Takato and Ryo made their way past the land of gears. The young tamer couldn't help but admire the plethora of mechanics. Ryo glanced briefly at the surroundings, a small smile of his lips. This was the place where he'd met them for the first time. He closed his eyes briefly recalling the encounter. Her violet eyes were the first thing that caught his eye after he'd stopped Cyberdramon's rampage. He could still remember the warmth of her hand when he shook it. Hirokazu and Kenta were still looking for their partner digimon and both were in awe of him. They still were but both had done their growing up as well.
"What are you thinking about, Ryo?" asked Takato snapping him out of his thoughts.
"O-Oh... I just remembered something, that's all," he replied.
"Hmm..."
"Ah, over there, Takato. Looks like that's the source of the smoke," stated Guilmon, his snout pointing towards a small house made of silver and gold gears on top of a large iron-coloured one. Outside were in-training digimon singing happily – "Take a chance! Dare yori hayaku tsukami no yukou!" A Clockmon was amidst them singing along. He stopped when he saw the approaching tamers and partners. His eyes widened as large as saucers.
"RYO! Cyberdramon! You're both here! It's been so long!" he greeted, rushing towards the legendary tamer, his eyes shining brightly.
"It's been a while Clockmon! How have you been?" asked Ryo. Cyberdramon merely grunted.
"I'm fine. And they are?"
"This is Takato and his partner Guilmon," introduced Ryo. "Guys, this is Clockmon."
"Nice to meet you!" greeted the young tamer and his partner.
"Pleasure's mine," said Clockmon.
"By the way, where is Hagurumon?" asked Ryo, looking around.
"A-ah, Hagurumon went to the next area to talk to Floramon. Seems like he's taken quite a liking to her. He'll be back by tomorrow." There was a flash of sadness in his eyes but only for a moment. "Since you're here, how about staying with us for the night?" he suggested.
"Oh, we couldn't impose...," started Takato.
"The Kokurimon will be really happy to have you all here!" The in-training digimon began swishing their tails in delight behind him.
"Well, I guess we could stay..." started Takato but he was cut off by Ryo.
"Thanks for the offer Clockmon, but we really have to get going. We're searching for a friend of ours. Have you seen a guy with a Guardromon around?"
"Ah... you mean Hirokazu? Well, I haven't seen him around here," answered Clockmon.
"I see. That's too bad," said Ryo.
"Anyway, it's sad that you guys aren't staying back. We were just about to prepare a feast..."
"A feast? Lots of food?" asked Guilmon, his ears perking up instantly. He looked at his tamer with puppy-dog eyes.
"G-Guilmon you just ate a while ago!" chided Takato.
"But Takato..." pleaded Guilmon.
"Since you came all the way here how about having a meal with us before you go on your way?" suggested Clockmon, a little too strongly.
The two tamers glanced at each other. "What shall we do, Ryo?" asked Takato. Though Takato was the de-facto leader, Ryo was still the oldest, not to mention the legendary tamer, so the younger tamer often relied on the older one.
"Hmm...I guess we could have one meal. We'll take you up on your offer, Clockmon," said Ryo.
"Yay!" rejoiced the Kokurimon, Clockmon and Guilmon. Clockmon ushered them inside the house. Guilmon and Cyberdramon entertained the Kokurimon by playing tag with them while the tamers and Clockmon prepared lunch and set the table. Ryo would check on the digimon now and then to ensure his partner behaved. Although the virus had disappeared from Cyberdramon, Ryo didn't want to take chances. Once everything was set, they all sat down. Guilmon immediately dug into his food.
"Guilmon, slow down!" cried Takato.
"Ummm…..This is so delicious!" said Guilmon between bites. "Have to finish everything!"
"Make sure you leave enough for everyone else too! You can't eat everything!" reproved Takato.
"But Takato your mom always says to make sure not leave even a single grain of rice when we eat…" retorted Guilmon.
"She means the food on your plate not everything at the table!" cried Takato, exasperatedly.
"Cyberdramon, you've get more neatly. Look, you've got food on your snout," said Ryo, wiping some cream off his partner's iron snout. Cyberbdramon growled before continuing to eat. Clockmon watched the tamers and partners with a look of envy.
"I wish I had a partner like you guys. Guilmon and Cyberdramon are so lucky," he said.
"I'm sure you'll find your tamer someday," stated Ryo.
"I wonder about that. Perhaps only certain digimon are allowed to be partnered to be with humans…"
"What do you mean?" asked Takato.
"There is a rumour floating around that only the really strong digimon will be partnered with a tamer. So, if one wants to gain a tamer, they have to defeat a digimon who is already partnered with a tamer. This also means they can go to the real world… Or so the rumour goes," said Clockmon.
"Where did you hear this rumour?" asked Ryo.
"It was word of mouth. Passed from one digimon to another. I heard it from… Floramon."
"I see. If we meet her, we'll ask her. Perhaps we can track down the source of this rumour," said Ryo. Clockmon opened his mouth as if to say something more but shut up immediately. He had a grave look on his face.
"What's wrong, Clockmon?" asked Takato.
"N-Nothing. Just thinking about when Hagurumon will be back. I just hope he hasn't lost a gear or anything," he said worriedly.
"Maybe we can look for him," offered Takato. "You said he is in the next area, right?"
"N-No! That's all right! I-I'm worrying unnecessarily. I'm sure Hagurumon is alright," said Clockmon hurriedly.
"You're hiding something from us," said Ryo. "You've been jittery for quite some time. Did something happen? We can help you."
"T-That's…." Clockmon let out a sigh. "A few weeks ago, we decided to go the next area, just to see how things were. All was fine until we found a bunch of Blossomons and Floramons. Normally, they aren't found in such dark areas so we found it strange. When we questioned them, those digimon simply attacked us. We barely managed to escape when Hagurumon's gear fell out. Before I could grab I, one of the floramon did and gave it back to him. We were surprised by her move. This floramon said that she didn't want to attack other digimon like her troop was and instead helped us escape from the area. We thanked her and thought that was the end of that but Hagurumon told her to join us. She refused and said she had to be with her kind. Hagurumon still tried to convince her and she somehow agreed. She stayed with us here in the clockwork cloudplane during which time Hagurumon completely fell for her. Then one night, she suddenly disappeared on us. Hagurumon couldn't bear it and went after her. He's been away for quite a few days so I fear something has happened to him," narrated Clockmon.
"I see. Don't worry Clockmon, we'll look for Hagurumon. Who knows? We might just meet up with our friend while we are at it!" said Takato.
"Guilmon will make sure that Hagurumon and Floramon come back safely," assured the red-dinosaur.
"Th-Thank you. Thank you so much….." said Clockmon.
"No problem, Clockmon. It's the least we can do" said Ryo. "Besides, you treated us to this feast. So we owe you."
"Thank you, thank you."
After they cleaned the table, the tamers and partners made their way towards the next area. Clockmon waved to them until they has completely disappeared. As he turned to head back inside, a figure appeared from the shadows. A dark devil towered over him.
"I see you did as we told you," said Devimon.
"Y-Yes. As you promised, return Hagurumon and Floramon!" he cried. The in-training digimon inside the house, watched the two of them while trembling in fear.
"Not yet. We still have use of them, especially your friend," sneered Devimon.
"Y-You promised to return them if I sent those two tamers to the next area!" cried Clockmon.
"I don't recall promising anything like that. Though I did ask you to trick them, I also told you that I would let you friends go after we finish using you!"
"L-Liar! I'm not going to help you! Chrono-" He was about to attack when Devimon's large claw knocked him aside.
"Should you really go against me? Perhaps, I should just kill those puny weakling that are inside this house," he threatened.
"N-no! Not the Kokurimon! You leave them alone!" yelled Clockmon.
"Then you will just have to follow my orders. Touch of Evil!" said Devimon as he hit the clock digimon with his claw.
"Nooooo!" cried Clockmon, as his consciousness began to fade away. "What will you have me do, master?" he asked, emotionlessly.
"You're coming with me. There's something I need you to do," said Devimon. "Before that let me get rid of these weaklings." He raised his hand towards the house and let loose a blast of energy. "Death Hand!" The house along with the in-training went up in flames and red data.
"I have no use for their data. Let's go," said Devimon, dragging Clockmon into the darkness. As he did so, tears flowed down the clock digimon's cloak.
A/N: Sorry for the long break. Will update as and when I can. It takes time as I'm trying to carefully work out this story. The first three series had a lot of unexplained plots that I am hoping to cover through this story series.