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 30: The Village On The Coast

They rested another day at the house, part to recover from the day's fight and part so that the information could sink in for Kazu and Kenta. The rest of them hadn't really interacted with the real Takato before but he was Kazu and Kenta's friend. And they'd become uncharacteristically quiet ever since learning he was dead.

The mood was hardly any better the next day when they headed off towards the lights in the horizon, and the travel was awkward the whole way. Thankfully, their journey eventually took them to a beautiful coastline that seemed to go on forever. And the sight of it seemed to raise everyone's spirit if only slightly. Rika, however, was focused intently on Ryo who'd been quiet ever since the battle over the lake. Although she was unsure if it was due to the battle, Tamer, the truth about how his anger made Cyberdramon crazy, or something. She was sure he was still steaming about everything though and was trying his hardest to not lead it into Monodramon becoming violent again. Admittedly, the interactions between the two partners was out of sync now that Ryo knew the truth. Meanwhile, his partner Monodramon was grumbling about not being able to fly and wanting to hit everyone around him. Likely because of whatever pent up anger Ryo wasn't dealing with.

The funny thing was, everyone except Terriermon and Calumon would just push him away whenever he tried to take a swing at them. Even that idiot Guilmon was able to keep him at arm's length. Sometimes with his tail. Since Ryo had been hanging back, Rika slowed her pace to keep up with him, "You alright?"

"Yeah, just...taking everything in," Ryo answered quietly, "And processing everything that's happened. It's...aggravating."

"I know the feeling. Goggle head got on my nerves a lot. But the thing about Takato…I mean, wow," Rika nodded in agreement, trying to think of some positive points to add. One look at Monodramon was all it took, "At least your partner's a lot...easier to handle now that you've…mellowed out."

As she said that, Monodramon made another attempt at fighting and charged at Leomon. And for his efforts, Leomon picked up the digimon by the scruff of his neck and held him up at arm's length, "Please stop that. It's getting annoying."

"I'll stop when I knock you down a peg!" Monodramon hissed until Leomon knocked him on the head. The little dinosaur calmed down, whimpering in pain and rubbing his sore head. Ryo sighed, burying his face in his hands, "I don't think I did. It's hard to not get mad every time I see Tamer. How do you guys not get annoyed by him?"

Rika shrugged, "You're asking the wrong person. Kazu and Kenta are his friends. Were? I don't know, you've gotta ask someone else. Although I'm not sure who the right person to ask is."

"How about Juri? She seems friendly. Although the puppet is kind of weird. I've been meaning to ask: what's up with that?" Ryo gestured towards her, fiddling with her sock puppet anxiously. Rika recalled their conversation in the park about how hard it was for Juri to talk to others. In a strange new world, her anxiety was probably getting the better of her. And having Ryo question her might not be the best idea. Maybe Henry was a better choice? She waved it off, "Never mind. Let's ask Henry instead."

The only other sane member of their group walked in the middle with his hands in his pockets, casually asking Terriermon about every little thing in the Digital World as they passed. Part of it was genuine curiosity, part of it was because his partner had suddenly become very talkative. Terriermon gestured ahead, "It's kinda hard to believe your dad made all this. He must've had a lot of free time on his hands when he was in college."

"It's scary to think what he would make if he still had that free time," Henry surmised, thinking on what would've happened if he hadn't lost his project. Would he be working in his lab, trying to make improvements to the Digital World? Would he have gotten married to his mother? Terriermon laughed, "Maybe you and your sister should do more to keep him busy. That way he won't make any more things that'll kill us!"

"If only," Henry laughed, "Maybe Shibumi made some more helped programs while we weren't looking. Wouldn't that be nice if we had some of those digignomes following us around. Speaking of which."

He looked over at the glowing balls of light playfully flying around Calumon as he hopped along side them, amusing him with their aerial ballet. Every so often, he'd bounce on one and ride it for a little bit before falling onto the ground. Terriermon asked, "Do you think Xiaochun is ready to see him again?"

"She definitely liked having him as a playmate," he nodded in agreement, watching Calumon get lifted into the air by the little lights who continued to carry him around.

"Hey! Henry!" Rika called out to him. He looked over his shoulder to see Rika and Ryo making their way towards him in hurry. Terriermon took the chance to joke, "I wonder if they're coming to kick your butt."

"Don't put that idea in my head," Henry frowned, worried his partner was right. It didn't help that all he had to say in response was, "Moumantai!"

"If they kick my butt, I'm kicking you," he warned his partner. The little digimon laughed at the empty threat and hurried off to join Calumon, who was busy being flown around by the Digignomes. Henry mentally prepared himself for whatever tai chi training he would need to defend himself when Rika stopped, "Ryo's got a question for ya."

"For me? What's up?" he asked the other boy curiously. What did he have to offer a guy as experienced in the Digital World and as skilled in the card game as Ryo? He got an answer when Ryo shot Takato a sideways glare, "Tamer. How do you guys put up with him?"

Henry laughed at the oddness of the question, "It's not hard when you have a partner like Terriermon around."

Ryo frowned, obviously disappointed with the answer and added, "I'm not talking about his personality. I mean, how have you not gone completely crazy because of him? He drives me insane! All I can think about is how he dropped me off in this world for twenty years!"

Henry thought about that, recalling everything Ryo had said the day before and chose his words carefully, "Honestly, I'd be pretty mad if he did that to me. But the truth is, I guess I had more of a choice in the matter than you did. I could've walked away with Terriermon. It sounds like you didn't have a choice. I think that would've been easier than getting the choice. Because the choice becomes standing by while others get hurt, or putting yourself in danger to protect others. If that makes sense."

Ryo grumbled, "It really doesn't. It sounds like he just hasn't thrown you guys under the bus yet. I mean, you're right about one thing: I didn't have much of a choice. To be honest, I'm not sure you guys did either. After all, it's only a matter of time before he says something like 'all according to plan' or something stupid like that. For all you know, he's been pulling your strings since the beginning."

"Yeah, I've heard that about him," Henry glanced at Takato once, walking in the front with his digivice out to navigate. Maybe he should stop thinking of him as Takato - the real Takato was dead. Then again, he never even knew the real Takato. So what did it matter if he called the guy Tamer or Takato? He seemed like the plain old guy who was just trying to stop all the craziness before it got out of hand, "But he doesn't seem like the kinda guy who would."

"He would and will," Ryo said bitterly, before taking a deep breath to calm himself, "Sorry, I guess I'm still fuming about what happened."

"Moumantai," Henry patted the guy's shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at him, "I keep hearing your partner say that. What does it mean?"

Henry laughed, "It's Chinese and it means relax. Don't ask me where he learned it. He says its because some Terriermon learned it from a human a long time ago.."

"Huh," Ryo frowned, "Probably because of Tamer or something Tamer did."

Henry frowned, noticing that Ryo still seemed to be seething a little. The fact Monodramon was still trying to jump the other digimon was a dead give away. He'd need to talk to someone else to get all that aggression out. But who else could Ryo ask that question to? After all, Rika had her own issues with Tamer and wasn't the right person to ask. Kazu and Kenta wouldn't be safe bets since they each knew the real Takato and Henry wasn't sure what was going through their heads right now. It was almost unnatural how quiet things could be when they were chatting excitedly between themselves.

Juri seemed like a safe bet since she was following closest behind Tamerkato...that seemed like an odd choice of name for him but it worked. The Tamer was too weird, even a little too formal - but he couldn't keep using Takato's name. In either case, Juri seemed like she wanted to join the conversation but didn't know what to say. She might be the answer, "You know what, I think I know the person you should be talking to! Juri!"

The girl jumped at the sound of her name, looking up sheepishly but still managing to smile. She had been quiet ever since the morning before the Devas showed up. Ever since Takato revealed the truth about the real Takato. Still, she seemed to be the least agitated about it. She slowed down so they could catch up, "What is it, Henry?"

"Ryo here wants to know how we're not all being driven crazy by Takato," Henry explained sheepishly, "And I figured you would be able to answer since you know him better. Well, know him better than either of us. You are in his class after all."

Juri paused for a moment, her gaze moving skyward slowly as she rattled off anything that came to mind, "Well, he does drive our teacher crazy sometimes. But I guess it's because they know each other? Although I'm glad when he interrupts the class because then I can try to catch up with notes. It was also weird, getting strung along with everything that happened-"

"That certainly sounds like him," Ryo rolled his eyes and leered at Takato, "That guy always strings you along. It's how he works. And you'd better believe that if it means leading you into something awful, he won't bat an eye. So what did he do to stick you guys in this mess?"

Rika, and Juri all looked at each other - unsure how to explain their situation to him. Or rather, unsure who should go first. Juri answered first, "He didn't drag me into anything. I signed up for this. He actually tried to talk us out of it and get us to walk away. But I'm here. And it's been fun so far."

"I didn't even know Tamerkato was involved until a few days after all this started for me," Henry offered his explanation, "Terriermon just showed up out of my computer one day. Next thing I know, all this is happening."

"Tamerkato?" Ryo repeated expectantly. Henry shrugged, "Well, his name is Tamer but he's running around with Takato's face. But it feels weird to still call him Takato and Tamer is just...I dunno. Every time The Tamer comes up, he's made to sound like something legendary. And he...well, isn't."

Rika was the only one who didn't give an answer, which was bad since Ryo seemed to trust her over them. Ryo didn't seem to notice though since he was still hung up on Tamerkato, "You're not wrong. But wait until you see the real Tamer come out. And when he does, you'll find out just how far you've been strung along."

Henry was struck by that question and had never really stopped to consider if that was actually the case. Was Tamerkato quietly stringing them along? It sounded like what Rika had talked about in the park - the forgotten novel that described The Digimon Tamer as manipulative. But knowing how'd been acting since the truth came out about the real Takato, he wasn't sure that was the case. Unless that was how Tamerkato was manipulating them. Then again, there was no way his attitude wasn't genuine - he was flustered, confused, and well out of his depth.

"Whoa! Check this out!" Kazu called out aloud. They returned their attention forward to a sprawling walled village with a castle in the distance. The castle was decrepit, practically falling apart - like something from a feudal Japanese fortress that had been sacked and left to rot. Juri gasped, "It's horrible! What is it?"

"That is ShogunGekomon's Village," Renamon answered, "The domain of ShogunGekomon and his people: the Gekomon and Otamamon. At least, that was its history. It was a bustling city a long time ago and is home to all sorts of digimon. They would take in anyone who needed a home, so long as they abide peacefully with others."

"No way! That's the thing from the show!" Kenta jumped up excitedly, "Kazu! This is the place from the show! Where Rika's mom sang that song!"

"Man, what a dump. What do you think happened here?" Kazu frowned. Tamerkato grunted as he carried on, "We're in the Digital World. Take a guess."

He marched ahead with Guilmon just behind him. Leomon crossed his arms, "I don't understand. It was not like this when I left."

Henry was sure that Tamerkato's statement was truer than he was comfortable admitting. And if it was, it would be dangerous to let their ticket wander off on his own, "We'd better catch up to them before they do something and get themselves hurts."

It took them a while to finally catch up to them outside the village entrance. The village was populated by a mish-mash of digimon - the toad like Gekomon, the tadpole like Otamamon, small little orange dinosaur Agumon, little bunny eared Koromon, and more. The digimon hurriedly moved oversized barrels towards the edge of the lake, shouting amongst themselves to hurry before someone arrived.

Whatever it was that had them all so worked up, it made Guilmon growl towards the ocean and drew the attention of the nearest digimon. One of the Gekomon took a good look at the group before continuing his business. As Guilmon continued to growl, the Gekomon stopped again to look - obviously annoyed with his growing. Before he could start to yell at them, his gazed fixated on Ryo and his eyes widened. He shouted, "Is that who I think it is? The Digimon Tamer! Everyone, The Digimon Tamer is here!"

The announcement brought all the working digimon in the village to a pause, digimon everywhere stopping in their tracks to look up at them. Then a mad excited rush followed as all the digimon came together to swarm the group. It was all Ryo could do to quietly step back behind the others as they were swarmed, although it was obvious to everyone that they were interested in Ryo.

"You have to help us!"

"We've been working for him for years! He never lets us rest!"

"Only you can stop him!"

Everyone stepped back to get clear of the wave of digimon, watching in stunned silence as Ryo was treated like some kind of celebrity. Which should've infuriated both Ryo and Tamerkato for the case of mistaken identity. Instead, Tamerkato smiled from ear to ear for the first time since his grim announcement and quietly remarked, "So this is what it looks like from the outside. It's kinda funny to see it happen to someone else."

Overwhelmed by the sheer number of digimon and annoyed at once again being mistaken for the person he hated the most, Ryo looked back to them as if he were pleading for help. All he got was Rika joking, "Hey! Ryo! I think they're talking about you."

It was weird to see her crack a friendly joke like that. For all of them. And even weirder that it actually managed a small chuckle from Renamon.

"I'll get them!" Monodramon shouted, baring his claws and charging in for the attack. He got just short of the crowd before bouncing off the backs of one of the Gekomon and landing face first into the dirt. Realizing he was on his own, the boy raised his hand to call for quiet. His lips curled into a frown as he explained, "Guys! I'm not the Digimon Tamer! Don't call me that ever again. He's over there!"

The excitement died down as they looked over at Tamerkato, smiling that dopey smile of his as he waved. The digimon of the village were unimpressed by what they saw and returned their attention back to Ryo, "That was funny Tamer, but this is serious! We're in a lot of trouble!"

Tamerkato frowned and stepped back towards the rest of the group, "That was new. I don't know if I'm offended or flattered."

"Why don't you show them your old digivice?" Juri asked. Tamerkato shrugged, "What good would it do? They already don't believe me. Besides, I'm more interested in what has them all so spooked and relieved to 'Tamer'! Let's see what's going on with those barrels."

He led the way past the crowd with Guilmon towards eight large bowls of foul smelling liquid just ahead of them. Guilmon got sick and started retching as they got closer. But Juri knew what it was as soon as she smelled it - it was the smell of strong alcohol. The kind her dad liked to drink and serve at his bar. She also knew that it was incredibly strong. Tamerkato took one sniff of the booze, barely flinching at the smell and remarked, "It smells a little weak."

It made sense. He was a lot older than he appeared - who was to say he hadn't drunk alcohol before. She watched him approach the nearest bowl and take a strong whiff. Then he scooped out a handful and took a drink. He fetched and coughed it back up, "Oh god. It's gone bad. Who would drink this?"

"Tamerk-!" she paused, catching herself before she finished saying the name, "Takato!"

Thankfully he didn't notice as he mouth and try to get out of his tongue. She was about to say he was too young for that, but then remembered this wasn't Takato. It was someone else. And she'd just called him Takato. But the real Takato was dead. It never bothered her before to call him Takato. So why now? Was it the fact that she knew the real Takato was dead? She was pulled from these thoughts by Tamerkato wiping his mouth, "Sorry! It's just awful. Who would want this!?"

"Don't drink that!" An Otamamon shouted, running over to shoo him away from the drink before he could have anymore. The Otamamon pushed him back with his head, "That's not for you! That's for Orochimon. He likes his drink like that and it takes us months just to brew enough for him. So no more for you!"

"Orochimon," Tamerkato repeated quietly, rejoining Juri's side. The little Otamamon hurriedly poured more of the contents of the barrel into the bowl. She didn't know much about digimon and had no idea who Orochimon was. She did think it was odd that the digimon in a place called ShogunGekomon Village were so concerned with the whims of a digimon named Orochimon. Maybe it was connected? Unfortunately, she was distracted by the powerful smell of alcohol coming from Tamerkato now. It seemed the smell rubbed off on him because he reached into the alcohol, "You stink."

"I do?" Tamerkato sniffed himself and frowned, "Crap, I got it on me. I'm going to jump in the ocean real quick and then we can start asking around. I want to know why ShogunGekomon's allowing any of this."

She was about to stop him but was unable to open her mouth without getting a face full of fumes. Instead, she watched silently as he jumped into the ocean with his clothes on - soaking himself in the smell.

A great roar blared in the distance and the gathered digimon returned to their panicked frenzy and started pushing the barrels out to the beach again. Of the digimon that assembled to meet them, only one Otamamon stayed to stare up at Ryo with wide eyed excitement, "Is it true? Can you really help us?"

Ryo glowered, burying his face in his hands in annoyance. Thankfully, Kazu stepped in to answer ecstatically by pointing a thumb to his chest and proudly proclaiming, "You bet we can! We're the new team of digidestined and we're here to help!"

"Please don't call us that," Ryo groaned. The Otamamon turned its head in surprise, examining Kazu's carefully before declaring his ego, "You're a lot smaller than the stories make you sound. I expected the Digidestined to be taller."

"I did say new," Kazu pointed out to the unimpressed Otamamon. Kenta did his best to stifle his laughter while Guardromon had to hold Kazu back from jumping the little digimon. Rika rolled her eyes and introduced herself, "Don't mind him. His mouth works faster than his brain. I'm Rika, this is Kazu, that's Ryo, Henry, Kenta, Renamon, Leomon, and Guardromon. What's going on here?"

The Otamamon gestured out towards the digimon and sheepishly explained, "Our village is preparing its weekly tribute to Orochimon, an eight headed serpent who terrorizes us if we don't. We need to prepare a special brew of sake for each of his heads but it takes so long to make that we're running ragged. We have to take turns working in shifts all day just to make sure there's enough for him. And he starts eating us if we don't have enough."

Rika looked out upon the barrels and counted them. There were indeed eight barrels being lined up at the beach like cups. And for some reason, goggle head was swimming in the ocean while Guilmon and Juri watched. A few digimon shooed them away so that they could empty the contents of the barrels into the bowls.

Leomon asked, "I don't understand. Where's ShogunGekomon? He's supposed to be the protector of this place? And what about the village guard?"

Otamamon's silent expression was all the answer they needed. They weren't around anymore either - that seemed to be a theme of present. Ryo folded his arms, "Orochimon's going to be tough. If I remember, he's an Ultimate and with Monodramon back to rookie, we're in serious trouble."

"But we have Calumon now!" Kazu pointed at the little digimon still playing with the digignomes. Otamamon stared at the little digimon and said only, "Are you sure that's a good thing? Orochimon would probably think he's a toy."

That announcement caught Calumon's attention and the little digimon stopped his excited staring to see what was going on. Terriermon patted the little guy's head, "I wouldn't underestimate Calumon. He's a lot stronger than he looks."

The Otamamon eyed him skeptically, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Another loud roar got their attention and the digimon gasped, scurrying over to the beach to help put the alcohol into the giant tub. Once they completed their tasks, the digimon retreated back into their houses. One of the Gekomon shouted as they ran past, "What are you doing? Hide! If Orochimon sees you, he'll eat you for bothering his drinking time! You have to hide! Now!"

Everyone followed the little Gekomon into one of the nearby houses. Rika wasn't normally one to run and hide but the Digital World had made her more cautious. She didn't know anything about this Orochimon and didn't want to walk head first into a blood bath without knowing what they were up against.

"Rika!" her partner shouted out. Rika looked back at Renamon and saw her pointing to Leomon running for Juri, Tamerkato, and Guilmon. All three of them were still standing on the water's edge as if they hadn't heard the noise echoing out from the distance. To make matters worse, there was movement in the water. A lot of movement. The ocean looked ready to come alive as the surface shook. And they were acting like nothing was wrong. Rika groaned, "You have got to be kidding me!"

"JURI!" Leomon roared. Juri turned away from Tamerkato and saw her lion partner running towards her with his arms in the air. He was shouting something but it was difficult to make out over the very loud rumbling she could hear from behind her. She tried cupping her ears and shouting, "What!?"

"RUN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He said something else but it was drowned out by another loud roar, followed by a large shadow appearing behind her. She turned around and saw a large serpent emerging out of the water. A panicked Takato ran back to shore beside her and Guilmon, standing in front of her just as another serpent head emerged from the water. Then another. Until finally an eight headed serpent was staring them down with all sixteen of its eyes. The closest head hissed, "Who are you? Why are you interrupting my drink time?"

Guilmon growled at the digimon angrily, presenting all of its claws. Juri froze in panic, mind racing for words that seemed just out of reach. She was glad Tamerkato was here to quickly put together, "Hello! I'm Takato! This is Guilmon! That's Juri! That guy running late is Leomon! We're here to serve you your drinks and make sure you're taken care of!"

Another head came in closer to get a good look at them, "We don't need to be taken care of. Go away. I want to enjoy my drink."

"Our drink," another head said. The two heads turned at each other, hissing until the largest head roared at them both, "No fighting! We drink now! Leave before we take some hors d'oeuvres with our food!"

Juri wanted to run now but Tamerkato kept talking, "Oh come on, Orochimon! You don't want to do that! Who'll stop you from choking on your tongue while you're passed out drunk? Or worse! What if you choke on your vomit! Admit it, you need someone to take care of you!"

The serpent stared at them with one of their eyes. The pupil moved from one person to another curiously, judging them carefully before one head finally hissed, "That might not be a bad idea. You can stay. But try anything and we will eat you!"

"Don't worry! We'll be here to give you pillows and all the care you need while you sleep it off!" Tamerkato gave a thumbs up. Each head took a tub in its mouth and guzzled them all down. While the serpent chugged, Juri leaned over to Tamerkato and whispered, "What are you doing?"

He whispered back, "No idea. I wasn't expecting Orochimon to just show up. I panicked! Sorry to drag you into this. Just roll with it."

The first tub fell back to the beach, followed by another and another. Each head let out a loud burp that filled the air with the noxious smell of alcohol and Juri covered her nose to drown out the smell. The Digimon Tamer waved the air, while Guilmon nearly passed out from the smell - staying upright only because Leomon caught him. Leomon covered his mouth to stop himself from throwing up - finally relaxing once Orochimon finished burping. The serpents turned their heads towards them, lowing four of their heads while the lead declared, "Come with us. We sleep off the drink on our island."

Juri felt her heart sink and looked to Tamerkato to get them out of this. The boy thought quickly and responded with, "Is that a good idea? You just had a hearty drink! It'd probably be better if you stayed here. It's a bad idea to swim after a drink! You should probably have something to ea...I mean...sleep it off here."

"Get on or I'll eat you now," the serpent hissed. Tamerkato offered her an apologetic look and mouthed a sorry before climbing aboard the snake's head first. Juri felt a lump in her throat choking her but managed to climb onto its head without passing out. She felt her head spin as Orochimon raised his head into the air and she latched on to keep herself from falling. Guilmon and Leomon followed their lead, climbing onto the head and holding on for dear life as the serpent turned back to the ocean. The lead head said, "Hold tight. I don't swim straight after a drink."

Juri held tighter, seeing Takato mouth another apology before they sailed off. She closed her eyes shut just as the first bob happened and she was sure she'd fall off.

Rika stopped just short of the water's edge, kicking the sand in frustration as Orochimon shrank into the horizon. He was leaving and they had to catch up soon if they didn't want to lose the others again. She groaned, "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Ryo folded his arms and smugly said, "See what I mean? He does that and there's nothing we can about it. We better hope he doesn't leave us behind. Wouldn't be the first time, though."

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Renamon asked her, staring off as the serpent turned into a speck before disappearing over the horizon. It didn't take Rika any time to think of the answer, "Nope. Leomon's good but Juri doesn't have much experience in fights. As for Taka...Tamer...Tamerkato! He and Guilmon are crazy. Who knows what they're going to do next."

"We should definitely go after him," Henry folded his arms and looked down at his partner, "You mind carrying a handful of people?"

"Sure! I was wondering when we would try out those cards Shibumi gave us!" Terriermon said excitedly. Kazu and Kenta finally caught up, both out of breath and being carried in the arms of Guardromon. Henry produced a set of cards from his pocket and started handing them out, nudging the out of breath Kazu to get his attention. The boy asked, "The crap is this?"

Henry explained as he prepared to swipe, "One of the cards Shibumi gave me. They give our digimon a temporary energy boost that allows them to digivolve. Swipe the blue one to digivolve one level, the red ones to digivolve two levels. DigiModify! Digivolution Activate!"

There was a bright flash of light as Terriermon cried out, "Terriermon! Warp Digivolve to! Rapidmon!"

Rika looked down at the red card in her hand and realizing that she had all this power at the tip of her fingers. She readied to swipe it when she saw Ryo about to do the same, and quickly knocked it out of his hands, "Don't!"

"What gives, Rika?" he asked like he'd been slapped in the face. She was surprised Ryo hadn't considered what was wrong and pointed at Monodramon just a few steps behind him, "He's still attacking everything he sees which means you've still got pent up anger issues! Do you really want him to digivolve to something other than rookie?"

"I've been on my best behavior!" the little digimon huffed, showing off big watery eyes in a bid for sympathy. All of that went away and he hissed when Rapidmon commented, "That was only because Orochimon actually scared you! That was the quietest you've been in a while!"

"So what do we do now?" Ryo asked, "We can't just sit here and do nothing, and I'll be damned before I let Tamer abandon us in another part of the Digital World!"

Rika scooped up the card before he could take it back up, "Don't worry. I won't let him. Besides, someone's gotta protect Calumon over there in case more of those Devas come looking for him. Henry, Rapidmon, Renamon and I will go after them. You guys wait here. Deal?"

"What!? I don't want to be stuck on babysitting duty!" Kazu complained loudly, prompting Kenta to smack the back of his head.

Ryo looked at her quietly for the longest time, almost like he was examining her. It creeper her out until he nodded and agreed, "Alright. I trust you."

Hearing those words made her blood rush with excitement and she excitedly turned to her partner, red card in hand, "Ready partner? Digimodify! Digivolution Activate!"

"Renamon! Warp-Digivolve to! Taomon!" her partner shouted, appearing in her long flowing robes and holding her massive brush in her hands. She scooped Rika up and took to the air, Rapidmon following just behind with Henry. They didn't have a moment to lose if they were going to save Juri or the others. But her focus was distracted by what Ryo said, his words echoing in her mind. But it was soon forgotten when Rapidmon added, "Hey, Rika! You're redder than the red card!"

Juri leapt off the serpent's head and watched the creature slither off into a large mound on the ground. It curled in on itself, coiling its body around its many heads to keep warm, "You are only to care for us. Try anything and we will eat you."

"Right, rest well Orochimon! We'll keep you from choking on your own vomit," Takato waved, hurrying to join her, "Sorry again, Juri. I panicked but we'll get out of this! Somehow."

"Well you'd better think of something," Leomon looked around nervously, "I don't know how to swim and we're miles from land. I don't suppose Guilmon can fly when he digivolves?"

"His breath stinks," the dinosaur mumbled just as Orochimon burped so loudly that she was sure he was going to break the island apart with the sheer force of it. Then the smell came and Juri covered her nose in disgust. Leomon followed suit, pushing Juri behind him to try and block some of it, "By the Guardians, that smell is horrendous. It's like a million Numemon climbed in his gullet and died!"

"Three-hundred and twenty-eight," one of Orochimon's many heads answered, one of its eyes open so that it could look at them, "They thought they could poison me from the inside and make me sick. They didn't think their plan through. Then again, they're about as smart as they are beautiful. Can't blame them after what I did to ShogunGekomon. Fat bastard had it coming anyway. More important, keep your mouths shut if you don't want me to eat you."

"Sorry," Tamerkato put his hands together apologetically, "We're new so we didn't know. But what happened to ShogunGekomon?"

"I'm a snake. He's a toad. Nature took its course," the head answered, "Now shut up."

It hissed that last part, preventing Tamerkato from prodding it with anymore questions. Satisfied, the eye closed and the serpent quietly returned back to dozing. They all waited in silence for the longest time, waiting for a sign to make sure the serpent actually was asleep. Ten minutes later, one of the heads was snoring and they all breathed a sigh of relief. Leomon asked at a hushed whisper, leaning in so they could hear him, "So what now?"

"Outlived another one," Tamerkato whispered back, shaking his head and scratching his hair, "Okay. Options. We could attack. But we have two digimon and he has eight heads so you'd only manage to startle him before he eats us all. We could actually do the care taker part but he'll probably eat us over the course of however long we're here. There are plenty of trees which gives us plenty of hiding spots. Eight heads means he can search more so...so..."

"Tamer, do you have an idea or don't you?" Leomon asked quietly. Juri knew he didn't. He could tell by that look in his eye - the same look he had when he was told WarGreymon was dead. Something was eating at him - possibly ShogunGekomon. But what did outlived another one mean? She wanted to ask, but the idea of knowing another of his secrets filled her dread. Why did he keep so many? And what else was there? He'd promised that he wouldn't keep so many. So how many more things did they not know? Before she could ask, Takato stepped away and started pacing. He examined each of the heads carefully as he walked, "Why does it have eight heads?"

She gave the rest of the serpentine digimon another closer look. All eight heads were nestled in on themselves so that it could sleep off the alcohol. But what did that have to do with the eight heads? It was funny. It made her think of the hydra myth they'd learned in classical literature. It was such an odd story to think about. Tamerkato looked at Leomon, "How quickly do you think can slice through each head?"

"What?" Juri and Leomon answered in unison. Tamerkato pointed at the serpent, "We'll need to dispatch each head fast because as soon as the first one comes off, he'll wake up. They'll wake up. Whatever. Juri, use your digivice to give Leomon a speed and strength boost. As soon as she does, start going for the heads Leomon. Oh, and Juri."

He went through his deck quickly and handed her a card, "Use this. It'll help."

She looked down and saw it said WarGreymon's Brave Shield in big letters on top. She knew this card from the few times Tamerkato used it. She understood why he wanted her to use the card but not the sudden reversal on attacking Orochimon. He seemed keen to avoid a fight earlier. So why now?

"What are we doing?" she asked nervously, fearful of his answer.

"Letting nature take its course. On your mark," he replied coldly. She nodded nervously, readying the cards she'd been given along with some cards she knew would help. Tamerkato did the same and they swiped their cards together, "DigiModify!"

"Strength Boost Activate! Speed Boost Activate! WarGreymon's Brave Shield Activate!"

"Digivolution Activate!"

Their digimon partners glowed with light as they took strength from their digivices. Juri worried the burst of light would awake the giant serpent. It didn't. What did was Guilmon's cry, "Guilmon! Digivolve to! Growlmon!"

The first head looked up to examine the noise just as Leomon leapt upon it and sliced it off with a swing of his sword. The remaining seven heads jolted awake, screeching in pain and turning their attention on Leomon. The lion spun his blade in his hand so that he held it in reverse and leapt forward at the next head, cleaving it off before the others had any time to react. Now they were mad and began flying at Leomon. But he easily stayed just one step ahead, dodging through the strikes with his augmented speed. Not that he needed it. The serpent heads were still slowed from their drinking and couldn't quite keep up with Leomon.

"Bastards! I'll kill you!" one of the heads hissed in anger. As the fight dragged on, Juri noticed Tamerkato keeping Growlmon from jumping into the fight despite the growling noises he made. He obviously wanted to help and didn't like being kept back. Until she considered Tamerkato's emotional state. Growlmon didn't want to help. He just wanted to attack. And he was only restrained because of Tamerkato.

She asked, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting," he answered quietly. Waiting for what? As she thought about it, she noticed one of neck stumps writhing as something began convulsing out. It slid out with a sickening splat as a new head appeared. The head leered at Leomon, "You messed up, Leomon."

"Now," Tamerkato pointed at the head. Now Growlmon leapt in and cut the head off with his claws, causing the serpent to hiss in pain. Tamerkato called out, "Now burn the neck stump, Growlmon!"

"Pyro Blaster!" he roared, spewing out a ball of red fire at the neck stump. The serpent roared even louder and writhed in agony as its flesh burned and the open neck stump was cauterized shut. The attack was so vicious that Juri covered her mouth in shock. Sure, this was just like the myth she'd read about, she'd never once thought about how gruesome it was. Even for him, this was something else. It was...cruel. Then he called out, "Okay! Leomon! Cut off the heads! Growlmon! Burn them!"

"Juri?" Leomon looked over his shoulder at her. She looked from Tamerkato to the writhing serpent, hesitating for a moment before nodding in agreement, "Do it."

The lion nodded hesitantly before leaping back into the fight, leaping between the heads and slicing them off when an opening presented itself. One, then another. Every time he cut a head off, Growlmon would burn the neck stump shut so that it couldn't escape. Any time Leomon couldn't dodge an attack, he used the brave shield to block the teeth and protect himself from being eaten. This continued back and forth with the two digimon working together until there was only one head left. The main head.

It leered at them angrily, "HOW DARE YOU! YOU ATTACK ME WHILE I SLEEP!?"

"You killed ShogunGekomon," Tamerkato answered quietly, a glare on his face that she had never seen before. The serpent hissed, "And now I'LL KILL YOU!"

The last head leapt at him in a suicidal maneuver, completely ignoring Leomon who leapt up and sliced his head clean off. Then Growlmon jumped on it and cauterized the wound with his fire before the head could regrow. Once all the heads were off, the serpent fell still on the ground - before dispersing into data that both Growlmon and Leomon absorbed. All the while, Tamerkato stared at the remains with the coldest expression she'd ever seen - a kind of malicious look. Then it vanished, replaced with hurt. A sad and longing look that he had when they first came to the Digital World. The same one when they were at the house under the lake. She reached out to him quietly, "Tamer? Takato?"

"I'm fine," he answered, pocketing his hands and turning away, "We should figure out how to get off this island. Maybe we could make a raft?"

"JURI!"

"GROWLMON!"

Everyone looked up to see Rapidmon and Taomon flying their way. The two digimon descended on the island, dropping off Rika and Henry who scanned the island for the serpent. Rika asked first, "Where's Orochimon?"

"We took care of it," Tamerkato answered matter of factly, continuing towards Taomon, "Get us out of here. I want to go back to the village."

Miffed at being a commanded like that, Rika snapped, "Don't boss me aro-"

"I'm not in the mood for your mood, Rika," Tamerkato cut her off angrily, the malicious look in his eye returning in full force. For once, Rika cowed fearfully and nodded. Once Tamerkato was out of ear shot, Rika whispered, "What's with him?"

"I don't know," she answered sheepishly.

Author's Notes: The Digimon Tamer's mood has soured. What will happen next to the team? Will Rika deck him again for his attitude? And what will happen if he doesn't calm down? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v2.0 - In His Name due out in three weeks on Friday November 22nd at 8 PM CDT! I'm taking another small break to get caught up with some work stuff and will be back afterwards. If you loved it, let me know in the reviews section! And hey, don't forget to leave a favorite to show support and to follow to keep up with the latest updates! That's all for now, so let's look at previews for the next chapter!

"You're back!" Ryo said excitedly upon seeing them all return. Rika hopped out of Taomon's hold and put a hand to her hips, "I said we would, right?"

She was cut short when Takato stomped past her, brushing her aside with his shoulder and marching quietly back up to the village walls. She snapped, "Watch it!"

He gave no answer, and continued on past the gate and into the village proper. He hadn't said a word on the entire flight back, instead staring silently out at the ocean. Right away, Kazu and Kenta picked up on the fact something was wrong and asked, "What's up with him?"