Takato shifted and swayed as the train blasted through subway station after subway station, bits of light appearing every so often against the blurred background composed of people and the city. Guilmon pressed his head against the glass, trying to catch all the images no matter how hard it was. His soft breath left a fogged imprint of his nose against the glass. Tilting his head, Guilmon stopped to look up at Takato, Takato could only reply with a content smile.
It had been Guilmon's choice to take the transit system purely for the spectacle of it, even if the places they had been wanting to go had been within walking distance. It wasn't like Guilmon didn't know this but he also argued that they didn't get the chance to do this often so why not make the most of it? Takato wasn't bothered too much by it either given he had just been looking forward to going out with Guilmon more than anything else.
Though I won't tell Mom or Dad that, Takato thought cleverly remembering how they had wanted him and Guilmon to scout out the competition more than anything resembling them having fun. It would be all the same to Guilmon he knew. Just an excuse for him to eat more bread made for him by people just happy to give back to one of the Tamers that helped save the world.
Finally after taking too many extra stops and boarding more trains than they probably should have, being doted on and spotted by all kinds of fans young and old, Takato and Guilmon stood in Shinjuku Square. He checked the time on his D-Ark and grimaced a bit at seeing just how much time they had spent on the trains.
"Alright Guilmon, it's time to get serious." Takato raised a clenched fist his red eyes burning with fiery determination, clear focus, and perfect clarity. Guilmon cocked his head, clearly confused by the look on his tamer's face.
"We had plenty of fun on the trains, but now we need to get going on the trips to all the different bakeries." Takato reached into his back pocket, taking out a sheet with the various bake shops his parents had asked him to visit "We'll start here and work our way across Shinjuku Square. Top menu and selling items only, got it."
"Got it!" Guilmon raised a clawed hand to his forehead, a proper soldier in all but uniform returning Takato's brimming determination until he didn't. He reached down to the satchel hanging off of him, opening the small black bag and rummaging through it. Takato looked at him curiously, glancing again at the D-pad in his hand to make sure they didn't lose too much time. After a moment, Guilmon's hands came forth from the bag holding the item he least expected to be there.
"My… goggles?" whispered Takato taking the goggles from Guilmon's outstretched hand.
Guilmon nodded happily.
"Your dad told me to bring them with you in case you needed them. We're going to get serious right? So you better put on your goggles, Takato." Guilmon said it without a hint that he was making a joke. Takatos fingers brushed over the worn, slightly scratched blue glass of the goggles. The yellow paint had begun to chip he saw, revealing the black, gray-like material underneath. The straps themselves still held on, sturdy as they had ever been.
It was weird to say that he felt nostalgic, only fourteen after all, but he couldn't think of any other way to describe it. It was because of the show and the card game that he had gotten them, to look more like Tai, and maybe even get to act a bit more like him too. When he got Guilmon he had the silly idea that having them somehow made him a better Tamer. It wasn't true of course, only time and experience gave him that. Still, he wore it throughout all the adventures, to the Digital World and back, and despite it showing its age, it still filled him with that same energy that he had first felt back when he convinced his dad to buy them for him.
He slipped them over his head, letting the strap rest over the collar of his shirt. Takato looked at Guilmon, who nodded with satisfaction like some great piece of the puzzle had been missing until just now.
"Right then, now we're set!" Takato once more clenching his hand into a fist, he pumped it with vigor, Guilmon raising his hands in triumph as they set down the trail of bakery goods.
The first was a bakery shop that only specialized in on-the-spot bakery goods, the hot breath of the oven peppering Takato and Guilmons faces but what pulled them in was the warm, steamy smell of freshly pulled bread being pulled out of the oven. They had been given a few samples. Fresh, flaky, and buttery truffle rolls melted in their mouths, the moistness carrying the rich, sweet butter mix, leaving their mouths watering for more. Anpan came after, red bean paste spilling from the small hole where the bean paste had been applied. Though no less moist, the Anpan had been seasoned to a firmer exterior, one that gave away and spilled the bean paste, rolling over the bread itself and covering their tongues in it. Finally satisfied both Guilmon and Takato took a small bag with them, thanking the owners for their hospitality and the bread.
The second shop specialized in glazed donuts with all sorts of sweet toppings, usually sugary cereal brands. Guilmon ordered a chocolate donut glazed with chocolate frosting and covered in chocolate puffs. Takato almost asked him if had gotten enough chocolate but decided against challenging Guilmon's imagination. Takato himself had ordered their bismark, filled not with any kind of bean paste but instead a rich thick Bavarian cream that the owner said came straight from Germany. Takato decided against doubting them, but as the sweet creamy insides spilled outward, all feelings of doubt were washed away. In the end, they walked away with a bag full of them, one for each flavor of donut. Guilmon ended up being unable to help himself, emptying his bag of any of the peanut-filled ones.
The third shop was a mix of cases full of freshly baked goods set alongside brand-baked goods from large companies. Takato's eyes narrowed in steely focus. He looked past all the prepackaged baked goods into the clear glass window housing why he and Guilmon were here. It wasn't any secret that his family's biggest selling baked good was the Guilmon bread they had made during the D-Reaper incident all those years ago. At the time it was just a special treat made for Guilmon. However, it did not stay that way. Once Guilmon was caught eating it outside, the demand for it began pouring in. It was great for their family business, but this sort of thing provided an avenue for the competitors to take advantage of it.
"There it is, Guilmon." it was almost a whisper, but Takato felt Guilmon walk up close to him, lips smeared with chocolate but no less determined or resolved as his tamer was.
"Agumon bread," Guitmons whispered, Takato nodding his head observantly.
It was only natural in the time following the Digimon's emergence and with Guilmon being the top seller of his family's bake shop other bake shops would also do the same. Taking advantage of Digmon Adventures popularity this bake shop had created Agumon bread. Guitmon would always have the advantage over any Agumon, especially with his larger eyes and the bat-wings. It helped Guilmon bread have a crunchniess to it. Besides that, they had saved the world together and so everyone everywhere recognized Guilmon. Still, he knew Agumon was a great choice if you had to choose, bringing with him all the different variants of his line.
Shaped after his head, just like Guitmon bread had been, your standard Agumon bread was orange-melon flavored. Next to it, a dark-purple color was the virus variant that was a blackberry-guava flavor, and next to that was the Geo variant with a red line mixed along the orange sides of the main bread, this flavor being tangerine-raspberry.
Takato had to swallow the hard lump in his throat. It was worse than what he had thought or had even been advertised. They looked delicious, he admitted to himself shamefully as he betrayed the hard work and efforts of his parents. Still, he would redeem himself soon enough, entering the store where he was greeted almost instantly.
"Hey there Takato! And you brought Guilmon too! I'll have to let my kids know." said the owner in a friendly welcoming voice that ignored any reason why Takato might have been here. Takato shoved down any feelings of guilt, remembering where his loyalties stood.
"Oh! Come to check out the Agumon bread. You're in luck I have a fresh batch coming hot out of the oven. Filled with creme, wanted to experiment a bit."
"That sounds great! Can I get an order of two? One for me and Guilmon? Oh, and can I get one of each to take home?" The owner nodded proudly, and Guilmon looked up at Takato with a happy smile, shaking his tail with joy at the thought of even more filled bread.
"So, how's your old man handling it? The Agumon bread that is? He must think it's pretty poor of me to copy him." Takato blinked at the Owner's seemingly proud declaration "Competition is always a good thing, Takato. Having the right character for it can only make you better than how you started. Who knows, maybe after today I'll be sending my kids to pick up some of the baked goods your family makes. Here you are, Takato. Guilmon, for you, I put the ones that were double stuffed." Guilmon grabbed them happily, while Takato listened to the tone of the owner's voice.
He didn't sound upset or surprised. The opposite he sounded happy, proud even. Perhaps the fact his bakery was so good that his dad had sent him, his son, to scout out the competition as it were. An acknowledgment of talent, if Takato had described it.
In just a short bit, Takato and Guilmon were handed their orders, and with a quick exchange of yen, Takato took a bite, followed shortly by Guilmon. He tasted the regular Agumon bread while Guilmon had opted for the BlackAgumon.
"Mmmmm! Takato, this is so good!" cooed Guilmon, joyously enjoying the soft pastry. Takato didn't let out as obvious a cry of joy as Guilmon, but inside he knew he felt the same way. The flaky, sugary exterior betrayed the soft moistness of the bread's interior. It broke away easily and only remained in his mouth long enough to leave him wanting another bite. The tangy-sweet flavor left him feeling like he had bitten into some bizarre orange-melon fruit, though he knew that was on purpose.
They had eaten plenty of bread before making it to this store and so Takato had been worried that he might have had to work off the bread sitting in his stomach with the walk home or wait until the next day in school to try it. Yet now he felt like the Agumon bread had itself eaten away at all the other bread to make room for itself and others like himself.
"It's good, delicious," Takato said wiping what remained on his wrist while Guilmon licked away at his claws.
The owner let out a loud laugh, drawing eyes and stares that stayed on him and Guilmon once they noticed them.
"Don't suppose I could get your endorsement, now could I? I'd promise all the free Agumon bread you could want!" Takato put a hand on Guilmon, keeping his head from rising wildly at the possibility of being given more free bread.
"Thanks but I don't think my parents would like me endorsing one of their top competitors." Takato turned him down as respectfully as he could. No matter how good the Agumon bread had been he was still his father's son. Still, this didn't mean there had to be any kind of ill will towards another fellow breadmaker.
'Even if finding out how much Guilmon and I liked his bread will probably make him jealous.' Takato kept that thought to himself.
"Ah well, you can't blame me for trying. It's not everyone that can have a Tamer as a kid. Unless you have another Guilmon hidden somewhere else?"
Takato gave a small chuckle, looking down at Guilmon and rubbing his head softly as his partner's ears raised at the mention of another Guilmon.
"Sorry, but Guilmons is an original. One of a Kind even. There's no one else like him in the whole digital world." Takato wondered if he sounded possessive, though it wasn't something he worried about. It was the truth about Guilmon, as unlike any other Digimon, he had wished him into existence, based entirely on all the notes and drawings he did of him.
If there had to be another Guilmon, Takato wondered if they had to be wished into being too.
"Guess I'll have to make do with Agumon, for the time being that is." Takato's hand clenched with a staunch smile and looked intently at the owners' statement.
"Just remember, I made Guilmon to be better than any Agumon. Mon-to-Mon, Guilmon can't lose." The talk had brought out a boldness in Takato that he hadn't expected. Whether it was the sugar or the pride he felt in Guilmon or even guilt about how much he ended up liking the Agumon bread.
The owner only gave a laugh, handing Takato and Guilmon their orders just as Guilmon finished his Agumon bread. After handing them the money, and saying their goodbyes, Takato and Guilmon left the store and went back to their planned routes.
"Bye, everyone! Thanks for the bread!" Guilmon waved behind him briefly following behind Takato in a short jog. It wasn't too long after that Takato felt the bread from the previous store finally push around in his stomach.
"You think Mom and Dad would say anything if we called out early? I'm getting pretty full." Takato let out a tired breath, placing a hand against his stomach.
"Does that mean I get to have your bread?" Guilmon said his eyes filled with hungry joy. Takato wasn't surprised and thought about how lucky he had been to have gotten Guilmon attached to bread instead of something that would have been harder to get for him.
"Sure sure, just remember if you get full too you can't have that custom order deluxe-sized Guilmon bread Dad promised for you." that seemed to do a little shake Guilmons desire to eat more bread. If anything it had the exact opposite.
"Hey Takato, do you think I'm the only Guilmon?" Takato looked curiously at his partner. There was no sign or tone of an upset or otherwise bothered sentiment from Guilmon. Guilmon was not asking out of melancholy or sadness. It was a question, simple as. Much like everything Guilmon did, it was born out of pure curiosity.
"Yeah. Well, I think so. I mean I drew you and made up your moves and stuff. I even made your evolutions like Growlmon and WarGrowlmon." Takato felt pride and joy in that. He kept the original drawings in his room, the white paper tinted slightly yellow with time. Takato had even held onto the prototype notes for some of the moves and tossed around ideas he had.
"Even Gallantmon?" Takato stopped, drawing a blank. He had never thought about that. He knew he drew up Growlmon and WarGrowlmon, but Gallantmon?
"Uh, no. I think I had some ideas about what your Mega evolution would look like but nothing like Gallantmon's."
"If you didn't do it then maybe the Diginomes did it too. Ha, they answered your wish so maybe you knew what Gallantmon looked like all along and just didn't know it right then."
"Hmhm." Takato couldn't help but notice one of the evolutions had gone unmentioned. Megidramon, Guilmons dark evolution. He hadn't designed him either, but he still existed anyway. Had the Diginomes done that too, basing Megidramon off what he thought and felt during the fight with Beezlemon? If Gallantmon was his wish, then what was Megidramon?
Takato shook his head, freeing himself from that rabbit hole. That was then, a memory of a nightmare that he had already accepted. Now was, neither a dream nor a nightmare but the present where he and Guilmon still had to occupy themselves with more stores and more bread.
And suddenly and without warning Takato felt the hair on his arms raised. He found himself looking around at nothing: nothing at all but the people gaping and taking a photo of himself and Guilmon. Alertness gripped him and held him even tighter.
"Takato." Takato finally stopped, turning his head to see that Guilmon had remained stationed and still, ignoring the looks those passing him gave him. Guilmon was hunched over, head pointing straight. His arms and legs had spread out, with the claws on his foot digging into the concrete sidewalk. Suddenly, Takato felt the alert turn to tension.
"Something... is coming!" Reaching his hand out as his feet began their way toward Guilmon, Takato fought against the powerful gust that tore through the city street. Debris, dust, and more swept across the busy area, the people around him crying out in worry. Through covered eyes, he caught a violet-blue flash past the various screens covering the nearby buildings, distorting and warping the images on the screen. The lights above grew and grew brighter until they burst in terrifying form. Bits of glass rained down just people began panicking, running away at the sudden display.
Some pushed and shoved Takato as he ran towards Guilmon. Takato on his part tried his best not to add to the growing franticness but found himself pushing back. Step-by-step Guilmons powerful legs carved the concrete sidewalk, parting everything between himself and his Tamer like a powerful boulder against a river.
Neither needed to say anything, save a glance to know what was happening.
A wild one, Takato affirmed in his head wondering very briefly if Kazu's words had somehow manifested. The last one that had manifested like this had been-
Takato shook his head. No time for that, his thoughts turned to Guilmon who finally stood in front of him. His golden amber eyes were dilated, muscles tensed and at the ready. Guilmon opened his bag and Takato reached in without a second thought.
The goggles were placed firmly on his head, and with a quick adjustment of the strap, the familiar feel against his face made him feel like a kid emulating the Digi-destined on the TV show. Takato smirked to himself, remembering something Rika had told him a year prior about the TV show.
"I like the show, but honestly? Being a Tamer is way cooler."
He slid his deck of cards on his side and gripped his D-Ark tightly. He didn't want to think of himself as seeking out trouble or danger, but the energy running through him made him reconsider that.
"Alright Guilmon, you ready?" As if Takato had needed to ask, Guilmon shook his head with purpose, turning his neck back towards the violet trail and making its way down the street through more of the screens.
In one sharp motion, Guitmon jumped into the air, landing over the railing into the road full of
emptying cars. Takato followed suit, pressing his hands against the railings and vaulting
over them as he followed after Guilmon, eyes trailing the violet light the entire time, As more and more bulbs and light were broken, showering the area below in fragments of light and glass, Takato could raised his D-Ark, trying to catch a look and identify the Digimon causing all this damage,
No luck it's moving too much, Takato figured it must have been a virus type. Virus types had a nasty habit of overloading most electrical-based technologies. It couldn't have been past at most a rookie stage, but he would have to check with Yamaki after that.
Still, the sight and danger didn't stop Takato from hearing and spotting on-lookers who were recording the sight with their phones, turning towards him and Guilmon in excitement as they ran by.
"Yo! It's Takato and Guilmon! I told you it was a real Digimon!"
"Aw man no way, hey Takato you think after you can hang and take a photo!"
"Go get 'em!"
Takato wanted to shout at them to leave, to follow the crowds away from the danger when suddenly an entire screen burst and exploded large glass, metal, and firey bits down upon the very same group. They stood frozen, perhaps from shock or fear but Takato acted almost on instinct, swiping a card through his D-Ark just as fast.
"Digi-Modify! MetalGarurumon - Metal Wolf Claw!" Guilmons eyes glow a brilliantly icy blue before a stream of blue ice swept forth from his mouth. It rushed ahead at a dazzling speed, washing over the debris like water over stone. In that instant, the debris broke into tiny snowy fragments that peppered the crowds underneath as the blue stream ceased from Guilmon's mouth.
The crowd "Ooed" and "Awed" forgetting the still-present danger of the wild one. Takato rushed ahead alongside Guilmon. He felt that he should have warned them to leave but upon spotting the emerging and rapidly moving light of the Digimon opted to focus on the source of the danger.
It made a sharp turn, taking him and Guilmon down a dark alley where a familiar fog had begun to appear. It grew denser and denser until all sight of the other end of the alley had vanished in its deep and obscure sight. Takato raised his D-Ark, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Digimon in question. Still nothing, and the fog got more and more obscure in response.
Bio-emergence field or not, they were still in an alley but that meant they were in a tight space where only two direct exits were present for them. Three counting going up and Takato already had card combos in case it came down to it. Despite that Takato knew they had to be careful with whatever they were dealing with.
In theory, it should only be rookie-level Digimon or below. Nothing Guilmon couldn't more than deal with but with how many Digimon were coming out sometimes the rookie rank wasn't entirely fair to how strong or weak a Digimon might be.
And then, all at once, Takato heard the sharp whistle of something passing by. His arm was knocked back and he felt something just graze his skin, tearing at the sleeve of his shirt. Quickly Guilmon jumped in front of him, smacking another, more centered projectile with little effort and allowing a third to crumple and break against the scales of his body. A deep growl came from Guilmon, his body becoming rigid and shaking with rage. His eyes had become sharp, pupils dilating to the point of becoming thin black lines as he peered into the mist.
"I'm fine," Takato told Guilmon, not wanting to distract him even if he had been hurt. The white sleeve of his shirt had been torn, but aside from the slightest of grazes, Takato had more to fear from his parent's reaction to his shirt being damaged than himself. It was the school's uniform, after all.
"Alright then, come out!" spat Guilmon his voice barely hiding the rage and anger building up inside of him. A sharp, shrill-like cackling came from the most obscure parts of the mist.
"Hehehe so it's true, humans are so weak even a small attack like that is enough to delete them. But I guess it's also true how much stronger they make a Digimon. I mean, you didn't even phase from my attack."
"He said come out!" shouted Takato, having no patience for whatever talk the wild one was looking to start.
"Why? I haven't done anything! Aren't you Tamers supposed to be nice with rookie Digimon?"
"Not when they go around destroying part of a city and running away. People could have gotten hurt from what you did." Takato readied his D-Ark, and the sound of repeating flaps began to enter his ears.
"So if I apologize, you'd let me go? I'm sorry. There."
"You didn't mean that sorry!" yelled Guilmon his eyes focusing in on one part of the fog. He dug his feet into the concrete ground once more.
"How would you know that? Of course, I meant it. I don't have anything to do with you and your Tamers. Or any of the other ones for that matter. I'm sorry. Now do you want a third or fourth apology or what?"
"If you're sorry you'll come with me and Guilmon to HYPNOS. They'll decide to either send you back to the digital world or, maybe, find you a partner. You could make a lifelong friend, maybe even be friends with Guilmon and me. But you have to stop right now and come out." Takatos sincerity earned a scornful laughter, and he felt his footing move towards a running stance.
"You guys are too great, I mean it! I come here, cause a commotion blow up a few things and your response is to ask me if I want to stick around and be friends? Hilario-"
"Help. Me."
A voice, a tiny one, cried out and Takato felt himself rush forward without another moment's hesitation. More projectiles and large syringe needles landed where Takato once stood. He glanced at them and recognized them and the Digimon that made them. Guilmon tore the concrete below his feet jumping overhead towards the source of the voice, his clawed hand rushing forward in a powerful arc. They smashed into the Digimon, who cried shrilly as he was overcome by Guilmons strength and speed. Crashing into the side of the building, it was pinned down by Guilmon who latched his jaws onto one of its bat-like wings.
As this happened Takato saw something be released from its clutches. A small white against the dreary gray and he rushed even faster, diving his hands caught it and he held it closely to his chest. Its frame was small, barely larger than a cat or a small dog. Its long white ears reminded him of Terriermons though much more frazzled and worn. Large gashes were carved into its side, no doubt from where it had held from. Labored breaths caused its chest to rise and fall weakly. As Takato held it, its body shook either from pain or from the cold Takato could feel from it.
"Hey it's okay, we got you now." Takato reassured it with a warm tone in his voice as he raised his D-Ark towards it "You must be a new Digimon because I don't think I've seen you before." The blue screen jumped forth, and said…"Invalid subject? What? What does that mean?" Takato glanced back down at the creature as red eyes opened themselves to him "Oh, hi, my name is Takato and that's Guilmon! We saved you from Demi-Devimon up there."
"What?! How did you know it was me!" cried the DemiDevimon as Takato scoffed at how easily his haughty tone had vanished.
"I watched the show, duh." DemiDevimon bucked under Guillmon futilely unable to overcome the difference in strength between himself and his partner. Takato took the chance to glance back down at the mysterious white… thing. It must have been a new Digimon that his D-Ark couldn't register, for some reason or another. What else could it have been? Some new animal that was shaped like a cat-fox-rabbit hybrid thing?
Suddenly Takato felt a push on his chest, and in a blinding moment, the small white creature had lept completely from his arms. Reaching out to bring it back in, Takato was distracted for just a moment as something fell from its white body.
"Gah! It's getting away!" shouted DemiDevimon in a fit "Copipiemon get out here already and help me!"
Takato looked around and saw from the very edge of the building that the wall Guilmon had pinned DemiDevimon belonged to a small, almost child-like form. Its toothy-fanged grin peered down at the two Digimon as its glowing green hands raised themselves towards the two. Takato reached out with his D-Ark and examined it quickly.
"Copipiemon. Data type. He's got the power to-" Takato's words ceased as with a flash, the DemiDevimon turned from one to six separate DemiDevimon!
Three of the six grabbed onto Guilmon's tail, and rapid flaps of their wings yanked Guilmon away, freeing the original DemiDevimon. Freed and with two more of his copies, DemiDevimon wasted no time, turning towards the helpless Guilmon.
"Bat-Flutter!" cried all three DemiDevimons as they flapped their wings together, showering Guilmon in a torrent of shadowy bats that sent him flying toward the opposite wall. Guilmon shook his head raising himself onto his feet even as rubble came down upon him. The Demi's laughed, now coming together as all six.
"Tough aye? Fine then! Boys! All at once!" shouted the main DemiDevimon renewed pride dripping from his voice.
"Bat-Flutter!" cried all six in unison, though Takato had seen enough.
"Wargreymon's Brave Shield activate!" A golden shield emblazoned with the symbol of courage manifested before Guilmon. The crash of shadows broke against Guilmon as he pushed towards them. With a powerful swing, he brought the shield down upon one of the DemiDevimons, spiking him to the ground where he shattered against the concrete. He turned towards the remaining five, eyes black menacing slits and Takato slashed another card across his D-Ark.
"River of Power Activate!"
"Pyro-Blaster!" shouted Guilmon as his already powerful attack became sustained, growing in such intensity that it swallowed whole three of the DemiDevimons. Their shrill cries faded just as quickly as they had began. The remaining DemiDevimon gaped, clearly lost at words at how quickly Guilmon and his tamer had cut them down to just two.
"Forget this - you, after that white thing! Don't let him get away, Copipemon send us somewhere away from these two!" The DemiDevimon narrowly missed a bite from the falling Guilmon.
Takato kicked himself for forgetting about the Copipemon who turned to him and waved softy, all while keeping his sharp toothy grin. Before Takato could say or do anything a wave of darkness opened up towards the end of the alley. It pushed him narrowly catching him off his feet as it enveloped the white digimon. The DemiDevimons vanished into it shortly after white just the Copipiemon stood in front.
Guilmon pushed ahead, rushing towards Copipeimon while his hands glowed the same green that they had before. And just before Takato could say anything more, a powerful new wave of shadows and darkness pushed him down to his knees.
He lost sight of Guilmon and the Copipemon for a moment, only a moment when everything ceased.
The wind settled down and before Takato could register it, everything ceased. The alley had been as it was, barren only with the added battle scars caused by Guilmon.
Guilmon! Thought Takato urgently before crying out "Guilmon!"
"I'm here Takato. I think the DemiDevimons and the Copipemon got away though." Guilmon said as Takato wrapped his arms around his long red neck. Takato didn't say anything and fought back the old child-like worry that Guilmon might vanish at any moment. Takato even felt some tears swelling in his eyes, though he managed to hold them back.
Without another word Takato released his hold on Guilmons neck and glanced back at the alley. The white Digimon, the DemiDevimons, and Copipemon? Hunting down weaker Digimon to upload their data wasn't anything new or unheard. Certainly, it didn't happen in this day and age with how regulated access to the Digital world had been by Mister Yamaki and HYPNOS, but rules were different in the Digital world.
But it wasn't just hunting for simple Data, Takato knew that much at least.
"Oh no!" cried Guilmon with tears swelling in his eyes.
"Wh-whats wrong Guilmon?" Takato wondered if some last-minute realization about the whole situation had come to him.
"Takato, we dropped all of our bread!" And Takato fought the urge to fall over in disbelief. He let out a laugh, one that felt like he hadn't laughed in a lifetime. Guilmon's priorities are where they should be at least. There was nothing he could do now, nothing showing up or appearing on his D-Ark at least. No doubt Yamaki would call him first thing tomorrow morning or heck maybe even tonight with how big a spectacle this had been.
"Well, I still have some money left over. Maybe if we give that endorsement they asked for we can get free bread?" He was joking of course but nothing to see the happy look on Guilmons face.
Turning to leave, Takatos foot hit something. Something small, round, and black made the most awful sound as it skipped across the pavement. Reaching down and picking it up, Takato examined the small black object.
A black pearl or something like one anyway held within a cage made of a dull metal. At its top, is a small pink ribbon.
"What do you think?" Takato passed it over to Guilmon who sniffed it curiously.
"Oh look at the pink ribbon!"
Takato smiled, tucking the small object away in his pocket.
"Yeah, it's pretty cute."