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.

5. Cat's Outta the Bag: Dorumon vs Huckmon!

AN: Hey everybody! Hope you're having a good week!

Now, for responses.

To smartalec121: Okay, so when it comes to names, I'm very much a creature of first impressions. Ninety percent of the time, the first name I heard for Digimon was the American version – which is why we have Matsuki, Henry, Rika, Omnimon, etc as opposed to Matsuda, Jenrya, Ruki, Omegamon, etc. However, for some reason the very first time I heard Huckmon's name, I heard the Japanese localization of Huckmon, not the American version of Hackmon. So it's the one that's sticking. I'm glad you liked the fight with the Veemon, especially BlackGuilmon's criticism of Tasuke. If a Digidestined was bad at their job, don't you think their Digimon would put in constructive criticism. Or in BlackGuilmon's case, non-constructive criticism?

To G3r1k: Like Father like Son.

Episode 5: Cat's Outta the Bag: Dorumon vs Huckmon!

May and I burst into her home around 5:30, ignoring the questioning calls of her mom and dad as we raced upstairs and into her room. The door slammed shut behind us and we panted heavily, both of us staring at the tiny furball that had jumped out of her arms and onto the bed. Dorimon waddled around the bed, looking increasingly discontent, before sitting down and glaring back. "I got to be Dorumon again for all of five minutes," she grumbled up at her partner. "Five minutes, and now I'm stuck like this. Probably forever." She turned to glare at me. "Thanks, Dummy!"

"How's this my fault?" I asked indignantly before sinking tiredly into my seat. "I was the one that nearly got killed!"

"Exactly!" Dorimon responded in exasperation. "I get a taste of what I want, and it's torn away all because of you. Next time, make sure I at least get to stay big for an hour!"

I blinked dryly at May, who simply shrugged and laughed. "Oh, I'll make sure that I never get in trouble again," I told the tiny purple Digimon. "So you never Digivolve again!"

Dorimon stared at me, aghast, while May began laughing harder. We stopped suddenly as the door handle turned and popped open. Jaarin Anderson glared at the two of us. "You weren't listening, Mayumi. You can't just run by without listening to your parents."

We glanced at one another, then at Dorimon. "Why are you so late, Dear?" Mrs. Anderson wondered, leaning against the doorway and glaring at her daughter. Her eyes flicked to me. "Could it have something to do with why my younger brother has called me about twelve times in the past hour, wondering where you are?"

I laughed nervously. "Yeah... May was just waiting for me," I supplied sheepishly. "I was late again and got detention."

Mrs. Anderson sighed and shook her head. "You couldn't be more like your father if you tried, sometimes," she told me as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. I forced the words to run over me without any effect, but it still hit harder than I wanted. Mrs. Anderson sighed and shrugged. "Well, I think you should head home my husband and I leave, Tasuke. We have a no boys when we're not home policy and, you're still a boy." Well, that was a confusing blow to the old ego. "Besides, I'm sure Henry will want to talk with you about that."

I groaned out from behind my teeth and nodded at May's mom, who continued to keep her steady gaze on me and nodded again. "Well, then I suppose you have fifteen minutes. And May, remember to be nice when you're watching your brothers and sister tonight."

May nodded with a smile as her mom left the room and shut the door, though it quickly turned to a grimace. "Ugh, none of them listen to me," she groaned, leaning back in her chair.

"Aw, they aren't so bad," Dorimon said, jumping up. "They love it when I chase them!" She frowned. "They'd love it more if I was Dorumon..."

"Aaaand, we're back," I muttered, with a chuckle.

"Dorimon, I've had enough of this. That you Digivolved at all was – well, I don't want to call it a mistake," May growled, pointing at me. "I mean, we saved you, but – Jesus, this sounds bad."

I snorted. "A little," I agreed, smirking. I gestured at myself. "I mean, you're almost making it sound like you're regretting saving my life. What a great friend."

May glared at me then at Dorimon when she started to laugh. "Oh, come on, May! Dummy's being a little funny."

"Digivolving is going to bring... whoever is chasing you down on us," she told Dorimon, putting her hands on the sides of the Digimon's face – or, I guess, whole body – to force eye contact. She then turned to me, violet eyes serious. "All of us."

"I think BlackJerkmon can take care of himself," I responded simply. "It was hard enough finding him with a compass. If they're looking for him without one, I think he'll be fine."

"I don't know. These humans are pretty scary," Dorimon said, taking on the worried look of her partner. "I mean, I barely escaped the nursery before they could capture me."

I raised an eyebrow. "The nursery?"

She frowned. "Yeah. Where the eggs were born."

"You've never seen the rest of the Digital World?" I inquired.

May shook her head. "From how she's described it, they were farming Digi-eggs. Not having a compass isn't going to stop them, Taj," she explained firmly. She picked up Dorimon and clutched her close. "I think they have Digimon, so if they decide to come here they can sniff us out in no time."

"Okay, yeah. That's... scary," I agreed. It was, too. Some shady organization with Digimon wanted to hunt our Digimon down? On the other hand, it sounded like the show and that had the opposite effect to what May wanted. I was excited. "But we're Digidestined. We can't just let Digimon attack people. And when these people come after us, we'll stop them too. Together."

"This isn't a TV show, Taj," May said, exasperated. She began to pet Dorimon, a frantic movement more for herself than the Digimon. "You aren't Tai. He's not Agumon. You don't even know how to make him Digivolve! There's no... no Data Squad, or Legendary Warriors. There's just the three of us, BlackJerkmon, and an army chasing us."

I opened my mouth to reply, but didn't have any words for a moment. "Taj, I'm not getting in another fight. I can't risk Dorimon like that, so if you want to try for this Digidestined fantasy, you're doing it without me."

"Okay. I won't take any more stupid risks. I'll get better at all of this, and you won't ever have to risk Dorimon again," I told her, scooting my chair over and putting my hand on top of hers, still buried in Dorimon's fur. "The ugly fuzzball will stay an ugly fuzzball."

May chuckled and nodded. "She's adorable," she retorted over Dorimon's annoyed cursing at me for calling her ugly.

I grinned at that. "It'll be okay, trust me."

Her smile became thin. "Fine."

Fine. Jeez, this was bad. I'd known May for a long time, and I'd learned something very important in that time. KayKay – everything was fine. Fine? Not fine. "It really will, May," I reaffirmed, moving my hand up to her shoulder. "Just keep her hidden and I'll... I'll get BlackGuilmon to lay low. Somehow. I'm sure I have some card that can turn him invisible, somewhere."

May sighed and let Dorimon go, then put her arms around me in a tight hug. "Just for a little while, okay?" she asked, placing her chin on my shoulder.

I sighed and hugged her back. "KayKay," I replied, earning a tired laugh as she ended the hug. I sighed and covered my face with my hands. "Well, I guess I should go get yelled at by Henry."

"Well, you did get detention," she pointed out, smiling now.

"Just wait till they find out about the destroyed gym!" Dorimon shouted excitedly. "I bet they'll all stop caring once they see that."

I palled. "Or... they'll blame him," May explained to Dorimon.

"Oh..." the Digimon shrugged. "Oh, well. You win some you lose some."

Great. Just great.

X X X

I carefully poked my head through the front door before entering. Momentai looked up from where he'd been sleeping and cocked his head to the side. No Henry, though. Maybe he was in the basement, working on his 'project' he never let me see. I tip toed through the door, feeling triumphant. Maybe I could get through this without – "Tasuke Jenrya Joryawa." I froze and slowly turned my gaze towards Henry, who had slowly moved out from behind a corner in the kitchen. His eyes were molten steel, burning a hole in my forehead. "Where do you think you're going." Oh, good. That was just him telling me to sit down. So I did as commanded, and carefully lowered myself into a barstool. Until he said speak... it was probably a good idea to not speak.

He moved to the other side of the kitchen bar and glared at me from over the stove. I glanced to the left, then the right. Up and down. Anywhere to avoid Henry's angry, disappointed glare. And he wasn't saying anything. Anything. It was completely silent in that room, the only noise the pounding of my heart in my ears. He hadn't been this angry with me since I'd run away from home when I was seven to prove Digimon were real. Which, in hindsight, seemed kind of ironic. They just came to me, out of the blue.

"What the hell were you thinking," Henry hissed. I remained silent, until he slammed his fists on the countertop. "Dammit, Tasuke, answer me!"

"I- About what? I was just late to school, so they gave me detention."

"But you didn't tell me. I had to find out after I called the school when you weren't home when I got home," he growled, cowing whatever bravery I had again. He shook his head. "Tasuke, you're too much like your father to not run late every time you go to school. I know you hate that comparison, but it's true. Your father couldn't be on time to school when he was your age if his life had depended on it. And sometimes, you act just like him. In this way, always just like him. But I'm not angry you were late again, or that you got detention. You do well enough in school, you're a good kid, usually. But trying to hide it? What the hell were you doing that you didn't text me or call me that you had detention?"

"I... just forgot, okay?" I snapped, immediately regretting it. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – to snap. I just..."

Henry sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Uncle Henry, don't. I'm sorry that I forgot, okay? It was just an accident, it wasn't on purpose, okay? I'll try to text you if anything happens again." I rubbed my cheek and waited for him to reply. "Henry, say something?"

He looked up from between his fingers. "Tasuke, I know that you have been though so much," he began sadly. "No one knows that better than I do. You went through something that no child should have to go through." He stood up a bit more and rested his chin on his clasped fists. "Twelve years without your parents is too long for a kid, I know. I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault they aren't here, Henry," I sighed. I tapped the counter with my hand. "You gave me everything. All of this. A home, a family. You've been here this entire time."

He raised one hand. "I know the anniversary is next week. It's always a hard time on you. You remember it more, you... But the mark of someone isn't what they do when they're happy. It's what they do when all they want to do is wrong. I believe you when you say this was an accident, but Tasuke, a little part of you wanted to act out. To hide this."

I looked towards the ground. He... was wrong. Kind of. Usually I did act out around this time of year. One time, I snuck out and didn't answer any of Henry's calls. As much as I love Henry, it felt... nice, I guess, to be the one ignoring than the one ignored. This time, it really wasn't that. I wasn't trying to be mean to Henry or to make him mad for attention, not on purpose at least. BlackGuilmon was drawing most of my attention now. He'd arrived at the perfect time for all of this to distract me from my parents absence. But I couldn't tell Henry that. Best case scenario, he'd forbid me from fighting Digimon. Worst case, he'd turn in BlackGuilmon. "You're right," I lied, letting the guilt at lying be mistaken for guilt for everything else. "I... I just kept putting it off until I forgot."

"Why would you lie to me about that?" he asked, his voice firm but not yet angry.

I shook my head, trying to shake off a pressure in my chest. "I don't want to disappoint you, Henry. You don't have to take care of me, and I just -" I froze as I realized that I was crying. I sniffled and the words kept coming out; I wasn't in control anymore. "I already disappointed two parents away, and I don't – I don't want... I didn't want to make you leave."

His eyes widened and he rushed around the counter, grabbing hold of me in a tight hug. "Tasuke," he whispered, rubbing the back of my head as he let me cry into his shoulder. "I would never leave you. Ever." He listened to me sob into his shoulder as I reached up and hugged him back. "Tasuke, your parents didn't abandon you because they were disappointed. They love you more than anything, but they needed to do something important. And even when they come back, I'm not leaving. You're my son now, too."

My crying slowly stopped, but I didn't stop hugging Henry. "I'm sorry, Henry," I muttered hoarsely.

"I know," he said before slowly letting go of me. "But there still have to be consequences. I'll be holding on to your phone when you're at home. And I want you heading home after school instead of going with May."

Shit. Well, I couldn't really argue. Apparently I actually did feel guilty, and Henry was being pretty easygoing in his punishment. On the other hand, he'd see my Digivice. "Okay, but just... be careful with it. May was able to get me one of the phones she has," I told him before reaching in to my pocket and pulling it out.

He raised his eyebrow and took the 3D from me, turning it over. Recognition flashed across his face. "I chose a Digimon logo. The -"

"Digital Hazard, I know. I did watch Digimon before you were even born, you know," he said calmly. He flashed me a grin. "It's nice to see you're putting an interest in it again." He returned his gaze to the image on the back of the phone, then shrugged. "You thanked May, right?"

I glanced at the counter for a brief second. "Something like that."

Henry glared at me, unamused, then put the phone down. "Take Momentai out and then do your homework. I'll get some food ready. It'll be Gyudon."

I nodded and whistled at Momentai to follow me out of the front door. May and BlackGuilmon weren't going to be happy about me losing my Digivice. And her ugly digidog was never going to let me hear the end of it. Momentai plodded along beside me, oblivious to the fact that a Digidestined had handed over one of the most powerful tools in the entire world to an AI developer from Japan. This is how apocalypse movies started. "And Tasuke... I really like the Hazard, too. It was one of my favorite growing up; reminds me of your dad."

X X X

"I cannot believe you, Taj," May groaned, glaring at me the exact same way her uncle had last night. She stabbed one of the ham chunks in her lunch and brought it up to eat. "You really just handed over your 3D to Uncle Henry?"

I was thankful we were alone at our table. We didn't need people hearing the word 'Digivice,' especially not after school had been canceled the past two days because of "obscene destruction of school property by a student." Even the dumbest of the other students would be able to put two and two together with enough obvious evidence. "Believe me, it's not something I'm happy about," I told her, ignoring her angry chewing. "Whenever I'm at home, I'm constantly worried that it's going to go off about a Digimon and the whole thing is going to blow up in my face."

"Dory's never going to let you hear the end of this," she pointed out, a statement that made me quickly lose my appetite. I dropped my plastic fork and glared at her as she took another bite.

"I know," I hissed. "That was the first thing to cross my mind."

"As long as you 'know,'" May mocked. She smirked at my anger and waved her fork at me. "Oh, don't give me that face, Taj. You're only getting what you deserve. Probably less than what you deserve, really."

"Okay, that's... jerk," I mumbled.

"And what are you two talking about now?" I jerked to the side and glared at the newcomer. Davis had just marched up to sit with us out of nowhere. There goes trying to talk about Digimon. His eyes turned towards May. "Digimon?"

"No, I'm making fun of him for getting grounded," she said without missing a beat. She took another bite and smirked at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Thanks. I really like having you reveal my personal life to total strangers, you know?"

"Hey, that's not fair. We spoke in Computer Science before," Davis protested as he pulled a sandwich out of a brown paper bag. He frowned to himself. "O tal vez estoy empezar la casa por el tejado..." He glanced back up at me as if he had just remembered I was there. "Well, perhaps we aren't friends, but we are not total strangers. Omnimon Zwart, right?"

It took me a half a second to understand what he meant. "Well, I guess you know one thing about us," I remarked coolly.

Davis took another bite of his sandwich and shrugged. "Well, the key to making friends is learning about each other. Anyone have any pets?"

"A terrier named Momentai," I said, glaring, bored, at him.

May glanced at me out of the corner of her eye then looked over at Davis. "A mutt named Dory," she explained, somewhat confused. She cocked her head tot he side and raised an eyebrow. "Uh... why are you so interested in us?"

Davis stopped right before taking another bite, then lowered the sandwich. He seemed unsure of how to answer for a moment. Then: "We sit next to each other in Computer Science, and I just moved here from Texas, so I need new friends. Seemed as good a reason as anything."

I glared at him. "Sure," I muttered dryly. "Because my attitude just screams 'easy friendship.'"

May and Davis chuckled at that. "And even when you are friends it doesn't scream that," May remarked, tossing a smirk at me.

"Ha ha," I muttered back at her.

"So... do you have any idea who destroyed the gym?" Davis asked May and me suddenly without looking up from his sandwich.

I turned to him nervously. "Er... The principal asked us about that, too," I told him. "They thought it might have been us since we were here so late, but they decided it wasn't. I guess the culprits are out there somewhere."

He smiled. "Somewhere," he agreed.

X X X

The next day as school gave out, Davis stood on the second floor, watching his target's locker over the book he pretended to read. He had managed to plant his trap earlier that day, and now everything was going to come to a head. Either everything would go according to plan, or he would be forced to follow her and improvise a way to capture both her and her Digimon. Hopefully it would be the former. He wanted to be able to set a trap for Tasuke before he returned home to Wong; Davis had overheard that Tasuke had lost his 3D. While he was fairly certain this referred to the Digivice, he couldn't be sure. There were a few phone models with names like that, but he doubted that a Digidestined would use that term so lightly. At this point he was certain that Tasuke was the other Digidestined, which meant he would need to draw Tasuke's attention that afternoon or risk a missing person's case the next day regarding May.

All he had left Mayumi Anderson in her locker was a note, one with not many words. It contained a meeting place – an empty stretch of park currently being watched by a few D-CARD agents and not far from the school –, a claim that the author of the note knew about Dorimon, and a threat to reveal that knowledge unless she met with the note's author. It was hastily scrawled on a notepad from the school shop emblazoned with the school's logo, with a soda stain on one corner. With luck, that would convince her that she was dealing with a normal student who didn't really know what to do with the knowledge that Digimon were real. That would make it far more likely for her to listen to the letter and walk right into the trap.

He glanced over the book again as he turned the page, smiling inwardly as he saw that she had the note in her hand. She was clutching it tighter and tighter, fingers beginning to crumple the paper. So she'd reached the blackmail bit. She stuffed the note into her pocket and threw her backpack around her shoulders before making for the door.

That was Davis' cue. He shut his book and shoved it into his backpack as he walked down the stairs. He calmly moved towards the exit, pulling his key from his pocket and diverging from the sprinting Mayumi's path. He jumped into his old red Cherokee and began to drive calmly towards the park. He made sure to not follow her too closely, and even got ahead of her at times to make it look like he wasn't following her. To his relief, she was following the instructions that had been left for her. Huckmon appeared out of thin air in the passenger seat, scowling at his partner. "I would like to say again, I don't like kidnapping."

Davis sighed and scratched his Digimon behind the ears. "Well, neither do I," he admitted. "But if she doesn't listen agree when I tell her how it's going to be, then this is the best chance at finding the other Digidestined. If she can draw him in, then there's a good chance she'll work with us when he does."

Huckmon frowned deeper. "But why would Tasuke work with us, if it even is him? Especially if we kidnap his friend?"

Davis shrugged as they circled around the park and parked. "Director Gethen said he has leverage of some kind." He turned the car off and stared at the meeting point, watching the girl slowly make her way towards it, Digimon plodding along behind her.

Huckmon rolled his eyes. "I'd really prefer if we decided to be friends with them, like you said at your school," he remarked after Davis opened his door.

The Digidestined stopped, one foot out the door. Without turning to look back at Huckmon, he sighed. "We have our orders. Come on, Huckmon."

Huckmon sighed and jumped out of the car after Davis. If that was what it took to keep his friend safe to have fun another day, he supposed he could survive that.

X X X

May swallowed down a pit of fear in her throat as she glanced around. The park was empty, but the parking lot wasn't. When someone had left a note in her locker saying that they knew about Dorimon, she had been worried it was some kind of trap. It had looked like it was written by a messy five year old, so that had eased her worries. Now, with nothing but a dry wind and an unusually quiet Dorimon to accompany her, she felt that her worries were probably right. She clutched her 3D as tight as possible. "May, I don't like this," Dorimon muttered worriedly. "It's too quiet."

May nodded, and kept her eyes fixed on the other side of the park, where another car had just pulled up. "Yeah," she replied, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets to hide the Digivice. She hoped this didn't come to another fight, and if this person didn't have a Digi-

"May! I... I smell a Digimon," Dorimon muttered, fidgeting wildly as she fought off the urge to sprint towards the source of the smell. She whined and slid up to May's leg, watching the two figures approaching them. The first a human in khaki jeans and a white shirt, and the other a quadrapedal, white Digimon with a long red cape along its back.

The pair approached slowly, almost agonizingly so. Of course, May was wondering if that was simply because of how nervous she was for all of this. But this didn't give her more time to come up with a plan, at least not one that didn't revolve around digivolving Dorimon, and she didn't want that. Maybe this kid – Davis, dammit, she should have listened to Taj about him – was just another Digidestined, and he wanted to make friends like he had claimed at lunch. May clenched her fists around her 3D again. No, he was definitely not a friend; Dorimon was right, it was way too quiet.

"May," Davis said, nodding slightly as he stopped in front of me. His Digimon partner, a... Damn, she thought, Taj would be better at this. Even after he stopped playing the card game and watching the show, he'd basically been an encyclopedia of Digimon. He saw her gaze get fixed on his partner. "Go ahead. Check your 3D. It'll tell you."

I narrowed my eyes at him, then pulled the Digivice out. It beeped and a purple chibi dog appeared at the center. It began to quickly spin, then separated into a new window. "Huckmon, a Mini Dragon Digimon of the data type. He has great latent power and the potential to become one of the top network security agents. He distracts his enemies by breathing his Baby Flame attack, then follows up with a Fifth Rush to cut them to pieces. Even some Ultimates can't stand up to his attacks."

Davis pulled out his own phone, and May noticed it was indeed a 3D. It was white, save for a brown cross on the back. "I don't need to analyze your Digimon, of course," he said, pointing with the tool at Dorimon. "Your Dorumon is famous in my organization."

May glared at him, gears turning until she realized what he meant. "So, you are one of those people chasing her."

Davis shrugged. "Yes. I'm here to offer you a chance to join. There are great benefits."

"Really? And what would be the cost?" May wondered cautiously.

He nodded. "I'm not going to lie to you. Everything we have on you says that you're a pacifist; we're in the business of defense."

May laughed dryly. "Sixteen year old soldiers? This has to be a joke." Davis didn't laugh. In fact, his face was so serious that she took a half step back. "What the h-"

Huckmon vanished and reappeared behind her. He sounded almost disappointed with everything going on when he told her, "Sorry, but you can't leave yet."

May reached down to pick up Dorimon. "So what? I join you or else?"

Davis put his empty hand into his pocket. "I'm sorry, really, but those are my orders. You have to understand, us – D-CARD – we have Digimon partners to help protect the country from the Tamers and Digidestined of other countries. For decades now, there's been an arms race going on, between every possible country at every possible moment. It's a war to reach Mega, and whoever wins is going to own the entire planet."

May clutched Dorimon tighter, more for herself than for the Digimon. "I won't let her be used as a weapon. She's a living creature."

"Yeah, I fight when I want to, not when some old human tells me to," Dorimon snapped, struggling against her partner's grip. "And right now, I want to slam your stupid face into the ground, G-Man!"

Huckmon laughed behind them. "G-Man? No, that's someone else," he said, earning an annoyed glare from his human partner. "What? He is!"

Davis sighed and decided to return his attention to May. "Is that your final answer."

May turned her attention down to her partner, who was now staring up at her. "No. This is." She let go, and Dorimon leaped into the air. May pulled out her Digivice, the Digivolve card already prepared. She tapped it twice with her thumb, and Dorimon was surrounded by an egg that soon exploded. Her legs lashed out, but Davis had already dodged to the side and pulled out a deck of cards.

"Disappointing," he said as he reached his feet again. He nodded at Huckmon, and swiped one of the cards. "Digi-modify. Malomyotismon activate."

Huckmon leaped into the air, his cape spreading out. "Pandemonium Flame!" he shouted before breathing in and unleashing a massive burst of green flames. Dorumon glared up at the Digimon before sprinting to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Huckmon and Davis had anticipated this, however, as her attempt at dodging had placed her firmly in the path of Huckmon's claws. "Fifth rush!" The claws glowed white for a moment and he shot forward, slashing repeatedly at Dorumon. The purple Digimon shouted out in pain and was thrown backwards, tumbling across the grass and dirt. She dug her foreclaws into the ground and pushed up to her feet to glare at the other Digimon. "Just give up, will you? I really don't want to hurt you."

"Metal Cannon!" Dorumon roared, and the cannonball shot towards Huckmon. The white Digimon sighed and effortlessly leaped past the attack. More flames exploded out of the Huckmon's maw, spiraling towards Dorumon faster than the slightly injured Digimon could dodge again.

"Digi-modify! WarGreymon's Brave Shield activate!" May shouted, tapping the screen again. Dorumon's eyes remained locked on the attack, though her body was soon protected by green, angular lines that soon solidified into a golden shield. The green flames clashed uselessly against the newly created wall and flew off.

"Not bad," Davis shouted as Huckmon landed and began to cautiously wait for the shell to disappear or for Dorumon to leave it. "It's a good defensive choice, and it might the strongest shield. But it limits a rookie's movement, and its strength doesn't matter against an attack like this one. Digi-modify! BlackWarGreymon Activate!"

Huckmon's claws extended and the armor around them turned a deep black. He jumped towards the shield and began to spin. "Dramon Killer!" Huckmon screamed, the black claws glinting dangerously before slamming into the shield. There was a brief moment where May thought that the shield would hold, but it soon shattered into a thousand fragments. Dorumon, still stuck behind it, was hit full force by the attack and thrown backwards again.

"It's a better defense for a champion or higher, something with the strength to move that much Chrome Digizoid. Mobility is key in a fight," Davis explained calmly. He motioned for Huckmon to return to his side. "Surrender. We don't want to hurt Dorumon."

Dorumon forced herself up to her feet. Her data fluctuated once, nearly breaking May right then and there. She opened her mouth to surrender, just as commanded, but her partner cut her off. "Don't listen to 'em, May. These Digi-Jerks don't know who they're messing with!"

Huckmon sighed and dug his claws into the grass. "Look, Dorumon, I don't want to hurt you." He took a step forward. "But I will." He charged forward, making normal attacks so that the Digimon wouldn't burst into data. Dorumon dodged a claw attack and brought her head forward. A powerful headbutt collided with Huckmon's face and he stumbled back, barely recovering in time to dodge her glowing claws.

"Metal Shoot!" Dorumon screamed as Huckmon landed, and a small metal sphere flew forward and collided with Huckmon's chest. He was tossed back towards Davis, rolling across the ground until he came to a stop at Davis' feet. "How do you like that licorice?!"

"I'm a chocolate kind of guy," Huckmon growled, pushing himself up to his feet. "You two are way better than the usual bozos that come after us."

"But you can't beat us, even with that," Davis agreed.

"Really? Then why don't you try this on for size!? Digi-modify! ChaosDramon activate!" Davis' eyes widened and he turned to May.

Dorumon opened her mouth, red energy swirling into a point at the center of her jaws. "Hyper Mugen Cannon!" She screamed before the burst of energy exploded towards Huckmon.

"Digi-modify! Digivolve!" Davis snapped, drawing the card through the reader with practiced speed and precision.

Huckmon vanished into a sphere of brown data lines that quickly solidified into a brown and white egg. The attack slammed into the shell of the egg and was redirected by the energies swirling within. The cannon attack swirled upward, disappearing into the sky. "For a pacifist, you really have a killer instinct." Davis turned towards the panting and terrified May. "But you're coming with me." He reached around his back and pulled something up. There was a loud 'bang,' and May's world went horizontal. The last thing she saw before everything went dark was an explosion of energy coming from the egg and a massive white leg tearing out of it.

X X X

Davis felt hollow as he watched the now unconscious Dorimon and May were loaded into a transport van. He lifted up her stolen 3D, feeling somber. "I hate Digivolving," Huckmon grumbled as he plodded up to his partner. "It always means I have to hurt somebody."

"They're still alive," Davis pointed out, never taking his eyes off of the girl's Digivice.

"Still not likely to be our friends," Huckmon pointed out sullenly. "And I was really hoping we'd have someone to race with."

Davis swiped the screen of the 3D and opened up the texting app. He scrolled down until he found Tasuke's name. "They'll understand. Eventually. It's this or the people we love die," he muttered before he began to type. "Tasuke, I have your friend. Tell me where your Digimon is and meet me there in 30 minutes." He pocketed the device and turned towards Huckmon. "When he responds, we'll be heading to his Digimon. I'm sorry, Huckmon... but are you up for another fight?"

Huckmon sighed dejectedly. "Sure," he muttered, knowing it was the only way to help keep Davis safe. "Let's go capture a BlackGuilmon." He plodded along behind his partner, hoping that this wouldn't forever sour the relationship Davis could have with the other two Digidestined. After all, he was just doing his job.

Oh, man, this is really bad. May got kidnapped by D-CARD? And on top of that Davis can Digivolve to Champion!? Jeez, Tasuke is going to have it rough, especially if he doesn't tell Henry! I can't imagine having to fight Rika if she learned how to get Renamon to Digivolve before Guilmon did. I have a feeling it would have ended with me face down on the ground getting laughed at. And that would probably be on a good day. I hope Tasuke can figure something out, and that he can one day get to school on time. I can't believe that's genetic...

Well, see you next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!