Digimon Tamers Zero Two

by MasterCaedus

Tasuke, or Taj, was raised by his 'Uncle' Henry Wong, ever since his parents left when he was very young. In that time, Taj has come to hate his parents and anything related to them. Especially Digimon, the fictional creatures his parents had loved when they were around. But when he gets a real Digimon, Taj must fight Digi-agents of other countries for a chance to find his parents.

32. Devimon's Due:Kidnapped & Dognapped!

AN: Hey everyone. Sorry it's been a while. I've been busy with school. I also got a new puppy, so that's... exhausting. Great dog, though. Love her.

Anyways, time for some responses:

To Guest: Oh, yeah. Destroying a candy shop sounds like Digimon in general, especially Guilmon. But BlackGuilmon? He couldn't even want to stop himself. As for Cadetmon... Artificial Tamers are weird. It probably won't come up, but the way I have it mapped out is that Tamers created by governments lack the ability to BioMerge Digivolve, though they can reach Mega eventually. I think the potential Mega form I have set up is... Cannondramon.

To Jacquelinemueller53: Just a bad joke about Takato being late all the time. I thought 'Foot in Mouth' syndrome fit Kazu pretty well.

To Old style: Yeah, Taj and Henry leaving off on a bad note is an issue. As for Henry and Jeri, it just made sense. No friendship can survive endless pressure, and they've just grown too far apart in their goals. And Henry did expect Gethen, to an extent. But he got a little... lax. Ten years of him hating Digimon made him think he was safe, and he let up a bit. Still, you're right. He should've stayed paranoid. There is technically a UN organization. I think I mentioned it once in a throwaway line. But since the UN is... well, let's be real, in the real world it's completely useless at anything useful, so the UN division is pretty neutered. No country sends their best. Or second best. It's more like their worst. And the UN is basically hog tied by China right now, so it's even more useless. Not that anyone else is doing any better.

To reddevil47: I'm glad you liked the Davis and Taj fight. What's a Digidestined team without a good fist-fight? I guess for the Tamers we can count Rika trying to murder everybody, though. She tried pretty hard, after all.

Well, I hope you guys enjoy, and I hope to see you all soon!

Episode 32: Devimon's Due: Kidnapped and Dognapped!

I shivered and shoved my hands into my pockets, glaring at the ground and trying to turtle into my coat to keep warm. We'd been in DC for a few days now, and our last full day was our free day. Which meant we'd spent the entire week getting more and more tense; I swear, Gethen had to have made sure it happened this late just to make sure our entire trip sucked. "How long until they get here?" I grumbled. "I'm cold and bored."

"Shouldn't be much longer," Davis told me. He looped his hands in with May's to keep warm. Ugh, now I was third wheeling it, too? I wonder if this is how Henry felt around my parents way back when. I grumbled and picked up BG, ignoring his protests to use him as a hand warmer. The fire burning in his body was just hot enough to keep my fingers from hurting and I sighed, content. He sighed, annoyed.

"I bet he's laughing and watching right now," May pointed out, nodding her head towards a camera on the street.

"Well... Probably," Davis agreed, offering a grimace in reply.

I groaned and leaned down, placing my forehead on top of BG's head. "Hey!" he growled.

"Can't talk. Cold."

"I'll bite you."

"Try me."

BG just grumbled. "Knew it," I mumbled.

"A Dummy and his Jerkmon," Dorimon giggled at us, and our heads both snapped towards her, eyes narrowed. She grinned and giggled at us before prancing over to her partner.

"They're here," Davis said before me and BG could hunt Dorimon down. We looked up to where he was pointing, and saw a long limousine rolling down the street towards the curb. My gut began to bubble with a ton of emotions. We were walking into the lion's den. We were scared, we were worried, we were excited. We were enraged. Gethen was going to pick a fight with us soon. Our lives had been... puppeteered by this asshole for months. Longer, for some of us, I remembered. I couldn't imagine how Davis must have been feeling.

Everyone stayed still, watching the car park. No one wanted to break the last few moments of lying to ourselves, hiding from the fact that after today we were going to war. I pushed myself up before the others, and their eyes drifted away from one another and towards me. "Well, we aren't getting any closer to figuring this all out," I grumbled

"He's right," Davis admitted sadly. He stood up, hand slipping from May's.

"I know," May agreed quietly. She stood up as well, Dorimon hopping into her arms.

BG huffed and forced his way out of my arms. "Then let's go!" he whined, anxious to end our wait. So he and I walked towards the limo, our friends right beside us.

When we entered the limo, I was slightly surprised to find it was a luxury limo. A small cooler of drinks and an emptied whiskey set in the corner. The seats were black leather, turning around the perimeter of the cabin with a small table in the center. I pushed my way in and slid to the side, letting BG bound in after me. He, Dorimon, and the newly revealed Huckmon of course were in the cooler before we even found our seats, tearing into the crackers and snacks that I was hoping the three would refuse at the very least because we had no idea what Gethen put in them. But – Digimon stomachs.

The three of us eventually settled in, Davis shutting the door as he sat next to May and grabbed her hand again. The limo thrummed alive again, and... I don't know. It felt like the tension just got thicker and thicker. The Digimon even began to get... anxious. Their chewing slowed and their eyes turned towards us. Even BG was getting stiff. I could hear my heart in my ears and every second became somewhere between infinity and instantaneous. May held her hand out to me and smiled. I smiled back and grabbed on, then – after a moment of hesitating - offered my other hand to Davis. He stared at it, hesitating, too, and then grabbed on. The tension lessened a little, and even more when our Digimon joined in by laying beside us. The six of us sat like that the entire rest of the drive, right up until the limo slowed to a stop and our door was opened by a man who fit the definition of non-descript to a 't.' The last letter of it, in fact. He stared at us from behind pitch black sunglasses and nodded his head to the side for us to exit and follow.

The complex was... massive. We must have passed into open land somewhere in Maryland or Virginia in our ride, because there's nowhere else that would make sense. Digimon were flying around above us, rookies and champions accompanying their partners across fields. Some were training and fighting, listening to older soldiers and Digimon explaining things to them. It looked like everyone had their own Davis, though I think I preferred our Drill Sergeant to the one shouting down a dozen recruits and their Digimon doing push ups until they vomited. At least Davis didn't scream at us. "What a waste of food," BG muttered.

"Really?"

"I'm hungry!"

"Really?"

I shook my head and continued following our guide. "There are a lot of Digimon following us," BG mumbled after a couple seconds of relative silence.

Davis, May, and I turned around and saw a whole load of nothing. "You can't see 'em," Huckmon explained. "You didn't think I was the only Digimon who could hide out, did you?"

"Wait, are you saying I could do it!?" Dorimon gasped.

"Your mouth is too big to be that quiet. And that's coming from me," BG retorted with a scoff.

I let out a derisive snort and earned an angry glare from May's Digimon. I coughed and shook my head. "Any – uh – any idea what they are?"

"Some of them are Dokunemon. They're capable of turning almost invisible," our guide explained.

"And a weird one. Smells like that Digmon thing," BG grumbled with a distasteful groan.

I wracked my brain for a moment. Smelled weird like Digmon, that meant Armor Digimon. And if I had to guess... "Shurimon! It's a ninja."

The guide raised his eyebrow. "That's... correct." I tried not to grin, but I liked being right.

We made our way into the main building, watching a Birdramon fly over as we did. "He's really pulling out all the stops." Davis frowned and shook his head at me and May's bewildered look. "This is all a big act. A show of force designed to wow us."

"It's working. I want to fly right now..." Dorimon grumbled, flexing her back and trying to summon her Dorugamon wings. It didn't work. I glanced over at BG trying to grow his rockets from BlackWarGrowlmon.

"You guys are dumb," Huckmon mocked.

"Says the guy who can't fly."

"..."

"Are you that jealous?" Davis asked his partner when the silence dragged on longer.

We never had a chance to find out, as our guide ushered us into an elevator that dropped. I swear, my feet began to float off the ground and my stomach flipped from the feeling of zero gravity! I mean, it was insane! We were five, ten, twenty stories underground in the blink of an eye! The door dinged and I stumbled with our sudden stop, catching the railing. Then the others tumbled into me and we hit the ground in a heap, right in front of the open doors.

"Please stand up. We're almost there," our guide intoned, exiting with a single step over us, even if he did sway side to side for a second. Our Digimon bounced across the small hill of our spines. We glared at them walking away, then pushed ourselves up one at a time and followed.

Our guide wasn't lying when he said we were almost there. We walked around the corner from the elevator, hooked a left, and walked another fifteen feet to the end of the hallway. Ornate, mahogany doors – the guy had freaking mahogany doors in a steel structure hundreds of feet below ground – waited for us. Our guide pulled them open and let us in to a waiting room, with another large pair of mahogany doors on the other side. A trio of large, comfortable chairs surrounded a table that had three large...

"He wasn't kidding about the care packages!?" BG shouted in excitement. He charged forward, leaping onto the large table and burying his face in the cinnamon flavored pastries and candy that waited for him.

The guide nodded at a man sitting at a desk in the opposite corner. The other man piped up, "The Director will be with you shortly. Please sit and wait." And then, our guide shut the door behind us and we knew we'd probably never see him again.

"At least our Digimon are smart enough to not -" May began smugly, but I pointed right at the baskets where the other two Digimon were inhaling their candy given to us by a psychotic madman.

"Yeah..." Davis muttered with a grimace. "Those were never going to survive. We should probably just sit down."

We moved over and plopped down, sinking into what might have been the most comfortable chairs in the universe. "Wow..." I groaned, shutting my eyes and leaning back. "I – No! No, this – No." I surged to my feet. "Not happening. No."

"It's just a chair..." May mumbled, sleeping in hers already.

Davis looked more uncomfortable in his. "Well..."

Gethen's doors opened into his office, the man pulling them open standing with a grin as he looked at all of us. His blonde hair was draped without a single loose hair, and his deep, crimson suit was crisp over a deep black shirt and red tie. He played with a bright, diamond encrusted watch and he chuckled. "Finally! It's been too long since we have spoken in person, hasn't it?" He didn't wait for us to answer before closing the doors behind him. "Now, how about a tour?"

He clapped his hands and led us out of the room, not even stopping to check if we were behind him. "Oh, this is going to be... great," I grumbled before following with a cinnamon dusted BG at my heels, and the others right behind.

"So, why did you call us here?" May asked bluntly. Her eyes widened and she grimaced. "Er, Sir?"

"Simply put, it seemed time for six, highly valued agents to have a tour of our headquarters. We have expanded in the past four years, and you should see all the... materials at our disposal," Gethen replied without turning around, the last bit coming out like a very obvious threat.

"And what do we have at our disposal?" I wondered dryly. "Seems like we could have used whatever it is when we were getting attacked by HYPNOS or Krampusmon."

"Of course, but it would seem that you had little need for that aid, either?" Gethen pointed out. He continued leading us down the hallways in silence for a moment, taking a couple turns and leading us down a single flight of stairs. "And in retrospect, would you have had me deny you that opportunity. You are certainly much greater than you might have been had your relied solely on my aid. Would your partnership have survived, Davis and Huckmon?"

Huckmon's claws dug into the ground. "We'd always find a way out," he said resolutely.

"Indeed," Gethen muttered. He chuckled and led us up to a door, pulling it open and entering without holding it open for us.

I lunged forward to catch the edge and yank it open, glaring at the red suit walking ahead of us. "Thanks for holding the door," I muttered under my breath while the others passed ahead.

When I entered and let the door shut behind us, I realized why we'd been led to this place. The room was small, but incredibly focused. On a small table a short distance away was a trio of devices. "Here, I think you will enjoy this the most, Agent Joryawa," the Director said. He walked up to the table and grabbed a small box, picking it up. He pulled back on the top, and it unfolded in his hands, turning it into an upgraded version of my own nonlethal crossbow. He turned on a dime as a paper target dropped down a few dozen yards away, firing three shots faster than mine ever could right into the chest more accurate than mine could.

I couldn't help myself. I rushed forward and grabbed it from his offering hands. I put it down on the table and began looking over it, folding and unfolding it a half dozen times. "These materials... this stuff is lighter and stronger than anything I could use! W-what is it!?"

"Digizoid. An amount this small won't do much to stronger Digimon, but it fires more accurately and faster than any human world metal. You could easily defeat a rookie with a shot from one, and break any bone in a human body," Gethen explained. He gestured at the target and smiled like a snake. "Go ahead. Try it."

Against my better judgment, I did. I raised the crossbow and fired, shooting a trio of bolts dead center into the target. More accurate was... an understatement. I folded it up again, staring at what anyone would think was a portable phone battery. "And with the Digizoid, it can pass through metal detectors completely undetected. Not that it would matter if you needed to use it on a plane. Any Digimon that can get that high would probably just kill you."

He chuckled at his own observation and moved to the next device. "This one was developed using the special nature of the Nursery, and can only be created in a Digital Demi-Plane. Observe." He picked up a small black box and placed it on the table, then pressed a button on the top and stepped backwards. The box slid open, and a small swarm of something began to swirl out. "The design has to be preprogrammed, but just watch what it can do with a little... direction." The swarm began to swirl and climb upwards, stacking and melding together.

"You built nanites?!" I asked as the tiny robots finished their construction of a small, BlackWarGrowlmon shaped statue. I picked up the statue without thinking, hoping to see if I could find any seams where the nanites still were separate. The mass was solid. Permanent.

"With Digital metal, you would be surprised the feats of engineering we could pull off," he explained, then gestured with his head at the third item.

I glanced over, then cautiously put the statue down and walked over. "Digizoid has conductivity and storage potential far beyond any human metal, when treated correctly," Gethen explained when I reached the simple battery laid out. It was no bigger than my Digivice. "This small battery can contain enough power to run a city block for years, and deteriorates at a rate far slower than any other battery. D-CARD's operatives aren't just soldiers, Agent Joryawa. The majority of our funding goes to this. To creating things no human could ever conceive of without Digimon by their side."

I stared at the battery. This thing... it had the potential to change the world in a way that... nothing else I had ever imagined could. "I'd be more than happy to have you work with our engineers and physicists delving into the secrets of this world and the Digital one. Loyalty deserves rewards." My blood ran cold and I had to fight not to just drop the battery. Loyalty. Dammit, I'd let myself get suckered into it!

But I wasn't going to show our hand just yet. There's a time and a place, and this... wasn't it. "That sounds amazing," I admitted, trying to sound as excited as I'd been just a few moments before. I turned around. "That's... that's more than I'd ever thought possible. This could change the entire world."

"You will change the world," the Director said with a knowing smile. He glanced down at his wrist. "Ah, we should continue. Feel free to keep the updated TJ-02, it is your design, after all. We don't want to fall behind. There's much we have left to do." And before we could ask, we were off once again, pulled into the rocket-like elevator and blasting upward with my new crossbow packed into my bag.

It was easier to keep my footing that time, and we were allowed to wobble out with our sense of balance off kilter instead. "How long does it take to get used to that?" I groaned, clutching at my stomach.

"Get used to what?" Gethen and the Digimon asked, turning towards us with slightly confused looks.

"... Never mind," May grumbled. She jostled past me, nearly knocking me over, and we followed Gethen back outside.

He slowed down slightly and grabbed Davis' shoulder, pulling him up beside him. "Tell me, Agent Estevez, how is your mother?"

Davis, having the most experience with bald faced lying, didn't even flinch. "She's fine, thank you, Sir," he responded. He paused for a half beat. "It's been interesting adjusting to the altitude."

"I've heard some people have trouble with that," Gethen noted. He chuckled. "Well, I'm glad to see it has done little to slow you down. You've outperformed even my expectations, between training these two, keeping them alive, and defeating a Mega."

"It was a team effort," Davis responded. He glanced over at May. "I couldn't have done it without May." Then he sighed and looked at me. "Or even Tasuke."

"I feel so appreciated," I grumbled while May and Dorimon laughed under their breath at me.

"Well, then you must have done something right in their training. Students can only grow so quickly if their teachers are excellent," Gethen expounded, singing Davis' praises.

"Thank you, Sir," Davis muttered graciously.

Gethen smiled and led us to a door. "So, what would you say to a more permanent training position?" he suggested, pushing the door open and leading us in. "Digidestined continue to appear, and I would gladly move them to Colorado so you can stay put and keep track of them. Your success so far is quite the good sign." He walked over to one wall and the lights shut off, and the wall turned into a screen. Data began to appear on screen, the man gesturing at information. "The number of Digidestined is expected to grow significantly in the next few years." He pointed at a graph with an upward trend. "And with our upcoming efforts to help those in other nations escape to America in exchange for sanctuary, our numbers could grow even faster. The rumors coming out of China are that many of the Digidestined are quite young, forced to become Digidestined for the government. It makes for excellent reason for some of their parents to defect."

The screen changed to a few headshots. Young kids, people older than us, even a couple our age, each with a different flag at the bottom right of the image. "And with the growth of Digidestined and Tamer technology being sold to cartels, we'll need the allies. With the experience you have, you are more valuable as a teacher than risked on the front line. The same with moving your mother so much – it places you both in so much danger."

The screen changed to a mock up, a building replacing our warehouse. "A school, all for you, Agent Estevez. A place where all three of you could work and enjoy your futures and teach new Tamers and Digidestined to become more. To survive the enemies hunting them down. Would you not enjoy such a position? Saving lives rather than being forced to take them?"

The lights came on and Gethen was at the door. "But we should move on."

May and Dorimon followed him out after casting a look at Davis. He smiled and nodded her on, but I waited for a moment. "He's pretty good at this," I noted when Davis walked by.

"Henry did say it was a deal with the Devil," Davis noted. He glanced over at the shut off screen and bit his cheek. "Temptation like this is... He knows me better than I know me, Tasuke. Is that how you feel about him?"

"Everyone knows more about me than I do, Davis. Or at least, my past. We know who we are, though, better than anyone does," I told him.

"Ahem!"

We turned towards BG and Huckmon. "Oh, I guess we know ourselves better than anybody but you guys."

"There you go," Huckmon said. He nodded at us. "Let's go. Can't let the Devil know we're lagging, right?"

"Heh... Yeah," Davis said. He looked at the screen one more time, then forced himself away and out of the building. Gethen was smiling and waiting for us as we left.

"We have two more stops," Gethen noted as we got close. He turned and gestured for us to follow, then turned and began walking with his quick, loud movements. We passed agents who carefully saluted him and let us pass, weird looks in their eyes the entire time. It looked like we weren't the only ones afraid of him – or the only ones the Devil was good at tempting. We kept our eyes off of them as we followed, right into a separate building from the main one.

"For here, we'll only be making a quick visit, if you don't mind, Agent Anderson," Gethen told May as we neared the door. "But I want to show you what you will be working on, soon." He pushed the door open and led us in. "There are twenty stories of this, by the way." May barely heard him. The entire room was filled, wall to wall, with massive stacks of computation storage. "The data we have on the Digital World, the programming languages invented by the Digital beings, and so much more. We have barely begun to figure it all out, as Henry has no desire to help us. Currently we only have three floors filled, since our ability to study the Digital World is limited by the Firewall. But it appears there is so much more data to analyze, so much more information to understand. In a world of data, what is a computer, hm?"

May placed her hands close to one of the stacks. "They're cool..." she muttered in disbelief.

"Yes. We have multiple Frigimon we use for cooling. Keeps everything going much more smoothly," Gethen explained with a small smile. "This could perhaps become D-CARD's most important location."

He walked up to stand beside May and Dorimon. "Entire programming languages unknown to humanity. What could we do with those?"

May pulled open the side of the stack and looked inside, marveling at the hardware within and letting out a string of technobabble I didn't understand. Whatever it was, she was interested, just as much as Davis and I had been when he'd been tempting us. I clenched my fists and forced myself to keep watching and listening. Right up until the door opened. "Director?"

We all turned to the newcomer, a tall, dark skinned man in a button up and tie. He flinched when he saw us and blinked. "Oh, I didn't know you were still with your guests, Sir," he said, taking a half step back. "Hello, I'm Andre Miller. I'm an analyst here." He noticed our Digimon and his eyes widened in realization. "And you must be the famous Digidestined we all hear so much about."

Realizing our usual friendly face was still over in the stacks of data storage, I knew I had to be the one to talk. "Yeah, that's us. It's, uh, nice to meet you." I held my hand out to shake and cocked my head to the side in confustion. "Wait, where's your Digimon?"

Andre laughed. "Ah, no. I don't have one," he explained. "It's pretty expensive to Tame a Digimon, and there's no reason for me to have one. I'm no field operative."

"What is the problem, Analyst Miller?" Gethen wondered after a moment.

Miller stopped looking at us with a jerk. "Right, sorry, Sir. Um... What about these six?"

"You may speak," the Director said. He smiled at us. "They're loyal, aren't they?"

Andre Miller nodded slowly. "Um, well... We've been tracking the Chinese organization as you ordered, Sir. They're making a few concerning moves that have our team worried. I have the full report here for the later briefing."

"Anything urgent?"

"They're dangerously close to breaking the veil of secrecy, Sir. A protest in Beijing was put down by a BlackGreymon, they're incorporating mind control Digimon on the remaining Uighurs, and let loose a wild one in a remote town to hunt down a dissident hiding there."

"Hm... Well then, leave the report with my assistant. I'll read through it before the briefing," he replied. Gethen nodded. "The Digidestined and I have one last stop to make."

Andre looked at us one last time. It kind of looked like he wanted to say something, but... "Yes, Sir." And with that, he left.

"We have one more stop, and then we'll supply you with food and you can head back. We wouldn't want your teachers to get too worried, after all." The Director clapped his hands. "One last stop."

He lead us one last time, back down to his office. We took it slow, watching the various Digimon following us as obviously as possible. The agents keeping an eye on us. Cameras, soldiers. Stalking us with all the subtlety of BG's stomach when he's hungry. But once we were inside, lead through the hallways and past everyone again, we were taken into the elevator. I braced myself this time and when we dropped at full speed, I was able to keep standing and was able to hold my throw up down in my stomach this time. May and Davis groaned a little with me, barely still standing and with our stomachs in our lungs. As unflappable as ever, the Director and our Digimon didn't even need to take a break to steady themselves before rushing down the hall, and we were all lead slowly back to Gethen's office.

"Sir, there's a dossier I left on your desk," the assistant piped up in the corner when we entered.

Gethen waved in his direction, barely listening, and brought us into his office. "I hope you don't mind the clutter. I've recently moved from the first floor – updated security protocols dictated I should be in this... bunker," he said distastefully. "But, that's fine. Fewer people bothering me with pointless problems."

None of us were sure what 'clutter' he was talking about; place was clean as hell. I mean, there were a couple folders on the table, closed. Otherwise, his large, wooden desk, his two uncomfortable looking reception seats sitting opposite his own large, comfortable swivel chair. There were a few interesting odds and ends set up carefully on a large bookshelf. An old Digivice like Henry's or that Watanabe guy's, this one white with a silvery ring and a large crack across the screen. A first edition of Paradise Lost book rested in a prominent place on a shelf, a well kept sword below it. All this stuff looked expensive, and rare.

"Now, what did all of you think? The things ahead of you – you will all do great things," Gethen said as he approached the left side of his desk. He turned around and leaned his hip against it, crossing his arms and smiling at us.

"It gave us a lot to think about," May admitted quietly. "We and our Digimon would be safe and sound."

"With all kinds of new toys to keep us busy," I tacked on. "Dreams.'

"And don't forget: your parents would be protected, as well. All of your parents," Gethen noted, making sure I understood what he meant about my parents and Henry.

"We know. What we already have... it's been more than generous," Davis admitted for us after a moment. "You're the only reason I'm here alive. Taj, too."

"Debts that go back very far," Gethen pointed out.

"How about you stop beating around the Veggiemon?" BG finally grumbled, only to shrink under the glare that Gethen gave him. The air got a bit heavier and I could feel my heart thumping at full speed in my toes.

The sunny disposition returned before we could begin backing away. "Well, perhaps you're right," Gethen said. He straightened up and pulled on his lapels, straightening his jacket. "We've spent plenty of time talking, and I much prefer action." He walked behind his desk and placed his outstretched fingers on it. "I want you to fulfill your end of the deal, the deal we all made not so long ago." The pressure came back, different this time. Encouraging. Pushing us. With everything he'd promised us... he was dangerous. He raised his hands up above his head, held wide. "Now, take down the Firewall and open the gates to the Digital World."

The air rushed out of the room. Sound was gone. It was hard to breathe. I could see the others struggling with their answer. Everything he'd promised us, the threats he'd made, and even his personality. It was like we were trying to push back against a mountain weighing down on us. I was struggling with it. The chance to meet my parents, to protect Henry, to learn and work at the forefront of an entirely new branch of physics with my best friends. I wanted it so... so badly.

"No." My eyes widened. That... that was my voice. I'd said it first. Everyone else even turned to look at me, surprised. Everyone except, of course, Gethen. He looked like he'd expected this. Expected us to say no, and especially for me to say no. "I... no. We won't do it."

"Oh, I know that," Gethen said, letting out a light chuckle. He reached under the edge of his desk and pressed a button.

Davis' voice echoed out from around the room. "Smith found out that... he wants to do something terrible with Tasuke and BG. The 'Boss.' He's working with Digimon that are evil, May. Given that even the nice Digimon from the old shows are pretty nasty in real life, I don't even want to know what these guys could be like. I looked up the name she gave me: Reapmon. If it's anything like the wiki says, this guy is one of the most evil Digimon out there. He works for the Demon Lord Digimon."

"So we're working for the bad guy?" May asked. "But... Does that mean Taj's parents are even in the Digital World?"

"May, I don't know. But I'm starting to wonder if-"

"Don't – Don't say it. It would crush him if we told him what we're thinking... So, Smith must be alive, then. After everything she told you..."

"She's alive."

The recording cut out, leaving a silent, smirking Gethen across his desk. "You three really did not take to your spy lessons. Not all of them, at least," he remarked. He stood up from his desk. "If the enemy is watching you, of course your boss is. Your Digivices are good for much more than turning your partners into weapons of mass destruction, and you really couldn't put two and two together? They're cellphones! Recording devices!"

"You've heard -"

"Every stupid little teenage thought you've let slip out of your mouths," Gethen interjected, more disappointed than angry when he spoke. "Every treasonous and stupid decision, every argument, every quiet moment. Humans talk far too much to themselves, I've found."

May snarled, "What do you want!?"

"Nothing," Gethen noted. He chuckled. "You can go home."

"What?" All six of us asked at once.

"You're just... letting us go?" Huckmon asked, voice lacking any sort of trust.

"Of course. Holding you here won't change anything," Gethen said. "Oh, there will be consequences, but you know that. As I've said, I've heard all of your conversations, after all."

"But why?" Davis growled tensely.

"You six are bound to drop the Firewall. It's the endpoint on your journey, a singularity that you have traveled towards at the speed of light since the moment that greater forces chose you for that duty," he stated. He turned away from us, clearly dismissing us. "It is your destiny, and if there is one thing that you Digidestined can't avoid... it is following your destiny."

X X X

All of us were silent as the bus slowly pulled up to the school's parking lot. The sky was gray, with snow drifting down outside. "Okay everybody!" Our teacher shouted as the bus turned and lurched to a stop. "Your parents should be outside. If they're running late, we'll be opening the front doors and keeping an eye on you. You are not allowed outside of the front room of the school, you are not -"

We let her words drift out of focus, the six of us – wherever the hell Huckmon was, we knew he was there with us – were silent, just letting our group anxiety and misery wash over us. We let everyone else stand up and begin to march out of the bus, the teacher counting our heads for the eightieth time to make sure she had all of us. We all looked at one another, and then May and I picked up our Digimon, and we and Davis filed out with the others.

"We'll meet up tomorrow, KayKay?" May supplied as she saw her dad waving her down. May looked... so relieved. Her family was safe.

"Yeah," Davis agreed.

"We've got a lot to talk about," I tacked on.

May waved and rushed off after grabbing her bag, slamming into her dad for a tight hug that nearly knocked him over.

"Hey – good job." I turned and raised an eyebrow at Davis. He sighed, "I... I might not have said no if you didn't."

"No. You would've, Davis."

"Maybe," he grumbled. He shouldered his bag. "Mom's here. See you tomorrow."

The other kids filtered out one by one. The teachers led me and some of the others inside. The rest disappeared. Minutes turned into an hour turned into two. Henry... Henry still hadn't shown up. But someone else did.

I looked up when the shoes stopped in front of me. "Teachers on a bathroom break?" I wondered aloud.

"We're here to pick you up, Tasuke."

I looked up, eyes tracing towards the eyes of Jennifer Smith and the small, green Cadetmon on her shoulder. Her hair was longer now, a short, forward sweeping bob that hid her features from easy view at certain angles. Seeing her sent my gut into knots. She'd tried to kill me and my partner, and now she was our friend. But it was worse than that, even. Henry wasn't there, but she was. The world got blurry and I shut my eyes tight. "He got Henry."

Smith didn't say anything for a while. "Yes. We've hidden it as best as we can, for now. In case there's anything he left for you, but it's only a matter of time."

I opened my eyes and saw her staring at the ground. "What happened? I thought... I thought he'd be safe! How come -" I stopped myself. I wasn't going to be angry that Davis' and May's families were safe, I wasn't going to be jealous to the point I'd act like that was a bad thing.

"I – We were able to keep your friends' families safe. He only sent a champion after each of them. I kept Davis' mother safe myself, and someone I got to help me out was keeping Mayumi's family safe. But the person that we set up for your home... We set up cameras and recordings outside the house and we've pieced together what happened."

I frowned and glared at my tightly clenched fists. "Reapmon."

Cadetmon nodded. "Yeah. He killed the team we sent to keep him safe," Cadetmon explained. "We lost friends, but Reapmon -"

"Is an Ultimate. And not the kind Davis would even be comfortable fighting," I agreed. I could feel my nails digging into my palms, now. Bleeding, just a bit.

"Taj..." BG muttered from inside his crate.

"Then tell me everything!" I snapped, surging to my feet. "Everything."

Cadetmon's mouth became a thin, pained line. "Okay," Smith agreed. "Everything."

X X X

Henry woke up too quickly, disoriented and surprised. Momentai was barking loudly, sprinting all around to try and find out where the noise – an explosion – had come from. Henry surged to his feet as another explosion rang out, then sprinted to the window to peek through. Outside, Reapmon was holding an Angemon by its face and slamming it into the a crater at the center of the cul de sac over and over again, the angelic Digimon's wings broken and bent at odd angles, his partner nowhere to be seen. Henry gasped; some of the other houses were on fire or destroyed, cars burning and broken nearby. "What the hell..?" he whispered. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and rushed out of the room. He wasn't going to escape, that much was obvious. An Ultimate taking down a Champion outside of his home – Reapmon was here for him. But he had things he needed to do.

He sprinted down the stairs, hoping – for once – that Reapmon was going to be unnecessarily cruel so he could have a few more seconds. He tore into the basement and began to yank his Digivice free of his computer, slapping the case back on. He opened a drawer, pulling up the false bottom, and tossed the D-Arc in, then moved to lock down his computer. "Tasuke, please figure this out..." he grumbled as the screen shut down. He sprinted up the stairs, nearly tripping over Momentai on his way through the door. He slammed the door shut behind him and ran up the stairs.

He was only halfway up when the front door was torn off its hinges, slamming into the couch and sending splinters of wood everywhere. "Hello, Tamer."

Henry stopped on instinct and cast a glance over his shoulder, seeing Reapmon surrounded by bright blue data he was Loading. One of the Digimon's feet entered through the door, and he was suddenly at the feet of the stairs.

Momentai began to bark and screech at Reapmon, leaping up to nip at his heels. Reapmon snarled and glared at the small dog, picking it up and snarling as it continued to shriek at his face. "I don't have time for this... thing," he grumbled. He sighed and kept his grip on the dog, marching up the stairs where Henry had continued to run. "You left your dog behind, Tamer!"

"No, I didn't." Reapmon turned the corner, and was greeted by a large, mettalic slug slamming into his gut. He snarled as the bullet crunched against his midsection and hit the ground, leaving behind a small trail of smoke from where its force had instantly been lost against Reapmon's gut. Henry stood with a shotgun in his hands, standing at the end of the short hallway. "Drop my dog and leave."

Reapmon narrowed his eyes and dropped the animal, who was whining and howling about the loud noise. It cowered as the gun shot again, slug doing little to its target as it fired again and again, right up until the last slug was fired and a comparatively quiet click came out instead. "Are we done playing?" Reapmon snarled, now looming above his quarry.

Henry glared up at the Digimon, no fear in his eyes. "I don't live up to the Chaos?" Reapmon asked.

"You aren't here to hurt me," Henry noted.

Reapmon sighed. "Close." Then his hand lashed out and wrapped around Henry's neck, lifting and slamming the human into the hallway wall. "I'm not here to kill you."

Henry gurgled in surprise and – finally – there was some of that fear in his eyes. "Where is your Digivice?" Reapmon growled.

Henry gasped and struggled against the grip. "Where!?" Reapmon repeated. The barking resumed, and the tiny, weak teeth began to dig at his feet. He turned to the small creature, snarling up at him and trying to reach its master.

Reapmon's eyes shut. "I understand loyalty, little creature," he admitted quietly. Then his eyes opened, full of quiet anger, and he lashed out with his free hand to grab the dog tight, squeezing until it began to whine and screech in pain. "Now, Tamer, tell me where your Digivice is!"

"I – ech – Gave it – away -" Henry lied through his teeth, thinking fast to save Momentai. "H-Hidden!"

"By whom?" Reapmon growled, grip tightening on the dog and drawing out a higher pitched squeal.

"I... I..." Henry stuttered. He opened his mouth, then shut it. The blood-oxygen wasn't moving to his brain, restricted as it was by Reapmon's grip. He couldn't think, he couldn't... He couldn't... His vision began to tunnel.

Reapmon snarled and abruptly loosened his grip on the dog. "It doesn't matter. Your son will bring it exactly where it needs to be. My master knows that much," he grumbled with a careful look at the dog. Henry's vision blacked out completely. "... I will bring your beast, at least. No reason for you to be alone, Tamer."

Reapmon pulled Henry over one shoulder and gingerly carried the whimpering dog in his other hand. "Now, let us prepare the way for the Digital World to return, Tamer," Reapmon said. He moved towards the front door, then stopped when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A small, shiny bag with another of these tiny 'dog' beasts emblazoned on the front. "Hm.' he reached out, pulling the bag in with the dog. He looked around, then leaned in and gave it a sniff. He sneered at the dry, unappetizing scent. "I am unsure why you would eat this, Loyal Beast. It smells horrible."

He stopped at the door and pulled out one of his talismans, inscribing it and then placing it on the doorframe. "See you in the Digital World, Partner."

X X X

"He took your dog?" Dorimon gasped. She bounced up onto a crate of footballs in the school's athletics building we'd broken into for a few minutes of privacy.

I blinked once. "Y-yeah? I mean, it's terrible, but Reapmon also killed a half dozen people and a Digimon, and kidnapped Henry," I pointed out. "I love Momentai, but... well, I'm more worried about Henry?"

"And, hey, better than finding the fuzzball kicked through the wall," BG pointed out.

We all balked at him. "What? It is!" he protested angrily.

"Well, at least we know you care," Dorimon remarked, getting a growl for it from BG.

"Maybe we should focus a bit?" Huckmon suggested, quieting down the smaller Digimon with a look.

I clenched my fists and watched them for a few moments, then turned away from everyone. "Guys... I know we made our decision. I know we said we wouldn't go..."

"Taj..." May muttered.

I cut her off. "May, Davis – I have to do this. It isn't about – about hating my parents." I shook my head and shoved my hands into my jacket pockets just to find something to do with them other than slamming them into the wall. "This is Henry. I need to save him."

"I'm in," May said.

Dorimon chuckled. "As if we'd do anything else," she exclaimed. "We saved you from Veemon, we saved you from Reapmon. You'd be dead without us around!"

I smiled at them. "Thanks, guys." I turned to Davis next. "I won't get angry if you say no. I know you have to keep your mom safe."

He stared me down, hand creeping up to the cross dangling from his neck. "Tasuke... I don't know."

"What does that mean!?" Huckmon asked, surprised. "Davis, I know we said we wouldn't bring down the Firewall, but – I mean, he'll take May's family or your mom next. We had a chance to keep everyone safe, and we lost it."

"I said I don't know, Huckmon!" Davis snapped. He looked at the ground and shook his head, frustrated. "Tasuke – Taj... There's more at risk than Henry. Than our families. The whole world! Everyone's parents. Everyone's kids! I know you guys love Henry, but he's just one man!"

I glared at him. "I know. But he's my dad. I'm not saying all of that doesn't matter to me, but... this matters more." I laughed. "Maybe that makes me a bad guy, but I'm not letting anybody hurt my family or friends. We head into the Digital World, and we take down whatever Reapmon and Gethen are after then get the hell out of Dodge."

"How do you know he wouldn't just kill Henry?"

BG growled and cut in, "He left a note."

"What?" Huckmon interjected. "Who did? A what!?"

"A note!" I echoed. "Reapmon left a note. He said Henry would be waiting for us in the Digital World."

"So going is what he wants?! Then this is an even worse idea!" Davis snapped. "It's a trap."

"I have to help him!" I screamed, causing everyone to stumble backwards. "I... The last time we talked, I... The last two times we talked, I blew him off. I was mean. I was angry. And now my dad is gone. I'm sorry about yelling, but... I'm helping him. Even if it is a trap."

"I think we have to spring it, Davis," May whispered. "I told Taj a long time ago I wasn't going to let any of my family die. And that includes Henry."

Davis looked between us, struggling to find some way to counter us. "I..." He growled and turned away, pulling open the door. "I don't know." He slammed the door shut behind him, running away.

Huckmon stared at the door sadly. "I, uh, better keep an eye on him," he muttered, giving us both a quick nod, then vanished.

May walked over and patted my shoulder. "He'll come around, Taj. I know it."

I shook my head. "I won't blame him if he doesn't," I replied with a shrug. "Greater good, right?"

X X X

"Mi hijo," Davis' mother began. She stopped collecting her purse and keys, turning to the table where her son was staring blankly into the middle distance. "What is wrong?"

Davis turned towards her, biting his cheek. How could he tell her any of this? "I'm fine, Mom," Davis lied instead. He turned back to the table to wrestle with his problem. "Just go on. You don't want to wait for an hour for confession, right?"

His mother sighed and moved over, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Davis... come on. Talk with me." She smiled down at him. "Come on, what's wrong?"

"Mom..." Davis muttered, pushing her hand off. "Come on, I'm fine."

His mother gave him an incredibly annoyed glare as she stood up straight. "Mi hijo..." she said, voice low.

"Mom, really, I'm fine!" Davis lied again.

"Fine, if you won't talk to me, maybe you will at least come to confession? It's been years. Maybe it would feel better," she said. She grabbed Davis' arm and pulled him out of his chair. "Come on, up up up. You still wear your cross, so we're heading out together."

"M-Mom, wait, I -" He began, but he was already being dragged out of the door, his Digivice left behind at home.

One drive and thirty minutes of waiting later, he was in the confessional. Why did I let myself get dragged here? He wondered inwardly. Because he had let himself. He'd wanted to come. After all the people he'd killed – even if it was in self defense – he felt like he needed absolution. And now with this, he needed to know... what is the right thing to do?

"Ahem," the priest said from the other side of the thick, cloth sheet between them.

"Ach!" Davis exclaimed. He hurriedly knelt down and clasped his hands. "Um..."

"Forgive me Father..."

"R-right! F-Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been... erm... Five years since my last confession."

Davis glanced down. "I've done a lot, but first... I'm struggling with something."

"What's wrong?"

"I... work for the government. So I just want to make sure I've got this right – you can't talk about anything I say, right?" Davis asked, worried about more secrets getting out.

"Nothing," the priest confirmed. "But the government? You sound young for that kind of job."

Davis didn't respond to that. Instead: "Look, I have a friend I work with. Our boss, he's... doing something terrible. H's kidnapped my friend's dad. And he's going to come after my family, too." He paused, then: "Should I help rescue my friend's dad? It'll risk my family. It'll risk so many more families."

"Hm..." the priest muttered. "A difficult question." There was quiet. "Well, in Matthew and Luke, Jesus tells the parable of a shepherd. He leaves his flock of ninety-nine sheep to save a single lost sheep. He risks everything to save a single person – and this is meant to be Jesus. We should emulate that decision, I feel. You cannot control for every change, but do you believe you can help rescue this man? Can you help someone in front of you?"

"... Yeah."

"Hm..." the Priest began. "Then I believe I've just given you advice you already believed, then?"

"... Yeah," Davis admitted with a small laugh. He rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, th-thanks."

"Now... what Sins do you have to confess?"

"... We'll be here for a while..."

X X X

My head shot up as I threw down my Omnimon Alter-S card, finishing my Digivolution and wiping out May's side of the field, taking down her DoruGreymon and winning the card game. "What?! Again!?" I'd been beating her all night. Staying over at her place was a must – I couldn't sleep in my house. A ClockMon may have fixed up the house and cul de sac, but there was too much. People died, and now I was alone.

And then the reason I'd looked up walked in. "Davis! What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised we'd see him just a day after our last... conversation.

He glanced between me and May. "I'm in."

"Really?" I asked, surging to my feet.

May got up and hugged him tight, happy to see him... and be out of her losing streak.. "What changed your mind?" she asked, letting him back off.

"Its the right thing to do. We save everyone, and we start with Henry," Davis explained. He shrugged. "I can't let someone die when I have the chance to help."

"Davis, thanks. I -"

He cut me off. "But there are some ground rules. First off: we tell our parents everything. Even if it's just leaving a note on the day of," Davis said. He shook his head. "Actually, let's only go with a note on the day of. Forgiveness is easier than permission, right?"

"Eh..." May began, a little uncomfortable already.

"Hey, your mom at least already knows about Digimon," I supplied with a grin.

"Great, I can start a huge fight if Dad doesn't know yet," she shot back dryly.

"And that brings us up to part two," Davis said. "We need more than just Jen here. Ideally someone with a Digimon on par with ours."

"Which means I need to get in touch with Suze," I finished. I slapped my forehead. "Why didn't I think of that!"

"Cause I'm the tactical one," Davis said. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Look, Reapmon could come after my mom, or May's entire family while we're in the Digital World – however the hell long that'll be. We need someone else here keeping an eye on things."

"I'm not scared!"

We froze and slowly turned towards the door. "... Dan?" May asked, shaking angrily. "Are you eavesdropping on us!?"

"... No?"

She stomped over to the door and yanked it open before pulling her brother in. "What the heck are you doing!?" she snapped, slamming the door shut behind her little brother.

"What? BlackGigimon and Dorimon are asleep now! I was bored!" he whined.

I groaned. "Some babysitters."

"I wanna go! I'm gonna be a Digidestined, too!" Dan exclaimed. He jumped up on the bed. "We'll Digivolve and beat all the bad guys, right?"

We all fell quiet. "... Look, Dan..." May began.

"No, I'm going!" Dan snapped. "I'm going, I'm going, I'm going!" He began to throw a tantrum on the bed.

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Dan... We actually have a super special job for you!" I exclaimed. Dan stopped and turned to me, eyes wide.

"That worked?" May whispered to Davis behind me.

"I guess?"

"Dan," I said, cutting them off. "Look. You're right. You could be Digidestined. Which means we need you to stay here. If you get your Digimon after we open the Digital World, you'll need to keep your family safe for us, right? You'll help Aunt Suze keep the family safe like a big hero?"

Dan bit his cheek. "But... I wanna go..." he grumbled sadly.

"You're our hero, right? Like... like when the Digidestined had to go to a bunch of countries to save everybody, right?" I pointed out carefully. "You want to be like the other Digidestined, right?"

Dan's eyes were like the size of plates by this point. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" he shouted, excited.

"Then keep your family safe. Right?"

"Okay, Taj!" he shouted, jumping out to hug me. I let out an 'oof' and took a step back. "I'll help out!"

"Great. Thanks, Dan. I'll... Uh... You want a Digimon card?"

"Rasenmon! He's got big drills!"

Great. I have one – duh – but I could sell that for two grand. It's the purple anniversary reprint... "O... kay," I muttered, pain running down my gut. Oh, I didn't want to give that one up. The kid changes favorite Digimon every five seconds, so why couldn't he like an easier to find one right now? "I think I have one..." A small but painful sacrifice to save Henry.

"And with that... let's meet at BG's park tomorrow. We're going to save Henry, and hopefully the world," May said. She pumped her fist. "We'll do it, KayKay?"

X X X

Jeez, Henry, going after a Digimon with a shotgun? And I thought Rika was Queen CrazyPants. Come on, I know I'm not around anymore, but you gotta run to make it hard for 'em, even if you gotta save a dog. Though, it didn't exactly sound like that Reapmon guy was gonna hurt the dog. Wish the Devas had been big softies like that! Other than Lopmon, I mean. She's all flopsy, the softy.

Hm... Usually Henry would be telling me to be quiet by now. Oof, Momentai, Terriermon, he'll be with future me in the Digital World soon. Maybe then Takato and Rika won't be completely aimless. They're lost without me and Henry together telling them where to go! Guilmon only thinks with his stomach, Takato doesn't think, and Rika and Renamon only think of getting angry at me for being honest! Sheesh, I hope they don't have it out for me on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!