Chapter 25

"Wake up, asshole."

Kazu tried to scream, but a hand was placed over his mouth. The monkey stood in front of him and tears filled Kazu's eyes. Please let this be a dream. Please don't let this be real. Annoyed with the tears, Makuramon slapped him across the face. The pain was real. Makuramon was truly standing in front of him. The monkey practically growled, "I need your help again."

"No way, man!" Kazu shouted loudly, in hopes someone would hear him. When he glanced around, none of his friends were in sight. All he could see was desert. Was this the digital world? It was vast amount of sand as far as the eye could see. Kazu questioned the monkey, "Where is everyone? Why don't I remember getting here?"

"What do you think is going to happen when you fall from the sky? That you'll hit the ground softly? No! You all smacked the ground and passed out. You're lucky you're not all dead. I dragged your dumbass here so we could get some business done."

"Whatever it is, man, leave me out of it. Take me back to my friends!" Kazu tried to step back, but he knew that running would be pointless. Makuramon wouldn't let him escape so easily. Sweat dripped down his forehead. He wasn't sure if it was from the heat or fear.

"You do realize that I was in your world first, right? God, you're a moron. I can easily find my way back and kill what little family you have left. Do you want that?" the monkey almost chuckled as he imagined what he could do. Makuramon almost hoped that Kazu would refuse him. Any chance to tap into his sadistic mind was a chance worth taking, but Makuramon had a more important mission. As much as he enjoyed torture and pain, it all would be taken away if he failed the mission.

Kazu wanted to call a bluff, but he had no way of knowing for sure what the monkey could do. Seeing no other option, Kazu admitted defeat. "Okay... What is it that you want me to do?"

"I need you to keep an eye out for that little shit, Calumon. He managed to escape me. If you manage to find him, I want you to get him to use his powers somehow once you find him. That way, I'll know where you are."

"Powers?" Kazu had no idea what Makuramon was even talking about.

The monkey growled at the teen. He appeared like he would attack the boy, but made no further motion. Makuramon shouted in annoyance, "Yes, you moron! The digivolution... You know what, nevermind. Let's make this more fun. Figure it out!"

Kazu almost screamed when a giant dragon landed in front of him. Was this digimon as sadistic as Makuramon? Luckily, he didn't have the privilege of finding out. Makuramon hopped onto the back of the dragon and flew away.

"Takato! C'mon, man!"

"Is Takatomon okay?"

"I don't know... The rest of us have been up for hours."

Takato grumbled as he slowly sat up. His head was pounding, so he lightly touched his forehead and rubbed. The sunlight was bright, causing him to shut his eyes again. Maybe sleeping a bit longer would be a good idea...

"Takatomon!" Guilmon's excited call rang in his ears and the dinosaur jumped on top of his tamer. Takato's back smacked the desert floor, kicking sand up in all directions. He laughed as the dinosaur hugged him tightly. Guilmon practically squealed, "You're okay!"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" questioned Takato as he tried to sit up again. The pain in his head returned with harsher pulses. His hand flew to his forehead faster than the first time and a hiss of pain left his mouth.

"You hit the ground head first. The rest of us landed on our backs or stomachs."

Takato couldn't see him through the bright sunlight, but he recognized Henry's informative tone. He squinted to help adjust himself to intense light. Figures began to take form and he could almost make out who was who. Right as he identified Claire, the girl hugged him with almost as much force as Guilmon.

"Don't scare me like that, you idiot!" Claire said as she gave him a tight squeeze.

"Claire... You just almost doubled my headache," teased Takato as he hugged her back. Claire's face flushed red when Takato mentioned his pain and immediately backed up. He lightly chuckled, trying not to hurt his head more, at her reaction. "So, how did I land on my head?"

"That would be my fault," sighed Kenta, who stood over by a nervous looking Kazu. He scratched the back on his head as he searched for the words to say.

"That moron," snapped Claire, pointing a Kenta. Before she could say more, Henry snatched her hand and slowly lowered it back down to her side. She was too quick to anger.

"Kenta," Jeri, who was much calmer, spoke for Claire. "He dared you to do as many front flips in the air as you could be we landed."

"Well... How many did I do?" questioned Takato, eager to hear the answer. Claire was quick to face palm at his words.

"Fourteen... And a half," answered Kenta, with excitement in his tone. Takato held up his hand for a high five and Kenta was quick to slap it. "It was pretty sick. I was only able to do nine."

"Boys are so silly," Jeri joked with Claire. She had a giant smile on her face while Claire was dumbstruck by how Takato and Kenta were reacting. The girl knew that Claire would normally be joining in the conversation with them, but Takato could have been severely injured. Her mood had to be lightened and Jeri hoped she could do it. "I didn't know they could be that crazy. I wish I could do that."

"We need to get back to business. We have to find Rika," Renamon suddenly spoke up, trying to put everyone back on track.

"And... And Calumon." Kazu's voice was heavy when he spoke. Bags under his eyes indicated lack of sleep and stress. Takato noticed that his attitude had suddenly changed back to how he was a few days ago. He wanted to ask his friend what was troubling him, but that would have to wait for a more private setting.

"But how are we going to get to and from places quickly? Henry can't walk fa-"

"I'll be fine," he interrupted Claire. His injury would not hold the team back. That was what he kept telling himself, anyways. Henry didn't want everyone to worry about him because he would be fine. He hoped...

"We're in the digital world. The rules are different here. You're data now," Leomon explained from behind Jeri. He patted Jeri's shoulder before continuing. "The rules of your world don't matter here. You don't have to feel pain if you don't want to. You don't have to breathe if you don't want to."

"I don't want to test that theory," Kenta was quick to say. He held up his hands and quickly shook his head. No way was he going to hold his breath.

"What if I dared you?" snickered Terriermon, who sat on Henry's head. Kenta glared at Terriermon in annoyance. Henry flicked Terriermon's forehead. "Heeeeeey! I just want to see if he'll do it!"

Takato staked the flag he made into the ground while the others talked about which direction would be the best to go first. He didn't think he was the best artist, but he could draw cartoons decently well. Each person's personality was captured pretty well, in his opinion. Those with digimon partners were drawn next to their digimon while those that did not were drawn at the bottom and close together. Takato even included a frowning Rika next to Renamon.

Next, he pulled out the device Yamaki had given him. The screen reminded him of how old TV's lost signal and the screen turned to static. If he couldn't email Yamaki, how could they tell him they made it? How could Takato call for them to be rescued from the digital world when the time came? His eyes scanned the scenery to make sense of why the device might not be working.

In the sky, a sparkling blue planet hung. Purple streams of data were shooting off of the planet and touching the ground of the digital world. Takato could only assume that was Earth and the data streams were interfering with his signal.

He was about to tell the others of his revelation, but he stopped himself. If the others knew that he couldn't contact Yamaki, they wouldn't have much spirit to keep moving. They would believe it all to be pointless. Takato had to keep them motivated. The tamer promised to keep it a secret for the time being and find a solution on his own. The device was stuffed back into his pocket before the others could see he had it out.

His eyes caught Henry watching him, so he tried to give him a reassuring smile. Takato knew he wasn't buying because he opened his mouth to say something. He quickly put a finger to his mouth to signal him to be silent. His face deflated and he nodded, putting two and two together. Henry glanced around the group and began to have the same concerns Takato had. They had to find a solution.

Renamon led the group in one direction. She said something about seeing civilization in the distance, so the tamers followed her. For a while, she walked on her own-a significant amount ahead of the others. After a few hours of walking, Claire caught up to Renamon. The digimon was surprised that anyone wanted to walk with her. The digimon tried to stay a bit distant so she wouldn't become emotionally attached to anyone, but when Claire kept trying so hard with her, she couldn't help but care a little bit.

"Are you excited? Rika is somewhere around here!" Claire tried to pump Renamon up. She threw her fist in the air in excitement. Even though she personally didn't know Rika that well, she must be really special if Renamon wanted her back so badly. The girl grabbed Renamon's arm and forced it in the air like she had done with her own arm. "You do that when you get excited. Feels good, right?"

"Feels good!" Renamon said in the loudest monotone voice Claire had ever heard. The digimon kept her arm in the air for a solid thirty seconds.

"Well... That's a start." Claire laughed and made Renamon lower her arm.

"Uh... A human sized fireball is running toward us," Kenta suddenly spoke up and pointed. He took a step back, but stepped right onto Kazu. The duo fell to the desert floor and Kenta began to panic. "I will not be roasted today! That's not in the agenda!"

"What flaming man?" questioned Jeri, but Leomon snatched her up in time for a fireball to miss her. The girl squealed at how close that fireball had come to her. She could feel the heat even after the fireball dispersed.

"Meramon, champion level," Henry shouted toward Takato, who was ready to fight. He put his D-Power back into his pocket. "Maybe Guilmon isn't the best choice sin-"

"Pyro sphere!" Takato commanded his digimon and pointed at the approaching digimon.

Kenta wasn't kidding when he said Meramon was completely on fire. The digimon was humanoid and completely ablaze. His mouth was sewn together, creating the question if the digimon could even talk or eat. Meramon was running their direction at incredible speed.

Without hesitation, Guilmon shot his pyro sphere toward Meramon. The sphere absorbed into Meramon's chest on contact, adding to the digimon's own fire. Guilmon stood dumbfounded as Meramon grew closer.

"Don't just stand there, you big lug!" Terriermon pulled on Guilmon's ears, causing Guilmon to move to the left in time to dodge a a drill kick into the ground from Meramon.

"Magma storm!" Meramon shouted as he threw his arms up in the air.

Flaming boulders were tossed into the air. The boulders whistled on the way down, causing everyone to scatter in different directions. One of the boulders barely missed crushing Takato and Henry.

"I've had enough of this!" With a loud roar, Leomon launched an attack, nailing Meramon in the face. Fist of the beast king forced Meramon so far into the ground, a crater was formed. Meramon laid still.

"Did you just..." Kazu started.

"Kill him?" Kenta finished.

Everyone gathered around the crater. Meramon blinked a few times before he let out a long sigh. He shook his head before he spoke, "I'm done in. I've come so far to have it end so easily!" Meramon reached for the blue orb in the sky. "I was so close, yet so far... Finish me now, please. Don't make it drawn out and torturous. One swift movement and absorb my data."

"We don't want to kill you. We were just defending ourselves," informed Henry. Meramon cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"You're not all digimon, nor are you those foul creatures that have come to this world. What are you?" questioned Meramon as he slowly sat up. His eyes grew wide when he realized the answer to his question. "You're humans! You're from the real world! My apologies for attacking you. With these destructive monsters running around, you never can tell anymore."

Once Meramon was out of the crater, they began to question him about Calumon and Rika. The digimon didn't seem to know much about their friends, but he seemed intrigued about their stories. He was curious about everything when it came to the real world. Before the tamers realized how long they talked with the digimon, it was night time.

Meramon built a fire for them, setting up a camp for the night. Everyone but Takato and Henry had fallen asleep. Their new digimon friend also laid awake, staring at the blue orb in the sky.

"Why are you so interested in the human world?" asked Henry, his curiousity showing face. He tried to keep his voice low so Claire, who was sleeping with her head on his shoulder, wouldn't be awakened.

"Well, little human, do you see how close all the digimon are close to their tamers?" Meramon pointed to Terriermon. The bunny was curled up in Henry's lap in a tight ball, sleeping soundly. Then he pointed to Guilmon, whose head rested underneath Takato's hand. Jeri and Leomon slept close together. Meramon smiled. "I want a relationship like that. From birth, we are on our own, forced to survive. We fight and kill to keep ourselves safe. That's no life to live. I want to know what it's like to be loved and cherish by the kind of humans in their world. I see how you humans treat your digimon friends and how much stronger the digimon are because they have someone to fight for. I want to be strong enough one day to cross into your world and make that connection."

"With that kind of attitude, you'll reach it one day! I know you will," said Takato, giving Meramon words of encouragement. Meramon smiled and shut his eyes for the night.

"Takato, what are we going to do?" Henry spoke after minutes of silence. His voice was barely above a whisper, but loud enough for his friend to hear. Claire moved a little when he spoke, so he froze for a few moments. When she didn't wake him, he continued, "If you can't email Yamaki, how are we going to get out?"

"There has to be a way. You can't always be pessimistic. Look at Meramon. Despite the lifestyle he was born into, he still looks on the bright side," Takato tried to reason. He said it with a smile, but that smile fell when Henry's face remained stern.

"That's different. He's fighting for himself. We're fighting for others. We can't let them believe in a lie that everything will end up okay when it's looking pretty dim." Henry glanced at Claire. "We have to come home. I know she wants to stay here, but we are all coming home if we have the option. I will make sure of it. Unfortunately, we've hit a snag and they deserve to know the truth."

"Give me two days. If I can't find a signal in two days, I'll tell everyone myself," Takato offered. "The digimon travel back in forth, so there's a connection somewhere. Just give me a chance to find it."

"Whatever you say, boss," mumbled Henry as he shut his eyes.

Takato wasn't sure if Henry was agreeing or if he was being sarcastic, but either way, the title of "boss" unsettled him. He had kind of become the make-shift leader and wasn't sure if he was up for the job. His choices led them all to this point, so in a way, he technically became the leader. All at once, pressure was placed on him. The teen felt like his choice to keep that they couldn't currently email Yamaki a secret was the right one, but what if it wasn't?

Henry was right when he said they had others to fight for besides themselves. Takato glanced around at the group. Everyone was there because he drew them into this somehow. Yeah, it was their choice to be there, but most of them wouldn't have even found out digimon were real if Takato would have been more careful. He shook his head to rid his mind of such thoughts.

Everything would work out in the end. It always had and it always would. The ride may be bumpy, but it always ended up okay. That was the hope he chose to believe in. They would all return home. Rika and Calumon would return. He would make sure of it.

With those thoughts, he finally fell asleep... Until the ground began to rumble.