Tamer of the Hazard

by DevilKeys Writing

Takato had always prided himself on being unique. But there comes point where being "one of a kind" is more trouble than it's worth. 3 partners, a cool tattoo and strange abilities? Awesome. Being stalked by evil digimon, hearing murderous voices in your head, and dealing with a temperamental redhead who'd like nothing more than to see you buried in a shallow grave? Not so much.

4. Rage

Yes, yes, yes, I am back once again, and I've brought chapter four of Tamer of the Hazard with me!

Not all that much to say right now, so enjoy!

XXXX

The people wandering the streets of Shinjuku was treated to a rare sight: the fabled "Matsuki Typhoon" blowing through on a Saturday! This almost never happened, and what's more, there seemed to be another red blur following behind it. This, of course, struck terror into the hearts of some, who's only thoughts were along the lines of, "Oh, God, there's two of them now?"

But Takato could care less about all that. He didn't give two shits about some kids that were going to swear they saw a red dinosaur until they were forty-seven and visiting a shrink. He didn't care about people screaming that they had seen a dragon running down the street. All that mattered now was making sure Lillymon didn't blow something, or someone, up.

There were some that said Lillymon's Flower Cannon attack was quite weak. Then there were those who had felt it and were no longer around to tell the tale, but it didn't take a genius to know that they'd strongly disagree with that statement.

Takato arrived at his home in record time, just under seven minutes, panting and sweating like he'd just run a marathon, which would be pretty accurate. Guilmon wasn't fairing any better than his Tamer; probably worse, since Takato was at least somewhat used to running that fast for long distances.

Going through the side door, Takato called out to anyone within the house. "Hello?" in the next few seconds, Takato would be cursing his decision to open his big mouth.

"Takaaaaatooooo..." the deceptively sweet voice of Lillymon floated into the boy's ears and he instantly stiffened as the temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees.

"H-Hello, Li-Lillymon...C-Can I h-help y-you?" Takato was stuttering terribly, obviously terrified of the obviously pissed Ultimate.

Lillymon's slender arms wrapped themselves around Takato's neck while she rested her head on top of his. "Takato, remember those rules you told me about when I first started living here?"

Takato was starting to see where the conversation would eventually go. "No. Even if she's a bi...witch," he corrected himself, remembering that Guilmon was still standing there, "I can't let you go after her."

Lillymon snorted lightly and started toying with a lock of Takato's hair. "What about her partner? Can't I at least rough her up a little?" she whined.

Takato stifled a chuckle. "Look, I may need her in a later battle, you never know. While I don't like her attitude at all, I can't deny that she's a good Tamer with a powerful partner. Lousy person, good Tamer. If you delete her partner, she becomes absolutely useless, and that 'tude of hers will only worsen. But I'll make you a deal..." Takato turned himself around to face Lillymon, only to find his face pressed between her breasts.

Lillymon blushed, embarrassed at first, but she soon grinned started to tease the poor teen. "My, my, aren't we a naughty boy today?"

"Not by choice." came Takato's muffled response before he managed to lift his head enough to breathe and speak properly. "Like I said, I'll make you a deal. Two weeks. If, by the end of those two weeks, Rika's still a witch, you can do whatever you wish to her partner. If she still believes that digimon are just lumps of data, she's not fit to be a Tamer. But, at the very least, try not to delete Renamon. It's not her fault that her Tamer is a ruthless, cold-hearted killer, and she shouldn't have to pay the price for her Tamer's behavior."

Lillymon sighed. "Yeah, I guess it's not her fault that she's a mindless drone with no moral fiber."

"Sarcasm noted. But I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure Renamon, on some level, knows what she's doing is wrong. Since she's also a digital being, deleting other digimon like this should be something like homicide to her...Though, on the level that they're doing it, it may qualify as genocide. I don't know. Why am I even thinking about this?" Takato pulled himself away from Lillymon. "Listen, I'll take care of those two, you don't need to get involved. They want a fight, fine, I'll give them one, but this is our battle," he gestured to himself and Guilmon, "not yours."

Lillymon looked like she wanted to protest, but a pained moan from a waking Calumon stopped her and she sighed. "Fine, just be sure to give 'em both hell...You know, for Calumon."

Takato chuckled. "Whatever you say."

After the Ultimate walked off to tend to Calumon, BlackGatomon head poked out from behind the couch. "...Okay, I'm officially impressed. You defused a potentially dangerous situation before any significant damage could be done!" she gave him a thumbs up. "You rock!"

Takato rose an eyebrow. "You don't have your gloves on...And you have thumbs...I didn't know that."

BlackGatomon sweatdropped. "No shit, Sherlock." she jumped off the couch and onto Takato's shoulders, holding on to the straps of his goggles to keep herself balanced while he walked.

"That wasn't so hard, you made it sound like she was about to strangle a baby, or something."

"She wouldn't listen to me! Anytime I so much as got close to her, she'd throw something at me!"

"So? You're a cat, you should be able to dodge." Takato shrugged.

"She almost smashed a TV on my head!"

Takato suddenly stopped. "...You saved the TV, right? Right?"

"Oh, me? Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for your concern." BlackGatomon smacked Takato on the back of the head before jumping to the floor.

Takato was about to complain when he heard the bell chime, signaling a customer coming through the door.

"Shit! Take Guilmon and hide, quick!" Takato dashed out of the room and over to the cash register. "Hello, welcome to the Matsuki Bakery, how may I help you?" he used his "working voice", giving the illusion of the perfect little boy that every parent wanted.

It never ceased to amaze Takato how many people actually fell for it.

"Oh!" the customer, an attractive woman looking to be in her late twenties, jumped and turned to face Takato, then sighed while placing her hand over her heart. "You scared me, I didn't see you there a second ago."

Takato laughed nervously, fighting down a blush. "Sorry about that. I'm sorta the ninja of the family, so I get that a lot."

The woman laughed. "Well, I suppose I should be honored to meet a real ninja!"

"Oh, you'd be surprised at the number of ninjas there really are. In fact, you'd probably never get a good night's sleep ever again..." Takato's eyes shifted around like he was on the lookout for some unseen adversary.

"And here I was, thinking ninjas had no sense of humor."

Renamon instantly came to Takato's mind and he chuckled inwardly. "Most don't, but I am what's known as 'Ninjester'. Whereas others come out of nowhere and deliver swift death upon their unsuspecting victims, I deliver swift one-liners, then slip back into the shadows." he was starting to really get into his current character, even giving him a unique voice.

"You're an 'Ask A Ninja' fan, I see." the woman laughed again, it had been a while since she'd met someone who even knew what "Ask A Ninja" was.

"You mean hear...You cannot see with your ears...Unless you're Daredevil. And yes, I am a fan, I even have the t-shirts. Now, down to the business at hand. What is it that you seek on today's quest? I noticed you looking at the cinnamon buns, and I advise you to stay far away from them!" Takato eyed the cinnabuns like they would jump out of the case and attack him at any moment.

"Oh? Why's that? I love cinnabuns!"

"My Dad made those...and he sucks at making sweets!" a ball of dough suddenly flew out of the kitchen and nearly smacked Takato in the head, but he caught it at the last second, without even looking at it. "You see? He gets angry because he doesn't want the truth to get out! But thank you, Dad, for giving me the chance to show off my ninja skills!" he bowed deeply, which turned out to be a big mistake.

One second Takehiro was in the back making bread, the next he was standing in front of Takato with a large baguette over his head. The stiff piece of two-day old bread came crashing down on Takato's head and shattered like a baseball bat made of glass, but not before doing some damage.

Takato yelped in pain and surprise and stumbled back holding his head. He ended up tripping over his own feet and falling. Though he tried to grab the counter to hold himself up, the attempt failed as his hand hit an empty tray that had been left out, causing it to fly up in the air as he fell down.

"Ow..." Takato mumbled as he fell on his back, then frowned when he noticed the metal tray coming back down towards his face. He brought his hands up just in time to catch it, then stood back up. "You still suck at making sweets!" another dough ball flew out from the back, which Takato blocked with the tray. "Sorry about that." he turned back to the customer, but was surprised to see her face turning red from suppressed laughter.

"Don't...worry about it..." the woman couldn't take it anymore and let loose, guffawing like there was no tomorrow. "You guys are hilarious!" she doubled over.

(Four Hours Later)

After a few more jokes and a lot more laughing, the woman had finally gotten what she wanted and had left, saying that she'd definitely be coming back, if only for a good laugh.

But for the next four hours things had been really slow. Not only was there not many people, but the ones that did come in weren't interested in talking. They weren't rude, or anything, they were just quiet, and most seemed to be in a rush. It was now 3:30pm and boredom was reigning supreme.

"Okay, that's way too much information." Takato said while turning away to hide his growing blush.

"Well it's true! That's how it happened! That was also the first time I'd ever used my chains." BlackGatomon, who was sitting on a stool behind the counter and out of sight.

"Just because it's true doesn't mean I needed to know, or wanted to, for that matter!"

BlackGatomon smirked and pointed at Takato's face. "That nosebleed says different."

"I...Just shut up." Takato went into the back to get some paper towels.

This was when Lillymon caught sight of him, and the fact that he was bleeding, and rushed to help.

"Are you alright, Takato?" the Ultimate asked, seconds away from overreacting.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a nosebleed, that's all." Takato blew his nose to get the rest of the blood out.

"How'd that happen?"

Takato glared at BlackGatomon, who simply waved back with a cheeky smile. "Blame the cat."

"Blame his hormones." BlackGatomon countered.

"Blame her for taking advantage of them!"

"Blame him for letting me!"

"..." Takato didn't really have a comeback for that one.

"Son, I think you lost that round." Takehiro patted his stepson on the shoulder. "I honestly don't know why you even try anymore."

"I don't, it just comes naturally. Then, before I even realize what I'm doing, I've already been beaten!"

"Such is the fate of most men." Takehiro sighed melodramatically.

"Hey, you two, get back to work!" Mie shouted from back in the storage room.

"Yes ma'am!" both father and son ran back to their posts.

BlackGatomon made a sound like a cracking whip and grinned as Takato glared at her.

"Quiet, you." the bell over the door chimed again. "Gogogogo!" he shooed the feline digimon back into the kitchen. "Welcome to the Matsuki Bakery! How may I help you today?"

"Quiet down, I'm lookin'!" the customer, a short, pudgy, balding, middle-aged sack of crap gruffly replied, waving Takato off.

"Okay, sir, take all the time you need!" Takato said with a smile, but the twitch in his eye told a different story. 'Rude little prick.'

For nearly fifteen minutes the douchebag wandered around the store, inspecting each and every item, then scanning over them again, like he had missed something before.

'What is he doing?' Takato scratched his head as the man looked back and forth between two doughnuts. The thing was, they were both the exact same thing! 'And we're having a two-for-one sale on doughnuts today!' Takato's eye started to twitch again.

"Hey, you, come here." the asshole demanded.

Takato cracked his neck once, the first sign of danger, and walked around the counter to stand next to the man. "Yes, how may I help you?"

"What's the difference between these two?" he asked, pointing at the doughnuts.

'Well, I don't think you should be here, the fat-free doughnuts are on the other side!' "We're having a two-for-one sale on all doughnuts today, sir, so you don't have to decide between them, you can get both." even though he was close to giving the little fucker a concussion, he still tried to be helpful and polite.

"And what if I don't want both?" the man asked sarcastically.

'Maybe you want the whole shelf?' "..." Takato remained silent, but he did roll his shoulders until he heard a series of pops.

"Yeah, didn't think about that, now did you? Now, what's the difference between these two?" he demanded again.

"I don't know...One's bigger than the other?" that was the only difference he saw.

"Really? Wow, I didn't know that! I have eyes, you smartass!" the man hissed.

'Hit him! Hit the little fuckrag!' Takato's mind screamed, but he remained calm on the outside. "Sir, size is the only difference between these two doughnuts. I should know, I made them myself." he had to use his left hand to hold onto his right to keep it from firing out at the little roach.

The roach turned to him with narrowed eyes. "You're a mouthy little turd, aren't you?"

'BASH HIS FUCKING SKULL IN!' Takato was starting to get a headache, the second sign of danger. "No, sir, I apologize for being rude."

"Finally respecting your elders, eh? Hmph, you're a useless little punk, that's what you are. I'll buy these two." the man opened the glass casing and grabbed the two doughnuts with his sausage-link fingers and placed them into a bag before waddling over to the counter.

"Nice weather we're having, wouldn't you agree?" maybe he could distract himself from physical violence by making small talk.

"What are you, the fuckin' weatherman now? Just ring up my food!" the man took out his wallet and drummed his miniature hotdogs on the counter impatiently.

"Smash his head through the glass and use a shard to cut his throat..." a voice within Takato's head whispered with a sinister rasp.

'What? No!' Takato shook his head slightly. "Right away, sir." he punched in the purchase. "That'll be a hundred and fifty yen, sir."(1)

"What? So you're a con-artist now? What a rip-off!" the man grumbled to himself as he rummaged through his wallet, flinging coins out carelessly and leaving Takato to stop them from rolling off the counter and onto the floor. "There, one-fifty." he took his bag and made to leave, but was stopped by Takato.

"Wait, sir, this is only one-forty." 'This little bastard tried to cheat me!'

The man turned and glared at the boy. "Are you saying I cheated you, boy? You calling me a liar, boy?" he stomped back up to the counter, causing a considerable tremor, and leaned over the counter, getting right in Takato's face.

'Did you eat fucking roadkill for breakfast?' "No, sir, I'm simply stating that you made a mistake in counting and you're ten yen short."

That didn't seem to help matters at all. "How do you know you didn't make the mistake? Maybe your clumsy ass let one of the coins roll off the counter!"

"Punch him in the face, jump over the counter, and break his neck..." the voice was back.

'Who are you?'

"Are you listening to me?" the man yelled, scaring off two potential customers as soon as they opened the door.

"Make him bleed..."

'No...'

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the man tried to snap his fingers in front of Takato's face, but they were too fat.

"Beat him into the ground..."

'No...It's not right...'

"Dammit, you worthless maggot, answer me!" the man's face was red with rage.

"Neither is what he's doing to you! Make him suffer!" the voice was growing louder, more insistent, and his headache was getting worse by the second.

'I don't want to...'

"What the hell's wrong with you, boy? You retarded, or something?" spit was flying out of the man's mouth as he insulted the boy that had done nothing to deserve the verbal bashing.

"There's a butcher knife that your stepfather left out about a foot away from your hand, put it to good use and gut him like a trout! Destroy him, mutilate him, KILL HIM!" the voice was screaming at Takato, just like the man.

"You shouldn't be yelling at him like that!" a girl's voice yelled from behind the man, causing him to turn around.

"Shut up, girl! I'm not done with your little boyfriend here!" he turned back around and made the biggest mistake of his pitiful life. "Answer me when I'm talking to you, you little bastard!" he raised his chunky right hand and smacked Takato across the face with a resounding "crack".

In that single moment multiple things happened. One, Takato's headache suddenly went away. Two, the sinister voice in his head started laughing maniacally. And three, Takato finally snapped.

Not effected by the weak slap in the least, Takato also swung his right arm, landing a solid fist on the man's jaw and sending him sprawling across the floor. Not giving him time to recover, not that he would anyway, Takato jumped over the counter and descended upon the helpless fatass with all the ferocity of a rabid wolf.

Fist after fist and boot after boot connected with the man's body, luckily he was unconscious after the first two blows. But that didn't stop Takato, he just continued to wail away on the guy. To anyone watching, the phrase "beating a dead horse" might have come to mind.

"Takato, stop!" Takehiro finally came out to see what all the commotion was and hopped over the counter to grab hold of his son before he murdered the man.

But Takato wasn't stopping, he was too far gone. This was a rage that hadn't been seen in two years, ever since Takato stopped seeing his psychiatrist. He had reverted to a primitive state of mind, and was little more than a wild animal in human form now. There was a threat in the area, and that threat needed to be eliminated; it was as simple as that to him right now.

'I forgot how strong this boy is!' Takehiro grunted as he struggled to keep Takato out of stomping range of the man's head. "MIE! Get in here, quick!" he screamed for his wife.

"What's wrong, h-Oh my God, Takato!" Mie dashed in and started to drag the man's body away, then noticed the other occupant of the store. "Jeri, call an ambulance!"

The girl nodded fearfully and ran for the phone, careful to keep a lot of distance between herself and...whatever the hell Takato had become.

"Dammit Takato!" Takehiro pulled his fist back and socked Takato in his right cheek, causing him to stumble back. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Takato winced as his headache returned and his racing heartbeat pounded in his ears. It wasn't enough; his rage hadn't been sated yet. He began to step forward again to go for the downed man, but was stopped once again by his stepdad punching him.

"Takato, down in the basement." Takehiro crossed his arms, signaling that there would be no argument tolerated. "Now."

Takato backed up a few steps, then nodded and turned to walk into the kitchen. On the way he noticed Jeri staring at him, fear obvious in her expression.

"...I'm sorry you had to see that, Jeri." even if his head was pounding and his bloodlust was still running high, he was at least kind to his friend.

"I-It's alright...He h-hit you f-first, right?" Jeri tried to smile, but she was simply too scared at the moment.

Takato simply nodded and opened the door to the basement. "Take whatever you want, it's on the house today." it was the least he could do to make up for scaring the holy-high hell out of her. His parents would understand. "I hope." he muttered as he closed the door behind him and switched on the light so he wouldn't fall down the stairs.

Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase Takato walked over to a duffle bag sitting on top of a crate in the corner, opened it, and took out a pair of black fingerless fighting gloves. He then went over to the battered training dummy set up in the middle of the room.

It was a simple replica of a human torso and head, padded all over, attached to a flexible metal pole, which was attached to a foundation weighed down with multiple metal plates that replicated the weight of an average male. It also had height adjusters for shorter combatants, like Takato, and was already set at his height(2), since he was the only one who used it. Takehiro used the punching bag hanging from a chain in the corner.

Taking up the stance taught to him by both his biological father and his stepfather(3), Takato got to work on the bag, punching and kicking it like a professional fighter.

"You could have done a lot more to that parasite..." the voice had returned once again.

'Shut up.' Takato wasn't about to allow himself to be distracted by whatever this thing was.

"You could have annihilated him..."

'Didn't I tell you to shut up?' "Left jab, left jab, right hook, left uppercut, right cross!" Takato used the basic combo his father at taught him years ago.

"You could have killed him..."

'Go away.' "Body shot, left hook, right hook, spinning backfist!" this was the basic combo his stepfather had shown him, though a spinning backfist was a risky move for a beginner. But Takato wasn't complaining.

"It could have been great practice for your revenge..."

'What are you babbling about now?' "Right jab, left jab, left jab, feint body blow, right hook, grab head, right knee!" Takato drove his knee into the center of the dummy's torso, where the diaphragm would be on a human. He was moving on to more advanced movies, such as fakes and grapples.

"Your father...You want revenge on him for what he did to you and your mother..."

Takato faltered a bit, but quickly shook it off and continued to tear into the dummy.

'You don't know what you're talking about, so shut the hell up!' the voice was starting to cross the line. "Feint right hook, left jab, right side kick, left side kick, right spinning heel!" reflecting his annoyance, his blows were becoming more vicious, more damaging, more lethal. That last kick packed enough power to easily fracture someone's skull.

"Don't deny it, don't you dare...You know you want it, I know you want it, even your parents know you want it...You want to kill him..."

'No, I don't want to...Then I'd be no better than him...' "Right hook, grab head, left knee, right knee, right uppercut, right jumping spin kick!" the final kick landed on the face of the dummy with enough force to send it reeling back with the weighted foundation coming up off the floor. This attack would not only have knocked an opponent out, but he would be left with broken teeth, a broken nose, and severe whiplash.

"They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree..."

'Be quiet...' the voice was really pissing Takato off, and he was nearing his breaking point again. He started one final combo, each blow packing enough raw power to be an instant knockout. "Right hook..."

"No, I don't think I will..."

'And why not?' "Left hook..."

"Because you need to hear this..."

'The hell I do!' "Right straight..." Takato's teeth were grinding now, though a more obvious sign of his anger was the face of the dummy, which was developing cracks in the hardened plastic.

"Yes, you do...Why do you continue to lie to yourself?...It accomplishes nothing...For once in your life allow yourself to be true to what you really are..."

'What's that supposed to mean?' "Left uppercut..." the punch hit the dummy's chin, snapping it up and causing it to stay there as a bolt popped out of the jointed metal "spine". This meant that the punch had more than enough power to break a human neck.

"There! You see it?...With that one punch, you could end the life of another...Your real self is finally coming to the surface once again..."

'That...That was a mistake! I put too much power behind it, that's all...' "Right front kick..." the chest of the dummy dented slightly. This kick would have broken ribs easily, possibly sending jagged fragments into vital organs.

"You did it again...Another killing blow...You're subconsciously preparing yourself as we speak..."

'This is because you're pissing me off!' "Right body blow..." again, a rib-breaking hit, but something was different now...It felt like his right bicep was starting to burn.

"Is it now?...You can feel it...It's going to come out...And you will become what your true self...What you were always meant to be..."

'You make it sound like I'm not even human...' "Left cross..." the burning grew more intense.

The voice suddenly began to chuckle. "Are you?"

Takato's eyes widened as the burning hit its peak and his body moved on its own. He did a single back hop, then bounced forward again on the ball of his right foot. Then, shifting his weight to his left leg, Takato snapped his right out with all his might, tearing the dummy's head off with a high side thrust kick, also known as the stepping side kick.(4)

Takato stumbled back and fell flat on his ass, staring at the headless dummy in horror. That thing's "neck" was made to be many times stronger than a human's, as it was meant to take constant abuse, and yet he had just taken it completely off! Given, he had weakened it before, but still, it took a LOT of power to do something like that...Much more than he should have been able to muster.

"What's happening to me?" he suddenly smelled something burning and looked at his right arm. He yelped and jumped up when he noticed that his sleeve was on fire and slowly burning away. "Ah, shit!" he patted the fabric to get rid of the embers. While doing this he caught sight of himself in the large mirror that he often used to check his fighting stance. "What the hell?" he slowly stepped up to the reflective glass.

The hazard tattoo was now on full display and was still glowing a dull orange color. He brought his fingers to it and hissed before drawing them back, the symbol was still scalding hot.

"Takatomon?" Takato jumped when he saw Guilmon's reflection in the mirror.

"Are you okay?" BlackGatomon, who was riding on Guilmon's back, looked a bit distraught. She had heard the belligerent customer go off on her Tamer and had tried to go out and "remedy" the situation, but she was held back by Lillymon, who now knew that, even as a Champion, her new "rival" was quite powerful. Both Guilmon and Calumon had eaten themselves to sleep, so they were no help, and Takato's parents couldn't hear what was going on over all of the noises and timers of the different machines.(5)

"...Yeah...I'm fine..." Takato turned back to the mirror to find that his tattoo was no longer glowing. "...I'm fine..."

"Good, that means you can explain what happened up there." Takehiro said, leaning on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

"He was awesome!" BlackGatomon jumped from Guilmon to Takato, giggling like a schoolgirl.

"I don't see anything 'awesome' about attempted murder. Would you mind explaining just what the hell got into you?"

Takato hung his head. "I...I don't know what happened...I tried to be nice, to be helpful, but he just wouldn't let up...I don't know what came over me. The more he talked the angrier I got...And when he slapped me...I just snapped."

"Takato, you know you're supposed to call either me or your mother when someone like that comes in! We've been through this a hundred times before!"

"Thirty-six times, actually, and I know what I was supposed to do, but I haven't had an outburst in two years! I thought I could handle it...Guess I was wrong. I'm sorry."

Takehiro sighed heavily. "I'm just glad you held out until he hit you first, and you're lucky that our cameras caught the whole thing. You've come a long way these past six years. I remember when you used to be such a happy kid...Always running around and playing...Then, after the...after the Incident, you were always either angry or depressed. You refused to talk to anyone but your mother, avoided physical contact like the plague...In fact, you damn near became a hermit! Spending most of your time down here with the punching bag or that notebook of yours...But like I said, you've come a long way since then, and I'd be a lying bastard if I said I wasn't proud of you." Takehiro ruffled Takato's hair.

"Thanks, Dad." Takato laughed, playfully swatting the hand away.

The man whistled as he caught sight of the headless training dummy. "Wow, how the hell'd you accomplish that?"

Takato rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I...don't really know...It kinda just...happened."

Deciding not to question his son any further, Takehiro turned to Takato with an odd glint in his eyes. "Say...Do you mind if I put the camera footage up on YouTube? I'll bet it'll be a hit in the first week!"

"Dad!" Takato lightly punched his stepfather's arm.

"Hey, just because you took that dummy's head off doesn't mean you can take the Big Dog!" Takehiro smirked and took a pair of red fighting gloves, like Takato's, out of his back pockets. "But you're welcome to try!"

Takato also smirked before getting into his previous stance, mimicking his stepfather's almost perfectly.

Takehiro chuckled. "Don't take offense to this, but your father used to use that same stance...Makes it look like you're leaving yourself open..." he went in for a quick left jab, which was easily blocked by Takato. "When, in reality, that's exactly what you want them to think..." he went for another left jab, but this turned out to be a fake out and he hit Takato with a right body blow when he went to block a shot to the face. "But you're not as quick as he was." the older male was forced to eat his own words as his stepson's right fist buried itself in his gut.

"How about now?" Takato leaned back to avoid a right hook.

"Better, but still not fast enough!" before his son could react, Takehiro went low and swept his legs out from under him. As soon as Takato hit the ground Takehiro grabbed right arm and fell backwards while dragging Takato's arm between his legs.

Takato saw what he was going for, but reacted too late to counter. Takehiro put his left leg across Takato's neck and the right across his chest, then took the captive arm and placed the hand under his right arm and place his own hands on the elbow and triceps of Takato's captive arm. He pulled back and twisted the arm in the opposite direction it was meant to bend, resulting in minor hyperextension of the elbow and hyper-rotation of the shoulder.

"No fair using submissions!" Takato grunted before tapping on his Dad's knee to signal his surrender. In all the years he'd been into mixed martial arts, or MMA, no one had ever gotten around to teaching him submission holds or how to counter them. Hell, he didn't even know Guard positions! So, basically, once someone got him on the ground he was through.

"All's fair when there's no referee!" Takehiro laughed and ruffled Takato's hair again after putting his gloves back in his pockets.

"Gee, thanks, Dad, that's a great motto to teach to an impressionable youth." the teen said, sarcasm obvious as he rubbed his slightly sore arm.

"I thought so, too. Come on, let's go find one and corrupt him!" Takehiro looked about ready to run up the stairs and seriously start looking.

"Sometimes I swear you're insane." Takato deadpanned.

"Let's make a club! I'll go make the sign-up sheets, you go gather anyone you think would want to join!" the man bolted for the stairs. "Honey, start up the computer and the printer, I need to use the graphics program!"

"Dad!" Takato screamed, though he was still laughing at his stepfather's antics.

"I know, I know, I'm insane. But seriously, go out and have fun, it's Saturday!"

"But all my friends are out of town." it sort of bothered Takato that he was only talking about two people.

"Then make new ones." with that last bit of advice, Takehiro continued up the stairs and out of sight.

"...You're both nuts." BlackGatomon's eye twitched, but then she smiled. "I finally feel like I fit in somewhere!" she trapped Takato in a hug, laughing like the maniac she just admitted herself to be.

"Can I be insane, too?" Guilmon asked, his childish naiveté making him all too willing to join in the fun, no matter what it may be.

"Sure, the more the merrier!" BlackGatomon hugged Guilmon as well, which he readily returned while cheering.

"Yay, I'm insane, I'm insane, just like Takatomon!"

Takato shook his head. "The more the scarier, if you ask me." he muttered.

"Then we won't ask you. Now come on, let's go out!" BlackGatomon got on Guilmon's back and rode him up the stairs.

"...Note to self: refuse all future requests for a cowboy hat..." he smiled and followed them up, though at a much more subdued pace. On the way up he rubbed his arm again, but stopped suddenly when he went higher up and noticed something missing. Or, more accurately, NOT missing. The large hole that the tattoo had burned through his sleeve was gone. "This..This is just too much." while he was happy that he wouldn't have to replace one of his favorite shirts, he was more than a little scared at the same time. Something was happening to him, and he had an unshakeable feeling that it wasn't going to turn out well.

"Takatomooooonnnn!" BlackGatomon, doing her best impression of Guilmon, whined from upstairs.

"Not you, too!" Takato ran up the stairs, deciding that he wasn't going to figure it out anytime soon, so he wasn't going to worry about it.

Minutes later Takato found himself walking down the street in broad daylight with Guilmon and BlackGatomon by his side.

"Remember, Guilmon, you're a guy in a cosplay costume as the result of a lost bet, and BlackGatomon, you're a stuffed animal that I bought for my cousin's birthday." Takato whispered to his digimon.

"Why do I have to have such a degrading role?" BlackGatomon whispered back, making sure that only her lips moved.

"Would you rather have stayed home?" BlackGatomon didn't respond. "I didn't think so. Now come on, we're going back to the park."

As they walked down the sidewalk they, understandably, got many odd looks. Afterall, it wasn't everyday you saw a red velociraptor walking down the street with a cat on its back.

"Wow, Mom, lookit, a digimon!" a little boy dragged his mother over to Guilmon.

"Oh, he's not really a digimon, just my little brother in a suit. He wanted to go to the convention as Agent Smith from The Matrix, but he lost a bet, so I'm making him go as a digimon." to add to the effect, Takato grinned evilly at Guilmon while the dinosaur scowled in return.

"I've never seen this digimon before, what's he called?" this kid was a digimon nut in the making, and Takato was more than happy to help him along.

"I created him myself, his name's Guilmon."

The boy then spied the other digimon. "Cool, a BlackGatomon!"

"That's just a toy for my cousin, it's her birthday next week." Takato was the only one to notice the "toy's" eye twitch.

The boy nodded then looked to his mother. "Hey, Mom, can I go trick-or-treating as a digimon this year? Please?"

The woman sighed and pulled him away. "You're going as a scarecrow, and you're gonna like it!"

The boy groaned, but didn't complain otherwise. "Bye, Guilmon!" he waved.

"Bye-bye!" both Guilmon and Takato waved.

"Wow...I can't believed that actually worked...I mean the kid I understand, but everyone else?" Takato snorted. "I mean look around! Nobody gave you a second glance after I said you were a guy in a suit and that she was a doll!"

"Which is something I didn't appreciate, by the way." BlackGatomon huffed while still keeping the facade of a toy.

"Whatever, just be glad I didn't say you talked when your paw was squeezed. The kiddies would've had a field day with you."

BlackGatomon instantly shut up, not liking the idea of being squeezed and pinched by little kids one bit.

As they neared the park, Takato suddenly halted and dragged them both into an alleyway.

"What's the big idea?" Guilmon moaned, not liking having his tail pulled so hard.

"Shh! Something's going on at the park entrance!" Takato poked his head around the corner, as did both his digimon.

There was something going on, if the line of unmarked black vans was anything to go by.

"Maybe it's one of those secret government conspiracies you humans are so paranoid about?" BlackGatomon suggested.

"I'd tell you to stop watching so much TV if I wasn't inclined to agree with you." Takato narrowed his eyes at the men walking around in what looked like blue biohazard suits, black goggles and breathing masks. "Maybe they're looking for aliens or something..."

"Now who watches too much TV?"

"...Or maybe they're looking for Guilmon. That's the entrance closest to where we fought Rika and Renamon."

"You got into a fight and didn't tell me? Shame on you, I'm your partner, too, ya' know!" BlackGatomon crossed her arms and pouted.

"What would be the sport in that? You can digivolve to Ultimate, yet Renamon can't even go to Champion!"

"Well, that's her fault, not mine." the Champion continued to pout.

"Meh. Come on, let's go somewhere else." with that, Takato and his digimon slipped further into the alley and to a different street to avoid detection.

(Meanwhile, At The Location Of Their Battle)

A group of men, all dressed in the same outfits as the one's Takato had seen on the street, walked around the area that had been a battleground just hours before, waving scanners back and forth.

"We've been out here for hours, and we've still got nothing! Hell, does anyone even know what it is that we're looking for?" one of the men complained.

"'Bio-emergence' my ass." another man muttered.

"I heard they're looking for some new kind of biological weapon, you know, that kind of shit that makes your skin melt off instantly!"

"No way, Sherlock!" another man waved his colleague off.

"Shh, the boss!" each man instantly stopped complaining and got back to the task at hand. No matter how much they didn't want to do it, or how pointless they thought it was, no one wanted to question their superior...He was just too damn creepy! Like Agent Smith with blonde hair and a Zippo.

The Smith look-alike slowly wandered into the no-go zone, lifting up the yellow tape and instantly going for the demolished fence.

"So, one of them did come through...Hm?" he muttered, then something green and blue laying on the ground caught his eye, it was a digimon card. He stooped to pick it up and turned it around. 'Hmm, a Mephistomon...' an odd smirk graced his lips. 'I don't have one of these yet...' he discretely looked around, then placed the card inside of his suit. "Foolish children, leaving all this evidence just laying around for us to find. Oh well, their loss, my gain." he chuckled before walking away, giving the fence on last glance. "Make sure that fence is replaced." 'Since we can't seem to stop these Wild Ones anymore, we might as well perform some kind of public service.'

"Yes sir, Yamaki, sir!" each of the men saluted, but one of them flipped Yamaki the bird before returning to work.

Unfortunately for him, Yamaki just happened to stop to clean his sunglasses and caught the man's reflection in the lenses. "I'll be seeing you in my office, Mr. Anderson." he said before walking away, unaware of the snickers from the "grunts". "There's nothing here, pack it up, we're heading back!" Yamaki ordered.

(With Takato)

The begoggled Tamer and his digimon had been wandering around for close to half an hour trying to find some place to hang out. It was now that Takato realized just how much time he spent at the park. He didn't know any other places to go other than school!

"This is bullshit." he grumbled under his breath.

"What's bullshit?" Guilmon, with his keen hearing, picked up Takato's voice.

"...Nothing you should concern yourself with...ever."

"Okie dokie, Takatomon!"

"I'm not a 'mon!"

Both Guilmon's and BlackGatomon's ears perked and the dinosaur stopped in his tracks.

"What's up?"

"A digimon..." BlackGatomon said dismissively, indicating that not only was it not hostile, but it was also not worth fighting.

"Smells like..." Guilmon sniffed the air. "Terriermon."

"Henry." Takato sighed and looked at BlackGatomon. "Do you mind? I'd like to keep you and SG a secret for as long as possible."

BlackGatomon simply smiled. "Of course, all this wandering is boring anyway, and a Mythbusters marathon is on in, like, an hour. Just use my D-Arc to call me if you need me!"

"Record the marathon for me!" Takato called before the feline teleported back to the bakery.

"Will do! Ciao!" BlackGatomon disappeared in a way not unlike a certain vixen.

And just in time, too, since Henry rounded the corner just as she faded from view.

"Terriermon, she's my sister! No matter how annoying she can be I'm not going to FedEx her to America!" the half-Chinese Tamer swatted his digimon, who was hanging around his neck by his ears, on the head.

"Ow! Momentai!" the lop-eared digimon caught sight of Takato and instantly resumed his stuffed animal act.

"Yeah, like that's gonna work." Takato scoffed.

"Hey, it's you again!" Terriermon used his ears to glide over to Guilmon's head and looked over to Takato. "What's up? Lookin' for someone else to fight?"

Takato smirked. "You offering?"

"No, he's not. You're not." Henry stepped in, plucking his digimon off of Guilmon's head and putting him on his shoulder. "So, what brings you out here? Don't you usually hang out at the park?"

"Are you a stalker, or something?" Takato took a cautious step back.

"What? No! I hang out at the park, too, and I usually see you heading down a different path." Henry explained.

Takato simply nodded. "Dude, you need to lighten up, that was a joke, I know you're not a stalker. But yeah, you're right, I would be there if it weren't for the damned Suits infesting the place."

"See? I'm not the only one that knows you're too uptight!" Terriermon said, but was ignored.

"Suits?"

"Government agents, or some such crap. They were all over the place! I think it has something to do with the digimon, since they were poking around where Guilmon fought Renamon."

"So they're at the other entrances, too." Henry muttered to himself. "I saw them posted at the entrance near my place as well."

"Four black vans with no license plates?" both Henry and Terriermon nodded. "Well damn, ain't that some bull?"

"Bullshit?" Guilmon pitched in, causing Takato to sigh.

"Crap. Don't repeat what I say, okay?"

"Yes, he will only lead you down the path to the Dark Side!" Terriermon said, using his ears to cover his mouth while making his voice deeper.

"Hmph, the Dark Side rocks! We have cookies!" Takato boasted.

"You do?" Terriermon's mouth hung open and he turned to Henry. "Can I?"

"No, you get enough cookies as it is."

"But Henrrryyyyy!" Terriermon whined.

"No! The last thing I need is a hyperactive rabbit running around the apartment! Then who'd believe you were a stuffed animal?"

Terriermon hung his head in defeat. "I hate it when you make a good point."

"Fun and logic don't mix, do they?" Takato chuckled.

Terriermon looked like he was about to cry. "Not at all!" the look of sadness turned to one of panic as he pointed behind Takato. "Men in black, MEN IN BLACK!"

Both Tamers looked to see a long line of black vans coming down the street in their direction.

"Crap!" Takato said before taking Guilmon and diving into another alley and behind a dumpster, prompting Henry and Terriermon to do the same.

"Does this mean that they've left the park?"

"I hope so, then I can show Guilmon his new hiding place."

"You mean that shed at the top of the hill?"

Takato turned to Henry. "You know about that thing?"

"Yeah, Terriermon overheard some kids talking about it being haunted by evil spirits and talked me into checking it out."

"Well?"

"I don't know about you, but I don't consider rabbits evil...Well, maybe one..." Henry chuckled.

Terriermon hmph'ed and turned his head to the side. "Well, if that's the way you feel, maybe I should find another partner."

"Fine, more of Mom's sugarcookies for me."

"Okay, you talked me into it, I'll stay."

Both Henry and Takato laughed at the small digimon's antics before poking their heads out of the alley to see of the coast was clear.

"The Suits are gone. Come on, let's go see if the park is clear yet." Takato stepped out and walked back towards the nearest park entrance, followed by Guilmon, Henry and Terriermon, who resumed his stuffed animal act.

"Hey, what time is it?" Takato suddenly asked. "I forgot my watch."

"4:32, why?"

"Just wanted to know how much longer I can be out here. I've got to be back in by nine."

"Lucky, I've gotta be back by eight!" Henry groaned.

"Yeah, I'm real lucky." Takato snorted. "Hey, look, no vans." he pointed at the park entrance they were coming up on.

"I guess they did leave." Tamers and digimon went into the park, heading for the secluded hilltop that was home to the mysterious concrete shed.

(Four Hours Later)

It seemed as though Takato had taken his Dad's advice and made a new friend in Henry Wong. It wasn't really surprising when you saw how much they had in common besides being Tamers.

Both were avid gamers, both had strange families, both were into martial arts, and both disliked fighting, though Henry was borderline pacifist, regardless of the situation.

For four hours they'd done nothing but talk about whatever came to mind. School, family, the digimon card game, they even got on the subject of girls, where Terriermon took the opportunity to embarrass his Tamer by shouting out the fact that he had a crush on Jeri. Hell, even Rika had come up. Once again, Terriermon took control of this subject, asking both Takato and Henry if they'd ever date the Digimon Queen.

Takato's answer: "Hell yeah! I find her temper oddly...alluring...Does that make me creepy?"

Henry's answer: "...I value my life just a little too much to risk it like that."

Of course, Terriermon had elaborated on this response with: "In other words: She's not Jeri, so no." which resulted on a blushing Henry, a barely breathing Terriermon, a guffawing Takato, and a confused Guilmon.

The blue-haired youth and his digimon had left for their home a bit over a half an hour ago, and it was about time for Takato to start heading back to his home as well.

"Okay, Guilmon, I should get back before Mom throws a fit. You sure you'll be alright out here by yourself?"

Guilmon nodded happily. "Yeah! I like this place, Takatomon, so many different smells!"

Takato smiled. "Just make sure no one sees you. The last thing we need is for those Suits to come back looking for you because someone ran out of the park screaming about a dragon. So just be careful, alright?"

"I'll be careful, Takatomon, I promise!"

"Well then, I'll see you in the morning, and I'll bring you a crapload of bread! Later, Guilmon!" Takato waved to his digimon as he walked down the stone steps.

"Bye-bye, Takatomon!" Guilmon waved.

"Not a 'mon'!" Takato shouted back.

The red dinosaur giggled and took in his new surroundings. "...This place is too small." he decided and walked to the back of the shed. He took an experimental poke at the concrete to make sure he could get through it and found that his claws could pierce through the tough material without much trouble. Flexing said claws, Guilmon started to dig, clearing away massive amounts of dirt and rock.

(At The Bakery, Twenty Minutes Later)

Takato had booked it back to his home, just making it back just before nine o' clock.

"You're cutting it awfully close, don't you think, son?" Takehiro called from the kitchen, where he sat at the dinner table reading a newspaper while Mie put the finishing touches on dinner.

"But I'm just in time for dinner, right?" it was a rhetorical question, since he could easily smell what his mother was cooking. "Beef stir fry, awesome!" one of his favorite meals.

"Yeah, yeah, just go wash your hands and get ready for dinner." Takehiro chuckled.

Takato ran upstairs after a quick "Hello" to Lillymon, BlackGatomon, and Calumon, who he noticed had a large band-aid on his head. He came back down minutes later in his sleepwear, all but leaping down the stairs.

As soon as he entered the dining area, his mother was quick to notice something was "off" about him. Within seconds, she saw exactly what it was.

"Is there something you forgot to tell us, young man?" Mie asked, now in full-on "Mom Mode".

Takato simply rose an eyebrow, genuinely confused about what she was talking about. Understanding came when she pointed at her own right arm and gave him a look that made him want to confess to things he'd only thought of doing.

"O-Oh, this...I didn't get this done, Mom, it just...appeared the same night Guilmon and LadyDevimon came into our world."

Mie looked at her son for a few seconds, seemingly looking into his very soul to see if he was telling the truth. Eventually, she was satisfied with his answer and turned away from Takato. Takehiro seemed to not care at all. In fact, once his wife turned her back, he gave Takato a quick thumbs-up, then went back to his reading.

Takato breathed a small sigh of relief. He had completely forgotten about the tattoo, but perhaps that was for the best. He might've tried to hide it if he had remembered, and that would've the inevitable reveal a whole lot worse. But with all the things they'd seen in the past few months, Takato's parents had become very understanding of situations like this, and usually didn't make a big deal out of it unless things starting exploding.

"Oh, speaking of Guilmon, where is he?" Mie asked as she set out the plates.

"Oh, he's staying at that old shed in the park."

"The 'haunted' one at the top of the hill?" Takehiro rose an eyebrow, that place always gave him the creeps, even though he didn't believe it was really haunted.

"Yeah, that's the one. I knew he wouldn't like being cooped up in here all the time."

"Aw, well that's too bad, I made extra just for him." Mie held out a rather large bowl full of stir fry, to which Takato sweatdropped.

"Don't worry about it, I can take it to him." BlackGatomon volunteered.

"You know where it is?" Takato cocked his head to the side a bit.

The Champion gave her Tamer a look that said, "What do you think?". "I'd been watching you for a week before I came here, and you've been there twice in that time, so I know exactly where it is. Be back in a second!" she took the bowl from Mie then disappeared with it, returning a minute later, snickering.

"What's so funny?" Takato asked, feeling a bit uneasy at the way she was looking at him while laughing.

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it, it's time to eat!" BlackGatomon took her seat at the table next to Takato.

The teen eyed her suspiciously. "Riiiiight..." 'Screw it, stir fry!' his mind made up, Takato dug in with the rest of the extended family.

(Afternoon The Next Day)

After Takato had completely freaked at what Guilmon had done to the shed, he let Guilmon devour the day-old bread at a terrifying rate before they headed out.

We now find Takato and Guilmon, once again, walking down the street without a care in the world. The young Tamer was really starting to question the intelligence of the general public. He said Guilmon was a guy in a suit, and nobody thought anything about it.

"Seriously, how gullible can people be?" Takato stopped walking when he saw Guilmon suddenly become alert. "What, do you know the answer?" the dinosaur growled and shot off like a bat out of hell. "Hey!" Takato shouted before running off after his digimon.

He eventually caught up to Guilmon, then passed him as they headed into one of the sublevels of a parking garage. "I'm beating you!" when this turned into a competition, Takato didn't know, and Guilmon wasn't paying attention.

"Rika, the prey approaches." Renamon phased into view next to her Tamer as they waited for their next victims to arrive.

"Good. They won't get away this time, now that there's no one to save them." Rika seemed to have forgotten the outcome of their last battle: Renamon on her back and about to eat a fully charged Pyro Sphere.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the digimon that barreled into view first, it was its Tamer, moving at a quite an impressive clip before stopping and panting as his digimon stopped just ahead of him.

"I...win...Now...why...were we...running?" Takato slowed his breathing until it was at the normal rate.

Guilmon just growled and continued to look straight ahead.

"Guilmon?" Takato followed his line of sight and saw Renamon standing across from them, her Tamer leaning on one of the pillars near the bipedal fox. "Ah hell, you again?"

"Can't get anything past you, can I, boy." sneered Rika, as condescending as ever. "Are you ready to fight for real this time? Is your little dinosaur out of diapers yet?"

"Well, I see you've lost whatever brain cells you had before, otherwise you'd remember how our last battle ended. Renamon, do you remember?" Takato grinned as he saw the digimon's fur bristle. "I think you do, so why don't you refresh your Tamer's memory? No? Well then, allow us to provide a little déjà vu. Guilmon, fun time." Takato unclipped his D-Arc from his belt, which was normally hidden by his shirt, and took out a single card. "Digi-modify! Speed, activate!"

Guilmon became a red blur as the card took effect, catching Renamon completely off guard and nailing her in the chest with his glowing right arm.

"Rock Breaker!" the attack send the kitsune flying right into the side of a car, heavily denting the doors and breaking the windows.

"And the first hit of round two goes to Guilmon!" Takato grinned, spinning his D-Arc on his finger just to annoy Rika. "Your move, Sunshine."

Rika glared fiercely, subconsciously hoping to make the opposing Tamer burst into flames. No such luck, so she pulled out a card instead.

"You're getting way too sloppy, Renamon!" she then hissed to Takato, "You're gonna regret that cockiness."

"Right back at'cha, Queenie!"

Rika's eye twitched violently. "No one...calls me that..." she snarled.

"Well, I just did. And now I'm curious to see what you're gonna do about it. Come on, Queen of the Pineapples, I'm givin' ya' a free hit here! Make your move so Guilmon can mop the floor with the Yellow Ranger over there!" Takato looked down and stepped on a roach while grimacing. "And what a dirty floor it is."

Rika was nearly at the point of screaming in frustration, but restrained herself, if barely, in order to give the command to her digimon. "Renamon,-!"

"Walk all over him!" Takato finished, mimicking Rika's voice. Just like the last time he did it, he winced. "Damn, still can't make that sound good!"

This time Rika did scream. "Digi-modify! Garurumon, activate!"

Renamon instantly hopped to her feet and into the air, using her hands to channel the energy for her new attack. "Howling Blaster!" she launched a large beam freezing energy at her foe.

Guilmon didn't bother to dodge and was swept away by the attack and smashed into a pillar.

"Not so cocky now, are you?" Rika smirked, thinking that it was all but won.

Takato simply shrugged. "Nope, just bored." he yawned to punctuate his statement. "I guess it's our turn again. Say, Guilmon, you wanna finish this now, or play around a bit more?"

Guilmon growled and rose to his feet without any trouble whatsoever, seemingly unaffected by the powerful attack.

"I think he still wants to play. Oh well, who am I to make him end his little game? But could we hurry this up? I may not have all that much lined up for today, but just about anything's better than being down here with you freezing up the place with ice attacks and that glacier you call a personality."

Rika was shaking with rage now. This little...Punk dared to insult her? She insulted people, and she was not about to be beaten at her own game, in any sense.

"Renamon..."

"Yes, Rika?"

"...I want you to take him down slowly...Then we're gonna teach this little boy a lesson..." she developed another tick mark when she heard Takato snort.

"What did you have in mind?"

"...I haven't decided yet...It's a tough choice between running him up the flagpole at school by his underwear, or tying him up and leaving him in the bathroom at school nearly naked." mind you she went to an all-girls school, so seeing a boy there was a big deal by itself, but if said boy was hanging from a flagpole or hogtied in a bathroom stall, well...Moving to a different country and changing your name might not be enough to rid yourself of the shame.

Takato recoiled. "Hey, yo, hold up, we just met and you already want to take my clothes off? Jeez, kiss me first, baby!"

"...How about we run him up the flagpole, take pictures, stick them all over his body, then put him in the bathroom?" Renamon suggested. This boy was even getting under her skin!

"I like the way you think, Renamon!" Rika smirked.

Takato just grinned. "Oh, kinky." this was just too much fun!

XXXX

Not much action in this chapter, but I'm trying to give everyone a grasp of the changes I've made to Takato's character, so this chapter was all about him. I won't do this for the other characters, since I haven't changed them that much at all. This is the kind of thing I like to do with my fanfics, I'll change only a few characters and leave everyone else basically the same, then I just think of how they'd act when a certain character did something.

Like what would Henry say of Takato suddenly smashed the window of a car, unlocked the door, then hotwired the thing? What would Terriermon say? What would Rika do if he suddenly did that in the middle of their parking garage battle? I haven't changed them at all, and they're completely in-character. This is just the way I think those characters would react to Takato doing something stupid or completely random.

And I've also revealed that Rika isn't the only Tamer with father issues, though Takato's are decidedly more severe.

Not much else to say, so, as usual, leave any questions you have about the fic in your reviews or PMs.

(1): I'm using American currency because I really don't feel like converting, and it makes everything go faster.

(Edit - 6/13/09: This has been fixed. I was bored and had no inspiration to do anything, so I decided to do some editing for my stories. This includes conversion to proper currency.)

(2): In case you were wondering, Takato is 5' 4", a bit tall for his age, but that actually seems to be the average for 13-15 year old males where I live. Then again, there's the whole Japanese/American height differential to consider...

(3): Takato's biological father and stepfather trained with each other under the same teacher, so Takehiro knows his fighting style well enough to at least teach Takato the basics.

(4): This is actually a basic move in kickboxing, but it's still deadly when you catch the opponent off guard. Main drawback is that it's easily avoided and countered if the opponent can react fast enough.

(5): I worked at a bakery for two months, and trust me, it was loud as hell. You've got shit beeping all the time, people yelling, machines making weird buzzing noises that make you think they'll explode at any second, and the smoke alarms...Don't fucking get me started on the smoke alarms. Someone burns one loaf of bread and you'll be hearing about it for the next half hour.

Well, that's it, so, until next time...

Jason Out!