A/N: Hey, I am so glad that there are people reading this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed.

Digimon Frontier: The Return

Chapter Four: The Message

"And you're sure that's all we need to do?" A doubtful Gotsumon asked with a deep frown present upon his rock-like features.

"Well, that is how Lady Ophanimon explained it." Bokomon replied with a frown of his own. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but then again, he did not know what was supposed to happen. Bokomon had never attempted to summon anyone from the Human World, after all.

The white digimon sighed dejectedly.

"Ophanimon said that it is all about concentration. Using that data she gave me, I just have to focus on whom I want to send the message to and they will get it. Ophanimon said, everyone who is needed will retrieve our S.O.S. and we'll get some sort of answer."

"But how do you know for sure, if you got through?" Neemon questioned, looking puzzled while Gotsumon listened on intently.

Bokomon sighed once again.

"I don't know."

Takuya backed out of his younger brothers room as quietly as he could, and turned only to cover his mouth as a startled "eep!" broke through upon seeing his mother staring at him sternly with a broom and dustpan in her hands. The hazel-eyed teen also managed to see her foot tap insistently on the hardwood floor, which was a clear sign that she knew he was up to no good.

"Takuya. What were you doing in Shinya's room?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, voice neutral as she eyed her eldest son as though he had committed some unforgivable crime.

The now, very nervous brunet smiled innocently at his mother and shrugged with his hands up in the air.

"What ever do you mean?" He asked clearly, though on the inside he was practically choking on his anxiety. If she found out about what he had just done, he'd be so dead. No. Worse than dead. He would be grounded. If he were dead, then there would be no way for her to punish him. Therefore, death equalled freedom in his books.

"Hmmm, you're not answering my question young man." She stated calmly.

Takuya pouted at his mother's distrust, though; right now, she had every reason to suspect him of something. However, that did not mean he was going to tell her what awful deed he had come up with to exact revenge upon his devious little brother, who had instigated this prank war at the start of the holiday.

"Ah, come on mom. It pains me to know you have such little trust in your dear, love able, innocent son." He sighed dramatically for effect to the total lie he was spouting and added. "I was just asking if he wanted to come play soccer with me and the guys, but he's still asleep."

His mother shook her head and turned to leave.

"I hope you're not lying to me young man, or there will be consequences." She warned as she turned a corner and disappeared from view.

Takuya swiftly walked away with a relieved sigh. She was always overly distracted when she was cleaning…Which was a good thing for him.

He grinned as he thought of the little surprise he had left for Shinya, then remembered his mother's stern words and figured he should evacuate the house while he still could-and while his mother was still blissfully unawares of his present to his little brother.

On the way out the door, his phone beeped.

J.P sighed heavily. He was currently sitting in the park, on one of the numerous benches...all by himself. He sighed again.

This was how it always happened. They would make plans for a certain time and to meet in a certain place, and in the end, he'd still have to wait for everyone else to show up. After all these years, you would have thought he had learned something by now, but no...Here he was, on time, and there was no one else in sight. Like always.

The seventeen-year old huffed and crossed his arms. At least yesterday had been different, since he had been the one to fetch Tommy from his house, but then again, it was not a regular occurrence so it didn't really matter in the end.

"Hey J.P!"

The auburn-haired boy turned to find Tommy heading towards him, smiling happily and holding a rather worn, well-used soccer ball under his arm. He was wearing dark beige shorts with a silver chain connected to two on the loops, usually used to hold a belt in place, and a white T-shirt edged with light green, along with matching green and orange sneakers and white socks-the customary large (and favourite) hat seemed to have been forgotten today.

J.P frowned when he realized the younger boy was on his own.

"Did you walk here by yourself?

"No Dad." Tommy said with a roll of his eyes. "Yutaka gave me a lift while on his way to work."

J.P nodded while internally sighing with relief. In the last four years, someone had always picked Tommy up from his house whenever they had plans to hang out, and then walked him home afterwards. Though the boy was now a teenager and more than capable of looking after himself, he would always be the youngest of the group...So, they couldn't help feeling slightly protective (especially when it came to Takuya) and old habits seemed to die-hard.

"How long you been waiting?"

J.P shrugged at the question, while Tommy took a seat on the bench.

"Ten, maybe twenty minutes."

Tommy laughed.

"I don't know why you still arrive on time. You know everyone else wont."

J.P sighed. This conversation seemed familiar.

"There's Koji and Koichi. "Tommy suddenly exclaimed and sure enough, the two twins soon joined them.

"Hey."

Greetings were exchanged until the group fell silent and Koji sighed.

"And now we wait for Takuya...As per usual."

"Hey! You don't always have to wait for me." The boys all turned to find the brunette approaching with an offended scowl on his face and his hands thrust deep in to the pockets of his black, baggy 3/4 pants.

"Oh no, of course not." Koji said with a roll of his dark blue eyes. "We just wait for you ninety percent of the time...Plus ten."

"Exactly, so it's not all the time." Takuya declared, obviously missing the meaning behind his friends sentence, while the others (who had not) laughed loudly.

Takuya blinked and than glared at his so-called-best-friend.

"Hahaha, very funny Emo-boy."

"So, what's the excuse this time?" Koichi asked, while both his brother and Takuya attempted to glare holes in to the others head.

Takuya reluctantly turned away from his heated stare contest-causing Koji to smirk as this signalled a victory for him-and explained how he had spent most of the morning, gluing Shinya's PSP to the ceiling of his bedroom.

"Should I even ask why?" J.P inquired.

"He's been playing tricks on me all holiday." Takuya said with a casual shrug. "Considering how much he values his PSP, I doubt the pranks will continue after today."

Just then, Takuya's phone beeped and he glanced at the screen before groaning.

"What's up?" Tommy asked, concerned, while the others looked curious.

"Nothing important, I just keep getting these blank messages." Takuya muttered irritably and held the phone out so everyone could see.

Koji frowned and pulled out his own phone, comparing both devices before saying.

"Must be a glitch in the system, because I got one too."

Takuya glanced at the raven's phone and saw the same blank message that he had received his own device.

How strange...

Then, both phones suddenly beeped.

"Oh come on...It's the same damn message again!" Takuya shouted in frustration.

Bokomon frowned.

It should not be this hard. It is as if something was repelling my efforts...

"I don't think you're doing it right." Gotsumon stated blandly and Neemon remained silent.

"Hush! I'm trying to concentrate." Bokomon whispered harshly and closed his eyes, taking an internal breath, before re-attempting his task. He focused on the children and thought about how vital this mission was and suddenly, something felt different.

He opened his eyes and smiled in relief.

"Finally..."

"Finally..."

The boys all stood in silence and stared at the two phones, one held by Koji and the other by Takuya.

"Is it just me, or did you all just hear that too?" Takuya asked. The shocked or otherwise surprised expressions, answered the brunets question.

"Never mind."

Bokomon jumped up and down happily at his success, but quickly sobered up when he realized he had very little time. The data Ophanimon had given them was rather small, so he only had a few minutes at most, in which to speak.

"Digi-destined, this is Bokomon...if you can hear me, please listen closely. We are in grave need of your assistance..."

"...Our world is slowly being corrupted and overtaken by a dark and powerful force...We thought*Crackle**we could handle it, but the Celestial council was overpowered and have been imprisoned...There is no one els-Tzzz-else we can-Tzzz-for help. You*Crackle*are-Tzzzz-only hope...Go to Shibuya station like before*Crackle*A trailmon will be waiting for you-Please help-Tzzz-We need you..."

All the boys exchanged glances.

"Well, the answers kinda obvious." Koji said, the first to break the silence and Koichi nodded.

"We help." Tommy answered simply and this time, J.P nodded. They all looked to Takuya, their leader, whose hazel eyes were blazing.

"Yeah." He said. "However, there's one thing we need to do first."

"What?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, what could be more important than saving our second home?" J.P demanded and Takuya grinned.

"Well, we have to let Z know what's up."

Koji smirked and elbowed the older boy in the ribs.

"Unless you plan on having an adventure without her."

J.P paled.

"Hell no! She'd kill me if we left her out, especially when it concerns something as important as this."

"So what are we waiting for?" Koichi stated. "From what I heard, it doesn't seem like we have much time."

Takuya nodded and began dialling Zoe's number.

Zoe hummed quietly as she set about making her breakfast, while listening to the morning news announcements over her small portable radio.

Ever since the events four years ago, she had become a rather accomplished cook and prided her abilities at creating food that actually tasted great-or at least, that is what her friends told her whenever she had a chance to cook for them (and seeing, as they were boys, this happened often). Said friends had arranged to meet today and play soccer, and though Zoe was invited, she wanted to stay at home and clean up for her mom and Ken, who would be returning that night. Zoe silently wondered if she should also make dinner tonight, as she highly doubted either of them would feel like cooking after such a long drive...

A clicking sound from the kettle disrupted her thoughts and told her that the water had finally finished boiling. The blond was pouring steaming water in to a previously prepared mug (complete with tea bag and two spoons of sugar), when one of the subjects broadcast over the radio caught her attention...

"...And on to a story that has touched every mother's heart throughout Japan in the last week; a determined Mitaka Yasutora- classical musician/singer and wife of the world-renowned businessman, Kosuke Yasutora, is still determined to locate her ten-year old son Shin, who went missing last week without a trace...Though the police have put their heart and soul in to tracking and finding the child, his whereabouts are still unknown, his disappearance being a mystery in it's self...One can only imagine how devastated the family must be..."

"How sad..." Zoe murmured, feeling sorry for the parents and silently praying that the little boy was all right. Zoe knew of the Yasutora family, mainly because she used some of Mitaka Yasutora's music (the woman was a genius when it came to playing the piano and a violin) in her gymnastic routines. Kosuke Yasutora was also rather well known as he ran a very successful business that dealt in architecture.

Zoe sighed. It must be frightening, to not know where your child is or even if he is still alive. Thankfully, she had never had to put her own Mother through that experience, seeing as her trip to the Digital World (though it was weeks for her and the others) was actually a few minutes in the Human World. Zoe would have hated to cause her Mother pain, even if her journey had been unintentional and unexpected-

"Damn!" Zoe hissed and set down the kettle quickly, realizing she had spaced out while pouring hot water in to a rather small container. Said water had overflowed, burning her fingers that had been pressed against the cups handle, making her jump and causing the cup to fall to the floor where it instantly shattered.

Eyeing the mess and cursing herself inwardly for not concentrating, Zoe knelt down careful to avoid the water- and began picking up the pieces of broken china.

"And to think, today was starting so well." She muttered, focusing on all the big pieces before she tackled the smaller, more difficult fragments and berating herself for being so clumsy. "And it had to be my favourite cup too-Ahh Hell!"

Zoe suddenly dropped all the glass she had managed to clear and watched as crimson liquid seeped from the scratch on her palm and dripped in to the puddle of water inches below. The cut stung as she stood to clean it and find a band-aid, but a familiar figure in the kitchen doorway, made her pause.

"Um..." Zoe found herself speechless and frozen, as her green eyes connected with that of her red headed stepbrother, wearing his standard attire of long charcoal grey pants, with numerous pockets and a plain white T-shirt. His grey-blue orbs (so similar to his fathers), swept impassively over the kitchen (lingering briefly on her injured hand) and then he surprised her by reaching for a broom, that was standing next to the door.

All the blond girl could do was stare wide-eyed as he started to clean up the mess, until something in her snapped and she regained her ability to move and speak. Pushing past the slightly older teen, she grabbed the broom from his hands and ignored the fleeting expression of surprise (or was it tension?) as she addressed him.

"I don't recall asking for your help, nor do I need it." She said firmly, wincing as the broom's handle grated against her scratched hand and blood dripped down it slowly. "It's my mess and my problem." Maybe Zoe sounded a little bit cold, but inwardly she was having a mild panic attack and if anyone who understood the situation had just seen what had happened, he or she would not really blame her.

This was the boy who went out of his way to ignore her or treated her as if she was part of the scenery. The same boy who barely ever used more than five words in a sentence and treated her mom with strained civility that seemed to border on polite indifference...And here he was trying to help her. It did not seem natural.

Tyler's one eyebrow rose and Zoe underwent several minutes of feeling uncomfortable due to his stare until he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm going out." He informed her flatly and just like that, the cold persona made a hasty return.

Zoe watched him leave and then turned back towards the glass, water and blood that decorated the tiled floor, before sighing.

Her phone suddenly rang, signalling an incoming call. She sighed and went to retrieve it, thinking it was probably her mom or one of the boys. Zoe opened the device and answered.

"Hey Takuya-" Zoe paused and frowned. "Wait, slow down, I can't understand a word you're saying Takuya. Breathe-Breathe slowly...Takuya, put someone else on the phone-Yes, put Koji on the phone."

Zoe stood in silence for a few moments until the phone had exchanged hands and Takuya's erratic voice was replaced by Koji's calm and collected one.

"Okay, what was that energizer bunny going on about?" She asked seriously and while the boy answered her question, she felt herself frown. "What do blank messages have to do with it?"

Zoe's frown increased as she continued to listen to what the raven had to say, until her breath hitched and the broom she was holding, fell to the floor.

"No way, are you serious?" She whispered. "Alright, I'll meet you all there."

Meanwhile, all across Japan, numerous others had received the same message and heard the same cry for help. Most shrugged it off as some stupid prank, some figured it was a glitch...While others felt a strange sense of duty envelope their entire being. They did not understand neither the feeling nor why they felt like it was extremely important for them to be at Shibuya station. All they knew was that something was calling out to them and they needed to make a decision...Either answer the call, or spend the rest of their life wondering what might have happened.

Bokomon sighed and fell to the ground with Neemon quickly racing to his side.

"It's done...I think they got the message." He said.

"So, now we wait." Gotsumon inquired.

"And hope they arrive before our entire world is lost." Bokomon finished.

A flame-covered figure entered a dimly lit chamber and a shadow turned to face him.

"What is it now, Meramon?" It questioned in its deep, crackling tone.

"Something broke through your barrier, my Lord, near Flame Terminal. Someone was able to make contact with the Human World."

There was silence for a while and then the shadow began to chuckle ominously, and he turned towards the three statuesque figures that stood near his throne.

"Well, well. It seems that I underestimated your powers." He whispered darkly. "Or maybe it was sheer dumb luck that provided you with this glimmer of hope...However, there's no need to get excited. I'll snuff out whatever threatens my plans like a candle..."

The Shadow turned away looking thoughtful.

Someone had found a way through his barrier of dark energy, which currently coated the entire Digital World like an invisible shield...A mistake soon to be corrected...

"Meramon...Assemble the Shadow Forces. I want any digimon around that village...Eliminated."

A/N: Please review...It gives me inspiration.

**** Tyler's hairstyle and colour were inspired by Sasori from Naruto.