"It's Just a Little Crush" Story Written by Freedom Fighter Chapter Four Recap: After being informed by Nikki, Jeri's best friend, that Takato and Jeri could be a couple, Kazu and Kenta try to find out a way to flesh out the truth. At the same time, they're trying to figure out whether or not Guilmon is real! Meanwhile, Henry is about to get a chance to impress Rika... ****** Scenes in this episode are from "Grow Mon Grow" and "Snakes, Trains, and Digimon." It's the fifth chapter, and the last one featuring a song! At long last, Henry gets into the picture. But will he succeed in getting Rika's attention? Or is she a bit too preoccupied with Takato? Speaking of which... there's an interesting development in the whole Rika-Takato-Jeri triangle! Read on and find out what it is! I'll have another contest reminder after the chapter's over, but let's just get to reading first, okay? And let's get the reviews going again! They've died off since Chapter Three! Disclaimer: None of the characters or songs belongs to me, but to their respective creators. And we need all of the Henry and Terriermon fans in the house to scream as loud as you can! The most enjoyable human and Digimon team in series history now takes the stage for Chapter Five! And please, no autographs. Fame tends to get to Terriermon's head. ****** [Begin playing song lyrics] They say around the way You've asked for me There's even talk about You wanting me I must admit that's what I want to hear But that's just talk Until you take me there If it's true don't leave me All alone out here Wondering if you're ever Gonna take me there Tell me what you're feeling Cause I need to know Girl you gotta let me know Which way to go Cause I need to know I need to know Tell me baby girl Cause I need to know I need to know I need to know Tell me baby girl Cause I need to know My every thought Is of this being true It's getting harder Not to think of you Girl I'm exactly Where I want to be The only thing's I need you here with me If it's true don't leave me All alone out here Wondering if you're ever Gonna take me there Cause I need to know I need to know Tell me baby girl Cause I need to know I need to know I need to know Tell me baby girl Cause I need to know [End playing song lyrics] ****** Chapter 5 - "Oh, Just Tell Her Already!" Henry was returning to his room that night after eating dinner with his family. But he wouldn't be thinking about dinner for long, for upon entering the room, he finds Terriermon pawing at the window for some strange reason. "Are you okay?" Henry asks. "Must... go... out. Digimon... bio-emerging!" "Huh?" Henry looked out the window and up towards the sky, which was turning dark really fast. "This is not good," he thought. ====== A few minutes later, Henry and Terriermon make their way towards the anomaly that had formed in the sky. "What do you think we're up against this time, Terriermon?" "How am I supposed to know? Do I look like a psychic?" "Sorry. I'm just anxious to get this over with." "Why?" Terriermon asked with a smirk on his face, although Henry couldn't tell since the Digimon was propped on top of his head, as usual. "Thinking about Rika again, are we?" "No," Henry lied. "I knew it!" Terriermon jumps off of Henry's head and down to the ground, where he stands right in Henry's path. "You've liked her from the start, haven't you?" "Terriermon, this isn't the time or place to talk about this! Someone could see you!" "Oh, alright." Henry picks Terriermon up and puts him back on top of his head. "Now, let's think about more important things. Such as trying to find out what all of this darkness is about!" Henry starts running again as Terriermon begins to sing a familiar tune. "Henry and Rika, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" "Terriermon!" Henry blushed as he ran towards an oncoming crowd of people. As Henry and Terriermon got closer to the source of the darkness, a digital field was starting to appear. But before the duo could get close, Henry spots Yamaki standing near it. Before he knew it, the government agent grabs him by the collar. "It's all your fault!" Yamaki yells. "Hey!" Terriermon shouted, standing up for his Tamer. "Leave Henry alone!" Yamaki complies by releasing Henry and putting him on the ground. He then walks off, yelling, "You're not worth it!" Henry and Terriermon were so focused on Yamaki that they didn't notice Rika running towards them. As Rika runs past Yamaki, she inquires about his identity. "Who's the thug?" she asked Henry. "He's trouble," he responded as he straightened his clothes out. "You Digimon loving freaks!" the man yelled as he walked off. "Look what you've done!" The group ignores Yamaki's comments and turn their attention to more pressing matters. "Ready?" Henry asked Rika. "Yep," she responded with a nod and a smile. "That's what I like about Rika," Henry said to himself. "Still, I wonder if she's seeing anyone." Once inside the digital field, Rika, Henry, and Terriermon spot Takato and Guilmon just ahead. The duo is glancing towards the top of the Hypnos building. All of a sudden, Renamon appears and runs by the entire group, on her way to the roof to confront the bio-emerging Digimon. As Renamon scans the roof, Rika takes out her D-Arc and starts scanning for information on their latest adversary. "My digivice isn't picking up anything!" she shouted. "It doesn't make any sense," Henry noted. "It's a digital field!" Takato exclaims. "There's got to be something up there." All of a sudden, Rika's D-Arc begins to beep. She glances at it and notices that it now detects the wild Digimon, but it has as of yet to identify it. "Who cares?" Terriermon shouts, jumping off Henry's head. "I can take him!" "Are you ready?" "Renamon and I can handle it. I'll just have her digivolve. That'll do the trick." Rika begins to run off in order to find a better position so that her D-Arc can work. But Takato stops her after a few steps. "Wait!" he shouts. Takato then pulls a Digimon card and throws it towards her. "You can use this!" - Begin card slash sequence - Rika takes the card and places it in-between her index and middle fingers, while the D-Arc in the other. She then crosses her arms just in front of her chest, before slowly sliding both arms in the opposite direction. As she does so, she slides the card through the D-Arc's card reader. Finally, her arms return to their rightful side, keeping the arm with her D-Arc in hand at the same level, while raising the hand with the card in it so that it is just above her head. "Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!" - End card slash sequence - - Begin digivolution sequence - "Renamon digivolve to... Kyubimon!" - End digivolution sequence - Renamon, who is up on the roof, transforms to her champion form, Kyubimon. She then charges straight for the Digimon. "Dragon Wheel!" Meanwhile, down at ground level... "That Digimon must be huge!" Rika exclaimed. "Samurai Tiger Tail!" All of a sudden, the wild Digimon attacks. And with one blow, Kyubimon is flung from the rooftop and down to the ground, where she lands hard on the sidewalk. Rika gasps in horror as it seems that Kyubimon is close to death. The group watches as Kyubimon digivolves back to Renamon. As Rika begins to worry, so does Henry. But Terriermon's two steps ahead of his Tamer, as he prepares himself for the battle. "I'm going in, Henry!" - Begin card slash sequence - Henry pulls out a digivolution card and holds it up in front of his face. Then, after some quick arm movements, positions it so that the card slides up and into his D-Arc's card reader. Determined to impress Rika by winning this battle, Henry pushes the card all the way through and up above his head. "Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!" - End card slash sequence - - Begin digivolution sequence - "Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!" - End digivolution sequence - As Gargomon heads off into battle, Rika breaks down and runs over to her fallen Digimon. But Renamon is still alive, which is evidently apparent after she begins to talk to Rika. "That Digimon is so strong. It may be an ultimate. Possibly even a mega level." Scant minutes later, Gargomon is sent flying off of the roof by the Digimon. But he reverts back to his rookie form in mid-air, as Henry runs over and catches Terriermon. "So much for making myself look good in front of Rika," Henry thought. At the same time, Guilmon prepared to enter the battle. Takato readied a card to slash through his D-Arc. - Begin card slash sequence - Takato takes a card in one hand and the D-Arc in the other. He raises both hands over his head, crossing them in the process. He then uncrosses them, slashing the card through the D-Arc's reader as it does so. "Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!" - End card slash sequence - - Begin digivolution sequence - "Guilmon digivolve to... Growlmon!" - End digivolution sequence - - Begin card slash sequence - Takato takes another card and slashes it through his D-Arc, as before. "Digi-modify! Hyper Wing activate!" - End card slash sequence - While this is going on, Terriermon comes to and tells them what he learned from his battle with the Digimon. "The Digimon tends to circle around before he attacks," he said. Henry turns to Takato and encourages him to follow Terriermon's suggestion. Takato agrees as Growlmon flies to the rooftop and engages in battle with the Digimon. At first, the strategy seemed to work. But alas, the Digimon was still way too strong. Takato, for some odd reason, begins to feel every blow that Growlmon gets. In fact, one blow is so powerful that it causes Takato to drop his D-Arc. At that point, a picture of the Digimon appears on the screen. It identifies the wild one as Mihiramon. Takato wouldn't have long to think about what to do next, because the next blow causes him to pass out. This leaves Henry and Rika clueless as to what's going on. ====== Takato was awakened by Calumon after being out for a minute or two. "Did anyone ever tell you that you talk in your sleep?" Calumon asked the now awake Tamer. "I can't believe you fainted!" Rika teased. "I can't believe it!" Henry thought in disbelief. "I'm a much better Tamer than Takato is. But he just faints and all of a sudden, she's teasing him about it?" "It's time to use the power that brought us here in the first place!" Takato yelled, snapping Henry out of his thoughts. "Are you ready?" Rika was a little hesitant in agreeing. So was Henry, as he was more focused on watching his fellow Tamers for signs of any romantic interaction between the two. "Well, Guilmon and I are going to do it whether you're ready or not!" Henry then notices that a Blue Card has materialized in Takato's hand. "It's a Blue Card!" "We're with you!" Rika shouted as she looked over at Takato, who nodded in reply. "This battle has just begun!" he yelled, as he readied his D-Arc to slash the card. - Begin card slash sequence - Takato takes the Blue Card in one hand and the D-Arc in the other. He raises both hands over his head, crossing them in the process. He then uncrosses them, slashing the card through the D-Arc's reader as it does so. "Digi-modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!" - End card slash sequence - - Begin matrix digivolution sequence - "Growlmon digivolve to... WarGrowlmon!" - End matrix digivolution sequence - In place of the giant dinosaur Digimon known as Growlmon came WarGrowlmon, a giant dinosaur Digimon... wearing heavy plated armor and other high tech items of weaponry. The struggle between the newly evolved WarGrowlmon and their dangerous adversary, Mihiramon, continued for several more minutes as the two Digimon exchanged blows. In the process, Henry and Rika watch with their fallen Digimon as Takato cringes as he feels every blow that WarGrowlmon receives. "I order you," Takato shouted, "as your Tamer, to finish it!" Finally, WarGrowlmon tires Mihiramon out and throws him into the air, finishing the rogue Digimon off with his most powerful attack. "Atomic Blaster!" Mihiramon disappears almost immediately, as WarGrowlmon begins to absorb the fallen Digimon's data. ====== That Saturday, Takato, after giving the others a pep talk about defending West Shinjuku, had unsuccessfully attempted to get Rika and Henry to go on patrol with him. But his sadness quickly diminished after Kenta, Kazu, and Jeri, along with several of their classmates, come to his house with the hope of seeing Guilmon. "Come on!" Jeri exclaimed. "We all want to see Guilmon again!" "Okay," Takato replied, finally giving in. "I guess it couldn't hurt." "See?" Kazu smiled, elbowing Kenta gently. "I knew that Jeri wanted to see more than just Guilmon. Just look at her!" "So what now, smarty pants?" Kenta responded. "Wait until we get to the park. Then you'll see." ====== Later that day, after having escaped the clutches of 'Nurse' Suzie, Terriermon, and Henry, of course, get off the subway train at their scheduled stop. "I wonder what Rika's doing right now," Henry thought. "I wish she would just plop right into my arms so I could tell her how I feel." "I'm bored!" Terriermon shouted to no one in particular. "I wish something exciting would happen!" All of a sudden, a strange hissing sound can be heard from the tunnel. Sandiramon, a snake deva, emerges from it as everyone in the area flees to safety. "It looks like I got my wish," Terriermon commented regretfully. Sandiramon slithers down the tracks and deletes the train Henry was just in. The snake then continues on without any incident. But just as Henry is about to order Terriermon to chase after him, Rika appears out of the tunnel, riding Kyubimon. She throws her cell phone at him as she passes by, continuing to chase after Sandiramon. "Hurry up and call Takato!" she yells as the two head down the tracks. Henry catches the cell phone and immediately dials the number for Takato's house. "Great," Henry remarks sarcastically as he listens for an answer, "I'm the one who's here to help and she wants Takato!" "Oh, give it a rest!" Terriermon shouts. "This is more important that some crazy quest to get Rika!" "Weren't you the one encouraging me to do so the other day?" "Well, we kind of have a more important situation at hand here!" ====== Up above, Impmon warns Takato and the other children about the attack happening beneath them in the subway. Using the "Digmon's Drill" card and borrowing a "Power" one from Kazu, Takato and Guilmon dig underground and head down to join the others in battle. Takato and Guilmon soon pierce the subway's roof and join the battle already in progress. Kyubimon and Gargomon seem to be holding off Sandiramon pretty well. But defeating the deva, on the other hand, was proving to be rather difficult. "I'm sorry for being late!" Takato shouted apologetically. "We don't have much time!" Kyubimon yells as she glances at Guilmon. "We need you to digivolve!" - Begin card slash sequence - Takato motions to card slash the "digivolution" card, as he is more than eager to join the battle. "Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!" - End card slash sequence - - Begin digivolution sequence - "Guilmon digivolve to... Growlmon!" - End digivolution sequence - As Growlmon stands ready to battle, Takato takes out the card that Kazu had lent him. "This had better work," he said as he prepared to slash the card. - Begin card slash sequence - Takato takes the card and slashes it through, enhancing Growlmon's attack abilities. "Digi-modify! Power activate!" - End card slash sequence - "At least Kazu didn't give me a useless card this time." Growlmon, Kyubimon, and Gargomon combine their attacks and destroy Sandiramon. Relieved that the battle is over, Takato leads the other Tamers and their champion level Digimon to the surface for a pleasant surprise. ====== Up at the surface, all of Takato's friends gasp in amazement as he introduced them to Kyubimon and Gargomon... as well as Rika and Henry. "It's so cool that you guys are Digimon Tamers!" Kazu shouted. All of a sudden, Rika's cell phone begins to ring. Henry answers it, since he still had it in his possession, and is treated to the voice of Rika's worried grandmother, who fears that he is a kidnapper of some sort. Luckily, Rika quickly grabs the phone and explains the situation to her grandmother. "I have to remember to thank Rika for that save," Henry thought. While this was happening, Jeri had run over to Takato and gave him a hug. "I'm glad you're safe, Takato!" "Me too," he blushed, which he tried to hide but failed, as all of his classmates starting laughing at him. "If that's Rika," Jeri thought, "then this ought to get her a bit jealous." Sure enough, the noise had turned Rika's attention away from her cell phone conversation with her grandmother and towards Jeri's smug expression as she let go of Takato. Takato was standing there dumbfounded, yet happy. "I'm glad I'm safe too," Takato responded, eliciting another round of laughs. "Why?" Rika thought. "Why didn't Takato tell me he already had a girlfriend?" "Uh oh. It doesn't look like Rika's too happy about seeing Jeri and Takato together. But at least it gets me a better shot of winning Rika's heart." ****** We've got a two-for-one special coming your way this Valentine's Day! Next Chapter: Just how successful was Kenta and Kazu's plan to get Takato and Jeri together? You'll find out all the juicy details! Plus, will Rika secede from the battle that easily? And will Henry up his advances? It's the thrilling conclusion to "It's Just a Little Crush," due February 14th! And then... It's "The Making of 'It's Just a Little Crush!'" Find out how hard splicing scenes really is, some off-camera romantic action between the cast members, and a behind the scenes look at what it took to get the characters to belt out the lyrics to some of today's best music! Plus, a special music video and the final results of our contest! Our winner is revealed, February 14th! ****** And that's that folks! It's now time to submit your entries! Remember, you need: 1) Name of the character(s) singing the song 2) Name of the artist who sings the song originally 3) Title of the song mentioned Leave your answers in a signed, I repeat, signed review, or leave it an anonymous one with your e-mail address listed, or just e-mail me directly! Remember, you are only allowed to send it one entry per chapter/song, and the entry I see first counts. The entry deadline is Wednesday, February 13th, at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. That gives you a few days to try and figure out the songs. And if you don't know all of the elements, take a guess at the ones you do know so that you do get some points. It's one point per element, so the maximum score is 15. Oh, and above all, a minimum of five entries is required for the contest to commence and count officially. I will not offer the grand prize out if that requirement is not met! As of this posting, I have two confirmed entries. [Feb. 2005 Reposting Note: This contest was originally held in Feb. '02. No new entries will be accepted... but feel free to play along anyway.] So don't delay, and send your entry today! And don't miss the finale this Thursday, Valentine's Day! Copyright Date: 2/9/02 Special Clues: If you are completely stumped about the songs and don't know what to do, then turn no further than here! At the times listed below, a new clue will be added here at the end of this chapter and on my profile page. Use these as a last resort if you have absolutely no idea about some of the songs. Good luck, folks! Clue # 1: The Tamer(s) who sings each song is(are) the main character(s) in that respective chapter. Clue # 2: With the exception of Chapter 5, the Tamer who is singing the song says one or two lines of the song over the course of the chapter.