AN: Hey guys, and Happy Halloween! Having a good time? I am! It's been snowing for three days here, a given for Halloween time over here. I love the snow, even if not everyone does.

Response time!

To G3r1k: I think intimate really depends on the outlook. If a Tamer and Digimon aren't ready for it, it certainly seems unnerving. If they are ready for it, it just seems like working together. And that's nothing compared to people fusing in Digimon, like in Frontier. That weirded me out even as a kid!

To Smartalec121: Suzie's great! She did get the short end of the stick on characterization outside of an inability to pronounce 'R's, but my sister acted like her other than the 'R' thing when she was six. Still, lot of space to grow from a six year old to a thirty something, right? I hope that my take on her does a good job with letting her grow while paying homage to that little six year old from the show. As for when/if the other tamers will show up, we'll definitely see most of them when the story of how Takato, Rika, and Ryo ended up in the Digital World is told.

Now, enjoy and see you soon!

Episode 13: Her Majesty: Is the Rabbit Out of the Bag?

I don't think I had ever been this exhausted and dirty at the same time. My hands were raw and covered in dirt, and my legs were feeling like jelly run through a blender. And I was cold. Freezing. May wasn't much better off, and the two of us were excited to hang out for the night. School had some teacher service day the next morning, so we had the day off and we were looking forward to the day off. "I hope Davis is suffering like this," I forced out angrily while we slowly trudged away from our trucks and towards my front door. My feet dragged and I nearly tripped over the step. "Ugh... never mind. I hope he has it worse."

"On one hand, I hope I never see that place again," May grumbled angrily. She glared down at where one of our traps had sprung on her leg, leaving her coated with mud – lucky since it could have broken her leg if we'd set it up right. "And on the other, I'll be really pissed if we never actually use those traps, dammit."

"I get you," I grumbled. I fumbled with my keys for moment, finally managing to unlock the door. I pushed it open. "Jesus, let's do anything that doesn't involve doing anything. TV?"

"Yes," May agreed through a yawn. "I don't even want to move my thumbs."

"Where were you guys so late?" Henry asked as we came through the door, eyebrow raised. He was leaning against the table, looking half smug behind his glasses.

"Work project," May said. Not technically a lie.

He chuckled. "What do you two do?"

"We were setting sensors up for a project in the park," I explained smoothly. Wow, also not completely a lie. Nice! "It lasted longer than we'd hoped, sorry. Why?"

"Because it's not nice to keep your family waiting!" May and I popped up. That voice... it could only be – Henry's younger sister popped out of the kitchen, grinning wide. She was wearing pink, as usual. A long blouse with brown jeans and boots, a huge pink and brown back on her right arm. Her jacket was in her other hand, a pink and brown rabbit with its tongue sticking out on the back. Her hair was long and loose with bangs ending just above her eyes. "Prince and Princess!"

"Aunt Suzie!" May shouted.

"Suze!" I echoed, charging forward with May to hug her. The woman laughed and hugged us back before pushing to arm's length. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I just had to come and visit you guys. It's been forever!" she explained, her huge grin never leaving her face. She gestured at herself dramatically. "And, of course, I needed to bring gifts." May and I lit up even more, the cold and aches forgotten in the excitement. She reached into her massive purse and rooted around for a while, biting her lower lip and focusing. "Hm... no... no... Ah!" She pulled her hand out of the purse and beamed as she handed our gifts, wrapped in red for me and purple for May, to us. "I couldn't resist."

May and I traded a grin and tore into the gifts, sending wrapping paper flying. "Guys, hello?" Henry said while we shredded the paper.

"Thanks," I stated hurriedly.

"Yeah, that," May agreed, also barely paying attention.

Suze laughed and walked over to Henry, grabbing his cheek. "Oh, it's okay. They're still just kids." She let go and patted his cheek. "Isn't that right, Henwy?"

We didn't pay much more attention to that, as we'd finally gotten the gifts open. Suze always got the best stuff! She was an actress, and she told us last time she was getting to play some Disney princess, which meant she was hitting the big time. This meant, more importantly, big time gifts. I grinned at the box in my hands, seeing this time's big gift. Suze had given me a carbide saw that cost almost $400! Henry would never spring for something like that in a million years! "Nice, I'd been looking for something to make clean metallic cuts!" I shouted in excitement. This would make the second version of the crossbow way cleaner and faster to make than what I'd been using. I hugged Suze again. "This is the best!"

May grinned even wider than me. "An 8 core processor? Now I can -" she stopped herself from saying something about reading the Digivice's data. "Aunt Suzie, this is awesome!" She hugged her again, too.

Henry gaped at us. "Th- Suzie, that's a $400 processor!" he shouted in disbelief. He looked over at me and narrowed his eyes until my grin slowly disappeared. "And I'm guessing yours is too, Tasuke?"

I chuckled sheepishly. "I, uh..."

Henry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Suzie, you can't just buy these kids gifts that expensive," he grumbled. He was wrong, of course. She did it, and I would never say no to a gift this expensive. "It's too much."

Still hugging us, Suze laughed. "Henry, you're just jealous I'm the fun one." She grinned at us. "Even when we were kids, Henry was a Grumpy Gus! Always so serious. His best friend always told him: momentai."

Momentai barked and ran up, wagging his tail at the mention of his name. Suze let go of us and leaned down to the dog. "Oh, yes, like you!" she said in a baby voice. "Wittwe cutie! I wuv you! I wuv you so much!" Momentai barked even more excitedly and began to lunge for Suze's face, licking aggressively and eliciting a fit of giggles from her.

Henry groaned and rubbed his nose again, pushing his glasses up. "I feel like I'm being ignored."

"You are," Suze explained simply.

I chuckled at Henry. "Sorry, Henry! Just the way it is!" I explained.

"So what are you actually doing here?" May asked Suze. She was still staring at her computer part, not that I wasn't staring at my saw. "I thought you were in California for recording."

"My part was done for a few days, so I thought I'd come out and visit. Do I need a reason other than that?" she asked, standing and turning towards us with her hands straight up. "I love my little princes and princesses!"

I sighed but decided to bear the nickname. For a $400 saw, I could deal with her prince and princess thing. "We love you too, Suze," I replied earnestly. "You're the best."

"I know," she said, placing her outstretched fingers on her heart. "The absolute best."

"Now, we need to get ready. May, you should head home to get clean." Henry gestured at her, then me. "And you, go shower. We're going out to eat dinner with May's family and neither of you look presentable."

I glanced down at my mud, leaf, and ice covered body. "... Yeah, okay," I admitted with a shrug. I nodded at May. "See you there."

Suze waved us both off before heading to the kitchen to grab a warm paper towel to clean off the dirt we'd gotten on her. "See you in a bit, Prince and Princess!"

X X X

Henry watched Taj go upstairs and waited for the bathroom door to shut before turning to his sister. "Well?"

Her purse rustled for a moment before a brown and pink rabbit like creature popped out of the purse, looking pensive. The Digimon's long, wing like ears ended with a glove-like pattern of pink with three fingers. She had a pink collar, as well as 'gloves' and 'socks' of the same color. Three brown horns poked out of the top of her head. "Well..."

"Well, what, Lopmon?" Suzie asked. She walked over, tossing the paper towel in the trash, and leaned on the counter next to her purse. "Did you smell a Digimon?"

"I don't know," Lopmon finally admitted. She tapped the side of her head and frowned. "There were too many smells to tell." She glanced up at the humans and shrugged. "I can't quite do as good as Guilmon in this regard, after all."

"The nose on that one was one of a kind," Suzie admitted before grinning. "But this won't be a problem. This just means there's no Digimon in this house! That should mean Tasuke's not involved, right?"

"Maybe," he muttered. "But even Takato wasn't airheaded enough to keep Guilmon at home. Neither of the Digimon I was warned about are small enough to keep here, so maybe he keeps it somewhere else?"

"That is possible," Lopmon agreed. "Hm... Perhaps we will be able to tell more at Jaarin's home. If there is a sign of a Digimon there, I should be able to smell them. Otherwise, I am not quite sure what we should do. We would be searching for quite some time without any clues as to where the Digimon could be."

"And that's assuming May's even involved," Suzie pointed out. She reached out and scratched Lopmon's head, eliciting a happy sigh from the Digimon. "Maybe there won't be anything there. Just because someone told you there are Digimon here doesn't mean she's got the Digimon."

Henry didn't respond for a while, thinking it through. "How long can you stay?" he finally wondered.

Suzie bit her lip. "Um..."

Lopmon cut in, "A few days. Four at the most." She shrugged. "If we can't find out anything by then, we'll have to leave until January."

Henry sighed and leaned against the wall. "So either we find out now, or if it involves them then they're in too deep for us to do anything by the next time you come back."

"Oh, I'm sure it will all turn out for the best, Henry," Suzie said confidently. She shot her older brother a grin. "Come on, they're good kids. I don't think they could be involved in anything too bad, right?"

Henry knew it wouldn't be like that. He'd seen HYPNOS all those years ago, seen everything that happened when it had all fallen apart. "I hope you're right," he said instead of voicing those concerns. "I hope you're right."

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I could head over there early. See if there's anything we could find," Suzie suggested. She picked up her purse, causing Lopmon to shout in surprise and lose her balance, tumbling into its depths once more. "Sound good?"

X X X

Agent Chiros drove the truck quietly and slowly through the next neighborhood, hoping that Koromon, staring out the slightly open window, would be able to catch scent of a Digimon. It wasn't a perfect idea, but it might get them a clue as to the identity of the Digidestined in America. And if it didn't, at least they would still learn more about the terrain of the area. "Have you noticed anything?"

Koromon frowned. "No, not yet," he admitted with a sigh. "Just pine trees and snow. Oh, a squirrel!"

"Not very helpful," Adrian responded with a sigh. He glanced over at the In-Training Digimon. "I suppose you're hungry, yes?"

Koromon hopped and turned from the window, a wide grin on his face. "Yes please!" he shouted, his stomach – which was basically his whole body – began to grumble.

"Okay, we can find something to eat as soon as we finish with this neighborhood. We should only have two streets left to check the entire subdivision, based on the radius of your sense of smell," the agent said. He gestured at the window. "Speaking of which..."

Koromon glanced over. "Of course," he agreed, turning and breathing in the air outside the car. "I'll tell you if I notice anything."

"Thank you, Koromon," Chiros replied. They drove in silence for a while, then: "Your English has become very good."

"It's easy to learn languages when you are a Digimon," the pink ball responded simply. "I born knowing your language, but I do not see them as different like you do. Human languages are all... the same, especially ones as close as Greek and English."

"Everything translates to ones and zeroes, then?"

Koromon made a movement that looked almost like a nod. "Kind of. It's all Greek to me," he said seriously.

Chiros snorted, drawing a confused glance from Koromon. "It is a, uh, idiom. In English it means I do not understand, but you seem to mean that you do understand."

Koromon blinked. "Oh." He laughed and shook his head. "That is funny!"

"It is," Chiros agreed, chuckling again. "I –"

"Ade!" Koromon cut in excitedly. "It is over there!"

Chiros slammed on the breaks and the car stopped, Koromon yelping and rolling off his chair. "Och! I'm sorry, Koromon!"

Koromon bounced up onto the chair. "It is fine, Adrian." He turned and stared out the window. "Head forward slowly." Chiros did as requested, waiting for a sign from the Digimon. After a few moments, Koromon nodded. "There. The house with the four cars."

Chiros stopped again, slower this time for his partner's sake, and turned to look. The house was a green, with a few sparse Halloween decorations up. In the driveway were two cars, one a nice but modest green SUV, the other a very nice and boxy SUV that looked like the definition of a 'safari car.' On the street were a black and red Jeep and a purple truck-SUV of some kind. "You are sure?" he asked.

"Certain. There is either a Digimon there, or there was recently."

Chiros nodded and memorized the address, then sped away. "Then we should hurry so we are not noticed," he said. "You may be an In Training Digimon, but I doubt another Digimon would miss your scent if we linger."

"Agreed," Koromon said as he peeled himself off of the seat's back. "Though, you could have started slower."

"... Sorry," Chiros muttered again. He glanced over. "What are you thinking for food?"

"American food! When in Rome, yes?" Koromon suggested excitedly.

Chiros rolled his eyes. "You know idioms when food is involved. A Digimon through and through."

"Burgers!" Koromon shouted, ignoring Chiros' words.

"Burgers," Chiros conceded.

X X X

May sighed happily as she opened the door to her room, dressed in new jeans and a black shirt and heading back to her room to grab a new beanie. "I was wondering when you'd get out of the shower."

May opened her eyes and froze. Sitting on her bed with a gagged and bound Dorimon and some kind of brown and pink bunny Digimon, was Aunt Suzie. The woman smiled knowingly and nodded at the door. "Why don't you come in and say hello?" she asked cheerfully.

May swallowed her fear, then took a step in and shut the door behind her. "A-aunt Suzie." She looked over at the Digimon. "Who, uh, who's your friend?"

"Oh! Lopmon! You've met before, but... well, you were a baby. It makes sense you wouldn't remember!" Suzie said, laughing. "You used to hug her so tight and say she was your pretty princess!"

"Something I thought I wouldn't have to deal with once Suzie turned ten," Lopmon muttered under her breath. She sighed. "But Suzie, we are supposed to be intimidating now. Perhaps save the reminiscing for another time?"

Suzie blinked once and nodded, her face now resolute. "Of course," she said with a nod. She glared at the still frozen May, actually managing to change from her usual persona to one that scared May a little. "So, I guess you have a lot to tell me, don't you?

"Fine..." May said, guardedly. Suzie nodded, then gestured at the chair nearby. May stared back at her, then slowly went to grab the chair and sit across from her aunt. "What do you want to know?"

"Who is this and how long have you had... her?" Suzie began with the most basic question.

May bit her cheek, holding everything back. So Suzie sighed and waved her hands at the bedroom door. "I could just tell your parents and Henry, and -"

"No! I, uh, I mean no. I'll tell you," May cut in, jumping up and holding her hands out. She sighed and sat down, rubbing her palms along her jeans. "She's my partner, Dorimon. She showed up early in the summer running from somebody, so I got her to de-Digivolve and I've been hiding her ever since. Is that it?"

Suzie scoffed. "You know it won't be that easy, right?"

May glared at her aunt. "I could hope, right?"

Lopmon interjected now. "Where's your Digivice, then?"

May bit her cheek. She was hoping they wouldn't ask for that; that's why she didn't mention it. She took out her phone and held it out to Suzie. "It's your phone?!" Suzie asked in surprise. She took it and turned it over, staring at it. "What Henry wouldn't do to get his hands on one of these!" She reached into her purse and pulled something out, a white handheld with a screen. There was pink trim and a pink strap coming out of the top. "It's way different than ours, huh?"

"Suzie..." Lopmon said, facepalming.

Suzie grinned sheepishly and dropped her Digivice. "Right. Serious," she said. She turned and dropped her own Digivice back into the purse before placing May's on the bed beside her. She took a deep breath and looked serious once more. "How did you get Dorimon?"

"I downloaded a game on my phone. The next morning, my phone had turned into my Digivice and pointed me to her," May explained slowly, gesturing at Dorimon. "Why are you -"

"I'm asking the questions, Princess," Suzie interjected, holding her hand out and silencing her niece. "And here's the next one: who else knows?"

"Nobody," May lied.

"That's a lie."

May grimaced at her aunt. "Fine... Tasuke."

"And his Digimon?" Lopmon inquired.

May didn't respond. "So that's a yes," Lopmon told her partner.

"And who else?" Suzie asked again.

"Nobody!" May lied once more.

Suzie glared at May. "Then we can tell Henry and your parents, right now," she said with a grin.

May jumped to her feet. "No! You can't!" she begged. "Please! If you do, then -" She stopped herself.

Suzie raised an eyebrow. "Then what?" Lopmon asked.

May looked at Dorimon, hogtied on the bed. The Digimon glanced around and made a move like she was shrugging. May sighed and sat down, slowly. "Promise me you won't tell. Please."

Suzie and Lopmon traded a glance, then looked back at her. "Maybe," Suzie said evenly.

May sighed and leaned, exhausted once more, into her chair. "Taj found his Digimon last month after I forced him to download the game. When Dorimon Digivolved back to Dorumon to save Taj from a wild Digimon, that's when they found us. This government group, D-CARD," she said, ignoring the feeling that Gethen and Davis wouldn't like her talking about this. "They're some government Digimon organization. They told us we had to work for them or they'd take our Digimon. And... And the guy in charge had Taj's dad's goggles."

Suzie blinked. "So..."

"Suzie," Lopmon sighed. "Takato never would have taken those off. He must have had them when he got locked in the Digital World."

"Really? Huh, I guess it was weird Tasuke was wearing them, then," Suzie muttered. She shrugged. "Okay, so he knows about Tasuke's father enough to get a good forgery."

"They're real," May protested. "Taj thinks so, at least, and... they could force wild Digimon to bio-emerge. They can obviously get something from the Digital World, even with the Firewall there."

Lopmon's eyes widened. "They know about the Firewall!"

"Uh, not to ask for too much, but..." May gestured with her head at Dorimon. "I think she'll explode if she doesn't get a chance to talk."

Lopmon looked up at Suzie. "I suppose we could at least ungag her."

Suzie nodded. "Yeah, I didn't like doing this anyways." She turned and ungagged Dorimon.

Who immediately vomited words. "Okay, so after this they had this other Digidestined guy who beat us in a fight and kidnapped us to get to Tasuke and his Jerkmon partner, and he trains us how to be D-CARD agent now. It's pretty cool for May and Tasuke. They learn how to fight and stuff, but I mostly just sit around making fun of Jerkmon with Davis' partner, Huckmon. Oh, Davis is the Digidestined who beat us up. He's okay, mostly. Kind of a workaholic, but Huckmon is way more fun! Anyways, we got attacked by this guy with an Ogremon and we beat him, but we're really close to Digivolving now!"

Lopmon blinked. "I... didn't really get any of that."

Suzie grinned. "So you guys are like spies now!?"

Lopmon gaped at her. "So you understood that?"

Suzie frowned. "But, I still think I need to tell Henry and your parents. You're kids. You shouldn't be soldiers," she said, standing up. "I'm sorry, but I have to."

May reached out and grabbed Suzie's wrist. "No! I – Aunt Suzie, please. If we don't reach Ultimate, we can't go to the Digital World. We can't save Taj's parents!"

Suzie stared at her niece, her brain trying to put together what she'd said. Finally, she managed to get the words out. "You... what?"

May opened her mouth to respond, then took a deep breath and sat down. "I've checked it myself. Our Digivices, they have this function called 'Key.' If three Digidestined make it to Ultimate together, then the Key unlocks and we can go to the Digital World." She stared at the ground. "Aunt Suzie, Taj has been looking for his parents for twelve years. You can't just take his only chance at doing that away from him. I can't let him down like that, Aunt Suzie. We can't."

"Why you three, though? You're kids!" Lopmon protested. "Surely they have other Tamers they could use to do this!"

"Tamers can't do it. Only Digidestined," Dorimon explained.

Suzie glanced over in confusion. "But... there's a difference?" she wondered. "Back in our day, there were only Tamers, so what changed?"

"Tamers are made by the government," May explained. "I don't know how. Digidestined like us are chosen by something or someone else. I don't know how that happens either."

"Sounds a little different than the Digignomes," Lopmon pointed out.

Dorimon rolled onto her side. "The what?"

Suzie nodded to herself. "Okay. I'll think about it," she told her niece. She looked over at Lopmon. "Can you keep an eye on Dorimon until we get back? I'll bring you leftovers!"

Lopmon nodded. "Of course. Should I let her go, or..?"

Suzie nodded. "Let her stretch her legs. It isn't nice to keep such a wittwe cutie stuck wike this!" she said, dropping down and petting the tiny Digimon. "So adowabwe!"

Dorimon looked at Lopmon. "Is this... good?"

"It's Suzie," Lopmon replied, unsure of whether it was good or bad. "That's good enough for me."

X X X

May had been acting a little weird all dinner. Her parents didn't seem to notice – I guess dealing with four kids under ten at a restaurant meant they weren't going to focus too much on the oldest one. She kept glancing at Suzie and Henry, getting freaked out the entire time we waited for our food to come and pushing her food around instead of actually eating any when it finally did. The moment we got back to her house, she dragged me up to her room and slammed the door shut. "Oh, May, you're back!" I froze and stared in surprise. Sitting on May's bed, playing a game of Yahtzee with Dorimon, was a Digimon.

I jumped forward and grabbed the rabbit-dog. "You're a Lopmon! And you know Suzie?" I turned and glared at May. "Did you get a second Digimon partner!?"

"What!? No, you idiot!" May hissed. She rolled her eyes. "Taj, Lopmon over there isn't my partner. She's Aunt Suzie's!"

I turned slowly towards the Digimon. "Suze is a Digidestined?" I asked, torn between freaking out in terror or excitement.

"Well, almost. She's my Tamer," Lopmon explained. "We chose to be partners, unlike how your Digimon are born for you. In fact, I'd say you're less like Suzie or Tasuke's mother and almost more like..." She stared up at me and tapped my goggles.

I dropped Lopmon and stumbled backwards. "W-what? I... what?" I shook my head and fell into the chair. "She – My father? Different?"

"Did you say Taj's mom was a Digi- er, a Tamer?" May asked after a moment of thinking about what Lopmon had said. She turned to me. "We were right, she has a partner. She has to be safe in the Digital World, then!"

Lopmon smiled softly. "You didn't know that?" she asked. The rabbit nodded. "Well, I'm glad I could put your mind at ease a little. Her partner would never let either of them get hurt."

"Who was her partner?" May asked while I just sat there, dazed.

"Renamon. She was..." Lopmon trailed off and chuckled. "Very serious, just like Rika. From what I hear, they both had a lot to learn about friendship after they tried to kill your father and his partner. But she was loyal. Once they were all friends, she was always there for them. Especially once Rika and Takato grew close later on."

I smiled. Renamon. Just like the Digimon I chose back when this whole thing started. I must have remembered a little, and that was why I chose her. She was... family. And then my mood darkened. I needed to make sure that they – that Lopmon and Suzie – didn't tell Henry. "Before we talk more about this, how was my father different?" I asked. I stood up and crossed my arms. "How was he more like us than like my mother?"

Lopmon opened her mouth and took a deep breath. "Well, I suppose in the interest of trust, I can explain," she stated. She jumped from the bed and burrowed under, rustling around for a while. Finally, a box pushed out and she appeared beside it, pulling out Digimon cards. "Your father was a... fanatic, when it came to Digimon. He loved it. He had goggles from the show, as many cards as he could find, toys, games, every episode of the show committed to memory."

"Like someone else I know," May mocked, shoving me with her shoulder.

"I'm not that bad," I muttered defensively. I turned back to Lopmon. "He drew his own Digimon. That's what Henry said..." I trailed off and jolted towards May. "He knows. Or at least he suspects! This is bad!"

"Wait, what do you mean, Dummy?" Dorimon asked, finally piping up.

I shook my head and turned to Lopmon. "He mentioned Guilmon as one of my dad's drawings, and my partner, my Digimon, is BlackGuilmon. So he knows I have BlackGuilmon, doesn't he?" I asked. Lopmon didn't respond, so I jolted forward and lifted her up. I hissed angrily at her, filled with rage that she wouldn't just explain, that she was threatening my one chance at saving my parents. "Doesn't he!?"

"Taj!" May admonished, tearing the terrified Digimon from my hands. "What the hell!?"

I swallowed and took a step back. "I – I'm sorry, Lopmon. But this is the only way to get to my parents." I sat down. "I shouldn't have done that. You aren't – I mean, you aren't doing anything wrong. But I can't have him shut us down, Lopmon. I need to do this."

"You have missed your parents for a long time," Lopmon finally said, though she was hiding away from me behind May. "Most of your life. It can't be easy. But please... don't do that."

I shrunk into the chair, feeling guilty. "I'm so sorry," I said sadly.

Lopmon took a deep breath, then jumped off the bed and over to my lap. She tapped my cheek with one hand. "Momentai, it will be okay," she told me, and I chuckled. She looked over at May. "Takato drew Guilmon, that's true. He created a Digimon from his hopes and dreams, like he was chosen to be a Tamer by something other than the Digignomes or Guilmon."

"Digignomes?" Dorimon asked. She grinned. "That sounds yummy!"

"They grant wishes about Digimon. They created the Digivices Suzie and your parents have. I wouldn't try eating them," Lopmon explained. "You young Digimon and your stomachs..."

"So they're smart like Digimon? Yeah, I guess Loading them would be bad," Dorimon said sadly, laying on the bed again. "Dang it..."

"So you think whatever it is chose my dad also chose us?" I wondered aloud.

Lopmon shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is, your father and Guilmon appeared right when they were needed to unite the Tamers. If they didn't, the Digital World and this one would have been annihilated," she explained, a shiver running over her as the memories washed over her. "Maybe that's the same for you and the other Digidestined."

I turned and gawked at May. "How much did you tell them!?"

"Everything. They threatened to tell Henry if I didn't," May explained anxiously, rubbing her left arm. "For now, Suzie promised she'd think about not telling him anything."

"So that's it? We just have to hope she won't tell him anything?" I asked. I took a shaky breath and brought my hands up to shield my face, running them down and stretching my eyelids to try and drain some of my stress. "Lopmon... please. Please tell Suzie she can't tell Henry anything. You said we're Digidestined for a reason, maybe. I don't care about that. I just need my parents again, and Henry would stop me from doing this. Please."

Lopmon stared at me, then at May and Dorimon. "I will try, Tasuke," she replied after a moment. "But remember that Henry promised your parents he would protect you above all else, even them. He would have good reason for keeping you out of all this danger. Especially if your partner is as violent as he worries."

May caught my eyes and raised her eyebrows. "He's just coarse," I retorted defensively.

" Jerkmon isn't as bad as he pretends to be," Dorimon admitted to my surprise. "And he'd never let anyone hurt Dummy."

Lopmon nodded. "Then there's a chance. No more or less," she explained. "And that's the most I can promise, Deva's honor."

I blanched. "Wait, you're one of the Devas! No, wait: the Devas are real? Wait, what else from the shows and cards is real?!"

May sighed. "Great. You got him started, Lopmon."

Lopmon sighed nervously. "He certainly reminds me of someone..."

X X X

Chiros and Koromon sat in silence, eating the burgers from the drive through in their hotel room. Chiros was sitting over his computer, scanning through the information on the building he'd been able to find with a slightly in depth internet search. A few good links and he had phone numbers, names, birth dates, relatives, nation of birth, and even the grades of the boy who lived in the house. The things that got put on the internet without anyone thinking about it, or even without them knowing at all, was mind boggling. "The house belongs to Henry Wong, a successful researcher into A.I. and a lecturer at DU. He is the son of Janyu Wong, the Monster Maker. Interesting and something to pass along when we get back. He is also the brother of voice actress Suzie Wong, data scientist Jaarin Anderson, and Physicist Rinchei Wong. A family of overachievers, it seems. He is the legal guardian of Tasuke Joryawa, and moved to America with him twelve years ago from Japan. He is the uncle of a large group of children by Jaarin and a nephew by Rinchei," he began reading through the list he had compiled from the information he had found.

Koromon looked up from the eight burgers he was eating. "So, who was at the house when we drove past it?" Koromon wondered. Chiros stifled a snort when cheese dripped off the Digimon's face. "That should tell us who the Digidestined is."

"Looks like the cars there were registered to Mr. Wong, his ward, his niece, and one to a high end car rental company," Chiros explained. "Which means I can't easily find out who it was that was there with him."

"Doesn't matter. Given everything we know about Digidestined and the Monster Makers, it's obvious who the first suspect should be," Koromon cut in. He hopped over to his partner and stared at the paper. "We can eliminate Henry. He's outside the standard age range. The guest, we can't guess about. It's either someone he works with, or one of his siblings, in which case they are also likely outside the age range. Tasuke is a possibility, but it's the girl that I think makes the most sense. Sixteen, the grandchild of a Monster Maker, and present when I smelled the Digimon. I'd bet she's the Digidestined we're looking for." Koromon looked back up at his partner, a sad frown covering his entire face. "Which means it's a child."

Deciding not to argue the semantics of a child versus a teenager, Chiros nodded. "It's not ideal," he agreed. The agent sighed and circled the girl's name on the paper. "When we get confirmation she's the Digidestined, I'll send the information on them both to the higher ups. Even if we fail, our home will gain valuable information to trade."

"And if we die, we go out the only way we can," Koromon said. "Fighting like heroes of old."

"I doubt it will come to that, Koromon." He stared down at Mayumi Anderson's name and a pang of sadness ran through him; the job required terrible things for the good of his people. "I doubt they've reached our level just yet."

"Then what's the plan?" Koromon wondered.

Chiros was quiet for a moment, thumbs on his lips. "For now, we observe and follow. We will attack when we find an opening or, worse, if we are made."

"Made what?" Koromon wondered.

"No, it – If she realizes we are agents," he clarified with a chuckle.

Koromon blinked. "Ohhhh..."

X X X

Wow, Henry never told Tasuke or May about me? Come on, Henry, where's the love for Terriermon, huh? I don't care if it's 'dangerous,' you gotta momentai, buddy!

Oh, right! Terriermon here. The best and last 'Next Time Narrator' you'll ever need! Sorry, but Rika was a little busy this week, what with Takato finally snapping out of his funk. Now that they've both seen this, it's gotten a little awkward at the park... Especially since she knows I told everyone about the dream our little Takatomon had about her! Ha! Priceless.

Anyways, I hope this Chiros guy doesn't hurt May. I can't imagine what Henry would do if something like that happened. But I think Suzie would get to him first... Ugh, I'm having flashbacks to the torture of 'Pwincess Pwetty Pants.' I wouldn't wish that on anybody, you hear? But I also gotta wonder, is Suzie going to tell Henry? And if she does, does it even matter?

What, you think two sixteen year olds are going to listen when they're told not to be Digidestined spies? I wouldn't listen! But Henry says I usually don't listen, so...

Well, I guess we'll have to find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!