Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v2.0: In His Name is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.

The Tamer v2.0: In His Name

Chapter 11: Test Fire

Azulongmon and Zhuqiaomon stood guard over the buried remains of the chasm that WarGreymon sacrificed himself to bury. Despite dropping part of the Digital World on top of himself and the...thing, the ground was beginning to crack with the same endeavor it had once before. And worse, they could sense it beginning to come through. It didn't take long for one of their servants to come investigate the disturbance for themselves and see what held their attention. Mihiramon, the winged tiger, looked upon them and the broken ground. He sensed what they had but hadn't seen what they'd witnessed, "My lord sovereigns. What is that?"

"We don't know," Zhuqiaomon replied, "But whatever it is...it is unstoppable."

"Should I fetch WarGreymon?" Mihiramon asked. Both sovereigns were unable to answer, unsure how to explain what happened without scaring the digimon. But all they managed to do was unnerve their servant more than if they'd just told him, "My lords?"

"WarGreymon fell to the abomination," Zhuqiaomon answered, "Perhaps one of the greatest warriors of our world, sacrificed himself to buy us time and to help us escape."

Mihiramon stumbled for a moment, shaken by the news and barely containing the frantic fear in his voice, "Then what do we do?"

Azulongmon was unsure of what to say, looking to Zhuqiaomon and seeing the rage in his eyes. He wasn't sure what the digimon was thinking but knew he could be brash when angry. With a low growl, Zhuqiaomon answered, "In our panic, we may have erred in judgment. WarGreymon asked us to protect the Catalyst and keep it away from this thing. But it seems we need it now more than ever if we're going to have a chance to stop it."

Mihiramon bowed, "Whatever you ask of me, I will do, my lords."

Azulongmon looked at Zhuqiaomon in disbelief. He wasn't about to ask what he thought he was going to. Was he? These were desperate times, sure. But this desperate? They had to have other options. That's what he wanted to think but nothing came to mind.

"Assemble the others and prepare a search party. We need to go to the human world and reclaim the Catalyst."

Growlmon slept on the cold hard floor of the maintenance tunnel like Takatomon asked. It wasn't as cozy as his little shed which he missed, but at least he could fit inside. He was also having a hard time getting comfortable, although he wasn't sure if it was because he'd suddenly expanded to several times his size or if the tunnel wasn't as cozy as his shed. All the discomfort made it easy for him to notice his surroundings better - the dim lights that illuminated the tunnel in the dark, the soft rustling of the leaves as the wind blew through them, and the faint echo of footsteps as something came his way. Growlmon wanted to turn his head and look but he was too large to do that in the tunnel without getting stuck. Maybe that was why he was so uncomfortable?

"What are you doin' ya big palooka?" a small voice said behind him. Growlmon tried to turn his head but couldn't quite make out who he was looking at. He was just too big to turn in the tunnel, "Who's there?"

He felt something small squeeze by him, making its way to the front, "I am. What is ya? Deaf? Blind? Or stupid?"

"Your name is watisya?" Growlmon asked as a curiously small, dark digimon wearing a red scarf and gloves strolled into his field of view, "So it's stupid. Listen up! The name's Impmon. What's yours?"

Growlmon took one sniff of the little digimon, noting his odd smell and answered, "I'm Growlmon. Are you here to play?"

The little digimon scoffed, "Play? I ain't here to play! I'm here to see why a big guy like you is taking orders from some dumb human who locked you in a hole in the ground!"

"I like holes! I made one in my old home but it was too small. Now I live here," Growlmon answered cheerily, unsure of why the digimon had such an issue with them. Impmon groaned, flicking his noise and explaining, "Not the point you big lumox! I meant, why are you the one in the tunnel and not him? Your bigger, stronger, and tougher than he'll ever be. So why ain't you the one on the nice cozy bed and why isn't he out here in the dirt!?"

Growlmon turned his head, confused by the question, "Takatomon can't because his parents said he can't keep me in the house."

"Who cares what they say?" Impmon stamped his foot in frustration, somehow getting angrier for no particular reason, "Why don't you go and take that nice cozy bed for yourself and tell them to suck a lemon!?"

"What does suck a lemon mean?" Growlmon asked curiously, unsure of how to process the questions Impmon was asking. The only thing he was certain of was that Impmon was angry at something else. And his own question appeared to have left Impmon speechless. While he waited for an answer, Growlmon cracked a tired yawn and closed his eyes, "Night night. Sleepy time now."

He'd only had his eyes closed for a second when Impmon screamed in anger, "I'll teach you to disrespect me! Take this!"

Suddenly, Growlmon's nose was on fire and burning. The digimon yelped in agony and tried to put it out, only to find Impmon striking at him again with fireballs shooting from his finger, "Take this too! Have another!"

Growlmon got up as much as the tunnel would allow and responded the only way he could. He flicked the little digimon away, "I don't like this game and I don't want to play it anymore. Go away!"

"GAME! You think this is a game!? This ain't no game! I'm talking about how digimon get cajoled into doin' things for them humans and we ain't gettin' squat in return!" Impmon hissed out angrily, jumping up and down in what could only be pure anger, "And if you ain't wit' me, then yous on them's side!"

Just as he was about to strike again, Growlmon opened his mouth and spat out a fireball, "Pyro Blaster!"

Impmon yelped and narrowly managed to avoid it, complaining of his ill luck. The little digimon seemed to get tired after that, running off further into the tunnel to leave. That was fine by him because he didn't want to play a game with this little digimon any more.

Rika awoke to a sore side that she massaged to help the pain go away. It was still Sunday, and she made her way out into the dining room where her grandmother was busy setting breakfast out on the table - eggs, bacon, rice, fish, and miso soup. Rika tried to hide the fact that she was massaging her side but her grandmother noticed anyway, "What happened, Ruki?"

She hoped that if she didn't answer, her grandmother would let it go.

"Oh fine, what happened Rika?" she asked more sternly. Instead of avoiding the subject, her grandmother thought she just wasn't answering to her real name. She had to answer now and stammered, "Nothing. I took care of it."

"Let me look," her grandmother was on her faster than she could react, and lifted up her shirt to see the bruise from where she hit the tree yesterday. She gasped, "RUKI! What is this?"

"I already told you, it's nothing," she complained, lowering her shirt down to hide the bruise and sitting up from the table without having eaten a bite of breakfast. Once again, he grandmother was on her before she could react and pulled her back down into the chair, "You're not going anywhere young lady. What is this? Are you being bullied at school? Did someone pick a fight with you? What happened?"

Ruki was pulled back down and sighed, "It's nothing. I promise."

She could tell from her grandmother's expression that she was as frustrated as she was disappointed, "Fine, don't tell me. But we are going to a doctor and I'm calling your mother."

"Like she'd show up," Rika rolled her eyes. Her grandmother was quiet after that, and it occurred to her that she might've struck a nerve. They both had. Rika didn't protest after that - accompanying her grandmother to the doctor so that she could be looked at. It took most of the afternoon, but her bruises were treated and the doctor said that aside from being sore, she would be fine. At some point, her grandmother did use a cell phone to call her mom but her mom didn't answer. That only proved Rika's point though. Her mom wasn't going to show up. And her grandmother sensed that as they took the bus home. After a lengthy drawn out silence between them, her grandmother tried to reassure her, "Rika. I know how it looks. But your mother cares about you. She really does."

Rika clicked her tongue, "Then why is she never home? At least dad had the decency to not come back when he left."

"Rika, your father cared about you just as deeply. My son would never abandon his family!" she scolded her. Rika just scoffed at that assumption, "Then where is he, grandma? If he'd never abandon his family, then tell me where he is. Because I'm pretty sure I haven't seen him in a while! If he cared so much about me, then why doesn't he just tell me that to my face?"

She didn't realize it until she was done fuming, but she had let out a lot of pent up anger and frustration. And once she was finally able to calm herself down, she saw her grandmother's stunned face clearly. As well as the surprised looks from everyone else on the bus. She'd crossed a line in her fit of anger. She pocketed her hands, and turned away from the older woman so she couldn't see the hurt expression on her face. She wasn't even sure how to respond to her now, even after she'd taken her to the doctor, "Look, I'm…sorry. I'm…getting off on the next stop to take a walk. I'll see you when I get home tonight."

Once the bus rolled to a stop, she hurried off her seat to leave. Before she could even take her first step, she felt her grandmother hug her from behind. Her grandmother held her there for the longest time, until she finally said, "Take all the time you need Ruki. I'm not mad. But please be careful and don't get yourself hurt again. I love you."

"I…same," Rika answered, unable to say it back. She knew she'd hurt her grandmother by not saying it, but it would hurt her more if she did. It had been a long time since Rika had been able to say those words. She wasn't sure when she'd be able to say it again.

Yamaki jolted awake in his darkened office, realizing he'd fallen asleep at his desk again. He cracked a tired yawn and checked his computer screen, seeing a new email in from the Minister of Defense. Good, he'd been waiting for the response to authorize the use of the Juggernaut program. Hopefully, with the increase in digimon appearances, he would finally get approval. He opened the email and read it carefully.

Yamaki

I've spoken with the Prime Minister. We've agreed to authorize a one time test of the Juggernaut Program. Clearance for the test firing will be Monday night at 1800 hours. Notify your team and stand by for my arrival. I'll be reporting what I see to the Prime Minster directly afterwards.

Yamaki smiled to himself, happy to see that the Hypnos Program was finally making some headway with the Prime Minster. This was the most progress the Hypnos Program had made as a part of Project Morpheus. He closed out the email, took a moment to straighten his clothes so that he looked presentable, and went out to make the announcement to the rest of the program. With the exception of Izumi, he was sure that the organization members would be happy to learn that their efforts weren't for nothing.

Rika made her way to the park and stopped in front of a vending machine to get herself a soda. Hopefully, a drink would help her clear her head and get her thoughts back together after the exchange she'd just had with her grandmother. When she went to reach the drink out of the machine, a thought occurred to her that Renamon was nearby as well - probably keeping an eye on her. She had to thank her for saving her life. Without a second's hesitation, she popped another coin in the machine and got her an iced coffee. Did digimon like iced coffee? Maybe Renamon was more a tea drinker? Maybe she should get her something else? Without thinking, she put several more coins in and got everything from tea to grape soda. She carried as many as she could in her arms and went under the shade of a nearby tree - knowing full well that Renamon would appear just above her.

She rested her back against the tree, making sure no one else in the park was looking, and called out to her partner, "Hey, Renamon."

"Yes, Rika?" she heard her partner call out to her from above. Rika chose her words carefully, "About yesterday. I'm…sorry for everything before and…wanted to say thanks. For saving me and being my friend."

"We are partners, after all," Renamon answered. Rika nodded and threw as many of the cans as she could up into the tree, delighted to see Renamon catch every single one with ease. Upon seeing the confusion on Renamon's face, Rika added, "I wasn't sure what kind of drink you liked, so I got you one of everything. Thanks."

As she stepped away from the tree to drink her own soda now, she could overhear her partner say, "My first gift. Let's try this one. Ooh, it packs quite the punch. But not as much as me."

Rika smiled to herself, happy to see that she'd put a smile on someone's face today.

When Monday morning finally came, Juri felt nothing but exhausted. Although Takato said he'd catch up, he never did. And she didn't see him at all Sunday. That just scared her more about what that creepy government guy could've done to him. Killed him? Kidnapped him for questioning and torture? All of it was making her anxious. So it came as a relief when she walked into the classroom to find Takato once again cornered by Kazu and Kenta excitedly asking him all kinds of questions about his digimon partner while he pleaded with them to keep their voices down.

She'd wanted to ask him about what happened with the man with the gun but hadn't been able to find him since he told them to head out without him. Henry didn't linger, hurrying home with Terriermon. She tried asking why he didn't just have Terriermon stay at home, but Henry embarrassedly admitted that it was because his family had been giving a hard time due to a misunderstanding.

Then Takato noticed her and waved, departing from Kazu and Kenta - to both their derision and the amusement of some of her other friends. Before she could even say hi, he gestured for her to join him back out in the hall. Trying to ignore the looks her friends were giving her, Juri followed Takato back out into the hall where he greeted her like nothing happened Saturday, "I'm glad to see you're okay Juri. Did Henry make it out okay?"

"I...yes, I think so," Juri nodded, "He took Terriermon home just in case that guy came back. Is Growlmon okay?"

"I think so," Takato massaged the back of his head, "He's back to being Guilmon by the way. I don't know what happened after I left but I found him hiding out in the bushes claiming some dark purple imp wouldn't stop bothering him."

Despite his cheery demeanor, Juri's mind was still on Saturday. She wanted to press what happened and what Takato knew that she didn't. What they didn't - Rika and Henry. He'd talked to that man alone, walked right up to his gun and dared him to shoot. And he didn't seem at all bothered by any of it - it was like he'd just gotten in trouble at school, "Takato, what happened with the weird guy?"

"I took care of it," he answered evasively. When he saw the answer didn't satisfy her, he spoke at just above a whisper, "Okay, but promise you won't get mad or tell my parents. He wanted me to hand Growlmon over and I told him no. Then he said he was going to shoot me and I called his bluff."

"Takato!" she gasped out at that last part, "You were going to let him shoot you?"

"Of course not," he threw up his hands defensively, "But he wasn't going to, even if he threatened too."

"And what makes you so sure?" she demanded more seriously. He shrugged it off, "It's a long story and I'll tell you all about it another time."

"Stop doing dangerous things and getting yourself in to trouble!" she blurted out furiously, unsure of when she suddenly cared that much. Her exclamation took him off guard, but no more than when Miss Asaji appeared behind them with her books and lesson plan under her arm, "While I agree with your sentiment Juri, I think you need to remember that too. Class starts in a minute and you'll both get into trouble if you're not in there."

"Yes Miss Asaji," Takato nodded, taking Juri's hand without thinking and pulling her into the classroom. As soon as they stepped in, the entire class oohed at them - prompting Takato to let her hand go and make his way to his seat. Juri quietly took hers, only to get asked by her classmate, "Hey, Juri! When did you and Takato become a thing?"

"We're-" she tried to answer only for the bell to ring and Miss Asaji to walk in behind them, "Okay class, enough chatter. We have a whole module to get through today and we're going to work hard on it!"

Her friends giggled and returned to facing the front of the class, leaving Juri mortified at how everything must've been looking to the others. Maybe that was her sign for how weird her day was going to be and she should've paid more attention to it. Because during the lunch break, when her and her friends pushed their desks together to eat together, Henry suddenly appeared at the door and asked to borrow her for a second. Before she even had a chance to leave, Minami asked, "When did you get so popular, Juri?"

"I don't know," Juri replied as she made her way outside. She got outside only to see Henry gesturing her to follow him down the hall and under the stairs - which usually only meant one thing. It didn't help that Henry reached into his backpack while explaining, "Okay, so I'm really sorry about this but-"

"Henry," she said to get his attention, stopping just short of actually going under the stairs, "What's going on?"

He sighed, "My parents think I stole Terriermon from a girl at school and...it's weird. Look, can I just ask you to hang on to Terriermon for a few days until my parents forget about the whole thing?"

"Is that why you had him hiding out with Guilmon?" Juri asked in surprise. Henry nodded, "Yeah. I'm sorry to drop this on you, but do you mind taking care of him for a few days until my parents leave me alone? I'd leave him back with Takato, but I don't want to bother him since he's got Guilmon. And I don't want to leave them together in case that guy with the gun shows up again."

"That'll be a long time, Henry," Terriermon commented all too happily as Henry pulled him out of the bag. Henry whispered, "We're at school, keep it down! You're supposed to be a doll. Doll's don't talk."

"Moumantai," Terriermon winked. Henry groaned and set the digimon down, "Please Terriermon. The last thing I need is my parents getting mad at me about causing problems at school."

Terriermon took the hint and fell quiet - stiffening up so that he'd be perfectly still like a doll. Juri took Terriermon in her arms, surprised by how light he was despite having seen him take on digimon the size of a building without flinching. Henry waved, "Thanks Juri. I gotta go. I'll get him from you once things calm down at home."

"I'm just happy to help," Juri nodded, wondering how she was going to explain this to her friends when she got back up to class. She tried to think of how to explain it but was too worried Terriermon would break character and start talking again. But, to her surprise, he never broke character and pretending to be a doll. Which stopped her from having an explanation when she finally got back to class. All her friends 'oohed' again, and she was bombarded with questions when she sat back down. Minami was the first to ask, "Oh my gosh! Did that boy just give you a gift?"

"Uh, no," Juri tried to wave it off only to get asked by Yuuko, "Wow, Juri. What's up with all these gross boys paying attention to you?"

"It's not like that, honest!" Juri said, trying to put Terriermon away in her bag before anyone could notice it. Of course, it was too late for her because both Kazu and Kenta had come over, "Was that Terriermon?"

"It was a doll Henry gave me," Juri tried to explained to them, just wanting to end this conversation before it got any weirder. Of course, Yuuko had to ask, "A Terriermon? Isn't that a digimon? Juri, I didn't know you liked that silly boy stuff."

"It's not silly," Kazu defended, "It's the greatest game ever! And get this, the best player in the entire game is this one girl. I think her name's Rake or Raku or something like that."

"It's Rika," Takato said suddenly, appearing behind them and making them jump. Kenta pushed Takato's goggles down, "How do you do that?"

"I'm just cool like that," he answered rather proudly only to get shut down by Kazu, "Then how come you can sneak up on literally anyone except for Miss Asaji?"

"Because I have eyes in the back of my head," Miss Asaji answered as she walked into the classroom with her folders and books tucked under her arm, "Everyone, return to your seats. Lunch ended a minute ago."

"Yes Miss Asaji," the entire class sang, returning their desks to where they used to be. Thankfully the lesson moved rather quickly because she wanted to get out of this mess as soon as she could. Unfortunately for her, she could feel half of the class staring at her from behind. She'd never felt so self conscious before. Why did she have to sit in the middle of the class? Thankfully, the end of the day came quickly and Miss Asaji was about to dismiss them but stopped, "Now class, I have a quick announcement to make before you all go home. There've been reports of a child running around the school and the park at night - vandalizing and taking school property, harassing couples at the park, tearing up the grounds, and dumping a pile of manure there."

That last part made the class giggle, but Juri looked over her shoulder at Takato to see him averting his eyes to hide how nervous he was looking. She was certain Miss Asaji was looking at him too. Miss Asaji added, "I don't think I have to remind you to not be running around late at night. However, starting tonight, us teachers will be taking shifts patrolling both the school and the park at night. If we catch any of you there, there'll be big trouble. This is your one warning."

Then she smiled, "Okay, you're dismissed. Have a nice day."

As the class hurried out, her friend Yuuko came over, "So seriously, Juri. What's up with Takato and Henry?"

"Um," Juri paused, trying to think of an answer to that question but too lost on how to actually answer it. Before she could think of anything, Takato appeared beside, "Hey, Juri. Mind if I borrow you for a second?"

"Yeah, yeah sure!" she answered quickly, gathering her things to follow Takato out of the classroom. As they hurried out, she heard Minami called after them, "You know we're just going to follow you guys, right?"

"I really hope they don't," Takato thought allowed as they hurried out of the school building. Once they were out of the school, Juri frowned, "Us running out of the class together like that probably didn't help things."

"Hey, wait up!" Kazu shouted from behind them, running after them with Kenta to catch up. Takato sighed, obviously as frustrated about this day as she was, "Here's comes more trouble."

"Why would they be more trouble?" Juri asked them as they came in. Both boys stopped just short of them and Kenta added, "Look, Takato. We know you're busy with your girlfriend and everything but don't think you can cut us out of anything going with the digimon because of that. Guilmon's the cause of all the stuff at the park, right?"

"What? No! Of course not," Takato threw up his hands defensively, "At least, I don't think he is."

"You mean you don't know?" Kazu asked like he were accusing Takato of something. Takato rolled his eyes, "How would I? I don't know what Guilmon does when I'm not around."

"You're his partner, genius. Why don't you have him at your place anyway? Why's he living out in the park?" Kenta asked curious. Takato threw up his arms in defense, trying to explain, "How am I supposed to hide a 6 foot dinosaur that smells like a swamp on a hot day in my house? Mom and dad knew he was there on day one!"

"You could've just lied and said you got rid of him," Kenta offered only for Juri to point out, "Wouldn't it be obvious that he lied?"

"Whatever, let's just go see if it was Guilmon!" Kazu said ecstatically, "If it was, then I call dibs since obviously you're not cut out to be his partner, Takato."

"What? No! I'm not going to bet Guilmon like that!" Takato spat out in disgust, "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"The kind who abandons his friends over a girl," Kenta answered back. Juri wanted to be mad about that, but noticed the Takato already seemed upset enough. He didn't say or do anything about it - but the look on his face so obvious that she was surprised both Kazu and Kenta missed it. It was anger - something that she didn't think Takato was capable of with all the times he'd been trying to help even the most dangerous digimon. Was he embarrassed because of her or something else?

"Takato, are you alright?" she asked him, whilst Kenta and Kazu walked ahead. He nodded, "Yeah. We should go check on Guilmon before those two try to make him their partner."

Yamaki sat at a chair overseeing the preparations for the test fire of the Juggernaut. Progress was slow but at least it was moving - the delays coming mostly because of Izumi's reluctance to actually use the weapon in any actual capacity. He didn't fault Izumi for that - his personal connection with the creatures and his previous experiences made him sympathetic to their plight. However, Yamaki didn't need his sympathy. He needed his expertise on the subject - something he was unable to get anywhere else since the actual experts on the subject had all gone underground.

"How much longer?" he asked, growing impatient with the slow process, "The minister will be here soon."

"We just need to stabilize a few more of the generators," Riley answered expertly, still working on her computer and try to coordinate the different teams with Tally, "Previous tests were able to draw on the power systems in the building because it was localized. But to operate on this scale, we need to have a few more generators to keep the weapons from overloading the city's power grid and-"

"Without the technobabble," Yamaki interrupted quickly. Riley sighed, "A few more minutes to get the generators up, another thirty minutes to stabilize the energy feed, and then another hour to prime the weapon. We'll be ready to fire by the minister's command whenever he gets here."

"Well then don't delay," the minister's voice resonated behind him. Yamaki stood up off his chair and bowed towards his boss, "Sir, it's a pleasure to have you here."

"Save me the pleasantries Yamaki," the minister waved him off, "I told you to have this weapon ready to fire as soon as I arrived."

"Preparations are taking longer than expected," Yamaki answered. The Prime Minister scoffed at that, "Well then you'd better hope that this weapon works. We've sunk millions into funding this project and the Prime Minister hasn't exactly been pleased with the returns on this investment. If this test fire doesn't go without a hitch, we will shut you down and look at alternatives to this problem."

"I understand perfectly sir," Yamaki answered, trying his best to keep himself from saying something incredibly stupid in front of his boss. No matter how much he wanted to beat the man to a pulp for being just another lazy bureaucrat. Keeping his fists at his side, Yamaki went on to add, "We've tested the weapon a few times on smaller targets at a more targeted scale to ensure it works as designed. It's guaranteed to work."

"And how does it work exactly?" the minister asked. Yamaki gestured for the minister to follow, "If you'll come with me, we can have our resident expert Izumi explain the science behind Juggernaut."

Juri watched Guilmon playfully trying to get a ball from both Kazu and Kenta who were playing a weird game of catch. Despite his large size, Guilmon's clumsy movements made it hard for him to properly catch the ball with each throw. Both boys seemed excited enough by the game, which kept Guilmon distracted while Takato emptied his backpack of more bread than she thought could fit in there. That must've been the benefit of being the son of bakers - he had a near unlimited supply of bread to feed his partner.

Which was good since Terriermon had decided to help himself to some of it. As the little digimon ate, Takato asked, "So why do you have Terriermon, Juri?"

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to explain it without making it awkward only for Kenta to do the honor for her, "I think he's jealous-"

"It's not that," Juri interrupted before he could say another word, "Henry's parents think he's a doll that's stolen so he asked me to keep an eye on him."

"Well that's rude. Why not ask me?" Takato asked, massaging the side of his head. Juri frowned - sensing Takato's unease, "He said he didn't want to bother you since you've already got Guilmon. He said Terriermon can be just as much of a handful."

"Moumantai!" the little digimon said with large, spread out ears. It was starting to get late out now, and the sky turned orange with the setting sun. Juri reminded them, "We should probably go home before we get into trouble when the teachers show up."

"Got that right," Kazu picked up his belongings, "Hey Takato! How about we go over to my place and play a quick round! I'll give you a handicap and let you have my WarGreymon card! I've got like five of them."

"No thanks," Takato answered, still massaging the side of his head. Kazu started flapping his arms up and down, "What's the matter? Chicken? Bawk bawk bawk-awk!"

"Very funny," he patted his partner on the head, "Okay buddy. Don't cause any trouble and stay out of sight tonight. Some more people may come around looking for you, okay?"

"Okay," Guilmon nodded enthusiastically, returning to eating his bread. Kazu added, "So what makes you so sure that no one will just come knocking on the shed looking for him?"

"I doubt any of the teachers are going to come up here with Guilmon's big steaming pile there," Takato reasoned, "But I see your-"

"We're ready, sir," Riley announced to Yamaki's delight. Yamaki looked over to the Minister for his order but the man seemed genuinely annoyed that he hadn't just fired the weapon, "What are you waiting for? Fire away!"

"Fire the juggernaut!" Yamaki ordered, watching Izumi and Riley turn their keys simultaneously to fire the weapon. Everything was going according to plan. Every computer screen showed the weapon discharging its payload.

"-point and it's not like-" he paused, stopping mid sentence with his mouth hanging open. He took a step back and pressed himself against the wall for support, looking down at his arms which had become completely transparent again. Juri remembered this from last time and looked over at Terriermon and Guilmon again - both we're becoming transparent and distorted. Kazu and Kenta both freaked out at the sight, barely able to hide the concern in their voices, "What are you doing Takato?"

"Yeah, what is that?"

"I don't-" he paused again, "My head-"

He pressed his hands against his head, massaging his temples, "-hurts. There's something...digital field...outside."

He hurriedly stumbled his way out of the shed, trying to keep himself from falling over as he pushed the iron barred door open to the park. Juri followed him outside, once again certain that he was running off into certain danger without a thought for his own safety when she noticed an unseasonably strong wind. Then there was a faint glimmer of light in the distance, coming from the top of the nearby metropolitan building.

"Dude, what is that!?" Kazu pointed it out in panic.

Then the screaming - the faint screaming of something in horrible agony. Juri covered her ears to block it out, but that only seemed to make it louder. Takato was gesturing up at something, and Juri followed his gaze to see small shadows flying through the sky towards the light. Upon closer inspection of one, she recognized the vague outline of one of the digimon from their trading card game. Kazu shouted, "Are those digimon!?"

"It's a Digital Field," Takato shouted, "A...gate to the...Digital World. It's...it's pulling all...digimon in!"

Juri looked his way and noticed the ghostly appearance spread from his arms to his neck and to his legs. Kenta pointed it out, "If it's supposed to be pulling in digimon, what's happening to you!?"

Takato didn't answer, choosing to forcefully close the gate to the shed and keeping the digimon inside, "Stay in there! Do-on't come...out!"

Guilmon gestured at his tail and Terriermon, "Look, Takatomon! It's spread and it feels funnier!"

"That's...great," Takato said, leaning against the gate to keep it closed. Then, as quickly as it started, it stopped. The wind died and the ghostly affliction left Takato, Guilmon, and Terriermon. Any moment they would've used to appreciate it was lost when they heard a soft boom in the distance. The top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building was smoking.

Author's Notes: Why is the Tokyo Metropolitan Building in smoke? What happened to Takato and the digimon? And what exactly is happening in the Digital World? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v2.0 - In His Name due out next week on Friday April 12th at 8 PM CDT. If you loved it, let me know in the reviews section and I'll try to respond as soon as I'm able. And hey, why not follow or favorite the story to keep up with all the latest updates? That's all I have for now! I'll see you guys in the next installment! Now let's take a look at previews for the next chapter!

"Think of it as borrowing without permission, but with every intention of returning at a later date to be determined at another time," Takato answered with a pointed finger, shoving the shades into Henry's hand and looking back up at the burning tower. Kazu asked, "How did you fail our grammar test again?"

"Because I can't spell and I don't like kanji, hiragana, katakana, or romaji," Takato retorted grumpily, "Seriously, I have a hard enough time with the first three, I don't want to figure out how to write in someone else's language."

"Anyone got any ideas on how to get up there?" Henry looked up at the tall building. Rika answered, "One, but it only gets me and Renamon up there. What about you guys?"

"I have an idea, but it's going to make quite the scene," Takato answered sheepishly. Between the burning building, the hundreds of injured people, and the police, Juri was sure Takato had missed something kind of important and pointed that out to him, "There's already a scene, Takato. I don't think any one is going to notice."

"Yeah, but you guys should get clear in case any one comes to ask any questions," Takato answered sheepishly.