A/N: This chapter will be shorter to help me recover from the severe burnout I suffered writing Chapter 8.
Dati opened his eyes and let out a huge yawn. The sun had already risen by now; last night's party had gone on for quite some time. He was sure that late in the party, the sweets that Biyomon made and the loud music of Castle in the Air were the only things keeping him awake. Fortunately, he had been able to go back to BlackGargomon's house and go to bed before anything crazy happened.
He looked at the clock; it read 8:46.
I should probably get something to eat before I go...
He got out of bed and went to the kitchen, where he saw Taomon making a peanut butter sandwich.
"Hey, Taomon?"
"Good morning, Dati. What's going on?"
"Would it be okay if I made a peanut butter sandwich, too?"
"Actually, I was making this one for you," Taomon said, putting the second slice of bread on top. "I already had something to eat earlier."
"Okay, thank you." Dati took the sandwich and went over to the table. As he bit into the sandwich, he heard the door opening.
"I'm back!" BlackGargomon said, walking in and closing the door.
"Hello, BlackGargomon," Taomon said. "Dati's up now."
"Hi, Dati! I was just returning the WaruMonzaemon video to the store now that we don't need it."
"That makes sense," Dati said. "I just got up, and I decided to eat a sandwich before I go."
"You just got up? That makes sense." BlackGargomon took a seat next to Dati. "Man, last night's party was so crazy! Taomon and I could've rocked out all night long if we wanted to! But after a while, we'd had enough, and we wanted to go to bed. Heck, I was surprised that I didn't wake up at noon or something!"
"What's going on with the others?"
"Well, Wool and Wings is back in business, I saw Castle in the Air practicing in the field, and I heard that Flamedramon and Andromon are having their race tonight. I didn't see Vademon today, but knowing him, he's probably surfing at the beach or something."
Dati nodded. "I'm glad everything's back to normal."
"We all are," Taomon said.
"Definitely!" BlackGargomon said. "It's great to be able to take things from place to place and not have to worry about them getting stolen!"
Taomon chuckled. "What a concept."
"And we all did it together," Dati said. "I still wish Vladimir and Hovis could have caught him for real and celebrated with us, but I'm sure they'll get him one day."
"Or maybe he'll get bored of stealing," BlackGargomon said.
Taomon shrugged. "Whatever happens, happens. All I know is that if The Heartbreaker comes back, I'm gonna make it clear in no uncertain terms that he had better behave himself, or else I'll make sure that he gets caught."
BlackGargomon noticed that Dati had just swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. "You want some milk, too? I can get some."
"Sure."
Once Dati got his milk, he continued discussing things as he drank it.
"I was just getting used to this place, but now I need to leave?" Dati wasn't entirely sure what he was thinking when he decided that. "It's for a good cause, but still..."
"Hey, don't worry," BlackGargomon said. "File Island is just a short distance away from Mesozoic Isle. Lots of digimon go back and forth between the two on a regular basis."
"Yep." Taomon took a sip of coffee. "If it's too dangerous to sleep there, you can always come back here for the night. We're not going to go there ourselves, since we still need to relax after the Heartbreaker incident. Takes a lot out of you, you know?"
"It's understandable," Dati said. "I mean, after all that, I'm surprised that I don't want to at least wait a day or two before leaving!"
"Hey, some digimon are more resilient than others," BlackGargomon said. "It doesn't mean you're weird; it just means you care."
"I guess you're right," Dati said, taking another sip of milk.
Once he finished his milk, Dati said goodbye to BlackGargomon and Taomon and took a walk down to the beach, looking for the Seadramon who would take him to Mesozoic Isle. He had been lost in thought the whole way there.
The digimon on Mesozoic Isle...can I help them very much? I mean, everyone else did most of the work when we fought The Heartbreaker...there were fourteen other digimon working with me! It was our victory, yeah, but was it my victory?
Dati's thoughts were cut short by the sound of rushing water and someone running up to him.
"Hey, man!" Vademon said, holding his surfboard. "Going somewhere?"
Dati nodded. "Mesozoic Isle. I hope I can help them."
"Of course you can, little dude! You helped us, remember?"
"Yeah, but I don't feel like I really did much. I mean, I just happened to be there when a lot of the big events happened, and the others did a lot of the work..."
"Well, you know something?" Vademon asked, walking up to Dati and putting an arm around him. "Between you and me, I think you did more than I did. Like, at least you found stuff on your own. But it doesn't bother me at all, 'cause I still did my part on the team, even if we didn't really need it. I don't let little things bother me, 'cause if I'm too hung up on that stuff, how can I enjoy life? The sun's gonna rise again tomorrow, and then we get to try again."
"Well, thinking like that is easier said than done," Dati said, "but I can try to remember that."
"Awesome! Maybe I'll go to Mesozoic Isle one day. I wanna see what the waves are like there. But not now; I see a big wave coming up over there! Later, dude!" With that, Vademon ran off towards the ocean.
Dati watched Vademon leave, and after a short while, he walked onto the nearby pier.
"Going somewhere?" Seadramon asked.
"Yeah, can you take me to Mesozoic Isle, please?"
"Sure! Hop on!"
Dati got onto Seadramon's back, and Seadramon called out, "Anyone else wanna go to Mesozoic Isle right now?" When he didn't get an answer, he set off on the ocean. "We'll be there shortly."
As Seadramon made his way across the ocean, Dati looked at the sky. So I'm gonna be on my own again...this isn't the easiest thing ever, but I hope I can do it. I wonder...if I had done more, would we have caught The Heartbreaker? I know Vademon said I shouldn't let little things get me down, but for someone like me, it's not easy...
While he was staring at the small clouds in the sky, he caught sight of a white butterfly passing overhead. Yukio...are you proud of me? I've only done a little so far, but is it enough to call me a hero, or do I need to do more? I wish I could talk to you...
He sighed and looked down at the ocean. Maybe the idea of meeting Yukio again was just a pipe dream; after all, he didn't know if the butterflies were alive, or if they had Yukio's conscience. But even if he only saw Yukio in dreams, he wasn't going to give up on his dream.
Because...what else is there for me to do?
Deep down, he was pondering these sorts of things. Maybe one day, he'd have to solve problems on his own...but would that day come soon, or-
"We're here!"
"Huh?" Snapping out of his thoughts, Dati looked at the place before him. There was another pier with another Seadramon on the opposite side, and the pier led to a beach. Dati couldn't see much further than the beach, as a lush jungle was in the distance, blocking the view of whatever was further inland. A bulletin board on the beach, near the threshold of the jungle, caught his eye. He got off of Seadramon. "Thanks for the ride."
"No problem! And if you wanna go somewhere, just talk to my brother over there!"
"Sure." Dati walked further towards the beach.
"Well, back to File Island with me!" Seadramon said, swimming away.
As Dati walked onto the beach, the sound of creaking boards beneath his feet turned into the softer sound of shifting sands. He looked to his left, and then to his right. This shore is huge...
A loud roar in the distance nearly floored him. Whoa! Where did that come from? ...Then again, BlackGargomon said this island was full of dinosaur digimon, so...
Dati shrugged and decided to see what that bulletin board read. Maybe it would give him some insight as to what was going on here...
When he walked up to the bulletin board, the first thing that caught his eye was a flyer advertising a place called "Chez Allomon".
Come to Chez Allomon when you're hungry!
We have the best-tasting food around!
A sudden gust of wind made the flyer flutter upwards, and Dati noticed a different poster underneath. He grabbed the Chez Allomon flyer and lifted it up to see an advertisement for a different restaurant.
The Grey Cafe is where it's at!
You'll never find a place with faster service!
"Huh...these guys must be rivals," Dati said, and he noticed some newspaper clippings nearby. One clipping looked to be the most recent one; it mentioned how a boutique and a coffee shop were both closed down due to rampant crime. Another seemed a bit more panicky and speculative, discussing a place further inland called "the garbage dump" and spinning theories about how the crime boss, Sukamon, might be harboring a dangerous weapon of some sort in that place. A third told a tale of a digimon who somehow managed to brave the utterly noxious smell of the garbage dump, only to be completely swarmed by a mob of Chuumon, and just barely escaping unharmed.
"Biyomon and Sheepmon were right," Dati muttered. "This place really needs some help..."
"Hey, you!"
Dati jumped a little. "Huh? Who's there?"
"Yeah, you! With the flower!"
Gulping loudly, Dati turned around to see who just called him, and what they wanted.
A/N: Who is this digimon, and what do they want? You'll find out in the next chapter...