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 20: New Meets Old

It was around eight in the morning when, Yamaki walked into Izumi's hospital room. The lead scientist was sitting upright in his bed, chowing down on a tray of hot food: steamed rice with spam, a bowl of miso, some eggs, and a cup of fruit. It looked like he woke up just in time to get an order in the breakfast menu, and he could only imagine how hungry the man must be after being out for so long. The bewildered agent assigned to guard him was on the far end of the room, trying to ignore the munching noises of the ravenous Izumi as shoveled the food into his mouth. In fact, the man hadn't even noticed that he was in the room. For a brief moment, Yamaki wondered if he was even aware that he was missing a leg. He knocked on the door to get the man's attention before closing it.

"Izumi, it's good to see you're awake. We need to talk," Yamaki greeted, taking care not to rush the issue.

"Did you close the gate opened by the Juggernaut?" Izumi asked first. Gate? What gate? He probably meant the juggernaut. At least he wasn't going to dance around the issue. Yamaki ran a hand through his hair, "That's what I'm here to talk about. The Juggernaut program worked only briefly. But now, there are more of these wild ones crossing over into our world. And they're larger and more aggressive than ever. We don't have the means to contain this. At this point, it's the world's worst kept secret. What the hell happened?"

Izumi sighed, putting down his spoon and fork in a disgruntled fashion. He was obviously famished, having gotten by off IVs for the entire time he was unconscious. The scientist then removed his blanket to show the sorry remains of his leg. He appeared smaller without his leg, but seemed so much more dangerous for it. Only Izumi could've pulled off a threatening look from a missing leg.

The surgeons did a good job cleaning up the amputation, but he was obviously agitated about it and didn't hesitate to let Yamaki know, "THIS happened. I haven't seen my wife or daughter since you dragged me into this...program...this government bullshit. Months of my life dedicated to something I wanted no part of, and now my leg is gone! I almost died! You want to know what happened? You tried to control something you couldn't and you dragged me into it!"

Yamaki maintained his composure, waiting for Izumi to finish venting before saying anything. It seemed the computer scientist had a back bone after all. Once he calmed down, Izumi spoke more calmly, "The technology I used to build the juggernaut wasn't from this world. It was from theirs. The Digital World. Technology from their side. But it's written in a language that I barely understand with a level of technology I've only scrapped the surface of. Do you know how much more advanced they are than us? We needed a whole building and the city's power grid to do something they needed a device the size of a pocket watch to accomplish."

Izumi paused and Yamaki waited for him to catch his breath, well aware of Izumi's love of rambling, "The juggernaut...it doesn't just remove digimon from our world. It opens a gate into the Digital World and creates a special kind of electromagnetic field. It was the only way I could guarantee that it would only affect digimon and not humans. Once the digimon get close enough to the gate..."

Izumi paused, "You know what happens. But there's a catch to this method - gates work both ways. And when...whatever digimon came through, it left that gate wide open. So whatever problems you're having are because that gate is wide open and letting any of the big ones through!"

Yamaki had his explanation now. Then Izumi went on, "But the method I used to open that gate was messy. I got the idea from someone else a long time ago. They brute forced open a gate between worlds, too. But that method tore a hole in reality and destabilized the worlds around us. It was only by a miracle that we didn't all die, then and there."

"What are you saying?" Yamaki, alarmed by whatever Izumi was trying to say. Izumi looked up grimly, his voice shaking as he spoke the next line, "I'm saying that we're lucky it's only been digimon coming through and not anything else. I don't know what other worlds it might have blown open a path to, but I can guarantee that it's only a matter of time before something else shows up. And you better pray we can do something about it."

The air felt heavy all of a sudden. Yamaki didn't like the implications of what he'd heard. They were having enough trouble with the wild ones. He frowned and urgently asked, "When can you return to work?"

"When?" Izumi gestured at his leg, "Are you going to get me a wheel chair and a team because I'm not going to be able to walk around any more. And you better believe I'm not coming back just like that, either. I'm pissed."

"I saved your life!" Yamaki reminded him, only to be met with, "You ruined it!"

"The world is in danger," Yamaki pointed out and Izumi spat back, "If it's a world where I can't see my wife and daughter, I don't give a fuck."

It was then that Yamaki knew what he wanted. It was a hard ask but he was walking a very fine line as it was. The minister of defense and the Prime Minister were hounding him for results. Not to mention the fact that there was supposed to be a press conference about all of it later. The cat was practically out of the bag at this point. He had to deliver. With a heavy sigh, he replied, "You can see them as soon as you're cleared to be discharged."

"Fuck that noise," Izumi said, pushing his bedside table aside and adjusting himself in bed to face the exit, "We're going now."

Kari set her stuff down on her desk and turned to face the class. It wasn't hard to miss the dazed looks on some of her students: Juri Katou, Hirokazu Shiota, Kenta Kitagawa, and Takato Matsuda. Takato especially. Like they'd been up all night even though they'd spent all weekend camping. But when she thought about the chaos that followed their return, she couldn't help but be anxious. If she'd spent all of the afternoon dealing with rampaging monsters, she'd be burn out too.

That would have to wait until later though. She sighed and picked up her lesson plan to start the day's lesson. She would handle her students after class. But that didn't stop her from fixating on Takato, although she tried her best not to.

The idea that her brother had been just a few feet in front of her after all this time weighed heavy on her. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him. Not the least of which was why he never said anything. Then she remembered how the last time they'd met, he said she wouldn't recognize him. How she shouldn't wait for a brother who isn't coming back to return. But that would have to wait until after she confirmed it.

After what felt like the longest day, she dismissed her class but made a point of announcing, "Except for you Takato. We need to have a talk."

There were a lot of oohs from the rest of the class - kids being kids when someone got into trouble. It didn't help that he remarked, "That's okay! I wanted to talk to you too!"

There might just be trouble in this case. Any time her brother showed up, it was because the world was in danger. And after seeing all these digimon running around on the news, the fact that she hadn't been to the Digital World in years or seen Gatomon in some time. And if he wasn't her brother, then that just meant he was about to announce some crazy plan of his to cause trouble.

She waited by her desk as Takato came up to her, holding his backpack in both hands and looking so dazed that he was probably going to to fall asleep standing up. At least until he was up in front of her. Then he suddenly appeared alert and awake. He appeared to swallow a lump in his throat and asked, "So what's up, Miss Kamiya?"

She wasn't sure what to say now. The possibility remained that he wasn't The Digimon Tamer. How would she phrase it and not sound crazy? No, the whole thing was crazy. She sighed, "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

He paused, "Actually yes, there was something I wanted to tell you. I was hoping I wouldn't have to beat around the bush too much but I'm running out of time so I needed to-"

That was enough for her, "Tamer?"

He paused, then the smallest of smiles drew itself on his face, "Oh, good. This saves me a couple of steps. When did you figure this out?"

It really was him. The Digimon Tamer was here. She often wondered what she was going to say to him when they met again. But nothing she could think of felt right. But any emotion would've been robbed by the fact that there were other things they had to worry about. She closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath, "I started to figure it out after that thing with the snake in the subway. You've been gone a long time and there's a lot to talk about."

She paused for a moment before adding, "For starters, why didn't you tell me?"

"I spent the first few months in this body in a daze. I didn't really realize what was going on until I was already here. Besides, would you have believed me?" Takato looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Not to mention my memory's are fuzzy after reformatting. I remember a talking cat, clothes, a stage...and...a nice lady?"

She thought about it and it came back to her. The night of her college graduation, Matt had given her tickets to a return concert his band was doing. After the concert, they ran into a boy in ill fitting clothes who was rambling about nonsense. It was hard to forget, especially since he passed out the moment after Gatomon opened her mouth. The memory brought a smile to her face, reminding her of better times, "I think I remember that. It was after my college graduation. Matt played a song at his concert for me. Afterwards, some kid appeared back stage. He was really loopy and out of it. He passed out after Gatomon talked to him."

"That was you?" he asked before bursting into a laugh, "I see you did alright. Graduated from university, became a teacher like you wanted."

She returned the smile, realizing that they'd run into each other quite a while before now. But this wasn't the time for memories. There were things to do, "The others will want to see you. There are big problems: the digimon-"

He interrupted her, "I know. I'm working on it. Well...we."

"We?" she asked softly, alarmed by his choice of words but recalling that there were others kids involved. Two from this school and another girl she didn't recognize.

He still continued to smile that stupid goofy smile of his. Even after all this time, he still had that smile and the knowing look in his eye. Then she thought about his friends: Juri, Kazu, and Kenta. They all looked exhausted today. Even more interesting, she noticed them standing just outside the classroom through the hallway window. Of course they were there. She looked back at Takato, "Did you drag them into this?

"No," he shook his head calmly, "Well, not intentionally. I didn't pick them and I have no idea where their digivices came from. Whoever is doing this, it wasn't me. For most of them. For the rest of them, it was because I can't keep my mouth shut. Although, in my defense, this new mouth apparently can't keep a secret. Which makes it a miracle I didn't tell you sooner."

She stared at him in disbelief, wondering how much of what he said to believe.

"So what's going on?" she asked, wondering just how much he actually knew. He shrugged, "The same thing that's always happening: reality is compromised, worlds that shouldn't be touching each other are, and I'm stuck trying to fix it all. The big difference is I have an arm tied behind my back m because my head is still kinda fuzzy all the time and my old digivice broke and I can't figure out how to use the new one. It makes things more interesting, though. Check this out!"

He fiddled through his coat pockets and produced the oddest thing. A new digivice. One that made no sense to her - it looked kind of like her modified digivice only more centered. Then he began excitedly explaining, "They're real marvels if I'm being honest. They have a lot of the same features: scan, digivolution, possibly open gates to other worlds - still can't figure out how - OH! And these have card readers in them! And the cards modify digimon! It's really cool. It's kinda...I don't know, not stylish like the old one. You can't beat a classic. I'd modify this one if I could figure how it works but it's like someone made a banana but had only ever heard of a banana. So when they tried to make it yellow with a hard skin, and a flavor not everyone likes - they made a lemon. And that metaphor doesn't really work. Forget the banana and the lemon."

She found herself smiling at everything he said. She wanted to be upset. To be angry. To feel some kind of insult after he'd continued to keep his secrets. Then he put it away, "Never mind me, though. I'm doing fine. Kind of...where are the others? I've been trying to track them all down but this world has made it too...difficult to concentrate."

"We're meeting up later at Mimi's," she explained, "You can come with me."

His face lit up excitedly, "That works out for me just fine because we were going to have a team meeting with her daughter. Real quick ask, if you don't mind: do they go by any weird names right now?"

"Weird names?" she repeated quietly, blinking in confusion. No, that wasn't the important part right now. She shook her head, "Wait, how do you know Mimi's daughter?"

"It's a long story and I'll explain that part later," he dismissed her, "Does any one else go by weird names?"

She blinked again. It seemed they had a lot more to talk about than she realized.

Juri, Kazu, and Kenta waited patiently as Takato finally emerged from the classroom with Miss Asaji just behind. Or Miss Kamiya. It was still a weird thing to think about - that their teacher had a completely different name that they couldn't hear until Takato pointed it out to them. It was just...too much to process. He smiled from ear to ear cheerily, "Thanks for waiting guys."

"Students," Miss Asaji...Miss Kamiya greeted them. They all nodded and Kazu leaned in to ask, "Takato, did you open your mouth again?"

"Well yeah. I need to talk. Sometimes to eat. Occasionally to breathe when I'm out of breath," he replied matter of factly, "I haven't mentioned this yet, but we're going to Rika's place tonight."

"Rika?" Kazu repeated, glancing back at her teacher, "Dude, is it alright to talk about that in front of Miss Asaji?"

It still hadn't clicked for him. Juri frowned, wondering if this is what Takato…Tamer must've felt like for months.

"I already know, Kazu," she explained, alarming Kazu, "DUDE! YOU ARE THE WORST AT KEEPING SECRETS!"

Takato waved it off casually, "Don't worry about it, Kazu. Things are mostly under control. More importantly, how would you like to meet the digidestined?"

Kazu's worried expression changed to delight. He was practically bouncing with excitement, thrilled at the chance to meet his own personal heroes. Kenta was a bit more subdued, but she could tell from the way his face had turned bright red from potential embarrassment that he was excited too. He didn't want to look stupid in front of them. Juri wanted to feel happy for them but couldn't muster the energy to feel excited. Truth be told, she was still anxious about a lot of things. Their teacher's real name, telling their parents the truth, going to the Digital World. A lot of this seemed to be happening really fast.

She snapped out of it when Henry appeared beside her, startling her into jump which he quickly apologized for, "Sorry about that. What did Takato do now?"

"Is he a part of this too?" Miss Kamiya asked, pointing at him wearily. Takato nodded, "Yeah, he is."

"Don't drag me into your mess Takato. Whatever it is you did, I had nothing to do with it," Henry threw up his hands defensively, hesitant of whatever was about to happen until Takato insisted, "It's okay, I told her."

"Oh, never mind. Then yes, I am a part of this," Henry gestured to himself and the rest of the group. Takato nodded, "That's right. Now let's go meet the others!"

"The others?" Henry repeated, slowly following Takato's logic until he finally understood, "You don't mean-"

"Dude, we are going to meet the digidestined!" Kazu punched the air excitedly, until Takato covered his mouth and shushed him, "Not so loud. We don't know who's listening and the last thing I want is for another government agent to show up with his gun!"

"Government agents? Takato, what exactly have you kids gotten yourselves into?" Miss Kamiya asked anxiously. It was hard to miss the disapproving look she got from Miss Asaji, especially when it focused in on her. Juri had to look away to avoid cracking under the gaze. Takato waved it off, "Like I said, I'll tell you guys everything once we're at Rika's."

Kazu groaned, "What? Dude, you said we were going to go meet the digi-"

He paused, realizing how loud he was being and lowered his voice, "I mean, you said we were going to meet the digidestined!"

Takato and Miss Kamiya were both looking at Kazu quizzically now and it was his turn to start feeling the pressure. Miss Kamiya pointed at herself, "Kazu…I'm a digidestined. Miss Kamiya? As in Kari Kamiya? That's been my name all year. Did you not notice or do you just not do your homework? You would've had to have read my name every day for months if you were."

Kazu stared at Miss Kamiya quietly, his face stumped by what he'd heard, "Okay, are one of you pulling my leg? Because I'm getting really sick of all this Nami Asaji crap. It was funny before but now I'm getting mad."

"What did he just call me?" Miss Kamiya asked, looking to the others with an equally confused look. Takato groaned, "It's a long story and I don't want to deal with it right now. So, let's head over to the Rika's already!"

Miss Kamiya adjusted her bag and her took the lead for them, "Just as a warning, you kids better behave yourselves while you're there. Don't treat Mimi's like you treat the school."

"I don't recall you being so behaved when you were their age," Takato commented, only to be met with a snide, "How would you know? You weren't there for most of it. Besides, you have a penchant for getting into trouble mister 'brings-a-bag-of-smoke-bombs-to-school'."

Takato promptly shut up. This wasn't the usual scolding he received from Miss Asaji…Miss Kamiya. Their dynamic became less teacher-student and more like the playful banter between two people who hadn't seen each other for a long time. It was odd how quickly they started acting that way. Still, Juri was just glad he was starting to talk to people more.

Impmon landed with thump, observing the humans as they made their out of the school. The half sized squirt wasn't with them. Which was a problem for him if he didn't find Calumon. He got as close as he could without alerting them to his presence and listened carefully.

"So where's Calumon, Henry?" Takato asked, "Still safe with your sister right?"

"They'll be fine," Henry sighed, "Assuming they don't drive my dad crazy first."

"With his sister and his dad, huh?" Impmon repeated to himself quietly. But where the hell was the sister? It had to have been the little girl with them the other day with those crazy digimon. And going by her age, she was at home. Wherever home was. He'd have to keep a closer eye on the blue haired kid until he was on his way home. Then he'd know where the little twerp was.

"And where is that exactly?" the woman with them. She was new, probably another addition to the ever growing number of humans getting themselves involved in something that wasn't their business. Henry gestured off into the distance, "Apartment complex that way."

Maybe he wouldn't have to wait that long. Impmon shook his head, wondering how these humans kept anything secret when they talked so openly like that. Then again, they were just kids. Well, that would be their problem. Not his. His problem was getting Calumon.

Rika sat at her desk, finishing up the rest of her homework and cracking a very tired yawn. Because of what happened yesterday, all she could think about was the fact that they were all going to be showing up at her house soon. Those guys with the guns also kept popping into her head but that wasn't as important as far as she was concerned. Once she finished the last problem, she quickly double checked her homework to make sure everything was correct and neatly put back into her bag for school. Then it was off to the races - those idiots would be showing up any moment now and she wanted to be ready for them.

Once she had her deck pouch ready and her digivice, she made her way out to the living room to see her mom had set the dinner table with coffee and home-made snacks. She was tempted to sneak one away and leave but didn't want to get caught by her mom. As much as her mom was consumed with work, she was also a hell of a great cook and knew how to make a lot of really delicious dishes. Just as she was tempted to grab one of the brownies, her mom called out, "Ruki? Is that you? Aw, did you want some of my homemade brownies? Help yourself honey, there's plenty more where that came from."

Rika retracted her hand in protest. She didn't want to take it as an invitation from her mom. She shook her head, "No thanks. What's with all the food anyway?"

Her mom poked her head out of the kitchen, "I have some friends coming over! You might just like to meet some of them."

"No thanks," she turned to head back to her room only to run into her grandmother blocking the hallway back to her room, "Oh no you don't, young lady."

"Grandma?" Rika gasped in surprise as her grandmother spun her around and pushed her back to the dinner table where the snacks were. Her grandmother wagged a finger, "Don't think about sneaking out again tonight, young lady! I know what you did last night! You're staying home today. You can play with your friends later."

"Crap," Rika scowled, trying to get back to her room only to have her grandmother block her at every attempt. Her grandmother added, "Go say hi to your mother's friends. Then you can go back to your room. With me. Because you're not sneaking out again."

Now that she was stuck here, she decided she may as well help herself to some of her mother's brownies. As soon as she heard the first knock on the door, she tried to make her way back to her room only to get blocked by her grandmother again, "No, you don't young lady."

Rika groaned, resigning herself to staying in the dining room. She may not be able to avoid meeting all of her mom's friends but that didn't mean she had to talk to them. And if any of them tried to talk to her, she planned on ignoring them. In a huff, she stuffed her mouth full of the brownies as her mom's first friend came in. Her mom happily offered the man a seat, "I made brownies, cookies, some cake, and anything you can think of! Help yourself! The tea will be ready any minute, Joe!"

"Thanks, Mimi," a dark haired man in glasses smiled, taking a seat in the dining room and helping himself. When he took notice of Rika, he smiled, "Hey there. I'm Joe Kido. You must be Ruki. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She nodded, remembering him from the book and the show. She recalled Joe being something of a worry wort if cautious. He didn't seem either - appearing more relaxed than anything. She stuffed another brownie in her mouth to ignore the man as he spoke, "Your mom speaks very dearly of you. I'm sorry about your dad by the way. I knew them both when we were your age. I gotta admit, it's incredibly out of character for someone like your dad to just disappear on you guys."

She still ignored him, but that didn't stop him from going on, "Not a talker, eh? That's fine. I can do the talking for both of us. That is what I do, after all. You look like you had a rough day - either that or you had a long night and haven't gotten much rest. Y'know, it's not healthy for kids your age to stay up too late. It'll make you short. And I wouldn't eat too many sweets. You'll get a cavity. Or even a root canal."

Annoyed at that remark, she swallowed the mouthful of cookie she had just bitten and asked, "What's your deal?"

He continued to smile at her, "My deal? Well, I'm a doctor and a good friend of your mom. So naturally, I notice things in the world that most others wouldn't when it comes to health. I notice you're kinda tall for your age which is good because that means you have a healthy lifestyle. But if you're not careful, that may not be the case. You don't want to peak as a kid, do you?"

She rolled her eyes, relieved when the door knocked and two more of her mom's friends came in. She recognized them immediately as Sora Ishida, her mom's fashion designer friend, and Matt Ishida, that rockstar/soldier/astronaut husband of hers. The digidestined of love and friendship. One was kind, compassionate and cared deeply for those around her. The other was abrasive and rough around the edges, but she recalled the small rampage he went on when he thought his was brother was hurt in the first book.

Sora hugged Joe, "It's good to see you Joe.'

"Likewise," he hugged her back and nodded at Matt, "How've you been, Matt? Any luck?"

Matt eyed Rika wearily and frowned, "Not in front of her daughter. I don't want to talk about it."

It seemed like he wasn't going to talk to her. That was fine by her. She didn't want to talk to him either, anyway. Joe went on to add, "I saw your new fashion designs the other day. Beautiful work as always, although I think you're getting a little too risqué with some of your men's clothing."

Sora put her hands over Rika's ears and said something she couldn't make out. But she could see Joe's glasses slide down his nose a little while Matt turned his head in shame. Once she removed her hands, Joe adjusted his glasses and snickered, "I hope your fans appreciate what your wife does for you."

"Sometimes I don't," Matt replied. And it didn't take long for the rest of the friends to show up from there - some weird private investigator name Ken Ichijouji and his wife Miyako. But for some reason everyone called her Yolei. Then there was a mustached lawyer named Cody, and some lanky looking cook named Davis who showed up still wearing his apron and cooking bandana. Soon she was surrounded on all sides by a bunch of adults she didn't want to talk who wouldn't stop chatting. She was about to go into the living room when she overheard the one called Davis ask, "So when's Kari getting here?"

"Aren't you married?" Yolei asked. There was a small laugh from the group before Davis reasoned, "Yes I am. And I'm asking because she's the one who wanted us all to meet up."

She moved to the living room and turned on the TV, hoping to drown them out when there was another knock on the door. Davis threw up his hands excitedly, "Finally!"

She heard the door open and a lot greetings happen, followed by a familiar and annoying voice, "No way, we're going to Rika's house?"

It was that stupid guy Kazu. Which meant it was her friends. She got up, relieved to finally have an excuse to not be around her mom's friends when she heard her mom say, "Oh, do you know my daughter?"

Of course Takato had to answer, "We kinda hang out a lot with her."

"Oh, I didn't even know she had friends in her own age group," her mom said excitedly, "Especially not boys. Then again, she always was a tomboy."

Rika groaned, wanting an out of this conversation while she could. She walked out of the living room to meet them, hoping to get them out to her room before things got more out of hand for her. Out in the entry hall were none other than Takato, Henry, Juri, Kazu, Kenta and that weird teacher she remembered from the other day - presumably the Kari Kamiya from the original draft.

"My room's this way," she said to them, gesturing for them to follow.

"Rika, that's no way to talk to your friends!" her mom scolded her only for the goggle head to add, "That's alright. It's weird to us if she's not talking like that. To be honest, I'm surprised you didn't notice yet, Mimi. Rika did, so I figured you would too."

"Notice what? And how do you know my name?" her mom asked perplexedly. Miss Kamiya smiled at her and greeted, "Hi there, Ruki. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Miss Kamiya, but you can call me Kari. I'm a friend of your mom's and their teacher."

"It's Rika," she corrected, keeping her eye on goggle head as he made his way into the kitchen. Then she heard a very loud smack followed by something hitting the floor. She made her way into the dining room to see Takato on the floor massaging his cheek, Matt standing over him with a raised fist. Takato looked up and grimly replied, "I really should've expected that. Hello to you too, M…erm…Marc? No, that's not…Matt! Yes, Matt!"

"What the hell happened?" her mom demanded as everyone else made their way back into the room. Matt pointed at Takato on the floor, "You know he deserved it."

"Oh, is that him?" her mom raised an eyebrow. Before anything else could happen, the cook and the private detective helped him off the ground. With the chef quietly saying, "Sorry about that. He's under a lot of stress. Well, we all are. So…you're-"

"Yup," Takato nodded, straightening himself out, "Sorry, my head's a little fuzzy still so I might get a lot of this wrong. But if I remember correctly…it's…Matt, Skye, David, Yolei, Wotkin…and um…sorry, I can't remember the rest. Head's still a little dizzy."

"I want to say I'm offended but I'm not sure what else I expected," Joe said from the table, taking off his glasses to clean them, "I mean, you're not right, but you did call every one of them by at least one of those names at least once."

"I think I am offended," Davis scratched his head while Matt cracked his knuckles, "I think I'm going to deck him again."

Before anything else could be said, Kazu jumped in the middle of the room and excitedly called out, "No way! It's really you guys! It's gotta be…Sora, Matt, um…Joe…or are you Ken? Wait, you've gotta be Ken, which makes you Joe. Then that means you're Yolei! And you're Davis and Cody and…this is so cool!"

At the mention of their names, each of the adults frowned, and one of them could be heard muttering, "Dammit, Takeru."

Rika frowned. It seemed that the goggle head had told them who they were. Although she was madder at Kazu for his next remark, "Which makes you Mimi! And…wait! Rika! Your mom is Mimi! Your mom is…wow, the apple really fell far from the tree."

She promptly kicked his shin, making him jump in place in agony. Kenta patted the boy's shoulder, "You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you?"

Once he stopped massaging his shin, Kazu looked up at the teacher, "Wait…wait…oh you've…I'm an idiot. You're Kari Kamiya! You're-! Guys! Do you know who that is? That's Kari Kamiya!"

"Oh good, he's finally figured it out," Henry laughed.

"It's like I said. Different worlds, sitting on top of each other causes your minds to process it in a way that makes sense," Takato explained matter of factly, "It's not until you notice the inconsistencies on your own, or someone points them out to you, that it starts to unravel. In his case though, his mind must've been subconsciously trying not to notice. How else could a fan of the digimon franchise like you miss what was right in front of them the whole time?"

Rika barely followed any of that, but she was sure he just called him dumb. Then she heard Ken groan, "Because of course Takeru had to publish his books."

"He asked our permission so it's not like we can be mad," Cody said, quickly adding. Then he noted Henry, "Hello there, Henry. Find your answer?"

"Yes, sensei," he answered, "Don't tell me you're a digidestined too."

"Indeed I am," he nodded, looking back to the rest of the group, "Takeru may not have changed our names but he changed our descriptions enough that most people wouldn't identify us. Besides, before any of us gets mad: I'm a public defender so anyone can look me up, Matt's a rockstar, Sora's a top fashion designer with a huge following, Mimi's got her own fanbase with her modeling and acting career. If anything, Davis is the only who had a bright idea by becoming a ramen cart owner in a city full of ramen cart owners."

"Had to follow my dream," he said matter of factly, "But we can all catch up later. We have serious problems."

"Right, the digimon," Henry began. Matt pointed at him and began, "Okay, seriously Kari. Who are the kids and why'd you bring them?"

"Because this," Henry pulled out his digivice and unzipped his bag so that Terriermon could hop out, "Finally! I thought I was going to suffocate in there!"

Rika did the same and produced her own digivice. Takato followed their lead and produced both of his. Her mom gasped, "Ruki! Have you been a-"

She quietly made her way to the garden door and slid it open. Then she called out, "Renamon! It's alright. Come out."

Her partner appeared quickly, arms crossed and staring into the room, "Rika, are you sure about this? You've tried so hard to keep me secret."

"Oh wow," her mom said. Rika waited for her to say something about how she didn't like her partner being so cold looking but instead heard, "She's gorgeous! Just look at this fur! And that look! So cool. Sora, you have to make a dress after her. Or a jacket. Tell me, Renamon! Who does your hair?"

"Don't ruin this for me, mom," Rika snapped quickly, dragging the woman away from examining her partner too closely, "She's not gorgeous, she's cool! And don't you dare make a dress after her!"

Then Rika noticed that aside from her mom, the mood in the room was somber. All the adults looked disappointed or alarmed and Terriermon sheepishly stated, "Don't all get excited at once. Did someone die or something?"

"Not yet," Ken explained, "The last few months have been difficult to put it lightly."

"Don't you mean weeks?" Kenta asked them all, stuttering like he was about to pass out, "I mean…all this started only a couple of weeks ago."

"I already explained this Kenta. Well, maybe it's time I reexplain this whole mess. Guys! The world is screwed, reality is combining worlds that shouldn't be near each other and it's making time become convoluted," Takato pointed at Kenta before going over to a wall and taking a pencil from his bag, "It may have been a few weeks for us since this whole mess started but it's been months for them. Like I said, worlds sitting on top of each other."

Then he started drawing on the wall - curved lines, wavy lines, straight lines and more that just kept intersecting each other while all going in the same direction, "Time for your world, your version of reality is moving like this. But now it has to occupy space with another world - one similar enough to yours that you miss the little stuff, but different enough that they're not compatible. Then you have the Digital World trying to enter the mix and…well, you get the idea."

"Stop drawing on my wall, goggle head," Rika smacked the pencil out of his hand. She was glad to hear her mom add, "You better clean that up."

Takato ignored her and turned to the others, "Right, any questions?"

"Okay, start that whole thing over again but without the parts where I have no idea what you're talking about," Davis asked with a raised hand, examining the wall with all the focus that Kazu must've put into anything.

"Forget that, what have we missed from your guys side? Eh? You all look well! Except for the sour moods, which I guess is bad."

They all gave him skeptical looks, and Sora asked, "You mean you don't know?"

Ken added, "Yeah, you're usually on top of all this stuff. So either you're lying or we're royally f-…I mean in serious trouble."

Rika knew what he was going to say and said it anyway, "So we're fucked?"

"RUKI!" her mom snapped until Takato interrupted, "No, I'm not lying. Hand on my hearts, blaster to my head. I've been a little confused since getting into this face. I remember I'm supposed to find someone to help me sort it out but I can't remember who. And the different worlds with different destinies sitting on top of each other makes it hard to tell what's supposed to happen at any given moment. Think like being in a party where everyone's talking to you at once. But there's only three people so I guess that's not a party. Forget the party!"

A pause followed before Kazu said, "Yeah, we're just as confused as you guys are about anything he's saying."

"I don't get the two worlds thing. There's our world and the Digital World. What else is there?" Davis asked, examining the lines on the wall carefully, "You mean the Dark Ocean?"

Takato looked at them like they'd all just drooled, "Don't tell me you guys haven't noticed either? Come on! After everything that happened? You don't remember?"

"Explain it again. Slowly this time," Joe asked calmly.

Takato sighed, "Okay, this worked for the others so maybe it'll work for you guys. Mimi! How old are you? Don't hit me, just answer the question."

"Twenty-six," she answered. Rika blinked. That wasn't her mom's age and she interrupted, "Mom, you're not twenty-six. What, you had me when you were a high schooler? Then again…"

Her mom gasped and slapped the back of her head, "Don't make me wash your mouth, Ruki. Of course I didn't. Your father and I…were both out of high school when…wait, that can't be right. I'm…twenty-six. But you're…does anyone else have a headache?"

The adults all looked at each other with alarm. This must've been like what they were doing when Takato broke the news to them. Each of them were quietly scratching their head. Davis added, "That's right…the girls had a baby shower but that was…"

Takato sighed, "Come on. Concentrate. Think about it! Let's try this. Kari, how long ago did you graduate from university?"

"Not that long ago," Matt answered, "She graduated, started teaching at your school. I played a song for her at my concert."

"So you finished your military service since then?" Takato asked. Matt nodded, "You're damn right I did! It was the roughest five…wait…no, I didn't…Sora?"

"I'm noticing it too," she nodded, "When did we get married? We were dating then. But it's only been a few months and…I don't remember you proposing or a wedding or…"

The adults were now all dazed and confused. Rika looked over at Kari who was massaging her head. Takato patted her back and explained, "Two worlds with different paths. Two different truths, occupying the same space at the same time. They can't both be true, and yet they are. Reality is compensating by making two different people the same person."

Kari paused before saying "So what you're saying is-"

"-in another time, you were born Nami Asaji to the Asaji family," Takato answered with a frown, then turning to Rika's mom, "You were born Makino Rumiko. So on and so on. Your lives have become intertwined."

"Does anyone else know what he's talking about?" Davis asked, "Because none of that made any sense to me. I know I'm not the smart one, but this is making my head spin."

"All our heads are spinning," Ken added.

"I think it makes perfect sense," Joe said, "It also explains a lot. But maybe we should compare notes to make sure we're all on the same page."

"AWESOME!" Kazu sat down, "So what happened after the last book!? You guys go to the Digital World again!? I bet you've fought a lot of bad guys since then."

"A lot happened. Mei still barely talks to us after what happened with her," Sora explained sheepishly, "But the broad strokes are that our digimon all disappeared one day and we haven't been able to get into the Digital World to look for them! Around the same time, Takeru vanished and we have no idea where to. Not to mention Izzy ran off without a word. We've all been worried."

"I wouldn't worry about dad. He walked out on us and I don't care if we never see him again," Rika spat out angrily. The adults began looking at her and she realized she was being angry again. She took a deep breath and added, "Still, I'm sorry about your digimon. That must suck."

Sora frowned, "It does. We're worried."

Takato patter her shoulder, or tried to with how short he was, "I'm sorry. Couple of questions: Who's Mei? What do you mean your digimon are gone? And who's Takeru?"

A beat followed where Matt cracked his knuckles and the rest of the older digidestined shifted uncomfortably. Then Takato asked, "Wait, was Takeru the one who wore all the hats? Aw, I liked him."

"Oh yeah? And what about us?" Ken folded his arms disapprovingly. Takato quickly added, "No offense to you guys but he was the only one willing to wing it and go with the flow. Y'know, let destiny sort it out."

Matt slammed his fist on the table, "Well that could've been the reason he went missing so you'd better help us find him."

Takato apologized, "Sorry, sorry. I'll add it to the To Do List."

Matt was already off the desk with a raised fist, looking ready to deck Takato when there was another knock at the door. Henry looked towards it, "Are you guys expecting someone else?"

"No, we're all here," Mimi said, "Hide your digimon. I'll go see who it is."

Renamon was already gone while Henry was busy stuffing Terriermon back into the bag. As soon as her mom opened the door, she heard a soft gasp. Rika groaned and went to go check on her. Why was she running at all the loud noises today? When she got there, she saw a man in black suit with sunglasses pushing another man in a wheel chair. She felt her heart stop in shock at the mere sight of him, "Dad?"

"Hey Ruki," he said with the biggest smile.

Author's Notes: A surprise reunion! How will Rika react? What will happen when Takato is in the same room as Yamaki? And just what is Impmon up to? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v2.0 - In His Name due out next Friday, July 19th 5 PM CDT! If you loved it, let me know in the reviews section! Don't forget to favorite the story to show support and follow to keep up with all the latest updates! That's all I have for now, so let's look at previews for the next chapter!

Yamaki wanted to feel happy for Izumi, finally seeing his wife and daughter for the first time in a long time. However, there were urgent matters pressing in the back of his mind that he knew took precedent over this. And the sooner they got out of here the better. From the moment his wife hugged him, Izumi never once let go of her. He noticed a girl standing in the entry way too - a girl with red hair tied into a pony tail that resembled a pineapple. Presumably his daughter.

He'd seen her somewhere before - where?

As he tried to recall, he could vaguely hear Izumi's wife asking where he'd been and what happened to him. He couldn't hear whatever answer Izumi gave, but it made his wife walk up to him and slap him across the face. That cold hard smack was something new to Yamaki - he'd never been slapped by anyone's wife before. Her fury was clear on her face too, "How fucking dare you."