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 27: Lake House

Days passed as they continued their trek through miles of desert, impeded only by the occasional random digimon coming to attack them. At least, it should have been days. It felt more like weeks with endless the endless desert heat beating down on them. They stopped only when it was dark or when they could find shelter to rest. It was simply too dangerous to be wandering in the dark or rest out in the open. Soon, desert sand turned to grassy plains and verdant forests. The air cooled the further they went until they reached a large serene lake in the middle of the forest. It was a welcome sight after spending several days wandering the desert of the Digital World.

Everyone ran straight for the water to get a fresh drink, except for Guilmon who simply dove straight in. They washed their faces and cleaned themselves up short of taking a bath. Takato was the only who didn't get into the water, opting to instead walk the water's edge and occasionally dip his toe into the water, "It should be here somewhere."

"What are you doing?" Terriermon asked, looking up from the water long enough to notice, "If you didn't pack a towel or a swimsuit, you're gonna get yourself sick jumping into the water!"

"I'm trying to find the steps," Takato answered, still dipping his foot into the water every few feet, "Wet. Wet. Wet. Wet. Dry!"

As he said that, Takato's leg disappeared into the water up to his knee without making a splash. He pulled his leg out and dunked his head into the water, staying under far too long for anyone to still be alive. Terriermon tilted his head, "Did he just drown himself?"

"He doesn't smell dead!" Guilmon sniffed the air, then made his way over to his partner to sniff his side. Then he started poking Takato's side until his head emerged from the water as dry as it had gone in, "Good news! I found the front door! Bad news! The stairs are falling apart so we might trip on our way down. Best news! There should be some beds down there we can use to rest up. Not sure if the food is still good though."

"Stairs? Beds? What're you talking about?" Henry approached the edge of the lake and dipped his shoe in. He pulled it out, inspecting the dry footwear carefully before slowly lowering his foot deeper into the water, "There's a step here!"

"Yeah! See!" Takato demonstrated by casually walking into the water and disappearing completely beneath the waves. This took the cake for all the strange things Takato had done until his hand broke the surface to wave at them. Takato climbed back out, "Are you guys coming or not? It's perfectly safe. Mostly safe. The stairs are still crumbling."

Henry paused and looked back at the rest of them quizzically. They were all looking back anxiously, none of them wanting to be the one to go down first. Realizing they weren't going to go anywhere like this, Juri took a deep breath and followed Takato's path into the water. Like he said, it was dry and she felt her shoe step on something solid. Emboldened by this, she took several more steps that slowly descended into the water until she was completely submerged. And she found a staircase descending into the depths of the lake that was surprisingly well lit. The water stopped at the sides of the stairs, held back by an invisible barrier that stopped any of the fish swimming in the water from passing through. The sight was as beautiful as it was impossible, "What is this?"

Takato put his hands to his hips and smiled cheerfully, "Ancient technology! It's...um...how did this work again? Um...oh yeah! It's called hard light! Think like a force field except you can use it to make whatever you want."

"Aren't you worried that it'll break and we'll all drown?" Juri asked nervously, tapping the side of the water and feeling something hard there. It was like a glass window. But glass could break and they couldn't breathe under water. Takato shrugged, "Not really. Why? Are you planning on breaking it?"

"No. I'm not a great swimmer, so I wouldn't even try," she answered sheepishly. Takato smiled, "Then that makes you all the braver for coming in. I see Henry and the others are still hanging out up there. That makes you braver than them."

Juri looked back up the stairs to see Henry still only knee deep into the water before forcing himself down in, followed by Terriermon, Guilmon and Leomon. Leomon looked around, jaw hanging open in awe of the sight, "Ancient technology again. It never ceases to amaze me."

Guilmon sniffed the air, "This smells familiar."

"Does it?" Takato tilted his head, jogging back up the stairs to examine his partner. He turned Guilmon's head with his hands and pried his mouth open, "It shouldn't be. You shouldn't even know what this is. This is your first time here...right?"

Guilmon pulled his head out of Takato's hands and sniffed the air, "I don't know. It smells...yummy."

Terriermon laughed, "I think he's smelling the bread in your bag. So what are we doing here? And where are we going?"

"I'm just coming here to get something," Takato said again, turning back down to the stairs and leading the way, "Don't worry, we won't be staying long. Once I find it, we can get going. Or we can stay the night, your guys' call."

"Yeah, you still haven't told us what you're getting or where these stairs go," Leomon pointed out skeptically. He groaned, "I don't mean to be cynical Tamer, but it would be nice if we knew what was going on. What does this have to do with finding the others?"

Takato stopped in his tracks, shoulders slumping quietly and he looked back up at them. There was a slight hesitation in his voice as if he was wrestling on whether or not to actually say anything, "You're right. I'm going to get...something personal. Something that might help me sort out my memories. After that, I promise we're going to go the Hallowed Bastion and find the others."

"It's amazing how little of the question that answered," Henry stated dryly, scratching the back of his head before continuing to follow Takato. They descended downward in uncomfortable silence broken only by the occasional fish slamming into the invisible barrier, until they reached the very bottom and found a small house surrounded by an old wall. It was made the traditional Japanese style, and within they found an overgrown garden marked by a stone path leading up to a sliding front door. Trees and bushes looked like they'd been hastily trimmed with the debris carelessly piled in the corners of the garden. It even had a small stream allowing fish to pass through the garden and back out into the lake. Henry glanced around at the entire structure before gasping, "Wait a second, I remember this! This is the lake house from the show!"

"That's right!" Takato said, proceeding past the entry way, "Took the digidestined here years ago when they were your age. It's been a while since I was here. It belonged to someone else and I've been taking care of it for them for a while. Or I was...then I got busy. It's odd though. It's not nearly as overgrown as I thought it would be."

"That's good, isn't it? It means you don't have to do much work," Terriermon answered. Takato nodded and proceeded towards the front door and slid it open, kicking off his shoes and calling in, "I'm back! Home sweet home! It's been ages."

"POISON IVY!"

Dozens of vines shot out of the front door and wrapped themselves around Takato, Juri, and Terriermon - raising them into the air and holding them up there. A large group of small digimon charged out to surround them - a Gabumon, a Biyomon, a Veemon, a Hawkmon, a Gatomon, an Armadillomon, a Wormmon, a Patamon, a Tentomon, and a Gomamon surrounded them from all sides. The last to appear was a Palmon standing at the front door, using her vines to hold the others up. Henry retreated behind Leomon quickly, recognizing who these digimon were but unsure he'd be able to convince them they were not dangerous. Despite the danger, Takato remarked, "Haven't been dangling upside down since the puppet in the Bastion. Are you guys going to put us down?"

"This is some hello," Terriermon added, his ears flopping around as he dangled precariously. As for Guilmon, he didn't seemed alarmed at all by the danger and started sniffing the Gabumon, "You smell funny. Do I know you?"

"I think he's making fun of your fur," the Palmon said to Gabumon. The Biyomon sighed, "Guys! Focus! We're looking bad in front of the intruders!"

"Intruders?" Takato scoffed in disbelief, "THIS IS MY HOUSE!"

Palmon answered by shaking Takato in place. Juri gasped and tried pleading while Leomon drew his sword, "Put them down!"

The threat of violence put the digimon on their guard and they readied themselves to attack, "We don't listen to you! Who are you and how did you find this place?"

"I lived here!" Takato spat out. The digimon looked between each other and then at Takato, "What do you mean you lived here?"

"Oh come on, guys!" Takato whined, "You remember me, right?"

The digimon all looked between each other cautiously, before Gomamon spoke, "I don't like the cut of his jib. I don't trust him."

"Me either. But he says he lived here," Tentomon pointed out, "That's gotta be The Tamer!"

Takato pointed at Tentomon, "Yes, I am! I am the Digimon Tamer! That's me!"

"Yeah! That's the Digimon Tamer!" Leomon added quickly. The digimon paused again, looking from Leomon to each other. The Hawkmon frowned, "Do you think we can trust him?"

"If he is The Tamer, would you trust him?" the Palmon asked, continuing to keep them raised up in the air. Takato shouted again, "I swear! It's me! Put me down! This is ridiculous!"

Watching the scene unfold was perhaps the most surreal thing any of them had ever seen. Realizing things weren't going to get any better if things kept up like this, Henry stepped out with his arms raised, "We're not going to harm anyone! We're just here to get something and then we'll go. Well, Takato or Tamer is here to get something. Then we'll go. So can you please our friends down?"

The digimon continued to stare up at them cautiously. Why wouldn't they be? They were probably freaked out to see random humans and digimon showing up at a place no one should've known was there. Especially in the Digital World. Eventually, the Veemon spoke up, "To be honesht, I don't think they're going to hurt ush. If they were, they'd have done it before we got the jump on them. Beshidesh! They've got humansh with them! You guysh remember your partnersh, right? Maybe they're digideshtined?"

At that, Palmon dropped everyone but Takato. Juri and Terriermon landed with a thump, "Ow!"

"It's about time!" the little digimon complained, massaging his head. Now it was only Takato dangling up in the air and he complained, "So I'm just going to hang up here? Because the blood is starting to go to my head and I'm getting dizzy."

"Not until you get this!" Palmon answered, shaking the boy in the air and spinning him around. Juri gasped, "What are you doing? What did he ever do to you guys?"

"Long story. I'm just venting," Palmon replied, continuing to shake the upside down boy against his will as he jostled up and down. After giving him a good throttling, Palmon finally put him down head first. The boy sat up, massaging his head and grumbling at his mistreatment. The Gatomon approached, "So what brings you back after all this time?"

"Good to see you too," was all he said, still rubbing his head and looking up at the cat digimon, "This is some hello. I haven't seen you guys in forever and you jostle me upside down. What are you doing here, anyway?"

He was answered with Gatomon pressing her claws against him, "How about you tell us where you've been!?"

"What's going on out here?" a voice called out from the entry way. All eyes were on the door now as a young man with blonde hair stepped out of the entry way wearing a loose fitting tracksuit and a baseball cap. The man looked between each of them with an unimpressed frown and folded his arms, "Gatomon, I don't think Kari would appreciate you holding your claws at someone."

"I was just making a point," Gatomon said with a friendly smile, retracting her claws a little and stepping away so that the man could offer Takato a hand up. Takato glanced at his hand nervously, before getting pulled up and being dusted off, "Sorry about that. They're anxious because they haven't seen their partners in a while. Speaking of which, I see you've got a strange partner yourself. What kind of digimon is that?"

Takato gestured to everyone as he introduced them, "He's Guilmon, I'm his partner Takato. These are Henry, Terriermon, Juri and Leomon."

Before the man could even respond, the Gomamon interrupted, "Takato? A second ago, you were telling us you were Tamer!"

"Tamer?" the man repeated quietly, a small smile drawing itself on his face, "Of course. How else would you have found this place? I should've known it was you from the beginning. Come on in. We have a lot to talk about."

"Wait. Sorry, hang on a minute," Takato called out, massaging his temple and circling this strange man, "Sorry, I'm a little lost. Actually, I'm very lost. Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

The man laughed and flicked Takato across the forehead, "What? Don't you recognize me? It's Takeru. Y'know - TK?"

Takeru - the missing digidestined. The guy who'd vanished. Henry did his best to keep his mouth from hanging open. But Takato continued to rub his chin in clear confusion, "Wait! The hat kid? Oh! It's good to see you! What are you doing here? The others said you were missing! What are you even doing here? We have to tell the others!"

"Tell the others? Who are you to tell us that! YOU'VE BEEN MISSING! FOR YEARS! WAY LONGER THAN WE'VE BEEN HERE!" Patamon blurted out in frustration, until Takeru pulled his partner back. He massaged his partner's back until he calmed down, "It's alright, Patamon. I'll get some drinks. Let's take a moment to relax."

Takeru disappeared back into the house, followed by all the other digimon who came storming out. They'd calmed down but there was still an air of frustration coming from them. Henry swapped a nervous glance with Juri, and both looked down at Terriermon, "Do you think it's safe to go in?"

"Not if that's how they greet us," Terriermon answered, still massaging his sore head. Leomon sheathed his sword and asked, "Tamer, are those really the partners of the digidestined? The famed heroes of this world?"

"Yes, they are," he answered dryly, scratching the back of his head as he nervously added, "And I don't think they're at all too happy to see me. Big surprise there. Man, I know my memory's fuzzy but I hope I wasn't that bad in my last life."

"You've been kinda wimpy. Maybe that's why they're mad?" Terriermon suggested, ears spreading out wide again in a playful manner. Takato sighed, "Yeah, I hope so."

Takato's frown returned and Henry was left to ponder what exactly happened in the real version of events that left him sulking. The more time passed, the more clear it was that whatever actually happened was not what the books or the tv show described. He was pulled from his thoughts by Leomon loudly proclaiming, "You mean...they...but...that can't be right. I'm an idiot! Of course that's who they were! It's been so long that I forgot what they were. I can't be this foolish. Do you think they're mad at me? The heroes of the Digital World and I almost started a fight with them."

"I wouldn't worry about it. They're more mad at me than you," Takato said, "But let me go in first in case they feel like attacking again."

They proceeded inside, just behind Takato and Guilmon into the quaint little home that was far more modern in design that it would have suggested. There was a television, radios, several computer monitors and keyboards strewn across the floor of every room. The kitchen had its share of modern appliances which Takeru used to busily warm up some water for tea. Takato made his way through every room quietly, looking around with wide eyed astonishment, "I see you redecorated my house. Hmm. I don't like it."

Takeru chuckled from the kitchen, "Well, you weren't here so we just made ourselves at home."

While they continued to wait, they joined the digimon at a long dining table where they all sat quietly - awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact with the potentially angry digimon for their intrusion. Or rather, while they tried to keep their mouths shut as everyone of them stared at Takato in silence.

The only thing making it more awkward was a middle aged man with a beard and mullet resting with his head down on the table, wrapped beneath a blanket as he snored loudly. Eventually, the long and awkward silence was broken by Gabumon asking, "Okay, so I need to know because it's bugging me: why are you a kid again, Tamer? Shouldn't you be older than TK?"

"Would you believe that I have no control over my reformatting?" Takato answered sheepishly, "I just…kinda woke up like this. Believe me, this wasn't my first choice in appearance. Legs were too short, arms aren't long enough, and my hair is just…awful. I haven't cut my hair since I got this new face and it still won't get longer. I liked it better when it was all up. Now it just kinda…droops. Even when I push my goggles up."

"I still don't believe that's actually him," Gomamon grumbled. Takato looked at Henry and Juri quietly, unsure of what to say next. Neither of them were sure what he expected them to do - it wasn't like they were able to say anything. Henry could think of a few things he wanted to say to the digimon but he was sure they'd bite his head off if he tried. Thankfully, he didn't have to as Guilmon made his way around the table sniffing everyone, "You all smell familiar too! You smell like…disappointment. And you smell…like angst. And you smell…like you don't want to be seen without your fur!"

"Yeah well, you smell like-" Gabumon sniffed Guilmon back, "Bad breath. Although you do smell…familiar?"

Juri was getting anxious just sitting here, "Um, I don't want to be rude, Takato. But can you get what we're here for so we can go. I'm kinda uncomfortable here."

"Believe me, I am too," Takato assured as he sat up from the table, "It might take me a bit longer since things have been moved around. I'll definitely get started."

"What are you looking for anyway?" Gatomon asked, watching the boy as he made his way from room to room, examining every cabinet, closet, and dresser he could find. When he didn't answer, she rose up along with the Gomamon and they started following him around, "HEY!"

They were eventually stopped by Guilmon getting in their way to sniff them, "You smell really familiar. Like you've got an abandonment issues!"

"Okay, I'm scratching your face now," Gatomon said calmly, giving up her pursuit of Takato to bare her claws. Unfortunately, she was knocked over when Guilmon shoved his snout in her face to sniff her. Worried, both Juri and Leomon separated the two before they tried to kill each other. The next room appeared to be a bedroom where Takato was busy reaching underneath for something. Once again, Gatomon snapped, "What are you looking for, Tamer?"

"Clues, hints, guides," he replied sheepishly. He retrieved nothing but empty boxes, notebooks, and more, before finally grunting, "Something to help me…well, figure out what I missed. I get the feeling that old me…last me…wouldn't have taken steps to make sure that I didn't just walk out into the world unprepared for whatever I needed to do. I feel like he…I…would've left hints for myself to find. The question is, where would they be? Where would I have put it? It doesn't help that the house isn't the way I remembered it."

Juri frowned, once again reminded of the fact that this boy walking around with her classmate's face wasn't him but someone else. Living his life. The real Takato's life. Before he could get any further, they heard Takeru call from the dining room, "Tea's ready guys! And I have snacks!"

At the sound of that, Guilmon hurried out of the room and back into the kitchen to help himself, "YAY! I'M SO HUNGRY!"

"You're always hungry," Terriermon called out.

"You guys had better hurry back before he eats everything," Takato remarked quietly, still digging under the bed before giving up and hurrying over to the closet, "I'm going to be a while. I'll join you when I find...literally anything at this point."

"Juri, you should eat something," Leomon added, resting a hand on her shoulder and gently trying to move her from the door. She nodded and followed Leomon, noting that only Gomamon chose to join them. The cat-like Gatomon stayed beside Takato, tapping her foot impatiently as he made his way from one end of the room to the other. She wanted to trust that Gatomon wouldn't pick a fight, but wasn't sure Takato would make it easy for her. He seemed to have a knack for annoying people. At least they'd be nearby in case anything happened - If they could hear it that is. The dining room was packed with noise as the digimon happily gorged themselves on plates of cookies, cakes, crackers, rice balls and more. Henry sat at the far end of the table, trying his hardest to not get swept into the feeding frenzy while also getting some extra plates for Leomon and herself.

Meanwhile, the older man on the far side of the table continued to doze quietly. He must've been drunk if he was able to sleep through all the noise the digimon made. Takeru took a seat beside him and said, "Don't mind Shibumi here. He works himself to exhaustion and sleeps for days at a time once he burns himself out. He'll wake up...eventually. So, you're Henry and Juri. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. The same for your partners. It's a little nostalgic to see Leomon again after all this time. You don't happen to...remember me, do you?"

"I do, but I'm not that Leomon," her partner answered quietly, crossing his legs and resting his arms on his knees, "I'm...um...one of the Koromon from Koromon Village. You probably don't remember me but I digivolved into one of the Agumon back when we were guarding ShogunGekomon's palace."

"I do remember that, yes," Takeru nodded quietly, "But I'm sorry, I don't remember which one you are specifically. Although I understand it's normal for only digimon of the same type to be able to differentiate each other."

"Yes, that's quite true," Leomon nodded quietly, struggling to keep himself from bursting with excitement. At that moment, Takato returned into the room with his hands in his pockets, "You guys should just try using names then. It'd help. It's not like Henry or Juri go around calling themselves human or I just call myself Guardian."

"No, you go by Tamer," Gatomon snarked from behind him before finally joining the table to eat. Takato leaned against the door frame into the dining room and crossed his arms, his gaze shifting around the room as he mumbled, "It's gotta be around here somewhere. Where else would I put it? Never mind. So TK, what are you doing here?"

Takeru's expression turned dour, taking a small sip of tea before answering, "I'm hiding and the Digital World seemed like the safest place at the moment. My books might've made me famous but they also put a target on my back. One that put all of our digimon in danger. You remember that ninja guy? Well, he warned me about some shady government officials with express interest in both the digivice and our partners. I didn't want to think about what would happen if they fell into government hands - our partners or the digivices. So I gathered them together and took them back to the Digital World."

"We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye," Armadillomon frowned, "I miss Cody."

"It's still hard to believe that your books weren't just fiction, but that everything in them was real," Henry added excitedly, "All of it. The digimon...the Digital World...the digidestined."

"Of course they are. Why wouldn't they be?" Takeru answered with a raised eyebrow. Henry's mouth fell open, "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" Takeru looked around the room cautiously. Takato hung his head as he answered, "He's human. Just like the rest of you. He probably hasn't even noticed anything wrong yet. Not to mention the fact that he's been hiding here for some time - he has no idea what's going on in the Real World. You at least know what's going on in the Digital World, don't you?"

Takeru shrugged, "Just some stories that I've heard whenever we go out. A lot of digimon have been fighting each other to get stronger for some reason. Some pick on the easy targets for whatever reason. We try to help out where we can and intervene, but it doesn't seem to be enough. And conflicting stories about how either you specifically have been seen traveling the Digital World with a violent digimon, you've been found in the Real World, or WarGreymon was defeated by something even the Sovereigns are afraid of. That last one turned out to be true."

"I heard," Takato remarked quietly, moving to finally take a seat at the table, "There's a lot you need to catch up on."

That was when Gatomon interrupted by slamming her paw against the table, "You can start by telling us where you've been all this time."

"Nuts to that. I want to know how Davish ish!" Veemon jumped up, "Ish be okay!? How'sh hish noodle shop!?"

Takato nodded, "I guess I owe you that much. The others are okay so far as I can tell. They're worried about you guys and want to find you. Your brother is worried sick about you, Takeru. As for me, I've been stuck in the human world for the last year trying to remember everything. Reformatting messed with my head a little, and I've been trying to get my head straight. Which leads to what I have to say: it turns out the reason why I can't concentrate is because there's more than one version of your world sitting on top of each other. They're overlapping with each other in a way that's messing with reality. I'd love to fix it, but first I need to get my head straight so that I don't make a bigger mess. And I was hoping to find something...anything. I feel like the old me wouldn't have left anything to chance."

"The Digimon part is true though. They've been showing up in our world a few at a time. At first it was just a few of them, but they kept getting stronger and stronger. It wasn't long before a really strong group of digimon started to appear called the Devas. And they were after the Catalyst...some kind of energy source that would make them strong," Henry added, "That's why we're here. They turned it into a little digimon named Calumon and we're trying to rescue him."

At the sound of the word Catalyst, Shibumi finally jolted awake and asked, "Huh? Is it here!?"

"Good morning!" Takeru greeted cheerfully as the man groggily stared around the room, eyes still half shut. Once he took notice of the new arrivals, he cracked a tired yawn and waved, "Oh, hello. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude to guests by sleeping. I'm Gorou Mizuno but my friends call me Shibumi. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Hi!" Juri waved nervously. Shibumi looked around the room quietly, his tired expression hardly changing from a frown until he finally asked, "So it's safe to say that the digignomes haven't returned?"

"Haven't seen anything," Takeru answered, gesturing towards them, "I thought it was them for a while because of all the noise they were making. It turns out it was just our guests."

Juri was how completely lost and leaned over to whisper in Takato's ear, "What are the digignomes?"

"I don't know. Never heard of them, before," Takato shrugged, before loudly asking, "Sorry, what's a digignome?"

Shibumi's face lit up in excitement, while the digimon all groaned, "Please don't get him started."

"He goes on forever about this stuff," Tentomon groaned, "It's like Izzy but without Mimi to shut him up."

Their pleas didn't stop Shibumi from beginning a lengthy explanation, "I'm glad you asked. You see, when my friends and I created the Digital World several years ago, we also created several programs to act as moderating agents. Some were there to make sure none of the digital life forms became too dominant and overran the program, while others were there to help facilitate the growth of disadvantaged life. Those are the digignomes. They're small, curious little creatures that only want to help and are smart enough to know what you want when you ask. And they always answer."

Gatomon rolled her eyes, "See, that's why you don't want to ask him too many questions about them. I've lived in the Digital World all my life and I've never heard or seen digignomes until this guy showed up. Now nothing in the Digital World makes sense. And I bet you had something to do with this!"

She pointed a finger at Takato angrily and he could only throw up his hands, "Would you believe I had no idea what's going on? Because I really don't. I was hoping getting out of the mess that was the Real World would help my headache out but the Digital World didn't help things. If anything, it proves what Kenta said. The Digital World that I've spent all my life in, the one that you guys all know, is merging with the Digital World made by Henry's dad and his friends in college. And if that's the case...well, then we're in a lot of trouble. There are cracks in reality now, cracks that a lot of evil things that prey on the fragile balance of the worlds will take advantage of. It's already started to affect the flow of time. The other digidestined aren't even experiencing time at the same rate anymore and they're all in the same world. Whatever is causing this has the Sovereigns scared. I just wish I had remembered before it was too late."

Takato fell quiet again, and Juri tapped his shoulder out of concern - worried he may get lost in his own head again. Terriermon on the other hand wasn't in the mood to deal with his disbelief and frowned, "Hey! Don't get all quiet on us again! You're the only one who knows where he's going right now. The last thing we need is you spacing out if there's danger. What's got you so down anyway?"

Takato didn't answer, "It took until Leomon and Andromon jogged my memory for me to remember. WarGreymon. My partner. That's who I was supposed to find - my best friend. He was supposed to help me remember myself after I reformatted. I didn't find him soon enough. Or he didn't find me. It doesn't matter...it's too late to do anything about it now…"

He paused again, "When those drawings I made started sliding into the card reader…and it turned into a digivice…I felt guilty at first. It was like…choosing to forget something really important. Having Guilmon…felt wrong for a reason I couldn't understand. Some part of me must've remembered Agumon. But I took care of Guilmon anyway - he was a baby digimon out of his element in a world he didn't know. I just hope I don't lose him the way I lost Agumon."

Juri understood why he'd been so quiet. It was just like her mother. She'd only known Leomon for a short while and she didn't know what she'd do if anything happened to him. But Takato must've known his partner for a long time before then. It was hard to imagine what it must've been like to lose someone you've been close to for that long. Sensing his partners unease, Guilmon pushed his head against Takato's arm.

"But he's right there," Takeru gestured at the red dinosaur.

A beat of silence followed. Henry's mouth fell open and the other digimon stopped eating. All eyes were on him like he was crazy. Takato raised an eyebrow at Takeru, and Juri looked back at Guilmon again. His name was Guilmon, not WarGreymon. Takeru noticed their confusion and frowned, "The moment I found out, I went to Primary Village hoping to find his DigiEgg. It took me a while. The data was corrupted - it was missing pieces like something had tried to devour it. With Shibumi's help, we were able to recover some of the data and send it to you."

"Me? But how did you find me!? I was right under Kari's nose for months and she didn't notice!" Takato repeated quietly. Takeru smiled, "I didn't know who you were right away, but I kept tabs on you. I mean, a scrawny little kid with no memory in baggy clothes wandering around the back of my brother's concert? Something was up. The others told me to leave it alone but eventually, I pieced it together when I saw Davis's sister's photos. Your clothes were the ones Tamer wore when we last saw him. You were Tamer."

"But why didn't you tell WarGreymon?" Henry asked, "If this is true, and you knew, why not tell WarGreymon?"

Takeru's frowned deepened, "Don't get me wrong. I tried to tell him but he didn't want to know. Or rather, he wouldn't let me tell him. He said, destiny would sort itself out in the end as long as he did what came naturally. I tried give give him hints but he wasn't interested. I asked if he could give me some hints on what to expect next. He just promised me that it would be taken care of. Since he wouldn't tell me anything, I decided to take matters into my own hands and start helping out wherever I could. Before I knew it, I ended up being you. I think that's why there are rumors going around that the Digimon Tamer is back. The digimon probably think I'm you."

Patamon whistled, "For what it's worth, you would make a better Tamer than the actual Tamer."

Gatomon frowned, "I don't think it'd be that hard to be honest. Tamer was annoying for a reason."

Takeru, for his part, didn't seem bothered by the comparison. He even seemed flattered, smiling as he added, "To be fair, it's not like I was trying. It all just sort of worked out. It's like what WarGreymon would say: do what comes natural and destiny will sort itself out. We've been keeping tabs on the Digital World ever since - in your name, Tamer."

Takato didn't seem to be paying attention to them, instead staring at Guilmon quietly. The digimon realized he was being stared at and looked up with a half eaten rice ball hanging out of his offered one to Takato, who brushed it aside to hug his partner. There was something sad about that hug though - something Takato wouldn't say and Guilmon didn't understand. Once he let go, Takato rubbed his eyes, "Huh. So this is what it feels like to be on the other side of the whole not knowing destiny thing. I don't like it."

"Welcome to the club," Gomamon rolled his eyes. Leomon cleared his throat, anxiously asking, "There's one part of this I don't understand. Why do all this? Why not just come out and tell everyone?"

Takeru's gaze went downward, "Because I haven't forgotten what happened when the Digimon Tamer and Agumon weren't around to protect the Digital World. The moment I realized he was a clueless kid in Japan…I knew I had to step in. But, the truth is, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. But I still had to try. We did it in his name because the alternative would've been worse. I didn't realize until I started that this is a duty that never ends. There's always something about to go wrong, something about to destroy the Digital World or our world. And it's all we can do to keep the world from falling apart."

Henry found himself carrying a feeling of dread. Takeru's admission carried an air of guilt and his expression became tired as he said that. Is this what it meant to be a digidestined? Wrapped up in an unending mission to save a world always on the verge of tearing itself apart. The more he thought on it, the more he was terrified of his own future. And his own family was partially involved in this. Making it worse was Shibumi's gaze on him the entire time. Bothered, he asked, "Um…Shibumi, why do you keep looking at me?"

"Sorry, you just remind me of a friend of mine," he answered with a soft smile, "An old friend of mine, and I was wondering if you might be his relation. You wouldn't happen to know a Zhenyu Lee, would you?"

"That's my dad," Henry answered, remembering something his dad told him, "I thought I remembered your name. Your that friend of his that went missing after your project was shut down. But what happened to you? How did you get here?"

Shibumi beamed, "I'm glad he still remembers me. Truth be told, I have no idea. My memory becomes hazy between the project being shut down and waking up here. I remember graduation, vaguely. I don't know what else happened afterwards. But since I've been here, I figured I might as well continue my project and research life as it evolved here. Inconsistencies aside, the complexity and variety of life here is enough to make me marvel. And this Ancient technology Takeru introduced me to is a whole other thing to behold. I could spend a lifetime researching this and only scratch the surface."

"But you managed to learn enough to manipulate the data of a deleted digimon and send it to me," Takato stated skeptically, scratching his chin, "Color me impressed. But I'd like it if you stopped. The last thing we need is anyone using reality altering technology while reality itself is crumbling around us."

Shibumi waved his hands, "No can do. I still have bug fixes on the digivice models I've been working on. Takeru would like these ready as soon as possible."

"Wait, so you made these?" Takato lifted up his red trimmed digivice, "Because I have a lot of notes you should consider! First of all, I can't figure it out. Second of all, I love the card reader! Can you add more features like that? Third! How does this radar function work? Sometimes it detects digimon and sometimes it doesn't! What exactly is it doing?"

Shibumi waved his hand dismissively, "It's not meant for one like yourself to use. It's meant for children. Like the digidestined and their partners before them, with a few improvements suggested by Takeru. I'd be more than happy to show you how to use it to its full potential. That way, you won't have any trouble in the future."

"Yes, please!" Juri said quickly, jumping at the chance in front of her. She looked at Henry and Takato too, hoping they would join her. Henry nodded in agreement but Takato held up a hand and gestured at Takeru, "Wait, why do you want to make working digivices? I'm pretty sure we've been down this road before...somewhere...and I vaguely remember dying afterwards."

Juri jumped at that statement and noticed Takeru's attitude become more serious, "In truth, Tamer, it's because I'm not going to be around forever and I know for a fact that you're not always around. I had to take steps to prepare everything for a moment when the Digital World would need help and we weren't going to be around. And with everything going on, I figured now would be a good time to test drive it - so Shibumi and I each picked a child we knew. I picked Izzy and Mimi's daughter - you've probably met her already. Her name is Ruki."

"You mean Rika!" Terriermon said cheerily. Shibumi gestured at Henry with a smile, "And I chose you. Although, I thought you'd be a lot younger than you are now. I suppose what Tamer here was saying about time was true. Although I can't imagine it's been that long."

"My dad says he hasn't heard from you since college and that would've been before I was born," Henry answered quietly, unsure how the man would take the news, "That would've been before I was born. And I'm ten!"

"Huh, I guess it has been a while," Shibumi mused. He took that all surprisingly well - no shock, no alarm, not even a gasp. Just a small smile and a nod. His dad's friend was either really good at maintaining his composure or really didn't think missing ten years of his life was a big deal. Juri broke the silence by raising her hand, "Um, excuse me. Why did I get a digivice?"

"What?" Both Takeru and Shibumi said together. She raised it up, "I got it when I helped Leomon. But you said you each gave a digivice to your friends' kids. Did you know my dad? Or my mom?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't. I have no idea why you got a digivice," Takeru scratched the back of his head. Shibumi snapped his fingers, "I think I do. I've always wondered how much of my work actually affects the Digital World. After all, I am altering the fabric of the Digital Space. I tailored the algorithms of my digivices to work for children with strong ties to digimon. It's entirely possible that went from being a hard code in my digivices design to a fact of the Digital World. So now any child with a strong enough bond to a digimon could, in theory, receive a digivice."

"Oh," she frowned. Leomon returned the smile on her face when he added, "It just means that we're really close, Juri."

Shibumi cracked a small, tired yawn and rose from his seat, "I think we've talked enough for now. How about we get started on the lesson? First up, how digivolution works!"

Shibumi spent the rest of the day showing them how to use the digivices, even introducing features they didn't even know it had. Before they knew it, day turned to night and Takeru set up some extra futons for them to sleep on. It was nice to have a comfortable bed to sleep on for the first time in a while, and Juri found herself resting comfortably in a way she hadn't in a long time. It was ruined only because eating and drinking her fill made her wake up in the middle of the night to relieve herself.

She was careful to tiptoe her way around the room so as not to disturb the other digimon and made her way out into the restroom. On her way back, she noticed the front door was left open and went to close it, stopping only when she saw someone just outside on the edge of the garden. She was alarmed at first, until she heard Takato's voice, "It has to be here, somewhere. If I were me, where would I leave it?"

"Takato?" she said quietly, rubbing her tired eyes and stepping out into the yard towards his voice. She found him walking the edge of the garden, examining the outer wall carefully and tapping it occasionally as he pressed ear against it. He jumped when she asked, "What are you doing?"

He corrected himself and tried to play it off, "Still looking for clues, hints. I keep thinking about it. I wouldn't have left myself or anyone out in the dark like this. There has to be something. But where? I had to have put it somewhere!"

"Shouldn't we get Guilmon?" Juri asked. Takato shook his head, "He's had a long day and he needs to rest. Besides, he's probably like me - only very fuzzy memories of being who he used to be. And I don't want to force him to remember something he can't."

"Well, do you mind if I look with you?" Juri asked quietly, sure of how alone Takato or Tamer must've been feeling right now. He nodded, "The more, the merrier."

They continued searching the perimeter of the wall, examining things carefully until they eventually came upon a white stone on the far end of the yard obscured by some bushes and plants. It was an odd decoration, worn by time and slightly overgrown. She pointed at it and asked, "What's that?"

"A reminder," Takato answered quietly, approaching quietly and removing some of the brush that had overgrown it. He wiped the dust off it, seemingly intent of restoring. Juri looked down at him and asked, "Of what?"

He sighed, "I don't want to talk about it. But maybe Takeru was right. Maybe we should just follow Agumon's advice. Just do what comes natural and destiny will sort itself out in the end."

He continued to dust off the white stone until something fell off the top from beneath the brush and dust. Juri picked it up but it was to dim to see properly, "A piece of paper? What is this?"

"Here," Takato took out his digivice and turned on the screen for them, holding it like a light on the photograph. It showed an assembly of kids in armor beside digimon, standing beside another adult in armor. Beneath it was text she couldn't read but there was one thing that stood out to her. Takato was on the picture, dressed in black clothes beneath white armor. Takato stared down at the photo in surprise, "I forgot about this. It's my old unit - Thirteenth Youth Corp. A recon and supply unit back in the war."

"You were all just kids," Juri said in disbelief. She'd known about the war. She didn't know they were kids. Takato nodded, "The war was getting desperate, back then. But that wasn't me. That was."

He pointed at another boy on the picture, one with fiery brown hair standing beside a small orange dinosaur. Juri looked at the boy, standing just a few heads away from the Takato she knew. The one who vanished. She pointed at him, "If that's you, then what happened to Takato? The real Takato."

Takato was quiet for the longest time after she asked that question, and it took her perhaps a moment too long to understand why. Once she did, she dropped the photo and felt tears start to stream down her eyes. She didn't know why though. She had barely known Takato before - he was just a kid in her class who was really into digimon. But knowing now hurt her in a way she couldn't understand. She did manage to calm herself down enough to ask, "What are we going to tell his parents?"

"The truth," was all Tamer answered, folding the photo in half and sticking it into his back pocket, "They deserve to know that much. Their son is gone. The most we can do now is make sure he's not forgotten. And that means I'm going to have to do whatever he's supposed to be here doing. And Juri…I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

She wasn't sure why he was apologizing or why it hurt to know what happened to the real Takato. But it hurt her in a way she couldn't put into words.

Author's Notes: The horrible truth of the real Takato's fate has been discovered. What happens now and how will this affect how the others see Tamer Takato? What will happen when Rika and her group meet up with the others? And just where is Calumon right now? Find out all this and more on the next chapter of The Tamer v2.0 - In His Name in two weeks on Friday, October 11th at 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 favorite to keep up with all the latest updates! That's all for now, let's look at previews for the next chapter!

"Haven't heard that speech before. The Deva part is new," TK remarked, helping Takato out of the water and gesturing at the monkey, "That him?"

"Yep," Takato nodded, "That's the monkey who kidnapped our friend."

"YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS LORD MAKURAMON!" the monkey seethed angrily, fuming as he continued jumping up and down. TK raised an eyebrow, "I don't see a lord, just a child throwing a tantrum."

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?"

"Do I look like I care?" he fired back