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.

15. Coming Together:Becoming Friends!

AN: Hey everyone, and Merry Christmas! Also Happy second night of Hannukah, if that's your thing! I hope you're all doing well for this, probably the last chapter of 2019, and are ready for a great New Year.

Now, responses:

To smartalec121: Yeah, BG is always a blast to write. There's something about a no filter grump that just makes you laugh, right? As for the bit about Henry and Suzie, it wasn't exactly a reason to keep Henry out of the fold. It's more that... well, you'll see. But the gist is that the important part isn't that Henry knows or doesn't, it's that he and Tasuke trust each other enough to tell each other the truth. But of course Suzie outmaneuvered Davis! She comes from pretty intelligent family, so she's bound to be smart herself, even if she isn't in the same STEM fields as her family.

To DragonEmperor999: Thanks! I hope that the rest can live up to your expectations!

Well, enjoy, and I'll see you next year!

Episode 15: Coming Together: Becoming Friends!

It was more than a relief when Suze was finally leaving. First time I ever said that about her, but it was true. We'd spent days worrying she was going to reveal our Digimon and our lies to Henry or to May's parents, and now... well, phones were a thing, so that worry wasn't gone, but if she wasn't going to do it now, she probably never would. Still, we were going to miss her. She was in Henry's, packing up her things while Henry and the other Andersons waited outside helping pack her twelve dozen other bags. Or maybe it was only eleven dozen? It was a lot!

She sighed and sat down on her bed next to Lopmon and waited for May and me to sit on her overstuffed bag to try and zip it shut, as we had for every bag before this. We glared at one another, and jumped on the bag, with me grabbing the zipper and pulling it forward until May could grab it and zip it the other half of the way shut. "Thanks, Prince and Princess," Suze said when we leaped off of the bed. She came up and hugged us tight, only pushing us to arm's length after we had begun to struggle out of her grasp. "Oh, I kind of don't want to go, but I have to!"

May and I smiled back at her. "That's... uh... too bad," May supplied half-heartedly.

I chuckled. "Yep. Too, uh, bad?"

She glanced between us and sighed. "They don't get it, do they, Lopmon?"

"No, I suppose not," the Digimon agreed, shaking her head.

Suze tapped each of us on the top of the head, scolding us. "You don't trust me? You hurt this Queen's honor!" She pointed at the both of us. "You really thought I was planning on telling Henry any of this?"

"Well, not after the deal you made with Davis," I explained, May nodding along beside me.

Suze rolled her eyes. "Not ever!" she protested. She rubbed her forehead and walked over to Lopmon, picking her up and placing the Digimon on her shoulder. "Henry and I have a very different view of everything that happened when we were children. He was already a pacifist, almost to a fault. And he's more like our parents than I am."

"What's being like Grandpa got to do with this?" May asked interest showing in her smile.

"Let's just say that he did the same thing with us when we were even younger than you," Suze explained. She smiled at the both of us. "Henry... means well. Your parents' disappearance, and the second disappearance of the Digimon hurt Henry, and he doesn't want that to happen to you. But he's forgetting all the fun with that fear."

"He wouldn't trade a moment of his time with Terriermon to get rid of that pain, so why should you?" Lopmon explained. "And if you help someone along the way..." She turned to look at me. "Or find what you're looking for, all the better, right?"

"We're better people because we were Tamers," Suze stated, so sure that she was right. "And I'm not going to deny that to you."

"And," she continued, cutting off our excitement. She popped us on the heads again. "It's your secret to tell him, not mine. If you tell him, and you show Henry you trust him, he'll do the same for you. It'd be a little hypocritical for him to know your secrets when he won't tell you anything!" She turned to me. "Besides, you're a... bad liar. The only reason he hasn't caught you yet is because he doesn't want to believe you're following in his and your parents' footsteps. And that won't last forever."

"I've gotten better at it!" I protested before realizing how that sounded and let my head fall to my chest. "Sadly."

"He has. He figured out if Henry's trying to not cry, he'll believe anything," May explained, no emotion in her voice.

Lopmon and Suze turned to look at me, slightly horrified. "Hey, I'm not happy about it either!" I shouted. I shook my head and picked up her bag. "You know, you could have put that better, May!"

"Why?" she asked.

Lopmon ambled over to Suze's purse. "Well, I suppose this is goodbye for now," she said to the two of us. "It was a pleasure to see you both again. And even more so that you could speak this time."

"... I was the cuter baby," I told May.

"Wrong," she hissed back.

We both looked over at Lopmon. She simply jumped into the bag without another word. May and I snickered and high fived, then began to move down the stairs with Suze behind us.

It was nice to know Henry wouldn't be learning our secret right now, but I'd miss her. And her gifts. After all, I was almost done with the mark 2 because of her saw, and I'd love another gift like that!

X X X

As he helped his younger sister load her bags into her car, Henry was silent, recalling the conversation he had with her the night before. The two of them seated at his table, sharing a drink. "It's been nice to see the kids again," she had remarked as she stared into the drink. She smiled and glanced over at Lopmon sleeping on the table. "She agrees. She hasn't seen them since before they could talk."

"Hmph," Henry had grumbled as his finger circled the lip of his cup. "And what about what I asked you to do?"

Suzie had rolled her eyes at that and downed the rest of her drink. "Ah... Always business, huh, Henry? You have to loosen up."

"Suzie," he had groaned, growing more and more tired with all of this. He had tapped his fingers on the table. "Please?"

Suze had rolled her eyes again. "There's nothing for you to worry about, Henry," she had finally said, letting the words spill out in her usual, high speed manner.

Henry's breath had rushed from him and he'd realized he had been holding it. "That's good," he said. "No Digimon, no problems."

"Well, with you around there's bound to be Digimon some day."

Henry's blood had ran cold at that. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked hollowly, eyes locked on the ice drifting in his drink.

Suzie's hand had grabbed his, and pulled his attention to her. "Henry, you're a good brother. A good father. I doubt you'd ever call yourself that, but you are like a father to Tasuke. You like to protect other people," she had explained softly. She tapped her hand and smiled. "But you don't think all the time. You and Dad both tried to hide the Digimon from everyone when we were kids, and it didn't work. You're obviously still involved with the Americans' Digimon somehow, even though you told all of us you aren't. And if you don't tell Tasuke or May or any of the others the truth, the whole truth, they won't be fully prepared when it all comes back to you again."

Henry had turned away from her. He didn't want to acknowledge the truth of what she had said. "And if they ever do get in trouble, you would want them to tell you, right?" she pointed out, making him more annoyed. "Trust is a two way street, Henry. So if you tell them the truth, it's more likely they'd come to you. Imagine if we had had someone to teach us about all this!"

"Hmph," he had grumbled again. He finally looked back at his sister. "If you say there's no reason to worry, then there's no reason for me to tell them."

"Henry?"

He snapped back to reality just as he closed the trunk of Suzie's car, blinking. He turned to the sound of her voice. "Yes?"

"I'm going to miss you," she said, holding her arms out for a hug.

Henry smiled back and brought her in for a hug. "You really need to visit more," he agreed. He patted her back and let go. "The kids love having you around."

"And I love being around!" she shouted, bouncing and clapping her hands. She calmed down after a moment and laughed. "Well, I'll be back soon."

Henry nodded. "Jaarin and her husband have been very insistent on everyone being around for 'Christmas,'" he acknowledged. "It's a good excuse."

"You'll think about what I told you, right?" she finally asked, her face growing serious.

Henry stared his sister in the eyes and sighed. "Suzie..." he muttered, unsure himself. Hfe studied her face and it clicked. "There's nothing to worry about." Then he patted her shoulder and moved towards the rest of his family.

There's nothing for you to worry about.

Henry had never really thought of his sister as a good liar. And, he was ashamed to admit, he'd always thought of her as the least intelligent of his siblings. It might have been because she was his younger sister, or her chosen profession, or even an overestimation of his own intelligence. Honestly, the why of it didn't really matter to him. All that mattered was that he was the idiot, because she had obviously inherited all of the intelligence he had... and proceeded to put those smarts to work in the realm of words and acting. But she wasn't a liar. She didn't like to lie, so it was easier to hear it in her voice than she thought. When he turned around to wave at her, she saw it in his eyes. He knew, and the trust between them was damaged.

"It was nice to have her around, huh, Henry?" Tasuke asked him before checking his phone. "Ah! May! We're late!" He looked back up at Henry. "We're late for work, see you when we get back!"

Henry didn't acknowledge Tasuke leaving, or Jaarin's family doing the same. He could only watch the retreating car, feeling the ground beneath him giving way. He had to find a way to deal with this. He turned to follow Tasuke, ready to shout, to fight, to... to...

"You're a good brother. A good father."

He stopped in his tracks, watching Tasuke drive away. He couldn't just confront Tasuke or May. He couldn't just... fight and drive them away. They had Digimon, and likely the aid of Gethen, the bastard. And with Gethen, Tasuke could run and never show up again. Or worse, be taken. He had to do this... carefully. Because the idea of losing Tasuke forever terrified him more than anything else. For now, he just had to trust Tasuke could keep himself safe and help whenever he can. Trust was a two way street.

"Stupid Suzie, making sense," he imagined Terriermon saying mockingly. "Momentai Henry! It'll all work out."

X X X

BlackGuilmon had been acting more sullen than usual ever since Dorimon had managed to Digivolve into Dorugamon. A whole week of whining and complaining. He felt like we had all managed to pull one over on him. That it was a conspiracy, and we were trying to make sure he was always a whole Digivolution level behind anyone else. It would be hilarious if that was the case, but it just wouldn't be practical. I needed him to Digivolve after all. Around the time he started begging that he and I get thrown into a life or death battle was when Dorugamon and BaoHuckmon, still in their Champion forms after May had begun training with Davis to get used to the Digivolution, began chasing him around. I thought I heard Dorugamon shout, 'Payback,' but we decided to ignore them for now, and let the larger Digimon chase mine in the other room to their hearts' content. Davis seemed okay with it, so it had to be fine despite the fact that it was basically like letting two minivans run around inside a building. Minivans that were also Dragons.

Still, out of sight, out of mind, right?

I leaned forward in my seat, furiously mashing the buttons of the controller in an attempt to get even a single one of the combos out of the game that May could manage without even thinking. "Come on, come on!" I hissed just before my character received a beat down that drained him to zero health. The screen flashed and shouted at Davis to 'Finish Him.' Two seconds later my character's frozen head was torn from his shoulders, spine included.

"You see? He's terrible at these," May said without looking up from her tech magazine.

"Hey!" I growled, turning away from the constant blood stream falling from my character's neck. "You want to prove it?"

"No need, we all saw it," she pointed out dryly. Fair. We had, given the fact I just got double flawless beat by Davis. "We're lucky the Digimon don't have to rely on a video game controller like that, or BlackGuilmon would be way worse off."

"I... you... Gah!" I growled, throwing the controller down on the couch. "Whatever!"

Davis laughed. "She's not wrong," he agreed. Then, attempting to make me stop pouting, he added, "But I never would have gotten this far either."

Hoping that we could talk about something else, I looked over at May. "Well, what's so interesting that you could read it from an actual magazine while Mortal Kombat went on in the background?"

She glanced over the edge of her magazine. "Do you actually care?" she wondered.

"Uh... Depends on what it is?"

Davis leaned over to look at the page she was on. "Quantum Computing?" he read.

I thought about the Physics based implications of the word 'Quantum.' "Okay, I'm interested," I agreed after a moment, leaning forward to listen.

May looked between the two of us, then put the magazine down. "KayKay... So, most computers use bits, a zero or one, and puts them in strings of multiples of eight to encode information. Your computer uses 64 bits at most to do pretty much everything. The locations are definite and confirmed. In quantum computing, there's a qubit – T. It's... I don't know, I'm still not sure. I think it's like it's connected the information to other information before we know even know it? The magazine says it's like a bunch of coins being flipped at the same time."

"Quantum Superposition," I explained, earning a confused look. I shook my head. "Uh... to get it half right, Schrodinger's cat. By acknowledging the bit is both 1 and 0 at the same time, it's holding more information until the observation collapses."

"You understand Quantum Mechanics?" Davis asked, surprised.

I snorted. "No. I don't know if anybody knows Quantum Mechanics all that well," I explained jokingly. I frowned and added, more seriously, "Except for people who have dedicated their lives to it. I mean, some of it's easy to understand. Like Quantum Entaglement. At its core, it's just 'all sub-atomic matter is the same.' Do something to one electron, it happens to another because they're the same. And then you get stuff like how light behaves differently if its being observed in the two slats experiment."

"Quantum Entanglement... You know, that kind of reminds me of what happened with the Digivices," May muttered after a moment, resting her chin on her palm and biting a nail.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

May sighed. "I mean, you remember when Dorimon became Dorumon for the first time, right? Your Digivice lit up just like mine! And the same thing happened with the agent's when she became Dorugamon for the first time."

"Oh, that," Davis said, nodding. He leaned back. "If you find out why it happens, the R&D guys have been trying to figure it out for years. They'd love an explanation, especially since it only happens on the first Digivolution."

I was still on Quantum Entanglement, though, and the idea of Quantum Computing. "You know, I wonder if you can combine the Superposition and Entanglement for a next gen Quantum Computer," I mumbled after a moment. Davis and May glanced at me, muttering under my breath, then shrugged at one another. "Data could be accessed almost instantly by -"

At that point, BlackGuilmon charged through the doorway, caring very little for the fact we were having a conversation. "That's it!" he shouted, the door flying off of its hinges and scraping along the top of the TV before landing on the other side of the room. He rushed up to me and growled inches from my face.

"Oh, your breath!" I gagged, reaching up and shoving him away. "Jeez, what did you eat!?"

"I will not be chased by that tiny munchkin or the babysitter anymore!" he snapped, launching more rancid breath into my face.

I gagged again and shoved him harder. "Then what do you want to do?" I asked.

"I want to fight and hunt!" he shouted excitably.

May scoffed. "Yeah, that's a no go, Troll."

His head snapped towards her and he growled angrily. "She's right. There's nothing for you to hunt or fight right now," I cut in before they could have their usual 'who can get the other to resort to violence first' tournament. I bit my cheek and hummed. "Too bad it isn't Halloween yet. Maybe we could get away with letting you roam around then."

"There's always the varsity football game," May suggested. She glanced at her Digivice to check the time and nodded. "I bet your troll would love watching that, and we can make it if we hurry."

Davis crossed his arms and shook his head. "No way. There's too much risk of revealing a large Digimon like him." He pointed at Dorugamon, who was trying to force her head through the tiny door. "Unlike her, he won't Dedigivolve to pass for a dog."

"Oh, come on! He'll behave!" I begged before turning on him and growling. "Won't you?"

"Will there be Digimon to hunt?" he asked.

"No."

He groaned, the annoyed noise echoing from his bones. "Then why would I want to go?"

"Well, it's that or you stay here alone until tomorrow," I pointed out.

He blinked and glanced around at the three of us. "Of course I'll behave. I'll get food, right?"

"There we go," May said, pointing at BlackGuilmon. "Quickest way to a Digimon's heart is through their stomach."

"I haven't said this is okay!" Davis snapped. He looked at us all imploringly. "It's dangerous, Guys!"

"... Grab some food and sneak them around to the back field? We should be able to see the field from there without anyone seeing us," I said, turning to May and ignoring Davis. "We could get some snacks and come around the back."

"Yeah!" BlackGuilmon shouted. He reached out with his arms and grabbed hold of my arms, pulling me off the couch. "Now, I'm hungry!"

"But -"

"KayKay!" May and I shouted, rushing after BlackGuilmon, past a DeDigivolving Dorugamon and BaoHuckmon. "Let's go!"

"Wait... Wait! No, wait!" Davis snapped, surging to his feet. His partner watched him go for a moment, then DeDigivolved. "Guys, wait for me!"

X X X

BlackGuilmon moved with a predatory silence between Davis and me, barely needing the black tarp we'd shoved over him to keep him hidden. The two of our packs were full of snacks and food, enough even for three Digimon to last an hour. May was, of course, carrying Dorimon with a hand clamped over the Digimon's mouth to keep her from shouting and attracting attention to the upper field. She was still grunting pretty loud, even muffled as she was. Huckmon was nowhere to be seen, though that didn't mean he wasn't nearby. May turned around from the edge of the field and motioned that it was clear, and we rushed forward.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking at up here?" BlackGuilmon growled beneath the tarp.

"Just give it a minute," I told him, leading him over to where we could see the lights and the field. I took the tarp off of him and spread it out so we could sit down. He glowered at my suggestion, but eventually turned to the field. It was almost kickoff, and knowing him he'd enjoy it. "Remember, we're cheering for the team in red."

"I doubt I will do much cheering, Tasuke," BlackGuilmon grumbled in reply.

Davis sat down on BlackGuilmon's right, Huckmon appearing out of thin air behind him. May came over and sat to my left, putting Dorimon down and grabbing a licorice from my bag to toss to her. "You got any chocolate in there?" Huckmon asked, stuffing his face into my bag.

"Huckmon, manners!" Davis hissed. He grabbed hold of his Digimon's cape and yanked him out of my bag, a half eaten chocolate bar hanging out of his mouth. "Come on, everyone needs to eat that stuff!"

"Thowwy, Thavith," Huckmon muttered, not sounding 'Thowwy' at all. He tossed his head up and swallowed the rest of the chocolate, wrapper and all. "I'll try harder..."

Davis groaned and opened his own bag, taking out a bag of chocolates for his partner. "Yay!" Huckmon said, diving in and eating, once more without unwrapping them.

BlackGuilmon's head turned slowly towards me and he growled, a low and threatening noise. "I'm going," I finally said. I reached into my bag and pulled out a plastic box of mini cinnamon rolls. "They aren't Cinnabon, but I don't know how much you'll -" He tore open the box and stuffed his face in, gorging himself on the store brand cinnaomon rolls. "- care." I shook my head. "Digimon."

I turned back to the game. "Okay, watch," I told BlackGuilmon. Our team was kicking first, and I knew he'd love what came next.

BlackGuilmon stopped gorging himself, rolled his eyes, and turned back to the game with a huff. He stared at the game and sighed as the ball soared through the air. "What's the big deal about this?" he asked as the other team began to rush forward, getting closer to ours. "I mean -" And then one of our players slammed into the guy with the ball at full speed, slamming him into the ground with a thud even we could hear.

BlackGuilmon surged to his feet. "Yes!" he growled. Smoke was rising from his nose, and an excited look on his face.

"Not surprised he loves this," Davis said.

"HIT HIM HARDER!" May snapped, surging up on my left and surprising Davis.

I chuckled. "Yeah, he's not the only one."

BlackGuilmon and May glared at each other, not sure about the other one liking the sport they liked, then turned back and shouted in rage when the other team got a first down. "At least they can both like it," Dorimon told us as she trotted up beside me. She looked over at Davis and Huckmon. "Just be glad her dad isn't here. That guy gets crazy about this stuff."

I nodded. "That's one underwhelming word for it," I agreed, my ears already ringing from memories of his shouting at the TV when the Broncos, the local pro team, failed to keep the other team from scoring.

BlackGuilmon and May cheered, interrupting us again. "See, you two can be friends," I told them after a moment.

They turned to glare at me, then at one another. "I guess the Troll isn't... completely horrible."

"And the hag must not be that weak if she enjoys a sport like this," BlackGuilmon remarked.

"Ah, backhanded compliments," Huckmon chortled. "The foundation of the best friendships!"

I grinned at all of them. "... Sure. Friends," BlackGuilmon muttered disagreeably. Then our team sacked the other one's Quarterback and we all cheered.

Friends. I liked the sound of that, especially since BlackGuilmon agreed. Well, agreed for him, at least. It was going to be a good night.

X X X

Henry tapped his fingers on his work desk, staring at his D-Power and the static on its screen. He'd figured out the truth about Tasuke, he was sure of that. And probably May, too. They were involved with Digimon, and he had to find a way to confront Gethen about that without tipping his hand too much. A few innocuous questions he had to come up with to figure out more. But he had something to deal with right then and there instead. He glanced over at the letter he had written, hoping he could find a way to send it in a message through his D-Power. Takato and Rika deserved to know that their only son was in the same position they had been, once.

Henry picked up the letter and read through it one more time. It was quick, and hopefully easy to send in whatever short time frame he had before the connection failed as it usually did. "Guys, Tasuke is a Tamer. I think he knows where you are. Trying to find you. I'll keep him safe. Henry." It didn't say everything he wanted, but it would have to do.

Henry turned to the Digivice and pulled open its casing, then picked up his tools and began going to work on the wiring. After every move, he made sure to look at the screen and say what he was doing for the recording device in case he needed to replicate what he had done to send a message later. He made a few more moves and nearly had a heart attack when the screen turned bright white. "Uh..."

The word popped up on the screen in green. "Uh..."

Henry blinked once, then rushed and grabbed hold of his message. "Guys, Tasuke is a Tamer. I think he knows where you are. He's trying to find you. I'll keep him safe. Hen -"

Then the screen went black, cutting him off. Henry sighed and shut off the recording device, happy that he had managed to find a way to activate the messaging system, if not for the fact that it hadn't even lasted long enough to get twenty three words out. He shook his head and reached out to place the cover back on his D-Power, just as the screen returned to its usual static. "I hope that got through," Henry muttered to himself. He lifted his old Digivice up in one hand and stared into the screen, remembering everything he had done as a child. Everything that had made his childhood so exciting, so fun... so dangerous. "Terriermon, what would you think I should do?"

Henry glanced down at the sleeping form of Momentai. "Probably just tell them. Then 'Momentai.'" The dog perked up at the sound of his name and barked happily, tail wagging. Henry smiled and scratched his ears, causing the dog to drift back to sleep. "But you never were one for being careful, even when you needed to be."

Henry stared at the dog for a moment longer, then turned back to his Digivice's static screen. "I wonder what you're up to. Are you with Takato and Rika? Ryo? Or... alone? Maybe Beelzemon is keeping an eye on you, but that might be more dangerous..."

He was going to list more possibilities, but stopped when the screen turned white again. "Takato, I think you're wasting time! What? No I – Crap! Uh, what do I say? Let me! Thanks Henry, we trust you to-"

Henry stared at the message and chuckled. Takato and Rika were quite the pair, and it was nice to hear they hadn't changed that much. He was just happy Guilmon hadn't started piping in during the confusion. That would have wasted even more of the words they had. Henry placed the Digivice down and opened it up, going through the steps he'd described on his recording. Nothing happened.

Henry groaned and leaned back, arms crossed. "Either that was a fluke or it needs to recharge somehow," he noted, eyes narrowing on the device. "Just couldn't make it... Because you only work when absolutely necessary, huh? I don't know why Shibumi designed you like that, dammit..."

He placed the cover on the D-Power once again and stood up with a smile. "At least you always work when absolutely necessary," he remarked. He stood up and placed his hands in his pockets, still smiling wide. "Which means it's absolutely necessary." He frowned and repeated, hollowly this time: "Which means... it's absolutely necessary..."

X X X

"Okay! Test number one of the Taj Series 2 Automatic Crossbow!" I exclaimed in the warehouse's shooting range, standing at a table and dumping out the pencil case in which I had stored the disassembled weapon. The pieces all clattered on the table and I put on my 'salesman voice.' "As you can see, the pieces are small enough to be transported in even the smallest containers, and are indistinguishable from simple metal sticks." I picked up the next piece, the cartridge shaped like a pencil sharpener. "And the non-lethal ammunition can be capped with an actual pencil sharpener, for extra stealth and added functionality!"

"Who uses anything but mechanical pencils?" May asked.

I glared at her. "Hush! I'm working!" I snapped. She flinched back and I cleared my throat. "Now, as you can see, this is something that we definitely need! Neither May nor myself are excited by the concept of using lethal weaponry, and it's bound to happen that some kind of Digimon will try to find us at school one day, so we'll need something that we can use at school to keep everyone safe. Again, the non-lethal factor adds in because... well, May is a terrible shot."

"Wha – I'm getting better!" she snapped at me.

I glared again until she sat down, still grumbling at me. "As I was saying, this will make it so we're far less likely to hurt the people we are trying to defend when in a fight. Now, I will demonstrate the accuracy and power of this weapon on the ballistic dummy provided by our, ahem, 'wonderful' bosses."

I picked up my parts and slowly put it together, taking my time to demonstrate exactly how to build the automatic crossbow. Then, with a flourish, I displayed the completed product. "Observe!" I turned and fired once, the small metal sphere flying towards the ballistic dummy and slamming into it. The fake torso bent bent slightly where I hit it, on one of the ribs, and the bone visibly shattered within as the ball bounced off. I fired twice more, aiming at the shoulder and gut. Only one of them fired correctly; the string snapped and the one aimed for the gut bounced off the wall and rebounded towards me. I yelped and jumped to the side as it bounced past me and clattered to a stop.

"Dammit, this is what I get for skimping on the string!" I growled. I wanted to throw the crossbow, but couldn't bring myself to harm such beautiful – sure, I'm biased, but it's true – craftsmanship. Instead, I groaned and stood up, placing the broken device back on the table. I tried to take it apart, but it seemed like something got stuck. "Ugh... back to the drawing board. Again."

"Not bad," Davis finally said, walking forward and picking up the failure. He examined it and nodded approvingly. "There really hasn't been much of a market for these, you know? Most agents are actual agents. Former CIA, FBI, military, so guns are standard issue, and with their cover they can get most placed with them no problem. But we're high schoolers; it would never work. But there's not enough of us for them to design these. But if you want, I can pass your final designs along and they can produce more of them. Any future Digidestined will need to defend themselves, after all."

I grinned at the praise. "Uh – thanks!" I said, grinning wide.

"Good job, Taj," May said as she came up, patting my back. "When you make one that works, I'll be glad to use it."

"Thanks... I think?" I shook my head and looked down at the automatic crossbow. "Hm... I need a better string, definitely. And maybe some way to tighten and loosen the connections? It would take longer to build and pull apart, but it would be more exact. I just have to make sure that it doesn't get in the way of the launching string."

"And you say I get too into things," May said, slapping my back again and breaking my train of thought. "Come on, it's a good second try. You can take your notes later."

"She's right," Davis said. He turned to us. "Time for the ten mile run, after all."

I grimaced. "Oh. Fun..."

X X X

Jennifer Smith wasn't quite sure what to make of her and Cadetmon's new partners. One doesn't manage to Digivolve to Ultimate without being a pretty accomplished Tamer and partner, after all. On the other hand, they seemed to have this weird... honor code. It was why she had decided to work with them knowing they could be trusted not to backstab her. And Cadetmon agreed, so she knew for a fact he was on the up and up. So that probably meant that the honor code was real, and her worries were unfounded. "Now that we have agreed to work together, we should probably work on coming up with a plan," Jennifer said from her side of the hotel room.

"I agree. We have probably reached the point we know we can trust one another, after all," Chiros replied simply, his Koromon nodding in agreement in his lap. "So, what do you know about our quarry so far?"

"Not much. It's a teenager, and they have some connection to the First Biomerger," Cadetmon explained. He tapped his cheek. "And likely, he or she has a pair of violet goggles that once belonged to the First."

"The First Biomerger?" Koromon asked, awestruck. "He's real?"

Chiros glanced down at his partner. "I assumed they were like the Digimon equivalent of Hercules or Achilles. Stories built around the idea of events that existed?" he remarked in surprise. "Then... the stories are completely accurate?"

Jennifer shrugged. "It seems like it," she supplied, the entire thing sounding just as weird to her. "But if that's the case, there aren't a lot of things that could kill them or chase them into the Digital World. So why aren't they here?"

"It must have something to do with this other Digidestined. If I'm correct, then they must be connected to the Digidestined that I discovered, as well as their guardian," Chiros explained. "Which means it's likely that we'll find the Hazard's Digidestined at the same school as Mayumi Anderson, and I'm willing to bet who the other Digidestined is."

"Why?" Cadetmon wondered.

"Simple. Her uncle is Henry Wong, the son of a Monster Maker!" Koromon explained excitedly. "And he's the legal guardian of some kid that goes to the same school as Mayui."

"A Monster Maker..." Cadetmon muttered.

Smith frowned and began absently petting the excited Digimon in her lap. "I agree. That's probably the Digidestined I'm looking for," she said quietly. "But we can't be sure until we have one of our Digimon get close, or we find a 3-D on him."

"So we have to get someone in that school!" Koromon pointed out. He looked up at her. "And you said you're working as a substitute teacher, right? Then all we have to do is get you a job there."

"But what are the odds that one of those teachers will get sick and I'll get chosen?" she supplied.

Chiros glared at her in surprise. "We... injure the teachers until you get the job," he explained. He sighed. "If we could avoid it, I would, but it seems that time is of the essence."

"I suppose I could force my way higher up the list. The sub agency's cybersecurity is... lacking," she added in. "At least that way we won't have to do it to as many of the teachers."

"We'll keep it believable, though," Cadetmon explained. "Jumping to the top would attract attention from D-CARD, especially this close to two Digidestined they're guarding."

"And that's not even mentioning the possibility that the third Digidestined is here," Smith pointed out before shivering in fear. "I've seen a few of his mission reports back before me and Cadetmon were partnered up. He has a trail of bodies, human and Digimon, he's left behind, and he's been able to Digivolve to Ultimate for almost two years now."

"So he's dangerous. Any information on his identity?" Chiros wondered calmly.

"Redacted," Jennifer sighed in defeat. "They didn't want to risk his identity getting out."

"It was a long shot," Cadetmon admitted. "So we'll just have to be careful. We need to isolate the Hazard Digimon without risking a drawn out fight with the Digidestined's guardians." He tapped his chin and jumped down from her lap. "But I suppose that we can worry about that later. For now, we need to find out which teacher you're replacing, Jen. Chiros, you and Koromon would be too recognizable by Mayumi, so we should go check that out. While we do that, you two should find out more about the place you fought her. We won't be able to avoid every trap, but we can at least sidestep the more deadly ones when or if the time comes."

Jennifer, Chiros, and Koromon gave each other a look, then looked back at Cadetmon. "You got it, Boss," Jennifer said, giving her partner a salute.

X X X

It figures that Terriermon would finally give me some space and he would vanish for so long I'd be scrambling to find a way to get to him. Even when he isn't around, he can't help but make me worry. He's a foot tall trouble magnet! And since Takato and Guilmon are exactly the same, I can only assume they aren't together in the Digital World. After all, they would have attracted some universe ending threat by then.

I hope... uh, me? Wow, this whole 'future' thing is weird. No wonder Takato and Rika couldn't talk to each other for two weeks after seeing all this. Anyways, I hope future me figures out how to talk to Tasuke soon. Hard to believe my first instinct with Digimon was to act exactly like my dad did, but here's where Terriermon would probably tell me I've always acted like him. And then probably 'Momentai,' like he always does. Glad I didn't teach him the French word for Seal instead, or things would have been bad.

Well, maybe we'll find out more on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.