"Henry," Takato mumbled. As mad as he was that his new friend woke him up, something didn't feel right. He felt it before he even read that Henry was the one calling. Something was going on with Guilmon. When had realized it was Henry, a fear of what might have happened to Guilmon creeped in.
"How were you not already awake? My D-Power has been going off for the past ten minutes. I can't get it to shut up," Henry said loudly over the phone. Well, he sounded loud in the silence of Takato's room. Silence if he didn't count the soft sound of Claire snoring.
If Henry's D-Power was going off, surely his was too. Takato glanced around the room, but the Digivice was nowhere in sight. He asked Henry, trying his best to keep his voice low, "Um, what exactly is the D-Power doing? Is it flashing or making noises?"
"Both!"
Takato crawled out of his sleeping bag. He patted down the sleeping bag and felt a bump. A dim light could be seen through the bag. It was a safe bet that the sleeping bag was muffling the beeping, too.
"Henry, something isn't right. I've felt it since your call woke me up," he whispered into the phone. Takato hoped that Henry could understand him. "I've had this dreadful feeling about Guilmon and your call just made me feel worse."
"Meet me at the park. Let's just not panic yet, alright?"
Henry hung up the phone.
Takato had a tough time sneaking out of the house with a loud beeping and flashing Digivice. The hardest part was sneaking out of his room. Claire was right there sleeping. He pulled it off though and that was what mattered.
He biked faster than he knew he could ever do. Takato literally jumped off his bike when he spotted the cement building. The fifteen-year-old didn't even wait to see if Henry had made it yet. He yelled, while running up the steps, "Guilmon!"
"He's not here, but neither is Terriermon," Henry called out from the cement building. He was holding up his D-Power. Henry asked, "How did you get it turn to a compass?"
"I just pressed a button. I don't really kn—"
Henry's D-Power showed an image of a compass without him even pressing a button. It was as if it had read his mind or felt what he wanted. The two tamers followed the direction Henry's D-Power led them.
"I hope they're okay wherever they went…" Takato's voice trailed off. He didn't want to think about his new friend being hurt. All his life he wanted Digimon to be real. Guilmon was a gift he never expected to receive. Tears filled his eyes. "I should have stayed with him tonight. What was I thinking?!"
"You didn't know they'd run off. Don't blame yourself."
"Pyro sphere!" a voice yelled. Oh no, Takato thought. Guilmon.
The two tamers ran toward Guilmon's voice. The voice led them to the playground in the park. Guilmon spat out fire toward an Digimon Takato didn't recognize. The mystery Digimon dodged with easy with a front flip off of the slide it was standing on. Henry pulled out his D-Power and an image of the unknown Digimon was projected.
"Renamon. A data, animal Digimon. She's only a rookie," Henry read aloud.
"Bunny bl—" Terriermon started.
"Don't you dare!" Henry shouted right before scooping up his Digimon. Terriermon turned his head and shot the green balls away from anyone or any Digimon. "You've promised me you won't battle anymore!"
"She led us out here and attacked! She deserves it…" Terriermon mouthed back, but shut his mouth when Henry glared at him. "Fine, let Guilmon have all the fun."
"I don't want him to fight either. We have no idea what we're doing!" Takato admitted. He stepped into Guilmon's vision and waved his hands in the air. "Guilmon, stop! Leave her be!"
Guilmon ignored his tamer and began a rock breaker attack. Renamon danced out of the way right before jumping into the air. The Digimon crossed her arms and yelled, "Diamond storm!"
"Guilmon, run!" Takato screamed.
Guilmon met the diamond storm with a pyro sphere. Some of the diamond crystals were destroyed, but the rest ran into Guilmon. The crystals kicked up a cloud of dirt and dust, making Guilmon invisible to Takato.
"Why won't he listen to me?" Takato bawled and fell to his knees.
The dust and dirt settled, revealing that Guilmon was perfectly okay. Relief rushed through Takato, but it was immediately replaced with dread. A red-headed girl stepped up next to Renamon and pulled out a D-Power.
"He won't listen to you because you are a low life that doesn't deserve to be a tamer. Your dumb dinosaur doesn't fear you and understand that you are the one in charge. Pathetic," the red-head laughed. She appeared to be Takato and Henry's age, but neither recognized her. The girl continued, specifically talking to Henry, "Are you two going to fight me? Or is the little guy too afraid?"
"I am not afraid! Let me at her, Henry!" Terriermon struggled against his grip, but couldn't break free. Henry knew that Terriermon could break free if he really wanted to, but he held back for Henry's sake.
"I… I won't let you get hurt again." Henry's voice was soft and kind to his Digimon.
"Stupid, Digimon. I will defeat him, Rika, and absorb his data," Renamon said in a monotone voice.
"Good. Those two will do nicely. Then you'll have enough strength to Digivolve," Rika spoke smoothly. She smirked as she pulled out a Digimon card.
Takato couldn't believe what he was hearing. It sounded like this tamer and Digimon killed other Digimon for fun. Digimon was a game and all they wanted was to conquer it. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he searched his hoodie pocket in hopes he'd stuffed a card in there. Luckily, he had left one. Takato held it in the air just like Rika had.
"Don't make me laugh. You'll never win," laughed Rika. She slashed the card through her D-Power. "Digi-Modify! Power activate!"
"Henry, Guilmon's going to need my help," Terriermon warned. His tamer ignored him.
"Run!" Takato commanded Guilmon.
For once, Guilmon appeared to hear Takato. He turned to his tamer and cocked his head to the side. Guilmon smelt the air and smiled at the smell. The Digimon started, "Takatomon, you smell like bre—"
Renamon kicked Guilmon's head, which knocked him to the ground. Resting a second before standing back up, Guilmon ran to his tamer and grasped at his leg. Guilmon rubbed his head and said, "That hurt, but all I can think about is how you smell so good, Takatomon."
Takato, wrapping his arms around Guilmon, yelled to Rika, "We don't want to fight! Just leave us alone!"
Rika's face softened for a moment as she looked at Renamon, but immediately turned back to the cold slate she was. She scoffed before walking away, "This one time. Only because it would be a shame to have such an easy victory. If we ever meet again, we will fight until the end."
The two tamers watched Rika until she was out of their vision. All four returned to the cement building in silence. Well, as silent as Guilmon could get. He said "ohhh" and "ahhh" at every different animal he saw on the way. The two Digimon went back to sleep and rested from their short battle. Takato and Henry sat parallel from one another.
"Is that what being a tamer is all about?" Takato asked, breaking the silence between the two new friends. He gripped his D-Power tightly as he thought. "If all we're suppose to do is fight… I'm not sure I could do that to Guilmon."
"Battling does nothing but bring harm to either you or the other person," Henry answered, but didn't look at Takato. He kept his eyes on the ground. "Digimon are living creatures just like you and me. They don't deserve to be treated like Rika acts. No wonder Renamon sounded like a machine. All she's been taught is to fight."
"Good, I was hoping you'd say something like that."
"School starts soon. I think Rika has school too, so the Digimon should be safe here until after school," Henry told Takato. Takato hesitated, but nodded.
"Man, why has Takato been such a spaz lately?" Kenta asked when he and his two friends stepped onto school grounds.
"Who knows? Maybe he's knocked a cog loose in his head," Kazu teased. Kenta shrugged in response. Talking to Claire, Kazu questioned, "Weren't you at his house this morning?"
"Yeah, but he was gone when I woke up," Claire answered. She glanced around the school yard in hopes of seeing their friend.
"Who just ditches you at their house like that? Rude."
Claire spotted Takato walking with someone she didn't recognize. The mystery boy noticed her staring and gave her a smile. He got Takato's attention and nodded toward her. Claire felt her face go red and turned away. She told Kazu and Kenta, "I think I found out why he's ditched us two days in a row."
The two friends glanced the same direction Claire was originally looking. Kenta commented, "Isn't that Henry Wong? I didn't even know the two knew each other existed. The four of us and Henry live on different planets practically."
"Chumley is trying to move onto new friends, huh? I knew he didn't like us anymore. Good riddance then!" Kazu shouted and waved an arm in the air. He stomped away and into the school.
"Overdramatic as always… But I think he's right," Kenta sighed.
"You know that's not true. Takato loves us more than anyone could love a friend," Claire shot at Kenta, defending her friend. She snuck another peek at Takato and Henry. The two guys were still staring their way and talking. Claire turned to say something back to Kenta, but he was gone. She sighed, "Something's up and I'm going to find out what it is when school lets out."