Saturday was just getting started and Joe Kido was up bright and early to make his eight o'clock meeting. Going out for a Master's degree was never easy. Joe knew that, but he was willing to try anyway. He knew he had what it takes. Of course, time was running short and he was about to be late. And on this day, Joe was off and running, trying to get through the crowd of college students that were leisurely taking their time.
Joe turned the corner to get into the building he needed to get to, but he unexpectedly crashed into someone. Both of them dropped their books and belongings on the ground. What made things even worse was that Joe's bag fell open. Joe bent down to pick his things up and accidentally bumped heads with the other person.
Joe rubbed his head. "I'm sorry. I'm pretty clumsy. Let me help you with your stuff."
Joe scrambled to pick the woman's stuff up and when he stood up, he saw that the woman had a little something of Joe's in her hand.
"Is this your stuffed animal?" the woman asked.
Joe hesitated when he saw that the woman had picked up Gomamon. Especially since she seemed to be staring right at him.
"Strange, little thing," the woman noted. Then she put Gomamon down and grabbed her stuff. "Thank you so much, young man. You know, I feel like I've seen you before. Were you in the freshman residence hall the other night?"
"Oh… yeah, I was there. Do I know you?"
"Your friends might know me. I'm the hall's Resident Director, Layla Mackenzie."
Joe accepted the woman's handshake. "I'm Joe Kido. It's nice to meet you. And I'd love to talk, but I just remembered that I forgot to remember I'm late. Maybe I'll see you around."
Ms. Mackenzie smiled. "Maybe you will. Don't forget your stuffed animal, Joe."
Joe noticed that he nearly left Gomamon behind. So he quickly picked him up and got on his way.
Gomamon was getting heavier by the day, but he insisted on coming along every single day. He couldn't go on like this.
Maybe he'd talk with him when he got back.
Saturday morning was here and it couldn't come fast enough for Kazu. He was up bright and early [10:00 AM], knowing what he was going to do on this day. He was up and ready to go, but there was a simple matter of waking his roommate.
Kazu grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and splashed it on Kenta.
"AAAHHH!! KAZU!!"
"Time to get up!" Kazu grinned.
Kazu pulled the wet blankets off of Kenta and tossed them to the ground. He then walked over to Kenta's dresser drawer and opened it up.
"And that goes for you, too!"
MarineAngemon opened his eyes and shot Kazu a cold stare before turning around and lying down again. He was obviously as fast asleep as Kenta was.
Kazu picked up the sleeping MarineAngemon. "Come on! This might take us all day. So we've got to get an early start. Get up!"
"I'm up, I'm up!" Kenta growled. "Relax, Kazu. Guardromon isn't going anywhere. We have plenty of time."
"But I want to get back early. It's Saturday and I want to see what the night life here has to offer."
"Good point," Kenta agreed. "But do you really think we can get Guardromon in here? It'll take a lot of effort to get him out of your room, into the van, and into this dorm. It'll take… manpower."
As if on cue, someone knocked on the door. "Kazu? Kenta? It's Koichi. Are you guys awake?"
Seeing what kind of opportunity this presented, Kazu eagerly opened the door. And there was Koichi, a sleepy gaze in his eyes.
"I wanted to ask if you guys had any milk. Apparently, Takuya used all of it last night by making brownies."
Kazu grinned. "Hey, Koichi… we're glad you're here. What are you doing today?"
Koichi looked up in the air, as if trying to remember if had anything to do today. "Nothing that I can think of. Why, what's up?"
"We need an extra pair of hands," Kazu answered. "Kenta and I are about to head off to get Guardromon. We could use some help and having a real Legendary Warrior with us would make things a lot easier."
"What do I gotta do?" Koichi asked, a little bit more cautiously.
"Just help us carry Guardromon… how ever many pieces of him there are, anyway."
"That's it?"
"That's it. Nothing else."
Koichi gave Kazu an awkward gaze, not really sure if he should agree to this. Sure, him, Kazu, and Kenta were becoming fast friends, and he was really glad that they had asked him to come along for the trip. But, from the sounds of things, they only wanted his help because of the fact that he could Digivolve into a Digimon.
"Okay…" "All right!" Kazu exclaimed victoriously. "Then, let's all get in the van!"
"Can I change first?" Kenta cut it, making his way towards the bathroom that him and Kazu shared.
Kazu looked over to see that Kenta, who had just woken up, was still in his white t-shirt and sweatpants.
Kazu sweatdropped. "Oh… well… hurry up! We need to get going!"
Kenta scowled. "Don't rush me."
Koichi chuckled softly. "Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
Kenta grabbed a towel and shut the door behind him. Kazu frowned after his friend. "Either that or he just got his period."
Yolei walked in the kitchen of her apartment, sleep still present in her eyes. She had slept the night away and she could practically feel the good night's rest. Guess this first week of school took its toll on me, she thought to herself as she opened the pantry and pulled out some cereal. She walks into the living room, only to be greeted by her newest roommate, nineteen-year-old Yoshino Fujieda.
"Hey, Yolei!" Yolei cringed. Yoshi had taken a lot longer to move in the apartment than Yolei or Catherine, but she was definitely the most friendly out of the three of them. Yolei has sworn that she hasn't seen the girl frown since she got here. Not saying that was a bad thing, however. She would much rather have an overly cheerful roommate than one who was constantly angry.
"Hey, Yoshino…" Yolei replied groggily as she made her way to the living room couch. "Where are you headed off to?""To that seminar in the auditorium. Wanna come?" Yoshi invited, following Yolei all the way to the couch.
"I don't know. What's it for?" Yolei sat down on the couch. So did Yoshi. "Just like an informal introduction to all the students. You know I'm new here."
She chuckled as she listened to her roommate. She grabs the television remote, beginning to surf through the channels until she found some morning cartoons. "Yeah, but, I'm not. What do you need to go to a seminar for when you can just ask me?"
"I want to meet people. C'mon, Yolei! Let's just go and see if there are any cute guys there."
Yolei turned to the morning news. They were showing a segment about a large dinosaur attacking downtown last night. Yolei was pretty surprised to see a large Tuskmon throw a car off to the side of the street.
"What?" Her and Yoshino cried in unison.
Catherine walks in, an elegant nightgown flowing down to her knees. "Bonjour, Mesdemoiselles!" she says happily. However, Yoshino and Yolei's eyes were glued to the screen.
"The large monster has since disappeared and hasn't been sighted since. A few witnesses have even stated that three other monsters were the ones that caused the other's disappearance. No evidence of ANY monster has been found."
Yolei couldn't believe her eyes. Digimon were reappearing in the Real World after all this time. But, why? She didn't even know about the attack last night. And the three other monsters the news reporter was talking about made it even more perplexing.
Yoshino sat watching the next segment, which was about a convenient store getting robbed by some gang members. Nothing good ever comes on the news, Yolei thought to herself as Catherine came and sat down on the loveseat opposite them.
"You ladies had a good sleep?" She asked, completely oblivious to the news.
Yoshino caught her composure and stood up. "Ugh, Catherine, do you wanna come with me to this seminar in the auditorium?"
Catherine looked from her bowl of cereal. "Seminar? For what?"
"For new students! A whole bunch of people are going to be there."
Yolei sniggered, earning her a glare from Yoshi. She wasn't sure why her roommate was so deadest into going into to this little seminar, but Yolei was about to go back to sleep for a little while longer on this day of rest, most definitely. No way was she going to be running around to pointless seminars with Yoshi and Catherine. Catherine, however, was beyond excited to hear this.
"Ouah! I would love that! Let me go get dressed," she said before setting down her bowl. She stopped to look down at Yolei. "Are you coming, Yolei?" It was Yolei's turn to stand up. "No thanks. I'm telling you, Yoshi. The only people who are going to be at the seminar are the people running it. You guys shouldn't even waste your time." Yoshino frowned at her. "Ugh, thanks for the negativity, Inoue! You're such a scrooge!" Yolei just laughed as she headed back to her room, the thought of the fighting Digimon fresh in her mind.
The morning went by rather slowly. Everyone was up early, but they didn't go anywhere. Instead, this was the morning for Davis to tell TK and Ken what happened. Not only did he share what happened with Kari last night, but he also told them about what happened with the sudden appearance of Tuskmon.
"How did a Tuskmon get in the Real World?" TK asked.
"I have no idea," Davis answered. "I was in the middle of my date and I suddenly see Tuskmon running through the streets. If Veemon hadn't snuck out to follow us, I don't know what I would have done."
"So, Veemon Digivolved and took care of Tuskmon?" Ken asked.
"He Digivolved into ExVeemon, but… then Tuskmon Digivolved!" He said, making the other two's eyebrows furrow. "It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. The Tuskmon started… like… crying sort of, and looked as if he was being electrocuted. A bright flash happened and suddenly, a MasterTyrannomon was standing in his place." "He Digivolved? Without a partner? How?!" TK asked.
"I don't know! I was just as stumped as you were. But, Takato showed up with Guilmon and helped out. You guys should have seen Takato! His style's totally different than ours. He was swiping some of his cards through his Digivice to battle. He used a card slash to get Guilmon to Digivolve into Growlmon. I've never seen anything like it. And that other card he used to give Guilmon hyper speed… it's like nothing any of us have ever seen before."
"Davish!" Veemon chimed in. "They weren't the only ones that helped us out! Agunimon came and made things a lot easier for both of us. I think without him, we would've lost that one. You guys should've seen him… Agunimon was so impressive with his fire attacks. *I* battled alongside the Warrior of Fire!"
Davis groaned. "Veemon, that was Takuya! C'mon, don't honor that copycat." "Watch the way you talk about the Legendary Warriors, Davish!"
"I can't even begin to think how a Tuskmon could have gotten into our world. Something's definitely wrong," TK thought.
"What's worse, it Digivolved without a partner. And the way Davis described it, it sounds like the Tuskmon was forced to Digivolve," Ken contemplated. "Who has that kind of power, though? To make wild Digimon to do that…"
"Maybe we should talk about this over breakfast," Davis suggested. "I'm pretty hungry."
"Can't do that," TK sighed. "I ran into Tai on my way back from the bathroom. The Den's still closed."
"You mean there's still something running around down there?" Davis asked.
"Knowing Matt and the others, they probably think it's that OU Phantasm," TK scoffed. "But that's just silly."
Ken got to his feet. "But there definitely IS something running around down there. And I think someone should go down there to investigate. That someone… should be me."
TK blinked. "You?"
Ken smirked. "I was almost hoping something like this would happen. This gives me a great chance to do some detective work! I can see it now. We can call it my first case. My first mystery, even. And every great detective starts off with a case like this. Think about it, guys! Detective Ken Ichijouji! I could be like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Nancy Drew, or the Hardy Boys!"
"Hey, I think I heard of them," Davis cut in. "One of them has a really hot girlfriend and the other one uses rainbow-colored hair dye, right?"
Ken sweatdropped. "Not…THOSE Hardy Boyz."
"Ken, do you really think you can find out what's haunting The Den?" TK asked.
Ken reached into his drawer for a magnifying glass. "Of course. It'll just take a little digging, investigating, and ingenuity. But, I'll find out what's haunting The Den."
"Ooh, can I come, Ken?" Wormmon piped up.
"Of course! I'll need a partner and who better than you to help?"
Wormmon looked excited. "Oh boy!" He reached into Ken's drawer and pulled out a mini-sized detective's hat to put on his head.
"Very chic," Veemon grinned.
Davis looked over at TK. "Well… looks like Ken's got his plans set. What are you doing today?"
"I've got a date tonight," TK answered coolly. "I'm going out with Catherine."
"Did you ever tell Kari?" Patamon asked.
"Why do I have to tell her anything?" TK demanded. "She and I broke up. We aren't together anymore! I wish everyone would get that through their heads! I can go ahead and do whatever I want and NOT have to answer to her!"
"So you haven't told her," Ken smirked.
"NO!" TK snapped. "And why should I?"
"Because Kari told you about her date with Davis," Patamon pointed out.
"How could she not?" Davis shot back. "He was there when I asked her out."
Patamon shook his head. "I think you're missing my point. The point is, I don't know how Kari would react if she knew you were dating and didn't tell her."
"I don't have to tell her," TK insisted. "And who cares how she'll react. She's not my girlfriend. There's absolutely no reason for me to tell her."
"There's no reason for you NOT to tell her," Patamon shot back. "Unless you're scared of what she'll say."
"Ok, now you're being ridiculous," TK growled. "I am NOT scared of Kari."
"Sure you aren't," Patamon said nonchalantly.
"I'm NOT!" TK scowled. He turned to Davis and Ken. "I'm not!"
"Oh… we believe you, TK," Ken said with Patamon's tone of nonchalance.
When TK looked at Davis, the goggle boy just stayed silent. He knew there was no need for him to say anything, since it was likely that he'd say something wrong anyway.
But, Davis could tell that TK didn't want Kari to know about his date tonight.
Kazu, Kenta, and Koichi sat in the driveway of Kazu's parents house in West Shinjuku. After a few hours of driving, the trio finally arrived, only to for Kazu to discover that he had forgotten his key back in Odaiba. And with luck, his parents were out at the minute. So now, they sit in the van, waiting for their only hope right now.
Who came running up the driveway at that moment.
It was Suzie, with Lopmon on her shoulder similar to the way Terriermon is always seen hanging off of her brother.
She runs up to the van, knocking on the window. Kenta jumps in surprise. "Finally!" Kazu exclaimed before opening the door and hugging Suzie tightly. "What took you so long?!"
"Gimme a break. We had to take the train," Suzie said as Lopmon hopped off her shoulder and on the ground, her long ears flowing behind her. "So what's this all about, guys? Suzie has studies to attend to," little Lopmon told them, making the young girl roll her eyes at her partner.
Well, you see, we came to get Guardromon and bring him back to Odaiba with us," Kazu began to explain. Suzie raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean… don't you guys live in a dorm or something?"
"I've tried to tell him-" Kenta said, but was quickly cut off by Kazu. "Never mind that! We just need Lopmon to crawl through the small window underneath my kitchen," he said. "For what?" Lopmon asked.
Kazu eyed Suzie, who had noticed Koichi standing off to the side. "If someone would've let me finish explaining, I could've gotten to the part where I was going to say I left my keys and can't get in," Kazu said slickly, earning him another eye roll from Suzie.
"All you gotta do is go in through there, run into my room and open up the window? Can you do that?"
Lopmon sighed loudly, before walking away from the group. Suzie cleared her throat before grabbing onto one of Lopmon's long ears. "Hold up! Did you guys seriously call us all the way over here for that? Why can't MarineAngemon go?" She mused, causing Kazu and Kenta to exchange glances.
Kenta opened up his coat. "I guess that's not such a bad idea."
Suzie and Lopmon sweatdropped. "Rika's right when she calls you guys idiots," Suzie commented under her breath. Apparently, however, Koichi heard her because he has stifled laughs.
MarineAngemon was napping inside Kenta's coat the entire time. He stuck his head out and just shrugged. He realized that he had just been drafted. He tried hugging Kenta's face, but it was to no avail. Kenta just pulled him off and pointed him outside.
Lopmon sighed. "I might as well go with him."
Suzie frowned at her partner's suggestion. "Lopmon, you don't have to climb through that… frickin' window!"
"Suzie, watch your mouth! Besides, we came all the way here so… It wouldn't kill me."
The fifteen-year-old huffed. "Whatever. It's your own fault if something happens."
They headed over to the little window on the ground that led to the basement. Kazu got to his room's window and just stood there waiting. Five minutes passed and nothing happened.
"You think they stopped for a snack?" Kenta pointed out dryly.
"Hope not," Kazu answered. "Everything in my fridge is probably expired."
Finally, there were some sounds coming from inside Kazu's room. Unfortunately, it wasn't what any of them were hoping for.
"INTRUDER! Grenade Destroyer!"
**BOOM**
Before any of them could even react, the wall of Kazu's room was blown out. The dusty debris showered Kazu, Kenta, Koichi, and Suzie all over and the four of them were covered in dust. When the dust cleared, Kazu saw Guardromon chasing Lopmon and MarineAngemon around.
"Guardromon, STOP!!" Kazu shouted.
Guardromon stopped in his tracks and turned his head to face Kazu. Kazu stomped over to the champion android, obviously annoyed that his wall had just been blown to bits.
"WHAT… are you DOING?!"
"You told me to guard your room against intruders, except your parents," Guardromon explained.
That was Guardromon in a nutshell. He would do whatever Kazu asked of him. Unfortunately, more often than not, he would take Kazu's orders far too literally.
Kazu slapped his forehead. "I can't believe we're still having this problem after all these years. When are you going to do what I mean and not what I say?!"
"I am confused," Guardromon said.
"Never mind," Kazu groaned. "Let's just get you in the van. We don't have any luggage, so we can fit you in now. Let's go."
Kazu and Guardromon started walking off, but they stopped when they noticed that the other three covered in soot weren't going anywhere.
Suzie looked over at Kazu's room. "Lopmon, are you ok?"
Lopmon walked over and climbed up on Suzie's shoulder. The young girl frowned at the android Digimon. "That bucket of bolts! He takes his job WAY too seriously!" She yelled. Lopmon patted her Tamer's head. "Suzie, its fine. Nobody got hurt."
"MarineAngemon, are you ok?" Kenta asked.
Having been in the midst of a harrowing experience, MarineAngemon rushed over and clutched himself on Kenta's arm. Kenta turned his head slowly towards Kazu, looking almost identical to Suzie. Neither one of them looked very happy.
Kazu shrugged. "What? You think I'M happy about this? What am I gonna do about my wall?"
Koichi looked over at the missing wall and sweatdropped. "You guys, he does have point. You think we should do something to fix it?"
Kenta shook his head. "No time. We'd probably get caught if Kazu's parents come home. I think we should just leave."
Kazu nodded. "I agree. Maybe my family will just think it was an errant cherry bomb that went horribly, horribly wrong or something. But, still, we should go."
With that, Kazu walked Guardromon over to the van. The big android's weight would likely be a factor. The drive back would be a slow one, but Kazu wasn't in any rush. Besides, he needed time to think, because the hardest part wasn't over yet.
There was still the matter of actually moving Guardromon INTO the dorm!
There was no one guarding the doors to The Den and there was no one inside. Perhaps OU Public Safety was having a lunch break. Perhaps they were somewhere else, thinking of a game plan. Perhaps they were conducting an investigation with whatever facts they collected somewhere else. Or perhaps it was because OU Public Safety feared whatever was lurking inside.
But, Detective Ken Ichijouji was not afraid of whatever was lurking inside The Den. He would face whatever it was that awaited him inside, along with his faithful sidekick, Wormmon, on his shoulder.
"It looks empty, Ken," Wormmon said.
"Then that'll just make things easier for us," Ken smirked. "We can go in on our own. And once we're in there, we can go ahead and solve… The Mystery of the OU Phantasm!"
Wormmon pondered that. "All that's missing is the dramatic music for whenever you say … The Mystery of the OU Phantasm!"
Ken thought about that. "Yeah, you're right. We're gonna have to work on that. If we're gonna be famous detectives someday, we'll need some dramatic chords."
"Maybe even our own theme song. We should think about that after we crack this case."
"And to crack this case, we'll have to infiltrate The Den. Wormmon, can you go in through that little hole in the wall?"
Ken pointed down at a small hole in the wall that led into The Den. It wasn't large enough for any human to fit through, but it would be big enough for Wormmon.
"I'd have to watch my hat, but I'm sure I can fit."
"Ok, crawl in through the hole and unlock the side entrance. I'll wait for you there."
Wormmon jumped off Ken's shoulder and headed for the small hole in the wall (while holding his little hat in place, of course). Once Wormmon started to make his way in, Ken made his way to the side entrance.
Ken was all set to get to the bottom of this mystery.
A few days had passed since they arrived at Odaiba University. Of course, no one knew of their arrival. In fact, Impmon was beginning to think that maybe it was better that way. For one thing, it was nice not to have any humans bothering him. And second, Impmon had never eaten so much in his life. This place called 'The Den' was full of food and Impmon couldn't stop feasting. And he also enjoyed scaring off any of the humans that tried to come in.
"Hey, Calumon, pass me another pack of Twinkies," Impmon requested.
Little Calumon stuck his head inside the basket where the Twinkies were kept. He pulled out another pack and passed them to Impmon. It didn't get any better than this. Impmon had it nice and peaceful in The Den's kitchen, just indulging himself.
Suddenly, though, he stopped moving and so did Calumon. They both heard a noise coming from the dining area. It sounded like one of the doors was being opened.
"Thanks," a voice said. "Now, let's go see what's haunting this place."
"Ok, but if it's that OU Phantasm, I'll just hide under one of the tables," another voice replied.
Impmon got to his feet and ceased his eating. Humans had been coming in and out since yesterday and each time, Impmon tossed out tiny fireballs towards them. They didn't set anything on fire, but they were enough to spook the nosy people. But, something caught Impmon's attention. He heard the term 'OU Phantasm'. He wondered what that meant. Did that mean these humans thought he was some kind of ghost? He never DID come out into the open whenever he scared the humans here, so it was a very real possibility. And that left the possibility for some REAL fun wide open.
"What is it, Impmon?" Calumon asked curiously.
"I think we got humans out there."
Calumon took a bite out of a muffin. "What are you gonna do?"
Impmon smirked and lit a fireball on his fingertip. "I'm gonna have a little fun."
Calumon liked the idea of the word 'fun'. "Ooh, can I come?"
"Uh… you can watch."
"Yippee!"
Impmon walked through the kitchen cautiously with Calumon skipping along contentedly behind him. It was time for mischief. There was nothing Impmon enjoyed more than messing around with humans.
Ken slowly treaded around the abandoned Den, looking for any signs of clues as to what could be haunting it. He wasn't finding much until he reached a straw basket that was tipped over. Inside that basket was an empty wrapper of potato chips.
"Wormmon, hand me my magnifying glass."
Wormmon reached into Ken's pocket and pulled it out. "Here you go, Ken."
Ken inched closer to the wrapper of potato chips with the magnifying glass. That's when he made his first breakthrough.
"Fingerprints," Ken noted. "Do you realize what this means?"
"Those potato chips are really greasy?"
"Not only that, but with this, I have deduced that our culprit is a living thing. For as you probably know, phantasms and ghosts… don't have fingerprints."
"That makes a lot of sense."
Ken suddenly noticed another wrapper on the ground. It was from a discarded box of red vines. He looked over the wrapper and made another discovery.
"These are a different set of prints. And that means we have more than one culprit here."
"But, Ken, how could a human haunt this place?" Wormmon asked. "Wouldn't that be difficult? Well… unless they were midgets?"
"Wormmon, they prefer to be called 'little people'. And anyway, it HAS to be humans. If it was some kind of wild animal, then it would have attacked public safety or something. It has to be a human."
Just then, a small fireball fell between Ken and Wormmon. Both of them jumped back as the fireball quickly fizzled out. It came from inside the cafeteria's kitchen, which was pitch black. Ken reached into his pocket for his flashlight.
"Who's there?" Ken demanded.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I AM THE OU PHANTASM!! AND YA BETTER GET OUT OF THIS PLACE IF YA KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YA!! OOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Ken lit the flashlight and pointed it out towards the kitchen. "What do you want with this place? If you really ARE the OU Phantasm, then why haunt this place? Doesn't fast food sound a lot more appealing?"
"HEY, WHO'S THE GHOST AROUND HERE?! YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!! I'M THE ONE MAKING ORDERS HERE AND I WANT YA TO SCRAM!! BADA BOOM!!"
Ken leaped out of the way of another fireball. Then he pointed at the wrapper on the ground. "I know you're not really a ghost! Your fingerprints give you away! Now come on out before you force me to do this the hard way!"
Another fireball flew out. "BEAT IT!!"
Ken dodged the fireball again. "Well, you asked for it. That was your last warning. Now I'll have to play rough!"
"YEAH, AND WHAT'S ROUGH?!"
Ken sweatdropped. "Uh… I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Give me about a minute."
That response was met with another fireball. Whoever this person was appeared to be very hostile and didn't want to give up the charade. Ken wondered how that guy could make fireballs like that. But he also wondered how he would go about flushing the fake phantasm out.
Wormmon watched the whole exchange from behind one of the counters, the one closest to the frozen yogurt machine. Ken looked to be in over his head, but Wormmon didn't want to come out and expose himself unless it was absolutely necessary. Besides that, he had faith in Ken. He knew he would flush out this would-be ghost.
"What's going on?" someone asked.
Wormmon turned around to see a little white Digimon with a big round head and big ears, who was casually eating a banana.
"Oh, that's just Detective Ken Ichijouji trying to solve the Mystery of the OU Phantasm," Wormmon answered calmly. "He may be having a little trouble right now, but you just wait and see him flush out whoever's back there. Watch and be amazed!" Then something hit Wormmon like a ton of bricks. "Hey, wait a minute! Who are you?!"
The little Digimon's ears shrunk. "Uh… me?"
"Are you supposed to be here?"
"Um… uh… IMPMON!!"
The Digimon started running. Wormmon knew he wouldn't be able to keep pace with this speedy little one. So he did things the easy way.
"Silk Thread!"
Wormmon shot out his Silk Thread like a lasso and rustled up the little Digimon with pinpoint accuracy. Seeing he was stuck, the little one cried out for help.
"Impmon! Help me!"
The so-called 'OU Phantasm' boomed. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YA TO JUST STAY OUT OF THE WAY AND WATCH!! BADA BOOM!!"
A fireball came flying out of the kitchen and headed straight for Wormmon. It landed on the Silk Thread, however, burning it off and setting the little Digimon free. The little one started running again.
"Don't let him get away, Ken!" Wormmon cried.
"I got him, Wormmon!"
Ken was quick to give chase. The little Digimon ran towards the dark kitchen and Ken followed with Wormmon lagging behind. Unfortunately, they all ran straight into the darkness. And that proved to be a recipe for disaster.
"HEY!! WATCH OUT!!"
**CRASH**
**CLANG**
**CRASH**
Wormmon didn't even know what hit him. All he knew was that there was a kettle on his head. Finally, someone managed to reach for a nearby light switch. It was Ken. And once the lights were on, Wormmon took the kettle off his head to see the little white Digimon and the alleged 'OU Phantasm'. It was another Digimon. A purple little devil that wasn't much bigger than Wormmon.
"I told you to watch," the little purple one said groggily.
The white Digimon cleared a banana peel from atop his forehead. "Sorry, Impmon."
Wormmon looked up at Ken. "I think we have our 'OU Phantasm', Ken. Two Digimon. Can we call this case closed?"
"Not just yet," Ken replied. He picked up the purple Impmon by his collar. "Alright, you're caught. How did you get in here?"
Wormmon was distracted with watching Ken try to pump this Impmon for a motive. So he obviously wasn't paying attention when the little white Digimon came up behind Ken with a fork and…
"YEOW!!"
…poked Ken in the foot with it. Ken dropped the Impmon and they both started running off. But the Impmon quickly stopped and looked back one more time.
"Here's a little going-away present. Ba Boom!"
The Impmon tossed another fireball at Ken, giving him a hotfoot. Then, he and the other Digimon dashed off and out of The Den.
"Are you ok, Ken?" Wormmon asked.
"Just a little sore," Ken responded coolly. Then he looked out towards the back exit. "They're gone. You know what this means?"
"Um… they've escaped?"
"Besides that," Ken groaned. "Those two might run with the same crowd as that Tuskmon that Davis saw last night. We've got to find them. They might cause more trouble. Let's go!"
Wormmon climbed up on Ken's shoulder. "Our first dramatic chase. I always imagined it would be this exciting."
"Just stay still, because we're about to head out into the open. Now let's get 'em!"
Ken was off and running again, heading for the back exit. That Impmon and his accomplice couldn't have gone far.
As soon as Impmon ran out the back door, he made a beeline for the nearby shrubbery. Calumon was following along, but he didn't see Impmon jump in the shrubs. When little Calumon stopped and looked around, Impmon reached out and yanked him in the shrubs.
"We'll hide in here," Impmon whispered.
Impmon and Calumon peeked through the shrubs and saw that human running around with the Digimon on his shoulder. He looked around before he continued running.
Impmon scowled. "Stupid human. I was actually having some fun, too. Come on, Calumon, let's see what else we can find around here."
Making sure to keep himself and Calumon hidden, Impmon led the way out of the cafeteria and towards another part of this enormous campus. There were young humans walking around everywhere. Impmon could only imagine the fun he could have messing with these humans. And if he kept himself hidden, they wouldn't know what hit them.
Impmon lit a fireball on his fingertip. "This should be fun. You think I can nail one of them?"
Calumon looked the other way and gasped. "Jeri!"
Impmon's attention was now diverted. "Jeri?"
Impmon looked the same direction as Calumon and, indeed, noticed that amongst the crowd that was walking… was Jeri, who was heading for one of the campus's buildings.
"Come on," Impmon muttered. "Let's see if we can follow her."
Impmon dragged Calumon by the hand towards the building. From the looks of it, it looked like one of the apartment complexes from back in West Shinjuku. All he had to do now was infiltrate the place. But, if he went in through the door, he would be spotted.
Then he found an open window in the distance. That would be his big chance to sneak inside. So he grabbed Calumon by the hand again and led him to the open window.
Kari couldn't help but notice the tension inside her room. And it had been that way ever since the Digimon had been discovered. Of course, the animosity wasn't between the roommates. It was between the two Digimon. Gatomon was laying on the arm of the loveseat and Renamon was on the sofa. Both were staring holes into each other and it had been that way the whole day.
Yolei, who came to visit Kari, couldn't help but notice. "Uh… is there something between those two that I don't know about?"
"They met a long time ago and they have some issues," Kari answered calmly. "But, from what I can tell, the main issue is that they just hate each other."
Gatomon heard that. "I wouldn't say I hate. I'd just like her a lot more if she was gone."
"Well, that's too bad," Renamon replied sourly. "Because I'm not going anywhere."
"Neither am I!" Gatomon huffed.
Once again, both Digimon crossed their arms and turned their backs on each other. Kari didn't know whether or not she could interpret this as progress, because this is the first time they had taken their eyes off each other.
"So… got plans tonight?" Kari asked casually, diverting from the tense scene.
"I think we're getting together to watch a movie in my room," Yolei answered. "There's no better time since my room will be empty."
"Your roommates won't be there?"
Silence. . .
Yolei sweatdropped. "Uh… out!"
"Okay," Kari giggled at her friend. "Why'd you say it like that? Is there something wrong?"
Yolei laughed nervously. "Wrong? What could be wrong? It's just… well… I shouldn't say anything! Forget I said anything!"
"Ok, this is making me curious," Kari replied. "What is it, Yolei?"
There was another moment of silence. Even Rika, who was sitting calmly at her desk with her head buried in her work, was now looking up with a hint of curiosity. Yolei was looking completely flustered.
"Kari… I really shouldn't say anything. You promise not to overreact?"
"Overreact? What do you mean?"
"It's because … … Catherine's going out on a date … … with TK."
Silence. . .
At that moment, Zoë walked in with JP trailing in behind her, the two of them laughing about something.
"WHAT?!?!" Kari shouted, getting the two's attention.
Yolei flinched. It wasn't often that Kari yelled like that and whenever it DID happen, it meant that she must have been REALLY angry. Rika maintained her position, watching the whole thing unfold.
"Kari, you promised not to overreact!" Yolei exclaimed.
"No, I didn't!" Kari pointed out. "I never said I wouldn't overreact! And why wouldn't I overreact?! I can't believe TK's going out with that French floozy!"
Gatomon knew what this was all leading to. She immediately put her own personal issues aside and rushed to her partner.
"Kari, calm down," Gatomon tried saying. "You have no reason to be angry. You and TK broke up!"
"He… CAN'T go out with her!" Kari cried, not having heard Gatomon. "And he didn't even tell me, either! Well, I'm gonna go set him straight RIGHT NOW!"
Kari got up and stormed towards the door. Zoë and JP watched her curiously. "Kari, what's the matter?" Zoë asked her friend, who merely kept walking past them. Rika hopped up and stood in her way.
"Excuse me, please," Kari muttered through gritted teeth. She was trying to keep her polite demeanor, but couldn't deny the anger she was feeling inside of her.
"And just what are you planning to do?" Rika asked, obviously not shaken by Kari's mood.
"I need to talk to TK!" Kari growled.
"And tell him what?" Rika pointed out. "That he can't go out with whomever he wants? I thought you said you two broke up!"
"We… did. But … you just don't understand! Now please get out of my way!"
Kari nudged Rika aside and stormed out the door. There was only one path for her now and it led straight to TK's room downstairs.
"Hi, Kari."
Kari didn't even notice Jeri passing by her in the hall. In fact, she nearly bumped her. Kari was blinded now. And she wouldn't be able to see again until she cleared this whole thing up with TK.
Rika just shook her head and closed the door, but before she could close it, Jeri walked in.
"Is it me, or is Kari in a really bad mood?" Jeri asked.
"Oh my goodness, I'm glad someone said something before I did," Zoë said, looking over at Rika. "What's with her?"
Rika turned her gaze on Yolei. "I thought she broke up with him!"
"She did," Yolei replied.
"I thought she didn't like him anymore!"
"She doesn't."
"Then what is her problem?" Rika demanded.
"It's just that… well… I don't think you guys would understand."
"Try us," Zoë chimed in. "If we're going to be Kari's roommates and her friends, then she has to be able to confide in us. Maybe we can help."
"It's one of those things she'll have to tell you herself when she's ready," Yolei said. "But in the meantime… maybe we should let her deal with this herself."
Rika looked over at the solid door and scowled. She couldn't believe anyone could be so ridiculous. Kari was angry over nothing. Apparently, she didn't understand the whole concept of a 'breakup'.
And if it was that same TK she met the other day…then she felt rather sorry for him. He seemed like a nice enough guy. He didn't deserve the ordeal he was about to face.
TK was casually bouncing a foam ball off the wall while lying back on the living room couch, watching a basketball game on television. Davis was finishing up a paper with Veemon looking over his shoulder while Patamon was taking a nap. Ken and Wormmon were still out being detectives and trying to solve this case of the OU Phantasm.
The calmness of the room was broken when someone knocked. Davis put his paper aside and went to answer the door.
Davis smiled. "Hi, Kari!"
Kari didn't return the smile. She didn't look happy. "Davis… can I speak to TK alone for a second? I'm sorry if you're busy, but I'll make it up to you… later."
Davis looked over at his desk. "Well… I was working on a paper… but for you, anything. I'll be take it in my room."
Davis gathered up his things at the desk and walked back into his individual room, shutting the door behind him. Kari then shot a glance at Veemon. Veemon took the hint and walked right behind Davis in his room. She then looked over at Patamon and concluded that the sleeping little Digimon wouldn't be nosing in this conversation.
Then she focused on TK… and she gave him an angry stare.
"Something wrong?" TK asked, having no idea what to expect.
"So when were planning to tell me?!" Kari demanded.
"Tell you what?" TK asked unknowingly.
"That you were going out on a date with Catherine?! How could you?! You're dating again so soon?!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" TK protested. "What do you mean 'Am *I* dating again so soon'?! You just went out on a date last night, or did you forget that?!"
"T-T-That's different!" Kari stammered. "Davis is my friend! We're just friends!"
"Yeah, and Catherine's MY friend!" TK shot back. "WE'RE friends, too! Why are you so angry about this?!"
Patamon sleepily lifted his head. "What's going on?"
"NOW look what you did!" TK growled. "You woke him up! I hope you're happy!"
"I'm NOT happy!" Kari cried. "I can't believe you're already going out with some girl you hardly know! We dated for five years, TK! Been everything to each other for so long! It's like I meant nothing to you! You didn't even bother to tell me you were going out! It didn't take you long to forget about me, did it, Takeru?!"
This was serious. Kari never called him by his full first name unless it was something totally serious. She was really upset about this.
But, TK was also looking at this from another perspective. Kari was out of control. She had no reason to be this upset at all. Kari had already begun the process of moving on and she wanted to deny TK that same opportunity. It wasn't fair.
"WE … BROKE … UP!" TK shouted, emphasizing each word. "And that means it's time for me to move on! I don't have to answer to you anymore! And if I want to go out with a beautiful girl like Catherine, then I WILL!" That's when he grinned smugly. "Don't tell me you're JEALOUS!"
Kari gasped. She gave him the meanest look she could possibly give him …
**SMACK**
…before slapping the grin off his face and the taste out of his mouth.
"FINE! Go out with her!" Kari shouted. "See if I care!"
Kari turned around to stomp away. She then stopped, turning heel and walking up to Davis's door. She knocks, and he slowly answers, a look of concern on his face.
"Is everything ok?" he asked.
Kari hesitated for a moment. She had a look of uncertainty on her face. But, that's when she made a bold move, one she didn't even appear to be sure of. She grabbed Davis's head and planted a deep kiss on his lips before walking out. TK was stunned. Davis was also stunned, but in a different way. It looked like a big dream had come true for him. Patamon waved a hand in front of Davis's face and got no reaction. The goggle boy was in a zombie-like state.
"Whoa… I think he's out of it," Patamon thought.
TK couldn't believe it. She boldly kissed Davis RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. It was the lowest thing a person could have done, which bothered him since it came from Kari. Never did he think she was capable of doing something like that. It was so unlike her. And from the look on her face after she had done it, it looked like she realized that as well. Did his upcoming date bother her that much?
Then, he shrugged all that off. If it bothered her, he didn't care. It was HIS date and HIS life and he refused to let Kari Kamiya control him.
Impmon crept over to the open window. It was a simple matter of peering over the windowsill to see if anyone was in there. There were two guys in there, but they were too distracted playing video games to notice.
"Keep quiet so they don't see you," Impmon whispered.
With that in mind, he gave Calumon a boost inside. Then he climbed in himself. They crawled by the wall while the two humans started arguing.
"Takuya, why are you cheating?
"What are you talking about? I'm doing everything you're doing?"
"You have 450 and I only have 87!"
"Face it, Koji. You can't beat me."
They would never notice them. In fact, Impmon felt like taking advantage of the guy with the goggles by giving him a hotfoot. But, he knew he had to get out of there and find Jeri. But that's when something unexpected happened.
"HEY! KOJI!"
Something else cried out. Impmon didn't even get to see what it was before he was spotted by the humans.
The goggled one jumped up out of the sofa and saw Impmon and Calumon. "Huh?! MORE Digimon?!"
Impmon went with his best line of defense. "Bada Boom!"
Impmon tossed a fireball on the ground, sending the goggle boy jumping out of the way. Before anyone else could get in his way, Impmon dragged Calumon out the open door and ran down the hall.
Unfortunately, he didn't watch where he was going, because he went on …
"HEY!"
… to bump into someone. It just happened to be a familiar face.
Calumon recognized him. "Takato!"
Impmon couldn't believe it, but it really was Takato Matsuki. Of all the people to bump into…
Takato gasped. "Calumon?! Impmon?!"
Suddenly, one of the other guys staying in the hall came out. Takato quickly ran in front of the two Digimon.
"What's going on?" the guy asked.
"Oh… I just had some more stuffed animals lying around," Takato said nervously.
Taking the hint, Impmon and Calumon froze and went into a stuffed animal act.
The guy went back into his room. "Ok, but you have a lot of stuffed animals."
Once the guy was in, Takato turned back around. "How did you guys…?!"
Before Takato could even finish asking his question, the other two guys caught up to them.
The guy with the blue hair panted. "Takato! Digimon!"
"Relax," Takato said calmly. "I know these two. Let's go to my room and I'll introduce you."
Impmon sweatdropped. It looked like he'd be getting better acquainted with more humans. This wasn't what he had in mind at all when he got here.