something different" Instead of going after triceramon's mouth he instead jammed it into his foot, trying to focus to make the sword stick into the ground

Triceramon cringed, feeling that blade go into his foot but made no effort to remove it "You have no garuntee's that will work. But you are improving, that much I can see." After a few moments, he started pulling the sword free from his foot, unaffected by the now deep wound in his foot and the sword of light soon changed into one of darkness in his claws. "I can change battle styles on the fly too."

RD nodded "I'm ready, I'll probably get beaten but I AM ready" RD nodded "Darkness and Light, two sides of the same coin, however darkness typically flees from the light, however if the light's too weak it can't penetrate the darkness....." RD sighed "I can fight straight up offensively but it's painfully predictable and easy to counterattack, the key is to realize this and stop that"

Triceramon nodded, keeping his blade in hand, growling "Well...We're already halfway through this. We may as well see it through to the end. I'm now more than a little irritated at being deprieved of a meal but you've earned my respect. I'll eat you yet." He declared.

RD charged but stopped short and swung his sword upward while materializing a shield to block

Triceramon growled, using his own sword to clash with RD's, and at the midway point started spinning to thrash his tail into his opponant!


Meanwhile, Max was finally waking up from his nap, his stomach had finished processing Flare, and his digivice already set to respawn the warrior of flame. And they were now getting to work on something else.

Fang lifted his journal up for Max to read. "And that's about it...We need to find the proxy that Myotismon planted to shift the matchups. RD's still away, but I figure the four of us have a decent shot at pulling this off."

Rubbing his eyes, Max let out a loud yawn, giving the journal's pages a fair read. "So...You already have a suspicion about who'se the saboteur but you want us to help flush him out..."

Flare finished putting on his armor, he knew now just how Jesse must have felt when Smithy removed all his armor from his person. IT felt like he was fading away, not dying but just...dissapearing. Yet when he finished strapping on his right boot it all started becoming clear to him again. "It's a good plan. As long as they don't expect it...So when do we start?" Flare asked, a grin on his face indicating that he was back to his same reckless self.

With a nod, Coronamon started walking to the door. "We leave right now. Operation catch a sneak!" He smirked, lifting a paw up in the air. "Let's do it guys!"

"Right!" Everyone else shouted in unison as they started filing out of the hotel room.

(To be continued)