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She's pretty, the Digimon Princess. She's fast, graceful, and ruthless. He watches, enthralled as her enemies crumble to dust. Her digimon is good too. Sleek, quick, and violent. A perfect match, honestly.
"Who's that?" Cyberdramon rumbles.
"The Digimon Princess, Rika Nonaka." His digimon snorts.
"You're no longer King Ryo." He shrugs, cocky.
"She hasn't earned Queen either." The battle takes a sharp turn.
"Cyberdramon! Let's go!" He picks Ryo up and they swoop down for the heroic safe, his favorite move.
Naturally, she hates him. He's too cocky, sparkling, and stupidly good because he was King for a reason.
"Princess." He bows mockingly to her and she grumbles under her breath. His smirk grows. The next few days are spent in equal measure helping them and annoying her. Henry is great, knowledgeable, and quickly catches him up on everything he's missed. Takato is okay, a little clumsy, and definitely a rookie, but he's got heart. A King in the making is Rika wasn't so close to being Queen, because she's great.
She knows the cards inside out, even if her strategies are lacking sometimes, and can play it darn well. They've only battled once, but he'd seen her before that. The Ice Princess Rika, strong, quiet, and completely merciless. She climbed higher and higher while leaving her opponents in the dust. Still, she's not Queen yet.
All her wins pale to her inability to adapt. She's brute force with a mix of strategy and that just won't cut it against him. He's looking foreward to their inevitable rematch, craving it even, but he'll always win until she finally opens her heart. Then, she'll truly be the Digimon Queen.