After Thoughts – Chapter 7


Have you ever been partially asleep, just enough that you can actually see everything, but it doesn't register until you make the leap into full consciousness. When that does happen you know you've been where you are for at least a little while, but how you got there and what you were thinking just a few minutes ago remains a mystery to you. Well if you have then you know what Takato was feeling.

"Mmm…mm? My room… Why am I here again? Let' see, the last thing I remember is GaiOumon's big bright attack, then light, then darkness… It's still pretty dark. What time is it?"

The brown haired Tamer pulled himself upright and glanced over to his drawers. It was late, almost midnight. Suddenly he noticed a few pounds of extra weight on his lap. Jeri slept soundly as she leaned over her best friend's bed. Her voice lightly sighed with every breathe, which caused Takato to smile.

Cute… I guess she must've been worried about me.

Takato paused as he dwelt on that thought for a second. "Don't worry Jeri, I'm not going anywhere, except maybe to the fridge."

The boy chuckled to himself as he lifted up Jeri's head to escape downstairs. More snoring made him jump. It only took him a second to recognize it however, as Guilmon was also sleeping, curled up in the corner of the room with his tail shielding his head.

"Mmm… Takatmon Digivolve too… Breadmon." The saurian mumbled quietly to himself, making his Tamer sweatdrop.

"Gee, talk about a one track mind." The boy grinned again as he stepped out of his room.

Immediately on his right was his parent's room. The door wasn't closed all the way so Takato peeked through the crack. They were out cold. Heck if he didn't know any better the Tamer would swear his dad needed an ambulance the way he was spread out. But anyways, this was good. Now he knew he didn't have to worry about waking his parents since it was doubtful if even something like Vikaralamon could do the job.

The kitchen was kind of merged into the backroom behind the customer area. You only had to turn left once you got to the bottom of the stairs to reach it. The overhead on the oven was also the one light the Matsukis left on day or night so it was pretty easy to find. Takato opened the fridge quietly, only to find there wasn't a whole lot edible inside.

"What? But I thought dad went grocery shopping yesterday. Where did everything go?" Sighing, the gogglehead closed the door, getting a glance at something moving off the appliance's reflective surface. It was moving quick too.

"Metal Ball!"

The Tamer ducked and spun around just as a rock solid orb of steel slammed into the refrigerator.

"Shit, we missed. Must've been luck."

The brown haired boy's eye's widened as he came face to face with another boy in a orange hoody and black jean pants that blended in with the background. He looked a little older than Takato, maybe by a year or two. He had light blonde hair, which was mostly hidden by a two pronged black jesters hat with slanted eyes sewn loosely onto it. The band bit that went around the head had a red and white zig-zag pattern so it looked like the hat was actually trying to eat the boys head. His eyes were light blue and held one of the most apathetic expressions Takato had ever seen. Oddly enough, though, they looked kinda familiar. He also wore a horizontal stripped, shoulder high armband over his right arm. It was black and orange as was the one over his leg. Needless to say he had a very bizarre appearance, kinda looked like he didn't want to let Halloween go.

He had a partner as well. But it was mostly hidden by the shadows. The kid stepped forward holding a knife.

"Guess I'll just do it my way."

"Shoot. Guilmon HELP!"


Takato yelled as he got to his feet. Funny thing is though, he wasn't in the kitchen anymore. He was standing in the middle of class and everyone was staring at him. Kenta stifled a laugh behind him while Kazu, if anything he tried to make himself louder to make sure that Takato would hear him. The lead Tamer glanced around for a moment before he realized that he had fallen asleep in the room suddenly went beat red. Funny how your memories can change in a dream, isn't it. Now all sorts of memories were coming back to him.

It had only been a couple days since the GaiOuMon attack. School was back in session, and Hypnos was up and running, although Riley had been suspended with pay. Apparently she had an issue with one of her superiors. The strange Digital Field had been oddly quiet the last few days and Takato only had minor injuries from the mall explosion. He spent the first day out cold in a hospital, but was well enough to go home the following day. Reconstruction was going well. Oh, and the scene with Jeri, that really happened, everything except being attack by the wonderland fruitcake.

"Uh, Takato. It'd probably be a good idea for you to sit down now." Ryo grinned. Further away Jeri and Ayaka were snickering.

"Uhhh, sorry." The gogglehead sat himself back down sheepishly as Ms. Asagi turned back to the board.

Ayaka sneered. "Don't be, I think that's the most I've seen Kazu pay attention all day."

"Hey, it's not my fault the teacher's about as boring as a curling tournament!" The visor boy shot back, causing Ms. Asagi to turn back once more.

Kenta leaned forward a little bit. "What's curling?"

"Oh it's basically this ice sport with these honking metal paperweights. Well actually, it's not really a sport but they have it in the Olympics anyway. Heck even you could do it."

"Umm, guys." Takato interrupted. The boys turned back to him only to see he was motioning towards the teacher.

"Honestly... If you still have so much to talk about I can only assume it means you have too much free time…" The brunette explained with her arms folded. "…So to solve that I'm giving you a little more homework on pages eighty one and two, and that includes the practice questions."

"Nooooooo!" Kazu screeched, before going limp on his desk.

Jeri giggled. "I think you killed him."

"Good." Ayaka cheered. "Maybe now he'll be quite for more than two seconds.

The teacher barely had time to turn back around before the bell went once more. The kids began stirring from their seats. Ms. Asagi put her hand to her head in a vexed manner.

"Alright class. You have your homework assignments." The teacher announced. Takato smirked remember he was free of such things for a weak. "And remember Takato, you still owe me Saturday's homework."

"What! But I thought… but you said-"

"I said you wouldn't have to do homework for the week. I never said you were excused from the assignments, and the week ended two days ago."

"..." The boy's face went pale as he just stared ahead morbidly.

Kazu just laughed as he swatted his friend on the back. "Ha ha! Dude, she got you good."

Kenta came up behind the boy on his other side. "I think I still have my notes if you want to use them."

Takato nodded, pulling a stack of books from his desk and stuffing them into his backpack. It didn't quite fit… but that wasn't going to stop this young man. He began trying to force everything in as hard as he could. " Grrrr…Thanks Kenta. That'd be… er… great."

"Takato." A sweet sounding voice called out. Jeri made her way over to her friend's desk. And judging by the look in her eyes she was upset about something. "I've been meaning to ask… have you seen Calumon?"

"Hmm? No, but he's probably just out playing somewhere. He'll turn up, he always does."

"…" Jeri lowered her gaze. "…Y-yeah… It's just. He's been gone for almost a week now. I thought he was out playing too at first, but he should've come back by now."

Kazu looked up and tilted his head tiredly. "Hmmm… I bet that new Digital field doesn't help either. Maybe he wandered in there and got lost."

Takato elbowed his friend in the side. "Kazu"

"What? At least I didn't say 'maybe he gotten eaten'. Cuz let's face we, we all know how friendly the wild ones are."

Kazu barely had time to finish his sentence before an eraser pegged him in the forehead. As he bent over to give it up, the loveable Ayaka kneed him in the ribs making him drop. Takato and Kenta both stepped back a little, but Jeri didn't move. She seemed so worried that it didn't look like anything could get her mind off Calumon.

"You idiot! You don't say that right in front of her. You wait till her back is turned like a normal person then discuss it." The pig-tailed girl screeched, making the Tamers sweatdrop. Kazu wasting no time in getting to his feet and starting an argument with her, which was rather stupid since he was wrong and he knew it.

"Ummm, Maybe we should step outside , where it's less noisy." Takato mentioned, guiding Jeri to door. Kenta hung back to keep an eye on Kazu.

Jeri shifted her gaze back to Takato as they left the room. "I was thinking… maybe Guilmon's seen him. Has he said anything to you?"

Takato shifted nervously a bit. Guilmon usually didn't do much except play around in a day but the boy always heard all about it during his visits. And Guilmon hadn't mentioned the cream puff at all. "Uhh, I haven't really asked him… I know! I'll check with him before I go home today, and if nothing turns up, I'll look around for him tomorrow." The boy paused as he began to blush. "And… uhh, if you want… You can join me?"

Jeri nodded as her smile returned. She always looked better when she was smiling. "Thanks Takato. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah it's a date! Er… I mean… it's not a date, uh wait, not that I'd mind or anything if it was, but it's not… Uhhh right?"

Jeri just tilted her head. "Boys are so weird. If you want to call it that then it's a date."

The boy's jaw suddenly dropped and his face went beat red as he slowed to a stop, trying to figure out if Jeri, the girl he had been pining for since around the time his digital adventures began, had really just said what he thought she did. The girl on the other hand, either didn't notice Takato's expression or didn't care. She giggled and kept walking ahead until she was out of sight, leaving the bewildered gogglehead staring out blankly on the front step of the school.

"Smooth Takato. Very smooth." Henry's voice said, seemingly out of nowhere. The half Chinese Tamer appeared leaning against the wall of the school and lifted his hand in a casual wave. "Hey 'Kato."

Ryo was with him as well grinning confidently as usual. "I agree. I guess girls really do go for the whole, 'boy next door' persona."

That made the brunette grin. "You guys… really think she meant it! Err, not that I'm into that sort of thing… Ummm, you aren't going to tell anyone… are you?

Ryo shrugged as he started walking ahead. "Nah, your secret is safe with me. As for the date, well it's not exactly dinner and a movie. All I can say for sure is she definitely seemed a heck of a lot happier after talking to you."

The gogglehead smiled weakly. "Thanks Ryo. What do you think Henry?"

The blue haired tamer sighed. "Well… this isn't exactly my expertise. But when you were in hospital, thanks to the GaiOumon attack, Jeri was easily affected more than the rest of us. Even after the doctor said you were going to be fine she wouldn't leave."

The legendary Tamer just smiled wider. "That's a good sign. Looks like my competition may be out of the game already."

Takato arched a brow, not quite understanding what he was referring too as Henry continued. "You think so? Look, don't quote me on this because I'm not entirely sure it's true. But it seems to me Jeri's feelings towards you are consistently being held back by her fears of losing you." The blue haired boy sighed. "I gotta admit, when I heard you used yourself as a living shield to block a Kamikaze attack I nearly dropped the phone."

Takato stopped walking again. "But… I had too do something. Besides, you know nothing bad is going to happen to me as long as I got you guys watching my back."

"Really? What do you want to bet Jeri thought that same about Leomon…"

There was an uneasy silence after that comment. Ryo didn't really understand what was happening so he kept quiet. After a few moments, Henry realized Takato didn't have anything to say back. Not surprising really, since he was affected deeply too when that happened.

The difference is Takato's stronger than Jeri. He's healed and moved past it where as Jeri still struggles to cope sometimes… She's just had too much misery in her life I guess.

Henry paused as well to look back. "Look Takato. You have to do what you have to do. But it's only natural that we become worried if you get hurt. It's that feeling that keeps us together, keeps us strong. And for what it's worth, I would defiantly have done the same in your shoes."

The gogglehead's goofy smiled returned. "Thank Henry."

"Did you… just come up with that now?" Ryo questioned.

"Yeah, it actually came out a lot better than I thought it would." The blue-haired tamer admitted sheepishly.

"Hey guys!" Kazu called out from behind as he raced to catch up. "Did Jeri already go home? I gotta apologize."

"Kazu, apologizing?" Takato replied to himself. "I never even thought I'd ever even hear those two words in the same sentence."

"Small miracles…" Ryo chuckled.

"Awww man. Quit it. I just realized that what I said was a little over the top."

Kenta smirked jogging up behind his friend. "Yeah and the fact that Ayaka threatened to throw your desk out the window had nothing to do it!"

The visor boy sweatdropped. "I believe her too. She's insane."

"Sounds like you too were made for each other then." Kenta dug in, earning a glare out of his friend.

"Dude, I'm gonna be using you as a desk pretty soon if you don't stop talking." Kazu growled. "Anyway, I really gotta talk to Jeri so I'll see you guys later. Oh and Takato, I hid a little present in your backpack. Same with Ryo. You guys should take a look when you get home." The boy waved before taking off and Takato and Kenta did the same.

"Present?"

The next stop the remainder of the group made was at Guilmon's hut. And just as Takato expected, the red saurian hadn't seen the puffy little In-Training at all. Kazu may have suggested the Digital Field non-seriously, but at this point it was worth considering that perhaps Calumon really did get kidnapped again.

"So, Jeri hasn't seen the little guy in almost a week?" Henry reiterated. "I don't like the way that sounds."

"Me neither." Takato replied. "That's why I'm bringing this up. I told Jeri I'd help her look tomorrow, but in all honesty I think that's about as useful as giving a fork to Guilmon."

"What's a fork?" The lovable Rookie asked, tilting his head.

"It the cutlery that looks almost like a claw." Ryo explained.

"Oh… I know about claws but… What's cutlery?"

The Legendary Tamer smiled to himself. "I'll explain it too you later."

"Back to our topic." Henry butted in. "So it sounds like you want us to help…"

"Yeah."

"…But…" Henry continued. "It sounds like you think Calumon is in the Digital Field…"

"Yeah!"

"…But Yamaki told us to stay away from there so you aren't sure if we can actually do anything."

"Exactly! Man your good at this."

Henry places two fingers under his chin. "Hmmm, we might be getting a bit ahead of ourselves… Do we actually know if Calumon is in the Digital Field? Maybe Renamon's seen him."

Ryo glanced over. "You got a point Henry. We should stop her place and ask her. But assuming the worst, my big issue is if Calumon is in the Digital Field, how the heck are we supposed to find him?"

"Maybe we'll get lucky and end up in the middle of somewhere really flat." Takato suggested, earning a pair of serious looks from the other Tamers, even Kenta in fact. "…Well, you never know with that place."

"As for Yamaki… I got the impression he wanted us to stay out to avoid needless risks. I'm sure he'll understand our situation." Henry stated. "Either way we should contact him as soon as possible. Who knows, maybe Calumon's even shown up on his sensors recently."

"I'll go see Wildcat." Ryo grinned wickedly. "If I hurry, maybe I can see her in her school uniform."

"Actually Ryo… Could you… handle the Digital Field for me?"

"Huh?" The lean brunette folded his arms. "How come?"

"Well…" Henry scratched his head. "It's not that I don't have faith in Takato… It's just, he just got back to school. And besides you're, better with the cards so you're more versatile."

"No Henry, it's all right. Guilmon and I are good to go." The boy smiled.

"Uh-huh!" The dinosaur gave himself a little cheer.

The Legendary Tamer frowned as he put his hands behind his head. "Actually Takato… Henry might be right about this one. Ever time Monodramon Digivolves… Well, Cyberdramon has been itching to go down there and it's been a real pain trying to stop him. This might just be the excuse I needed. Of course, I'll let you make the final decision."

"You… don't want to see Rika?"

"What!" The card champ practically sprung forward. "Of course I do! But… being a Tamer isn't always fun and games. You should know that by now."

"Yeah." The mop-haired boy nodded. "Alright, then Kenta gets to talk to Rika."

"Not even if you dragged me." The smaller child retorted, visibly afraid.

Ryo shook his head. "Nah, I got a better idea. I think Impmon is still nursing his wounds. How would you like to visit him for us, Kenta?"

"How is that any better?"

Ryo shrugged. "Okay, I guess it isn't really. I just thought that, you know, if you did this favor for me then I'd kinda be indebted to you... I'd owe you one."

"…"

Well, you could barely hold Kenta back from rushing the gates to Guilmon's shack. He was moving so fast in fact he left a smoke trial. Not only was he apparently doing a 'huge' favor for Ryo, but rubbing Kazu's face in it the next day was going to be sweat. And as the only one left, Takato went along his was shortly thereafter to see Rika. Ryo was heading for the gate as well when Henry came up beside him and gave him a nudge.

"Honestly Ryo, I'm impressed."

"…?" The Legendary Tamer gave Henry an odd glance.

Henry just smiled. "You always talk about being a Tamer as something that just sort of happened to you, like you couldn't care less about it sometimes. Today was the first time I heard you talk about it like it was a responsibility."

"Oh, that." Ryo replied. "It's no big deal. When you've been a Tamer as long as I have, you do start to care less about when a Gigadramon starts taking pot shots at your head. But don't think for a second I don't know what I've gotten myself into. Heck, even with the D-Reaper I still probably know better than you the responsibility that comes with a partner."

Henry arched a brow. "You think so? Well, anyway, if you let others see that, you might be better respected. Even with Rika."

"Hmmm… Sounds like a hassle. Then again, for Rika it might be worth it."

Henry nodded. "And… Thanks for backing me up with Takato."

Again, Ryo answered casually. "Yeah, about that. Cyberdramon really does want to go down there, but I think our fearless leader would've been fine."

"…Huh?"

"Look, he may be your friend but I don't think he needs you babying him. He's gotta be one of the strongest kids I've ever met. And the more I find out about him, the stronger he seems."

"Ryo…" Henry echoed softly. "You… might be right."

"Then again, I might be wrong. Alright, this is my turn. Take care Henry and I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe if I finish early we can meet up to do our homework together."

Meanwhile, at Rika's house. The infamous redhead had just arrived home a few minutes ago and was thankful to get out of the cold wind. Not that the weather was particularly bad though, just starchy skirts didn't offer much in the way of protection.

Rika B-lined for her room to get changed. She could hear her grandmother in the living room chatting happily and would join her in a moment. Renamon phased into view as well, and glanced over to her Tamer.

"Evening Rika. How was your day?"

"The usual." The girl responded. "A waste of six hours of my life. Yours?"

"Nothing new as far as the Digital Field or any wild ones." The vulpine Digimon paused. "But I thought you might like to know Takato was able to attend school today. It seems he is doing much better, as does his partner."

The female grinned as she finished getting changed and making sure her hair was still held back. "Not surprising. Those two are like blow up clowns, you hit'em and they bounce back up. You pay them a visit yet?"

"Not yet. I thought we might see them together. After all, when they were in the hospital you didn't even send a card."

Rika frowned. "Yeah well, nothing says 'Best Wishes' like a thirty yen piece of cardboard." The girl glanced back as she slid the door to her room open. "I'll drop by his place later to check up on him. But I don't think needs me to hold his hand every time he does something incredibly stupid like jump in the middle of an explosion…" The girl sighed as she pictured the event in her head "…Stupid Gogglehead."

Besides, he has Jeri for that.

Renamon turned away slightly as she pondered Rika's comment for a moment. "…You may be right about that."

Rika breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped down the hallway. Finally she could relax for a few minutes… or at least that what she thought. The moment she entered the living room the Pre-Tamer hopped off his chair and tackled her legs. He was wearing some bizarre new clothes that Rumiko had picked up. One bonus about being a model: freebies on clothes of all kinds. A lesser child may have fallen over, but Rika just stepped back to regain her balance.

"Hi big sis. Did you have fun at school?"

"Of course not." The girl replied casually before pushing the young man off of her a bit. "What about you? Did you have fun with Grandma?"

Takato nodded goofily before grabbing the girl's hand and dragging over to the table to a bunch of pictures. Most of them were just scribbles on paper, but there were one or two doodles that caught her eye, as well as portrait quality picture of herself from the waist up done in blue pencil crayon.

"Wow…" Rika mouthed to herself.

"Yeah, granny did that one." Takato explained, with just a hint of envy in his voice. "She's really good."

"How come you never told me you were an artist?"

Seiko smiled warmly as she picked her cup of tea of the table and held it too her chest. "You remember what your mother told you about being like you when she was young?"

Rika nodded.

"Well. Back then there was only so much to do in a day. Rumiko took care of herself, your grandfather was off fighting in the war, and the house wasn't very big… I needed something to do to fill up the gaps of boredom in my life."

"Couldn't you just gossip with the other women."

"I could… but they weren't quite the brightest bulbs on the tree. I found working with my hands to be much more satisfying. Sewing, drawing, cooking… I became quite self sufficient." The older woman trailed off nostalgically as she took a sip from her cup. "Oh dear… It's gotten cold."

Rika smiled. "Wow, so maybe I got it from you then?"

"Yes, I suppose you did, although your mother was no slouch either. More feminine perhaps, but when she was your age most the boys in our neighborhood were afraid of her."

"Mom?" Rika arched a brow. "I've never heard you mention that before."

"Well, it's nice to talk about now. But back then it wasn't so funny. Our family was threatening to disown her if she didn't straighten out her attitude."

"That ought to do it." Rika grinned.

Seiko just smiled to herself. "You wish. That's about the time she moved in with her father, just to spite us. But this isn't really something I want to talk about right now. What I did want to mention is that it looks like Takato could use some new clothes, real ones this time instead of the clown outfits your mother picks up. Would you mind taking him to the mall?"

Rika sweatdropped as she pointed to herself, disbelievingly. "Eh? Me?" The girl's grandmother nodded quietly. "I'm… not so sure that's a good idea. I'm not that good with kids, I don't like shopping, and I've already made Takato cry about ten times since he got here already."

"No I didn't!" The six year old shouted. "It was only five times."

"Close enough." Rika folded her arms. "Why can't you do it."

"Please dear, I'm going to have to start dinner in shortly. So unless you can cook…"

"Alright, I got it." The red-head sighed.

"If you're really worried about it, you could invite one of your friends to go with you. No need for you to suffer by yourself."

Hmmm. Not a bad idea. Rika thought, glancing towards the phone. Well, Renamon suggested I give Takato a call, why not now. Besides, who knows his tastes better than himself.

As the girl got up to dial the number she had barely punched in the first digit before someone rapped on the door. Sighing, Rika palmed the device and went to answer it. The young one raced past her and began jamming his feet into his shoes as the female Tamer slid the door.

"Hi Rika." Takato beamed happily as he stood in doorway, completely oblivious to why his younger self was putting his shoes on. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Rika just glanced at him blankly before turning down to the phone in her hand. "Impressive…"

"Huh?"

Rika nodded as she stepped back to grab her own shoes. "You're actually on time for once, Gogglehead."

"I am?"

The girl nodded again. "Yeah. Unfortunately I need to head out right now. But you can tag along if you want. I doubt your paying me a visit was a just a social call."

"Uh- Yeah. I know I should do that more often but…" The gogglehead trailed off. "Err, anyway, sounds like a plan. So… where are we going?"

Rika smirked. "The mall, apparently you need some new clothes."

"Wha…?"


Meanwhile, in the ender ground tunnel below Shinjuku, Ryo casually strolled up to a white empty space and whistled, clearly impressed. Monodramon seemed to echo his thoughts as he glanced around the unfamiliar area.

"Wow! Did a Digimon fight here recently?"

Ryo followed his partners gaze to a spatter of small holes engraved into the sides of the tunnel. There was also a series of small pieces of metal nearby. The boy walked over and picked one up. "What the?" The Tamer arched a brow. "This isn't a Digimon attack, these are bullet holes. Was the army around here, I wonder?"

Ryo studied the metal fragment for a moment. The one he was holding was crushed, but there were a few still in reasonably good condition. They were long and narrow, all the same type. Probably armor piercing, but Mr. Akiyama wasn't really an expert on guns.

"Hey Ryo, check this one out."

Doing as his partner asked, Ryo walked over to where his partner was and took a look a large steel orb. Upon further examination there was a good two or three more embedded into the walls. Now this was confusing. The smaller ammunition looked mid-nineteenth century, but a cannon ball? And furthermore, weren't cannonballs supposed to be iron. This one was too shiny. It had to be steal or silver or something.

"I don't really get it." Ryo mumbled. "But Yamaki is going to want to hear about this."

Monodramon blinked happily at his partner. "Are we hading back now, then?"

"Heh. Since when have I ever done things halfway. We're heading into the Digital Field. Even if we can't find Calumon we can at least figure out what it looks like now."

Smiling, Ryo stepped into the Digital Field. The next thing he knew, he was in what looked like a country town, standing in the middle of an old dirt road. There weren't any cell phones to speak of, and most of the adults passing by were wearing old fashioned robes or rags. Of course, there was the odd business man. There was also a girl sitting against one of the houses. Quite lovely, despite her poor state.

She had shoulder length, matted, auburn hair. And wore a pink Kimono which was actually beginning to turn brown because of how dirty it had become. Her face was also smudged with dirt. She looked homeless. Her eyes were closed and she was a little too thin, like she missed one to many meals. Honestly, she looked half dead, but no one was bothering to help.

"Geez." Ryo sighed. "She's not even real, but it stills feels like I should do something. Ah! Excuse me!"

Turning on a dime the Legendary Tamer ran up to the first person he saw. Another young girl in a school uniform, but it didn't look anything like Rika's. It had… pants… The boy stared at it for a moment before the girl grabbed him by the hair and force him to look her in the eyes.

"Pardon me young man. But I'm in a hurry. And It's rude to stare, you know."

"Eh, sorry." The Tamer smiled in spite of himself. "I was actually just wondering, do you have any food I can have?"

The girl frowned. "You're an odd one. Do you always go up to people you don't know and beg for provisions."

"Only if I don't have any on me, and I'd hardly call this begging."

"Fine, if you insist. But you're going to hard time getting anything with that attitude. In case you've forgotten we're losing."

"Huh?"

Ryo didn't have time to press the question as an alarm sounded, startling the girl and causing her to run full throttle in the direction she originally intended. Ryo covered his ears as the sound was really irritating. But, it was a little familiar as if he'd heard before in a movie or a TV show. That's when it clicked. The boy suddenly figured out where he was, but he still needed to confirm it. Without wasting another second he began scaling the building next to him and, with a little aid from Monodramon, reached the top in a few seconds. Sadly his suspicions were confirmed though. His mouth hung open as he took in the dozens of grouped black shadows piercing through the mid-day haze.

"What're those, some kind of Digimon? They look pretty big." Monodramon smiled.

Ryo shook his head, still in awe at the sight in front of him. He looked…like he wasn't exactly sure what to do for once. "Sorry Monodramon… but those are far worse than any Digimon…"

Ryo took out his Digivice wondering he should attack or not. There were a few things he needed to consider, but he didn't have the time… Already the shadow of the enemy had blocked off the sun. It would only be a few seconds before the attack began. The Tamer clenched first as he glanced over his should to the girl still leaning up against the house he was standing on. She was probably so exhausted she didn't even notice the buzzer blasting in her ear.

"…They're… human…"


Preview


Digital or not, Ryo isn't sure what to do when he finds he may have to fighttheAmerican bombers and jets.Will he stand tall and take the path of a true warrior, or will he be smart enough to realize what a completely useless battle it truely is...

Meanwhile, in the Real World Riley's none to happy about losing her job. And Takato get's to meet a few of Rika's 'Charming' classmates at the mall.

AN: Replies to reviews will go up on my profile within a few days. This is to comply with the new rules set forth by Have a nice day.