Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v1.3 - The Other Tamer is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.

The Tamer v1.3 - The Other Tamer

Chapter 1 - A Memory I Can't Forget

In a quiet apartment in Highton View Terrace, a teenage Kari Kamiya slept peacefully and dreamt of the most horrible dream. A dream where her brother disappeared during the battle between Parrotmon and Greymon. A dream where he'd spent years in the Digital World alone. A dream where she grew up an only child, watching helplessly as her family ripped itself apart over the death of her brother. A dream where he had no idea who she was and insisted upon the name 'The Digimon Tamer'. A dream where he died, giving his life to defeat a villain known as Myotismon, and to save the life of her fellow digidestined Ken Ichijouji.

"Kari! Wake up!"

It was a horrible dream, and she felt powerless standing there helplessly as WarGreymon refused to let her run to her brother's aid. To stop him. To save him from his own demise.

"Wake up!"

She tried screaming at him to stay. But he was already disappearing - vanishing in a bright glow of light that was going to take him away again.

"WAKE UP!"

Something smacked her in the face, jolting her awake to sight of Tai standing over her bed with his arms hovering over her. In her sleep, he'd dropped a pillow on her head to snap her out of whatever nightmare she was having.

"Geez, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost," he said to her casually. He lifted the pillow up again and readied to drop it on her head. "Maybe you need another wake up call!"

Before he could, Gatomon leapt onto his chest and tackled him away, "NOT ON YOUR LIFE!"

"Ah!" he yelped as he fell over, catching himself on their bedroom desk. He managed to push Gatomon off and she leapt onto the bed beside Kari, scowling at Tai with a warning look. He chuckled and made towards the bedroom door. "I'll leave her to you then, Gatomon. I've gotta meet up with Jun and head out to soccer practice. Don't sleep in too late. Otherwise Davis is gonna worry and Jun and I don't want to deal with that. Later!"

It took her a moment longer to register that she was indeed looking at her brother as he closed the door behind him. She immediately sprang out of bed and raced after him, throwing the bedroom door open as she squeaked out, "T-Tai!"

To her surprise, she saw her parents eating breakfast at the table with Agumon. Meanwhile, her brother was already getting his shoes on at the door next to Jun who was waiting patiently for him. It would've been like a scene out of a dream if all of them weren't staring at her in confusion.

"You okay, Kari?" her mother asked. "You look spooked."

"That's what I said," Tai remarked. "Maybe you oughta stay home today. You don't look too good, Kari."

Kari blinked again, letting her mind take a moment to take in that this was actually happening. Without a thought to how it looked, she strode across the apartment towards Tai and grabbed his face. She pulled on his cheeks and pinched him to his protests. But she had to be sure. She needed to know that he was real. That this wasn't a dream.

"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry! Geez! I won't wake you up by dropping pillows on you anymore," Tai complained, pulling away from her and massaging his cheeks.

Jun snorted from behind him and covered her face as she tried to hide the laugh, "Geez, Tai. You and Davis are too similar sometimes."

"I hope that's not why you love me," Tai smirked at her, and Jun stuck her tongue out.

"Keep making jokes like that and we won't be together much longer," she teased, flicking him in the nose. "Now come on. You're going to be late for practice!"

"Y-yeah!" Tai nodded bashfully, hurrying to join her. "We're heading out! See you at school, Kari!"

"Have a good day," their mother said as Tai closed the door.

"He's as energetic as always," their father said from the table, pushing his breakfast plate away as he reached for the paper. Their mother beckoned for Kari to come sit at the table.

"Hurry up and eat before Agumon gets it all!" their mother said, sliding Kari and Gatomon's plates away from Agumon.

"I don't eat that much!" Agumon protested.

"You're not the one paying for all the food," her father reminded the orange dinosaur, who indignantly slid his plate and pretended he wasn't hungrily eyeing the rest of the food on the table. Despite that, their mother slapped their father on the head.

"Play nice! You know Agumon has a big stomach," she reminded him.

"And I also know that he sneaks off to that castle to get all his extra food!" her father said. "So I don't know why he has to eat all of my food!"

"Come on Kari! Let's eat!" Gatomon said, leaping onto the table and helping herself to some of the fish that Agumon still hadn't gotten to. Kari quietly joined Gatomon, sitting next to her and grabbing some of the rice. To be honest, she didn't have much of an appetite after seeing Tai wake her up like that. She went through her memories of last night - recollecting going to bed with Gatomon after coming home from school. She recalled Tai wasn't there with her. At the same time, she could also vaguely remember him already sleeping on the bottom bunk. But that didn't make any sense. They didn't have a bunk bed…because Tai didn't live with her. Tai was gone.

She was pulled from her thoughts by her mother resting a hand on her forehead. "You don't feel feverish. Are you feeling alright, honey?"

"Just…trying to make sense of Tai being here. He wasn't last night," Kari remarked quietly.

"He probably snuck back in late," her mother answered with a frown.

"I swear, that boy spends too much time with Jun," her father said.

"They're dating. Leave them be. They're young and in love! Don't be that parent," her mother said, pulling away.

"How are you not worried about becoming a grandparent!?" her father said, making Agumon choke up some juice. Kari would've done the same if she'd started eating any of her food, but the idea of becoming an aunt made any remaining appetite she had disappear.

"No, and neither should you because he's better than that," her mother said, snatching his plate from him and going to begin the dishes. No longer wanting to listen to this conversation, Kari excused herself from the table to get her school uniform on. Something was definitely wrong with this situation - Tai…Tamer was dead. He'd died in front of her and she'd been living with his coat ever since that day. She glanced towards the door where she hung it on a hook from a hook every day when she got home. It was still there, as it had been every day since she got it as a late Christmas present from Tai after he…no!

That wasn't what happened.

But the longer she dwelled on it, the more it felt like she was remembering two different versions of the same event. She'd gotten the coat as a farewell gift from Tamer the day he died after saving Ken from MaloMyotismon. But she'd also gotten it as a late Christmas present and…why did she remember it two different ways? How can something have happened two different ways in her memory?

"Kari? Are you okay?" she heard Davis' voice call from the other side of the door, snapping her out of her thoughts yet again.

"I'm getting dressed!" she answered, wondering what Davis was doing in her home. As she tried to collect her thoughts, she remembered he came to get her every morning before class so they could walk to class together. They were dating after all. That's right! Davis was her boyfriend! At least she could remember that clearly, although she wasn't sure why that was concrete in her head when other things weren't. Perhaps he could shed some light on things.

She hurriedly put her green school uniform on before hurrying to open the door for Davis. As soon as the door opened, he placed a hand on her forehead, "Hm…you don't feel sick. Your mom said you were looking kinda pale this morning."

Kari grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him inside, slamming the door shut behind her to make sure no one listened in as she pushed Davis on to the bed.

"Whoa! Kari! It's kinda early for a make out session, don't you think?" he said in surprise, annoying her while also making her face go bright red.

"Davis! Something really weird is going on with my family," she said to him, trying to get this conversation back on track.

"Huh? They seemed fine to me," Davis reasoned, sitting up in bed and frowning at the sudden turn.

"You didn't notice Agumon in the dining room? Or that Tai and Jun were going to soccer practice?" Kari pointed out.

"Yeah? What's weird about that? They always walk to soccer practice every morning. Then after school, they hang out at home and I have to listen to them making out for a few hours until dad kicks Tai out. Like what happens every night," Davis replied. That didn't sit well with Kari, who recalled Davis was able to see through illusions pretty easily by picking up on details that others often overlooked. So listening to him talk about this like nothing was wrong came as a shock to her.

She placed a her hands on her hips and leaned down towards her boyfriend, "You don't remember Christmas a few years ago? When we beat MaloMyotismon? Tai…he died, remember? WarGreymon called it reformatting or something…and then we lost him! We've been looking for him ever since?"

Davis blinked as he stared at her. She was hoping her words reached him and that he'd finally begun to see through whatever this was. And just like then, maybe he could lead them out of the illusion. After a moment of silence, he replied, "You and I remember that day very differently."

"What?" Kari stammered out.

"Maybe you should stay home today. You're so sick, you're hallucinating," Davis said, pushing himself off the bed. He made for the door as he went on, "I'll tell your parents that you're not feeling well and that I'll bring home our homework when school is done."

Kari grabbed his hand, "I'm not sick, Davis! I'm fine! Even you have to think something is off with all of this!"

Davis paused at the door, putting a hand to his chin, "I mean…it is kinda weird that two sets of siblings are dating each other. I mean, my older sister dating your older brother, while we're dating."

Kari paused…unable to believe what she was hearing. Did Davis really not see what was wrong with everything? She hurriedly grabbed her bag from her chair and quickly stuffed her things inside before hurrying to join Davis. "I'm coming to school. And on the way, fill me in on how you exactly remember everything happening."

"I…uh, kay?" Davis remarked as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of her bedroom.

"Have a good day at school you two!" her father said as they hurried out the door and onto their apartment's walkway. They peered down from the top floor to see Tai and Jun bicycling away towards the high school.

Davis sighed as they pedaled away and he quietly said, "Man, I wish my parents would get me a bike too so that we don't have to walk everywhere."

"Focus, Davis," Kari insisted on him. "New Year's Eve! The day we beat MaloMyotismon. What happened?"

Davis scratched the back of his head and started walking, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes! I'm fine! Now what happened?" Kari asked Davis as they continued on down the walkway towards the elevator.

Davis sighed and pocketed his hands, "After we beat MaloMyotismon, everyone went home. Tamer came back to Japan with us and we talked. Specifically to me, you, and your family. He said something about how we was ready to retire from protecting the Digital World - that he'd done all he could to make sure there would always be someone around to protect it which is us, the digidestined. He said if they were alright with it, he'd like the 'Tai' personality to stay with you and your family but that he didn't want to impose. You and your mom jumped on the idea right away but your dad was weird about it. To be honest, it's a little weird to me too since he's not really your brother but I guess that's why you wanted him to stay with you. Plus, Jun wanted her boyfriend back. So Tamer modified the memories a little so that he would remember being your brother and stuff. And he's been living with you guys ever since. He remembers stuff differently from how things happened, but I guess that's just how the 'personality' is supposed to work. Sometimes I wonder if 'Tai' knows he's not real but I don't think any one has the heart to tell him if he doesn't. Especially not you or Jun. She was really broken up after he…well, became Tamer again."

Davis paused for a second, watching her for her reaction. Kari was at a loss to Davis's story. None of this was how she remembered it. None of that happened the way she remembered. But Davis seemed so sure and she knew better than to think him a liar. Why would he lie? After a moment, he waved a hand in front of her and asked, "What's all this about anyway? Are you okay?"

"I…it didn't happen differently?" she said, finally finding her voice.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head to the side. He placed a hand on her forehead. "Okay, you're definitely sick because you're talking crazy."

She pulled his hand off, "I'm fine, Davis. I'm…"

Kari paused as she realized this was going nowhere. Despite how she remembered things, it was obvious that Davis didn't remember it that way. She didn't know what was going on but she wasn't going to press her luck. "I'm fine. I think I'm still waking up. Let's just…go to school."

Davis seemed unconvinced, but he at least seemed willing to let her go to school now. She just couldn't make sense of it. Whatever was going on, she knew she would need some time to figure it out - whatever it was. And as they made their way to class, another thought occurred to Kari. She and Davis were dating. So how come she couldn't remember when they started dating?

…

Sora sat in the near empty theatre, listening to her boyfriend's band finish practicing their latest set. It was a new song that the other member rapped while the rest of them played the instrumental. It wasn't exactly her type of song but she was able to get into it because she could tell Matt was enjoying himself.

"Just twist your hip and do the dip

(How many people ready to rock the house?)

Come on shake and bake do whatever it takes

(How many people ready to rock the house?)"

Matt played out the closing instrumental, and Sora broke out into applause for him. That was the last song they had time to practice before class started, so they began packing up their instrument before they headed in. Matt was the swiftest of them, eager to get back to Sora's side as he wrapped an arm around her, "Ready for class?"

"Are you?" she asked back teasingly, knowing that he probably was going to copy her homework real quick. His silence was telling as they headed back out of the theatre onto the school grounds. They'd barely cracked the door open when a soccer ball flew past them, just narrowly missing their heads.

"Sorry!" a familiar voice called out.

"Dammit Tai!" Matt said nonchalantly, throwing the door open to see none other than Tamer standing there dressed in the school soccer uniform. Well, a high school aged version of him anyway. Tamer scratched the back of his head apologetically as he tried to get around Matt. Unfortunately for him, Matt wasn't in the mood for it. "How many times is that going to happen?"

"I said sorry!" Tamer apologized again, hurrying past them to scoop up the soccer ball. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose. Besides, you know how intense practice gets! Sorry again. I'll buy you guys lunch to make up for it!"

He hurried past them without another word, leaving Matt cursing under his breath. "Even when he's not himself, he still gets on my nerves."

"Was that Tamer?" Sora asked quietly, unsure why Matt wasn't surprised like she was. The last time they'd seen him, he had turned to data and vanished. And yet there he was, wearing the school's soccer uniform and kicking it around like nothing happened. They went outside and watched him rejoin the soccer team for practice on the field.

"You know we're supposed to call him 'Tai' now," Matt grumbled quietly. "He says he's not doing it on purpose but it happens every time! Literally, every time!"

"No it doesn't," she said.

"The same thing yesterday! I open this door, and a soccer ball almost hits us!" Matt said with certainty, leaving Sora dumbfounded. It literally didn't. He literally had never been here before. He was dead, yet Matt was acting like Tamer had been here the whole time.

"Matt, he's never been in our school before? What the hell is he doing here? On the soccer team!?" Sora finally asked Matt who just stared at her in confusion.

"Uh, did you forget the last couple of years or something? He's been with us as 'Tai' ever since that thing with MaloMyotismon," Matt said. Sora wanted to call him out, but he sounded so sure of himself. She glanced back at the soccer field, where the team was picking up and getting ready to head to class. None of them appeared alarmed by Tai's presence. In fact, they seemed to be acting like they'd known him for a very long time. But why? What was she missing?

"Oh, r-right," she said in quiet agreement. Something was wrong and she had no idea why Matt couldn't see it. Whatever it was, she intended to find out. But her worries were more founded than she would've liked once class started. She had her seat beside Matt and they'd been talking about what they were going to do for their date this weekend when she noticed Tamer come in wearing the full high school uniform. Ignoring the fact that Tamer was never one to wear anything properly, she couldn't believe the fact that he took the seat behind Matt.

"Sorry again about earlier, Ishida! It really was an accident!" he apologized again to Matt, who appeared to be seething at the idea of Tamer talking to him.

"You say that but it happens every day," Matt said to him.

"And every day, it's an accident," Tamer said sheepishly.

Sora wanted to ask him why he was here but held herself back to avoid causing any more problems. Until she knew that someone else thought something was wrong, she wasn't going to start anything. Tamer and Matt proceeded to argue with each other for a bit until the teacher came in and called for the class to settle down.

"Everyone, before we start the day's lesson, there's a new student who'll be joining us today," their teacher said quickly. The door slid open and their new classmate came in wearing a different set of clothes - likely the uniform from her previous school. And, to be honest, Sora found herself stunned by her appearance. She had silky black hair and smooth pale skin of someone who didn't go outside regularly. She also wore a pair of a black glasses that complimented the shy and uneasy expression on her face, her eyes barely making eye contact with anyone in the class. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."

"Hello. I…I'm Meiko Mochizuki," the new girl introduced herself sheepishly. "I look forward to g-getting to know you all."

"Thank you Meiko. Please have a seat over there," the teacher said, gesturing to the empty seat behind Sora. Meiko squeaked out nervously and hurriedly went to her assigned seat, setting her bag down beside her and doing her best to ignore the looks she was getting from everyone. This day had already started off in the weirdest way - first Tamer, and now a new girl? Something was definitely going on and Sora intended to find out what it was. But who could she ask when no one else seemed to think anything was wrong with their situation.

…

When school got out later that day, Kari hurriedly grabbed her bag with plans to rush home. But she'd barely gotten out of her seat when Davis called her, "Hey Kari! Soccer practice is cancelled for today. Wanna go grab some ice cream?"

Ice cream sounded really good right now, and maybe something delicious would help her get her head on straight. She'd spent the whole day distracted by the fact that Tai had just miraculously shown up in her home and no one seemed alarmed by it. It didn't take a moment's consideration for her to decide. "Yeah, I'd like some ice cream too."

"Mind if I tag along, too?" TK asked from behind her. "Patamon has been asking me to bring home some of that new ice cream from the shop."

"I was actually hoping it could just be me and Kari," Davis stated matter of factly.

"Hey, no worries! I didn't realize it was going to be a date!" TK said with a nervous smile.

"No, no, it's fine! Come along TK! I bet Patamon really wants that ice cream," Kari said quietly, already wondering if Takeru could pick up on something being wrong with the world around them. She wanted to ask him but wasn't sure if things with him would be any different. If Kari were going to ask, she'd have to choose her words carefully to avoid alarming Davis. Although she could tell he was still annoyed at having Takeru as a third wheel.

The three of them gathered their things and made their way out into the summer afternoon, walking under the summer heat. It was definitely a good thing they were going to have their ice cream, otherwise they would've passed out from the heat. They passed the high school on their way to way the ice cream shop, hearing the sounds of the sports teams at practice, while the rest of the students made their way home. In the middle of the soccer field, Kari could see Tai practicing a play with his team. Jun was off to the side cheering him on and getting drinks ready for the team.

"Tai looks like he's having a good time," Takeru remarked, dashing Kari's hopes that he was able to see what was wrong with this picture. If not TK, then who else would be able to see through whatever was going on in the world right now. "Davis! Are they still hanging out at your place after school?"

"Yeah. They spend all day making out and it's gross," Davis answered, annoyed. "Can we not talk about them? I don't want to think about my sister's dating life."

"I thought you'd be happy for your sister," Kari said aloud.

Davis grumbled out his frustrations, "Don't get me wrong, I am. But I also don't want to hear the noises they make. I'm pretty sure they're fucking too and-"

"Ew! I don't want to know that stuff Davis!" Kari interrupted, feeling sick to her stomach as she visualized the two of them having sex.

"How do you think I feel? They say they're just really getting into making out, but to me it just sounds like sex," Davis gagged, sticking his tongue out as if he were ready to throw up.

"Changing subject! Has anything seemed off to you TK?" Kari asked, trying to get off this subject as quickly as possible.

"Off?" TK repeated quietly, caught off guard by the question.

"Not this again, Kari. Are you sure you're okay? You're worrying me," Davis said, alarmed by Kari's return to this subject.

"What's going on?" TK asked anxiously, looking back and forth between them nervously.

"It's nothing," Kari said quickly, hoping to stop Davis before things got any more out of hand for her.

Unfortunately for her, Davis went on anyway, "Kari's been acting weird since I went to go pick her up this morning. She keeps asking me how things happened in the past, if I remember them happening differently, other weird stuff."

"I'm fine, it's nothing," Kari said quickly, although neither Davis nor TK seemed convinced by what she'd said. She looked between them all nervously and insisted again. "I'm fine."

"Nuh-uh! Something is definitely up and I wish you'd tell me what it is," Davis interrupted.

"Maybe we should start with what Kari remembers. You said things happened differently? Why don't we start there? How do you remember it happening?" Takeru asked quietly. Kari felt relieved to finally find someone who didn't think she was crazy or that she might've been sick. She was excitedly about to answer when she was interrupted.

"Hey guys," Izzy called from behind them as he exited the high school gate.

"Izzy, what's up?" Takeru said, seemingly forgetting what they were just talking about.

"I was heading into the office. There's some IT issues at work and they wanted me to come in and have a look," Izzy said happily.

"When did you start working in an office?" Kari raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. First Tai, then dating Davis, and now Izzy working in an office? There was so much that wasn't adding up and she wasn't sure how to make any kind of sense of it.

"Are you kidding? You were just there last week," Izzy said. Except she wasn't. Kari tried to remember ever actually stepping inside of an office but couldn't remember when such a thing ever happened. It seemed the harder she tried to figure out what was going on, the more and more things she found wrong with the world around her.

"Kari's not feeling well," Davis said quickly. For once, she was glad to actually have that excuse since it meant she didn't have to explain herself again today.

"I see. Maybe you should head home and get some rest. You don't look so good," Izzy said. "Actually, if I remember, you used to get sick pretty often as a kid. Go easy on yourself and don't push too hard."

"R-right. We were just going to go get some ice cream before heading home," Kari said sheepishly, desperate to get away from this confusing mess before things got any weirder.

…

The next day, things played out the same. Tai woke her up from a bad dream she could scarcely remember before heading out with Jun to soccer practice, and then Davis would show up a little later to walk to school with her. The more time passed, the more convinced she was that she wasn't remembering things the way they happened. That maybe there was something wrong with her. About the only thing saving her from the insanity was the knowledge that she was right. Something was wrong, even if no one else could figure it out.

And every day continued much the same until the weekend during Tai's soccer game. Davis came to pick her up that morning and they went together with Tai and Jun, accompanied by their digimon hiding in the duffle bag.

"Do we have to hide in here? It stinks of socks!" DemiVeemon whined from within.

"If you hate it so much, you can always start trying to be more like the animals in this world so yo can blend in," Gatomon teased, being the only digimon among them who could pass for a real world animal.

"You always say that! It's never fair!" DemiVeemon whined. "And why am I the only one in here?"

"Because Davis is too manly to play with dolls," Tai added from the front, holding Agumon in his arms like a stuffed doll. "Although you could be less heavy. I swear, you eat too much."

"And you need to work on your upper body strength," Agumon stuck his tongue out.

"Yeah yeah," Tai rolled his eyes. "I swear, you've put on a few pounds since we beat Myotismon."

"And I swear you were a lot less whinier," Agumon said. If 'Tai' really was just a personality with modified memories, then Agumon was doing a very good job of playing the part to convince Tai of that fact. "Is that your plan? To whine the other team to death."

"Nah, my plan was to throw you at them. I figure you'll be heavy enough to crush them under your weight," Tai fired back playfully. At least the Tai personality still had some of Tamer's ability to quip with Agumon. Although that just had her more worried. She shuddered to think what would happen if they were ever needed. Or rather, if Tamer were ever needed.

Once they made it out onto the soccer pitch, Tai joined his team for warm ups while the rest of them took their seats on the bleachers. Some of Tai's teammates mocked him for bringing a doll, while some were fairly certain he'd brought a digimon with him - all of which Tai deflected with a cheeky smile and calling them, "Jealous?"

"Nah, just not sure why you're still playing with dolls," one of his teammates joked.

"You should try it. Maybe you'd finally get a girlfriend," Tai fired back. Jun and Kari simultaneously buried their hands in their faces as they listened to the boys banter back and forth with each other.

Davis raised an eyebrow at his sister, "What do you see in this guy again?"

"He annoys you so that's a good start," Jun stuck her tongue out at him. Davis shook his head at that response, as Gatomon muttered something about humans being so weird. Then she perked her head up, ears they honed in on whatever had her attention.

"Is something wrong Gatomon?" Kari asked nervously.

"Something's coming," Gatomon hissed, eyes narrowing in concentration.

"Yeah, I feel it too!" DemiVeemon said from inside Davis' bag.

"Something big," Agumon said in agreement. Kari didn't like not knowing what they were in for but was powerless to do anything about it. All she could do was sit here and try to focus on whatever was coming - wherever it was coming from. But there was nothing. Then she saw it - a flicker across the sky. As if someone had briefly turned it off and turned it black. But it lasted only a moment - before a cloud appeared over the soccer field. A cloud of data that coalesced and concentrated into the shape of a digimon.

"What is that!?" someone in the bleachers gasped. Both Kari and Davis looked at each other and stood up with their digivices in hand. Whatever was coming, both of them intended to be ready to meet it. Panic swept through the field as the cloud finally condensed and took the form of a large flying red beetle. Kuwagamon.

"No way! Kuwagamon? How does a digimon that big get into our world on its own!?" Davis asked, asking perhaps the first reasonable question she would've expected from him since she'd awoken to this topsy turvy reality.

"Questions later! Fight it now!" Gatomon said, getting ready to pounce as the Kuwagamon flew towards them.

"Wait! Something's wrong!" Agumon shouted. "Kuwagamon's…acting weird. Everyone get away!"

"Weird!? How is this weird!? He's attacking us! Probably to eat us!" DemiVeemon reasoned.

"Just keep your distance and run!" Agumon shouted, shoving Jun out of the way as Kuwagamon soared past them. "That was close."

"JUN!" Tai shouted, running up the bleachers to meet them. "Jun! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jun said sheepishly from the bleachers. "Agumon! What's the big deal? I thought you were used to fighting these things?"

"Kuwagamon aren't mindless, just stupid and hungry. But this Kuwagamon - he's not roaring, he's not drooling, he's…not even attacking. Look at him," Agumon pointed at the red beetle as it crashed into a nearby building and then slid onto the street, knocking over several cars. The Kuwagamon stumbled back onto its feet and stopped, looking to take in its surroundings before charging straight towards another building and slamming into it. It was only by some miracle that the creature didn't destroy the building it had crashed into.

"Maybe it just needs to wake up?" Davis suggested eerily.

"No, I don't know…it's acting kinda…like an animal with rabies?" Tai suggested sheepishly.

Agumon's eyes widened at that suggestion as he held out his arms, to keep the others from running in. "We need to get away from that thing."

"You're kidding right? What's got you so spooked!?" Gatomon said disbelievingly, watching as the Kuwagamon was now buzzing in circles around the center of an intersection. It actually did look kind of dopey and non threatening now that Kari could watch it and that just made her more nervous.

Agumon pointed at the circling Kuwagamon and explained, "I've seen this before and we can catch it just by being near it. We need to stay clear and hope that Kuwagamon kicks the bucket on its own. If not, we're in serious trouble because it could infect not just us but every other computer and electrical device it comes near."

"Are you going to tell us what's going on or just leave us in the dark? Because if it's bad as you're saying, then I think we should hurry up and put this digimon out of its misery!" Davis said excitedly.

"I don't disagree with you, but it can't be us - not me, not Gatomon, not DemiVeemon, or any of the other digimon. If anyone is going to take that digimon out, it has to be one of you guys!" Agumon said quickly.

Tai just smiled and stood up, "Looks like it's my time to shine then. Don't worry, I got this!"

"NO! You of all people can't go near it!" Agumon said, grabbing Tai by his collar and pulling him back down behind the bleachers.

"What's the big deal? I'm not a digimon and I've got the crest of Courage! What're you worried about?" Tai asked, confused by Agumon's sudden bout of overprotectiveness.

"I can't tell you. But it can't be you!" Agumon repeated again, just a little more loudly. The noise caught the Kuwagamon's attention and now it was staring at them, foaming at the mouth as it did so.

"Crap, it heard you," Davis mumbled quietly as the Kuwagamon stumbled towards them with its arms stretched out.

"RUN!" Agumon shouted at the top of his lungs.

…

Author's Notes: The digidestined have the last Guardian Spirit in hand, but Arbormon has appeared! Will they be able to free the Guardian Spirit before Arbormon takes it? Will they reunite with Bokomon and Neemon!? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v1.3 - The Other Tamer due out in nine weeks on Friday August 5th at 8 PM CDT! Let me know what you think in the reviews section! And don't forget to favorite if you liked it and to follow to keep up with all the latest updates! That's all I have for now, this is leonardo1123581321 signing out!