[OneShot] Royal Rights and Challenge of Might

"What good is there to forming a contract to a tailor?"

Reina, the RoyalStingmon who was once princess to a kingdom, asked Bumo the Buttermothmon one day as she sat in the "living room" area. Dusk was also there, sitting on the floor at the coffee table, smoking. 

"Good?" Bumo gave Reina an incredulous look. "What do you mean by good?"

"Well, it's not like making clothes is a bad profession." Reina nervously played with the ends of her scarf, which was a gift from her late fiance, Ring...a gift that he couldn't even commission himself because he had died to her father's treacherous plans. Her first tamer and knight, Rokuro, unearthed the flame jade silk that Ring had intended on sending to Oracle to have a scarf tailor made for her. Rokuro made Ring's request fulfilled in the end through Nyrokin's tailoring skills, but now...

She had lost yet another important person in her life. Things were looking depressing. And she felt like she was just getting passed on from one person to the next. First, her father betrays her and kills her love. Then, the next person who brings her out from her depression and brought light to her life dies in brutal combat. 

"A tailor is not a profession of danger, and thus a tailor is not someone who will have the skills of a fighter. Yet you and so many others are willing to just remain contracted to him. What gain is there from a contract with someone who does not require your power, and has no power to give?"

"Hey!" Bumo got upset at this. "Your highness, you might want to watch your mouth! Your royal status doesn't mean anything here, and Nyro deserve more respect than that!" She fluttered up to her and pointed. "I also don't want to hear any of this 'what can I gain' from you, because you walk around without your natural armor, and so you're wearing clothes that he made for you!"

Indeed, the princess was commonly mistaken for a digi-elf because she paraded around in a human-esque form. But she wasn't going to just take Bumo's argument and leave it. "Yes, but that's not...that's not good enough for me." She stood up in a flash of fury. "I appreciate your tamer offering me a place to stay. But honestly, Oracle has nothing for me. I cannot get my revenge on my father, or go back to my kingdom at all to see to taking my place as the rightful heir and quelling the chaos that would come from the riot--"

"Hey, Princess whatever you're called." Dusk loudly interjected her rant. All turned to him as he gave them an annoyed glance from above his shades, cigarette still in his other hand. "So, you're not actually one of Roy's little pets? Well then, what are you complaining about? He offered you a place to stay, but if you're not contracted to him, then do what you want. Leave if you have to. What do you want from him if you're complaining about him?"

"Roy? Are you talking about Nyrokin? We're talking about the same person, right? And that's 'your highness' to you!"

Dusk took another breath of his cigarette before taking off his shades completely to put his attention on Reina. "Hey, the little flutter bug is right. You don't really have any power here. Oracle is a place that welcomes all who won't cause trouble, and I'll respect you when you respect the rest of us properly. Nyro, Roy, whatever. His name is actually Roy, and he doesn't care what you call him. 'Nyro' was some nickname he got from Bumo there."

"Roy, huh...tch..." She seemed irked.

"What's the matter? He remind you of someone you hate?" Dusk raised a brow at her.

"It's a name that means 'king'." She grumbled. 

Bumo settled down on the back of the couch. "Roy Evans King. He is the kindest person I have ever met, and the same could be said about his father. I don't know what your problem is, Reina, but there is nothing wrong at all with being contracted to him. He gives all of us good attention. And we help him in return. If you're trying to find someone to take you on your revenge journey, I don't think you're buzzing up the right tree here."

"You might be wrong on that one, Bumo." Dusk smirked, once again calling their attention to him. "Roy isn't in Silver Cross because he's great at making friends or just great at helping people, you know. He's in Silver Cross because he had to recover from an injury. If 'Black Sword Fighter' is the requirement you're looking for...well, one, I'm not interested in your offer, and two, Roy is still Black Sword material if you ask me."

Reina narrowed her eyes at Dusk, and slowly sat back down on the couch, not breaking eye contact. "I'm not looking for just a fighter. I require a knight that will be loyal to me."

"And your chances of finding that in Oracle now is probably zero to zilch. Everyone has their own agenda, and few humans are going to be willing to serve digimon when we're trying to stay on our own two feet. YOU have a easy in this world, princess. The power of digimon is frightful...although that doesn't mean I'll back down." Dusk spoke pointedly and took in another breath of his cigarette. "To be honest, I think your last tamer probably had a screw loose to swear loyalty to a digimon--"

"WHY YOU--!"

As Reina screamed her fury, a bedroom door suddenly opened. "Why are people yell--REINA!"

Reina had lunged at Dusk, who was about to take a defensive stance with that awfully dangerous core-eating arm of his. The princess grappled with the tamer, who wasn't looking to be kind towards her assault, but the two were intercepted by a staff being forcefully swung between their vision, and brought up to Reina's neck. 

"Stand down, Reina. Messing with THAT could mean your death. Permanently. I'd like for you to not follow Rokuro's path." Nyro spoke calmly as his gaze rested on Dusk's digicore-eating arm. 

Her breathing heavy and her expression furious, she shakily let go of Dusk and backed off. 

"Bumo, go bring a cup of water to her." He requested as he withdrew the staff, then sat down on the largest couch with a sigh. Bumo complied to his request immediately and fluttered to the other side of the room to pour water. "So, why am I breaking up a fight here? And Dusk, don't smoke indoors. It makes other people's clothes reek." 

Calm despite the commotion, Dusk huffed and picked the cigarette up from the coffee table, which now had a slight burn mark on it, and put it out in the ashtray. "Little miss princess here is complaining about having no one to play knight for her, and your flutter bug there tried to save her trouble by telling her she's looking in the wrong places. Too bad, Reina seems to like complaining about how you don't fit the bill, which is the opposite of looking for someone who does, so I thought I'd give my rival some more credit and told her you could fight."

Reina angrily pointed at Dusk: "That is NOT why I want to see to his punishment! He insulted my past knight--"

"Who is dead, and the dead can't help the living. So, what are you going to do about it?" Dusk glared. 

"Okay, both of you quiet down here." Nyro took a deep breath and moved his staff to the side, one arm curled around it. Bumo came back with a cup of water for Reina, who just shook her head and refused it, pushing it away. Bumo shrugged and placed it on the table. 

"Reina, you've been living here a couple of days now. And I know why you had accepted a contract with Rokuro. I didn't allow him to not explain to me how he got his hands on the flame jade silk. I'm sorry about what happened to him. And I am no less sad that he is no longer with us. But if you're goal for revenge and reformation of the Beetle Kingdom is that important, surely you have other ways, and other allies that you can rally?"

The princess remained silent as she glared at him. Dusk shrugged as he remained sitting on the floor: "That's all she's really been talking about. But she hasn't really done much about it." 

This time, Reina sat down in a love-seat forcefully and slammed her palms into the coffee table...breaking it. (Dusk didn't even flinch as he sat beside the now-broken coffee table, and actually saved the cup of water from completely spilling.) "What am I supposed to do?!" She yelled. "The grief that I felt would not stop. I am losing one ally and loved one after another. And I am still at square one, unable to do ANYTHING about it! Outside of my kingdom, I have nothing--"

"And within your kingdom, you are nothing." Nyro cut in with a sigh, verbally giving Reina a slap in the face. During the time she was recounting her woes, Alex had also poked his head out of the room he shared with Nyro, and Hawke walked out of the room he shared with Dusk, arms crossed and expression just as cross. 

Nyro began slowly tapping his finger on the side of the staff...a sign of his own patience wearing thin, but his demeanor did not break. "You must have realized by now...which is why you are feeling desperate. Your father sent you with poisoned dowry to the Hive Kingdom without telling you. He sent his own daughter into a place he intended to wipe out. Reina, you were not expected to come out of that unscathed. He abandoned you." 

"Harsh, man." Dusk shook his head, but there was a smirk on his face, because he knew the kindness of Nyrokin to be one of pure honesty, where the truth mattered in order to gain forgiveness or mercy. 

Alex, on the other hand, decided to speak up: "So, um...I don't quite understand everything that's going on here, but this is some heavy stuff we're talking about. We kind of can't change the past here. But it's not like we can't try to help?"

Dusk summarized their problem for the third time here: "Dude, you weren't here for the first half of this, Lex. She's got a high bar for the kind of help she wants. It's not like I want to abandon people in need here, but I'm not giving if it's all going to be take here."

This left Lex scratching his head, unsure of what to give for an immediate response. Hawke huffed from his position behind a recliner, and pointed at the broken coffee table: "So, who's going to pay for replacing that?" 

Dusk and Bumo both pointed at Reina. 

"What?! Why do I...I don't even have--" She protested, but Hawke cut her short: "Well, you're the one that broke it. And it's not like his highness here is your tamer. He's allowed you to freeload here for a while now."

"Now, now...it's not like we pay rent here...I can pay for the broken table." Nyro didn't quite want Hawke to lay it in to Reina, but Hawke crossed his arms and shook his head. "Roy, you're a model citizen here, but I don't think you should spoil her when she doesn't even want to accept the responsibility to give and take. And I've got good ears; I've heard the entire conversation she's been having with Dusk from the start. I mean, my door was open, but that's not the point."

"I don't want your charity, anyway!" Reina spat. Since Alex had left the door to their room open, Celeste the Tribeemon came buzzing out this time, and got up into Reina's face. "Look here, you spoiled excuse of a bee--"

"Celeste, this is something for me to talk out with her. But I appreciate your concern. Please come back here. You, too, Bumo." At Nyro's words, both digimon calmly went over to the couch he was sitting on and landed on the backing. "Reina, please take a moment to calm down. Perhaps some water would help." He pointed at the cup that Dusk was still holding. It appears that he had forgotten about it, and nearly dropped it when it was pointed out. 

"Here." Dusk thrust the water towards Reina, nearly splashing it. She stared at it for a moment, before taking it and actually drinking it. Alex decided to make notice of something: "Nyro, have you asked her for a contract yet?"

To that, the tailor stopped tapping the staff and shook his head. "She's not a possession to be passed around. I did not ask for a contract because I thought it rude to take Rokuro's place as her tamer, and Rokuro had an agreement of some sort with her that I can neither just volunteer myself for, nor has she come to be about her plight, either."

Hawke supplemented: "As Dusk said, we have a fuss on our hands because she wants something done but can't compromise for it, and is making a fuss with people unrelated to it. Honestly though, what she's asking for isn't something any one tamer can just do. Heck, even the whole of Oracle probably shouldn't touch that situation with a ten foot pole. She's talking about a political struggle in a kingdom here. What are we? Just a village of...of rag-tag misfits trying to find a footing in this backwards world."

"This...is a conundrum." Lex stroked his chin. "But isn't there anything we can do?"

"Perhaps I could be of assistance here!" 

Surprisingly, all of Nyro's partners have been hovering and stacking at the door that was ajar, and Seti the gold-and-green Tentomon stepped forward: "Greetings to all. Of course, after living under the same roof for a while, you all know me as Seti, the AlturKabuterimon who couldn't fit through the door and thus remains as a Tentomon under this roof." The digimon chuckled, and then continued after buzzing over to land on the other spot of the love seat beside Reina: "Her highness would probably remember me as one of the guards to the kingdom's gates. You could say we were friends of sorts, and as you can see, I have left the kingdom itself due to a...disagreement, after the demise of the Hive Kingdom. I can see now why an investigation was not done by the Beetle Kingdom, my previous home.

"Your highness, consider this...digimon like myself and yourself are now considered fugitives to the kingdom. While a gate-guard like me probably won't be hunted down, sooner or later, you may become a target due to your status. In a time like this, how important will your pride be? Forgive my prudence, but the prospect of being deleted and absorbed is not a path I would take just so I can keep my pride. But where else could you hide? Here is where I believe Oracle would be no better place...for the politics here are simple: You survive and move on through helping each other. The hierarchy is simply based off of experience and strength, and it has been proven that those with a strong and stable sense of trust between tamer and digimon prevail most, which is how this village is thriving!

"Your past tamer was probably a rarity to find, and I'm sorry that a gem such as your knight was lost...but it is time for a change for you. You cannot go back to the Beetle Kingdom...and you cannot remake your present into the past. Consider the benefits if you put in an antenna and a wing for Oracle...because if your father's actions start to spread harm that will affect this village, Oracle as a whole will fight back. You may not be at the lead...but there are times where you must be the soldier instead of the monarch in order to move forward."

During Seti's entire speech, Nyro sighed. Dusk, Hawke, and Alex all looked at him, feeling that he ought to say something here and just put a "seal of resolved" on the problem. But he declined to say anything as he waited for Reina to make a decision.

So all eyes slowly converged on her. 

She was visibly upset, and her lips pressed into a line as she considered her options. Slowly, Nyro began tapping his finger on the staff again, and asked: "Reina, what is your answer? Will you patiently prepare for events to unfold, or will you continue to try and find an immediate solution?"

Hastily, she blurted: "I want a challenge of worthiness!"

"A what?" Alex was perplexed. 

"Worthiness? Of what? Is Oracle not good enough? Not that I want to touch that mess. It's a little too...buggy when we have our own problems to handle." Hawke scowled.

Dusk snorted. "Nobility bullshit."

"Your highness! Surely you...no, I understand..." Seti's shoulders slumped a little. "Even if bonding with a tamer has its benefits, you would not accept a contract from just any tamer."

Nyro had stopped his tapping and stood up. 

"You know what...? Let me just settle this for good then. Reina is making this out to be a war. And for all we know, her father just might start one. Are we over-thinking it? Maybe. Does this have anything to do with Oracle? Well, it caused a stir in the Hive Kingdom, which was very close to home. Let me just...make sure there isn't a misunderstanding here." Placing his thumb and index fingers to his lips, he gave a short series of whistles, and immediately all six of his other digimon partners piled out of the room...

Alex groaned, because his Ballistamon and Kokuwamon also showed up, adding the headcount to 11. "Heero. Zechs. What are you doing?"

"Huh? Well, isn't something happening?" Heero the Ballistamon looked at his tamer. 

"Yes, but...just...Why did you guys...ugh..." 

Hawke snickered. The engineer had noticed since Alex moved in that his two digimon partners had the tendency to just do things for Nyro when they didn't need to. And it wasn't like Nyro asked for them, either.

The tamer of the army of bugs tried to explain to Reina: "I can fight, yes, but not without help. I have a back and leg injury, and six years of recovery and physical therapy that left a setback to my physical conditioning. If I am to accept your challenge, much like Rokuro's need to use his spirit, I must have the aid of my partners. Second, I am not accepting this challenge in order to prove anything to you. I am accepting this challenge in order to give you a peace of mind, so that you can come to terms with your inner conflict and make a solid decision, as clearly, questioning our worth as tamers is something that is causing you turmoil. And last, I want to know what you intend to do with the outcomes of this challenge."

Standing up to face him, Reina clenched her fists and replied: "If I am to change the way I live, I must know where I stand. And I cannot accept Seti's...conditions without experiencing a trial of combat with you. If it ends in my humiliation...then I will pledge you my loyalty--"

Nyro pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't need to pledge me loyalty. You know what the contract entails. And my personal request? You help me, and I'll help you. Who said anything about humiliating you?"

"If am I to be defeated by you--"

"Hold that thought." Nyro stopped her, and she immediately fell silent. "I accept your challenge. And by the end of this, I hope you will understand that no one is looking for humiliation here. Only understanding. Let's go borrow the Black Sword Isle's training grounds. Dusk, you can secure a sparring spot there for me, right? Oh, and I'll pay for that table--"

"After you win, Roy. No spoiling her." Hawke rolled his eyes. "I want to see the results here. Hey, Ddraig! Let's take a break and see what goes down." He started for the door out, his partner, who hadn't said a thing until now, bounced on his toes as he followed him out and responded: "Ooh! Sounds like fun!" 

"Wait, isn't it a little weird if the winner is the one that pays for the damages?" Alex followed. 

"Well, Mr. Cal-however-you-say-it told him to not pay for it because he's not her tamer, so technically, whoever contracts her pays for the table, right?" Dusk snickered. "And sure, I can secure a spot for you. Come on, single file, let's roll!"

---

Donning her armor for the battle to come, Reina stood at the center of the training grounds that Dusk had secured for them.

On their way to the Isle, since it would have been rude of her to go on ahead to the Isle before Dusk even arrives to secure them an area, she forced herself to take the boat with them. Her fear of water did not go unnoticed, as Celeste teased: "Oh, the high and might princess can't even stand a little bit of water, huh?"

To that, Nyro intervened: "Fair is fair, Celeste. You also cannot handle water, being a bee-type digimon. Don't make things harder on her, either."

This...vexed Reina. To be teased by her and then defended by him did not settle well with her. "This won't affect the challenge! We will see true worth when we battle!"

So, here they were. RoyalStingmon against Nyrokin. The ground of the practice area was pretty hard due to the cold winter. Even though they had cleared much of the snow away, it was not looking to be a pleasant sparring condition. Reina had rented a dull-edged practice sword...something she had always used for sword-fights with Rokuro. 

"So, what ground rules would you like to set?" Nyro asked as he brandished both his DigiNav and his PDA. 

"Take your pick on who you want to aid you. I have heard you primarily used Digiquip. Since you are human and does not have the benefit of using Spirit, I will allow you to pick as many friends as you want to keep yourself safe, but once the challenge starts, you cannot change your...equipment. Will that be acceptable?"

"And what of abilities?"

"...Are those something you are capable of using?" Reina seemed surprised. "If that is the case...then I believe there is no sense in holding back." 

"I don't have objections to that--"

Bumo certainly did: "What? No! She could hurt you!"

"Trust me on this, Bumo. I have all of you guys, after all."

The Buttermothmon pouted, but said no more. 

"What is the objective, then? How will be determine the winner?" He continued. 

"Short of injury, or when one of us yields. Ideally...to disarm and stop the opponent from continuing the challenge by cornering them."

"Very well. One last question. Did you strictly want this to be a sword-fight? Or would you not mind if I used a weapon of my preference?"

"Please use what you are best at. It is only fair."

During the time in which the challengers discussed this, Mark Schultz Jr. came by. "Hey...if it isn't Roy! What's going on here? Why is he here on the Isle?" He stopped where Hawke, Dusk, and Alex were standing and asked. 

"Long story short...the princess wants to fight him." Dusk pointed. 

"Fight? Wait...doesn't he have an injury? This can't be healthy for him." Mark frowned. 

"Hey, give my rival a bit more credit. He wasn't dead weight in the last mission, either."

"Huh..." Mark was thoughtful for a moment. As Reina and Nyro finalized the rules of the challenge, he suddenly had an idea. "Okay. Let's make this a bit more fun for the sidelines then. There's what? Four of us here? Place your bets, no less than 50 Bits. I take 20% of the total betting pool, and then whichever of you winners get to split the rest of the rewards if your team wins. If all of you try to bet on the same team, then I'll bet on the opposite and let YOU guys take the 20% while I take the 80% if I win. So, how about it?"

"What?" Hawke crossed his arms. "This is incredulous. You basically get a profit out of this no matter what. Gambling is a waste of time and money. And that's our flatmate there. What good is this going to do us?"

"Hey, you need to live in the moment! Plus, some pressure on the challenge isn't that bad!"

Dusk started to protest: "Dude, this challenge is a little more serious than that. And Hawke is right, this is kind of a douche-bag way of getting money." But as he watched Nyro and Reina get ready for their challenge, he changed his mind. "To hell with it. I'll have some fun. HEY ROY. I BET 200 BITS THAT THE PRINCESS BESTS YOU!" He yelled as he tossed Mark the block of bits. 

"What?" Nyro turned to face his audience. "Why in the world would you--You're the worst, Dusk! And Mark! What are you doing? Ugh...no, that was a stupid question. Do what you guys want. I don't have time for your humor, Dusk."

Dusk just smirked and said only loud enough for the others nearby to hear: "It's no fun betting FOR your friends in things like this. It's not like my win or loss will be support for him in the ring." 

"My opinion of you may have dropped a little." Hawke frowned. Ddraig, however, was very interested in this "betting" going on. "Ooh, that sounds kind of fun! Hey, Hawke, show your support a little! It doesn't hurt to try something a little new once in a while, right?"

"Why would I do that? It's a waste of effort. Gambling is risky and not worth it."

Mark tried to egg him on though: "Oh, come on! Don't be so stiff. Put in a bet!"

"I already said my piece."

"Don't you want to name your prediction and get something out of it if it comes true?"

"The satisfaction that I was right will be enough."

"Is it really? Are you sure?"

"Oh, blast it to hell! You want a bet from me? Fine. 50 Bits. On the bug. If humans could just easily defeat digimon, we'd probably be in a much better place right now." Hawke tossed Mark the amount as he scoffed, clearly wanting him to leave him alone. 

Alex took in all of this information as if it were new to him. "Hmm...so, betting is where you put down bits to a claim, and if it comes true you get something more out of it...?"

"Yes sir! So, how about it? Bets on the bug? Or bets on Roy?" Mark gave Alex a very pressuring look. 

"Umm...Uh...sure...I guess I'll put down 50 Bits for my roommate." He hesitantly handed Mark the bits. 

"Sweet! That's 300 total, and I'll be taking 60 from that. If the digimon wins, that's 240 for you two gentlemen to split. And if Roy wins, then that's a full 240 straight to the red-head. Oh, the name's Mark, by the way. Mark Schultz. Junior. Gramps Schultz runs the forge here on the isle. And you guys are...?"

While introductions went on, Nyro had made his decision on how he was going to approach the challenge. "Nocht. I think you would be best suited for this." With both DigiNav and PDA in hand, he booted up the programs he needed. 

"Will this work? We haven't tried this yet. But I will do my best to support you." The wormmon came forward as all of the other digimon backed away from the training grounds. 

"I have good faith in you to be able to aid me."

"...It's cold. Very cold. And icy. Perhaps if I could adapt..."

Both Nyro and Nocht took in a deep breath. Starting with the DigiNav, the LinK application started up first. In a stream of light and data, Nocht successfully digivolved...and somehow the wormmon lost it's deep green hues. With its colors replaced by midnight blue and dawning violet, there opposite of Reina stood Nocth, the Midnight Stingmon. 

Reina was slightly taken aback. "Another Stingmon variant?" She knew this meant she had to be wary. Variants tend to happen due to adaptation in order to better survive...although that was not always the case. Nyro, on the other hand, just replied kindly: "I thought it would be more fair to fight as evenly as possible. I was told that most stingmon resulted from wormmon. The change in variety is a pleasant surprise, though. But let's have less talking...Nocht, Digiquip!"

With both the PDA and the DigiNav synced up, Nocht's data re-formed around Nyro, giving him armor that was still eerily similar to a stingmon. The wings, however, were not existent, and had translated into a short cape. 

"...And your weapon of choice?" Reina asked.

"Blade against blade. This armor alone does not give me enough offensive capability. Celeste, to me! Digiquip!" The rookie digimon didn't miss a beat as she buzzed towards Nyro's hand that was outstretched towards the sky. Her data re-constructed into a lilac-and-silver katana with a glowing pink edge, flower ornaments dangling from the hilt. 

Bringing the blade down, he didn't quite take a fighting stance just yet. "I will let you set the pace first, Reina. Make your move whenever you're ready."

From outside the fence, Hawke furrowed his brow. "That's...awfully cocky. I would think he were the type to take a stance that is ready for anything?"

Dusk clicked his tongue. "He does...mentally. Glad to see some things haven't changed. He wasn't top-contender of our caravan's sparring arenas for nothing. I'm surprised he didn't take up his usual weapon of choice though...the reach of a staff compared to a dull practice-katana would have given him significant advantage."

Not wasting time, Reina dashed in first for a hit at the shoulder, but not quite a full-speed. Nyro turned to avoid the blow, and she followed up by turning the 'blade' to swipe towards the base of his neck. He ducked, and as the blade swung past above him, he turned his own weapon so that the bottom of the hilt faced her, and made motion to jab something dull but hard at her armored torso. 

Reina continued her swinging momentum and also turned her body to avoid the blow, so Nyro re-positioned, and the two were now standing on opposite sides from where they started, almost like a twirling dance. Reina wasted no time in following up. "Heat needles!" She fired the burning spikes from her stinger-launchers, which were met by a quick succession of icy-stingers fired back by Nyro. Ice meeting heat of such power created a cover of steam between them. 

"Buzz Blaster!" Once again, Reina unleashed another ability as she dove towards the steam; the rapid movement of her wings created a sonic disturbance that also helped clear away the steam. All of the human bystanders plus Lex's mechanical digimon covered their ringing ears. "OWE! That's mean to sensitive ears!" Dusk growled. 

Beyond the cleared-up mist, Nyro had side-stepped to avoid Reina just enough so that he could send a punch towards her with his left fist. Mid-dash, she couldn't avoid taking an icy punch that left half an inch of ice to her left shoulder. "Ice is not going to slow me down." She retorted as fire was beginning to flare up around her, melting said ice off. Nyro responded simply with a soft "shhh" gesture as he backed away, before dashing towards her fully from the front.

The two finally clashed blades, and for a couple of seconds, it was nothing but a flurry of attacks and parries. During that time, a few other Black Sword members that were hanging around the isle had gotten curious and came around. One girl, with a flower in her hair, immediately noticed the bee-like stingmon along with the other bug-digimon around, and changed her mind about sticking around, adopting a startled expression and leaving the scene. The other, while adjusting his red headband, went up to Dusk and the others, asking: "So, why are two digimon fighting on the Black Sword training grounds?" He scowled. 

"The one's a digimon. And that one isn't." Hawke pointed out Reina and Nyro respectively. Friedrich squinted. "Huh. Looks like a digimon to me, to be able to wear something like that around the body. Doesn't seem comfortable." 

In the battle, Reina's flaming aura was beginning to build up, and she broke away from the blade-dance and twirled as she did so. Nyro immediately re-adjusted his stance as she suddenly closed the gap again to unleash her Heat Waltz at him, attempting to damage his armor with a quick series of jabs from the thermal blade on her left arm. Mirroring her, he deflected each one with the long ice blade on his own left arm; steam once again began to mist up, causing both of them to back away due to the obstruction to visibility. 

The Princess wasted no time, and instead of trying to clear away the mist with another sonic attack, she twirled again, engulfed her body in flames, and leapt up to perform a flip-and-kick down towards Nyro. "Flare Finale!"

The movement of the attack was too easy to read, however. Tapping in to the ability given to him through the armor, he shifted position, and first send a crescent of icy energy towards the incoming Reina with a swiping kick, and then backed up just enough to create a small wall of two-feet-tall icicles to emit from the ground by using a kick to the ground. The first attack met with Reina's flames and enveloped her in steam, disrupting her momentum and crashing her into the base of the icicles in the ground. Tuga showed up to the show right in time to see that action, and yelled: "BOOM! Fireworks! Keep things heated up!" The battle-thirsty Digi-Elf was cheering for no one in particular, but her presence gave Friedrich enough reason to frown and say: "Tch...I'm out. This isn't super interesting anyway." He turned and left.

With Reina crashed into the ground, Nyro spoke for the first time mid-battle: "Apologies, your highness. Frozen Hell Strike!" Right as she got up, he mirrored a similar attack right back at her: a flying icy kick right in the torso. This sent her back a couple of meters, and she tumbled once before finding herself crouching on the ground and sliding backwards to a stop. From afar, away from the group of tamers who were watching intently, another digielf clad in red appeared to be taking notes of the situation. 

Unwilling to be defeated, Reina sent another volley of heat-needles at Nyro; each were once again accurately met with a volley of ice-stingers. The area was beginning to steam up pretty badly from the onslaught of fire-meets-ice. Manuel was passing by and came up to the group of watchers to ask: "Was there supposed to be a battle royal here today?"

"Nah. Just my flatmate having issues with a bug. Sit back and enjoy the show." Dusk grinned back at his fellow Guard Team member.

"I wouldn't say it was just him having issues with her though..." Lex sheepishly pointed out. "She did also break the coffee table in our living room." 

"Wait...are they fighting because someone broke a coffee table?" Manny was slightly taken aback that anyone would fight over something like that. "If that were the case, even I could have just paid for something so trivial instead of letting them fight over it!"

"Umm...misunderstanding here..." Hawke raised his hand to get Manny's attention and proceeded to explain what happened. 

The battle itself, however, wasn't going to last long. Compared to Reina, Nyro had one advantage over her in the mist...and that was the radar in his overhead display. Knowing her general position from both that and from where she was when the mist started up, he sent out another crescent of icy energy, this time aimed at her feet. She wasn't prepared to be frozen to the ground, and growled as much as a bug could growl. "Buzz Blaster!" She cleared away the mist again with an explosive sonic attack, trying to gain visibility as she struggled to free herself. As one foot came loose, she saw as Nyro closed in. With one heavy slash, he 'tapped' her right wrist with the blunt part of his katana, forcing her to drop her own weapon. During her panic, he then swept a low kick, breaking her other leg free of the ice, but also sweeping her off her feet. She tried to catch herself by diving to the side, but that worked out exactly in his favor as he grabbed her arm and pinned her to the ground with a grapple that kept her arm to her back. 

Dusk laughed as he saw the outcome. "Annnnnd there's the dis-arming grapple. You just can't be a little more threatening and back someone into a corner with your blade at their neck, can you?" 

"Doesn't change the fact that you still lost your bet!" Nyro shouted back in amusement before setting aside his katana and taking off the helm of his digiquipped armor. "Reina, is this a satisfactory challenge for you?"

She struggled, tried to reach for her own blade, tried to get out of his grasp. She couldn't understand what had happened. Rokuro, who fought her using a Spirit Evolution that could easily be considered stronger than herself, could not have beaten her. But how is it that she would lose, and so quickly, to Nyrokin?

As she struggled, Nyro waited for an answer. Internally, she also struggled. How did I lose? Why did I lose? Why to him, of all the people that would best me...

"Reina."

"...Unacceptable." She muttered as she continued to try and struggle from being pinned to the ground.

"Reina. Stop. I won't be letting you go until this ends."

Something mentally inside her cracked to what felt like a building pressure. I won't be letting you go... 

She gulped. The aftermath of the defeat was already setting in. Her spirit was slowly accepting the fact that she wasn't getting out of this. She was going to be trapped...trapped...

"I...accept defeat...I am not worthy of your skill." She nearly choked out the words, her pride utterly shattered. Nyro sighed and let go, backing away to give her space to get up. She wanted to feel relieved, but she felt quite the opposite when he left her proximity. 

"It's not really about skill or worthiness here. I wasn't really expecting to win, but you know...mid-ranged combat is exactly my territory." Releasing Nocht and Celeste from their digiquip forms, Nyro thanked them and then continued to explain to Reina as she slowly got up, adopting a half-kneeling position for now as she listened: "You and I were quite evenly matched in terms of power, speed, and reflexes...but I suppose the one thing I had over you..." He raised his hand in a mock-gun gesture and closed one eye to exaggerate the motion of taking aim. "Is that when it comes to shooting in low visibility, or quick-draws, I usually come out on top."

Reina took the moment to take in this information, and as she remained kneeling, she lowered her head and replied shamefully: "Combat of this caliber had been something I was undefeated in. After this, I very much owe your friends and you and apology for...for looking down on you. It was just very hard to accept that there would be anyone better than him...he who came to me at my moment of weakness in order to lift me up again like a knight in shining armor..."

Nyro sighed and shook his head. "You're not the only one who's sad about what happened to Rokuro. I didn't make that scarf around your neck for him just because he had the money to pay for it, you know? For the record, I gave him a hefty discount. That material isn't easy to work with. He was a pretty good friend to me, too. But you can't keep living your life looking for a knight in shining armor. I'm not saying I won't help, but that kind of person...Reina, even if there were another tamer who will pledge that kind of loyalty to you, you probably won't take them, because no one can be him for you ever again. You can't live in the past. The future will also never be the same as the past. You've got a lot to look forward to in Oracle. Oh, by the way, I didn't do all of this because I was looking to fill in anyone's shoes for you. I accepted your challenge so that you'll have a little more faith in the Tamers of Oracle. So, come on now. Let's get out of the cold and go home." He turned to make his way towards Dusk and the others.

"Roy! Wait!"

"...?" He turned towards her again, waiting patiently for what she wanted to say.

The feeling of being trapped was slowly edging away as other conflicting feelings started to rise. "Even for all the trouble I've caused, please allow me one more request of you. Please contract with me."

"...Mmm..." Nyro turned to look at all of the partners he already had. Celeste was looking quite indignant as Bumo shrugged. Seti, however, waved ecstatically, seemingly happy with the outcome. Most of the others didn't really seem to mind what his decision was going to be. "Well...that's something that can be easily arranged, but...I thought you wanted someone more of a warrior...?"

"You have bested me in combat already, and you alone already know more about my situation better than anyone else. Seti also speaks highly of you, as does Dusk, despite his insults towards me. Please, m'lord, let me..." She trailed off. Heat was rising to her face. Was this embarrassment she was feeling? "Please keep me by your side!"

He visibly flinched as she called him "m'lord" and pretty much begged to be contracted. This was quite new, but could he say he had regrets? She was a bug-digimon, after all. One more won't hurt, right? "We can stop by Silver Cross tomorrow to take care of the contract. So how about we go home first...and fix up what's broken...?"

Reina had no words of reply this time. Excitement started to break into her heart, and she got up immediately to follow, although she took off her helm out of habit outside of combat. There was a serious blush on her face, and she couldn't figure out why she was feeling so flustered...it had to be from the shock of losing, right? And the contract proposal...what was she thinking? He clearly wasn't the kind to take orders for her...seeing how he had his team at his beck and call, she knew that she was going to have no position over him. But there was a buzzing in her head now...one that told her that everything was going to be okay so long as she remained with him. One that made her really want to stay with him.

Princess Reina had fallen prey to the natural ability Nyro had to charm bugs...the ability that not even the tamer knew he had himself.

He first went to Mark, and handed him some bits: "I'll bring you the broken table later. You can fix it, right?"

"Wouldn't be in the business for that if I couldn't, Roy! So, are you okay? That was some pretty intense stuff there...your mother would be worried if--"

"Please, no. Just stop there. Thank you for your concern." Nyro groaned. The odd friendship this younger man had forged with his mother really weird him out. 

"Oh, that reminds me! 240 bits to Alex Slade! Here you go! Congrats on winning the bet!" Mark dumped the bits into Lex's hands. The man seemed astonished as he contemplated on what to do with this profit. 

"Well, there goes my money! But I got a good show out of it!" Dusk grinned. 

"I guess I came in at the end of it, huh?" Manny scratched his head. All of the other passerby people appeared to have dispersed. 

"See, this is why gambling is a waste of money and effort." Hawke sighed. Ddraigmon chuckled. "But it was fun! Don't be a sore loser!"

This lead Nyro to a realization, and raised a brow. "Wait...you two both placed bets on her winning? So what you're telling me is...I can only count on my roommate?" Despite the words, there was a laugh escaping his lips. He found the situation mildly amusing. 

"Well, I can't say I've seen you fight...but it just felt right?" Lex shrugged. "Here, how about I treat everyone to dinner? You, too, Manuel. And Mark. Might as well give everyone something good out of this."

"Did someone say food?" Riskomon came scuttling towards them, as did the rest of anyone's digimon. 

240 Bits certainly wasn't going to be enough to cover THIS tab, but to The Chaser everyone went. 

Later that night, however, Nyro and his team had to go through the headache of explaining to Reina that she was NOT allowed to sleep in her tamer's bed like she did with her previous tamer.