Regless: Okay big chapter today. I had to make it a little longer to get where I wanted to be.
Damerek:...Wait... you had a goal...? Holy Crap, someone mark this in the calander. Regless actually had a goal.
Black starts walking over to the calander with a marker: ...
Regless: He was being sarcastic dumbass!
Damerek: No I wasn't.
Demsius: I'm surrounded by morons. Well, anyway, I hope you ernjoy this chapter given how long it took.
Digital Hearts – World 02 – Errand Boy
Noone's POV
Kurashell walked back into the darkness, fresh from his whompin in the Card Captors World, not that you could tell. His body didn't have a single mark on it, nor was a hair out of place on his spikey head. Reseal greeted him coldly as he entered.
"Hey! You're finally back? Where's Lumiere?"
Reseal scowled at the fool casually reffering to his master. "I was done hours ago, I was just seeing the sights. And the Mistress has gone out in seach of other Heartless Lords."
"And she didn't invite me." The gunners head drooped. "Well good I wanna go back to Traverse town so can you hold down the fort so to speak."
"...Hmph. Why? We've already confirmed there's nothing there."
With that Kurashell's smile only grew. "Nothing realted to what you're looking for maybe... But I wanna go chat with Jaarin, and, well you know."
"Jeez, why the hell are you so laid back. Your Seal must be broken or something."
The gold haired fighter shrugged. "Ah who cares why I act like this. Just stay here and keep an eye on Sephiroth. Oh yeah, he should almost be done the transformation into a Demi-Heartless, so dun get too close. Okies? Okies!"
"...Hmph, how tough can that bastard be... He's just a world dweller... and he's totally insignificant."
"Maybe but Lumiere's thinking of getting more like him on our side."
Kurashell went to leave but his counterparts grip held him back. "...Are you serious?"
"Yep, but who knows, maybe the seal will reject him and he'll die."
Reseal's eyes narrowed as he pulled the laid back person's face level with his. "Is this... possible?"
"Nope." With a surprising amount of strength Kurashell twisted out of his allies grip. "Good luck."
Li's Mansion
A few hours later the Tamer's, Card Captors, and their respected friend were relaxing in front of the not so humble abode of Li's home. Jeri and Renamon were putting the twins plus Suzie to sleep, Kazu and Kenta were off lord knows where doing lord knows what. Mei-Lin angrily looking for the former. Yue, Ruby, Spinnel, and the newly aquatinted Kero had also gone off to get a snack.
Currently the only people in the room were the Tamers, Takato, Henry, Rika, and Ryo... As well as the Card Captors Sakura, Li, Madison, and Eli. Well Madison wasn't really a card captor but she made it clear she wasn't leaving the room in her own spooky way. They had just gotten through the explanations of each other's worlds, but now came the hard part.
"So what are the Heartless anyway."
Takato sweatdropped. "I have no idea."
"...Hmmgh." Li sighed. "That was helpful."
"Hey, I'm not a mind reader. Those things just came out of nowhere and destroyed our world in a few minutes."
"Not exactly." Eli said quietly. "They just covered it darkness. It's something that the Heartless do. And it's easily solved when you restore the Door of Darkness, which is what seals the Heartless."
"Gee, it seems so easy." Takato replied sarcastically.
"Hold on, it may seem hard but at least now we have an idea of what to do. We can safely assume that the place we ran through to get to here was the Door of Darkness."
"Didn't we brake that." Ryo questioned his fellow Tamers.
"...Oh crud."
"Hmm... You sure seem to know a lot." Rika said with her eyes closed, then opened it and aimed it at Eli. "Know anything else that can help us, like what the Heartless are."
Eli shook his head. "Afraid not. I just happened have heard of an adventure involving a young boy named Sora. I'm sorry, but I don't really know all that more than you."
"How about why I look like a circus performer?" Ryo asked. "And not to mention Rika's magic abilities, and the fact that our Digimon now double as coasters."
"I hope Terriermon didn't hear that."
"Well you must admit it would make more sense than them staying they are. Data can't have an organic form in this world. It goes against the laws of science, and magic. And as for Rika's Magic abilities, I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that either. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."
"Uh, well maybe you can." Takato started. "You see, we're missing two of our friends. I noticed it earlier when I was helping Jeri with the twins. Calumon and Impmon are-"
"-Not in this world. I would be able to sense them. Again, I am sorry. It seems my news is nothing but grim today."
"Then perhaps I might have better news." Renamon stated. She was the only card active, since she was more house-friendly than the glutton Guilmon or Pwincess Pwetty Pants Terriermon. "I found these inside the Heartless I crushed."
"Hey Renamon." Takato glanced over as the kitsune and Eli exchanged hands. "Do you think that thing stayed down... or not."
"This one did, But I encountered one in our world that put up a much harder fight."
"No kidding." Takato responded before his mind actually had time to tell him to keep his big mouth shut.
"What do you mean by that?" Renamon asked.
Rika's eyes wandered over to him as well. "...Takato... You weren't following me... were you."
As the gogglehead started to blush at how absurd this was beginning to sound, he looked to his friends for help... Some help... The look in their faces told him they wanted to know just as bad as Rika.
Crap...
"Oh ho ho ho... A stalker."
Gee thanks Madison. Eh, hey Sakura and Li are staring at me too. Shoot how am I going to get out of this one.
"Oh I remember that." Jeri laughed cutely as she entered the room. "Ms. Asagi told us about it."
Huh? About what?
Jeri smiled recalling earlier events.. "Takato chased a little creature into the classroom in his Pajama's. She thought you made up the creature as an excuse."
The sock puppet continued on in Jeri's place. "Silly Takato. Ruff."
"She told you about that?" Takato's head drooped .
"Of course, she said it was the first time she ever saw you get to class early."
"I think I heard something about that in my class too." Henry laughed. Plus I saw him go after it.
Ryo grinned. "Takato, I know your serious about being a Tamer, but pants before battle is always a good idea."
"And I thought some of my school days were bad." Rika exclaimed.
"..." Renamon just stared at Takato, both accepting the explanation and still creeping him out.
"Hmm, I see." Eli exclaimed. The rest of the children looked over to see what he had in his hand. The blue haired boy pointed to one item, a jagged, solid, white object. "This appeared to be part of the Door of Darkness. Looks like you're closer to your goal than you realize."
"What about the other thing." Ryo asked immediately moving on."
"Ah this... This is a surprise for tomorrow. May I ask you for one of your Digimon Cards." Eli politely held out his free hand towards Sakura. She gave him a card without any hesitation, which struck Takato as odd since Rika was usually very proud of her deck... until he realized her deck was a lot bigger than what it usually was.
"Hey! That's mine!"
"Relax Takato. I gave him one of your weaker ones. That reminds me, here's your deck back." Rika had kept her deck over Takato's so it would be easy to separate. Takato grabbed them hastily and stuffed them in his back pocket.
"Yeah but-"
"Don't worry Takato. Here." The gogglehead turned around to see Jeri holding her LadyDevimon card out to him. "It's... It's not like I can use it anymore." She said smiling. Despite her efforts to sound cheery her voice shook through that entire sentence. Everyone could tell it hurt her to say that.
"Jeri... Umm, thanks. I promise I won't lose it."
"Better duct tape it to your forehead then." Rika said quickly.
"If you want this card back, It'll be ready for you tomorrow morning. Now I suggest we all head off and get some sleep."
"Sounds good to me." Henry groaned, the day had been long and tough on him. Takato mimicked the sound in support while Rika was a bit annoyed at their lack of stamina.
While the two boys made their way to the door Yue stepped inside. "If you no longer need my services Sakura, I would like to return home. Julian will need quite an explanation."
"Who?" Takato asked.
"Oh Julian. He's the one in control when Yue sleeps. Maybe I can introduce you later." Sakura replied.
"Are all the guardians like that?"
"Nope, just Yue." Li stated.
Sakura shook her head to the angel. "It's alright, and thanks for all your help today."
"Yeah I really owe you one." Takato added remembering his close call with the insane gunner Kurashell.
"I think I should probably take my leave as well. Madison, Sakura, given the circumstances I would think I would like to walk you home."
Li stood up casually. "Actually, I'll do it."
"Don't worry you guys. I've got Kero and Yue so I'll be fine."
"But I'll take you up on that offer. Oh ho ho." Madison's haunting laugh echoed about the room. Again, the only person not bothered by it was the blue haired magician.
"Excellent. Ruby, Spinnel, we're leaving. It was nice to meet all of you. Good night."
"Good night"
Later that Night
Getting to sleep was no easy task. You could ask anybody in the house. Despite the exhaustion his mind was still active, a first if you every asked Ms. Asagi. The concept of new worlds was too unreal still. That's why he had to get up, Kazu that is. He didn't have to do anything afterwards, he just had too... be up. So of course the next logical step for any boy was to head to the fridge and promptly raided it. When he went to sit down in the living room couch however there was already somebody waiting for him.
"Ai? Isn't it way past your bed time."
"Well yeah, but I couldn't sleep and Mako keeps hogging all the blanket."
For a moment Kazu debated putting her back to bed, but that wouldn't help with her temporary insomnia and it sounded like kind of a bother to him. "Alright, pull up a seat. I got snacks. What seems to be keeping you up."
Ai did as she was told explaining as she tried to climb the couch. Kazu helped her up. "I told you, Mako. Oh and I'm a little worried about Impmon."
"Ah don't worry. I'm sure Impmon's fine."
Ai looked at the older auspiciously. "...Oh! No that's not what I meant. I mean I'm worried that he causing problems for someone. He can be a real handful. I tried to give him a bath one time... that didn't work out to well." The girl twiddled her thumbs remember all the kicking, swinging, and running around that little incident caused. And the fires! Oh lord the fires...
The visor Tamer laughed inwardly at Ai's attempt to sound grown up. "Yeah, you got a point there. Hey if you ask Henry, maybe he'll give you his training grips card. That should hold Impmon still."
"Umm, but I... don't know... how to use any cards."
"Really? Well have you ever thought of having Rika or Ryo teach you? They're the best."
Ai shook her head. It was rare but occasionally her and Mako tagged along with Impmon and hung around with us, so she knew roughly our skills in the card game. "Those guys always go too fast. I never know what's going on till the end. Hey, why don't you teach me."
Kazu was taken aback. He hadn't gotten a request to teach somebody since his first met Kenta and Takato." Huh? Well... sure why not. Show me the cards you got."
The Next Morning
"Hmmm." Takato's eyelids closed and opened.
Despite being physically exhausted he still didn't get much sleep. Something was bothering him and it had been since he saw Li and Sakura together. He glanced around the room to see who else was still sleeping. Next to him Henry opted a glance.
"Awake already?"
"I never slept. Busy thinking about Mom and Dad and everyone back home." The blue haired Tamer replied. "You?"
Takato blushed a bit. There was no way he was gonna tell Henry what he was really thinking about. "Uh, same as you. Just... mom and dad... and Kai and Ms. Asagi... and Yamaki and Riley and Tally."
Henry chuckled. "Wow, sounds like a lot to think about."
"It is. Umm, I'm gonna get up now."
"Knock yourself out." The later responded tiredly.
As Takato got up he looked around to see who else, if anyone was up. It was pretty unlikely since it wasn't like any of them had school or anything. They had all crammed into a spare guest room and not bothered to change out of their clothes... Except Rika. Who had borrowed a pair of jeans and a dark green T-shirt with black sleeves. She also had Ryo in a headlock which caused Takato giggled inwardly. They were just to cute to wake up.
I wonder what they're dreaming about.
"I... holding 'em still.... Get e... Renamon." The girl moaned. Takato shook his head.
Wow she even fights in her sleep.
Kenta's head was being crushed by Kazu's elbow. And Jeri was sharing her portion of the blanket with Mako. It looked like there was extra space for where Ai was suppose to be but she was instead curled up with Kazu.
Huh? How did that happen. He's on the other side of the room. Well at least Jeri's asleep so I can ask Li without worrying about being interrupted.
"Hey Renamon. Are you awake?"
The kitsune appeared by the door. "Is something wrong Takato?"
"No, I was just wondering if you saw Rika and her teddy bear."
Renamon nodded. "I thought about waking them up, but I'd fear for Ryo's saftey."
"Oh... The can I do it?"
"...That sounds cruel..." Renamon paused "...Should we bother waking everyone else up first?"
"In a moment. There something I gotta ask Mr. Li first." Takato said racing out of the room.
Li and Meilin had already gotten changed for school that day and were in the middle of breakfast. That did little to deteur our little gogglehead though as he walked straight up to the other brunette and got his attention.
"I realize this may seem like a weird question. But how did you tell Sakura you liked her?"
"Pffft." Madison sprayed her juice all over the table while Li blushed visably, looking at Takato like he was insane.
"Something on your mind?" Li asked sarcastically.
"Well..." Takato started. He was hoping to get a quick answer so he could go back and find Jeri, but in retrospect that was kind of a moronic idea. "...Do you remember Jeri from yesterday." Takato waited a second while he confirmed the two in front of him assured him they knew who he was talking about. "Well.... I've had this... crush on her. And I've kinda had it for a while... a very... long while. I tried telling her once but that... didn't go so well."
"Did she reject you?" Meilin asked, not bothering with that annoying thing called tact.
"Well, no. You see, it wasn't her." Li and Meilin gave me confused glances. "It's... a long story."
"Hmmm." Li had his arms folded and I could tell he was giving it some serious thought. "Why don't you just-"
"Time to go Li."
"Uraagh." Li yelled as Mei-Lin grabbed his arm and bolted for the door. Takato made a mental note that while Mei-Lin didn't have any magical power, she could easily be more dangerous than Rika. "Sorry Takato. Try-Sakura-if-you-can-catch-her-before-she-leaves."
-Slam- And Li was out of sight... Well since that was about all Takato could do there, he had best leave as soon as possible to catch Sakura. Thankfully he remembered the general area of her home... but first...
"Alright is everyone except you know who awake?" Takato asked, with almost all his friends lining him on either side.
"Check!" Henry stated, a little more light-hearted than he had been this morning.
"Camera?" Takato asked again.
"Check." Kenta readied the digital device, but his awkward manner told everyone how nervous he was. "Ummm, Takato. Aren't we gonna die if we do this."
"Shows what you know four-eyes." Kazu smirked. "Rika's gonna be too busy trying to kill Ryo to come after us."
"Are you sure it's alright to leave him like
that though."
"All fair in love and war." Jeri chimed.
Takato tilted his head. "Which one is this again?"
Kazu shrugged. "We'll figure it out later. Just hurry up and take the picture before she wakes up."
"Alright, alright." Kenta took the picture a second later and due to the flash, both children started stirring. Kenta was out of the room in about two seconds. Kazu, being the faster runner, was easily ahead of him.
"Well I gotta go too." Takato said a little nervously.
"Don't tell me your afraid too?" Henry asked.
"Well, maybe a little. But actually I was hoping I could talk to Sakura about something. See ya later. Oh and let me know if Rika kills Ryo."
"Will do." The kids responded at once.
The first Rika did when she woke up is stretch her arms as many do in such a situation. But it was a little awkward given that something was weighing her right arm down. With her vision still blurry from an excellent night sleep she was half expecting it to be a leg one of the other tamers. Casually Rika pushed it off only to have it groan at her.
"Monodramon I'm awake already so quit i...uh..."
As Rika's vision improved she was able to get a better look at the weight. It no longer looked like a leg, but that was hardly of concern now. She recognized the voice. And while most of her features went white there some color left in her cheeks from embarrassment.
"Uh, hey Wildcat." The Legendary Tamer murmured, for once losing his composure. Rika pushed off of him and he supported the action whole-heartedly, doing whatever he could to lessen the inevitable puinishment.
"Alright Akiyama-"
"Uh, you mind if I write a will first before you kill me."
Rika's response was a lunging dive that Ryo rolled away from. "Can I assume that's a 'no'?"
"...Akiyamaaaa..." Rika lunged at the Tamer again, unfortunately moving around so much just after waking up wasn't exactly her best thought this morning. Her aim ended up slightly off, hindered by a dizzy spell. She still managed to hit Ryo but...
"Weren't we just in this position?" Ryo asked, his head still being shoved into the carpeting.
"Shut up Akiyama." Rika responded.
"You know, it wouldn't kill you to use my first name." Ryo said sullenly, rolling his eyes up and to the side. He hadn't bothered to push Rika off yet, if he did she'd just lunge at him again. "......I'm going to get hit again aren't I..."
As the Legendary Ryo anticipated her girl on top of him already had her arm drawn back. And she really did intent to smack him one for invading her personal space. It wasn't so much what he did, as the fact that it was him doing it. But there was something in his voice that made her think twice. He still still hadn't bothered to look at her, he was just staring off into the corner, thinking of who knows what. If she hit him now he'd never see it coming.
- Plick -
"Owww! You... flicked me? What gives." The brown haired boy asked as Rika began to get up.
"I just remembered that I owed you one for your help at the Door of Darkness. Don't let it get to your head or anything but we would've been a bunch of distant memories if Cyberdramon didn't Digivolve when he did. I forgot to say thanks earlier..." She kept her foot on her rival, as insurance he wouldn't go for the door.
"Well, you know how it is."
Actually maybe I should thank my other partner for that.
"Just one thing though..." She pressed down a bit making sure Ryo would take this seriousally"...Don't tell anyone about this. I don't wanna have to fend off any weird accusations."
"Deal!" Ryo stuck out his hand straight up.
Rika stared at it for a second before accepting it. Finally, a civil exchange with the Akiyama boy. To Rika's surprise it was surprising more comfortable than she envisioned, and long overdue given recent events. She got up dusting herself off, not that there was really a need to. The place was always clean. She lifted her head, finally able to get on with her day, although she still felt a little dizzy. Like something had woken her up from her sleep rather than her just waking up naturally. She took one step and almost stumbled back.
"Henry? How long have you been here?"
The blue-haired Tamer open his mouth to speak when a small freakishly dog-like sock puppet cut him off. "Ruff- How was your sleep Rika?"
The female Tamer groaned. "Today's going to be a long day."
Takato raced down the street. It felt good to be outside in the sunshine again. Even if he was still a bit tired the fresh air felt good. Plus the slight fear of Rika and... Ryo. But mainly Rika, or at least her Rika slender brick-like fists. The walkway he on was coming to a road, now if memory served him correctly, he had to turn left here. Pity he noticed something before he got there. He didn't have a shadow, or to be more specific, it was being overlapped by something.
That's strange, I didn't notice any clouds on my way h-ERGH
"Gotcha!"
Of course his first thought was the Rika had caught up with him, but then he remembered she isn't that violent or obsessive. Plus the voice he heard was definitely a guys, which made him sweatdrop a little, and assumig Rika's weight was close the that of his other friends, this guy was crushing... his... head.
I'm dead. Ugh, hang on, that voice sounds familiar.
"Easy Tory, what do you have there."
Takato felt the weight on his back shift a bit as the dark haired boy on top of him glanced back. "Julian, it's just you. This is the kid I told you about yesterday."
Julian sidestepped to get a better look at the boy. All he needed to see though was the goggles. "Takato I presume?"
At about this moment Sakura came racing round the corner. The late night had caused her to oversleep and now she was trying to make up for lost time. Granted, she no longer had the same feelings for Julian she once did, but meeting him every morning at the same time and the same place had become an enjoyable moment for both of them. It was a habit they treasured, just like each others company. This time however she was forced to a skidding halt about two centimeters from Takato's face. The Tamer coughed out a bit of dirt.
"Ummm...What's going on?"
Takato dusted himself off, away from Tory. The tension was still thick enough to crush marshmallows and Tory's suspicious stare was only making it worse. Takato stepped back a little bit, then the boy called Julian stepped in front protectively. The Tamer took another look at him.
So this is the Julian Sakura told me about earlier. He seems more pleasant than Yue.
"So that's you'r cousin from out of town?" Tory asked. Eyeing Julian. He had a laid back manner about him, almost like he was ready to believe anything as long he could get on with his day. To bad looks can be decieving. "You too... don't look anything alike."
"Uh, distant cousins." Julian clarified.
"Hmmm, where do you live again?" Tory question the young boy suspiciously.
"Uh, Shinjuku, in Tokyo."
"And your parents are..."
"Mom and Dad? Uh, Yoshie and Takehiro. They're still over there. I came here with my friends."
"And who are-"
"Before you ask. My name's Takato. Sorry about yesterday, It was an accident of where I ended up." Takato bowed to hide the blush forming as he remembered that scene. "And I'm sorry about the damage I did too but I knew if you caught me you'd call my parents and that's really not the most comforting thing in the world, Believe me." Takato paused remembering Guilmon's little excursions to school.
"How would you-"
"Believe it or not I really didn't mean to do any harm it just somehow at the moment, jumping through a window seemed the only logical thing to do."
"Don't worry. Dad's fine, and if you really want to apologize you can help put in the new window after school today."
Takato nodded eagerly. "Sure sounds great, uh, er... That is, if your brother will have me."
"What do you say Tory?"
Tory blinked, showing mild surprise, which is about as much as surprise as he shows. Something was definitely at hand. There was no way that kid was Julian's cousin, and for some reason Sakura was defending him. They must have re-met yesterday or something. There was another problem too. This wasn't a big interesting town, (Unless you're Tory's little sister) it was a small little out of the way place. Who would want to take a vacation here. And finally there was just something about this kid. Weather it was his sense of fashion or how he handled himself, there was just something off about him.
"Fine, Just one more question."
"Shoot." Takato chirped back.
"Just how do you fall into someone's room when it's on the 2nd story?"
Awww nuts.
"Well you see-"
"Tooooory"
The older boy froze. It can't be her.
Unfortunately for him it was her. A long brown-haired girl virtually ran him over and tackled him to ground. 'Hey! It's me and Guilmon' Takato thought.
"Get off."
While Takato grinned, the older gent pushed himself back up. "What are you doing here?"
"Making sure you're not late for class." Ruby grinned, then started shoving Tory forward from behind. Takato was quite happy with how that worked out, and despite how familiar this new 'Ruby' looked, he was willing to leave it at that... until she turned and with that same all knowing cocky grin, winked at Takato.
"...Butterfly Lady?"
"Hmm?"
Tory started to turn around, so Ruby shoved harder... much harder. In fact, within seconds she was carrying him and leaving a dust trail they bolted around a corner and Julian started to jog along in pursuit. Turning only to waved bye to his friends. Takato and Sakura waved back, almost being crushed by the weight of their collective sweatdrop.
"You... know some pretty interesting people."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it." Sakura replied rubbing the back of her head, a bit embarressed by her friends behavior. She started to gain distance as her rollerblades began guiding her to school once more.
"Does your brother know?" Takato asked following.
"Mmmm-hmmmm. Maybe not the specifics but he knows some things."
"I see. I bet it helps having so many people help you out. I know I never would've lasted if it weren't for Rika and Henry."
Sakura nodded. "The cards help me out too."
"...Umm. Hey Sakura?"
"Yeah? What's up?"
Takato was already twitching, his normally carefree demeanor was replaced by an awkward one. "Uh, we might as well keep walking, this might take a bit."
Sakura took the suggestion, and now devoted her full attention on the Tamer. Takato, however, was silence by his own uneasiness, and it wasn't that suprising. How do you ask for advice on the opposite gender from someone you didn't even know more than a day or two ago. The task was a daunting one, and the prospect seemed unreasonable.
"So, what did you want to ask me?"
"Well, uhhh."
Sakura chuckled. "You know, if you never ask, you'll never find the answer."
Takato turned to the girl, a little surprised. "...Yeah I guess your right. Okay so there's this girl, right? And I kinda like her... a lot."
"I'm with you so far."
Takato nodded and continued, not sparing the hand gestures of course. "But here's the thing. She think of me only as a friend and I kinda wanna be...ah well, what's higher than a friend."
"Girlfriend for you."
Takato paused. "Uh, is there anything between those two?"
Sakura giggled. "Have you considered just telling her?"
Takato scratched his head. "Well yeah, but here's the thing. One time I got turned down even though I was talking about something completely different, and another time I told her how I feel and I think the exact words out of her mouth were all humans desire destruction or something like that."
Sakura arched a brow. "...Is that how you phrased it?"
"Eh? Err, no! Of course not. As it turns out I was talking to an evil clone. I have the worst luck when it comes to things like that."
"I see. That clears it up. Rika's kind of intimidating but I didn't think she'd be the kind to say something like that."
"Yeah Rika's..." Takato paused for a moment as he realized what Sakura had said. "...not... who I'm talking about. I meant Jeri!"
Sakura flushed. "Er, sorry. My mistake, but she seemed so easy to talk to... except for that sock puppet. Where did that come from?"
The Tamer shrugged. "I dunno. She's had it as long as I can remember. At first I thought it was cute but now... well, it's still cute and a bit creepy too, but it only adds to her personality. Still every time I've gotten the guts to tell her something happens, and that's not very often. I was hoping you'd have some advice for me."
Sakura was taken aback. Surely one of his other friends would've been better choices since they have the advantage of knowing them for longer. "Eh? Well, why are you asking me. Wouldn't Henry be a better choice."
Takato shook his head. "Henry's had lot's of admirers (Especially after the D-Reaper) but he's never had a crush."
"Kazu?"
The mop-headed boy grimaced. "He'll mock me, I know he'll mock me."
"Kenta?"
"He'll tell Kazu then they'll both mock me."
Sakura thought for a moment. She couldn't very well expect him to get advice from the younger Tamers. "Ryo."
The Tamer took this one seriousally. "Ryo's cool, but he's been hit twice in the last week. Plus I'm not as cool or as well known as he is."
"Umm, Rika?" Sakura asked hesitant. By now she had realized Takato probably already had a reason for not asking her too."
"I think it would be better if I asked someone that actually knew a little about being a girl... Uh, don't tell her I said that either."
Sakura sighed. "Sorry Takato, I don't have any special advice. I think you should just try telling her again. Even if she turns you down that doesn't mean her feelings won't change. Li and I used to argue a lot."
Takato arched a brow. "You two? I find that a little hard to believe."
"It's true. We first met as rivals just after first released the card... I had no idea what I was doing, compared to Li who's a direct desencent of Clow Reed. He even tried to take my cards."
It'll probably be better if I didn't mention the fact that I had a dream about him. Sakura thought to herself.
The gogglehead laughed. "That sounds like how Rika and I first met. In our world one Digimon can load the data of another. And it wasn't very long before she and Renamon came around looking for Guilmon's data after he was born and I became a Tamer. "
Actually, I guess I first met Rika in a dream, but I don't think that counts since she didn't even realize I was there.
Sakura cringed at the thought of Renamon pounding the lovable reptile. "How'd you get out of that one? She doesn't seem like the kind that would give up."
"No kidding. I made Guilmon extra strong but compared to the Digimon queen it still would have been a short fight if it got drawn out. That's about when I got to know Henry better. He kinda came to my rescue back then. How 'bout you? It sounded like you didn't really stand a chance against Li back then."
The brunette nodded. "Tory. He just ran up and leaped the fence. For a moment it looked like Li was actually going to fight him but he backed off when Julian showed up."
"Really, Li doesn't strike me as the kind who would go away easily... Hmmm, I think he reminds me of someone else I know."
"The Heartless?"
Takato smirked. "I was gonna say Terriermon. He's Henry's partner and a bit of a jokester."
"Maybe Rika will awaken all the spirits for a meet and greet when I get back from school."
"Eh school? This place?"
Takato arched a brow, surprised at just how quickly the two seem to reach the building. Better known as a slave house by many of it's inhabitants. Takato, on the otherhand recognized it as a shooting gallery, the same place he had encountered Kurashell the night before. Nothing had been clean up and the evidence of the battle, from a damp field to a gaping hole in the wall, was left for the students to gawk at.
"Takato? Are you alright, you look a bit pale."
The Tamer sweatdropped. "Ehh Me. Yeah sure, I just, forgot I had some things to do today."
Sakura's head tilted. "Running around again already? Well, okay, just don't push yourself too hard. And I'll see you after school."
"Alright, see ya."
No sooner had Takato disappeared around the nearest corner Sakura's friends Rita and Nikki came running toward her to inform her of the unusual happenings at school.
"Hey Sakura, you'll never believe it. Someone blew up the science class."
"Zachery was there last night too. He said it was a giant rat making his nest."
Elsewhere Takato was catching his breathe when a light tap alerted him to Eli's presence. "Huh? Do you go to this school too?"
The blue haired boy adjusted his glasses. "I used to before I moved. Actually I was looking for you. Mind if we take a walk."
Walking with Eli was like a test of silence. He didn't say where they were going. Just that he'd like to 'walk' with them. I glanced to the side to see how the rest of the Tamers were dealing with it. Henry looked calm and interesting. Knowing him he already had his own theries as to what was going on. On Takato's other side, Rika was well... Rika. She didn't seem to appreciate being dragged around everywhere, but then again she was already annoyed when he first saw her. Plus she kept sneaking in glaces towards Henry. That could only mean one thing...
"Hey Rika. How did you sleep last night."
"Er- Don't tell me you knew about it too!"
"Even better." Henry stated. "I forgot to tell you this earlier but we got pictures."
"Just great" The female shook her head. Takato and Henry snickered a bit, while expecting to get a light shot in the arm. Instead Rika did something even scarier though... she smiled. "Well if you must know I was fine. Ryo had a major crick in his neck though. Why, you wanna switch places or something?"
I gulped. That would put me on the same side of her that Ryo was on. (I was on her left while Ryo was on her right last night) "Uh no thanks. I think I'll just sleep on a sharp pointy rock, less painful, you know." Now he got the shot in the arm.
"Hmph, what do you mean by that?"
"Hey come on you too." Henry said chuckling. "Rika you wouldn't wanna accidentally send Takato to the hospital."
"Hey!" The gogglehead cried out in protest.
"And Takato you wouldn't want to end up in the hospital."
Takato and Rika both folded their arms. "Not funny."
"Catch!"
The Tamers glanced ahead to spot three orance aimed at each of them. Henry's martial arts training allowed him to catch the item in front of his face with next to no real effort. Rika dodged it, to let Renamon phase in behind her and catch it. Takato tried to copy Henry and got hit in the head. On the up side, he still got it befor hit hit the ground.
"Oh my appoligies Renamon, I forgot you were watching us." Eli picked another orange off the tree he was hanging off of and tossed it to Rika. Then got a fifth for himself. "Nothing beats fresh picked manderins."
"Mmmm." Rika mumbled in fustration. "Enough of this walking around to nowhere. What did you want to talk to us about already?"
"I must admit, I'd certainly like to know to." Henry added.
"Huh? Uh yeah, and could I get another Manderin for Guilmon. I want to see if like stuff other than bread and peanut butter."
"Of course." Eli tossed another orange to Takato. This one, he caught. "And as for what you're doing here. I think I know why you're Digimon turned into cards."
"...We're listening."
Eli nodded, setting himself nicely up on a branch. "Alright, you said in your world Digimon, and after a while your own bodies, we're made out of data. Here, Tecknology doesn't work that way and neither does magic. If you stayed the same, you would have died."
"That's... comforting... I think." Takato said shyly. Rika and Henry shook their heads.
"No, it's not."
"But if that's the case then why are we alive." Renamon asked.
"It came to me last night." Eli went on. "Alledgedly, their was a boy who could call on other's who had their worlds completely destroyed by the Heartless. Apparently they survived because they changed into something else, and were used as summoned monsters."
Takato rubbed his head. "But... we aren't summoned."
"Unless you're reffering to me." Renamon said.
"Please, wait till I am finished. The summoned monsters were from the strongest hearts of various worlds. I believe that the reason you are still walking around is because your hearts support each other. In other words, it's imperative that you stay together in the same world."
"Are you sure about this?" Rika asked
Eli nodded. "I think it's the most likely explanation."
Henry nodded. "I can understand that, but then how come Rika became a card captor while the rest of us are just... normal."
"A heart isn't at it's best all the time. Sometimes it becomes weak and faulters. When that happens it's up to those close to you to pick up the slack, and in this case it was Rika. That is why she stayed closer to her Sakuyamon form than the rest of you."
"...Uh, hey Rika. Can you summon Guilmon for me. I think this might be the longest he's been without food."
"He's a spirit Gogglehead."
"Somehow I doubt that matters to him." Henry replied chuckling.
"...Takato... Can I speack to you privately?"
The mop head was suddenly distracted from trying to get Rika to take his card as he faced Eli. "Huh, what about?"
"..."
Rika frowned. "Eh? Weren't you the one that was going on about how we should stick together?"
"..."
"He-"
"Come on Rika." Henry interupted, turning around and winking at her as he did so. The vulpine Tamer got the hint.
"Alright, fine."
Eli didn't flinch until the two children were out of his sight, then he adressed Takato. "...You should be careful. A Heart of Darkness can be a dangerous thing."
Takato stepped back and immediately felt his back pocket for the trinket he picked up in the void world. Somehow, Eli wasn't seeming all that pleasant at the moment. He was inducing a fear similar to the first time Guilmon digivolved. "Errr, I'm not sure I understand."
In an instant, the boy seemed likeable again as he laughed. "Don't worry about it too much. Everyone has different abilities, like Rika's magic for example. I'm not sure what happened in your own world but you have a very dangerous trait called a Heart of Darkness."
The gogglehead blinked dumbly. "Uh, trait?"
"Yes. Names for specific bits of the way you exist. I used my magic last night to analyze your group. That's how I knew to approach you, Henry, and Rika first. You all have a number of traits. You yourself, Takato, are naturally aligned with fire, Dragons, Knights, Angels, you're slightly artistic, and can cook a little, namely pastries."
"Wow... you're good."
Eli's smiled continued. "At times when your heart's stronger, these traits will come out more. Who knows, if you came at a later time, you might have been a Clow Card yourself. Or Maybe I should call it a Rika Card."
"That's sounds dull." Takato remarked. A second later an ornage hit him in the head, as if remanding him. He shrugged it off easily. "Uh, but that Heart of Darkness you were mentioning..."
"Hmm hm hm. It simply means you're more likely to end up on the side of darkness. It shouldn't be too bad though, you'll still be responsible for your own actions."
"I see... If your telling me this then you're... probably going to be sending us off soon aren't you."
Eli's smile faded. "I believe it would be best if you worked towards restoring the Door of Darkness. But if your concerned I will force you away, don't waste your strength. Your welcome to take your time to recover here and if you ever find your way back you'll be free to stay anytime. Everyone I've seen seems to enjoy the company of you and your friends... Except for Meilin. She seems to hate Henry for some reason."
"...Thanks Eli. This really means a lot to us."
"I should be thanking you since you're still willing to take on the Heartless even after your first encounter. But you're welcome, as I suspect your friends are. You can tell them they can stop hiding in the tree now." Eli said smiling kindly as he glanced to the side.
As if on cue. Henry fell out, followed by Rika, and Renamon landed gracefully on top of the pack. Takato just sweatdropped with a half-grin.
...Wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
Well after a bit more talking with Eli. It was decided the Tamers would depart again on the following morning. Since the Tamers were able to get into the world it was a fair bet that barrier between worlds was down. Eli said he had a spell that could allow them to get back into the 'space between'. In the mean time though, Takato had gone off to deliver a very awkward apoligy to Sakura's father and help him install the new window. Rika had decided to go back the Li's place and Henry decided to explore a little before
When Rika returned, she was a little surprised to see Eli was already there, along with Li and Meilin. Apparently school was cancelled due to extreme damage to the interior of the building. (Curtosy of Kuri Kuri who couldn't follow a direction to save his life) Jeri was bringing out a pletter with a tea kettle and a few cups on it. As for Kazu and Kenta, they played a round of Digimon with Li and Meilin, won, then did what any self respecting kid would do with no school and promptly fell back asleep.
"Wwwhat's? going on?" The red head asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine, he won't say." Li replied.
Eli smiled. "I'm here to return that card I borrowed from you, as well as that other item."
Meilin started grinding her teeth. "Great, now he starts talking."
"Just let me set everything down first." Jeri asked.
Suzy came running into the room chasing Ai and Mako. She stopped silently when she noticed Rika, then sped up again when she realized Henry wasn't with her. Rika was eternally grateful at how quickly they had adapted, especially Suzy. She must get some of her brothers maturity. After everyone had helped themselves, Eli placed two cards down on the table. One was Takato's Guilmon, the other looked like a bizare turquoise robot with a halo crudely attached, black wings, a green jacket and the words;
"Canti?"
Eli nodded. "He must be from another world that was attacked by the Heartless. I used my magic to turn him into Digimon Card so that you may use him."
Rika plucked the card off the table and admired it for a moment. For a second she thought she might be able to use it against Ryo, but that wasn't likely. It had no attack power listings just an 'Effect' box and a few words underneath it that Rika decided to read aloud.
Canti
Effect: Fighter
A Supposedly High Performance Robot from the Medical Mechanica. He was used to activate the various MM iron plants and raze planets. He also has some of the power of Atomsk. Has various non-combat skills and is a little inept.
"This is... weird." Rika murmered, before readressing Eli. "I wonder how effective it is."
Eli sighed as he got up and gingerly took the card from Rika, who glared at him momentarily. "Sometimes it's best not to overload yourself. Actually, I had hoped Jeri would use this."
"Eh, you mean like... my partner." Jeri asked, surprised by suddenly being the center of attention.
"Yes, although it would go away when the door of Darkness is repaired, creatures like Canti would essentialy be your partners. It would require your own strength to use them and you can only use one at a time. I... think it would be better than someone who already had a partner."
There was a few seconds of silence. "I'll... need to think about it."
"That's understandable, but I'm afriad I must rush you a bit since you'll be leaving here tomorrow."
"..." Jeri got up and preceeded to the door. "Ruff- Rika, Li, can you watch the children. Jeri thinks she needs some air."
Eli sighed again as he heard the door close. "I was hoping things would go smoother than that."
Rika folded her arms. "Hmph, I thought that went pretty well actually. Just remember. Leomon didn't go of old age or anything, he was murdered. It wasn't easy for any of us, but it hurt her especially. Jeri's come a long way since then but still..."
"...I see. Well, sorry for bothering you, but I must depart now to prepare for tomorrow. I will see you soon."
As Eli left Rika returned to her current task and sweatdropped every so slightly.
"...Uh, Renamon, Could I borrow your help.... I'm not very good with children."
Takato was on his way back after helping reinstall the window he had removed. Unfortunately he couldn't help pay for it, or Mr. Avalon's glases. It wasn't that he was broke or anything, he just... ran with a more financially challanged crowd. And despite the trouble he caused he was still invited to dinner, which was the reason it was now becoming dark again. With nothing else to do his mind started processing previous information received. Everything from those 'Traits' Eli had mentioned to...
Just tell her how your feel... How can six words worth of instructions be so annoying?
The boy glanced down at his hand to the Guilmon card. He was already missing the dino badly. Hopefully the next world wouldn't be this tedious. And not only that he'd hadn't been having a lot of fun with all the errands he was running... That settled it, as soon as he got back to Li's mansion he was going to challenge Kazu, lose, then eat a whole bowl of ice cream. But first, he couldn't help but notice he was walking by a small shop that seemed to sell toys and novelties. He shuffled himself inside.
"Hello. Oh, I haven't seen you around here before."
The Tamer found himself facing an older woman. Seemingly beautiful and elegant with dark long hair. "I'm just visiting some friends." The boy replied casually. Even if It wasn't what he intended in the begginning, it was true. "Hey, do you have any sketchooks?"
"The far corner on your left." The woman replied.
"Thanks."
Takato grabbed the item as well as a mechanical pencil. Now this he could afford. And since Kazu failed miserably to catch his last one. Well, suffice to say he was going to be more careful. And he could use this for a lot more than just drawnings to, he also intended to keep a page so he could mark how many days he'd been away from home and keep a reasonable calander. He waved as he left, half turned around and smacked into something.
"Ouch, I really gotta start watching where I'm going." Takato griped, rubbing his head. Then he turned to survey the damage done to whatever it was that he ran into. The damage wasn't that bad, it was a good thing humans were soft.
"Ah, yes you should Takato."
"Er, Jeri! Sorry about that. Hey, what are you doing out here so late anyway?" Takato asked as he hunched over and pulled Jeri to her feet via sock puppet.
"Ah, well... You see Eli came over and..."
Ten minutes later...
"So that's why your out here all by yourself. Still, I would rather you took Rika with you. You never know when Kurashell or a Demi Heartless or something will show up."
Jeri smiled. "Then it's a good thing I ran into you."
Takato blushed and turned away. "Uh, well I can't use Guilmon right now so actually it isn't really."
Jeri sighed. Idiot...
"Did you say something?"
"Ruff- nope, not a thing." The puppet responded in place of it's owner.
"Hmmm... well, have you at least decided what your going to do with that card."
Jeri sighed again, deeper this time. "No. I... I still can't forget what happened to Leomon. What if the same thing happens. Or worse, what if I-"
"Forget him?"
"Mmm..." The girl winced as Takato read into her worst fear.
"I know that would be the first thing on my mind if anything ever happened to Guilmon. And I was scared beyond belief when he wasn't with me when I entered this world. Granted, most of that fear ended up being aimed towards Tory, but you get the idea."
"Yeah..."
"Jeri, you don't have to do this is you don't want too." The gogglehead began to blush again. "I'll protect you, like before. I promise..."
Excellent. This is it, I'm really doing this. The boy gave himself a mental pat on the back.
"...Only, you know, without the getting kidnapped and all."
Hello, my name is Takato, I am an IDIOT!
Jeri stopped walking , and Takato right along with her. She was staring at the ground, not saying anything. If there was ever a time to tell her how he felt, now was it.
"Uh Jeri. There's... something I kinda wanna tell you. I... uh... l-li-"
"I'LL DO IT!!!"
"Eh?" Jeri's sudden outburst bowled Takato over.
"I'm not going to just sit on the sidelines anymore. The next time I see those heartless, they better watch out."
While Jeri continued her descriptive and at some points, gruesome language of what she was going to do to the Heartless, Tatako just sweatdropped.
Well it's great to see her smiling again, or is it a smirk. Well anyway my point still stands, and hopefully Guilmon will get back to normal soon too...
WARNING AOF'S PROOFREADING STOPS HERE
(Is this end of chapter writing in violation of rulez, cuz if so I don't wanna have this taken down)
Alright I had to extend the chapter because I came up with so much extra stuff.
-I wanted to make sure Takato still had a sketchbook because it's one of his best features and even though he's not very good at drawing, his creativity is definitely above par. Plus I wanted to give the Tamers a way to keep track of time and a way to remember the worlds they've been in. I'm debating wheather or not to give Henry or Jeri a journal.
-Impmon and Calumon are not here because they don't really have a purpose in this. Calumon was extremely important in Season three, but as a Clow Card he wouldn't have much more use than running around with token lines here and there. I wanna wait for at least the pokemon world before I bring him back. Of Course Impmon will be back to eventually, but I have a better world in mind for him.
-About Jeri being a summoner. I couldn't have asked for a better set up for her. I didn't want to overplay the Leomon angst since it's been a while, and before he was lost Jeri actually had quite an energetic personality. I just wanted to brienfly note her feelings on the subject which it why it might seem a bit rushed. Now that she can compete in the fights, I hope to give her more to do, and more Jurato scenes, starting in the next world. I'm not forgeting Rukato either so for those who like that don't worry about it.
-I also hope to give Guilmon a bigger role soon since they cast in the next world will be dramatically scaled down to a bunch of sub that I don't feel obligated to give special respect to. Not that the animes are any less important, it's just this isn't their story. I put this in Digimon for a reason.
- A cookie if you know which Anime Canti is from. I'm expecting Omnicrom and a couple others to nail this one.
-I wanted to do more with the Heartless' POV and I haven't been giving Sephiroth the props he deserves, but this chapter was long enough so you might see it next chapter, or I might exclude it and you'll see the end result for yourself. Also I hope to be getting the mangas soon (Don't have a credit card but that will change shortly) so hopefully my characterization will get better soon. Once I have them I'll look at restarting Viral State. Take care all and now for the reviews.
Reviews
Newbi – Ah yes you're write. I had a feeling something was off in in memorie but I just didn't clue in. You are correct, I have never seen Eli use a card, I also never saw the last episode of CCS, which might by why it didn't stick in my head.
And yeah, having Henry with the strength plugin would be great, but as I mentioned before I was mainly just using this world as a precident for others. CardCaptor id very well in one aspect and that was resolving just about everything, which is why I didn't do a lot of fights or anything in this world. Thanks for the review.
Ryumasa the Ryuhaitou – Heh, Inuyaha's a great Anime miles above DBZ. I've only got about four worlds guarunteed to be in this. Inuyaha is one of the ones I haven't confirmed yet. Well this update was faster than my last one, but I'm still trying to balance art and writing so I'm not sure if the pace will be better or worse next update.
AnT – Hmmm, Takato the pokemon trainer? Well, maybe not the next world but I do intend to be doing something along those lines. Thanks for the review.
Pokemon-35055 - Thanks for the review.
Tamer of Light – Heh, thanks for the review. Glad you like Rika being a Cardcaptor too. See ya.
Nightdragon0 – I don't think that'll be a problem. A lot of people do Rika like Akane from Ranma, but looking back at the serious she more... intense than violent. Thanks for the review.
Omegadramon – This chapter should've awsered your Card Captor question, but just in case, no the Card Captors will stay and protect their own world.
Question Deca – Heh, that's the spirit. It's also one reason I like writing fanfiction, no deadlines to worry about. BOO YA HA HA. Err, thanks for the review.
Airrin – Huh? You know, the second I read your review I started think of an Alice/Takato one shot. It'll probably never see the light of day, but the idea actually sounds pretty good. Since Alice is all angsty and Takato's all energetic, the possibilites are pretty good I think. I like that coulple. Thanks for the review.