Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

Catalyst

Calumon was bored.

Not that he hadn't tried his hardest to not be bored, but not being bored was not easy to do. He had tried playing a game, but games were more fun with friends, and no one in the Katou's tavern seemed interested in playing at the moment. He had tried eating, being that the tavern always had some food lying around, but he could only eat so much before that stopped being exciting too.

Well, that or he ran out of food, which did happen occasionally.

In desperate times like this one, there was only one person Calumon could turn to. He floated around the tavern, eventually ending up in the stockroom where he found exactly who he was looking for. She was sorting through the bottles of green chili sauce that Calumon was not supposed to ever drink from, no matter what.

"Jeri!" Calumon called out as he dropped himself right in front of the girl, causing her to almost drop one of the bottles. She caught it, though, just like he knew she would.

"Hey, Calumon," Jeri said with a smile. "Is something wrong?"

"You wanna play?"

Jeri sighed. "I told you I would see if I can after the lunch rush." This wasn't the first time this "lunch rush" had kept her from playing, making Calumon wonder why these people couldn't rush to some other meal instead.

"How's that not over yet? It's been like an hour already."

"Calumon, we just spoke five minutes ago." Jeri's words didn't sound right to Calumon, though she had always told him that lying was bad, so he guessed what she had just said was true.

"I don't know if I can wait another fifty-five minutes, Jeri." Calumon was sure that if he waited for her that long he would explode, and probably take the whole building with him.

Jeri didn't reply right away, instead putting her hand on her chin and making the scrunchy face she did when she was thinking. After a few seconds, though, her smile came back.

"In that case, I might have something for you to do," Jeri said.

"What is it?" Calumon asked, now listening as carefully as he could.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Do I ever!" Calumon was excited instead of bored now.

"Are you sure?" Jeri lowered her head to look him straight in the eye. "This isn't just some errand. This is a mission. I need someone brave and reliable to complete it."

"I'm brave and reliable!"

"Okay, here it is: I lent Rika one of my favorite books, and she said she finished it. I need you to go pick it up at her house and bring it back to me."

"Is that it?" Calumon asked quietly, wanting to make sure Jeri didn't have anything else to add.

"That's it. Can I count on you?"

"You betcha! I'll be back with that book before you know it!" Calumon gave Jeri a quick salute before turning around and flying off.

Before even he realized it, Calumon was outside and on his way to Rika's house. Some people gave him weird looks as he floated over their heads, but he quickly stopped paying attention to them pretty quickly. He would do such a great job that Jeri would never trust another mission with anyone else ever again. There was nothing that could stop him.

Calumon stopped as he passed Shinjuku park. He couldn't decide if he should keep going or not. On the one hand, Jeri had said the book was at Rika's house. On the other, Rika spent a lot of time in the park, so there was a good chance she was there now. He thought about it for a while before moving in either direction.

In the end, Calumon decided the best way to complete his mission was to be thorough. He moved into the park in search of Rika. Also, if he stumbled on someone else who wanted to play instead, that wouldn't be so bad either.

Calumon quickly made his way to the Tamers' usual spot, finding a few of his friends were gathered around a picnic table. More specifically, he found Suzie and Kazu playing the Digimon card game while Lopmon, Guardromon, Kenta, MarineAngemon, Ai, and Mako watched. Rika was nowhere in sight, but Calumon decided to approach anyway.

Calumon landed himself on the table, right in between Lopmon and MarineAngemon. "What are we doing?" he asked.

"I'm not even sure anymore," Lopmon answered as she shook her head.

Looking around the rest of the group, everyone else seemed to have different feelings about the game going on in front of them. Kazu had all his attention focused on Suzie as he waited for her to take her turn. Suzie, on the other hand, seemed really tired, almost like she wasn't having fun. Not that Calumon could blame her. He always found this game to be a little boring, involving too much sitting around and doing nothing.

Also, the rules were a bit too convoluted for his taste.

Everyone stayed quiet for a few more seconds, as Suzie looked back and forth between the cards in her hand and the ones in play. Finally, she lowered her hand and looked at her opponent.

"Okay, my turn's done," Suzie said calmly.

"That's it?" Mako asked as he looked at the cards in Suzie's hand and reached for one in particular. "But what about-"

"Quiet!" Ai snapped as she pulled her brother's hand away from the card.

This whole exchange left Calumon a little confused, as he couldn't understand how a card Suzie didn't play could be so special. He must have been the only one who felt this way, however, as no one else said anything. Not even Kazu, who couldn't take his eyes off his own cards.

"Okay, try this one!" Kazu yelled as he slammed one of his cards onto the table. "I'm pretty sure that means I win."

Kenta leaned forward to inspect the game. "It... does."

"Well played, Kazu," Guardromon cheered. "I only doubted you for a second."

"Like I said," Kazu gloated. "No one's better at this game than I am."

"I wouldn't go that far," Kenta commented.

"You know what I mean!" Kazu shot back before looking over to Suzie. "Well?"

"What?" Suzie replied.

"You don't have any comments to make?"

"Nope." Suzie shrugged and went to start gathering her cards. "You won and it's finally over."

For them it was, anyway. Calumon, on the other hand, was still curious about that card. He walked over to it and flipped it over. The first thing that stood out to Calumon was how shiny the card was compared to all the rest, with his eyes drawn to the picture of the Crest of Light in its center.

Again, Calumon didn't really have any experience with this game, so he didn't know what this card did. With that said, how pretty the card was alone should have been enough to make Suzie play it. Jeri had always told him how it was good to get a second opinion when he was unsure about something, so that's what he decided to do.

"What does this card do?" Calumon asked as he held up the card for everyone to see.

"Well..." Kenta answered, pausing for what seemed like a long time to read the card. "...it wins games."

"What are you guys talking..." Kazu moved over and his eyes locked on the card. "...about?"

"That's enough of that, I think," Suzie said as she snatched the card from Calumon and put it back in her deck.

Kazu turned his attention to Suzie. "Was that card in your hand?"

"I mean, who can remember?" Suzie replied with a nervous laugh. "You won that match, like, forever ago."

Kazu's response was to slam his cards back on the table. "Rematch. Right now."

"Why?" Suzie spat back at him. "You just won!"

"Only because you let me. Now shuffle your cards so I can beat you fair and square."

Instead of arguing, Suzie let out a whimper before burying her face in her arms. "I'm really starting to hate this stupid game."

"There, there," Ai said as she placed a gentle on Suzie's back.

"Don't worry, Suzie," Lopmon added as she climbed onto the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure he'll beat you next time."

"No, he won't," came Suzie's muffled reply.

Looking around him, Calumon decided it was best for him to leave. He wasn't interested in watching another game, and his friends all seemed too busy to help him find Rika.

Calumon wandered out of the park, ready to continue his quest. It was then, however, that a familiar smell caught his attention. Deciding that he was no use to Jeri on an empty stomach, he followed the smell all the way to the Matsuki bakery.

With the bakery in sight, the smell wasn't the only familiar thing that Calumon was greeted with. Familiar faces and voices were also waiting for him at the entrance.

"This is outrageous, I tell ya!" Impmon hollered with a fist in the air. "I oughta sue this establishment!"

"Do you even know how to do that?" Guilmon asked in response.

"I could figure it out!"

"What's wrong?" Calumon asked as he landed right next to Impmon.

"Discrimination, that's what!" Impmon jabbed a finger up at Guilmon's face. "Pineapple-head ain't lettin' me in."

"Sorry," Guilmon replied with a shrug. "Mom says you're not allowed inside when we're busy."

"Why?" Impmon raised his voice, and it looked like he was looking around Guilmon to yell into the store. "Because she's a racist?"

"She said you cause trouble for paying customers."

"What? Name one time!"

"Well..." Guilmon placed one of his claws on his chin. "There was that one time when you set that one guy's pants on fire because you wanted the line to move faster."

"You can't prove that was me." Impmon crossed his arms and looked away.

"Oh!" Calumon chimed in. "How about that time he tried telling the customers the pastries were stale so there'd be more at the end of the day?"

"Don't help him, Calumon!"

"Mom also says you take stuff from behind the counter without paying," Guilmon added.

"Hey, a mon's gotta eat! What else am I suppose ta do?"

Calumon paused and looked at his friend. The problem Impmon was dealing with wasn't one he usually had to worry about. Typically, all he had to do was ask nicely and his friends and their families would share with him. Then again, Impmon was never very good at asking nicely. There was also one other thing that he still had trouble doing.

"You should try apologizing to Mrs. Matsuki," Calumon suggested.

"Fer what?" Impmon asked back.

"For all the bad stuff you did."

"What good would that do at this point?"

"Sometimes all people want to hear is that you're sorry." Calumon shrugged. "At least that's what Jeri says."

"J-Jeri?" Impmon sputtered. For some reason, he seemed nervous all of a sudden.

"That's what I think she said anyway." Calumon looked back in the direction he had arrived from. "Do you think we should go ask what she thinks?"

"No!" Impmon jumped into Calumon's path. "I mean, uh... what I'm tryin' ta say is that there's no need ta go involvin' third parties right now."

"You sure?"

"Positive!" Impmon was smiling, but somehow still seemed nervous. "In fact, I think I'm gonna take ur advice so you won't have ta tell Jeri about this. Ever."

"If you say so." Calumon was a little confused, but glad things got sorted out.

Turning around, Calumon was considering going into the bakery himself when his attention was pulled away by someone coming out of the alleyway at the side of the bakery. He turned again, finding this person to be Takato.

"Where are you going, Takato?" Guilmon asked.

"I, uh, have to go take care of something," Takato answered, almost seeming more nervous than Impmon had been just moments ago.

"Do you want me to come?" Guilmon seemed worried all of a sudden.

"N-No, that's okay, boy. It's nothing life-or-death." Takato looked away from them and in the direction he was inching towards. "At least I hope not."

"Okay..." Guilmon replied as his partner took off.

An idea suddenly popped into Calumon's head, one that he felt like he should have thought of sooner. Not wanting to miss a chance to complete his mission, he flew after Takato as fast as he could.

If there was anyone who could take Calumon to exactly where Rika was, it would definitely be Takato. The two of them were best friends, always spending time together. Sometimes, they would even spend that time with no one else around, which seemed a bit odd to Calumon. He had always felt as though the more friends he had around, the more fun he could have. He had even asked Jeri what kind of games Takato and Rika could play on their own, but Jeri's only response had been "I'll tell you when you're older."

Luckily, it didn't take very long to catch up with Takato. Calumon rounded a corner, finding that the boy had stopped to stare inside a store window. Calumon moved closer, only stopping himself from greeting Takato when he realized the store in question was a flower shop. Calumon stared inside as well, trying to figure out what Takato was doing, but soon got tired of waiting for answers.

"Whatcha looking at?" Calumon asked.

"Jeez, Calumon!" Takato jumped backwards before collecting himself. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry." Calumon looked back at the store. "Are you thinking about buying flowers?"

"No..." Takato scratched the back of his head. "Well, maybe... I don't know."

"That's a lot of answers for one question, Takato."

"I realize that..."

"Then you should make up your mind and pick one."

"Probably..." Takato sighed. "I don't think Rika's much of a flower person anyway."

Takato's last statement didn't make much sense to Calumon. Flowers were pretty and smelled nice, so the idea that anyone, including Rika, wouldn't want any seemed like crazy talk. If anything, Takato just needed a little help.

"Or maybe you just have to pick the right kind of flower," Calumon declared as he moved into the shop.

"W-Wait, Calumon!" Takato called after him, probably wanting to thank him for taking the initiative.

Things seemed to have worked out perfectly. Calumon would be able to pick Jeri's book from Rika and leave her a bunch of pretty flowers in its place. He would basically be completing two missions at once!

Calumon paused in the middle of the store, taking a second to look at all the flowers around him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the selection wasn't sitting right with him.

"Don't run off like that," Takato said as caught up to him.

A girl trying to organize some of the flowers turned around and approached them. "Do you guys need help with anything?" she asked with a smile.

"We're just browsing, thanks."

"Okay, if you need anything-"

"I got it!" Calumon called out as he jumped into action.

The answer was obvious as far as he was concerned. Takato was so caught up trying to pick one kind of flower when what he should have been doing was getting one of each.

"Okay, first we need one of these," Calumon said as came to some blue flowers and yanked one free from the bunch. He then saw some yellow flowers near by. "Oh, and one of these!"

"Calumon, wait!" Takato yelled as he tried to catch up with him.

"Don't worry, Takato! I've got this!" Calumon continued to pick out flowers. He grabbed a red one, a purple one, a pink one, and even one he couldn't quite describe the color of. He continued this pattern until a pair of hands grabbed a hold of him.

"Gotcha!" Takato called out, though Calumon wasn't too disappointed by this. He was basically carrying all the flowers that could fit into his arms already.

"So how'd I do?" Calumon asked.

"Well..."

Calumon's eyes wandered to the rest of the shop. Somehow, a bunch of flowers and shelves had just fallen to the floor while he had been putting Rika's bouquet together. The girl who worked there just stood over the mess, looking at Calumon and Takato with wide eyes.

"So, uh..." Takato let out a nervous laugh as he held out Calumon and the flowers he had collected. "How much for these?"

"We should go to that store more often."

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not? Shopping there was really fun!"

"Not for all of us..."

Calumon wasn't exactly sure who Takato was talking about. Granted, the girl at the store did seem a little grouchy when she was ringing them up, but maybe she just wasn't used to having that kind of fun. Maybe she would feel better by the next time that he stopped by.

From his spot on Takato's shoulder, Calumon stared at Rika's front gate as they waited for the girl in question to come greet them. For some reason, Takato seemed really nervous. Calumon, on the other hand, was more excited than he had felt all day. He was just seconds away from completing his mission.

Then, just before Calumon was going to jump over the gate to get Rika himself, it creaked open and she stepped out.

"So, what do you want?" Rika asked bluntly.

"T-To bring these to you," Takato answered with a nervous smile on his face. He held out the flowers, some of which were now drooping downward.

Rika accepted them, looking them over with a raised eyebrow. "Well, these are... varied."

"I had some help picking them out."

Rika looked over to Calumon. "Yeah, I bet."

They both went quiet, only staring at each other for the next few seconds. Calumon thought about speaking up to break the silence, but a voice in his head told him not to, and he decided to listen to it for whatever reason.

"So..." Takato began. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry."

Rika crossed her arms. "Sorry for what?"

"Huh?" Takato looked confused all of a sudden.

"You don't even remember what it is you said, do you?"

"Hey, I remember everything I said the other day. I'm just..." Takato's voice got lower. "...having trouble figuring out what made you mad..."

Rika looked away from him. "You are so dense, you know that!"

"Okay, first off, that's not news to anyone." Takato's voice sounded like it was getting louder, little by little. "Second, that definitely doesn't explain what you're mad at me for."

Rika glared at Takato. "Well, let me explain it to you then! Have to do it out here though! Inside, you might lose focus and start ogling at my mom!"

"Th-That's not... I didn't... I wasn't..." Takato's face turned red, and Calumon could actually feel the heat coming off him.

"Take your time, Goggle-head."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?"

Calumon wasn't completely sure what was going on, but he also couldn't turn away either.

"You made a comment about how you looked like your mom," Takato explained. "And all I said was how that was a good thing."

"You're not helping your case any!"

"I was just being honest!"

"Yeah, honest about how you have the hots for my mother!"

Takato's eye twitched as a bunch of sounds that weren't words came out of his mouth. It seemed like Rika had broke something in his brain. Calumon reached over and tugged on the boy's hair, but didn't get much of a response.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Calumon asked.

"Who cares?" Rika replied, crossing her arms again. "He brought it on himself."

"I think you brought a little of it too."

Rika's eyes locked on Calumon. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The two of you are really close, and you expect people who are close to you to disappoint you," Calumon explained calmly. "Then when they don't disappoint you, it makes you nervous and causes you to fall back on your first instinct, which is to push people away."

At least that was what Jeri had said, right before telling Calumon to not tell Rika she had said it. Though that did seem to go against when she had told him that lying was bad. Calumon decided that this was a fair compromise, with Rika hearing the truth and Jeri not getting in trouble for it.

Speaking of Rika, she hadn't stopped staring at him for the last few seconds. Right before Calumon could ask if she was okay, however, she broke the stare to look over the flowers in her hand. She then looked at Takato, who looked less broken but still nervous.

"Look, Rika," Takato began. "I just-"

"Shut up," Rika said.

"Okay."

"Do you wanna come inside?"

It took Takato a second before he nodded. Rika motioned towards the front door and waited for him to jog up next to her.

"Oh, that's right!" Calumon called out as he jumped from Takato's shoulder to Rika's. "Jeri sent me to pick something up."

"And what was that?" Rika asked.

"I can't remember."

"Of course not..." Rika sighed and rolled her eyes. "That's fine. I think I know what she sent you here for."

Calumon sat on one of the tavern's bar stools as he watched Jeri quickly leaf through the book in her hand. She then quickly shut it and smiled, which told Calumon that she was satisfied with his work.

"Mission accomplished?" Calumon asked asked with his own smile.

"Definitely accomplished," Jeri confirmed. "Thanks again, Calumon. You're my hero."

"No sweat, Jeri!" Calumon hopped onto the bar. "I had a lot of fun on the way."

"Really? You actually weren't gone as long as I thought you'd be."

"You want me to tell you what happened?"

Jeri looked around the tavern, which was pretty empty at the moment. "Sure, I've got some time."

"Great!" Calumon cheered as he began to tell his story.

Or at least as he began to tell the fun parts of his story. Those were the only bits that really mattered.

So, really quick and REALLY belated PSA: In the unlikely chance there's anyone reading this that hasn't started the new Digimon Adventure series, you should definitely give it a chance. Personally, I really enjoyed the first three episodes, and am curious to see where the show goes from here.