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.

16. Trick or Treat:A Digital Halloween!

AN: Hey everyone, and Happy New Year! I hope you're all having a great time! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was fun to write, and has some fun character moments with the Digimon, I think.

Just so everyone knows, I'll be starting a new job in the next few weeks, so my updates might be slower for while as I get used to the schedule, move to a new state, and start doing some new stuff. But I'll still be working on this in my free time when I can.

Responses:

To smartalec121: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, Henry's a smart guy who's gone through something similar before, so it wouldn't be long before he figured it out. Still, Suzie is right about him and Tasuke needing to trust each other and tell each other their secrets. They're family, and they need each other's help to get through all this. Tasuke could use Henry's advice, and Henry needs Tasuke to get to the Digital World. And yeah. The Digital World isn't a calm place, even in the shows where it isn't a desert wasteland.

Now, enjoy and I'll see you soon!

Episode 16: Trick or Treat: A Digital Halloween!

Halloween night had finally come around, so Davis, May, our Digimon, and I were all getting ready to go out together. Davis had even gotten permission from Gethen for this, though that might just have been because trying to contain Digimon on a day devoted to candy and eating was a losing battle. Keeping BlackGuilmon from tearing my backpack apart was already enough of a daily struggle, so I would have let him out anyways. So, here I was, dressed up in a pretty basic Ash Ketchum costume. Blue vest, an old hat, and a pokeball toy I was able to find while rooting around in my old stuff. The best part of the costume was still in my backpack – and it was meant for BlackGuilmon.

"Hey, Henry, I'll be out for a while!" I shouted as I rushed out the door. "Me, May, and Davis are going to hang out!"

"Davis? Is he the other one you guys work with?" he asked, but I decided not to answer, as I was already out the door, slamming it shut. I jumped in the truck and drove off, speeding across town until I made it to the warehouse with barely a minute before I was late. On time!

"Took you long enough," May muttered from beside Dorumon. Dorumon was... eclectic, dressed in something that made her look like a little girl who couldn't decide between werewolf and princess so decided to go for both. She seemed excited about it. May had decided to go along with the werewolf half of the costume, kind of. At least I think so. She had some weird pilgrim hat on, a bunch of crosses, a long leather jacket. She saw my confused glare and shook her head. "I'm a Van Helsing. Like it?"

"... That's what that is?" I asked, unsure if I liked it. It was... a lot of metal and leather.

"And I'm a werewolf princess!" Dorumon shouted, the tiny pink crown bobbing around on her head as she jumped up and down in front of me.

"Yeah, I got that one. Nice costume!" I told the Digimon, earning an angrier glare from May.

"Finally," Davis said as he walked out of the back room, wearing a cheap looking plastic helmet and shield for a medieval knight. Huckmon was stumbling next to him, trying to walk on two legs in a ninja costume. "Someone who won't make me look like I didn't try."

"But you didn't try!" Huckmon piped up, somewhat muffled by the mask around his face.

"Yeah, well... Who tries that hard!?" Davis shouted at his partner while gesticulating in our friend's direction.

"So I'm the only one who is going to be matching?" I asked May and Davis, faking disappointment in both of them. I looked around after a moment. "Wait, where's BlackGuilmon?"

"BlackJerkmon got too excited for the candy and started eating the couch. We had to lock him up in the arenas until you got here," Dorumon explained, sounding just exhausted from the ordeal. She grinned. "But I did get to beat him up, so it's okay!"

"You take a little too much happiness from that," I told the Digimon nervously before heading back to meet my own partner When I pulled open the door, he was laying flat on the floor, slamming his tail into the ground and whining.

He slowly turned his head to me. "They locked me in here alone..." he whined at me. He jumped to his feet and began to snarl. "I'll kill them all! Screw the Load List!"

"No, you won't, BlackGuilmon," I told him. I walked up and scratched his head for a moment, then pulled off my backpack. He glanced up at me and sniffed it, growing annoyed there was no food in it he could smell. "It's your costume!" I reached in and pulled out a harness with a pair of black wings, a fake flame for his tail, and some white makeup to cover up the Hazard on his white chest.

"What is that?" he asked while I slowly advanced towards him.

I chuckled. "It's your costume so we can match, Shiny Charizard," I told him, an evil grin growing on my face.

"No!" he gasped as he scrambled backwards. "No, I won't do it! No!" He hit the wall of the arena. "NOOOOoooooo!"

Ten minutes later, I came out – fresh scratches and light burns I would have to deal with – accompanied by my Shiny Charizard, smoke rising from his nostrils. "Yeah, keep doing that," I told him. "It makes the costume seem more real."

"Oh, that's so cool!" Huckmon shouted. He wobbled over on two legs and stared up at BlackGuilmon with wide eyes. "You're a Charizard and a Trainer, I'm so jealous!"

BlackGuilmon stared down in surprise. With a short glance at me, he smiled. "Well... only the best costume for the best Digimon," he said as arrogantly as possible. "But, um, what is a Charizard?"

"Not bad, Taj," May said as she and Davis came up. She smacked my back hard enough to hurt before wrapping her arms around Davis and my shoulders. "KayKay, what's the plan?"

I nodded. "Well, I thought we could start simple," I explained before turning towards our Digimon, finally interacting like... acquaintances? Yeah, acquaintances. "What kind of candy crazy child wouldn't want a chance to trick or treat?"

May chuckled nervously at that suggestion. "You really think people will buy that they're kids?"

It was Davis that defended my plan. "Yeah, actually," he began. "After all, people would rather think they're really good costumes than small dragons. It worked with Digimon after the Shinjuku Incident, after all."

"Fine, fine," May said. She let go of us and gestured at us both. "But I'm not responsible for when the Troll decides to light someone on fire for giving him a toothbrush instead of snacks."

"I'll be on my best behavior, Hag," BlackGuilmon said, only his ears – standing in for the Charizard Horns – angled towards us.

"I hate him," May told me. "I hate him so much."

"Calm down. We'll have fun, okay?" I told her. I grinned excitedly. "Now, you remember where the big candy is, right? I'm thinking we put a... ten percent tax on the 'kids.'"

X X X

"Candy!"

"Trick or Treat!"

One of those was BlackGuilmon, and the other was Dorumon and Huckmon. I'll leave it to you to guess which was which.

The woman stared down at the three of them before smiling at Dorumon and Huckmon and giving them each two large candy bars... and then turning to BlackGuilmon and dropping one in. He looked down and back up. "Where's my second?" And then she slammed the door.

"You really should try being a little nicer," Dorumon told him while they hobbled down the stairs and the driveway back towards us. "That's why they gave us more candy!"

BlackGuilmon just grumbled under his breath and ignored her, using his claws to hold his bag tight. Huckmon hobbled along a step or so behind them, struggling to stand upright. "She's not wrong," I told him. He shot me a glare and the smoke began to rise again. "Calm down. I'm just saying, if you want more candy from people, you need to stop snapping 'Candy!' at them. The words 'Trick or Treat' do go a long way."

"But what's the point of saying 'trick or treat' when it's the same as saying 'candy?'" he asked as we passed a group of kids who stared at his costume in awe. And most just avoided May's. I glanced over at May, who caught my glance and glared back. So what, I like being right.

"It's tradition," Davis explained for me. "These things matter. They are part of who we are, and people like it when you agree to follow them, too."

"... Stupid humans, using 'feelings' like that."

"They're not so bad when you get used to them," Huckmon countered. He wobbled for a moment before catching his balance with his tail and pushing forward again. "Halloween is a tradition! Thanksgiving! Oh, Christmas! And most of the big ones here involve food! So much humans can't even finish it all. So much I can't even finish it all!"

"And he's tried his best," Davis muttered under his breath.

"The point is," Huckmon explained, annoyed with his partner's dig at him, "just say it. It's why we're getting more than you."

We reached the next house and I nodded. "Just try it," I echoed. With a huff, he marched off with the other Digimon up to the doorway.

"Trick or treat!"

"TRICK OR TREAT!"

"Oh, God," I groaned, slamming my head into my hand.

He came back with his pupils as thin as a razor edge. "I didn't even get candy that time!" he snapped at me.

A trio of kids came up to us, bags heavy with candy, and moved towards him. "Wow, that's a cool -" one reached out.

He turned and roared at them. The kids screamed, dropped their bags, and sprinted away at full speed. We watched them run for a few moments, their terror echoing. And then BlackGuilmon and I broke out laughing. "Did you see their faces?" I asked, doubled over and clutching my gut. "They're going to be telling that story forever!"

BlackGuilmon chuckled before turning to the candy. "And look what I got out of it!" he shouted, dropping his own bag and beginning to shovel their bags into his own. He smirked over at Dorumon and Huckmon. "Now who has the most candy? Oh! Let's go scare more kids to get more candy!"

"No!" May shouted. She slapped my back, cutting off my laughter. "Tell him no!"

I looked at her and shrugged. "What? Scaring kids is a hallmark of Halloween! They'll be fine," I told her dismissively.

"It's not a hallmark when it's a Digimon!" Davis hissed. "This isn't okay."

I groaned and nodded. "Fine. You're right," I admitted. "It's different when a dinosaur scares kids."

"And he leaves the candy," May demanded.

I scoffed. "You want to wrestle it out of his bag, be my guest. I'm not risking my hands for that," I told her with a gesture at BlackGuilmon's defensive snarling at the idea. "But you're right. No more stealing candy. I guess that is a bit mean."

"Funny and rewarding, though," BlackGuilmon pointed out with a bag now heavier than Dorumon's and Huckmon's combined. He glared up at me hopefully. "We aren't really going to listen, are we?"

"Yeah, we are," I said. I grimaced at the hint of guilt in my gut. "I kinda feel a little bad about you scaring them and taking their candy... even if it was funny."

Thankfully, our beeping Digivices cut in before May could snap at me again. We pulled them out and saw a swirling compass pointing towards the nearby suburban park. "Oh... that's not good," I muttered.

May gasped. "A Digimon bio-emerging this close to so many kids on Halloween... If we don't stop it, so many people could die..." she said hollowly.

Davis turned towards the park. "Then we stop it. Let's go."

BlackGuilmon was already charging ahead of us, bag slung over his back and leaking a little candy as he went. "Prey!"

"Of course that's his thought process," I grumbled before charging after him. "BG, you do know that if something happened, there would be no more candy for any of you, right? I'm okay with scaring kids, but at least try to value life!"

We and our Digimon rushed towards the burgeoning Bio-Emergence, the growing static of the Digital Field drawing our attention. I pulled on my dad's goggles and charged in, Van Helsing and St. George doing the same with their sunglasses when they came behind me. I pulled up my Digivice again and watched it finish its scan of the area, the darkness and trees around us giving off the perfect, creepy vibe for the Digimon that popped up on my screen. "Myotismon..." I gasped, my mind immediately going back to the old TV show. "A Ghost type Virus Digimon. The king of Undead Digimon, he can revive the Digimon he destroys as evil Virus Digimon. He's cruel, he's smart, and he's pure evil, and he's twice as strong at night. His Nightmare Claw attack can paralyze a Digimon, at which Grisly Wing attack sends a swarm of bats that attack and drain their target to nothing." I glanced around nervously. "It's night time and we're fighting a Vampire. Van Helsing, this one's on you."

"Thanks," May muttered dryly as she looked around, just as nervous as me. Davis, meanwhile, had gone full Government Agent mode, turning a scary, icy calm. "I'm so excited." She raised her Digivice. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate!" The egg appeared around Dorumon, who yelped and dropped her candy, rushing away from it before she finished Digivolving, shredding her costume.

"Aw... My princess outfit," Dorugamon muttered sadly, staring at the pink scraps on the ground.

BlackGuilmon glared at me. "What?"

"How come she gets to get out of her costume?" he growled, earning a well deserved eye roll for his trouble.

"Where's Myotismon?" Davis asked, glancing over at his partner.

Huckmon frowned and looked around. "I don't know. It's like he's invisible, Davis," he explained as he crouched on all fours and glared around. "I can't even smell him."

"What are you talking about? He's over there," BlackGuilmon said after a sniff of his own. We all followed his pointing claw and saw a tall, Vampiric Digimon creep out of the shadows.

"It seems your pet has a nose that even I can't fool," he said, his voice dripping with Dracula-esque charisma and disdain.

The remark set me and BlackGuilmon off. "Not a pet!" we shouted together. Then, just me this time, "He's my friend."

BlackGuilmon glanced over at me, an odd look on his face, then returned to growl at Myotismon. "So, how do we do this, Tasuke?" he asked. "I think Loading an Ultimate will make Digivolving even easier!"

"If you could fight one," I told him cautiously. I glanced towards Davis. "Aren't you going to Digivolve? We could definitely use an Ultimate here."

Davis frowned and shook his head. "I'll step in when I need to. For now, show me what you guys can do."

"Great. Love the confidence," May remarked dryly before looking over at our opponent. "Ready, Taj?"

"As I'll ever be." I pulled out my small deck of cards. "Let's go! Digi-Modify! Agumon Expert, activate!" I shouted as our Digimon charged the Ultimate. I pulled my next card before anything could happen. "Digi-Modify! Hyper-Speed activate!"

Dorugamon took to the skies as BlackGuilmon charged from the ground, claws glowing with energy. "Rock Crusher!" he snapped, bringing his claws into Myotismon's knees.

Where they did nothing. The Vampire laughed darkly and brought his leg back then forward, the snap kick sending a stunned BlackGuilmon soaring away. "How disappointing," he remarked before turning and slapping Dorugamon's Cannonball attack away with his own attack. "Nightmare Claw!" He threw his hand out, sending a blackened, evil looking ghost flying at the attack, robbing the metal sphere of all momentum so it fell to the ground.

"Cute," he remarked, then he jumped into the air. "Grisly Wing!" A cloud of bats flew out from his cape, swarming the battlefield and charging both our Digimon.

Being a Rookie, I doubted that BlackGuilmon could manage to survive long against those. I scrambled through my cards, looking for a useful one before grinning and pulling it up. "May, get ready to let loose the strongest attack card you can!" I told her before sliding the card. "Digi-Modify! Apollomon, activate!"

BlackGuilmon grinned and charged the cloud of bats flying towards him. His body began to glow, brighter and brighter until it seemed that a sun was ablaze in the center of the park. Myotismon shrieked in pain and fell from the sky, his powers destroyed by the strength of the sun. "Sun Ball Blast!"

"Digi-Modify! Alphamon Activate!" May shouted, and her partner above began to glow as a ethereal, green ring appeared around her.

"Digitalize Soul!" Purple streaks of light shot out of the green ring, rocketing towards Myotismon.

The evil Ultimate Digimon glanced at the bright, sunlike attack coming his way, then at the attacks of incredibly powerful Royal Knight code from the other side. Then the attacks slammed into where he was, sending a massive, glowing explosion upward and outward. Dust crystallized in the air, and began to rain down as glass. "That's not going to be easy to explain," Davis muttered, annoyed. He turned to his partner. "I think we've seen enough, right?"

"Right!" Huckmon shouted, dropping his own candy and rushing forward.

Davis reached into his pocket and pulled out a card I had never seen before. It was a bright blue on both sides, with nothing but a green 'D' at the center. "Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!" he snapped, and a huge, brown egg appeared around Huckmon, this one see through so we could view the change within. His skin flew off of him, revealing a brown wireframe beneath that grew quickly into one form, then stood up straight on a pair of knife like legs and grew even larger. A pair of large blades grew from his arms and his tail turned into a massive blade of its own. The Digimon's skin began to re-integrate and the egg exploded, revealing the massive, bipedal Dragon Man within.

He roared his name to the sky and slashed with his arms. "SaviorHuckmon!"

"What? Why did you Digivolve him? I thought this was over!" I shouted at Davis.

"Then where's the Data your partner wants to Load?" he asked, and I froze. That... was a good question.

I turned to BlackGuilmon. "Where is he?"

"Right here." Myotismon flew out of the ground as a shadow, slamming into Dorugamon and knocking her over. "Nightmare Claw!" The attack crashed into her and she screamed before freezing, her entire body turning a deep black as the paralyzing assault hit her.

"Dorugamon!" May shouted, terrified.

"Take him down," Davis told SaviorHuckmon, and the Ultimate charged forward, his cape fluttering behind him. Myotismon glanced up from his frozen prey and his eyes widened just before SaviorHuckmon slammed into him feet first, tearing them both away from Dorugamon.

"Ledge Strayed!" SaviorHuckmon shouted, and the blades of his feet began to glow a bright white, the attack tearing into his opponent's body and causing him to roar out.

"Digi-Modify! Agumon Expert, activate!" Davis snapped, and the glow began to grow brighter, burning Myotismon even more as it turned into a Vaccine type attack. "Power, activate!"

SaviorHuckmon backflipped away from his opponent and landed without a noise before charging him again. "Nightmare Claw!" Myotismon gasped out, sending out an attempt to paralyze his opponent.

But he was too fast, leaping over the attack and opening his jaw while still in the air. "Meteor Flame!" Quick blasts of flame flew from his mouth, crashing into Myotismon and stunning him slightly. As SaviorHuckmon got close, the red blades on his arms and tail began to glow a bloody, bright red. "You like destroyed data, right? Let's see yours! Trident Saber!" He shot forward with a single jump, and a red, six pointed star appeared on Myotismon as SaviorHuckmon landed behind him. The red on his own blades died down... before all three cuts finally dealt their damage. Myotismon was hit, vertically up to down, then from left shoulder to right hip, then from right shoulder to left hip, and the blades carved through him. He screamed, and his data began to drift to the sky.

I looked over at BlackGuilmon. "Well?"

He sighed and shook his head. "You don't absorb the data of a Digimon you didn't defeat," he explained sullenly.

I scoffed. "That's stupid. We need it!" I told him.

He looked towards me, looking as annoyed with his own decision as I was. "It's, ugh, tradition."

X X X

May or Tasuke's phones. Those had to be their Digivices, Henry was sure of it. After all, it made sense. She had 'gotten a new phone' not long after he had been told of the first Digimon to appear, and then Tasuke's had changed not long after Gethen had shown up, unannounced, at their door to tell Henry about the BlackGuilmon. This presented a problem. Tasuke had been on his best behavior, lately. While usually that would be good, it didn't give Henry any opportunity to take the phone again so he could study it and, maybe, use it to connect him with Takato and Rika again. After all, that's what phones were for, so it made sense a Digivice phone could let him call them with some effort.

But that's not what he should be focusing on, he reminded himself. He had a more pressing conversation to deal with – Gethen himself. They had a video call scheduled for – Henry checked his watch and grumbled. Five minutes ago. The man liked to make people wait, probably to make himself seem more important since he couldn't be bothered to be on time. It made Henry think he was annoying more than anything else. Still, he did wait in his basement workshop, so he had to begrudgingly accept that it gave Gethen what he wanted. Eventually, Gethen did call in.

"Terribly sorry, Henry, I was in an important meeting. How was your Halloween?" the man asked as he appeared on the computer screen, leaning back in his chair. "Plenty of trick or treaters out there in suburbia, yes?"

"Yes. Plenty," Henry responded through his teeth. "But I'm here for business, Gethen."

The head of D-CARD sighed and leaned forward onto his desk. "How boring, Henry. And here I thought we had a rapport," he said sarcastically. He tented his hands. "Well, what do you have to report?"

"First of all, I haven't been able to find these Digimon you've told me about, but I did survey some of their handiwork. There was a destroyed shopping mall garage, and it reminds me of things I saw when I was a kid. With a little bit of time, I can repair my D-Power and track them down quickly."

Gethen flinched for the barest second, and Henry barely saw it even though he was looking for it. So, that basically confirmed his fears that Tasuke and May were the Digimon's partners; Gethen would not have seemed so worried about Henry finding the Tamers if they were strangers to Henry. Then the quiet anxiety vanished, replaced with a confused look. "Hm, the Digimon..? Ah! You must mean the Dorumon and BlackGuilmon!" Gethen said, tapping his forehead as if trying to hammer that idea into his head. "I forgot that I asked you to look for them. I've been busy, I apologize."

"You... forgot?" Henry asked dryly. He shook his head. "That doesn't sound like you."

Gethen stopped tapping his forehead and glared over at Henry. "As I said, I have been busy, Henry," he growled. He held his hand up and placed his index finger on each of his fingers one after another as he listed things he had been doing. "I have to secure more funding for D-CARD in the face of this year's election season, direct agents across four continents and dozens of nations, monitor our nurseries, track a traitor who has already killed one of our other agents, have meetings with R&D that I barely understand, and approve the new training regimen for incoming agents. I'm sorry if a request I made almost two months ago slipped my mind, Wong. Not all of us can live the calm life of a suburban step-father."

Henry narrowed his eyes but didn't retort. "So where are they, then? If you don't mind me asking."

Gethen glared at Henry for a moment, then leaned back and took a calming breath. "Well, I suppose there is no harm in that, Henry," he said, the edge gone from his voice now. He tapped his desk with one finger. "I had them brought here for training. I even forced the bio-emergence of a Myotismon to track their growth. So far they show promise, if little else. Their handler had to destroy the Myotismon, but they held their own for an impressive time."

Myotismon? If Henry remembered anything from the original shows, it was that Myotismon was one of the more dangerous Ultimate Digimon out there. And... given that Henry was certain Tasuke and May were the Tamers he had been told to find, he was willing to bet that the kernel of truth in that lie was Myotismon's appearance. He was torn between pride in his ward and niece for their small victory and terror that Gethen would subject them to a fight that dangerous. Thankfully, the warring emotions helped him to keep his face straight, lending the appearance that he believed the lie. "Well, I suppose that would be good news," he agreed coolly. He sighed and looked over at his computer tower. "I came up with a few ideas after you told me about the BlackGuilmon's massacre. This should make it easier to capture newly hatched Digimon in the nursery and prevent a tragedy like that one from happening again." He pulled the program up and sent it through his secure e-mail to Gethen. "I hope that this can be helpful for your team in the future and prevent any senseless Digimon deaths."

Gethen raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Thank you, Henry. I'll send it over to R&D and they'll work on implementing it with our current infrastructure," he said, impressed. "I doubt there will be problems, though. Other than some of the Monster Makers themselves, no one is better at this than you."

"Well, Digimon do seem to be an inherited trait sometimes. Maybe the show was right: children who engage with Digimon are destined to engage with them again," Henry said simply. He turned his gaze towards his D-Power. "I hope that's the case, so I can get Tasuke's parents back with their Digimon."

"If anyone can figure out how to do it, Henry, it's you," Gethen said. He glanced down at his watch. "Ah, it seems I'm running late for a meeting. If I have to speak with you, I'll contact you through usual means. Have a nice day, Henry." The screen blinked out, leaving Henry alone.

"I hate that lying bastard," he growled to himself before looking towards his program, which contained a very well hidden trojan that would send him information bit by bit. A federal crime that could get him killed, but that was only if he was found out. And he wouldn't be. No one who worked for D-CARD was as good at Digital Field Programming as he was, just like Gethen had said. Maybe he wouldn't even need to confiscate Tasuke's Digivice again to get the information he wanted. Either way, one step closer to getting Takato, Rika, and all their Digimon back. Henry grinned and moved up the stairs, preparing to make himself a celebratory drink. He deserved one, after all.

X X X

I sprinted through the parking lot, already a solid ten minutes late to school. I – okay, this time it was my fault. I overslept because I was so tired after we watched our sugar rush-afflicted Digimon all night. "Crap, crap, crap!" I growled as I tore through the doors and nearly drifted around the corner on my rush to my locker. I nearly ran into someone in my charge but managed to avoid them by an inch. "Crap, crap, crappity, crap!" I ripped my locker open and stuffed some things in while pulling others out. "Crap!" I slammed the locker shut and checked my phone. Make that fifteen minutes late. "Crap!" I rushed away, barreling through the door to my programming class.

I looked around nervously when I burst through the doorway, nearly falling on my face and crashing into the computers on the desks. "Where's... Mr. Keane?" I asked over the chuckles of my classmates. I made my way over to my spot near May. Davis was gone; some kind of religious thing. "Uh... what's going on? He's never fifteen minutes late."

"No one's told us anything," May explained with a shrug. "Everyone's already started the 'five more minutes and we can legally leave' thing. I'm starting to wonder if it's true."

"There's no way that I'm that lucky," I pointed out while sliding into my seat. "No, I'm sure that hardass, angry old man is going to walk through those doors any second and yell at me for being late. Even though he doesn't know I'm late!"

"Yeah, because nobody would tell him," May remarked dryly.

Begrudgingly, I had to admit she was right. Every class had a teacher's pet that would do it. On the other hand, Davis wasn't here right now. Ha! Got him! "Still, I have a chance to get away with it this time," I pointed out, mustering all my hope when I said that. "At least hope it could work out, May."

She rolled her eyes, exasperatedly agreeing, "KayKay. I'll hope you get away with being stupid. But only because we're basically family, Taj."

"And aren't you the nicest family a guy could ask for," I retorted.

After another minute or two, I turned to look over at the empty desk. "Seriously, though, where the heck is he?" I turned to look at her. "Do you think he's okay?"

And that was when the door finally opened, and someone who looked vaguely familiar walked in. It was a woman, with short red hair dressed in business casual slacks and blouse. My mind flashed back five minutes and I froze. I'd nearly run into her when running to get to class. I slowly turned away, trying not to attract the attention of what was obviously our substitute teacher. "Taj? What's wrong?" May asked from beside me. She poked my shoulder when I didn't reply. "Taj?"

"Hello, I'm going to be your substitute," the woman announced, drawing everyone's attention to her. "I'm Ms. Jennings. Your regular teacher, Mister... um..." She glanced down to check a packet of notes she was holding. "Keane. He contracted very serious food poisoning and is going to be out sick for at least the next month. If you wish to send gifts, the administration has information on how to do so in the front office. He also left teaching notes on what you were supposed to do, so... sorry, we're not watching videos in class."

I slid down in my chair. Great. An authority substitute. That could only mean – "And you." I groaned and slowly turned around to see her pointing at me. "I saw you coming in late." I grimaced, ready to accept my fate. Detention. Again. But she smiled, and my blood ran even colder. "But I'm not going to punish you." Oh. Oh, this was bad. I could already tell. "Instead, everyone is going to do two activities today." The eyes of everyone in the room the normal side of May's computer brain snapped to me, glaring daggers. Yep. Bad. "Congratulations Mister..." she checked the packet again for the seating chart. "Tasuke Joryawa. You obviously have a devotion to learning."

"Now," she said, addressing the entire class. "Here's what you're going to do..."

I let my head fall to the desk. "Great. Just great," I groaned while May laughed at me. After all, two or one, she'd be done in ten minutes, if not less.

X X X

When May got into her car, she was immediately assaulted by the tiny purple Digimon that had come with her. "May!" Dorimon shouted in excitement, nuzzling into her partner's lap. "How was your day?"

"Same old," May replied. She chuckled. "You'll never guess who was late."

"Dummy?" Dorimon supplied before laughing with May. "I'm more surprised when he isn't late!"

"Like I said. Same old," May joked. She put her partner in the passenger seat and started to pull out of the spot.

"I smelled a Digimon today."

The truck jerked and May turned to her partner. "You what?"

"Yeah. A new Digimon. It wasn't Huckmon, he wasn't here today," Dorimon explained absently. She plopped down in her seat. "It wasn't very big." She got pouty. "I think it's like me."

"In-Training..?" May wondered quietly. She shook her head when a car began honking its horn at her for being half in a spot and blocking the path. She sighed and finished pulling the car out before pulling out her Digivice and texting Davis and Taj.

"Guys, there was an In-Training Digimon at school today. I think we're being hunted again, because only a Tamer or Digidestined would have one of those. Let's meet, now, at the warehouse."

"You think it's an enemy Digimon?" Dorimon asked her partner. She set her brow and got into a pouncing stance in the passenger seat. "Don't worry. Once I get big and Digivolve to Dorugamon, I'll take them down no problem!"

"I know you will," May replied. Her face fell. "Unless it's that Chiros guy again."

"Oh... Well, maybe I'll Digivolve again!" Dorimon pointed out. She grinned wide. "Just imagine BlackJerkmon's face when I reach Ultimate before he even gets to Champion. He won't be able to handle the embarrassment!"

May couldn't help but laugh at that image. "Ha! I could get behind that, Dory. Anything that takes the Troll down a peg is good by me." Her laughter died down quickly. "But we should still come up with a plan. Ugh! Why does being a spy have to be so stressful!?"

X X X

Well, I can definitely vouch for the whole idea that people don't want to believe in Digimon thing. After all, Takato basically used the same, bad costume excuse for Guilmon and never got any questions from anybody. Still, it doesn't work as well as my favorite excuse: stuffed animal. That let me take Terriermon anywhere... and leave him with Suzie when he was being annoying. He deserved the Princess Pretty Pants treatment, sometimes.

Good to see that Tasuke and May can handle themselves and their partners, even if they aren't as strong as they need to be yet. Fighting an Ultimate Digimon when you can't Digivolve to Ultimate is not fun. And doing it when your Digimon is a Rookie? Tasuke's just lucky that any kind of Guilmon has a skull thicker than rocks. And with Davis and Huckmon around, they should be safe. At least, I'd say that if it weren't for the fact he's working for the guy putting them in danger. Forcing a Myotismon to Bio-Emerge in a neighborhood full of kids? This guy makes Yamaki on his worst day look like a saint!

Anyways, I hope they can deal with this Tamer hunting them at school quickly, and without fighting there. Digimon fights can cause a lot of collateral damage, and in a place full of people that's bad news.

Hope we see more on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.