I don't want to jinx myself or disappoint anyone prematurely, but you should know that this is the last chapter I'll have out before the next school semester starts. I don't know what my schedule will be like in the long run—because my work schedule varies—but the first week, at least, is looking pretty busy. But I'll try to find a block of free time that's at least a little consistent.

Thank you for reviewing the last chapter: Fruitloop Trooper, Guest, dnofsunshine, Berry Doyle, and Omnicrom XR! And, Guest, I think I can officially say that I've introduced all the characters who are going to be included. (With the exception of the original Digidestined the new kids haven't found yet.) So no. I only ever planned to include the main trio of Tamers and none of the minor or Tri characters.

Chapter Nineteen: Suspicion

"Where to go from here…" Kari murmured, walking slowly away from Henry's apartment building.

"Back home?" Gatomon suggested from her backpack. "I think it's about time for dinner."

Kari laughed softly. "Not really what I meant, but you're right." She sighed. "You know what's crazy? There are so many things to look into and people to track down… but who I really want to get in touch with is TK. He's rushing into all this, putting himself in danger, but I doubt he knows even half of what he's up against. But he does know his way around the Digiworld, and we could use all the help we can get right now."

She could feel the ring on Gatomon's tail flick thoughtfully against her back, a dull thud to clear her thoughts. "But TK's always come back before, right? We might just have to wait until he returns."

Kari sighed. There was really nothing else they could do. She made the trek up the stairs to her own apartment building, turned her key in the lock, and jumped at the sound of a badly stifled scream from further inside.

"Kari!" Her mother shot up from the table. "Oh, thank god."

"See, I told you there was nothing to worry about," said her father from where he remained seated at the kitchen table. But his voice was weak, and she could tell from here that his hands were clasped so tightly together specifically to keep them from trembling.

"What's going on?" she asked, alarmed.

Her parents' expressions were both haunted, worse than she'd seen them in a long time. Shakily, her mother sank back down into her seat. "The Inoues called here about an hour ago. If Yolei doesn't come home by tomorrow morning, they're going to report her missing to the police."

She felt a shard of ice forming in her stomach. She had a sinking feeling that her parents were shaken up by more than this situation hitting close to home.

"Kari…" her father said, sounding hesitant. "Yolei's mother said that you told her she stayed over here last night." He cleared his throat. "We, um, we checked in on you before we left. We know she wasn't here with you."

"Kari," her mother cut back in, "do you know where Yolei is?"

If it was physically possible for her heart to seep out through the soles of her shoes, it would have by now. She didn't have a good excuse… And it wasn't like she could tell them the whole truth—she wasn't sure she even knew the whole truth herself. But she didn't think she could lie to her parents either, not with their eyes already looking so heartbroken.

"I have a pretty good idea," she admitted slowly. "But I can't tell you."

There were about three seconds of absolute silence… And then it all came crashing down.

"What?" Her mother's first word was a breathy whisper. Her next were growing increasingly shrill and emotional. "Do you hear what you're saying, Kari? You know exactly what her parents are going through right now!"

She saw her dad put a restraining hand on her mother's shoulder, but it was hesitant. And he was still looking at her like she was a stranger.

"She's with a friend," Kari blurted out, beyond caring how deep a hole she dug for herself. "Please tell her parents that she's going to be okay. And she's coming back. I don't know when… Probably not tomorrow. But she will be back."

I'm going to make sure of it, she swore silently.

"I'm sorry," she said in conclusion, before turning to run back out the front door, leaving her parents' shouts and accusatory stares behind her.

"What now, Kari?" Gatomon asked, stretching up to rest more on her shoulder than in her backpack.

"I don't know," she got out around the lump in her throat. "But we've got to do something. Tonight."

…

Henry thought he was going to lose his mind, waiting for his dad to come home that night. He'd occupied Suzi with a game of Princess Terriermon, ignoring his partner's betrayed look, until their mom got home… only to realize that he now had nothing to do but wait. He retreated to his room to fill in Terriermon, keeping an ear out for the front door all the while.

But he made it through dinner and gave his father a little time to settle in before he approached him that night. Janyu was sitting in the den, going over reports but seeming very relaxed. On the other side of the room, Rinchei was outlining an essay. In this household, Henry figured this was about as good as he was going to get without drawing attention to himself by asking for a private meeting.

He slid onto the couch next to him as casually as he could. "Hey, Dad, about your Digimon project… what was the story again?"

Janyu blinked in surprise for a second before smiling fondly. "Well, the basis was of a group of kids brought together by fate to work with a creature designed specifically for them. A creature that could level up and grow more powerful as the kids themselves grew. When we were really ambitious, we considered giving each character their own storyline for the player to work through. And then all nine would come together to fight the last battle."

"Nine?" Henry asked, perking up a little. "I thought there were ten heroes."

"Well, not exactly. There were ten Chosen Ones. The twist was that the final villain at the end was meant to be a part of their team all along, but his powers and connection had been corrupted."

Henry could feel a light bulb flickering to life in the back of his mind. Hadn't Kari's partner said something about another human invading the Digital World? "And this tenth kid… What was he doing, exactly?"

Janyu laughed a little sheepishly. "Oh, you know, generic villain stuff. Slowly taking over the land and filling it with darkness. He would capture and infect Digimon that the heroes would have to fight. I guess the whole thing could have used a little more creativity, in hindsight. We thought we were so clever at the time, creating a computer game about a digital world…"

Henry smiled. "They call that being 'meta' these days…"

"I'll keep that in mind. Why the sudden interest, anyway?"

"Oh, I was just looking through some new game releases…" he hedged awkwardly. "Do you think Digimon will ever come back? Like, as a finished game?"

Janyu smiled a little sadly, nostalgic. "Honestly, I doubt it. What we had when we left off was a pretty rough sketch—nothing impressive enough to secure adequate funding, anyway. And all the Monster Makers are scattered around the globe these days… It was quite the undertaking at the time, though. I still credit Digimon as the project that shaped my career. It changed the way I approach my work…"

"That's really cool, Dad," Henry said, trying to stand up inconspicuously. He could sense a tangent incoming. "If I think of anything else, I'll let you know, okay?"

He say Rinchei trying to hide a smirk as he made his exit, but his mind was already racing. He hurried back to his room, rifling through the folders on his desk to find where he'd stashed the papers with his new friends' phone numbers. This 'Digimon Emperor' Gatomon had described had presented himself as the big threat they were all up against, but really it was the AI they needed to outsmart. This Emperor wasn't some big villain they needed to bring down. He was another kid they needed to somehow convince to work with them.

He finally found the paper he was looking for—that Cody had insisted they all fill out before going their separate ways. Henry was immensely grateful to him. His own thoughts had been too full for him to even consider that they all have a way to get back in touch. He was beginning to think that, though he was the youngest, Cody might also be the most levelheaded of them all. So Henry would start with him.

…

"Wow…" Izzy's voice was barely a whisper. He and Tentomon stood in the doorway, hesitant to step inside. After leaving Cody, he had holed up in one of Vademon's storerooms—where he'd found his laptop tucked away, to his great relief—and gotten to work, hacking into the very fabric of the Digital World. He'd managed it once before—before all this business with the crests and an elusive Digimon Emperor—the first time he'd gotten his partner to Digivolve.

If Cody's information was correct, Gennai was a central system to the Digiworld, capable of being tracked down through his ones and zeroes. Izzy had ultimately been able to specify coordinates for his code, which had led them to this little cottage in some forgotten valley of the Digital World. Except… it looked like someone else had beaten them to it.

The front door hadn't been closed properly, and the floor inside was strewn with trash. Gennai's cottage had been ransacked, but by who? Izzy's and Tentomon's eyes met, and they slowly crossed the threshold. Neither one of them made a sound, Tentomon hovering above the floor, Izzy placing his steps very carefully. There was a shuffling noise coming from the last room, and they made their way to the back of the house.

Perched on an equally messy desk in front of a clunky old computer was a green bug-like Digimon. It didn't seem to notice them. Its eyes were locked to the screen before it. Normally, Izzy would have come up with a plan, carefully debated whether he wanted to approach this Digimon or not. But the sight on the screen shocked a gasp out of him.

The little bug didn't seem concerned by the intrusion, though. He turned his head just enough the see them through the tears in his eyes. Tentomon's suspicion faded in favor of concern, but Izzy's eyes remained locked on the screen. Across it ran a news report that was most certainly from the real world. Izzy couldn't remember the last time he'd seen this many humans—human adults—in one place, even if it was just a married couple and a reporter. He tried to focus in on what they were saying.

"It has now been 48 hours since local child prodigy and athlete Ken Ichijouji disappeared from his home in Highton View Terrace. There was no evidence of a break in and have been no sightings since Ken was reported missing. Authorities urge anyone with information on Ken Ichijouji's whereabouts to come forward."

A second later, an image of the missing boy was superimposed on the screen underneath the number for the local tip hotline. Izzy thought Ken looked familiar… And then a chill crept through his stomach when he realized where he recognized that face. Spike up that hair, add a pair of dark glasses, twist that smile a little sinisterly…

"Tentomon! That boy…"

"Hmm?" His partner turned his attention to the screen as well and, though they'd only come face to face with Ken a few times, he soon saw the same things in that face that Izzy had. And let out a sharp squeak. "Oh my!"

Izzy reappraised the Digimon they'd found. "Are you working for the Digimon Emperor?"

A crackle of electricity sparked in the air in front of Tentomon, but the other Digimon did not seem wary of an incoming attack. He still appeared too despondent to care about his own wellbeing. At last, he answered sadly, "We were supposed to work together. As partners."

The other two boy faltered. Izzy pieced together slowly, "When you say partners, you mean like… Chosen partners? Are you trying to tell me the Digimon Emperor is a Digidestined? Or… was meant to be?"

Wormmon sighed. He finally turned himself around to face them. "It's a little more complicated than that…"

…

Davis had seemed, simply, shocked when Kari appeared in person at his apartment that evening. But she was a little desperate and, as she'd known he would, Davis hadn't hesitated to go along with whatever she'd wanted once she'd told him she needed his help. Now they were on their way to Cody's home, figuring they'd better involved the brains of this operation before they made any further plans.

"Hey, I'm cool with going to see Cody," Davis said, struggling to keep up with her for once, "but why right now? Instead of, like, tomorrow, once we've all had some sleep? Did something happen?"

When had Davis started making so much sense? She sighed and slowed her steps—just a little. "Yolei's parents are getting ready to report her missing. And my parents already suspect I know something. If we don't get this Digital mess sorted out soon, we're going to have the police to deal with, too."

Davis frowned. "Oh, jeez. I guess you're right, then; we better get a move on. Hey, I know Yolei was the real tech-y one, but between Cody and that kid Henry, maybe we can skip a few steps and find a way straight to the Digiworld ourselves."

Kari had to wonder how he could stay so optimistic. Davis was running purely on faith, and nothing had gone particularly well for them so far. Davis didn't even have a Digimon partner of his own. Yet here he was, constantly lifting everyone else up. "I was thinking the same thing."

They had reached the Hida household. The sun was just beginning to set, and Kari could easily picture the family still sitting around the dinner table. But once they got closer, it became clear something was amiss. The two didn't even get to the front door before it was flung open and Cody's mother was standing before them, looking more frazzled than they'd ever seen her.

Kari felt that shard of ice reforming in her intestines. Somehow, she knew what Mrs. Hida was going to say before the words even left her mouth.

"Please… Have you two seen my son?"

Review please!

I don't own Digimon.

As I was writing this, I kind of had to laugh. I realized that the character I most relate to in this chapter is Janyu… reminiscing about how Digimon shaped his life and made him who he is today… It was my very first anime, and I feel the same way. It opened my eyes not only to the art style but also that kids shows could be, like, actually good. Just the fact that the story was willing to address things like adoption and divorce and sibling inferiority while empowering its characters to save the world… It was really moving to me, even as a little kid. But that's just my ramble of the day…