Mervamon had taken them to the edge of the Toy Zone just as she had promised. She had handed them a map and pointed them west in the general direction of the city. After saying their goodbyes, she left to return to her home while the four headed for Block City. Judai had mentioned that the city must have been rather large for them to be able to see it, even though it was nothing but a blurry shape in the distance. They didn't anticipate just how big it really was, though. The closer they got, the bigger it seemed to get. Once they were right outside of the city, they were able to see just how expansive it was.

Dorumon's jaw dropped. "I always heard it was big, but this is…wow!"

Daiki's face was a mixture of disbelief and reluctance. "We're gonna get lost in there."

"I believe that is an understatement," Renamon said.

"I told you," Judai muttered under his breath.

Daiki shot him an annoyed look, warning him to be quiet. Judai tilted his head to the side and looked away from the older boy. The action earned a loud huff. A pained grunt followed as Renamon smacked the side of Daiki's head. Placing his hand against the spot, the silver haired boy spun around and snapped at the fox. Judai and Dorumon watched as she made a witty reply, her arms folded. Soon the two were in a full blown argument, Daiki shouting and Renamon barely maintaining her composure. Judai covered his eyes with his hands. Dorumon let out a sigh and slid down to the ground, placing both of his paws on his head.

Judai groaned. "Why me?"

"Why us?" Dorumon corrected, peeking up at his partner.

Daiki and Renamon were almost at each other's throats at that point.

"Didn't I tell you once not to lecture me?"

"I wouldn't lecture you if you didn't act like a child."

"I don't act like a child!"

"Excuse me? What seems to be the problem?"

Judai and Dorumon jumped and looked behind them. It took the other two a few moments to realize someone else had spoken. The group found themselves standing in the shadow of a rather tall yellow teddy bear. Digging his Digivice out of his pocket, Judai scanned the giant Digimon.

"Monzaemon," he read aloud.

Monzaemon laughed. "That's my name, and fun is my game!"

"O…kay," Dorumon whispered.

"Now, is there any way I can help you?"

"Could you help us navigate the city?" Renamon asked. "We are looking for our friends."

With a friendly smile, the bear nodded. "It would be my pleasure."

~0~

"Land ho!" Impmon exclaimed, flinging his arms up into the air. "First mate, steer us to shore!"

The four friends had been spent a few days navigating the ocean on the boat Wizardmon had prepared for them. Impmon had taken it upon himself to be the one to watch for land, leaving Salamon to roam around the ship. Mikami, on the other hand, was simply sitting with her back against the railing. At least she had been, until her partner decided to randomly shout once again. Peeking open her eye, she glared.

"Would you stop acting like a pirate?" she yelled, throwing the nearest object she could grab at him.

The imp narrowly dodged the projectile with wild grin.

Yoko started laughing. "Aye-aye, Captain Impmon!" she shouted.

"Yoko!" The fact that the younger girl was willing playing along just aggravated Mikami even more than Impmon.

Well aware of what Mikami thought of them at that moment, Salamon growled playfully. "Argh!"

"Don't encourage him! Please!"

"What's wrong, matey? Sufferin' from scurvy?" Impmon asked.

"Ugh!" Mikami groaned and slid her hands down her face. "Whatever, I give up. Play pirate."

From where she stood behind the wheel, Yoko frowned and looked at Mikami. "Can't you have a bit of fun?"

"Can we please just hurry up and dock?"

"Huh?" Impmon squinted, shielding his eyes with his hand. "Oh, hey. A dock."

"Duh. That's why I said that." Glancing over her shoulder at Yoko, Mikami pointed towards the dock. "That is the one Wizardmon mentioned, isn't it?"

"Pretty sure he said it was the only dock," Yoko replied.

"Double checking. Things aren't always the way people say it is."

"Yeah, I know."

Spinning the wheel, Yoko slowly shifted it and angled it so that they floated closer. Once they closed it on the dock, she turned the boat and lined up the side of the boat with the end of the dock. Mikami was careful when she jumped off the side, rope in hand. She wrapped it around the dock post and then tied it in a knot. As soon as she was done, she gave the three a thumbs up. Impmon picked up Salamon before hopping down, followed by Yoko. The imp carefully set his friend down and smirked.

Impmon chuckled. "That was the best boat ride I ever had."

"That's the only boat ride you've had," Salamon said.

"Shut up. How do ya know how to steer a boat anyways, Yoko?"

The redhead blushed somewhat. "My father is a fisherman. He taught me how to. You know, just in case something happened."

"Somethin' as in—?"

Mikami cleared her throat, interrupting him. "Come on, we need to get going. The others are probably already at the city."

Yoko scooped up Salamon, smiling, and dashed past Mikami. "Race you!"

An exasperated mixture of a sigh and a grunt caused Mikami to look at Impmon. He glanced at her, earning a soft laugh from her.

"You heard her, Impmon. Let's go."

~0~

"Are we almost there?" Gabumon groaned.

"Do you see a city anywhere?" Shizuka snapped in irritation, swinging her hand forward in the air in front of the group. "No? Then we aren't almost there, so stop asking already!"

"Knock it off up there or I will land," Birdramon ordered, tired of hearing the trio on her back arguing. "And you will not like me afterwards!"

"Be quiet, birdbrain. No one asked you!"

"Shizuka, please stop," Tadashi said.

"No one asked you either."

"Why in the world are you in such a rotten mood?" Gabumon asked.

Tadashi snorted. "There are times when there are no reasons."

"Tadashi," Shizuka muttered.

"You know it's true."

"All of you be quiet!" Birdramon shouted. "I know it's been a long day but that's no reason for you to be arguing. You three aren't flying around carrying anyone!"

A brief moment of silence passed by before Shizuka softly mumbled, "Sorry." Tadashi and Gabumon followed suit, just loud enough for the giant bird to hear. With a loud, clearly audible sigh of relief, the bird shifted her head to look back at them.

"See? Was that so hard?"

"Harder than you think…"

"Shizuka."

"Alright, alright…"

"On the bright side, I can see the city now," Gabumon said.

"Hngh."

With no word of warning, Birdramon accelerated, causing Tadashi to nearly fall off. Shizuka wrapped her arm around him with a few quiet choice words. Gabumon was hanging on for dear life, his face mimicking the expression of horror on his partner. She had to admit that seeing them so frightened by the sudden jolt was pretty funny. She had been expecting it, as Birdramon had done it a good few times before already. Maybe it was because it was something she would do.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," she said.

Tadashi mustered a halfhearted glare. It was clear that he thought it was just as funny as she did. "I don't wear panties."

"You might as well."

"Says the one that wears them…"

"Excuse me? I wear boxers."

"What in the world are you two talking about now?" Birdramon asked.

"Human stuff. Don't worry about it," Shizuka replied, waving her hand even though the bird wasn't able to see it.

Gabumon muttered, "I don't want to know…," under his breath.

"Trust me, Gabumon, you really don't," Tadashi said.

"So, do they not have underwear here in the Digital World?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Grunting, Shizuka shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, enough, really," Tadashi said. "I don't even know how we got onto this subject."

"Because you wear panties."

"Stop!" Birdramon shouted.

"Why?"

"Please, for the sake of all things good in the world."

"Fine."

Her response was followed by not one but two screams of terror as Birdramon dived downwards. The wind ruffled Shizuka's hair and made Tadashi's hair whip around into his face. A moment passed by before Birdramon's feet slammed into the ground. The abrupt halt made Tadashi go forward, landing on his chest while his chin hit Birdramon's back. The bird squawked in protest, twisting around to look at the boy. With a huff she turned her attention to Gabumon. The poor reptile was shivering, still clutching on as if his life depended on it.

"We're on the ground, you know."

His head shot up. Within a few seconds he was leaping off her back and onto to the ground. Tadashi scrambled down after him, visibly grateful to be on solid ground again. Birdramon laughed, prompting Shizuka to join in.

"Boys, huh?"

"That's all that needs to be said."

Shizuka slid down and landed beside her brother.

"Come on, big boy. We gotta get rolling."

Moaning, he stood, dragging Gabumon up with him. Birdramon ruffled her wings, waiting for directions.

"Oh, uh, you can de-Digivolve if you want. I don't think it'd be very easy to see the streets from up high. Looks like the buildings are kinda crowded."

Nodding, Birdramon let herself shift. After she shrunk, Biyomon flitted over to Shizuka and perched on her shoulder. As she started heading for the city, her brother and Gabumon dashed after her.

"So we're just going to roam around the city aimlessly?" Tadashi asked.

"No. I'm not an idiot, Dashi. We're going to ask around, get some help figuring out where everyone else is."

"Hmm. Not a bad plan."

"And no splitting up."

"Agreed. We've seen what happens a few too many times…"

Biyomon lowered herself, getting comfortable. "You probably jinxed us."

Shizuka blinked. "Well, shit."

"Don't tell me you're superstitious enough to believe in jinxes," Tadashi said.

"I'm sorry, are you forgetting all the other times someone has said something and it ended up being true?"

"Coincidences."

"Sure, Sherlock. Sure."

"It just doesn't make sense. Why in the world would mentioning, say, getting separated make us get separated?"

"Because our group of friends has some of the worst luck of anyone in the world?"

"You're exaggerating."

Tilting her head to the side, Shizuka cocked an eyebrow at him, earning a sigh of defeat. She grunted, very aware that she had won. That's when Tadashi and Gabumon stopped, both staring forward while clearly being tense. She looked forward to find herself staring at a giant, grinning Digimon just as its shadow fell on them.

"More visitors?"

~0~

The road from the dock to the city was made of yellow brick. Because of that fact, Yoko began to crack a series of jokes that slowly but surely began to drive Mikami up the wall. Metaphorically speaking, that is, but she didn't know how long it would be until it was literal. Impmon, even though he didn't understand half of the references, found the jokes to be rather funny and burst out laughing every time Yoko told one. At that particular moment, Mikami had counted a total of fifteen or so puns.

"Hey, Mikami, are you the lion or the tin man?"

Impmon gave her a quizzical look.

"They're characters in the movie. The lion was a coward and the tin man wanted a heart."

"Wha—huh—a heart?" he asked.

"The scarecrow wanted a brain."

"What?!"

Salamon blinked, looking up at Yoko. "So he didn't have a brain to begin with?"

"Nope!" Yoko answered.

"I'm surprised you watched that old thing," Mikami muttered.

"Why?"

"It's a terrible movie, that's why. That and it's, what, eighty years old?"

"Older, I think. Anyways, it's not that bad."

Mikami waved her off and instead checked to see how close they really were since she hadn't actually been paying attention. From the point when Yoko had begun her series of puns to where they were then, they had gotten quite a bit closer. If they sprinted, they'd get there pretty quickly.

"Wanna carry us the rest of the way?" Mikami asked.

"I told you the first time you asked if I could carry you three that I can't," Impmon replied. "You have no idea how tiring it can be when you're carrying one person for a length of time, let alone two people and another Digimon. This isn't life or death or anything like the Ice Zone."

"My feet hurt," Yoko moaned.

Impmon looked at her with an 'are you serious?' expression on his face. He then noticed that she was struggling not to smile and folded his arms.

"Seriously?"

"Had to."

"I don't think so."

"It was funny," Salamon countered, clearly happy with the way the imp reacted.

"Hrmph!"

Mikami hummed. "Hey, let's race."

The three shifted their gazes to look at Mikami, who was looking at the city. She turned to glance at him with a glint in her eye. Impmon grinned. The idea piqued Yoko and Salamon's interests, and they looked at each other with a nod. All four of them took off running down the path, heading to the city. As they got closer, Yoko caught up and passed Mikami. By the time the three caught up with the redhead, she had already stopped just inside of the city. Impmon burst out laughing at the same time as Mikami, and Salamon giggled. Yoko simply stood there with a victorious smile on her face.

"Alright," Impmon gasped, "we should…probably get…goin'."

"Give me a minute," Mikami said. When she caught her breath she stood up. "Yoko, you're too adorable for your own good."

"Why, thank you!" Yoko said. "Now come on. We gotta find our friends!" She paused. "Again," she added with a giggle.

Mikami strode past her, looking up at the sky. With how big this place was, finding the others was going to be one heck of an adventure. Impmon put his hands behind his head as he walked, tilting his head from left to right as he rambled on. Something was bothering Mikami, and it wasn't her partner's loud mouth. The city felt dismal despite its colorful appearance.

"Doesn't seem to be anyone around," Impmon commented, narrowing his eyes. "Weird."

"Yeah, that's one way to describe it," Mikami mumbled.

"Maybe they aren't here?"

"Well, we won't know till we look."

As they kept walking they looked through building windows in hopes of seeing one of their friends, but almost all of them were empty. They would feel better if they could just find someone, even if it wasn't the others.

"I am not lookin' through this entire city," Impmon said.

"That'd be a bad idea anyways," Mikami pointed out. "Let's just look for anyone that we can talk to. Maybe they've seen Daiki and the others."

Impmon grumbled under his breath and folded his arms, admitting defeat.

Yoko frowned. "Maybe this is a ghost town."

"Or everyone's hiding," Salamon said.

"Why would they do that?"

"Just a thought."

That's when Salamon paused, ears twitching. Impmon appeared to hear whatever she was hearing, and soon both of the humans could as well. A thumping noise was gradually drawing closer to them. Mikami spun around, grabbing Yoko, who in turn picked up Salamon. Impmon dashed after them as Mikami dragged them into the nearest alley. They hid in the shadows and peeked out as they waited. A massive yellow Digimon stomped into view before stopping. The bear slowly turned to where they were hiding.

"Does he see us?" Mikami whispered.

"Does it matter?" Impmon replied. He stood up. "We should talk to him. Maybe he saw Renamon."

"Impmon, don't—! Argh," she groaned, hopping to her feet to rush after him. "Yoko, stay there!"

"But…"

Impmon walked right up to the Digimon. He stared up at him and shouted, "Hey, big guy!"

The teddy bear looked down and offered a smile. "Why, hello there! I thought I heard someone. But why were you in the alley?"

"We—"

"We got lost," Mikami interjected, glaring at her partner.

"I see." Suddenly his demeanor changed. The smile fell from his face as he frowned. "But I'm afraid you'll have to stay."

A chill ran down Mikami's spine. Impmon recognized the tone of voice and began to back up. The giant Digimon flung his hands outwards, releasing several giant hearts. Impmon dodged, only to fall back into one of the hearts. Mikami tried to avoid them but was caught by another.

"Mikami!" Yoko shouted, standing up.

"Run, Yoko!" Mikami yelled.

"I can't just leave you!"

Salamon shook herself free of Yoko's grasp and dashed off, heading away from the bear. Yoko gasped and followed after her. When she heard footsteps she glanced over her shoulder. The bear attempted to follow, but the alley was too narrow for him to fit into. Grumbling, he stomped off, the hearts carrying Mikami and Impmon floating after him. Yoko paused, trying to fight back to urge to run off after them. She was afraid she would start crying. Of all the times for her to be alone, being in giant city had to be the worst possible time.

She wasn't alone. She had Salamon, she reminded herself.

"Psst! Hey! Yoko!"

Startled, she jumped and turned around to find a familiar face staring at her. Salamon was standing near the open door, looking at her partner expectantly. Yoko dashed over with tears prickling her eyes and threw her arms around the boy's neck.

"I'm so glad to see you!" she cried.

"H-hey," Judai stuttered, blushing slightly. "Come on, don't cry. Please?"

She sniffled and wiped the tears away. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"Come on, get inside," Judai whispered. He ushered her and Salamon through the door. "Good thing you came down this alley, huh?"

"Where's Daiki? Weren't you with him?" Yoko asked.

The blonde rubbed the back of his head. "About that…Monzaemon found us, too, outside of the city. He said he was gonna help us, but…then he used that stupid heart attack of his." He lowered his head. "Got Dorumon, Daiki, and Renamon. I barely got away."

"I don't get it…why is Monzaemon doing this?"

"Wait…what does the attack do?" Salamon asked.

"Um…besides trapping people? Makes them act all weird. I spotted Daiki after that and he was playing with a bunch of Toy Digimon." Judai stuck his tongue out. "I tried talking to him, but…ugh. Didn't go well."

"Isn't there something we can do?"

"Not that I know of."

Yoko sat down heavily into a nearby chair, putting her head in her hands. "This is great…"

"Hey, don't give up!" Placing his hands on her shoulders, Judai goaded her into looking at him. "We'll figure out how to help them, and then we'll teach Monzaemon that he shouldn't be doing this kind of thing!"

"Any idea how we're gonna do that?"

"Well…I mean…"

"It's gonna be hard to find them by ourselves."

"We can do it! We've been through worst."

"I guess so."

"Just…um…" He snapped his fingers. "Look at it like it's our turn to be the heroes!"

"Uh…" She giggled. "Alright. We'll be the heroes. Then we can brag to everyone about how we saved them."

Judai moved a hand to clench it into a fist and pump it into the air. "There! Now we're talking! You…are done crying, right?"

"Yeah." She fixed her hair. "I'm really sorry for that."

"Hey, it's no problem." He scratched the back of his head again. "I guess we need to figure out what to do first. If it's okay with you, I'd like to find Dorumon."

"Okay. Just means we have a bit more firepower in case we're in a fight, right?" As she got to her feet, she looked at Salamon and Judai. "So, you ready?"

"If you are."

Nodding, she walked up to the door and opened it. To make sure the coast was clear, she poked her head out. When she didn't see anyone, she gave the two waiting a thumbs up and walked outside. Salamon and Judai followed after her. All three were on the alert.

"When's the last time you saw him?" Yoko asked.

"Let's see…it was when Monzaemon attacked us, which was near the other side of the city."

"Yay, exploration."

"Was…was that sarcasm? From you?"

"I blame Impmon."

"Well, Mikami's to blame too."

Salamon sighed. "Can we just go?"

Yoko smiled and headed down the alley, careful to stick to one side. She poked her head around the corner and squinted. A few Toy Digimon were heading down the street a ways away from them, heading the opposite direction of them. She waved to the duo behind her and quickly crossed the street, stopping once on the other side. Judai and Salamon followed, eyeing the group that was slowly disappearing in the distance. The blonde let out the breath he was holding and followed Yoko as she made her way through the smaller side street.

"Shouldn't we be going the other way?"

"I'm trying to find a way through that's a bit safer," she said. "Y'know, so we're not just out in the open?"

"Oh. Huh." He laughed. "Who would've thought you'd be doing this kind of thing?"

Curious, she looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"No offense, but you never would've done this back home."

"Nah, you're right. But…things change. Here in the Digital World, you gotta be more careful. We're just humans. We can't do much on our own." She smiled down at Salamon. "That's why we have partners in the first place. But we still need to get stronger." She twiddled her thumbs. "That's why I was so sorry about crying. I—we don't have time for that kind of thing."

Judai stared at her. She felt heat rising up to her cheeks.

"They grow up so fast," Judai said jokingly, pretending to wipe a tear away.

"Hey, I'm a year older than you!" she protested with a laugh.

Suddenly Salamon hissed, "Shh," prompting the two humans to close their mouths. Another Digimon had passed by the street. It walked away without noticing them.

"Okay, let's see…I think I got which direction I was going mixed up." Yoko pursed her lips. "Okay, never mind, got it. We need to go that way," she said, pointing to the left once they reached the next street. "Looks like one of the smaller ones. Don't think it's big enough for Monzaemon to fit, do you?"

Judai chuckled. "He wouldn't fit even if he was sideways."

"Hey, look, the bricks are yellow."

"Don't you even," Salamon warned her, trotting ahead.

"What?" Judai asked.

"I was making Wizard of Oz jokes earlier," Yoko explained. "Impmon thought they were funny."

"Pffft."

They passed the time by talking about everything that had happened while they were away from each other. Yoko started by explaining how they had ended up more or less crash landing on File Island. She went on to explain how they had been able to get a boat to come to the Toy Zone: Meeting Wizardmon; defeating Ogremon; Mikami and Dobermon facing off with Angela and Devimon (for the second time); the town being on fire; Wizardmon having a boat given to them. When Judai took his turn, Yoko found herself more interested than she thought she would be. Hearing about what happened between Judai and Daiki, as well as the attack on the village was fascinating. When he got to the part about how he had gotten trapped and Daiki nearly got flattened trying to help him made her gasp.

"Really?"

He nodded. "I even told him to forget about it, but he just kept trying." He sighed, though there was a smile on his face. "Good thing Dorugamon and Togemon got there when they did. We would've been toast."

"Sounds like you guys had a lot worse of a time than we did."

"Maybe. But it was a good thing it happened, as weird as that sounds. You should've heard how cheesy Daiki was."

"Daiki? Cheesy?" She snorted when she tried not to laugh.

"Being serious here."

"Sorry."

"Yoko, Judai!" Salamon called.

They looked up to see Salamon waiting patiently for them by a street light. When they joined her and looked down the street to see what she saw, they spotted Dorumon.

"Hey!" Judai exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "But…" His shoulders drooped. "How're we gonna snap him out of it?"

Yoko put her finger against her chin. "I got an idea. Wait here."

"What are you gonna—okay then…," he mumbled, watching her dash away.

"Don't bother," Salamon said.

This is really mean of me, Yoko thought.

She walked up to Dorumon and the Digimon he was with. Technically it was her back-up plan that was mean since she planned on trying to be nice. She checked her Digivice quickly to see what the names of the Digimon were. Toy Agumon, she noted. It would probably be a good idea for her to remember that. As they took notice of her, they turned towards her, with Dorumon having a goofy grin on his face. For all the time she had known him, it did seem just a hair out of character. Then again, she never had the chance to really talk to him, so she wasn't for sure.

"Yoko!"

She crouched down in front of Dorumon.

"You know, your partner is worried about you."

"Judai? He should come play!"

"Don't you think there's more important things to do?"

"Huh? Like what? Playing is always important!"

It was time to channel her inner Mikami! Making sure to frown, she flicked him in the forehead. Sorry, but you're not really listening!

With a cry of, "Ow!" Dorumon placed a paw on the spot.

"Hey, don't hurt our friend!" one of the Toy Agumon shouted.

"Back off!" she said. "He's my friend's partner, and he belongs with him! Not you guys! Judai is worried about you, Dorumon, and so is Salamon. Not only that, but don't you want to see the others?"

"I'll see them. Monzaemon said—"

She flicked him again with a wince. So sorry. Please don't make me do it again!

"Stop it!"

"Then stop acting like this and act like yourself!" she shouted.

Dorumon shrank back while the Toy Agumon took a step towards her. Just then Judai and Salamon came running over, the small pup head butting the nearest toy in the chin. The Digimon staggered backwards, visibly surprised, and the others backed up a few paces. Dorumon stared at them in disbelief, clearly wondering why they weren't standing up for him. Was she right about them?

"Don't think I won't flick you again," Yoko warned. "You know I'm usually nice."

Shuffling his feet, he looked down and mumbled, "Yeah, you usually are."

Judai kneeled in front of the purple Digimon and wrapped his arms around him. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"You have?"

"Of course! You're my friend," Judai stated with a nod. "I'm sorry for taking so long, but I got turned around. This city is so big, and…"

Dorumon stared up at his partner with sad eyes. "No, I'm sorry for making you worry."

Judai grinned down at Dorumon, affectionately rubbing his head. "Don't do it to me again, okay!"

"Uh-huh!"

"And you three!" Yoko exclaimed, pointing at the trio of shaking Toy Agumon. "You should know that taking someone's friend isn't nice."

When they said nothing, Yoko stood up. A smile spread across her face as she watched Dorumon nuzzle Judai. Salamon trotted up to them and brushed up against Dorumon.

"Flicking someone in the forehead seems to work," Judai joked.

"Hey, I was just…" Yoko trailed off.

"Man, I never thought I'd be scared to make you mad! You were almost as bad as Mikami."

Her entire face seemed to turn red in embarrassment. Standing while still holding his partner, Judai shifted to free one hand to pull her into a hug.

"But it worked, so I can't complain. Let's go save our other friends."

~0~

They found Gabumon next.

It was a bit of a surprise. They were snooping through one of the buildings when they found him playing with building blocks in the middle of a room, all alone. Since being mean had worked once, Yoko strode up to the tower he was building. He had been surprised to see her, too, but was shocked when she flung her foot forward and kicked his tower down.

"My building! Why would you do that?"

"Because you," she said, emphasizing the word by poking him in the chest, "don't have time to be playing with blocks. You need to come with us to find everyone."

"But Mon—"

She poked him harder, earning a whine.

"Don't act like a baby," she said. Gosh, this is hard to do without telling him sorry…he looks so sad. "Snap out of it. Tadashi is who knows where in this city!"

"I…" Gabumon stopped. As realization dawned on him, he shot up to his feet. "Tadashi! Oh, how could I forget about him like that?"

Yoko smiled. "Glad you're back. Let's find Tadashi, alright?"

~0~

Shizuka was next.

Even though they were looking for Tadashi, they ran into Shizuka instead. Literally. Yoko had been rounding the corner when the older girl came running full force at her. The two collided. Yoko landed roughly on her rear and winced, rubbing her bottom. While Judai helped her back up, Shizuka laid on her back in a daze, staring up at the sky with her hand on her face. Eventually she squeezed her eyelids shut.

"Ow."

"Zuka!" Yoko said worriedly as she hurried over with one hand stretched out. "Are you okay?"

"Yoko? Ugh, what the heck?"

The redhead snorted loudly, which caused Judai to let a small laugh slip.

"What's so funny?" Shizuka asked, grabbing Yoko's hand. "You broke my face!"

Yoko doubled over, letting go of Shizuka once the girl was standing.

"You didn't even have to be mean to her," Salamon noted in interest.

Tilting her head to the side, Shizuka glowered at the group. "…Huh?"

Yoko was trying to stop laughing, holding her gut with one hand and holding the other out towards Shizuka. By then her laughs sounded more like wheezing than anything else.

"I-I'm sorry, just—just give me a s-second."

~0~

To no one's surprise, they finally found Tadashi. Of course, he was tinkering with a toy helicopter. Shizuka put a hand against Yoko's shoulder to stop her from walking up to him. A wry smirk was on the other girl's face, prompting Yoko to step back. Anytime Shizuka got that look on her face meant something was going to happen and Yoko knew better than to get caught in the crossfire. Shizuka strode up to her brother, causing him to look at her.

"Sis! Why don't you join me and—"

She raised her foot and stomped on the helicopter.

The look of horror on Tadashi's face was both comical and disheartening to Yoko, but she knew it was for the best. Tadashi stood up, suddenly angry, and stuck his face close to his sister's.

"Why'd you do that?!" he demanded.

She merely grinned, popping her knuckles. His eyes widened, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge the swing that came a few moments later. Soon enough he was sitting on the ground again, holding his cheek in his hand while scowling.

"That was a bit much!" Gabumon chided, hurrying to standing by his partner's side.

"Oh well," Shizuka replied, quite pleased with herself.

~0~

Renamon was hanging from a giant set of monkey bars by her hind legs.

"That cannot be comfortable," Tadashi muttered, still holding his cheek.

"Is she sleeping?" Shizuka asked.

"Meditating, I think."

Judai slipped past everyone. "Here, I got this one."

Yoko watched Judai position himself directly under the fox. She was too high for him to reach, even if he jumped, and he clearly wasn't going to climb up. He took in a deep breath, sucking in air until he couldn't anymore. Shizuka caught on pretty quick and covered her ears, which made everyone else do the same.

"Renamon!" Judai screamed.

The scream made her eyes snap open. Her grip on the bars faltered, and she landed directly on top of the poor blonde. He groaned. Even after Renamon rolled off of him he didn't bother to move. The annoyance she felt was clear by the glare she fixed on the boy, though it faded somewhat when she noticed that Judai had yet to get back up. She moved close to him to pull him up to a sitting position. He rubbed his head, only for the fox to cuff him.

"What in the world made you think it was a good idea to screech like that?"

"Had to get your attention somehow," Shizuka said with a snicker.

"Of course. However, that was a poorly conceived plan."

"It worked though."

~0~

"Ya-hoo!"

The group, excluding Renamon, stopped when they heard the shout. The fox barely raised her head when a shadow passed over her. Yoko's jaw dropped open when she saw Daiki leap back across the gap and barely land on the other building's roof. She was visibly frightened, worried that he would fall and hurt himself. With a sigh, Renamon jumped upwards, going back and forth from one building to the other until she reached the top. She waited patiently for Daiki to reach the side she was on, and then grabbed him and forced him to sit down.

"I was having fun!"

Renamon smacked her paw against the back of his head. He wrapped his hands around to hold the spot where she hit him while wincing.

"What was that for?"

"I will do worse if you continue to act like a child."

"Yeah, like I want to be smacked by you again!"

~0~

As soon as Biyomon came into view, Shizuka was ecstatic. Before she got the chance to go up to her, Gabumon ran forward while waving his arms to get Biyomon's attention. She flew circles around him before fluttering down and landing beside him. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, squeezing her so tightly that she squawked in pain. The sound immediately made him drop her. As she rubbed her left wing, Gabumon whispered a string of apologies.

"Did you have to squeeze me that tightly?"

"I said I'm sorry!" Gabumon exclaimed, covering his face up. "I was just excited to see you!" he admitted, his voice muffled by his hands. "Oh, please forgive me. I didn't mean to…"

Shizuka walked over, carefully picking up her partner while smiling. "Hey. Looks like you were in the same boat as us, huh?"

"I can't really remember what exactly I was doing…"

"Trust me, none of us can really. Besides Yoko, Judai, and Salamon, but they didn't get hit by the hearts."

"Hey, reunion's over!" Daiki shouted. "We need to get a move on!"

~0~

"Light another on fire!"

"Yeah! Do that one!"

"Ya got it! Bada boom, baby!"

The voice was the first clue, but when a tree inexplicably combusted, it was certain who it was. They kept walking and looked around the corner to see what was going on. The purple imp they were looking for was flinging fireballs at anything that was combustible, earning cheers from the Toy Agumon standing behind him. The imp grinned widely, flicking a flame at a bush.

"What in the world?" Shizuka whispered.

"Stand aside," Renamon said, making her way around the group to stand within Impmon's view. "Impmon!"

The imp jumped, looking at her. "Oh, uh…hey…Renamon." The sheepish look on his face caused her to squint at him.

"What're you doing?"

"Uh…setting things on fire. Obviously." He walked over to her, hands behind his head. "What's up?"

"We were looking for you. Where is Mikami? Have you seen her?"

"Ah…"

"Impmon."

He flinched. "Don't get mad at me. You're scary as hell when you're mad at me."

"Is he not…?" Yoko didn't finish, but Tadashi understood what she meant, and he nodded.

"Explanation," Renamon growled.

Impmon fixed his gloves, and then noticed that the Toy Agumon he was hanging out with were coming closer. He waved them back.

"One of them accidently slammed me in the face when they were playing ball," he muttered.

"Where's Mikami, you dumbass?" Daiki demanded, walking up to him and ramming his fingertip into Impmon's forehead.

"She's over there," he muttered sadly.

He motioned with his hand to where the streets converged and led to what looked like a park. Daiki glared and headed off in the direction of the trees, forcing the others to follow. Renamon kneeled down to place a paw on the imp's shoulder.

"Impmon, what is wrong?"

"It's just…" He sighed. "You'll see. Let's follow them."

They caught up in time to see Daiki dash off into the trees. They followed him as he snapped branches that got in his way, clearly dead set on finding Mikami. He burst out of the tree line into a small opening. He stumbled to a stop, only for Judai and Yoko to run into him, causing all of them, along with Shizuka and Tadashi, to fall into a pile. Daiki, who was at the bottom of the pile, pushed them off one by one until he was able to stand again. His eyes locked onto his target, but he froze.

"Mikami?"

Mikami's head turned to him, and she smiled widely. The small Digimon beside her hid behind her back, causing her to twist around to look at it. She whispered to it. When it nodded to her, she focused her attention back on Daiki.

"Hi."

Good lord, he was getting emotional. The last time he had ended up without her, back home, she had gotten into a fight and…well, he didn't have to worry about her, did he? But he did. He rushed up to her, surprising her, and felled to his knees as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I was so worried," he whispered.

"How come?"

He pulled back a bit and stared at her. "What? Why wouldn't I be? I haven't seen you since we were in the Ice Zone!"

"That doesn't sound like too much of a reason to worry."

"Wha…"

That's right. Monzaemon. He got her, didn't he? Daiki swallowed, letting go of her and raising his left hand. He was going to get the shit beat out of him.

"Sorry about this."

"Hmm?"

He swung. The sound that followed made him cringe, and he heard several gasps behind him, along with a curse directed at him from Impmon. Mikami's head snapped to the side, and her hand immediately went up to touch her already red cheek. Daiki bit his lip, hoping he hadn't hit too hard.

"What the hell, Daiki Toriya?" Mikami roared, suddenly glaring at him.

He wrapped his arms around her for a split second until a fist slammed into his stomach. He let out a weak cough, grabbing his midsection and slowly curling in on himself.

"That's what'cha get, ya ass!" Impmon shouted.

"O-ow…," Daiki groaned. He coughed again.

Mikami blinked. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry Daiki. I didn't mean to hit you that hard, but…you did slap me…"

"D-didn't know…what else…to do…"

"Uh…"

Yoko dashed over, practically jumping onto Mikami. "I was so worried! You and Impmon got carried away, and…and…"

"Squish me, why don't ya," Mikami joked.

Renamon kneeled beside her partner, patting his back. He chuckled, though it was clear he still hurt.

"Mikami, you hit him too hard!" Yoko chastised, frowning at Mikami while she crouched to check on Daiki.

"Nah…I'm…okay."

"He slapped me!"

"He was trying to help!"

"How does slapping me help anyone?!"

"He was—it was because—argh, would you please just listen for once?!" Yoko snapped.

Mikami recoiled with wide eyes. The reaction made Yoko's entire face turned bright red.

"Sorry," Yoko whispered, hiding her face.

Daiki pushed himself up and looked at the others, who had chosen to remain away from the argument. Not that he blamed them. He turned his gaze to Mikami, who was befuddled.

"I couldn't think of what to do to snap you out of it," he muttered, "so I slapped you. Sorry."

Mikami opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again and kicked at a patch of grass.

"Lover's quarrel done?" Yoko asked.

"Yoko…"

"Up and at 'em," she said, helping Daiki to stand.

"If I didn't know better," he groaned, "I'd say I was hit by a wrecking ball."

"I…wait, can someone please tell me what's going on? What did you mean by 'snap you out of it'?" Mikami asked.

"I'll explain later," Yoko said. "Go we just go? I wanna get out of this city already. Spending one day here was bad enough."

"What about Monzaemon?"

"What about me?"

"Wah!"

The trio turned around to see Monzaemon hovering over their friends. He reached down to grab them, but they scattered in time to avoid the massive paw.

"Monzaemon, no!" The little Digimon that had hidden itself reappeared directly behind Mikami's leg. "Please don't hurt them!"

"Koromon," the bear said. "What are you doing?"

"They didn't do anything to anyone!"

"They're trying to leave."

"You gotta stop this," Koromon said. "Keeping Digimon here against their will…it's not right!"

"What in the hell is going on here?" Shizuka asked. "Could we please just be told why you freaking hypnotized us? Or whatever that shit was?"

"I'm so sorry about all this," Koromon mumbled. "There's barely been any visitors since the Master came into power. Digimon who did come through talked about how bad things were. The Toy Zone has never had much trouble because most of us who live here are pretty peaceful," he explained, "and Monzaemon was devastated when he heard about what was going on outside of the Toy Zone. So he's been using his powers to keep Digimon here to keep them safe…but it's just wrong!"

The bear lowered his head slightly. "I'm trying to do what's right."

"Koromon is right, y'know," Judai said. "Yeah, you might be trying to protect them, but attacking them and forcing them to stay here isn't the way to do it."

"You can't just force people to do what you want," Yoko added. "That's no way to treat someone. Try talking them into staying instead. You might just make some new friends that way. The Digimon living here do look like they could use a few new friends, and not just someone who's been hit with your hearts."

Monzaemon bowed. "I hope you can forgive me."

"It's alright," Gabumon told him. "We all make mistakes."

"Some more than others," Impmon commented dryly, glancing at Daiki from the corner of his eye.

"Well, is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"Know if there's a Dark Crystal anywhere?" Daiki asked, barely loud enough for the bear to hear.

"Hmm…there's one in the Dragon Zone, northeast of this city."

"Then that's where we're going," Mikami said. "Try not to forget about what we've said, okay? Take care of all the Digimon here."