Chapter 2: Old Friends, New Enemies

The sun shined brightly as a new day began. Takato blinked at the sun and started walking toward the park. Good thing it's a weekend. That way I can meet with the others sooner, Takato thought. When he got to the park everyone was there. Well, almost everyone. No one knew how to get a hold of Ryo yet so a lot of people were still pondering about that.

"Nice of you to join us, Takato," Rika angrily said.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to sneak out because my mom was going to give me a homework lecture otherwise," he replied.

"She should, from the way your grades are."

"Alright you two, cut it out. We need to start talking about what's really important here," Henry said. "So, does anyone have any suggestions?"

"Well, we could look up Ryo's number up on the internet. I mean, we do know his last name so it shouldn't be too hard," suggested Kazu.

"Yeah, I guess I could try that at home. Any other suggestions?"

No one really had any except for Rika saying something about forgetting him. After that, they started wondering about going to the Digital World. A lot of people had suggestions about that, of course. It was probably the main thing they thought about last night.

As this was going on, a discussion was also being made with the other digimon. Terriermon, Lopmon, Gaurdramon, Monodramon, and MarineAngemon were discussing the best way to get back to the other four.

"I don't think we got too far away from them. This looks like the same area of the Digital World, so we might only be a few miles or so away," said Lopmon.

"Yeah, but how do we know which way to go?" questioned Monodramon, Cyberdramon's rookie form.

"Momentai. We found each other after being separated all the time when we first came back. We just have to follow our instincts," said Terriermon.

"Terriermon's right. Besides, Gaurdramon could always fly up and see if he could see any sign of the others," replied Lopmon.

"Alright! Now let's pick a direction and go!" exclaimed Terriermon.

They chose to go south which seemed like the best way to go since the wind was getting stronger and pushing them toward there.

Across the desert somewhere, Calumon was holding onto a rock. The wind had gotten very strong and, even though he ate his weight in creampuffs, he was still a lightweight. His hands slipped and he started to blow away when Impmon grabbed him out of midair. He held Calumon close so that way he wouldn't blow away again.

"Thanks Impmon," Calumon said.

"No problem. Man, the wind sure picked up good though," Impmon replied, squinting his eyes to protect them from the flying sand.

Renamon walked over to them, her eyes too squinted. She managed to talk to Impmon and Calumon over the wind.

"Come on! I think Guilmon found a place to hide from this wind!"

"Well alright then! Lead the way, toots!" replied Impmon.

Renamon lead them down in between the cliffs and, across from there, lay a cavern. Guilmon saw Renamon with Impmon clutching Calumon. He waved and yelled and finally they were all inside a safe place. Impmon let Calumon down and Calumon shook some sand off of him. They looked out at the windy desert and knew they would be here for a while.

"Come on! It's a great idea! We get a hold of Ryo, get what we need, and hopefully we can leave later on tonight or early tomorrow."

Kazu was trying to convince the others into approving his plan. Henry thought over this and agreed it wasn't a bad idea. The others also approved of it and decided to leave tomorrow, since it would be safer to be there by daylight instead of the night.

"For once Kazu actually used his brain," replied Rika.

"Shut up Rika. I'll have you know I've used my brain a lot of times in situations like this," Kazu said.

"Oh really? Name one time that you did."

"…"

"That's what I thought." Rika started to turn away from him.

He growled and then pointed his finger at her and said, "Who cares what you think?"

She ignored this and sat under a tree. Henry made a list out to everyone. They would share some things but mostly it was for them. After they parted, some went to shop for supplies while others went home to see how much of the stuff they already had. Later on that night, Henry found Ryo's number on the Internet. He called Ryo and told him the plan. Ryo approved of this and asked when he should be there tomorrow. Henry told him about seven o' clock and Ryo said it would only take a couple of hours to get there by train. After that, Henry called the others to tell them what time to meet at the park. Susie was so excited that she started squealing and jumping on Henry's bed.

"Wee! I can't wait to see Terriermon and Lopmon again!" shouted Susie.

"Susie, pipe down. Mom and dad can't know that we're going. I'm going to leave them a note but if they find out, then I will leave you here at home," consulted Henry.

Susie stopped jumping on the bed and said, "Sorry Henry," in her baby voice.

At the Matsuki bakery, Takato had just finished packing his things and was now trying to write a note to his parents. After he finally wrote one, he laid on his bed wanting to go to sleep so he could get up early. Before he shut his eyes, he looked at his gold D-Arc and remembered the final words he said to Guilmon. "I promise Guilmon. Just you wait. We'll be together again soon." He never thought he could keep such a promise but now he was going to. He held his D-Arc, shut his eyes, and dreamt about Guilmon.

The wind had finally died down in the Digital World. Besides a few data packets tumbling around, everything was still. Calumon looked out into the darkness from the cave and started to walk out. He looked around and saw nothing until a figure in the sky caught his eye. He wasn't sure whom or what it was so he called back in the cave.

"Hey Guilmon! Come out here. I think I see someone."

Guilmon, along with Renamon and Impmon, looked up in the sky where Calumon was pointing. Someone was certainly there. It was a big bulky figure that looked like it had jets shooting from the back of them. Not sure to attack or not, Guilmon decided to shoot by the figure and hopefully his flame could reveal a face.

"Pyro Sphere!" he shouted.

His flame shot up by the figure and could only make out a brown tank of armor. The digimon was startled and, after staying up there for a while, landed somewhere over the cliff. That looked almost like Gaurdramon thought Guilmon.

As soon as night fell, Terriermon suggested that Gaurdramon fly up over the cliff to see if there was any place to take cover into. Gaurdramon did so and started looking around. Suddenly he heard a faint, "Pyro Sphere!" and a blast of fire had erupted in front of him. The attack did not hurt him but it did startle him. He looked where the attack came from and saw the tiny figures of Guilmon, Renamon, Impmon, and Calumon in front of a cave. Excited, he quickly jetted down back to the others.

"I think we found our friends. There are over this cliff by a cave," Gaurdramon said.

"Well, I thought that was Guilmon's Pyro Sphere I saw. What are we waiting for? Let's go before they decide to leave!" Terriermon said.

With that said, they all climbed on Gaurdramon's shoulders and he jetted off to where he saw them. Guilmon saw the figure coming again but it was too far away to make out whom it was. Suddenly, Terriermon's voice rang out, "Hey you guys! Long time no see!"

"It's Terriermon. And it looks like he's with the others on Gaurdramon. That must have been the figure we saw earlier," said Renamon.

Gaurdramon landed and the digimon were reunited once again. They went inside the cave and slept the rest of the night, not knowing the surprises that lay ahead of them.

Back in the Real World, it was morning and it was almost seven o' clock. Everyone, even Ryo, were there making sure everything was packed before their trip to the Digital World. Mostly, well actually everyone left a note for their families saying that they are going to find their partners and be back soon. As soon as everyone got settled, Takato explained to the younger kids, particularly Ai and Mako, about the dangers of the Digital World and to stay close by. After that they took one last look at their world and headed into the tunnel, which held the portal. Taking a deep breath, they all entered the portal and soon found themselves walking in the same place where all the keyboard key symbols were floating around. Henry and Rika put on their sunglasses while Takato put on his goggles. Henry picked up Susie since the light blinded her, Rika helped Jeri along, and Takato helped Kazu and Kenta as well. Henry also helped Ryo and then he remembered something.

"Hey Takato! How are Mako and Ai doing?" he called back.

Takato looked around and almost literally fell over when he saw them. Even though they had never been in a digital field, Susie told them how blinding it could be. So for protection, they brought their dark sunglasses just in case. Takato looked at them a little longer and then shouted back, "I think they're just fine."

Suddenly they started fizzing out and started turning upside down.

"Man, not this again," complained Kazu.

"Should I say which way is down again?" asked Jeri.

"Doesn't matter. It all depends on our perspective. So…I'm saying that way is down," said Rika pointing her finger below her.

"Thanks a lot Rika!" shouted Kazu as they started falling.

They all fell through the different panels and soon landed in the desert of the Digital World. Everyone started to climb out of the craters they had made when they impacted onto the Digital World. Takato looked around and saw that Ai was totally freaked out by the fall. Mako, on the other hand, was fine and tried to calm his sister down. Finally, after she was calm, they all debated on what to do. Takato pulled out his D-Arc and tried to find Guilmon. Suddenly, the compass started to point south of them.

"Hey you guys! I think I found Guilmon. Maybe if we follow the digivice it will take us straight to him," Takato said.

"Well alright then. Let's get going," said Henry.

Ai looked over at Mako and whispered, "Do you think Impmon will be with him?"

Mako looked at their D-Ark and said, "It looks like we're going in the same direction as he's going. So I'm pretty sure he's there."

With all hopes of seeing their partners again, they headed through the desert.

Guilmon suddenly lifted his head up and started sniffing the air. Not sure if his nose was correct or not, he sniffed again. His ears perked up and he smiled because he knew whom that smelled belonged to. Takato. He ran back toward the cave, excited.

"Hey Guilmon. What's up?" asked Terriermon. He saw Guilmon's excited behavior and immediately wanted to know what made him so perky.

"I smell Takato!" he said cheerfully.

The others looked at him and Renamon said, "You're sure?"

Guilmon nodded and said, "Yep. I don't think they're that far away. I think they are headed toward us."

"Well, instead of waiting around for them to find us, why don't we just follow where Guilmon's nose leads and we'll run into them," suggested Terriermon.

They all agreed and headed out, unaware of the danger that lay ahead of them. As Guilmon sniffed out their scent he suddenly smelled a new scent. His pupils diolated and he started growling. Without warning, a MetalSeadramon emerged out of the sand. He looked upon his prey and said, "Finally. Some digimon that I can destroy and load data on."

The others looked upon in fear and they knew they couldn't digivolve without their partners. Except for Impmon. He's a mega and I can't fight him alone. But I know the tamers are close by so maybe I should distract the mega while the others get help, thought Impmon. With that in mind, he started to glow brightly and then the form of Beelzemon stood in his place.

"Beelzemon! What are you doing?" said Renamon.

"You guys get out of here. The others aren't too far away now. Run to them for help and I'll distract this guy as long as I can," said Beelzemon.

"But you can't. You might be destroyed."

"That's a chance I'll have to take Renamon. Now go!"

Knowing that there was nothing more they could do, they ran in the direction that Guilmon sensed.

"Alright ya big dragon. It's just you and me," said Beelzemon to MetalSeadramon.

"Yes it is. My master has wanted you dead. I guess now I can carry out that task," MetalSeadramon said slyly.

Guilmon and the others ran as fast as they could. Suddenly Guilmon saw someone that looked like…no…it was…Takato!

"Takato!" Guilmon screamed as he ran to him.

"Guilmon! I finally found you!" Takato ran to him and the two partners hugged each other. The digimon found their tamers and most of them ran up and hugged them. (By this I mean only Rika and Renamon didn't hug. They just smiled at each other.)

Then Renamon said, "Rika we have to go back that way. Beelzemon's fighting with a mega and he needs our help."

"Then lets go before something bad happens to him," replied Rika. Takato, Rika, Henry, and Ryo held out their digivices and shouted, "Bioemerge activate!"

Soon they were all in their mega forms and on their way to help Beelzemon. The others followed them on foot since it wasn't far away.

He's too strong for me to handle alone. I hope the others get here soon, thought Beelzemon. He was on his knees, holding his chest, and breathing heavily. He had managed to inflict pain on MetalSeadramon but not as much as he had done to him.

"Had enough, traitor?" MetalSeadramon said gleefully.

"Yeah I've had enough. I've had enough of your big mouth!" shouted Beelzemon.

"Well you don't have to listen to it for long. One final blow should destroy you once and for all!" shouted MetalSeadramon triumphantly.

"I don't think so! Lightning Joust!" shouted Gallantmon.

Sakuyamon flew over to Beelzemon and asked, "Are you alright Beelzemon?"

"Yeah I think so."

With that said, the four megas charged at MetalSeadramon. They all attacked together which finally brought down MetalSeadramon. Before he disintegrated, he looked at Beelzemon and said, "My master will avenge me. Celebrate your victory for now, but remember that my master will destroy you. You shall not escape your punishment, traitor."

His data then went into the air and no one even tried to load it. They all went back to their original forms. Then Mako and Ai came running up to their partner.

"Impmon! Are you ok?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah I'm fine. It's great to see you two again," said Impmon with a smile.

Everyone chatted to each other, mostly their partners, to see what had been happening lately. One thing that remained inside Renamon's head was, " Why did MetalSeadramon call Impmon a traitor?"

Back in the depths of the Digital World a cloaked figure banged his hand on the table as he watched the celebration of victory of the tamers.

"You may have lived through this one, Impmon. But I promise you will die. Even if I have to do it myself! I have plans for both worlds and you won't be interrupting them."

With an evil laugh the figure watched from his orb. The tamers didn't know that a new evil had emerged and that his first plan was to destroy Impmon and anyone who tries to protect him.