Me: Okay, here we are. I don't own Digimon. Like I said, some chapters will interlock with the episodes, and so this one chapter, for the moment, will occur after the events of "Kazu's Upgrade."

Kazu: All right! About time I get an honorable mention in this story!

(Rika shoves Kazu aside)

Rika: This isn't a story about you-it's mostly about Takato! (grabs me by my neck) Talk-where's Takato?

Me: (struggles to breathe) Can't...talk....if you...choke me...

Kaku: Didn't you hear him? He can't tell you if you suffocate him.

Rika: Okay, but only 'cause Gogglehead has somewhat of a soft spot for you. (releases neck; I drop to the ground)

Me: (gasps for breath) Okay...you'll have to find out via the story! HA! (runs off)

Rika: GET BACK HERE! (runs at a fast pace)

Kazu: Well, until we see hide-or hare-of chumly, let's start this story right-with a song done by me!

(Rika comes back and yanks Kazu away)

Rika: We don't need you or your singing career to scare away the readers!







Digimon Tamers: Takato V.S. Takato

Chapter I-The Digital Plane









"Not everyone has a partner...where are you, Takato?" -Guilmon, Kazu's Upgrade







Just when things can't get any worse, they do! Rika and Renamon had been ambushed by MegaSeadramon, a really powerful Ultimate-type, while trying to find Takato and the gang. Things didn't go the way they were planned, since Rika took a hit to the ribs, which caused Takato excruciating pain due to the link they shared. But for some reason, MegaSeadramon didn't want to continue the fight, even though Renamon was in her Ultimate form. Rika and Renamon did find her boyfriend and the others again, and with Calumon in tow, but that didn't last long! Thanks to a surprise appearance by Beelzemon, Takato, Henry and Terriermon were separated from the group! Even though Kazu's an official Tamer, their moods are pretty gloomy right now.







"YAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

SSPLASSSSSSSHHHHH! Takato, Henry and Terriermon splashed-heavily-into an extremely long river, and due to their combined body weight, the three of them almost ended up at the bottom!

Quickly, Henry makes a motion to swim up, and they did, Takato taking time to pull his goggles over his eyes.

"Just great! This is all we need!" Takato gripes angrily to himself. "I finally find Rika, then we run into that Digital freak Beelzemon and I end up separated from Rika again-and I don't even have Guilmon with me!"

The three friends finally make it to the surface, breathing in multiple amounts of air.

"Where are we now?" Terriermon asked.

"I don't know, but it's safe to say it's nowhere near where the others are at." Henry noted.

"No kidding. We've gotta find them, and soon! Guilmon can't Digivolve without me, and we don't have the first-aid kit anymore. If anything happened to Rika, it would happen to me, and we can't really mend any of my broken bones that easily now." Takato replied.

"So basically, we're up the creek without a paddle."

"Terriermon!"

"What? It was a little joke."







"I can't believe it-my very own Digimon! How long have you been in the Digital World? Did you even know about Tamers in the first place? When did you decide you wanted to be someone's partner?" Kazu kept pestering his new Digimon partner, Guardromon with multiple questions until Rika blew her top off.

"Okay, you've asked him enough questions already; can we get back to finding the others?"

"Sheesh, who died and made you Queen of the revolution?" Kazu retorted calmly.

"Look, standing around this mountain and fighting isn't going to do us any good. Why don't we all get some sleep and we'll continue our search for the others tomorrow?" Leomon suggested. That idea was agreeable to everyone else, so they all bunked down and went to sleep.

Knowing that Takato would never forgive him-at all-if anything were to happen to Rika, Guilmon slept on her right side; Renamon was on her left.

"Rika?" Raising her head slightly, Rika looked to see Jeri with a worried look on her face.

"Do you think we'll ever find Henry and Takato again?"

Rika knew deep in her heart that the chances of Takato finding them was slim since Guilmon wasn't with him, but if her boyfriend was anything, he was resourceful.

"Sure! In fact, once those two get situated, they'll be on the lookout for us in no time. Don't worry about it, Jeri."

"Thanks, Rika. You know, I think you and Takato make a really good match for each other."

At that response, Rika was left stunned. A part of her had always been jealous of Jeri for having some of the things with Takato that she didn't have-being able to go to the same school with him, both of them working with their parents-Takato, his parents' bakery; Jeri, her family's restaurant. Rika had been glad Jeri wasn't a Tamer for a while, mainly because she had something to do that connected her with him, but when Takato had called her from the park explaining about Jeri and Leomon, she'd hid her jealousy with surprise.

Flashback

"Jeri? That just...isn't possible."

"Wait-I'll ask. Hey, Jeri! Do you have a Digivice?"

"No, I don't!"

"That's a negative."

"No Digivice? She's obviously not a Tamer-she's delusional! Oh, whatever! I'm coming right down!"

End flashback

When Jeri did receive her Digivice, Rika had been worried that her relationship with Takato had been in vain, but Takato convinced her that it wasn't by reminding her of their bond.

"Rika? Did you fall asleep?" Rika was jolted out of her memories of the past by Jeri once more.

"Sorry, I just zoned out. Really? You're not mad or anything?"

"Right. Takato once said something similar to me a while back, and this was how I responded-" A second later, Jeri pulled out her "infamous" sock puppet, which got Rika somewhat edgy.

"'Jeri likes you, Takato, but only as a friend.' So, whoever Takato ends up with should treat him right, and you've completely turned him around! Good night, Rika." Jeri placed her sock puppet back in her bag before falling asleep.

"Good night, Jeri." Rika responded before turning over and noticing Guilmon with a saddened look on his face.

"Where are you, Takatomon?" Guilmon whined in his sleep. Rika sighed, finally allowing herself to rest, but kept an ear open.

"Dinoboy's got a point...where are you, Gogglehead?" Rika asked worriedly.







Morning had arrived, and Takato, Henry and Terriermon had long since exited the river and were forced to sleep on the cold, hard ground since their stuff was with everyone else's.

"All right, troops-here's the game plan: We start walking that way until we find some sign of civilization." Takato had pointed toward the east, and both Henry and Terriermon eyed him with a weird look.

"What? It seems like a reasonable plan, doesn't it?" Takato insisted calmly.

"True, but you're just running on instinct right now, Takato. You've actually got to come up with something better than 'we start walking east until we find civilization.' I may know my way around computers, but I only fight when the situation calls for it. You, Rika and Kazu seem to be the main fighters of the team." Henry explained.

"And without Guilmon here, that just leaves you and Terriermon to go into battle if we run into any sort of trouble."

"You can say that again!" Terriermon piped up.

"I would, but I was just thinking-what if I tried to find Rika through my link?"

"What?" Henry was apparently confused.

"Follow me on this-if I tried to use my Digivice to create some sort of digital plane, I could track Rika down no matter where she's at! Problem is, it could only work if she was using her Digivice at the same time."

"Good thinking, Takato! I knew you'd come up with some kind of a plan!" Henry congratulated his friend on a job well done.

"Thanks. Now all I need is for Rika to get attacked by something-or someone." Takato muttered to himself while holding up his Digivice. A second later, it glowed with a reddish light before shooting up in the air.







"Rika, everyone, we've got trouble! Someone's headed our way, and they don't look too happy." Guilmon warned. The Virus-type Digimon had woken up early because he had smelled something that seemed somewhat familiar, but wasn't.

"What is it, Guilmon?" Rika wiped the sleep out of her eyes before adjusting them to the sun's rays. "Who-oh, no!"

"Who is it?"

Turning toward Guilmon with a mocking glance, Rika replied, "It's just Ryo and his dinobot. Just go back to sleep, Guilmon."

"I don't think I can, especially with him coming closer toward us."

"You've got a point. Once they got here, he'd try to make conversation or whatever. Those two-" Rika motioned toward Kazu and Kenta. "-would go back into hero worship again, and who knows what Jeri would do? Time to get up and start searching for the others."

Rika had been right-the instant Ryo had gotten there, he wondered what had happened to Takato and Henry. Kazu explained that they'd been sucked up by a data stream.

"That's harsh. I hope you find them soon."

"Us too." Rika hid the worry from her voice, but she was positive Ryo had seen it in her eyes.

"Did you notice? I'm a Tamer, just like you!" Kazu proudly held up his Digivice; Rika stifled a groan.

"Not again..."

"He's Guardromon, and he's at the Champion level! Once he gets stronger again, I'll use my special blue card and make him Digivolve back to the Ultimate level, Andromon, but only in tough situations."

"You mean like this?" Renamon responded calmly. Multiple blasts of weaponry fired at the Tamers from out of nowhere!

"Get down!" Leomon pulled Jeri to safety; Guilmon and Renamon worked together to get Rika out of harm's way.

"I know Takatomon wouldn't want you hurt, so stay here Rika-Renamon and I'll protect you!"

"'Protect her?' Who's gonna protect me?" Kenta complained.

"Us-get over here!" Kazu retorted as he and Guardromon yanked Kenta away from the line of fire.

"Send out the dinokid!" a deep voice yelled.

"That voice sounds familiar." Guilmon said.

"That's the Digimon who attacked the day we found you guys, and lost Takato and Henry!" Rika hissed angrily.

"He must mean me and Cyberdramon. This shouldn't take too long." Ryo said.

"Don't count on it." Rika replied smugly, remembering what had happened to her when she and Renamon had attempted to battle Henry's clone while in a Digital Field.

"I meant the Rookie with the Goggleboy kid, not you! Take this, you piece of scrap metal!" Beelzemon pulled out his weapons and blasted away, sending Cyberdramon down to his knees within a matter of minutes!

"Cyberdramon, what happened?!" Ryo cried out.

"That Digimon's too strong for Cyberdramon! What's his name again?" Rika pulled out her Digivice, which at first acted like it would against a Deva.

"What's wrong with this thing? This guy's not a Deva, so...there it goes! 'Beelzemon, Virus-type. Mega level. That's why he's interested in battling with Guilmon. As far as he knows, Guilmon's the only one who can Digivolve to the Mega level.'"

"Oh, boy..." Guilmon was twice as worried now.

"What should I do? I can't Digivolve without Takato here."

Renamon responded to Rika, "If Terriermon were here, wouldn't he say something like...?"







"...We've gone from the frying pan into the fire, guys!" Gargomon yelled while covering for both Takato and Henry! The three of them had been ambushed by-surprise, surprise-MegaSeadramon on their way to try to find Rika and the others.

"Hurry, Takato! I'm starting to run out of cards!"

"What do you expect?! If only Guilmon was here, then we wouldn't have this much trouble."

"Mega Ice Blast!!"

"Hey, watch it! I'm not that hot right now, and we are near a river!"

"How about this? I borrowed it from Jeri and I never did get to give it back." Takato said.

"Rika's gonna kill you for that one." Henry joked while looking at the card. "Jeri's got good taste in picking Modify cards."

Digimodify!

"Digimodify! Black WarGreymon, activate!"

"Whoa! What the-Henry, you gotta be kidding!" Gargomon exclaimed as moments where a Champion stood, a holographic Mega Digimon appeared.

"Terra Destroyer!!" Seconds later, MegaSeadramon was deleted due to a red ball of dark energy, and Gargomon absorbed the data that floated around.

"Wow! Jeri's got good taste in cards, right Henry?"

"Not now, Gargomon."

"I think I'll give the digital plane one more try." Takato held up his Digivice once again, and like before, it shot an intense blast of red light in the air.







"If you want Guilmon, you'll have to get through us!" Rika and Renamon stepped out, a Modify card in Rika's outstretched hand.

"You'll regret saying that! Ha!"

Digimodify!

"Digimodify! Digivolution, activate!"

Digivolution!

"Renamon Digivolve to...KYUBIMON!!!"

Digimon!

Rika smiled with patience as Kyubimon went to defend Guilmon, then suddenly, she found herself in a place that wasn't the Digital World.

"Whoa. Where am I now? Did I get sucked into another data stream?"

"If you did, then I must've been pulled in with you." Takato cracked while revealing himself a moment later.

"T-Takato? This is a joke, right. There's no way I'm actually talking to you in some sort of place that looks like someone used a lot of paint on the walls."

"Truth be told, you are. I came up with the idea, hoping that I would find you, no matter where you were at!" Takato stepped forward and hugged Rika tightly. A second after that, Rika relaxed since it really was Takato, and hugged him back.

"Guilmon's been going crazy without you around, and Kazu's found himself a partner!"

"No way!" Takato was amazed. "Kazu has a partner?"

"Yeah, and he's been talking about him and with him almost the entire day yesterday, and today!"

"That's Kazu, alright." Takato replied.

"Listen. There's not much time, and I don't know how much longer you can contain this place."

"Oh-that's right! It's a Digital Plane, and-"

"We've been ambushed by Beelzemon who wants to battle you and Guilmon!" Rika blurted out.

"Him again? Was he on that wacko bike, too?" Takato stammered in shock.

"Yeah, probably. So, where are you guys?"

"We're near a river and Gargomon just took down MegaSeadramon. Hey-if I had Gargomon use his Gargo Laser attack in the air, you guys would see where we were, and you could make a break for it!"

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock, but I really don't think this Mega Digimon's gonna just let us go without a fight. Plus, he beat Cyberdramon without even breaking a sweat!"

"Whoa. When'd Ryo get there?" Takato asked, his eyes flashing with extreme jealousy. Rika took notice and couldn't help but smile.

"I knew it wouldn't take that much to make Gogglehead jealous! If he could beat Cyberdramon, any of us could!" Rika thought.

"Hello? Rika? Are you in right now?" Rika suddenly remembered where she was at, and that she'd zoned out again.

"Yeah, sorry. He just got there a few minutes before Beelzemon came in and took Cyberdramon down."

"Time to put the plan into action! Wait-where are you guys, otherwise, Gargomon won't know where to fire at." Takato realized.

"We were just leaving the mountains. Jeri had been kidnapped by this Ultimate level Digimon-it's a long story, and I'll save it for later." Rika responded.

"Good idea. I think the mountains are at the far south. See you soon, Rika!" Takato turned to leave, but Rika stopped him and pulled him into an intense kiss that lasted for three minutes.

"Think of that kiss as a withdrawal kiss, okay? See you soon." The last thing Takato saw was a wistful look in Rika's eyes before she vanished completely.







"About time you woke up! What, didn't Rika show up in your Digital Plane?" Takato found himself on the ground.

"What happened?" Takato asked weakly.

"After a blue beam flew from somewhere in the south and connected to your red beam, you blacked out! It took us about two to three minutes to get you laying down properly." Henry explained.

"Wow. Gargomon, I need you to fire your Gargo Laser attack as high as you can in the air!"

"What? Are you crazy, Takato? I can't do that-besides, Henry wouldn't like it." Gargomon noted.

"No, I talked about this with Rika-she and the others got ambushed by Beelzemon, and he wants to battle with Guilmon and me!" Takato insisted.

"They're in serious trouble, then. Without you there, Guilmon can't Digivolve."

"Right, so if Gargomon fires his ultimate attack, and we start running in that same direction, we're sure to run into them."

"Okay, but if I hit any innocent bystanders, you're telling their folks. Gargo Lasers!!" Gargomon fired multiple rounds into the air, running alongside Takato and Henry.







"Oh no! Please, please, please, I'll do anything you guys want, just don't take me inside that castle-ahhhh!" Calumon cried out as miniature pellets stabbed at the sky, also surprisingly enough, freeing him from the cage he was trapped in.

"Yay, I'm out! Huh? Uh-oh. I'm still in trouble!" Calumon plummeted toward the ground, remembering to extend his wing-like ears.

"Wow! Talk about wing span, huh?" Calumon laughed while flying down toward the mountain range, still wearing the piece of the Tamers flag with Takato, Guilmon, Rika and Renamon's faces.







Rika yelled out as Guilmon tackled her, pulling her away from the line of fire. She'd woken up near Jeri, Kazu, Kenta and Ryo on the ground, and figured out what happened.

"When Takato connected the beams, we both must've passed out! Why didn't he think of that?"

"Less chatting, more running!" Kenta wailed, staying between Kazu and Guardromon.

"'Running?' That's it! Everyone-look for miniature pellets in the sky to the east!" Confused, they looked but didn't see anything.

"Being KO'd for a while must've left you with some brain damage." Kazu said. Rika pulled away from Guilmon and grabbed Kazu by the scruff of his shirt.

"Wait-I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it!" Guardromon objected.

"Right, just like he hero worships Ryo over there, who couldn't even take care of one Mega Digimon! I'm not crazy-Takato wants us to keep an eye out for Gargomon's main attack!" Rika added.

"You mean that one?" Jeri spoke up, seeing multiple tiny pieces of something that looked like pellets fly in the air at a very far distance.

"Yes-that's it! That way, everyone. Without a doubt, they're waiting for us already." Rika replied, releasing Kazu from her grip, jumping on Kyubimon's back and racing off.

"Hey-wait for us! We don't all have Digimon who can walk on all fours!" Kazu said, breaking out into a fast run, the others hot on his heels.

Beelzemon smiled to himself, understanding the reason for Guilmon's hesitation to battle.

"His Tamer isn't with him, and the universal question is this-what is a Tamer without his Digimon? Easy pickings!" Beelzemon revved up, and sped after the Tamers on his motorcycle.

Unbeknownst to any of the Tamers, or Beelzemon, Takato and Guilmon's clones appeared behind a lone rock, completely undetectable by anyone.

"Now, it's time to play, Guilmon..." "Takato" chuckled to himself as the two of them started forward after the others.

Uh-oh! If the Tamers don't kick it into high gear, they're gonna be in for some major pain, especially Takato and Rika! Watch the first battle between Takato and his clone next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!