A/N: Wordpad has mysteriously vanished and school's been keeping me away from the computer. I'm sorry for the delay and thank everyone who reviewed. To bloodykitsune, sorry no, it won't be Rukato. No shippings will be part of the story.
Also, I realized I couldn't fit everything into one episode so I had to split it to two parts.
Disclaimer: I do own three of the Digimon Tamers magna series, but otherwise I do not own anything else Digimon related.
Episode Two: Plans, Part IHenry yawned as he stretched his arms in the air. He had awoke from a not so restful sleep last night and still felt somewhat drowsy. Suddenly, a deep rumbling caused Henry to glance at his window. Rain started patting on his window as he changed into his day clothes. The thought of walking to school in a thunder storm wasn't pleasant, especially when it was dark. He saw Suzie clutching his mother and whimpering as a flash of lightning illuminated from the windows.
"Mommy, I don't like this. Make it stop," she pleaded.
Henry's mother, who had been trying to cook breakfast, tried to give Suzie the "You're a Big Girl Now" speech, but it wasn't working. His oldest sister, sensing her mother's distress, crouched by Suzie and soothed her with a doll.
There was another rumbling in the sky but Suzie was hugging the doll instead of his mother's leg now.
"I wish Tewwiermon and Wopmon were here wight now." She wasn't bursting into tears now that she had gotten used to the absence of the two rabbit-like creatures but her face was sad and mopey.
"Is something wrong here?" His father appeared in the kitchen holding a newspaper. He set his briefcase beside the table leg as he sat down for food.
"Suzie's just a little scared of the thunder storm," said his oldest sister. She stood up and grabbed a juice carton.
"I am not!" exclaimed Suzie indignantly. She folded her arms across her chest and made a face. The thunder roared in response, causing her to instinctively hid her face on Henry's pant leg. "Okway, maybe a wittle bit."
"Suzie, let go," said Henry gently. "I have to get to school." The weather seemed to enjoy making things worse because the downpour began to hit even harder.
"How about I drive you to school? I'm sure it won't take long," said his father between sips of tea.
"Thanks, Dad," said Henry, relieved. He wondered if Takato still planned to go to the Digital World. If the storm continued on throughout the whole day, he doubted Takato's mother would allow him out to go to the park.
The windshield wipers were squeaking quietly as Henry looked out the window. Streams of water blurred the view but he could see that the storm wasn't going to cease. It wasn't the storm that was bothering him though. His mind kept returning to Takato's idea. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to go with Takato. But they would need a plan.
"Here we are," said his father. Henry nodded and opened the door. "I'll pick you up if it's still like this at the end of school, but otherwise you can walk home if you want. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay," said Henry. He stood with his umbrella as he watched his father drive away. An idea began forming in his mind.
I hope this clears up, thought Takato as he looked up at the sky. If it didn't, it would be a day's delay for him. Maybe it would give Rika and Henry more time to think. He knew they missed Renamon and Terriermon.
And truthfully, he did want to find Guilmon and the others together with them. Even when he became a Tamer, he wasn't really alone. Sure, Rika wasn't the nicest person, but she did hang around them on her own free will after a while. Henry was with him most of the time as well. The thought of going by himself alone was a bit depressing.
"Takato, what's wrong? You look sad."
He had been staring at the pavement and hadn't notice there was someone there. Takato looked up and saw Jeri, who was holding a pink umbrella with her puppet on her other hand.
"It's nothing," he said, shrugging.
"Oh, okay," said Jeri, sounding slightly disappointed. "We should go in though. It's freezing out here."
Takato agreed and walked with Jeri into the school. He folded his umbrella and waited for Jeri to finish getting her books before he asked, "Jeri, do you want to come to the Digital World with me to find Guilmon and the others? I don't know if Henry or Rika are coming, but they might."
Jeri's eyes widened in surprise.
"You mean -- we can --" Jeri stuttered. "I mean -- that's so great, Takato! When can we go? Is Rika coming?"
"She might."
"So is everyone coming?"
"Uh... Well, I haven't been able to call Kazu and Kenta," explained Takato. "I don't know Ryo's number either. Henry's not sure about it. I'm going tomorrow though."
"I'll be there," said Jeri, beaming.
Takato's mood lifted. At least he could have Jeri around to keep him company in the Digital World. He spent the rest of class going back to his old habit -- drawing Guilmon.
Rika was walking home under a black umbrella when she felt a change in the air. She stopped and looked around, but saw nothing. For a moment she stood in the rain, ignoring the people passing by. The air felt as though the sun had warmed it, but that was ridiculous. It had been chilly a second ago, and there was no sun in sight.
But air didn't just warm up in the middle of a street.
She felt a slight throbbing in her temples and shook her head. Rika began to walk again, and the air returned to normal.
What was that?
As she walked home, she wondered if she had just imagined it. iIt was probably a heat radiator. Yeah, that's it./i She tried to push aside the thought. Rika had other things to do.
Rika changed into her usual attire at home and wore a rain jacket to go back outside again. Her grandmother called for her, but she responded by saying she'll be back in time for dinner. She put on the hood of the jacket and began to ride her bicycle to the Matsuki bakery. The smell of baked bread and warmth greeted her as she walked in. Takato's mother was standing at the counter, chatting with a lady. Rika waited until they finished, before asking, "Is Takato here? I need to talk to him."
"Of course he's here," answered Mrs. Matsuki. "Takato! You have a vistor!"
There was no response.
"Takato? Come down here right now," ordered Mrs. Matsuki. "Takato!"
Rika watched Mrs. Matsuki walk up the stairs and disappear from view. Her digivice beeped loudly. She took it out and realized something very wrong was happening. Her digital compass was swinging wildly in circles and the screen was flickering green.
What was happening to her D-Power? She frowned. This never happened to it before, so what could possibly be making it react so oddly?
"Takato's not in his room," said Mrs. Matsuki warily. The compass turned off as Mrs. Matsuki appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She had her hands on her hips and looked irritated, but Rika knew that facade well. Mrs. Matsuki was worried.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Matsuki," said Rika politely. "I'll go search for him."
"That's very nice of you but I don't think you should be wandering all over town. Wouldn't your mother be worried?"
Rika had forgotten that her mother was returning home early tonight because of the storm and felt a twinge of guilt. Her mother had become closer to her ever since the D-Reaper incident and, although she wouldn't admit it to many people, she enjoyed spending time with her mother -- as long as the dresses stayed packed away.
"I have a cell phone to contact her with. I'll be okay," reassured Rika.
When she left the bakery, she began riding to the park. She parked her bicycle by a tree and looked around. The rain was pouring harder than ever and it was making her search difficult. Her face and hands were wet and the handle bars were slippery -- but it was the dark that made it the most difficult. When she arrived at the park, Rika walked in the mud and puddles, squinting in the darkness. Rika called out his name but got no reply.
Where is he? she wondered.
Rika decided to look in Guilmon's hut but found it empty. The storm was pouring as hard as it could, so she took refuge inside the hut. Taking off her hood, she sat down and looked at the portal. It was still there, shining brightly as ever. Rika felt a strong urge to pull her hand out and just go in...
But she had to find Takato first.
She scowled. Takato picked the worst time to go running off.
Henry decided to tell his father about his idea.
"Dad? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure thing, son."
"Um, in private?" Henry pointed to his room. His father looked puzzled but followed him in.
Henry shut his door and took a breath.
"Dad, you remember Juggernaut, right?" It was a stupid question, because of course Henry's father knew of it. He helped program it to put them in this situation. Henry didn't want to blame his father but a selfish part of him did feel it was his father's fault.
His father's cheerful attitude changed almost instantly into a grim one.
"Henry, I told you we had no choice -- " His father's expression was so pained that Henry knew he couldn't be mad at him for it. He went on to explain.
"It's not about that," Henry interrupted. "I meant... if Juggernaut can be put in a Digimon, can't it be taken out?"
His father frowned.
"Well, I suppose you can, but Henry, Terriermon's in the Digital World. We can't reach there with the equipment to reverse the program."
"What if I can?"
"What?" His father looked completely surprised.
"I mean... what if Takato, Rika, and I could travel back to the Digital World? Could you be able to delete it somehow?"
"Henry, it's not so simple. Reversing Juggernaut is complicated. It may take weeks, even months, to complete it because of the way Juggernaut was built. Even if we could finish it in time, how could we send it to you?"
"Maybe... maybe you can send it the same way you sent Grani."
"The Ark? I don't know how we could do that. We don't have the money to make another Ark, or even send something to reverse Juggernaut.
"But can't you make some sort of program? Maybe on a card?" Henry was getting desperate now.
"A card with an algorithm? Shibumi's the expert on that, not me. Although... I'm not quite sure. Perhaps, but I can't be certain. It would take much longer than that red card Shibumi made. Maybe if I can contact him..."
His father snapped out of his musings and looked at Henry soberly.
"You're planning on going to the Digital World, aren't you?" he asked quietly.
Henry nodded.
"I don't know how this will be possible, but we'll try and see what we can do. I'll have to contact the others again..." Seeing Henry's hopeful face, he added grimly, "But Henry -- think about this. We don't have the money or maybe even the chance to build something like the Ark again home. What if we end up dragging something like the D-Reaper along? I can't let you go through this all over again."
"I don't know what will happen, Dad," answered Henry honestly. "But... I have to try. The portal might not be opened after tomorrow. Who knows when it will return?"
"Henry, I -- " his father sighed and looked out at the storm. "Look, I'll fight to get you back safely as possible but I just wanted to tell you... Things can't always be what we want."
"I iknow/i dad," said Henry. "But... please. I have to try."
Defeated, his father said reluctantly, "All right. I'll need to talk to Yamaki, though. What was that device he gave you to communicate with him?"
"Pyro sphere!"
"Terrier tornado!"
The long, android serpent gazed at them lazily, before electrifying them with lightning. Guilmon and Terriermon both cried out in pain before falling down. They were burned badly from the attack and despite their number, they were outmatched.
"We -- have -- to go -- and hide," panted Guilmon.
"Lightning javelin!"
They ran as fast as exhausted, starving Digimon could run, and the trees shielding them snapped in half from the icy blue whips of lightning.
"Hey -- look!" Guilmon pointed a claw at a pink moving data stream. "Let's -- go -- there."
"Good -- idea," said Terriermon in a strained voice.
"Lightning javelin!"
They ran and vanished within the stream, evading another attack just barely. Megaseadramon, who enjoyed toying with his prey, followed after them.
Episode Three: Plans, Part II
Takato had his goggles on as he walked in the apparently white oblivion. He had no idea how he had got here, especially since just five seconds ago he head been in his room preparing for his trip tomorrow. He had laid his digivice on his desk and the first thing that happened was that it began to flash green on its square screen. The word WARNING followed and the digivice screeched. Then the digivice began to heat up hotly, to the point where it scorched and Takato dropped it at once. Wisps of smoke rose from the digivice.
"Oh, man. Don't tell me it's broken," said Takato. He was gingerly holding his right hand as he examined it.
Suddenly, a blast of crimson light shot up from the screen and hit Takato's chest directly. He felt nothing, which he considered odd. However, something caught his eye.
His hand was beginning to fade.
"What's h-happening to me?" Takato's eyes widened as his arm began to fade as well. Soon his whole body vanished. His digivice faded in and out, as though matter was struggling to pull apart, and finally disappeared with Takato.
He didn't get a chance to hear his mother shout his name, for he entered something completely unlike Earth.
Now he walked around aimlessly, until he found his gold digivice resting on the floor.
Without warning, he found himself laying on his back, staring up at the infinite whiteness. How he got in the position, he had no idea, for he was eagle sprawled. Then, out of nowhere, red light shot up and circled his head. Feeling dazed and confused, he tried to move his head to sit up right and make sense of it. But his head would not follow his command. He tried moving his arm. It worked perfectly. The red light was still circling his head and it was beginning to frighten him. But his fear left him gradually, to the point where he actually welcomed it. The light embraced him in its warmth and comforted him considerably. He felt as ease, as though nothing could worry him. Even thoughts of Guilmon faded from his mind. Takato began to stop thinking and smiled. The feeling was calm, blissful, and nothing which he had ever felt before. Thoughts of Henry, Rika, their Digimon began to disappear like drawings erased. But he didn't care. He felt nothing and thought nothing.
Suddenly, the red light shot at his digivice and circled around it too. The feeling of numbness went away and quite sharply, his head began to ache. It dulled and ended up throbbing, but Takato was bothered. His mind was disoriented and made no sense as images popped up out of nowhere. The faces of people were blurred and the memories were hazy. They kept popping up and soon Takato lost track. Takato tried to ignore it and think of somthing else besides the constant pressure on his head. After a while, he became tired. He nodded off, his eyes opening and closing until they could not open any longer.
His head hit the wooden desk. He jerked awake and realized he was back in his room with his digivice in hand. The red light was gone. He wondered if he had been just dreaming it as he rubbed his head. The headache was gone, and so was that intangible feeling.
The door opened and his mother appeared. She looked at him sternly.
"Takato! Where were you? There was a visitor looking for you, you know. She's probably out in the rain, catching a cold. If you pull a stunt like that ever again -- "
It took a moment before he understood what his mother had just said.
"Someone was looking for me? Was it Rika?"
Ignoring his mother's lecturing, he dashed off.
"Takato! Come back here, young man!"
He went downstairs and called Rika's cell phone number.
"Hello? Who is this?" It was hard to hear because of the storm blaring in the background. His eyes widened slightly.
"It's me, Takato."
"Where were you! I can't believe you made me look for you. Where are you now?" She sounded very agitated.
"Rika? Are you still outside? I'm in my house. Why were you looking for me? Nevermind. Look, can you come back here? That weather looks nasty."
There was a pause on the line before she finally snapped, "Fine."
Takato hung up and looked out the window. How could Rika possibly imagine going out there to look for him?
But, he realized, he forgotten she had changed. She and Renamon had risked their only trip back to the Real World by rescuing Impmon, even if the chances were slim.
She really cares about all of us...
Rika walked into the Matsuki bakery, dripping wet and shivering involuntarily. Takato's mother was the first to notice and brought her a towel to dry herself with. Mrs. Matsuki handed her a mug of steaming tea and Rika said her thanks.
"Where were you?" Rika asked irritably as Mrs. Matsuki left. "Your mother said you weren't in your room."
"I know," said Takato. He looked at his digivice, which he was holding in his hands. He explained it as well as he could, but Rika couldn't fathom what he meant when he said, "I stopped thinking and feeling... Everything just went away. I can't describe it because when you feel like it, you know you feel it but... I don't know. This is confusing."
"It doesn't make any sense," she said honestly. Her gaze fell on his digivice. "But why would it circle around your digivice? You don't think it was messed with, do you?"
Nothing added up with what Takato told her. However, it worried her. Was the so-called light messing with her friend's head?
"Well, let me see," said Takato. He pressed several buttons but nothing looked out of the ordinary.
Rika saw it was getting late and stood up.
"I don't know what's going on, but maybe Henry has an idea. Maybe we should talk about this later. I have to get home to tell my parents I'm leaving to find Renamon." She put the towel on the table and added, "Tell your mother thanks for everything."
"Oh -- right," he said. Takato walked Rika to the door and said eagerly, "So do you think Henry's coming along too? Jeri's coming along, by the way."
Rika smiled. Unlike Takato, she didn't smile often. It wasn't natural for her to do it as much as he did. But it when it came naturally like it did now, she didn't mind.
"Probably," said Rika. "Call Henry and tell him to meet us after school tomorrow. I plan to go with or without him."
"Well, see you later!" shouted Takato but his voice was muffled by a rumble of thunder.
She rode home into the rain, her smile gone. It was hard enough to explain to your parents you'll be going off to the Digital World, but it was even harder when the fact remains that there would be no Renamon to protect her from wild Digimon. Rika placed her bike safely on the side of her house and she noticed from the windows that the lights were still on. When she walked in and took her sneakers off, her grandmother called her.
"Rika, is that you?"
"Yes, Grandma," she answered back.
There was the sound of hurrying footsteps and her mother appeared with her grandmother by her side. Her mother hugged Rika -- something she wasn't used to, and said softly, "Oh, Rika. I thought -- it doesn't matter now, but I'm so glad you're home. I couldn't bear the thought of you out there in that storm."
"Rumiko, let go of her. We need to get those clothes in the wash. You must be starving."
"I went to Takato's house," she said. "I went to tell him that I was going to look for Renamon and wanted to make sure we went at the same time."
She knew that they were confused so she explained about Takato's idea, Henry's and her's initial reaction, then the reasons why she chose to go with Takato.
"He's going to go no matter what. He's my friend and I want him to be safe," she said in what she hoped was a persuasive tone. "And I miss Renamon a lot. You don't know how much she means to me."
"Of course we do," said her mother. Her eyes softened and she brushed a stray strand of hair from Rika's face. "You're our daughter. We know how it feels when someone we love is gone for a long time."
"Oh, Mom," said Rika, feeling a little pink. She knew her mother was sincere but... she wasn't making it any easier to leave. "You know I have to then. Renamon's not just my partner. She's my best friend. I need to go and get her back."
"But, honey... It's so dangerous and you'll be by yourself," said her mother. Her violet eyes began to to glisten brightly. "I just don't want to lose you."
"Mom, I promise to come back," said Rika. She looked away from her mother, overwhelmed by such emotion. "Takato and Henry will make sure I'm safe. Jeri Katou's coming along too. Do you remember her? I won't be alone."
Her mother wiped her eyes with her sleeve and gave Rika a watery smile.
"You can go," said her grandmother.
"Really?" Rika said in surprise. She glanced at her mother, but she only nodded in agreement.
"We trust you to handle yourself, because we know you're capable of doing things other girls can't dream of. We'll support you as much as we can," said her grandmother.
"Just be safe," said her mother. Her expression was so filled with love that Rika never realized how much she needed it when she was younger. The younger version of herself would've scolded her, but now that she understood love, it made her feel stronger inside.
"I will," said Rika.
She couldn't promise it, but somehow, she knew she'd be safe.
Henry recieved a call from Takato about their meeting and fortunately, the storm had ceased that morning. He had talked to his father throughout the night and came to a plan. They would communicate with each other about the progress in the Digital World -- but since this communication would be limited, they would have to rely on the hope everything would go as smoothly as possible.
"Hey, Henry," greeted Takato. "Rika should be coming by now -- Jeri's coming too."
Henry couldn't help notice Takato's bulging backpack and said, "Bring much?"
"Heh," said Takato sheepishly. "I told my parents about it and they made me bring a lot of stuff. It'll probably get lost on the way there but at least we'll have food."
"It's okay," said Takato. "But since you're staying behind, can you tell Kazu and Kenta where we went when they come back?"
"Sure. Good luck."
Jeri walked away as Rika came over.
"Why's she leaving?" inquired Rika.
"She said she can't go," answered Takato.
Rika glanced at Henry.
"So you're coming?"
"Yeah. And I found a way we can bring them back for sure," said Henry. He lifted up his D-Power and told them about the plan.
His father had a brillant idea of installing a program onto his D-Power so that his father could send a download through it with his computer when it would be finished. It would act like an e-mail attatchment, and all Henry would have to do is slash the card his father made that would actually activate the program he sent on Terriermon. It would delete the Juggernaut system, making it safe for their Digimon to come back to the Real World.
"That's a good idea," remarked Rika. "But how'll we get home?"
"My dad's going to see if they could make something different this time, and less expensive. If they can somehow make something similiar to a data stream that would transport us to the Real World, it could be easier. Except it would only transport us. He said he'll look into it more, but it might not be final."
"Wow, Henry," said Takato, impressed. "You guys really thought of everything."
"Thanks," said Henry. He looked at his watch. "But shouldn't we be heading off to the Digital World now?"
"Yeah!" chorused Takato and Rika.
Terriermon rubbed his horn, as he had landed head first onto the ground. His eyes were closed from exhaustion and his stubby legs were sore from the chase. He tried to move away when Guilmon poked him with one of his sharp claws, but Guilmon's insistence made him open his eyes and snap, "What?"
"That," replied Guilmon, pointing his claw at Megaseadramon.
"Will we ever lose this guy?" asked Terriermon, mostly to himself.
"Lightning javelin!"
Guilmon ran but he was too slow -- the azure current shocked his hind leg and Guilmon fell on his stomach. Megaseadramon turned to Terriermon, and his eyes gleamed in greed.
"Lightning javelin!"
Terriermon weakly attempted to dodge it, but it caught him straight in the stomach; he landed on his bottom and his eyes squeezed shut.
"Henry," he murmured. He collapsed on his side and everything turned black.
Right when Takato was about to reach the portal, he halted. He hissed in pain as he made a move to grab his leg. Henry had stopped too, and had a similiar reaction.
"Takato? Henry? What's wrong with you two?" Rika crawled over to them.
They couldn't answer as they fell to the ground, faces twisting in pain. Takato clutched his leg, feeling the waves of pain washing over him in vertigo. Henry was no better off; his stomach was burning in sharp instances, like knives slicing through.
"Guys? Answer me!" Rika was beginning to panic. What was wrong with her friends?
A/N: Questions and comments are welcome. This was a lot longer because I pieced two parts together, and it took a while editing. Hopefully you enjoyed this installment and will review!
A preview for the next episode:
"Why can't you pick on someone your own size?"
The cyborg paused, as though considering whether or not this half-dead Digimon was worth an answer. He spoke in a harsh, flat voice, "You have something I want."
"Like what?" Terriermon asked loudly.
"Human data."