Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. But I dream.

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Part 8: Smiles

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Takuya jumped to his feet. "Junpei? Junpei!" he screamed into the D-Tector, but all that was left was static. Izumi swallowed, and looked away as tears sprung to her eyes.

"Don't worry, Takuya," she mumbled, sniffing. "I'm sure…" But she couldn't be sure. Izumi lapsed into silence, and exhaled shakily. "We don't even know where they are…"

The goggle boy began to furiously press the buttons of his D-Tector. "But that's what this is for, right? This stup – ah!" He fumbled with the device, then showed the screen to Izumi. On it was a large, blinking dot. "That's got to be them!"

Izumi wiped her eyes. They were blurry with the tears still in. She leaned closer, and squinted her eyes. "I don't remember ever having been to a place like that."

"What did they wander into the Dark Continent for?" Takuya muttered. Raising his voice, he called for the restaurant owner: "Papa Burgermon! Papa Burgermon, sorry to dine and dash, but we gotta go! Our friends are in trouble!"

"What's that? Trouble?" Papa Burgermon wiped his hands on his apron and hurried out of the kitchen. "But wait, you can't leave just yet. All I need is five seconds." He held up a hand to stop the children, and with another hand, dug into the pocket of his apron.

Takuya danced on his toes impatiently. "Look, Papa Burgermon, whatever you want to give us…can it wai – oh!" He jumped to attention as the digimon produced a camera and held it up.

"SAY CHEESE!"

"CHEESE!" Takuya and Izumi chorused, their spontaneous smiles not meeting their eyes. Papa Burgermon lowered the camera and tilted his head in confusion.

"Do all humans smile like that? Stay here, it's printing in the back room." He wandered off again.

Takuya turned to Izumi, who was looking at Papa Burgermon's retreating form in horror. She shuddered. "That has to be the worst photo I've ever taken!" she declared. "We have to burn it."

An impatient sigh. "Izumi," Takuya groaned, waving his D-Tector her way. "Have you forgotten? We've got – "

"…friends," came a voice from the D-Tector. Izumi shrieked, and Takuya almost did as well. "Did you hear me, humans? If you want to see your friends," came the dark voice from the crackles of static, "then you'll come to the Bakemon Graveyard. Don't even think about running, or…" A long, cutting sound followed, and the Takuya and Izumi swallowed.

"D-don't even think of harming a hair on their head!" Izumi shouted. "Who are you, anyway?"

But the D-Tector was silent.

"Here you go!" Papa Burgermon came running towards them, two photos in hand. He handed one to Takuya, and the other to Izumi. Both of them quickly pocketed the picture without daring to look at it.

"Thanks Papa Burgermon!"

"Once we find the others, we'll be back, I promise." Takuya smiled widely and swung his arm down into a thumbs up. "Wish us luck!"

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"Boss, how should we cook 'em?"

"You wanna eat 'em? I say we prick 'em with sticks, and let 'em bleeeeed out!" There was a chorus of cheers in favor of this. Junpei wailed, wriggling against the ropes bound around him.

He was the only one panicking, and he didn't understand why. "This is bad guys," he insisted, twisting and turning. "They have our D-Tectors! They're gonna ambush Takuya and Izumi! We can't let them!"

The twins were in a foul mood, and Tomoki was utterly silent, though every so often, Junpei thought he saw the young boy quiver. They'd each been tied up against gravestones, all in a line, while the Bakemon gathered in a circle around their leader and decided on what to do.

"We're no match against their numbers, especially without our D-Tectors" Kouji muttered. He sorely regretted not digivolving the instant the Bakemon had shown up. "Luckily, Takuya and Izumi will be on their way, and they'll come prepared for the danger!"

"Kouji!" Kouichi jerked his head towards his feet, and his younger brother followed his gaze to a rather sharp stick. Kouji groaned.

"But I guess it's better than nothing." It took a well-aimed kick to send the stick flying to Kouji, then lots of maneuvering his feet (thank goodness they weren't tied) to work the stick to his hands. When at last he grasped the stick, he breathed a sigh of relief. But the job was far from over. A sharp stone would have worked better. A stick…would likely take ten years.

But he didn't want to go down without a fight.

"Huh?" Junpei looked around, confused. There was a newfound clarity to the silence. When he turned to ask Tomoki if he heard it too, he only became more confused.

"GUYS, TOMOKI IS –" was as far as he got to yell, because Kouji delivered flexible kick to Junpei's stomach. The Bakemon, alerted, sent a group to check for trouble.

"My bad, my bad," Junpei groaned, doubling over. "It's just, Tomoki, see, sitting next to me here…" Kouji glared, knowing it wasn't going to end well, but played the part. "…See, he just really had to pee. I mean, really bad. Like, he was about to wet his pants! So I was wondering if you couldn't, I dunno, take him somewhere in the woods so he could relieve himself?" Junpei smiled his best at the digimon, knowing full well the intensity of Kouji's glare had been set to full.

The underling Bakemon turned to his friends. "You think it's okay?"

"What a pain, humans. Having to relieve themselves."

"Digimon gotta relieve themselves too," one of them pointed out.

"Yeah," grumbled the second, "but not us. Clue in!"

"Say, why do you think that is?"

"You know…I think it has something to do with…well, but I might be wrong…"

"Saaaay, but I remember, when I was a baby digimon…"

"Excuse me," groaned Kouji, dropping the stick. It had broken in half, and done no damage to the rope, only his hands. "I really need to go, in case that wasn't clear earlier. So, if you could just check with your leader…so I don't piss myself?"

The Bakemon hurried back to the rest of the group, eager to continue their conversation. Kouichi snorted to stifle his laughter. "What a group of intellectuals we've got."

"Yeah, of course baby digimon pee themselves!" Junpei retorted.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Not the point."

The older boy looked grim now. "You got a plan, Kouji? You won't be tied down."

"Thanks for that, genius. But no, no plan. The D-Tectors wouldn't be anywhere near me, anyway. My best bet is to make a run for it." Kouji sighed. "What should we do about you two, though?"

Kouichi silently chewed his lip. "Maybe I actually fell down the stairs a second time?"

"That's not funny." Kouji shot his brother an irritated glare. "Maybe their negotiations will last a bit longer and we can break the two of you out too."

"ALRIGHT. WHICH ONE OF YOU NEEDS TO GO?" A Bakemon glided up to them. His words came out in a loud shout that made the boys cringe. "I'LL BE IN CHARGE OF SEEING YOU THERE. MY NAME IS BAKEMON, AND I DON'T TO-"

"Shut uuuuup," muttered Kouichi under his breath. Junpei said something with a few more choice words, while trying to cover his ears with his shoulders.

"IT'S ME, ME," Kouji shouted, trying to be heard over the screaming. He kicked his legs in the air. "Can you talk a little quieter?" he asked when the Bakemon had finished its long self-introduction. "We can hear you just fine."

Bakemon's mouth moved as it swung behind Kouji to undo the ropes, and the boys groaned again.

"Haven't you heard of moderation?" Junpei shouted.

The Bakemon looked at him expectantly, flapping its mouth.

"He means, you're too quiet now. We can't hear you."

"WELL GEEZ, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SAID TO SPEAK QUIETER," complained the Bakemon. He grabbed tightly onto Kouji's arm. "NOW WE'LL BE BACK IN A JIFFY. DON'T GO ANYWHERE."

The three boys exchanged knowing looks. If they had their way, they'd be gone in a jiffy.

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Zephyrmon and BurningGreymon wasted no time in getting to the Dark Continent. Specks of glowing moss below dimly lit the forests below.

"Takuya, what's that?" Zephyrmon pointed to a small, clear patch in the forest where a great cloud of white seemed to have gathered. As much as he wanted to get closer first to examine it, BurningGreymon reverted to Takuya.

"Let's go by foot from here," he shouted up to Zephyrmon. "We don't even know what we're facing!"

"Right!" Izumi was beside him. "I hope they're okay."

They headed toward their destination hesitantly, each holding onto the other's sleeve. In their free hands, Izumi and Takuya each held a patch of glowing moss. All around them were chattering, screeching, swooping sounds. But it wasn't the sounds that scared them – wind, wingbeats from the Pipismon, that sort of thing didn't scare them. It was the thought of way lay ahead, what could have captured their friends.

"Takuya…" Izumi whispered. "I think…I think I hear something."

"Me too," he said. His mouth was running dry. Among the rustling of the trees, there was the sound of something rushing through the shrubbery, scraping its feet over the roots and breaking the scattered twigs of the forest floor. He pulled his D-Tector out, and held it tight.

"Ready when you are."

"ACTIVA – Kouji?!" Takuya and Izumi screamed in surprise before they could digivolve. The bandana boy seized them both by the hand and continued to run.

"IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO DIGIVOLVE, THEN RUUUUUUUUN."

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"They're taking an awful long time," Junpei grumbled.

Kouichi sighed. "I hope he didn't get eaten prematurely…"

"Is that even okay to say about your brother?!"

The older twin just grinned. "It's okay, it's Kouji. What could possibly go –"

Junpei shook his head. "Don't say it, Kouichi," he warned.

"…wrong?"

There was a sharp scream that pierced the air, and both boys strained their necks trying to see what had happened. Kouji and the Bakemon had barely reached the edge of the forest last they'd checked.

"What happened?!" Junpei demanded, being the furthest away.

Kouichi groaned as the ropes bit into him. "Junpei, there was only one Bakemon with Kouji when they went, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"There's an army down there!"

"What?!" Junpei struggled, but he couldn't beat his ropes. "They can multiply?"

"Not multiply," someone whispered.

Junpei froze. He was about to speak, but swallowed his words. At once, the binds fell around him, and he felt free.

"Hold the rope in your hand, so you still look tied up," Tomoki whispered. He handed the rope ends to Junpei, then crept behind the gravestone Kouichi was tied to.

"Way to go, Tomoki!"

"It's not over yet," the younger boy replied grimly. He handed Kouichi the rope ends. "Careful, here they come."

The group of Bakemon from earlier rushed over and glared down at Junpei and Kouichi. "Who screamed?" they demanded.

Junpei's eyes widened. "ME," he shouted. "Me. That was all me. I, uh, I have this condition, see. Every three hours that I spend sitting down, I scream."

"Three hours?!" one of the Bakemon exclaimed.

"Has it really been three hours?"

The third one snorted. "You know how the politics work here. Of course it's been three hours. They're never going to make a decision."

"But three hours – no wonder I'm so hungry!"

"You're always hungry!"

Bickering, they floated back to the main group to make their report. Tomoki cleared his throat.

"Come on! And take your ropes with you!"

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It hadn't been an easy battle, but they'd managed. Izumi's quick thinking and Kazemon's Hurricane Wave stunned the Bakemon (what they thought was an army was an illusion) long enough for Kouji to tie it up with the rope he had.

"Where's my D-Tector?" Kouji demanded. The Bakemon glared at him. "And say it in a normal voice, or we'll scan you without mercy."

Bakemon stuck his tongue out, but relented. "The boss has 'em."

"And who's the boss?" Takuya suddenly jumped forward, pointing at himself. The Bakemon stared at him, confused.

"Takuya, I don't think now is an appropriate time to teach the Bakemon a joke." Kouji glared daggers at Takuya before refocusing his anger on the digimon. "So? Who's your boss?"

"Phantomon. But don't you go undestimating him," the Bakemon warned. "He's gonna rule the Digiworld!"

"And just how's he gonna do that?" Takuya demanded.

"Well he's got our D-Tectors, doesn't he?" replied the bandana boy with a frustrated sigh. "…what now?"

Izumi shook her head. "You boys. Don't you know?" she whispered to them, so the Bakemon couldn't hear, "that if you want something done, you've gotta ask with a smile?"

"Oh, cuz that'd get Kouji anywhere," Takuya said with a snort. Kouji nearly socked him, but instead hissed, "Like you can even smile without looking like a goof!"

"Just move aside," the girl said, smiling widely at the Bakemon. "Hey, Bakemon. Your Phantomon boss – I don't think he'd understand how to use our D-Tectors. They're all super human-y and stuff. Digimon probably wouldn't understand. Why don't you take us to him, and we'll help him figure it out? Pretty please? What do you say?"

"You'd really help Phantomon…?"

"I mean," Izumi said while shooting Takuya and Kouji a look, "It's not like the six of us can always be around to take care of the Digiworld. Someone's got to be in charge, right? Someone's got to right the wrongs. Someone's got to take care of the weak. Would Phantomon do that for us? It'd be so, so helpful…"

"So, so helpful," chorused the boys monotonously, their faces looming inches from the Bakemon's. Their lips were stretched ear to ear, but the smiles didn't reach their eyes. Izumi pushed them away.

"So, Bakemon? What'll it be?"

Bakemon gave it some thought. Finally, he asked, "Say, if you help Phantomon rule the Digital World, can I be second-in-charge?"

"I don't see why not," Izumi replied sweetly, shooting the boys warning looks before they could say anything. "Now, where can we find your boss?"

"Well, I think it's his nap time right now." Bakemon floated up, and turned to Izumi. "You better hold on to my rope, so you don't lose track of me."

Izumi turned around and winked at the boys as if to say I-told-you-so. "Right," she said instead, motioning for them to follow. "Let's go."

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A/N – Writing Frontier fics after not watching Frontier in years is difficult.

Thanks to numerous reviewers, most recently pikaree1,who convinced me I ought to take the time to finish my incomplete stories.

Comments, opinions, or thoughts would be appreciated!