As the sun ascended into the middle of the sky, all the tamers gathered at the little shack in Shinjuku Park. Once they were all there, Takato addressed the group. "The reason why I called you all here is because... Juri and I faced a wild digimon, while we were on our date."
The others looked shocked. "We did as well," said Jian, glancing briefly at Ruki and Ryo.
"Seriously? Kenta and I also battle a wild one," added Hirokazu. "What is going on?" There were a few moments of silence before Takato cleared his throat.
"Alright everyone. Let's take turns to recount each of our encounters. I'll go first."
flashback
Takato Matsuda, wore a blue buttoned shirt and black pants. In his hand, he carried a small gift box. He hoped that Juri would like his Christmas present. He waited at the designated place named BOWLS Cafe. Takato seated himself at the couples seat section. The little clock that hung lazily on the wall showed quarter to 10. The brown-haired tamer twiddled around with his fingers nervously.
Last November, Takato finally managed to confess to Juri. Of course, Jian and Ruki had encouraged him all the way (the latter was also kind enough to shove him before his crush, when he was about to chicken out). In the end, all was well and Juri accepted his confession. She told him that she had fallen for him as well, but mainly after the D-reaper incident. And so, the two had been together for an entire year. This would be their first Christmas together as he was busy with bakery the year before.
'I'll definitely make this a Christmas she won't forget!' Just as Takato thought this, a bell rang and the door opened. In walked Juri in a pretty sunflower top and black skirt. Light yellow pair of heels matched her top. She had let her hair down today, only clipping it with a hair clip at the back. Her beaming smile when she saw Takato was the best Christmas present he could ever ask for.
"Merry Christmas, Takato!" she greeted, chirpily.
"Merry Christmas, Juri! You look so beautiful today," he complimented without thinking and when he realized it, he blushed.
"Thank you Takato and you look more handsome than usual today," said Juri, her cheeks tinted in the same shade as him. The two ordered their food and were chit-chatted about things like digimon, school and more digimon. Juri's life seemed much better since she patched things up with her father and step-mother after the whole thing with D-Reaper. She had thanked Takato, over and over as he had been then one to boost her courage and help her out.
The two exchanged Christmas presents. Takato received a well-knit scarf and Juri got a pretty heart-shaped red pendant. Once their meals arrived the peacefully enjoyed it. Those who saw them would no doubt believe they had just become a couple, an innocent one at that which was very true. Even though a year had passed, then two had only gone on a few dates, enjoyed themselves and tried to get to know the other better. The only road they had gotten to so far was hugging each other. But today, Takato was determined to share his first kiss with Juri. He even planned to take her to a place where there was a mistletoe.
After relaxing in the cafe, they were heading out when Culumon suddenly ran into them, a panicky look on his little face. Upon seeing the two, Culumon quickly ran into Juri's arms.
"What's wrong Culumon?" she asked concerned. Culumon merely shivered but pointed towards the south. The two tamers managed to see the red tail of the dinosaur digimon, eyes as if locked on a target, tearing down the road towards Shinjuku Park. The two tamers immediately chased after him with Takato calling out to his partner. Guilmon only responded to Takato once they had entered a twisted digi-field. Amidst an eerie looking field stood a bear-like digimon. The brown-haired tamer pulled out his D-ark.
'Grizmon (Grizzlymon), champion level, beast type digimon. Special Ataemigaeshi (Maul Attack)'
"Guilmon, time to digivolve," called out Takato. Pulling out a card, he slashed it into his D-Ark.
"Card Slash, Choushinka Plugin S"
The little red dinosaur grew into a much bigger one. Growlmon tackled Grizmon and grappled with it. The purple bear began attacking the former with its sharp claws, hitting a lot of its vital points.
'Growlmon!' yelled Takato, before slashing another card. "Kousoku Plugin in B (Speed)!"
The giant dinosaur circled the bear, moving faster and faster, confusing the purple bear. Then it launched a huge ball of flame. 'Exhaust Flame (Pyro Blaster)' said Growlmon. It was a direct hit. Just as the bear was beginning to dissipate into data, a raspy voice said," This is only just the beginning tamers. We will arise and this time the digital world will be covered in darkness. Our lord will be revived once again and no one will be able to stop him, not even you legendary tamer."
*end of flashback*
"So, that thing said the same thing as the Hyougamon we fought," said Jian. Then he recounted the tale of their encounter cutting straight to the digimon's appearance. Last were Hirokazu and Kenta. Hirokazu told them about how the duo were out with their respective families when Guardromon and Marine-Angemon sensed a digimon. The two had to excuse themselves and immediately headed towards the digi-field. They fought against a Red-Veggiemon, which proved to be quite a difficult task, even with an ultimate level (Mega) digimon like MarineAngemon. For some reason, it seemed to be able to anticipate and dodge a lot of attacks and avoiding attacking the ultimate, instead focusing on the champion. It threw chili peppers at the robot-like digimon causing it to be temporarily blinding it. The Red Veggie began whipping the robot with its spiky vine arms. Kenta glanced at his partner, immediately spat out large love bubbles, eliminating the champion instantly. Just as it was disappearing, the raspy voice delivered the same message.
"But what could that message mean? And why did it mention Ryo in particular?" asked Takato. All eyes were on the said legendary tamer. He rested against the wall with his arms behind his head. "I have no idea myself," said Ryo. "But I have a very bad feeling about it."
"Are you sure there isn't anything you're keeping from us?" asked Jian, rather bluntly. Ryo looked him straight in the eye. "What reason do I have to hide anything?" Seeing the friction that seemed to be forming, Takato intervened. "Let's all just be cautious for now. Also, we need to head to Hypnos and report this to Mr. Yamaki."
"Aww, man. Do we have ta?" cribbed Hirokazu. "I mean, the digi-portal is right here."
"Yeah, let's just go ahead at beat the bad guys!" chipped in Guardromon.
"Even though you nearly got your ass kicked by another champion?" jabbed Renamon, cooly.
"Hey!" cried Hirokazu. "Guardromon put up a good fight, I'll have you know!"
"Oh, sure. That's why Kenta's digimon had to save you both, right?" retorted Ruki.
"What was that?" argued Hirokazu, but was interrupted by Juri.
"Let's all calm down, ok?"
"Much as we want to, we can't just waltz into the portal," stated Jian. "What if we aren't able to get back? Takato's right, we need to report to Hypnos."
"Will you...be telling your father as well, Jian?" asked Ruki, hesitantly. Her eyes were filled with worry and uneasiness. Jian patted her on the head with a slight smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. At least, not yet..."
"But he'll probably find out from Yamaki anyway, won't he?" added Kenta.
"I'll keep it from him until then," replied Jian.
"So, shall we all go?" asked Juri. The others nodded. They all left towards the familiar building of Hypnos.
A/N: Updating the chapters as there were a lot of mix ups.