The Fallen:  Silent Screams

By Evolution

The silent screams rip through the air… children’s tears stain the dying Earth… not war… not murder… genocide…

“Rika…” Henry said, looking hard into her eyes.  He smiled and moved closer to her.

Rika frowned at him, “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been looking for you, we need to talk.”

“We don’t need to talk.  If we had needed to talk, I would have talked to you and the others seven years ago.  I could be completely content for the rest of my life without ever seeing any of you again.”

“Rika please, this isn’t about the past, this is about the future.”

Rika scoffed, “Future?  There is no future here.  Life has lost all meaning for everyone, all that matters now is survival.”

“But we can change that, Rika.”  Henry held his hand out toward her.  Rika pushed his arm out of the way and kneeled down next to the unconscious Renamon.  Henry said, “It’ll be a few hours before she wakes up.”

Rika pulled Renamon over her shoulders and stood up.  “I know.  That’s why we’re getting out of here.”

Henry glanced around the bar; the eyes of all the occupants were glued on them.  “Rika please, you’re one of the most powerful Tamers to ever exist, we- no the world- needs you.”

“Does it look like I care about saving the world?” Rika laughed, stepped over the fallen agent, and put her hand on the door.

“Don’t you have any higher ideals that you would die for Rika?”

Rika looked back and glared at him, “I’ve never had any, why would that have changed by now?”  She kicked open the door and yelled back, “Ben, kill the agent, otherwise he’ll just come back again!”

“Right!” Ben yelled back to her as the door slammed shut.

Rika stomped down the ally.  This was the last thing she needed; him and the others back in her life.  She and Renamon had been getting along just fine, they had adapted to the life of being innocent fugitives just fine.  She had put so many layers of ice over her heart, that every time she found out someone she had known had been captured and sent to a death camp in the Digital world, she felt nothing.  Emotions were for the weak, for humans, not for Tamers.  What did she care about saving humans for the shitty world that they had created?  They were the ones who persecuted Tamers, killed them, and made life a barren dessert of despair for those that lived. 

“Rika, wait!” Henry called as he jumped out the bar door, racing down the alley after her.  Rika growled in annoyance and quickened her pace.  Henry yelled to her, “So you want to settle for a life of hiding in the shadows, always running, robbing people just to stay alive?  Whatever happened to the old Rika?”

Rika spun around, “It’s survival of the fittest Henry, it always has been.  Hero’s die for some stupid purpose that they believe is right.  You’re going to ask me to risk Renamon’s, and my own survival, for some purpose that neither of us believes in.  I left you and the others for a reason Henry; I’m not about to come back with a smile.

Henry was now at her side, “Rika, its because you left us that we split up, and because we split up that all of this, this entire darkness covering the world, happened.  Technically, this is all your fault!”

Rika glared at him, and if she hadn’t had Renamon in her arms, she would have shot him right then and there.  She was ready to hiss back at him when a bright light shot into her eyes, making them clench shut. 

“Halt Tamers, you are under arrest!”

“Shit!” Rika growled.  She turned down an alley, running as fast as she could.  Henry followed at her heels.

Sirens screeched through the air, “Tamers, escape is futile.  Give up now to be taken to the Protected Communities, or risk termination!”

“We’re,” Ruki huffed, “dead either way!  Thanks a lot, Henry!  Come on Renamon, wake up!”

“What, you don’t think I have a back up plan?” Henry laughed.  “Terriermon!”

“Bunny blast!” cried a high-pitched voice, and the light on the police helicopter burst into darkness.   Rika looked back toward the helicopter, barely able to make out its faint outline in the sky.  Then she looked back at Henry, just as the annoying rabbit Digimon landed on his shoulder. 

Rika yelled back, “Great, so you blinded them.  They have heat sensors on there too, incase you didn’t know.”

Henry stopped, “Ok Terriermon, are you ready?”

The rabbit hopped off Henry’s should and nodded, “Yeah, let’s teach them not to mess with Tamers!”

Rika skidded to a stop, “Are you crazy!?  Terriermon can’t fight them, even Kyubimon has trouble fighting copters!”

Henry looked at Rika and smirked, “Why is it you always assume Renamon is more powerful than Terriermon?”  With that said, he pulled his D-Power and a card from the deck at his side and held it in front of his face.  The wind seemed to blow around him in all directions, whipping his hair with furry.  With a series of motions, he slashed the card through the D-Power; his eyes seemed to glow with determination.  “Digimodify!… Digievolution activate!” 

A bright sphere of light formed around the little, rabbit Digimon.  “Terriermon digivolve to… Gargomon!”  The sphere of light disappeared, and now, instead of a tiny bunny, was a large creature with the head of a rabbit and guns for hands.

Laser blasts from the helicopter began ripping into the ground around the Tamers.  Gargomon smiled, “I can do that too!  Gargo laser!”  The rotary machine guns on his arms began spinning, sending a spray of bullets at the helicopter.  The shrieks and cries of tearing twisted metal filled the air.

A large blast hit the ground and exploded, sending Rika sprawling to the ground.  “This isn’t working Henry!”

Henry yelled to Gargomon, “Get closer!”

“Right!” Gargomon replied.  He leapt into the air, flying the height of the buildings, shooting a spray of bullets at the helicopter.  As he reached the level of the helicopter he pulled back his arm, the rotary gun on it beginning to glow with a fierce green light.  Gargomon cried out as he rammed his metallic fist into the hull of the helicopter, causing it to explode in a ball of flames around him. 

The large rabbit landed on the ground and laughed in triumph.  Then he began glowing, and light shot from his body.  When the light ceased, the small rabbit was there.  It leapt up onto Henry’s shoulder again. 

Rika looked at Henry with wide eyes, “You beat them like it was easy!”

“Well,” Henry smiled, “it comes with practice.”

Rika frowned angrily and looked at Henry, “Well, since you saved me, I guess I have to give you a chance to talk to me.  But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to help you.”

“Thanks, Rika.”

Renamon was still unconscious, and lying on the couch in Rika’s run down, shabby apartment.  The two Tamers, and Terriermon, sat at a table in Rika’s kitchen, talking.

“So what do you want?” Rika asked, the annoyance of having Henry in her apartment evident in her voice.

“Rika,” Henry asked with a tone of sadness, “why did you leave us seven years ago?”

“I don’t want to talk about that.  You wanted to talk to me in the bar, why?”

Henry smiled sadly, “Like I said, because the group broke up, we didn’t stop the government from doing this to the world.”

“How could we have stopped them?  It’s not like we could have fought them or anything.”

“No, but because the group broke up, there was no way to fight all the Digimon that invaded Earth.  If we had stayed together, then we could have stopped them and humans wouldn’t hate us now.”

“Still, its not our fault that they blame us for the invasions.  The Digimon would have done damage to the world either way.”

“I know, but if we had been there to stop them, we would have made them realize that we weren’t a threat to them.”

“Who says we aren’t?  If we actually fought against them instead of hiding and running, they would realize that they aren’t so powerful.”

“Rika, a little while after the group split, scientists discovered that Tamers are genetically superior to humans.  That’s why we have the ability to have Digimon partners and they don’t.  But that doesn’t mean that we’re better than them, just different.”

“We are superior, Henry.  That’s why they hate us.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter that they hate us.  But humans are just as oppressed these days as we are.  When was the last time you saw a child roaming the streets?  Years ago, and that’s because the world is in such chaos.”

“So, what does this have to do with me?”

“Takato and I found out that there’s some force behind the government’s actions.  Killing off all the Tamers isn’t just a reaction of the government, there’s some Digimon or human behind all this.”

“And who would that be?”

“We don’t know.  But Kenta managed to intercept some information on the Internet that was from the Digital World.  It had strict orders to increase the rates of extermination of the Tamers across the world, and it was sent to one of the high-level government officials.  Now we know that no one of political importance lives in the Digital World.  As far as the world knows, that’s just a desert and information waist land that is where they have all the death camps.  So that means that someone is controlling the government in the Digital World.”

“And you want to find it and stop it,” Rika rolled her eyes.

“Yes!  So far, we already have the entire group back together, except you.”

“Why am I so important?”

“Rika, of all the Tamers in the world, only we, the members of the group, have managed to get our Digimon to evolve above Champion level.  You were once called the ‘Digimon Queen,’ that alone shows how powerful you are.  We’re the only ones in the world who even have a chance at stopping whatever is behind this.  And look at how the group just fell apart after you left.  You are a major component to our team!”

“Whatever,” Rika mumbled.

“I’m serious!  We can’t do this without you, all the others want you back with us, why don’t you want to be with us?”

“If the others want me back so bad, why didn’t Takato or Kazu come with you?”

“Kazu and some of the others are busy preparing to enter the Digital World.  Takato and Ryo are already there.”

Rika raised her eyebrow at Henry, “Why are they there already?”

“It’s Jerri, she’s in one of the death camps.  I was supposed to get you and meet them there to get her out.”

Rika frowned, “Well, I guess I would feel somewhat bad if Jerri was killed.”

“Does that mean you’re going to help us?”

“No.  But I will help break Jerri out.  After that I’m leaving you guys.”

“That’s a start, but I hope you change your mind, Rika.  We need you.”