Takato was almost expecting it to happen, but he was still pretty disappointed that there was no portal in the building once he and Guilmon went in. However, he still remembered exactly how they managed to find the portal the first time, so he turned towards Guilmon.
"Ready to do some digging, Guilmon?"
"Yeah, but how far should I go down? It looks like no one's filled the hole I made last time."
Takato looked over towards where the back wall of the building was, and while it was pretty dark at that end, he did notice the telltale slope of Guilmon's original digging job from a few months ago.
"Maybe just a few feet. I don't think it'll be down any further than that."
Guilmon was admittedly a little unsure with Takato's reasoning, but he nodded and walked over to where the hole originally was, getting to work.
Guilmon was actually digging through the dirt surprisingly fast, so it only took a few minutes before the Digimon called out from his position in the hole.
"Takato, I don't see anything down here!"
"You sure? Here, let me light things up for you!"
Takato quickly walked over to where the hole was, pulling out his phone and activating the flashlight feature.
While it wasn't exactly the most powerful flashlight in the world, it was more than enough for Guilmon, who had enough light to get a better look around him.
Unfortunately, his search still turned up empty, and he looked up towards Takato, shaking his head in disappointment.
Takato himself was admittedly a little disappointed as well, but he figured that it wouldn't have been that easy anyway, so after pulling Guilmon out of the hole (which proved to be a bit of a challenge), the two of them made their way back into the park to give everyone else the bad news.
"So, did you find something?" asked Henry as Takato and Guilmon rejoined the group.
"Nope. Not even a speck of data."
Henry sighed.
"Oh well. At least we tried."
"So, what do we do now, then? Just wait around until the next Deva shows up?" asked Rika, slightly annoyed that they had no way to shut Zhuqiaomon's plan down right then and there.
"That's all we can do, really. Even if someone had the capability of sending us to the Digital World, I doubt that they'd let us." said Takato.
"Man, this sucks!" said Kazu.
"Yeah, I would like to get this whole thing over with sometime soon." commented Kenta.
"Don't worry, we will. We just have to wait for the right moment." said Takato.
The group fell silent for a few moments, unsure of whether just to bring the meeting to a close or not. However, Henry soon spoke up, realizing something important they could do.
"Hey, I know something we can do. Everyone, make sure to keep an eye out for Impmon."
"What? Why Impmon?" asked Rika, confused.
"Well, he was a pretty valuable part of our team the last time."
"Yeah, after he tried to kill us all."
The group fell silent once more as the subject of Impmon's past transgressions was brought up.
"Well, I think he redeemed himself pretty well when we were fighting the D-Reaper. Don't you guys think so?" he asked, looking around at everyone.
Everyone seemed pretty willing to forgive Impmon, except for Rika and Jeri, who were reluctant to do so. However, after a few seconds have passed, the two of them changed their minds and agreed to forgive him.
"Alright, that's settled." said Henry. Before he could actually lay out the plan, though, Takato interrupted.
"I don't think we really need to go out of our way to find Impmon, though. I think, if someone manages to run into him, and then try to talk him into joining the team."
"Isn't he spending time with those two little kids, though? I remember seeing the three of them playing once." said Kazu.
Takato couldn't help but crack a smile at the thought of the notoriously surly Impmon playing around with little kids, but he managed to remain on track with his plan.
"Well, if I know Impmon as well as I do, he'd probably be looking for any excuse to get away from them for a while. That'd probably be our best time to speak to him."
"Alright, fair enough." said Kazu, shrugging.
"Oh, by the way, is Calumon still around? I'm hoping that we don't lose track of him again." said Kenta.
"He was still at my house last time I checked. Calumon seems to be really hitting it off with Palmon." said Jeri.
"Well, that's good news."
Takato, smiling once he heard the news, walked over to where Palmon was and kneeled down as he began talking to him.
"Are you and Calumon getting along well?"
"Oh yeah, we are! It was a little awkward at first, but Calumon seemed more interested in making friends than actually worrying about where I came from."
"That's good. I was a little worried myself, to be honest. Anyway, did Calumon ever try to leave?"
Palmon was noticeably surprised at Takato's question, forcing Takato to quickly explain himself.
"I'm not blaming you for anything, Palmon! I'm just…Calumon has a tendency to roam around the city a lot and not stay in one place for very long. It's really important for us to have Calumon with us, and I don't want him walking off when we really need him. Do you understand?"
After a few seconds thought, Palmon nodded his head to show that he understood, and Takato, smiling, stood up and rejoined Guilmon as Palmon spoke.
"Yeah, the last time I remember seeing Calumon, he was asleep on Jeri's bed. Apparently all that Digivolution must have really tired him out."
"For two days, though? That seems a bit excessive." commented Henry.
"It wasn't for two days straight. Calumon and Palmon did spend a lot of time playing around, as I've said." said Jeri.
Everyone seemed satisfied with Jeri and Palmon's answer, so Henry felt it was probably a good time to move on.
"Okay then, unless someone has some kind of urgent thing to bring up, I think we can bring this meeting to an end."
"What about Ryo, though? Are we just going to let him go on his own way, or are we going to find him and get him to help us out?" asked Rika, although she did look a little reluctant to mention that fact.
"There's not much we can do. I have no idea where he even lives, for starters."
"All we can do is let him do his thing. I'm sure he'll pop up again when we really need him." said Takato.
Even though Rika wasn't very happy with the answer she was given, she remained silent, realizing that both Henry and Takato had a point. Ryo was admittedly one of those loner types.
"Alright, if no one else wants to say anything, I think we should all be heading home anyway. It's getting kind of dark." said Takato.
Everyone else looked around and noticed that it was indeed getting dark out, thanks to the street lights flicking on.
"Wow, I didn't even think we were out here that long." commented Henry.
Everyone soon went their separate ways, all of them being forced to remain on guard for the right moment to strike and end the problem they faced.
As Takato and Guilmon made their way home, Guilmon couldn't help but voice something that he had in the back of his mind for at least a few weeks now.
"Hey Takato? What will happen when we close that hole between my world and yours?"
Takato was admittedly taken aback by Guilmon's question, as he had completely forgotten about that fact after everything that's happened.
As the two of them continued walking, Guilmon watched as Takato remained silent, having no idea of how to answer his partner's question.
"I honestly don't know, boy. I'm hoping that we won't have to lose you guys again, but obviously I can't make those kinds of promises."
Guilmon looked noticeably downtrodden after Takato's blunt assessment, which forced Takato to quickly find a way to cheer the Digimon up.
"Don't worry, Guilmon. I'll make sure to find a way that we can close the breach without having to lose you guys again. I imagine everyone else would be just as eager to help, too."
This still didn't exactly cheer Guilmon up, considering how open-ended Takato's promise was, but his expression did noticeably lighten up somewhat, so Takato took it as a good sign.
Once the two of them finally made it back home, Takato was about to kick off his shoes on to the mat near the door, but before he could actually do so, his mother walked into the hallway, having heard the door open just a few seconds ago.
"Hi, Takato! How was your day?" she asked.
"It was fine, Mom. Is uh…is there something that you need me to do? You're usually busy closing the shop when I get home."
"Yes, actually there is something. I'm sorry to have to send you back out so soon after you got home, but there's another last minute order that needs delivered."
"I'm assuming you want me to go take it over?" asked Takato, waiting for the answer he expected to get.
"If you wouldn't mind. Your father and I have had a really busy day today. We've only just managed to get started on cleaning everything."
"Alright, mom. I'll do it." said Takato, sighing.
"Thank you so much for the help. Here's the order and the address. I should have dinner ready by the time you get back." she said, handing Takato a basket of bread with a slip of paper stuck inside.
Takato was admittedly looking forwards to kicking back and spending some more free time with Guilmon, but he willingly slipped his half-removed shoe back on to his foot. However, just as he took the first step back out of the door, Takato turned back towards his mother; unable to resist making a comment that he had in mind.
"You know, I'm surprised you keep taking these last minute calls, mom. Maybe things would be a little easier if you would change things up with that."
"Oh, I couldn't do that. I'd end up losing valuable customers, and you know how important they are to keeping food on our table."
"Okay, mom. I understand. I'm just throwing it out there."
Takato turned and began making his way back out on to the streets.
"Don't forget to get the money from the customer when you're there, Takato! He's been a notorious late payer!"
"Okay, mom!"
Takato rolled his eyes once he looked away from his mother, knowing that he had no intentions of not collecting the money once he delivered the order. Still, he didn't mind having to be reminded of that fact.
"Ready to go, Guilmon?"
Takato looked over at Guilmon, only to realize that the Digimon had one of the loaves of bread in his paw. Before he could take a bite, though, Takato quickly snatched it out of Guilmon's grip.
"Guilmon! Don't eat the bread! That's for the customer." chided Takato.
"Awww…"
Guilmon looked relatively disappointed at being unable to have some of the bread, but thankfully the Digimon managed to behave himself as Takato began leading the way towards their delivery location.