DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).

DEVIATIONS

Chapter 2

Wake Up Call

The sun shone once again down on a beautiful September day as Takato Matsuki, having actually managed to wake up on time that morning in order to deliver bread to a hungry yet sleepy Guilmon, arrived at the playground where he hid his cards within the dinosaur structure. Something had bugged him somewhat, and he decided to check it out, as he entered the structure, pushed his foot into the wall and pushed himself up, grating his lower leg slightly as he performed a move which allowed him to access the dinosaur's concealed upper area.

He smiled upon seeing his card box, but the fact that he now knew it was actually more than simply a card game and TV series made it pale somewhat by comparison. He clasped the edges of the box, taking the lid off to see his collection of cards.

He began to sift through them. Some of the cards were bad, some of them were decidedly average and some of them were so awful that no one would trade for them in a million years. He frowned; his one card truly of value had vanished.

'Did it just disappear?' he thought, looking for the blue card with the dino and D-sign insignia on it. 'Great, now I lose things that are really important, next time I'll probably lose Guilmon or my digivice…'

A modify card caught his eye and reminded him of what he had seen both in his dream and in real life.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Wind Cannon Activate!"

It was strange, he hadn't paused on it much at the time, far too concentrated on trying to stop Guilmon and Renamon's fight, but now that he thought about it…

'Maybe…it looks like she used a modify card so…can I use the card slot on my digivice to use cards?'

He pictured the cannon appearing on Renamon's forearm.

'And, by the way she used it, it looks like it changes your digimon somehow…'

Takato pushed a few cards into his back pocket. School was to intervene in any experiments he had planned, but there was still the potential for him to try it out afterwards, particularly if that girl were to attack Guilmon again.

'Why did she attack him? Does she just want to kill him? Why would she want to do that?'

"It's all that Digimon do, stupid…they fight, they load data, they get stronger and they digivolve, your dino is just my partner's stepping stone…"

'Doesn't she care about Digimon at all?' he thought. The concept of losing Guilmon began to boil in his veins. 'I can't let her destroy him…he's my friend…but…I don't want to destroy her Digimon either…what do I do?'

He glanced at his D-Arc, hopeful of an answer, but all he got was the time. After staring at it for a while, it suddenly struck him that he was late for school again.

'Great…Mrs Asagi's going to kill me…' he thought as he quickly put the lid back on the box, and leapt down from the top area, before breaking into a run.

Rika stood near the gates of her school, just before the day began. She listened out for the first bell, but she was distracted by talking to her partner.

"Renamon…" she said, her voice vexed but not loud enough for any of the other students to hear. Then again, most of them thought she was crazy or kept their distance anyway, so she had little to worry about on that front as her partner subtly appeared in a tree.

"Yes Rika?"

"After school today, we're going after that Gogglehead and his pet Digimon, got that?"

"Yes Rika…"

"And we're going to win as well…" she added, hearing the first bell and walking into the school, as Renamon nodded.

'I hope so Rika…' she thought, frowning, before vanishing once again.

Takato sat under a tree, eating his lunch, which, because his parents owned a bakery, consisted mostly of bread, although with a jelly roll as well. He wasn't particularly focused on what else was going on in the playground, instead distracted by thoughts of his partner.

'I can't exactly take him out in public…' he pondered. 'Unless I find a way of doing so without people running for the hills…or the men in black arriving…who were those guys anyway, and what do they want from the Digimon?'

A shadow began to creep up on him, as he answered that thought.

'Who am I kidding, Digimon could be a menace, no wonder they want to catch them and us…I know she attacked us, but I don't want her to get captured either…'

"Are you Takato?" asked a voice, distracting the boy from his thoughts and causing him to look up at a blue haired boy wearing an orange jacket.

"Oh…you again…yeah, it's Takato…" he answered, recalling the events of yesterday and how he had had to make a prompt escape from the questioning from this particular student.

"Mind if I sit down?" the boy asked.

"Go ahead…" Takato replied, as the boy sat down next to him under the tree, before glancing to one side, and putting out his hand in greeting.

"My name's Henry, by the way…"

Takato nodded in response, slightly worried about the line of questioning that he knew he was about to be pursued with. "Hi…" he replied, not as cheerfully as the word implies.

"What was going on yesterday?" Henry asked curiously, before silently cursing his bluntness. He planned to at least make polite conversation before bringing up the point, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"You know as much as I do…" Takato replied, Henry frowning when he got no answers. He decided that he could possibly get somewhere by being more friendly, maybe with a joke.

"The Headmaster is still paranoid about attacks; he locked himself in his office all day to avoid them…"

Takato chuckled at the thought. "Shame he didn't close the school though…"

Henry laughed at the reply, before asking something more. "So I heard you mutter the name 'Guilmon' yesterday, I looked it up, there's no such Digimon…"

"I know…" Takato replied.

Henry cocked an eyebrow, the mystery deepening. He decided to refrain from mentioning the battle he had witnessed, but continued to ask about the previous day. "You said a Digimon partner…"

"Yeah…" Takato replied, fumbling round in his mind for an excuse. "I have an overactive imagination; I pretend that I have a Digimon partner…"

"One that runs away from you?"

"Yeah…well I don't have many friends so…"

"I'll be your friend…" Henry interrupted, the speed of which he then cursed himself for, as it sounded far too over eager and fake, but was accepted nonetheless.

"Really?" Takato asked, seeing the potential for someone who he could show Guilmon.

"Yeah, do you play Digimon cards too?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Takato replied, fumbling around in his pockets and drawing out the modify cards he had put in. "Sorry, I don't have my deck on me…"

"Okay, maybe we could play after school…" Henry replied, his eyes narrowing at the fact that the boy had nothing but modify cards. Why would a kid carry around a bunch of modify cards?

"Great…" Takato replied. "I have to do something first between school and the game though, so you'll have to wait for me…"

"Where do you want to play?" Henry asked, avoiding the questions that would answer his curiosity about what Takato planned to do. Perhaps something involving Guilmon?

"Do you know the playground, in Shinjuku Park, with the dinosaur?"

"Yeah, I know it."

"Great, it'll be good to have a game of cards, haven't played in a while."

"Yeah, fewer Digimon fans now than when it first aired. Nevertheless, don't expect me to go easy on you…"

Takato chuckled. "And vice versa…" he replied, secretly knowing that it was an empty taunt.

"Have you ever played in the tournament?" Henry asked, trying to judge how good of a player this boy was.

"Nah, I'd never even get past the first round, let alone becoming the Digimon King."

"Yeah, but at the moment, it's a girl who's the top player."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they call her the Digimon Queen…"

"Hmm…I wonder where I could find her…" Takato pondered. 'Maybe I could ask for advice on Digimon…'

"Well, she lives around here, but I don't really think you should just turn up on random people's doorsteps…"

"Yeah, I'd probably get beaten senseless by my mum for that."

"By what I've heard about this girl, she'd beat you senseless on her own."

"Great, so even a girl is better than me…"

Henry chuckled. "You know, it's good to have someone to talk to about this stuff."

"About girls?" Takato asked, confused.

"No, about Digimon" Henry replied, striking Takato dumb about what he had assumed.

"Yeah, it's great…" Takato replied, tinges of doubt in his voice. Sure, before he got Guilmon, he'd have jumped at the chance to have a friend who liked Digimon, but now that he knew that they were real, he really couldn't talk about most of it without telling anyone, and that was risking far too much, particularly if the men in black came after them.

School had finished and Takato walked to the park, passing along busy streets on the way. He noticed a long series of black vans, an odd occurrence for any city, but these vans held a foreboding worry for Takato.

'Maybe they're looking for Guilmon…' he thought, quickening his pace and breaking into a run, soon reaching the park.

Thoughts and fears filled his head when an empty hideout beckoned.

'They got him…' he thought sadly, looking around the dug-out utility closet. 'I'm the worst Tamer ever…that girl's going to kill me, she wanted to fight Guilmon, and now I've lost him…okay, maybe that's for the better, but what if she goes to the extreme of hunting him down?' he thought regretfully, before being interrupted by a beeping on his D-Arc.

He curiously lifted the device to his face, noting the compass which appeared around the screen, an arrow turning until it finally fixed onto a direction.

"What's this?" he asked out loud, before looking to where it pointed. It was out of the hideout, and heading in a direction off to one side of the stone steps downwards. "Maybe it's the way to Guilmon…" he said, tinges of happiness taking tone in his voice as he turned, and began to run, an act that didn't go unnoticed by others in the park.

"Hmm…" Henry noted, sitting underneath the dinosaur and looking at his cards, as he saw Takato run across a junction in paths not far away. He stood up, walking carefully across the playground so as not to attract unwanted attention, and peeked out around a tree to the boy who now stood with the red dinosaur that he had seen yesterday, that he assumed was called Guilmon. The dinosaur had only just appeared, and seemed to be hidden in a bush.

"I win!" cheered the dinosaur, Henry ducking back to take account for the extra pairs of eyes that could now potentially see him.

"You scared me boy…" Takato replied, slight sadness in his voice.

"Sorry Takatomon, I was only playing."

"Yeah, but I thought those men in black had gotten you."

"Can we play again?" he asked.

"Hmm…maybe not at the moment…"

"Aw…can we go explore then Takatomon?" the dino replied, sadness quickly replaced with enthusiasm.

"I said before, it's Takato…" the brunette answered, still slightly peeved at how his partner continued to think he was a Digimon regardless of what he said to the contrary. "And we can't really explore, people will see you…unless…"

Henry cocked an eyebrow and sweatdropped nervously as he watched Takato walk out in a public area with Guilmon by his side. 'What is he doing?'

Henry trailed behind, watching carefully their actions but at the same time trying to avoid being sighted by the pair. He quietly noted that Takato hadn't actually headed to the playground straight after finding his partner, but then again, Henry would've probably been noticed upon trying to get there first, and that would require some explaining.

"Mom, mom, look, it's a real digimon!" a child cheered, holding back his mother in order to talk.

"Um…it's a costume…for Halloween…" Takato replied nervously, beginning to have doubts that this was such a good idea. 'If anything gets the men in black after me, this'll be it…'

"Wow, I've never seen that one before!"

"Yeah, he's called Guilmon."

"Wow, hi Guilmon!"

"Hi…" Guilmon replied dumbly, as the child was dragged on by his parent, Takato waking nervously as they went before breathing a sigh of relief.

'I can't believe that actually worked…' he thought.

'I can't believe that actually worked…' Henry thought.

'Does Takatomon think I'm a costume?' Guilmon thought, before beginning to sniff the air, an act which attracted Takato's attention.

"What is it boy?" the brunette asked, an expression of surprise on his face similar to that which Henry now held.

The dino didn't reply, instead running away from Takato in a seemingly random direction.

"Wait up!" Takato called. Henry frowned as he followed, trying to keep up, but keep a safe distance from the pair. He needn't have worried; Takato was far too distracted by Guilmon to consider that someone could be following him.

Henry watched them run into a car park, and stopped, looking carefully around the entrance as Guilmon paused in his run, Takato looking around as he caught up to see the redhead from the previous day and her fox-like partner, who currently faced off with the dinosaur.

"You again…" Takato said, somewhat annoyed by the turn of events.

"You sound so happy to see me…" Rika noted sarcastically, her teasing voice echoing in the underground parking lot.

"I'm telling you now, Guilmon is not fighting her!" Takato insisted.

"Good, makes things all the easier…" Rika replied, turning to her partner. "Attack Renamon!" she ordered, as Renamon leapt forward, dealing a roundhouse kick to Guilmon's face, his eyes still feral.

"Stop!" Takato panicked, as Guilmon leapt up to attack Renamon, throwing his claw forward to be grabbed by the vixen.

"Looks like your partner is fighting regardless of what you say…" Rika mocked.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon roared, tearing his mouth back and propelling a fireball from it. Renamon leapt aside as the blast collided with and destroyed a car.

'Oh great, how am I going to pay for that?' he thought, before looking to his partner. "Guilmon, stop fighting!" he asked.

"Huh, why?" Guilmon asked in return, his momentary lapse in his feral personality being broken when Renamon leapt at him once again, knocking him to the ground. Guilmon's eyes returned to their feral state, and he dug his teeth into Renamon's arm, a pain that was disturbingly similar for her to what she had experienced the previous day, and, despite her not wanting it to, it sent shivers down her spine.

Renamon shook him off, he roaring in pain for a moment, before turning his gaze back to Renamon who had since become airborne, crossing her arms and preparing her signature move.

"DIAMOND STORM!" Renamon shrieked, the shards flying down and once again bouncing off the dinosaur, as Renamon landed and frowned. Guilmon growled, almost to taunt her. 'How is this guy withstanding my attacks?' she thought.

"Do you always need my help Renamon?" Rika asked, her voice vexed and irritated by the turn of events as she drew a card into her hand.

Renamon frowned; Rika's insults had become to actually mean something ever since she had seen how Guilmon and Takato acted together.

"DIGI-MODIFY…Power Activate!" she yelled, as the card ran through the slot and Renamon glowed in response, power coursing through her veins.

'Modify cards?' Henry thought, recalling Takato's pocket full of them earlier that day. 'Is this why he had so many of them?'

'She did it again…' Takato thought, as Renamon leapt forward and threw Guilmon into a pillar with her increased strength, a part of the roof quaking and falling in on her. She screamed in pain as it ran off her back, before turning to Guilmon, who looked up at her, the feral glare still in his eyes, despite his clear pain.

This dinosaur had become a nuisance, and it was time to put a stop to him. She lifted her fist, body glowing as she prepared to use her secondary 'power paw' move to cause further damage.

Takato frowned angrily, annoyed at how whatever he said, Guilmon wouldn't follow his orders, Rika continued to taunt him and Renamon continued to attack. He glanced to Rika, holding the used modify card in one hand and her D-Arc in the other, watching the battle with a somewhat peeved expression on her face.

"Two can play at that game…" Takato noted, drawing a card from his D-Arc and swiping it. "DIGI-MODIFY…" he called, attracting Rika's attention. "Speed Activate!" he called.

"POWER PAW!" Renamon roared, sweeping herself forward at the dinosaur, who suddenly dodged to one side, leaving Renamon to crash into the ground in pain.

"Renamon!" Rika complained, seeing her partner fall. "Digivolve already!" she added, annoyed. Renamon drew herself to her feet, turning to look at her foe, who growled at her as she crossed her arms, hoping that the close range would increase the effect of her move.

"DIAMOND STORM!" she shrieked.

The range made little difference, the shards ricocheting off Guilmon once again and colliding with pillars, cars and the ceiling. One shard shot towards her partner, and Rika looked on in alarm.

"Look out!" Takato called, leaping across and pushing the pair of them to the ground as the shard hit the wall near Henry, who was distracted by something else at the time.

"Get the hell off me!" Rika complained as she pushed Takato aside and stood up once again.

"Hey, I saved you…you could at least thank me…" Takato complained as he stood up.

"Pah, I was fine on my own…" Rika replied, glaring at him. "Renamon, get this over with!" she called.

The sound of cocking guns distracted them from the battle, as Rika and Takato, along with their partners, Guilmon's feral nature vanishing, turned to see a series of agents wearing black suits, along with a blonde one who seemed to lead them who did the talking. "You are under arrest for harbouring dangerous creatures…" he said menacingly, as the agents stepped forwards.

"Get off me!" Rika complained as she was grabbed, trying to move but to no avail. Henry watched in fear as Takato was similarly grabbed, before they were pulled away.

"Run Guilmon!" Takato yelled to his partner, who looked up to Renamon in fear.

"Rika wishes for me to defeat you…" she said spitefully. "I'm not letting anyone else do so first…" she added, grabbing Guilmon as the pair of them vanished into thin air, surprising Guilmon in the process. The sound of gunfire resounded across the room as the agents attempted to stop them, but it was to no avail.

Yamaki put his hand to an earpiece he wore. "Riley, check for all signs of Digital Activity in this sector, and track them down…" he said angrily.

"No!" Takato complained in alarm, while Rika struggled to escape the grip. These were clearly professionals at their job, as they left her no room to attack.

Yamaki took his hand away from the earpiece. "Take them away…" he ordered spitefully.

Henry frowned, watching and hiding behind a concrete wall as they were dragged into a van.

'What do I do?' he thought, but it was too late, as the vans sped away, leaving him alone to contemplate what had happened.

TO BE CONTINUED…

I said that there would be some alterations to the storyline, and this is one of the early ones. Please review.

To clarify, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta and Ryo do not exist in this continuity, but Henry does, as (naturally) does Suzie, although her role is likely to be much reduced. Hence, we see a somewhat different Takato to what we were used to in the show, less surrounded by friends and more yearning for them.

Next time…

Will Takato and Rika manage to escape Hypnos? Will Renamon and Guilmon manage to somehow save their partners? Will Henry be able to do anything?

Find out in 'My Way or the Highway', Chapter Three of Deviations.