Digimon Tamers Zero Two

by MasterCaedus

Tasuke, or Taj, was raised by his 'Uncle' Henry Wong, ever since his parents left when he was very young. In that time, Taj has come to hate his parents and anything related to them. Especially Digimon, the fictional creatures his parents had loved when they were around. But when he gets a real Digimon, Taj must fight Digi-agents of other countries for a chance to find his parents.

2. Pilot Part 2

Episode 2: Pilot 2/2

I woke up because of the dream again, the same stupid tears streaming down my face. The same thing that it always was. And, just like always, I woke up just minutes before my alarm.

At least, I think it was my alarm. It wasn't my ring tone, that was for damn sure. And it wasn't coming from my phone. I picked up the device beeping out the original Digimon theme song – I hate Digimon – and ended the alarm. This thing looked familiar. It was a lot thinner than my phone, and the screen was way smaller. It actually looked like a phone instead of a wannabe tablet. I flipped it over and frowned. There was some kind of... hazard symbol on the back. It was a bloody crimson, comprised of four identical triangles and a circle overlayed on the pitch black casing. The central triangle pointed down, and the others connected by their points to one of each of the three points of that triangle. A circle ran from each of those points of connection to enclose the central circle. I had no damn idea what the Digital Hazard was doing on this weird phone.

But I did know that this thing wasn't my phone. And that it looked just like May's, if you swapped black for white and this hazard for that weird chibi dog that looked like Dory.

I put the thing on the bedside table and jumped outside. "Hey, Henry!" I shouted, knowing he'd probably already woken up for work. "Could you call my phone, I think I might have lost it!"

There was a moment of pause. Then: "Okay, I'm calling it!"

I went back into my room. I wondered where it could be. I remembered placing it on my bedside table, but I might be wrong. The same Digimon theme song began to ring from the device, but I ignored it, searching around the bedside table. After a while of nothing coming up, I decided I'd rather just shut the theme song up and I grabbed it. Emblazoned on the screen, in the same mint green as his tie, were the words 'Uncle Henry,' and a pair of red and green phone buttons beneath.

I swallowed a pit in my throat and hit the answer button. "Hey..?" I mumbled into the phone.

"You found it then?" Henry's voice came through from the other side. "Then get ready for school. I'd prefer if you didn't run out of here like a typhoon every day."

"Uh... huh," I muttered quietly as I lowered the phone to my side and ended the call. This was my phone. He had called my phone, and the call had been received by whatever this thing was. I looked down and saw a notification at the top of the screen. I dragged the menu down, in my gut knowing what it was but not wanting to believe. A new app had been downloaded. BG-444d.

When I clicked, the truth was revealed. An empty Digi-egg and a compass pointing... wait, that didn't make any sense. I glanced out the window. So, it apparently wasn't pointing directly north. I glanced back down at the phone. "Digimon location? My phone is replaced and this game becomes Pokemon Go. What else is going to change?"

I sighed and tossed the phone to my bed so I could go take a shower. I'd be taking this thing to May and we'd be having words at school. She was going to explain whatever the hell happened to my phone.

"Henry, I'm just going to get something on the way. I need to get there early to -" I slid to a stop in front of the door, where Henry was glaring a pair of men that I did not recognize. They stood outside, and it was clear one of the men was in charge of the other. He was dressed in a burgundy suit and matching tie over a black shirt. He was pretty tall, well over six feet which made Henry's 5'9" look tiny and my 5'8" no better. His blonde hair was long, but almost regally so. He exuded authority and self-assured confidence, to the point where I barely saw the other guy.

Henry was apparently the same, because his irate eyes were locked on the man. "Gethen..." he hissed up at the newcomer.

"Henry, it's been far too long," the confident man said, a smile flashing bright teeth as he did. He held a hand out to Henry and made a command that sounded like a request. "Could you let me and my associate in."

"Uh, Henry," I said, drawing everyone's attention. It was uncomfortable, withering under Henry's worried and angry glare, and the pressure of the personality of this Gethen figure in the doorway. The man's eyes narrowed on me.

"I don't believe we have met. I am Lucas Gethen, an old admirer of your father's work," the man said. He removed his off hand from his pocket and gestured at me. "And what is your name?"

Henry cut in before I could respond. "Tasuke, you're going to be late for school. Get going," he commanded. I put my hands in my pockets, feeling this odd new phone, and nodded. I was out the door, jumping into my truck just a few moments later. I glanced over before starting the car to see that Henry was inviting this guy into our home, despite the fact that it made Henry look like he wanted to punch the man. What was going on here? I'd never even heard of this Gethen guy before, and given how Henry obviously felt about the guy, I was surprised he hadn't complained at least once. I flinched when Henry's eyes turned to me, hard as steel. He motioned his head for me to go, then turned and slammed the door shut behind him.

"What the hell?" I wondered aloud. Then I started the car and pulled away, driving the question from my mind. "I'll ask Henry later. I'm going to miss my chance to talk with May."

X X X

Unfortunately, I was late. Again. It wasn't my fault! The drive through was so long, and someone pulled in right behind me, and... It wasn't my fault! But the real problem was that I missed out on my chance to talk with May before class. Instead, I had to wait all day with this unfamiliar weight in my pocket from the new phone before I could see her. She was just waiting out by her car, shaking her head. "Late again? After you were on time yesterday, I almost thought you'd changed."

"May, what the hell happened!?" I hissed, pulling up close and yanking my phone from my pocket. "What happened to my phone?"

She rolled her eyes and held her hand out. "KayKay, but do you really need me to play tech support again, Taj? Did you try turning it on and off again?" she mocked, putting on a baby voice at the end.

I slammed the phone into her palm. "Your stupid Digimon game broke it and now... this!"

She grabbed the phone and pulled it up, and the effect was immediate. She was staring at in in abject surprise. "This is..." She glanced up at me. "It happened to you, too?"

I crossed my arms. "Okay, enough," I growled. I tore the phone from her hand."What is happening?"

She gulped. "Uh... What did you get?" she asked.

I studied her for a moment. Then scoffed. "What Digimon? My phone magically transforms, and you're worried about a game?"

"No!" she snapped. She sighed. "Get in my car, we need to talk." She pulled out her keys and jumped in the driver's seat and waited for me. I frowned, but eventually decided to get in after her.

"So, you want to know why your phone turned into a 3D," May began when I got in. She stared out the front of the car, then pulled hers out. "Just like mine did a few months ago."

I raised my eyebrow. "Turned into a 3D? And what's a 3D?"

She placed her phone on the console of the car. "This is a 3D, at least that's what I've found it's called in the data I've downloaded," she explained, tapping her phone's screen. "And... well, it's a Digivice."

I stared at her, face blank. She... expected me to buy this bullshit. That Digimon were real? Fine, I can play along with stupidity. "Oh. So, um... where's this Digimon you have?"

"Dory. Er, Dorimon. She showed up, running away from somebody a few months back. She de-Digivolved and I've been hiding her as my dog ever since," May explained, face straight.

She's a lot better a liar than I thought she was. "Dorimon." She nodded. "You expect me to believe that your ugly ass dog is a Dorimon?"

"Hey! I'm not ugly, you idiot!" A purple fuzzball exploded out of the backseat and landed in my lap. I glanced down at Dory, snarling at me. "I'm beautiful."

I blinked. Then I threw my hands up and screamed. I was sure the other students in the parking lot were giving me weird looks as I threw the dog into the backseat and screamed, but I didn't really care. "That's a talking dog! You have a talking dog! Why does your ugly dog talk!?"

"Because she's a Digimon!" May snapped, throwing her hand over my mouth to shut me up. "Dorimon. Or when I met her, Dorumon."

I breathed heavily through her grip, eyes fixed on the angry do – angry do – Dammit, the angry Digimon that had bounced up on the console. "You threw me, Jerk!"

I wanted to scream again, but May didn't let go of my face. "I'm her... Digidestined?" May suggested. She picked up the device. "When I downloaded the game, I made a Digimon and my phone took a picture of me. When I woke up the next day there was a compass. I followed it to Dorumon, who was following it to me, and I helped her hide until she de-Digivolved."

May lowered her hand from my mouth and scratched Dorimon behind the ears. "We've been best friends ever since."

I stared at the sight in front of me. "D...D...D...Digimon," I muttered, left eye twitching. "Digimon."

"Please stop singing the old theme song," Dorimon oked dryly. She jumped into my lap. "So... who's your partner?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I did anything else. "I... haven't met it," I told the Digimon – an actual, real life DIGIMON – in my lap. I pulled up my 3D and opened the new app that had appeared beside Digimon:Digidestined, labeled simply 'BG-444d.' The compass and empty Digi-egg appeared, pointing me towards... I smiled softly. Towards my Digimon. "But I'm going to."

My friend stole the phone from me and hit a button, turning the compass into a map. "Huh, that's pointing to the Lakewood mall..." May noted. She bit her cheek. "How has it not been found yet? There's so many people there!"

"Well, I've been looking for a new pair of jeans. Let's go," I said, taking my 3D back from May. "And..." I couldn't hide how giddy I was. Sure, the game was stupid but this? This was like I was Tai or Davis, or one of the Digidestined! "And I want to meet my Digimon!"

X X X

The mall was crazy, filled with people bustling around and running into each other. Dorimon whined in May's arms as she was constantly jostled about and nearly tossed to the ground. "There are so many people here!" May hissed as another woman hit her shoulder. "New Digimon hate people they don't know, so how has yours not hurt someone?"

"I don't know," I hissed as we passed another clothing store on our way to the food court, because 'Digimon are always so hungry.' I glanced down at the compass, glad to see that – for the most part – it was thrumming along to point in front of us. "Maybe I got a weak Digimon that can't hurt people."

"That sounds like what you'd get," Dorimon muttered, earning a few weird looks that May had to deal with.

"Stupid dog, no one asked you," I hissed as we entered the slightly more open food court. I walked past the Cinabbon and caught sight of the massive wall to wall blockade in the next hallway. "We're never going to get through..."

"Don't be that way, we'll -"

"Hey!" Dorimon yipped, the pupils of he orange eyes became tiny dots. "I smell something!" She began to violently wriggle about in May's arms, thrashing against her grip.

"Dorimon, what is it?" May hissed, tightening her grip on the Digimon. "Stop it!"

Then Dorimon kicked her a little harder and bounced out of her arms, rolling across the ground before finding footing on her stubby little legs. "I can smell something crazy!" she shouted before bounding off to the entrance we had just passed.

"Dory, wait!" May shouted, chasing after her ugly Digimon.

I sighed and took off after May. "Stupid Dorimon," I grumbled before pulling up beside May and pushing out the door. We both glanced around. "Where'd she go?"

May pulled out her 3D. "She's heading this way!" she exclaimed before turning to the right and sprinting along the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding crashing into people.

"May! Wait up!" I called as I took off after her as well. Thankfully, she was clearing a path through the people ahead of us, and that path was left wide open in her wake for me to follow her. I followed her around the target built into the mall, then back into the parking lot, apologizing to the honking cars and annoyed people walking through the lot. "May, where are we heading?"

She didn't answer, simply running full bore towards the parking garage on the far side of the parking lot. "May!" I snapped, trying my hardest to keep up even as I lost distance on her. Damn her constant conditioning! She tore through the door of the parking garage and turned immediately up the stairs, shouting for Dorimon. I slid to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, cursing to myself. "Dammit, May! Wait up!" I caught my breath and sprinted up after her, ignoring the cramp in my side. Stupid, stupid, ugly Dorimon!

The third floor door was still sliding closed when I reached it, and I tore through, slamming into May's back. We tumbled to the ground, yelling out in surprise more than pain as we rolled. We quickly came to a stop and I pushed up to my feet. "May, would you wait up?"

"What are you?"

I glanced up and froze, just as May had. There, standing in front of us, was Dorimon staring up at a snarling black, red, and white dinosaur with that weird hazard symbol on its chest. It looked so familiar, just like... "Guilmon!"

The dinosaur's golden, reptilian eyes turned on me. It bared its teeth and I could see the smoke rising out from behind them. I swallowed my fear and reached into my pocket, eliciting a snarl from the dinosaur. Then, as slowly as I could, I pulled out my 3D. The compass was spinning wildly, telling me that I had arrived at my destination. Then, after a moment, the compass vanished and was replaced with an image of the Digimon in front of us, as well as information about it in white script. "Black Guilmon, the black hazard Digimon and a Guilmon completely corrupted by its Viral instincts. It uses its Pyro Grenade attack to deep fry its prey and uses its claws with Rock Crusher to flatten anything that survives. A Virus type Digimon." I swallowed my fear. Virus type Digimon, in the show at least, tended to be hyper violent and... well, evil. There was another sentence in yellow words below that. "Your Digimon partner."

The Digimon's snarl slowly vanished at those words. It still had this look of rage, with slit pupils and smoke rising from its nostrils, but it wasn't growling. It took a slow few steps towards me. "Hey, you never answered my question!" Dorimon shouted, jumping in his path. The claws swiped at Dorimon and the purple fuzzball went flying. May cried out and sprinted after her, barely managing to dive in her path and catch Dorimon before she hit the wall.

I was frozen, eyes locked on those of the creature approaching me. Fear was filling my every muscle with terror. This creature was a predator of creatures with minds. Not animals, but – for lack of a better comparison – people. Its claws were leaving gouges in the concrete almost an inch deep. It stopped in front of me, sniffing me cautiously. "Partner..." It growled. The creature stood up as tall as it could, which still gave me a few inches on it, and the smoke stopped rising. Its eyes, though, remained the same. Feral and hungry. "I am disappointed. How will you make me the strongest?"

I blinked, surprise replacing my fear. "You can talk?" I shook my head. "Of course you can. You're a Digimon."

"Answer my question," the nasally but feral voice growled. It bared its teeth again. "How could you be my human?"

I did not like his tone. I raised my 3D. "I have this. I'm your Digidestined."

The Black Guilmon scoffed. He smirked. "Digidestined? What is this, a game?" he asked mockingly. "If so, I'd be better off if you went and played with that female over there." His head jerked towards May. "I am here to become the strongest Digimon. Nothing less than a Mega will be acceptable!"

"Well you can't Digivolve without me!" I snapped, drawing on all the information I had from the shows. "We're connected!"

The Black Guilmon growled. "Then perhaps if I kill you, this connection will find someone else!" He hissed, the smoke rising in his mouth again.

"Shut up!" My fist lashed out, slamming into Black Guilmon's snout. The fire in its throat flew up, but not out of its now shut mouth, and its eyes bulged out of its head. Black Guilmon wobbled side to side in surprise, as the attack had collided with the inside of its maw.

It eventually shook its head and leveled its gaze on me, the reptilian glare full of amusement. "Well, that's something," he growled mockingly. He took a step back. "Tasuke, is it? Fine. You've at least got fire..." He turned and sniffed the air, ears angling up and the reptilian coldness in its eyes intensifying. "Prey..."

Dorimon was looking just as anxious. "May, there's another Digimon close by!" she shouted, wriggling around again. "I'm going to go find it!"

"Shut up. It's coming to us," Black Guilmon growled gruffly. He sniffed the air and turned towards the other side of the parking garage, the fire glowing from behind its clenched teeth again. "Pyro... Grenade!" And the orange and purple glow shot from his mouth and towards the shadows.

"Rock Fist!" Came the words that echoed from the direction the attack was heading. A number of rocks shot from the darkness and into the fiery attack, changing the angle of the flame and sending it flying towards the ceiling. I gasped as the attack exploded, and the roof above exploded. Stone and pieces of car began to fall down from above, slamming into the floor and sending dust and debris flying everywhere. Another bunch of rocks flew from the debris cloud, rocketing towards Black Guilmon.

"Use Rock Crusher!" I shouted at him.

The Digimon instead turned his gaze from the attacks coming his way. "Do not tell me what to do, human!" He snapped, his rage turning towards me. The attack, because of his stupidity, slammed into the side of his head and he was sent stumbling.

"Gotsumon, 1. Ugly, 0!" Came a tiny voice from the cloud of debris, at which point a tiny human shaped bunch of walking rocks jumped out with its fists in front of it. It was grinning wide, like it had just gotten a big gift. "It's been so long since I've seen another Digimon, and even longer since I got to load Data! This is going to be fun!"

"Fun?" Black Guilmon asked. He grinned and opened his eyes before turning on the Gotsumon. "I think so, too!" Then he took off, going from 0 to 60 faster than I thought anything could. He charged black flames along the edge of his claws and held them out to the side. "ROCK CRUSHER!" He threw his claws forward, slamming them into the ground where Gotsumon had been standing. The parking garage shuddered and more dust fell from above, but thankfully none of the cars already dangling precariously decided to tumble down.

The Gotsumon landed heavily and unharmed on the debris pile in the center of the building, suddenly lacking its grin. It lashed out with its fist, now glowing bright white. "Hardest Punch!"

Black Guilmon jumped to the side, black tail swaying to help him keep balance, and avoided the attack. He rushed forward and wrapped his teeth around Gotsumon's torso, then turned and threw it before he could get hit. Gotsumon cried out as it tumbled through the air before landing like a – forgive me – pile of rocks on top of a sedan. Black Guilmon was already charging it, black smoke streaming from his jaws. "Pyro Grenade!" The fireball shot out and slammed into the sedan, melting through some of the door before whatever held the energy together exploded. The Gotsumon shrieked in pain and was thrown by the attack and exploding car, soaring until it collided with a pillar holding the roof up. The smoking wreck of the car was creaking and the ground beneath it cracking.

"Careful! You're going to destroy the building with us in it!" I shouted at Black Guilmon.

He, of course, ignored me. He just charged the Gotsumon and wrapped his teeth around the rock Digimon's head. The Gotsumon was crying out in fear and pain as the teeth began to slowly tighten along his skull. "I wanted a snack," Black Guilmon hissed from around the terrified Gotsumon's head. The rock monster began to struggle as the teeth intered its body and it began to glitch out, its data beginning to fall apart. "You'll do." Another Pyro Grenade exploded in Black Guilmon's jaws, and the Gotsumon disappeared with a shriek of terror. Green data exploded out as the Digimon died, slowly turning black and red as Black Guilmon slowly loaded the energy into his body.

Then he turned on May and her terrified Dorimon. A long reptilian tongue rolled out and he made to look like he was licking his lips. "Now for the second course..."

WHAT!? I jumped between him and May, my arms spread out. "No! You can't do that!" I told him, hoping my position as his Digidestined would mean something, at least.

He stopped walking, glaring at me in disgust. "No?" he asked in disbelief. He laughed, bellows that echoed evilly off of the destroyed building's walls. "No? You think you can stop me, human?"

"I'm Tasuke," I retorted. I didn't move. "And May and Dorimon are our friends."

"Yours, maybe," Black Guilmon scoffed, moving to go past me. I got in his way again, and he gave me a dry look. "Really? I could just push through you."

"But you won't."

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't try me, Tasuke," he warned, voice a low growl. His eyes narrowed on the terrified May and Dorimon. "I'll be eating that snack."

"No. And we need to get out of here before the police arrive! You destroyed this place, and it's not safe," I explained, briefly wondering where my bravery in this... monster's face was coming from. I held out my hand. "Come with me. We can sort everything out later."

He glanced down at my hand. "More humans are coming? And they would capture me again?" he inquired, nervous for the first time.

"Again?" I wondered.

Black Guilmon growled and turned away from me. "If more Digimon appear, I will find you, Tasuke," he snapped before running off and leaping out of the parking garage.

May and I watched him go. "He's bigger jerk than you!" Dorimon shouted once she was sure she was safe from the feral creature's wrath.

"Come on. We need to get out of here before police arrive," I said, ignoring the little Digimon's bait. I grabbed May's wrist. "We can worry about Black Jerkmon later."

Dorimon laughed. "You agree with me!"

May frowned at her Digimon. "It sounded like he's being chased by those humans, too," she muttered at the purple furball. "But who are they?"

X X X

"We'll have a bottle of your finest red and three filet mignon," Lucas Gethen told the waiter. The man nodded and ran off, leaving their private room in the steakhouse. Gethen smiled and took a slow sip of his water before looking towards his guest and underling. Agent Zubel seemed excited to be here. Of course he was. On his salary, he may never eat in a place like this again. Henry Wong, on the other hand, was glaring daggers at his host. "Oh, Henry, do try to calm down. It has been quite some time since I had an opportunity to speak to one of the old generation of Digidestined."

"Tamers," Henry retorted. He crossed his arms and changed the subject. "What do you need? Are my Digital World barriers not working on your little nursery?"

"No, they are performing excellently. In fact, they held back a rookie that had an energy signature not dissimilar to that of a Champion level Digimon," Gethen explained. He smiled appreciatively. "You have done excellent work."

Henry clenched his fists in his lap. "Then what do you want, Gethen?"

Gethen sighed. "Always so formal. We're old friends, are we not, Henry? Please, use my first name," he requested, waving his hand to stave off the formalities.

"What do you want, Gethen?" Henry growled unflinchingly.

Gethen sighed. "Well, your Digital barriers are working excellently, as I said. However, that Digimon I just told you of? It escaped the Nursery and Bio-emerged nonetheless. It attacked the Nursery until we let it out."

Henry's face turned to fear and disgust. "It attacked unborn and infant Digimon?" he asked, horrified. "But they're defenseless!"

"It loaded all of their data. Letting it go was the only thing that stopped it," Agent Zubel explained. Henrgy cast a glance in the man's direction and the agent flinched. "Uh, Mr. Wong."

"Yes. So we had to let it Bio-emerge."

"You just let a Digimon like that out into the wild? Who knows what kind of madman would be the partner to a creature like that?" the former Digimon Tamer snapped, slamming his fist on the table. "Any deaths that come will be on your head!"

"Which is why we sent a Digimon we have a tracker on to follow it through the Digital veil. We know exactly where it bio-emerged from our nursery," Gethen explained. He tapped his hand on the table. "Here. In this city."

Henry palled. "What?"

"I did not believe it was coincidence, of course. You are here, and this the second powerful Digimon to escape to this city in the past year. I wonder why that is?" Gethen inquired, motioning for Henry to quiet down. The man did, fixing his glasses so he could hide his face with his hand. "Are you pulling them here?"

"I have no connection to any of D-CARD's facilities," Henry explained sullenly. He lowered his hand and glared somberly at Gethen. "Even if I wanted to pull a Digimon as evil as what you described here, I couldn't."

Gethen smiled. "Obviously, I know you wouldn't do it. But it remains... interesting, doesn't it? As if the Digital World and its little Gnomes are swirling around you yet again. And with that boy so close -"

"Leave Tasuke out of this," Henry snapped, steely eyes demanding it.

Gethen laughed again and held his hands up disarmingly. "I would never dream of hurting that boy. Leaving him in peace was one of your stipulations when you agreed to work for your citizenship, after all." Gethen shook his head before continuing, "No. But given who his parents are, it would not surprise me if everything that is happening begins to encroach upon him."

Henry's eyes fell. "He despises Digimon, and his parents," Henry explained hollowly. "The Digi Gnomes are attracted to children's hope, love, and wishes connected to the Digital World." Henry shook his head. "None of those describe Tasuke's relationship to Digimon."

"Hm... Ostensibly," Gethen agreed. He shrugged. "But humans often tell themselves that what they love, is in actuality what they despise. A clever trick to avoid pain."

Henry glared at Gethen. "Perhaps. But nothing has happened with Tasuke. There is no Digimon in his life. He's not a Tamer, or Digidestined, or whatever you want to call it. He's normal."

"As normal as a boy who was raised among Digimon for four years can be," he replied dismissively. "As normal as the child of Takato Matsuki could ever hope to be."

"Don't say his name," Henry demanded, surging to his feet. "You and people like you are the reason Tasuke's parents disappeared. The reason Terriermon and the Digimon had to return to the Digital World! They aren't weapons for you to use. They're alive."

Gethen nodded. "Of course they are. But that does not change that the governments of the world saw what your Digimon could accomplish. Mega Level Digimon, capable of turning entire cities to ash on their own. The next great arms race began because of you and your friends playing in Shinjuku," he explained. "Make no mistake, Digimon will be used as weapons. If not by governments, then by anyone else who can get hold of one. Better as secrets in our hands than as the nuke a terrorist threatens us with."

"And you still don't understand Digimon and the connection people have with them," Henry sighed, earning an annoyed and angry glare from Gethen. Henry sat down and tented his hands in front of his face. "And it is not something I will explain to you. You wouldn't understand anyways."

"Humor me, at least, if you know so much," Gethen snarled, placing his own hands on top of the table. He gripped his fork and began to twirl it between his fingers.

"Digimon and humans, they balance each other. Horrible powers in Digimon can be tamed only if humans and Digimon balance one another. Bloodthirsty tendencies and timidity, calls to action and caution. It's a balance, but it is one based on goodness and freedom, not power and slavery."

Gethen stared quietly. "Sure," he scoffed. He leaned back and placed his fork on the table again. "Regardless, I would only ask that you alert us if – and when – these Digimon reveal themselves. We will be searching independently, of course, but... we would appreciate your help."

"If I haven't seen head or tails of the Digimon you lost months ago, I doubt I will see this one," Henry said, voice making it abundantly clear he would not actively search for the creatures.

Still, Gethen had one more trick up his sleeve. "Fine. Then allow me to tell you what Digimon you will be searching for after our dinner is concluded," the head of D-CARD requested. Henry eventually nodded in agreement and Gethen smiled wider. "Dorumon is the first. Purple with a large red gem in its forehead," he explained. He leaned forward, the closeness and intensity of his stare surprising and unnerving Henry. "The second was a Black Guilmon."

Henry didn't react at first; the name of the Digimon was just echoing through his mind. Black Guilmon. That's... A Black Guilmon. But Guilmon was made up by Takato. How the hell..? That's not... No. No way. Another Guilmon couldn't just appear, could it? So that must mean...

"I see you're thinking the same thing as I am, Henry Wong," Lucas Gethen said as he returned to his seat and studied the ex-Tamer's face. "Takato Matsuki has to be connected in some way, yes? Do you see why I was suspicious of the boy, now? A virally tainted version of his father's creation and partner? It seemed as if the stars aligned." He shrugged. "Or perhaps it is too easy like that. Perhaps there is something else or someone else at play. I suppose there is no way to know. Until we find it, of course."

"I will tell you if this Black Guilmon shows up. You have my word," Henry stated, feeling the fight leave him. "And this Dorumon as well. I will tell you whatever I find out." He fixed his glasses again. "Is the old number still in service?"

"Of course, old friend," Gethen said with a grin. He glanced up as the waiters moved into the room. "Ah, now time for food. Let us move to livelier topics than work, hm?"

X X X

Wait a minute. Tasuke is my kid? That's crazy... I can't imagine being that old! I wonder what happened to me. But Tasuke has bigger worries, like this Gethen guy and D-CARD. What are they up to? And where did Black Guilmon go?

Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!

Wait a second... Who's Tasuke's mom!?