A/N: This is Tajeri Lynn back at you with some more super action on "Takato Wong", the epic Tamers AU fanfic! Before I do, let the luchadore rummage through his fanmail.

Geez, only one. Tough homework these days....

To SerpentTreize; Ohhhh yeah, Jarvis is a slickster on many platforms. Jarvis is based on Joe (the season 2 Joe, who nearly looks like me), and it's always within Tajeri's imagination that such a nice, quiet-looking nerd would actually be less so introverted in another world; thus, Jarvis is born. Being that he's really an OOC Joe Kido, I just capitalize on the smarmy attacks he poses which absolutely conflict with our expected viewpoints of nerds. I think he'd really speak a line such as this one by wrestler/commentator Jerry "King" Lawler...

"Of course I support women's rights. I support their lefts, their fronts, their backs...."

Speaking of wrestling, UPN's Smackdown delivered THE most awesome TV match in its history; the Edge/Eddie Guerrero finale! What they did with the ladders was the stuff of legends; hats off to this show. Raw sux ****!

Terriermon is just the sacrifical lamb, a common device in any story. There's always at least one hero in my tales who's got himself a clause stating that his amount of comedic torture is without competition.

Terriermon: You're crazy! Torturing me like that! Does anybody have feelings for me?!

Susie: I do, Tewwiamon! You got a boo-boo? Lemme make you into a mummy! Hee hee!

Terriermon: AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!

Sure, everybody's got feelings for Terriermon.....But next time he oughta be more specific.....

Well, onto the next phase of the show. Watch yerself, this is a biggie!

Takato Wong

Phase H: Recipe for Disaster

"You sure about this, Jarvis? Leaving Terriermon there to suffer like that?"

"If you don't quit talking like that, Taka, 'Sure' is bound to be your middle name. Course I'm sure. It's high time the little doggie gets some discipline."

"Susie, how is it without poor ole 'Tewwiamon'?"

"It feels kind of lonely, but Jarvis promises to take me and Henwy to the Shoma Cafe! He says it's all on him. We gonna get our din-din there. Yee-hee!"

"WHAT!?! At what point of the day do I get to spend my time alone?" Takato pouted.

"Hey, girly boy, if you want to be alone, bring some bulletproof armor while at it. You'll last longer."

"Gee, that's very nice of you Jarvis, especially coming from someone who lost his tag titles to me!"

"Aye, aye, aye, don't poke me like I'm the weaker one. Anyways, you got the pin on my buddy Katch, not me. You still haven't got the 1-2-3 on me, you know, and I fully intend to keep it that way."

"Not that you could do that, Takato. You've got a date with Nami Asaji. The last thing you better do is get the tuxedo ruffled," Henry informed his stepbrother. "That could be a bad manner of etiquette.

"Yeah, you're right. Well, here goes nothing."

"By the way, Taka. You should know this one thing about Asaji; she doesn't like it when people are late. Back at Hypnos, she'd actually snap at latecomers that they were going to detention…as if they really were."

"What time is it right now?"

"Um, it's….7:55?"

"Argh, me and my doofus driving skills! All that time to get to the Tux shop and I could've used that time to figure out where Shoma Café was. Asaji's going to explode!"

"Like popcorn? Not if I can help it. Get in the car, everyone."

"You know a shortcut here."

"Hate to sound like a broken record, but I'm a powerful digital being? I can teleport us and the dang vehicle to the bistro."

"Really? That's cool! You're going to rescue me!....So is there a catch?"

"I need ten dollars, Taka. Henry's been covered, but Susie needs to eat as well."

"Yeah! Dumplings and candied bananas for me, that's for sho!"

"And you said it was all on you, Jarvis! Ah never mind, not like I spend much out of what I earn."

************************************************************************

CRASH! The minivan tumbled with its wheels squishing and retracting like silly putty. The gang realized this was how it must feel when an ant colony was dug out of its garden habitat.

"Frag! Gotta work on my aim next time."

"You can say that again, Jarvis!" exclaimed Henry, who sweated in pints. "The whole ride left me sweatier than Sex Flags Magic Mountain!"

"You're quite an act, Henry. Teleportation's worth twice the thrills of the 60-foot Hunka-Chunka coaster! Man, would I like to get on one in the near future. Taka?"

"Huh?" Takato's legs were twitching and his sneakers were thus bonking at the driver's side window.

"Come on, Taka. I'm sorry about landing us like that, but don't go head over heels just yet. Ms. Asaji's waiting."

"And so are candied bananas, yay!" Susie raised up a triumphant fist.

***************************************************************************************************************************

The restaurant was quite a beaut. Columns of white marble stone towered between the unending eating compartments fit for a whole city to savor. It stood on two different floors and was interconnected by two transparent elevator shafts. Naturally, the gang took the lower floor, where Asaji waited for Takato. She had come prepared well enough. In a billowing scarlet red dress, Takato really wondered if this was just a school teacher or this was Karen McDougal.

"Hello, Takato. You sure've grown up on a lot of places, I mean, you're grown up through a lot of places."

"Yeah, thin and thick, thick and thin, kinda like ice cream topped with strawberry syrup," Takato snapped his fingers, though it took him five times to get the audible snap going.

"Mmm, cute similie you got there. And I thought you learned nothing out of grammar class."

"Oh sure, I learned a lot, Asaji. It's just that, well, you weren't that much fun to be around with."

"Well, good thing, school's out. It's time for another side of learning!"

"Nice, I think this is what you call chiiiiiic!" Takato smiled his confident teeth as he and Asaji casually strode their way through a nonchalant waiter's direction.

Jarvis slapped his face, hearing the abominable remark from the 20-year old. "And I thought Terriermon sounded painful!"

"Real mature workmanship, Takato," frowned Henry. "If that's his way of sounding sleek, let's hope he never sounds like a geek."

"Nice rhyme there."

"Your welcome."

The teenage waiteress stood with pen at hand over a huge volume over a post. "Good evening sir, did you reserve?"

"Ah yeah, Thatch, T-H-A-T-C-H, me and two guests. No smoking, please," Jarvis smiled.

"Thatch, Jarvis….Right this way." And with that, the waitress and the three customers went up the elevator towards the second floor, where there laid a pond of koi fish and herbal gardens.

"Hadn't known you hated smoking areas, Jarvis," Henry stared at the digital being.

Susie stretched her arms out to relax herself and hopefully increase the appetite for the free dinner. "What would you mean, Henwy? Is there something about smoking that you haven't told mom and dad, or for the matter me?"

"No, no, it's not that Susie, it's just that-"

Jarvis grabbed a nearby cloth from another table and wore it on like a bandana, before returning attention to the juniors."Hey, you're still kiddoes, right? Better stay away from that crap. Tobacco gets your face all crinkly. And if your face gets all crinkly, say good-bye to your dating opportunities."

The waitress turned back to her customers as she stopped at a table right at the corner. "Three menus?"

Jarvis removed the bandana immediately and stuffed it in his pocket. "Sure, of course, thank you."

"Are you always being nice to waitresses because they look like hotties?"

"Oh come what now, Henry. Most waitresses in this restaurant just don't fit my style. Like that waitress far off in the corner. Sometimes she thinks I sound sexist and all. I just want her to have a good time on a Saturday night."

Henry eyed the girl oddly. Her hair resembled an onion with wild shoots laying astray. "Her? HER!?!"

Jarvis frowned. "Henry, don't leave me out in the open. What is?"

Susie was given a glass of water by the waitress, but she refused to touch it for meal's sake. "That's Takato's usual date, Jarvis. Her name's Rika! She's a pretty, isn't she? I like her name, it's pretty."

"Whoa, help me get this clear. Rika is Taka's girlfriend? And she's steady with him? She doesn't know about the date, does she?"

Henry dropped his hands. "Yes, yes and yes! Rika ain't easy to stand for reason, even if it comes out of Takato's mouth."

"Man, Taka's in big doo doo unless we get help around somewhere along the way."

A rustle came out of the catnip bush right above the suspended lamp. A horned face popped out. "Hello, everyone. Having a shindig without me?"

Henry took out a fork and threatened to jab at the digimon should he come closer. "Terriermon, you dastardly rabbit! How exactly did you flee purgatory?"

Terriermon held his elbows together. "Since you denied yourself the right to watch over me, thou shalt never know the tale of my great escape. Sucks to you. Thbbffft!"

"Maybe we oughta rip your stuffing out for Thanksgiving!" Henry began unwinding the sleeves off his lithe arms. Henry had conditioned himself close to two decades in order to perfect his mastery of tai chi. Tai chi usually was meant for defense, unless someone offended him...

Jarvis slapped a stiff palm across Henry's shoulders. "Nah, wait, Henry, cool it, I think we should keep the little fella."

Susie got too thirsy, so she took a dab of water from the glass. She waved at her digimon pally, and looked towards her brother. "Yeah, Henry, cool down your temper. Isn't Terriermon supposed to be our very best friend? And more so, he never even got any din-din, poor Terriermon. He must have an empty stomach."

Henry closed his eyes in disapproval. "So give him to me, I'll empty his appetite ."

"Trying to go criminal on me again, huh, Henry?! Do you know what those kindergarteners tried to feed me back there, huh?! Kids at that age can't tell the difference between what's a hors de ouevre and what's playdoh!!! I suppose you can't get that through your sex-filled head!"

Jarvis chuckled loudly and clapped both hands in bravado. "So you've tasted playdoh, eh, Terriermon? Good. Thanks for reporting the findings for all of us. Your sacrifice has been saluted. You're our hero of the week. Wished I bought a medal for you."

"And you! Jarvis! You had no right to lock me up at that day-care center, only my tamer does! Hmmph!"

"Ttttttruuuue, except your sagely tamer here threatened to sign you up for Tai Chi 300A. It was either that or the prison term. And believe me, Terriermon, you were signed up to be a punching bag. So call my services to you an act of goodwill, will you?"

"Oh, yeah? If you think I'm a big, er, little weakling, then come on and fight me like a man!" Terriermon jumped down to the table, pacing up and down like a shoot fighter, or for that matter, a weird kangaroo.

"I'll fight like a man, but man against. mon? I don't like those odds, and frankly, neither should you."

"Uh, Jarvis? Little help?" Hearing his moniker, Jarvis turned to Henry, whose gray eyes showed a tinge of panic as an index finger turned towards Rika.

"You know what, Terriermon? You can sit down with us and treat yourself to a free meal. S'all on me," Jarvis scooted back to the center of the plush seating, allowing a convenient eating space."

"Thanks a lot. And if it's all on me, I'll make the most of it. I'd like to try the Shoma Appetizer! Along with some zucchini, clam chowder and a super side order of......hey, waaaaiiiit a minute. Something stinks around here."

Jarvis smiled. Terriermon was ever the conspiracy theorist. "Not to you, but to Taka, for sure. You see, Terriermon, we've got a reeeally critical situation, the kind in which the whole fate of the world revolves around Taka. So get this; Takato's got a girlfriend named Rika and it looks they've been together for a long time, but now-"

"Cheater!" Terriermon impulsively pointed an accusing finger at Henry, "trying to get a piece of Rika's pie, aren't you!?" who on red-headed impulse drove a balled up knuckle down onto the digimon as if whacking a mole. The digimon saw a flash of white intrude on his vision, and he laid limp as a doll.

"Here, Susie, take Tewwiarmon with you, just the way you always loved him. It'll feel just like old times."

Susie helplessly held the unconscious digimon in her grasps. She rocked him about to wake him up, and to no avial. "Henwy, that's so mean!"

Jarvis dropped his jaw. "And unjust! Damnit, Henry, we were supposed to use Terriermon to distract Rika away from Takato! I just can't meet and greet the witch face to face! For all I know, she may have Dracula for a lawyer!"

"Alright, whiner! Gosh, do I have to play the leader all the time or what!" shouted Henry, who skidded his seat. "Just let the waitress know that I asked for sashimi and takoyaki, you got that?"

"Sure, Henry. But what are you gonna do with Rika, huh? You're already a set man with Jeri Katou. You try and make advances on Rika...."

"Jarvis, calm down and breathe a sigh of relief. This is my brother's future and it's my right to handle it for him. I mean, who knows Rika better than I?"

"Um, Takato?" Susie rose her hand.

"Clever comment, Susie, but you've still got a lot to learn. Watch the master and someday you'll be one too."

Henry leaves.

"Good luck trying to learn, Susie. Your bro's turned a right angle to Rika, no chance for us to see him. Well, least she's not reaching Takato. Let's see what kind of food they got pictured here in the menu. I better get something before the waitress comes."

"Hmm, big-know-it-all Henry!" A dissed Susie held her elbows akimbo. "He hardly ever listens to me!"

"What d'you just say, kiddo?"

***************************************************************************************************************************

"So you want the Chef's special? Vermont Curry with Rice?" The elegant, wiry-moustached waiter queried in a pseudo-French accent while jotting a pen on an everyday notepad.

"Yeah, and uh, could I have brown rice?" Heard it's packed with more nutrients," Takato spoke rapidly. For five straight hours, hunger was driving him half-mad.

"As you wish, sir, brown rice it is. And your mother will want...?"

Takato slapped his face, groaning like someone just punched his stomach. Asaji giggled heartily at the remark and clapped her hands, before clearing up the chortles and telling the waiter...

"I would like the Orange Chicken with peanut salad."

"Alright. Your meals will be prepared on the double."

Waiter leaves.

"Ah, man, Asaji, did you have to go with the whole mother thing? That makes me feel like a boy!"

"That's because you are a boy, Takato, just a little more on the mature and muscular side."

Takato blushes deeply.

"Are you blushing?"

"Um, no, I'm not. It's just that... drinking the water's making my cheeks feel hot. I could swear something nasty's in my water. An impurity, yeah, that's it. Um, waiter, waiter, I think there's something-"

"Now don't be so silly, Takato. I know how you fake things ever since you claimed your father ate your homework. Besides, those waiters are going to take forever to come back. Here, Takato, you can drink my glass of water. You can drink on this side, it's clean."

Takato stared at the glass for a while, before conceding to her. "You know, Asaji, to be honest with you-"

"Still learning to be honest, Takato?"

"Er, yeah, you got the $20 million question correct. You're pretty smart."

"Pretty AND smart is the equation. I am your teacher, or was that a lesson you forgot?"

"I didn't forget that, but you're not my teacher anymore. You're now my assistant."

"That doesn't mean we can't learn from each other, does it, Takato Matsuda?

"No...it doesn't. I mean, that's kind of cool. You and me, trying to save the Digital World... Now you could join in on the adventure."

"I'm not the adventure type, Mr. Matsuda. I never was."

"Well, sooner or later we'll all change our colors...And um, by the way, Asaji, it's Takato Wong, not Matsuda."

"Wong, as in Janyuu Wong? Why?"

"My parents died....The big quake about 10 years ago....Janyuu's my father for about that much time."

"Oh, my...Sorry to hear that. Had I known..."

"Don't drag yourself into it, Asaji. It was so long ago, the pain feels less as the days go by."

"You miss them? Your parents, I mean."

"Oh, yeah, I do, but I know somewhere they'll be waiting, Asaji, so when I have to go, I know they'll be there to see me. No big deal."

"You're not that much of a boy, Takato. You're very mature."

"Hey, life's worth learning, you might say."

"Well said, Takato. Guess my philosophy class did smarten you up."

"Nah, I'd personally credit that to DC Comics."

"Ahem, your dinners," the maitre'd approached the two with their plates.

***************************************************************************************************************************

"Hey, Rika, your break time's on. Five minutes!" A waiter stretched out all five fingers at her.

"Well, it's about damn time!" Rika jumped out the cafe door, throwing her messy shadow-black apron out into a basket. She kicked the door with a blinding jerk of a reflex that had the door creaking whinily. She sat by the stairway, massaging her arms by cuffing her hands and squeezing the despairing flesh that worked for minimum wage. And she still hadn't the time to complete her thousand-word essays due the day after tommorow. "Urrrrrrr! F*ck, f*ck, Fu-"

She turned and saw Henry who had just pursued her out the door. She gasped and looked down. "I wasn't talking about you."

"Well thank god you weren't," Henry patted his chest. "I thought I was about to have one less friend to cry on my shoulder."

"Hey, I'm not a crybaby, Henry," Rika narrowed her eyes. "Unlike everybody else prowling in there! All they just do is bitch and moan, and the stupid manager can't even realize they spill food on me, not me spilling food on them. Might as well next time!"

"Uh, you better not do that, Rika, that wouldn't be too sensible."

"And they aren't?..." Rika stared blankly at the moon, then reality hit her. "What are you doing in the restaurant anyway?"

"A friend of mine brought me and Susie to the restaurant. Said it was all on him."

"Takato?"

"NO!" Henry stood upright at hearing the word. His mind had awkwardly strayed from the plan. No need to give hints on Takato's appearance. "Um, well, no, of course not. I mean, if he was, I don't think the meal could've been free at all. You know Takato."

"I sure do. He must have some formula for keeping him thin from those pastries...." Rika smiled.

"Yeah, sure, secret formula....Um, look, Rika, it wouldn't hurt if you come over and serve at my table. I'm sure we haven't quite decided on our meals yet, but I don't know how long they'll be kept waiting."

"Well, okay, Henry. Naturally, going back to work would be a return trip to hell, but at least there's sensible old you around."

"That's good to hear, Rika. Come on, let's go back inside and-unf!" Henry's orange jacket got tugged by the helm from a sturdy, feminine hand.

"Henry, in case you didn't notice, I've got a minute left in my break! Dang, you trying to ask me out on a date or what?!"

***************************************************************************************************************************

Passing the boulevard running through Shoma Cafe, Janyuu was driving solo in his shadow blue minivan, a similar model to his stalwart Takato's, only that it came equipped with a digitized screen 4-inches thick. Also attatched was a dialing periphery the good doctor had held up to his chin while he continued covering the miles back home.

"I hope she won't start in a fit." Janyuu sighed loudly before the screen emitted a live video stream of his beloved wife, whose messy apron suggested she had wooped up some gruel at their A.P.T. Gratefully, she was in no mood for a fit.

"Janyuu, honey! Where have you been? The sweet and sours have grown cold for about an hour. Doesn't Hypnos close 4pm on Saturdays?"

"Sorry, dear, but Hypnos ran into a slight detour of sorts. Reika and I sorted it all out in due time."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. For a moment there, I thought you were inviting some friends over to the Shoma Cafe."

"Funny that you say that. Takato's having a date with an old friend right at the cafe. Should make an interesting conversation for breakfast."

"I believe it will. Did Takato say anything about Susie and Henry?"

"Why, they're not back home?"

"Doesn't seem so, and they took Terriermon with them too. I'm so lonely it feels like I'm the only person left on the face of the planet."

"Takato's quite a social fellow, though with him having a date, I wouldn't bet all the money in the world. Maybe I could call Susie, I have her cell phone number and she's always waiting for a call. Shouldn't take too long."

"Okay, honey. But do come by for dinner."

"Sure I will, dear. There's nothing like food cooked from the heart."

"Bye, Janyuu."

"Bye," and with that, Janyuu quietly pushed a button for a hang up. As a stop light began, Janyuu stopped the vehicle and quickly fished a callous hand through the boxes of paperwork in search of a crinkly sheet of notebook paper etched on its surfaces with fluorescent pink writing. "Sigh. All the code numbers in the world and I can't remember my own daughter's."

***************************************************************************************************************************

The Shoma Cafe remained bustling while droves of palm trees encircled the bistro. But out of the shadows, a group of ruffled youths, the Crazers, climbed down the trees and eyed the windows closely. One of them, bearing a ton of bandages across his face, growled and pointed at one particular window, staring at apparently no one among the bushes.

"That's him! He's called Takato, boss! He's the sonuvabitch who f*cked me back at the damn park! Kick his a$$, will ya?!"

A large, direct voice of monstrosity scared the hell out of all the Crazers. "Now let's not move to shallow conclusions, Mark.... Takato is but a boy, as far as I could tell. What reason should I have to expend MY own energy against him? Hmm..?"

"I....I don't know....B-but you can't let him get away with what he's done! It's vengeance!"

"Yeah, vengeance rules and justice drools!" the Crazers raised up their hands in unison, but a long red whip lashed over their heads. The Crazers crouched down to the concrete floor, bodies shivering at their master.

"I'm in no need of vengeance!" the master spoke. "What I want is dominance, and dominance will serve enough to destroy a whole rove of boys, for all I care! If you really want to enter the Digital World, then stop favoring your own agendas and waste my priceless time!.....Wait....Well, well...I'm sensing a most familiar reading around here."

"The boy?" Mark questioned, and he got a gloved slap to the face that tumbled him like a boulder before the other minions, who darted away steadfast.

"Silence!" the master rubbed his face relievingly. " I'll grow sick everytime you talk of him! No, it's somebody else, coming closer here.....Hmm, he is of immense value to this quest. Converge on him, and you will prove yourselves worthy of joining the cause!"

"Yes, master!"

***************************************************************************************************************************

Riiiing!

"I've got it! I've got it!" Nearly tipping over the salt and pepper shakers from her exuberance, Susie grabbed a cell phone out of her pretty pink synthetic purse, the same purse where her beloved and comatose friend "Tewwiamon" was being stored in to receive his direly needed bearings. Susie held up her laminated menu and began. "Hewwo out there!"

"Susie?"

"Hewwo, daddy? Thanks for not telling mommy about us."

"Um, I'm not back home yet, sweetie, I'm just about to. Where are you right now?"

"At the Shoma Cafe. Me and Henry are getting free dinners, all thanks to Jarvis!"

"Wow, I never knew he was that hospitable!"

"Say what?!" Jarvis dropped the menu and held his hand on Susie's cell phone. "Scuse me, may I borrow this, thank you!" Susie unwillingly gave the phone to Jarvis who banged it onto his ears in half a second. Waves of his blue hair provided a private canopy over the said object. "Hey, Janyuu, I'm a supreme digital being, doi! How can I NOT be charitable AND supreme all at once?"

"Okay, Jarvis," Janyuu's voice was unmistakably reeking of irritance. "It was my mistake, my....bad, that's what you call it?"

"Yup, your bad, your bad!" Jarvis then handed the phone over to Susie. "Good for you, kiddo, you get to have some free dessert."

"Yay, now I'm getting free dessert, isn't that nice, daddy?" Susie beamed towards the phone.

"Yes, I know. Jarvis will be the next president of UNICEF if he wants to.... Now, Susie, is Takato driving you back home, because I don't know when you're all coming back."

"Oh, no worry about that. We went on a car and Jarvis teleported us over here."

"He did what?! He's not supposed to reveal himself in that fashion!"

Like a one-man bullet train, Jarvis sped his mouth into the cell phone, with Susie just barely above to remove her face inches away from collision. "Don't be such a worrywort, Janyuu," Jarvis lent more of his smart talk over the phone. "Long as nobody sees us, it ain't revealing. Kinda like the whole 'nobody hears so does it exist?' kind of thingy."

"Get Susie back on the phone, Jarvis, or next time I'll delete you," Jarvis muttered sarcastically.

Mouth wide agape, Jarvis slowly gave the phone back to Susie. "Your pop's quite a motivational speaker."

Jarvis' intution told him she was on. "Susie, just call me again and I'll drive you back home. I'm allowing Takato to spend the night out somewhere else if needs be, but you and Henry should best be back home before midnight. You know how your mom reacts when you're not getting your beauty sleep."

"You're right, and I'll be missing Lopmon dancing in my dreams. Awright, daddy, I'll see you then."

"Bye, dear," and with that, Janyuu hung up.

To Be Continued.... (End of Sneak Preview)