Marcus had a severe frown on his face as he stood around the crowds of students and teachers, next to Willy and Naomi. This seminar had gone on longer than he had expected, and the more he spent at this university, the more he hated it. The Den had been closed, and it was one of his very rare days off, which he was trying to use this time to go do something active. But, here he was, stuck at this seminar his aunt was speaking at.
"How much longer do we have to be here?" He asked his uncle, who put his hand firmly on his nephew's shoulder. "Now, now, Marcus. Diane just has to do a few meet-and-greets and then we're on our way," Willy replied, his ever-present grin on his face.
Naomi sighed, as her cell phone beeped. She took it out her purse and looked at it, a frown forming on her face. Ever since Marcus caught her creeping in after curfew, Naomi has been avoiding any type of communication with him. Not that he really cared, though, but if she ever tried to do anything underhanded to him, he would have a least a little leverage over her.
Putting her phone back, Naomi looked over to see her mother walking towards the three of them. "There's Mom," she said, waving her hands in the air. Diane was walking towards them, a large smile on her face. Walking next to her was a kid about Marcus's age with blonde hair and some type of key chain being worn around his neck.
Once she reached them, Diane gave each one of them a hug, even her nephew. "Sorry, hope it wasn't too long of a wait," she apologized. Willy leaned over and gave his wife a peck on the lips. "You were great, sweetheart." Everyone's gaze fell on the silent newcomer, who waved once he realized the attention was placed upon him.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Willy, this is the Professor Norstein I was telling you about," Diana said excitedly, eyeing her daughter as she said this. Uncle Willy gasped and shook the boy's hand with pride. "Oh my goodness, Professor Norstein, it is such a pleasure to finally meet you!"
"Professor?" Marcus and Naomi said in unison. Marcus looked over at his cousin, who was obviously equally as confused as he was. This guy couldn't have been older than sixteen- or seventeen-years-old, yet Aunt Diane was referring to him as professor every time she spoke of him.
"Naomi, Marcus… this is a colleague of mine, Professor Thomas H. Norstein!" Diane said proudly, making the blonde boy blush somewhat. "Please, you speak too highly of me," he said meekly. Naomi raised an eyebrow, not sure what they were meeting this guy for. Until her mother grabbed her and Thomas by the shoulders.
"You know, Professor Norstein is the same age as you Marcus. Graduated from Stockholm Royal University of Science when he was only fourteen-years-old!" Marcus wasn't impressed the least bit. Sure, he has book smarts, but this guy looked like he couldn't even throw a punch. "Wow, impressive," Naomi said in a trance-like state as she shook Thomas's hand. Diane smiled widely as her daughter and Thomas looked each other in the eyes.
"You must be Naomi," he said, making the girl giggle slightly.
"I must be."
"I've heard a lot about you."
"Really?"
"Your mother is always talking about her 'perfect little angel'."
Marcus rolled his eyes. He knew what was up. His aunt was hoping that Naomi and Thomas would hit it off, being the perfect suitor for her seemingly 'perfect' daughter. He tried his best to not laugh as he looked at the milling people surrounding them.
"Mom…" Naomi growled under breath at her mother. "What?" Diane whined, "I can't help it if I'm proud of you." She wiped a smear off Naomi's face, making the girl jerk her head quickly away.
"Don't worry… My mother would've done the same thing," Thomas commented, a somewhat sad look coming into his eyes. This didn't go unnoticed by Naomi, but she decided against pressing further.
Before any of them could continue the conversation, two girls walked up behind Diane and Thomas. One had short, red hair with the same keychain around her neck that Thomas had, only a different color. The short-haired girl tapped Thomas on the shoulder, catching his attention. He turned around, smiling. "Professor Norstein?" She asks meekly, before Thomas waved his hand dismissively. "Please, call me Thomas. What can I do for you?" But, then, the girl's eyes fell on the keychain hanging around his neck. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Marcus and everyone around noticed, even the girl's companion, who was a pretty blonde girl.
The blonde girl nudged her friend. "Yoshi, what is it?"
The red-head said nothing, only stared Thomas right in the eyes, who did the same. "Umm, nothing, Catherine. We're leaving," she said as she quickly walked away. The blonde, who apparently had a thick, French accent, followed after her friend. "But, why? I thought-"
Diane laughed nervously and looked at her husband. "I swear, it's never the same day twice." Thomas continued to look after the girls' retreating form, his eyes still narrowed. "Indeed," he said quietly.
Another moment of silence before Willy whispered in his wife's ear. The woman gasped in remembrance. "Oh, Willy, you're right! We better get going!" She turned to Thomas, who was still looking a little disturbed at the exchange he had with the girl. "Professor, we better get going. My father is coming back into town, and we have to pick him from the airport."
Marcus and Naomi both exchanged surprised glances, neither knowing how to react to this. Their grandfather had been gone for about five years, no one in the family having any contact with for years. To hear his aunt say that they have to pick him up was a shock in itself.
"I better be going, too," Thomas said before shaking Diane's hand. He shakes the rest of their hands, stopping on Naomi. "It was a pleasure meeting you."
Naomi blushes somewhat, smiling widely. "You too."
He nods, bids another farewell to the family as a whole, before making his way through the throngs of people. Marcus's mind was on something else, however. "Grandpa Homer is coming? HERE?" He asked in excitement, but his aunt quickly shushed him.
"Don't worry about that. You guys will be able to see him later tonight."
Takato looked out into the hallway. "Nobody here." Then he closed the door. "So I guess it's just us."
He looked around to examine the scene. Koji and Takuya were sitting on the floor right in front of Impmon. Hyperactive Calumon was running around the room, trying to burn off some of that sugar rush. Takato was wishing he had Henry around, because he knew he would have trouble explaining this by himself.
"Um… Takuya, Koji… this is Impmon and that's Calumon."
"How many more Digimon do you Tamers have?" Takuya asked.
"What do you mean by that?" Impmon demanded. "You think I BELONG to one of them? You don't even know, do you? Stupid human."
"Impmon isn't one of our Digimon," Takato clarified. "We met him six years ago when he ran away from his Tamers. He was … … a friend. But, what are you doing here, Impmon? I thought you were back in West Shinjuku."
"I don't appreciate being left behind," Impmon growled. "Why didn't anyone tell me you were all leaving until the last minute? I guess you guys were gonna send me a postcard."
"I thought Rika and Renamon would tell you earlier," Takato answered. "I guess they never got around to it. Are you… angry?"
"What do you think?!" Impmon demanded.
"You guys never told him you were leaving?" Koji asked. "If all my friends didn't tell me they were moving away, I'd be pretty upset too."
"HEY!" Impmon snapped. "Those humans ain't friends! I ain't friends with humans!"
Takato shook his head. "Don't listen to him. Deep down, he really likes us."
Impmon lit a fireball on his fingertip. "Take that back!"
Calumon, still running around, paused to blow out the fireball like a candle. Then he resumed running around the room. He kept running while Guilmon tried to chase after him.
"What's with him?" Takuya asked. "He's pretty hyper."
Calumon stopped in front of Takato and looked at his new friends. "My name's Calumon!"
Takato picked Calumon up. "He's another friend we met six years ago. He didn't belong to anybody and actually… he doesn't have a Tamer. When I first met Calumon, he was just looking for someone to play with. It turns out that there was a lot more to him than we first thought."
"And what's that?" Koji asked.
Takato was about to tell them about Calumon holding the secret of the Shining Digivolution. But, before he could say anything, someone knocked on his door. He started to think it was Henry, but he was studying for some test he had on Monday in the library.
Curiously, Takato walked over to answer the door, but he found… Ken and Wormmon, who were both wearing a brown detective's hat and cloak.
"Sorry to bother you Takato, but we were …?"
Ken paused when he saw Impmon. Calumon leaped out of Takato's arms and rushed to hide under his bed. Impmon lit a fireball on his fingertip.
"Ya don't know when to give up, do ya?" Impmon sneered.
Takato calmly stepped between Ken and Impmon. "Is there something I should know?"
"THAT'S your OU Phantasm!" Ken shouted. "He's been the one haunting The Den!"
"How'd you come up with that?" Takuya asked curiously.
Ken smirked. "My superior detective skills."
Takuya just laughs as Koji rolls his eyes.
Wormmon jumped off Ken's shoulder and crawled under Takato's legs towards Impmon. "All we want are some answers. Why did you haunt The Den? Why did you scare everybody who went in there?"
"I was trying to have some fun," Impmon answered. "At least until I found one of these guys."
Ken shot Takato a glance. "You know him?"
"Impmon's a friend," Takato answered. "I guess he just wanted to come look for us and so did Calumon over there. It's too bad I can't keep them in here. Maybe Rika and Jeri can keep them around."
"Hey! You think they might be able to play peacekeeper between Gatomon and Renamon?" Takuya asked.
Takato sweatdropped. "Impmon? Peacekeeper? I highly doubt that."
"Um, standing right here, just to let ya know," Impmon growled.
Calumon came out from under the bed. "Can I play peacekeeper?"
Takato smiled. "Calumon, on the other hand, might be able to help us." He bent down to look the little Digimon in the eye. "Can you make sure that Renamon and Gatomon don't fight?"
"Sure! Uh… who's Gatomon?"
"You'll meet her in a little bit," Takato replied. "I'll take you up to Rika and Jeri a little later."
Wormmon walked over to Calumon. "I guess we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Wormmon."
Calumon eagerly shook Wormmon's hand. "I'm Calumon! Nice to meet you! You look like a nice Digimon! Can we be friends?"
"Um… sure. You're pretty hyper. Just how much of that Den food did you have?"
"Lots and LOTS of sugar!"
"He reminds me of the Sovereigns," Koji said as Calumon flew up to Takato's bed, hopping up down.
Wormmon moved towards Impmon. "And you must be Impmon. It's nice to meet you."
Wormmon extended the hand of friendship, which Impmon looked a little more than hesitant to take. He just turned his head away and reluctantly accepted.
"I'm Impmon and it's your pleasure to meet me."
"So where are you staying?" Wormmon asked.
"Like he said, I might as well go visit Rika, Jeri, and Renamon. But we'll see what happens from there. Is that human over there your Tamer?"
"Tamer? He's not my Tamer. Ken's my partner and a DigiDestined."
Impmon looked intrigued. "Is that right? You mean one of THE DigiDestined?"
"You know about them, Impmon?" Takato asked curiously.
Impmon nodded. "The stories of the DigiDestined are all over the Digital World. I just didn't think I'd ever get to see these humans myself. Not much to see."
Ken scoffed. "You'd be surprised."
Takato cut in. "Well, if you think that's crazy, wait till you guess who these guys are," he said, pointing to Takuya and Koji. The two of them smiled meekly.
Impmon didn't look impressed. "What about'em? Looks like more filthy humans, if ya ask me."
"They're the Legendary Warriors!"
Impmon now stared at them curiously, before bursting out laughing. Takuya frowned. "Ugh, that reaction is starting to get on my nerves." Impmon was rolling on the floor with hilarity. "That was a good one, Takato!" He managed to get out, still laughing.
Koji sighed as he got to his feet, heading out. "As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have to get back to studying."
Takuya frowned. "That's the only thing you've been doing all weekend! Would it kill you take a break?"
"Maybe," Koji replied before closing the door behind him.
Calumon waved cheerfully while Impmon just nonchalantly shrugged. Takuya, Ken, and Wormmon were still there. So Takato decided to tell them a little more about these two friends of his.
"Where was I?"
Night was starting to fall in the Digital World. Puppetmon tapped his fingers impatiently as he sat by Datamon's supercomputer. The Digimon Empress and Datamon were both busy looking through the line of Digimon. It was a slow process which Puppetmon found dull and boring.
"Can we hurry this up?" Puppetmon groaned.
"This is a delicate process," Datamon responded. "It's imperative that we choose the right mon for the job."
"He's right," The Digimon Empress pointed out. "We SHOULD hurry. I'd like to get this one out there as soon as possible."
"Can't we send that Tortomon we just got?" Puppetmon whined.
"Hmm… that DOES sound appealing," Datamon admitted. "What do you say, my pretty?"
"A Tortomon CAN be pretty destructive," The Digimon Empress mused. "Very well. We'll send the Tortomon."
Puppetmon got to his feet. He rushed past the other Digimon and up to the Tortomon, which still had a Black Gear on his back.
"Looks like you're up! Give me a good show and go ahead and STOMP EVERYONE! Except for TK, he's mine!"
"Ahem… I believe The Dark One asked for the holder of the Crest of Light to be kept alive, as well?" Datamon pointed out.
"Whatever," Puppetmon nonchalantly muttered. "I just want the chance to have some fun and nothing's more fun than playing around with humans."
"You two prepare the Tortomon," The Digimon Empress instructed. "I must go, since I have a prior engagement. But I'll be in touch tonight and we'll bring the Tortomon in."
Without even waiting for anyone else to say anything, The Digimon Empress walked out. Puppetmon couldn't help but scowl. As soon as she was out, he turned to Datamon.
"Are you SURE she's fully under our control?" Puppetmon asked skeptically.
"She's our puppet," Datamon said sinisterly, fully intending the pun. "It doesn't sound like it," Puppetmon shot back. "With every day that passes, it feels like she's getting out of control. Are you sure you know EVERYTHING about that thing stuck inside her?"
"I'm fully knowledgeable," Datamon answered. "She's under our control. Trust me."
Puppetmon wasn't so sure. The hierarchy was getting more and more confusing as it related to Puppetmon, Datamon, and The Digimon Empress. The only thing they all knew for sure was that The Dark One was the real brains behind the operation.
Puppetmon looked at the Tortomon, who roared loudly again. He couldn't help but cackle. This would make for an entertaining Saturday night.
Kari sighed despondently. While she was thrilled with the thought of spending her Saturday night with her friends, she knew there was one friend missing. That friend was TK and he was going out on a date with that Catherine girl.
She was deeply regretting what she did earlier. She didn't regret kissing Davis. It was something she wanted to do someday. But she regretted the REASON she did it. She didn't do it out of love or passion. Kari kissed Davis out of pure spite. It was wrong and she realized it.
It was time to go over to Yolei's apartment, but Kari honestly didn't feel like she wanted to go. She felt terrible. There was someone else there who was in touch with her feelings. That someone was Jeri.
"Kari, what's the matter?" Jeri asked.
Kari just sighed deeply.
"I think I know what's wrong," Gatomon said sadly. "Kari, is it because TK's going out on his date tonight?"
Kari nodded.
"But, Kari, I thought you didn't have feelings for TK anymore," Jeri pointed out. "Do you?"
Kari shook her head furiously. She may have been upset with TK going out, but she certainly didn't have any more feelings for him.
Zoë sighed, not sure what was wrong with her friend. "Then, why does it matter if he's going out or not?"
"He never told me, Zoë. I told him when I was going out with Davis. He knew for weeks. I told him in advance. But, he never told me he was going out with Catherine. And I didn't think he would. I thought I meant more to him than that."
Just then, Kari heard an annoyed grunt. She raised her head to see Rika walking over to her. Jeri, seemingly out of instinct, moved out of her way. Rika sat next to Kari, who was now sandwiched in-between her and Zoë.
"Maybe I should explain the concept of a 'breakup' to you," Rika began. "You… and TK … BROKE UP! That means you two have nothing! He does not have to tell you anything anymore! If you want to tell him about your dates in advance, good for you. Whatever makes you happy. But you need to get it through your head that he doesn't need your approval for anything. He can do whatever he wants! He can see whomever he wants! He's his own person and he does not have to answer to you! You two are NOT together! It's OVER between you two! Do you get it?!"
Kari sighed deeply and hung her head down. "Rika, you just don't understand…"
"I think the one who doesn't understand is YOU!"
"Rika! Lay off!" Zoë yelled at Rika. The Tamer grunted at the blonde, not letting up. "Zoë, you know as well as I do that she's acting like a complete fool!"
Kari and Rika remained frozen, only moving their eyes, which they both used to stare a hole into each other. Seeing what this whole conflict was doing, Jeri decided to step in.
"You know, I think Yolei's expecting us to show up…"
"Yeah… we'd better go," Kari concurred.
This was the first time since the year started that Kari was starting to have some ill feelings towards Rika. She couldn't believe this girl had the gall to try and make it look like KARI was the one who was wrong.
Jeri nervously held the door open for them. Kari picked Gatomon up while Renamon chose to stay behind. Kari and Rika headed towards the door… and bumped each other roughly on the way out. It was obvious that tension was running high. And things didn't get any better when a pager went off.
"Oh no," Jeri moaned. "I have to go! Will you guys be ok?"
"Where are you going?!" Zoë shrieked, freaking out at the thought of having to deal with Rika and Kari alone for the night. This weekend was getting worse and worse.
"I'll be back in a little bit… but right now I gotta go do something," Jeri said. Rika just shot her a glance while Kari just nodded calmly.
Zoë was about to grab Jeri and pull her off to the side, but she quickly ran off, leaving the blonde completely bewildered. Kari couldn't help but notice how sudden that was.
TK didn't picture himself being in a soup restaurant that day, but there he was. And he didn't picture himself sitting in front of a pretty young lady like Catherine.
Catherine took another sip of her noodle soup. "I'm very amazed, TK. You've managed to have such an exciting life, even after what happened when we first met."
"I just wish you and I could have met under better circumstances," TK smiled. "Not that I'm complaining. At least you and I met. And… I really can't complain… now that you've come back into my life. Why come here, Catherine? I thought you'd love France."
Catherine shook her head. "It's not that I don't like living in France. But, part of taking full advantage of the college experience includes studying abroad. So I decided to study in Japan for my sophomore year. Sure it would be a very educational experience, but I also see it as a chance to see a whole new land."
"You'll love it here," TK nodded. "Trust me. I'm really glad you came."
"And why's that, TK?" Catherine asked curiously.
"Because… I never thought I'd have this opportunity again," TK answered. "I always wondered 'what if' and what would have been if… I had stuck around in France a little longer. Maybe there could have been something between us… ?"
"I always wondered that myself," Catherine admitted. "Maybe there can still be something between us."
TK blushed. "I hope so."
"But, you're very handsome, TK," Catherine continued. "I'm sure there's already a special girl in your life."
TK immediately cut her off. "There was a special girl in my life. But she's… in the past. I'm looking towards the future."
"You think we can have a future together?"
"I hope so. And Hope is my middle name."
Before this could lead to anything, a pager started going off. It belonged to Catherine. Catherine looked at her pager and sighed deeply, cursing in French under her breath.
"Ugh, TK, I have to cut our date short. But… I really enjoyed myself."
Before TK could even say anything, Catherine leaned over and gave TK a kiss on the lips… attracting attention from the soup-eating customers. Then, Catherine ran out quickly. TK was hoping this night would be a lot better, but he was satisfied with what he had. He smugly leaned back in his chair and raised his hand.
"Check, please!"
Just like the night before, The Digimon Empress found herself in another lone alley. She grabbed her communicator and sighed deeply. Then, she made contact.
"Is he ready?"
"The Tortomon is ready for action," Datamon answered on the other end. "Prepare to receive him on the other end."
Seconds later, a Digital Field was being opened before her very eyes. And out of the Digital Field came the big Tortomon. The Digimon Empress simply pointed out towards the streets and the Tortomon ran down the alley into the open.
The night was going awfully slow. She craved some excitement and she knew a battle with the DigiDestined would bring The Digimon Empress all the excitement she wanted.
"And… we finally made it," Kazu said proudly. "Told you it was easy!"
Koichi just shot Kazu another cold stare as they approached the streets of Odaiba. This wasn't how he pictured spending his Saturday. He thought he would be able to go out on this day, but instead he accompanied Kazu and Kenta to retrieve Guardromon.
Now he was covered in soot and dust from the earlier explosion.
This wasn't Koichi's ideal Saturday.
"Yeah, easy," Kenta groaned. "The problem is… it's not over yet! We still have to get Guardromon INSIDE the dorm!"
"Look at it this way," Kazu grinned. "At least that's ALL we have to worry about. It can't get any worse."
Unfortunately, as soon as he said that, Kazu turned his eyes back to the road and quickly stepped on the brakes. The van came to a screeching halt.
"What's THAT about?" Kenta asked indignantly.
Koichi looked at what was in front of the van.
"Uh… we've… got a BIG problem!"
In front of the van… was a huge Digimon.
After paying for his meal and Catherine's meal, TK walked out of the restaurant and into the streets, which were less busy than usual.
"TK and Catherine sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G."
TK turned around and looked in the nearby bush. He walked over and parted the bushes to find Patamon.
"And what are YOU doing here?" TK asked.
"I followed you," Patamon said cheerfully. "I didn't want to stay behind. I wanted to see how you were doing. Besides… Davis brought Veemon on HIS date."
"Veemon followed Davis," TK corrected.
"And I followed you," Patamon grinned. "So what's the problem?"
TK chuckled. "Never mind. My date ended a little early. So I guess…"
TK stopped in his tracks when he saw a crowd of people running down the streets in a panic. He didn't know what to make of that. But he had a bad feeling about it. TK rushed over towards the source of the panic. He turned the corner to see that his fears were realized. It was a large Digimon. And it was a familiar one, at that.
"Is that a Tortomon?" TK asked.
Patamon nodded. "At least we ran into it and not Davis and Veemon. I'll bet they're still having nightmares about the one they saw. But, how did this one get here?"
"I don't know, but we'd better do something! You ready?"
Patamon nodded. "Yeah!" He flew off TK's shoulder and headed over to the Tortomon. "Boom Bubble!"
TK sweatdropped at his partner. The Boom Bubble attack just bounced off harmlessly. Patamon flew back over towards TK. "What did you think that would do, Patamon?"
Patamon frowned. "Hey, don't doubt the boom!"
"I think you'd better Digivolve," TK suggested.
"TK!"
TK turned around and was surprised to see a friend. "Koichi?"
It was Koichi along with Kazu and Kenta. They were all standing by a van and they were observing the carnage. TK ran over to them.
Kazu pointed his Digivice at the large Digimon. "Tortomon, champion-level. He takes full advantage of his large size with his Strong Carapace attack and Spinning Attack. How did he get here?"
"I don't know, but we have to stop him," TK replied.
Koichi reached into his pocket… and sweatdropped. "Um… you guys might have to do this one on your own."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I gave my Digivice to Izzy!"
"WHAT?! So what are we supposed to do now without the Legendary Warrior?!" Kenta gasped.
Kazu's face brightened up. "Send in some reinforcements!"
Kazu rushed over to the back of the van and opened it to reveal a Guardromon. TK had seen these before, but they had always been as adversaries. But, it looked like this Guardromon was on his side.
"That's your Guardromon?" TK asked.
Kazu nodded. "That's my Guardromon! No other Digimon packs the kind of punch he does!" He leaned over towards Guardromon's ear. "You know what to do! Go get that Tortomon!"
Guardromon headed over towards Tortomon and aimed. "Grenade Destroyer!"
The Grenade Destroyer attack got Tortomon's attention. Tortomon rushed Guardromon and tried to tackle him, but Guardromon managed to catch him and toss him in the air. Tortomon shook it off and tried again.
"Spinning Attack!"
Tortomon took to the air and spun around before crashing into Guardromon. The big champion robot went crashing to the ground. That was enough for TK.
"Patamon, I think we'd better give him a hand."
"You got it, TK!"
**Patamon … Digivolve to … Angemon!**
Before Tortomon could move in on Guardromon, he was cut off by Angemon. Tortomon and Angemon stood face to face while Kazu pointed his Digivice again.
"I can't believe it! Angemon, champion-level! He demolishes evil with his Hand of Fate attack!"
"It's THE Angemon!" Kenta shouted excitedly.
"I never thought I'd ever see Angemon in person!" Koichi added in amazement.
TK blinked. "I take it you guys have heard of Angemon?"
"HAVE WE HEARD OF ANGEMON?!" Koichi, Kenta, and Kazu all shouted in unison.
TK flinched. It was obvious that they really HAVE heard of Angemon. And they must have recognized how strong he was. Tortomon turned around to face Angemon. He did not appear to be impressed with the sight of the champion angel. He snorted like a bull before charging once again. But Tortomon didn't get to go at full speed, because Guardromon recovered long enough to grab him by the tail. That gave Angemon the opportunity he was looking for.
Angemon took to the sky and looked ready to deliver his mighty Hand of Fate attack. But he looked down at Tortomon and stopped in his tracks.
"TK! It's a Black Gear!"
At first, TK didn't think he heard what he did. "What?!"
"It's on the back of his neck!" Angemon continued. "If he'll stay still, I can get it off!"
Tortomon wouldn't cooperate, however. He shrugged Guardromon off by swinging his tail around and then he aimed for Angemon.
"Strong Carapace!"
Tortomon's Strong Carapace attack went into the air and knocked Angemon down. He was clearly caught off-guard and now Tortomon was ready to strike again. That's when Kazu reached in for one of his Digimon cards.
Kazu looked at the card. "Let's hope this works." He swiped the card through his Digivice. "Digi-Modify! Hyper Wing activate!"
To TK's amazement, Guardromon grew a set of wings and took to the air. Tortomon didn't even see him coming. Guardromon looked down and took aim.
"Guardian Barrage!"
Before Tortomon could turn around, the Guardian Barrage attack landed on the Black Gear and disintegrated it. Tortomon was no longer moving towards Angemon. Instead, he just shrugged and looked around as if he had just woken up.
"What happened?" Koichi asked.
"The Black Gear's been destroyed," TK answered. "He won't be bothering us anymore."
"What's a Black Gear?" Kenta asked.
"It's a dark contraption that makes Digimon evil," TK replied. "I haven't seen Black Gears in over ten years. I never thought I'd see them again."
Angemon examined the exhausted Tortomon before turning to TK. "There's something evil behind all this. I sensed that while they were Black Gears, there was something… different about them. I sense they're different from the ones Devimon once used. There's something… artificial about them."
"Artificial?" Koichi repeated. "Like replicas?"
"Very REAL replicas," Angemon agreed. "Yet their effect is quite the same. It obviously managed to turn this Tortomon against us."
Guardromon landed on the ground. Kazu brought him over to the Tortomon, who was fully cooperating now, if for no other reason than because he was unfamiliar with his surroundings.
"What do we do with him?" Kazu asked.
Before anyone said anything, MarineAngemon came out of Kenta's coat pocket and flew over towards the Tortomon. He tapped his nose and the Tortomon snapped like a tortoise, sending the little one flying back to Kenta, clinging to his arm.
"You'll have to excuse him," Kenta sighed. "As you can tell, MarineAngemon can be a little affectionate sometimes."
Angemon petted the Tortomon. "This one won't harm anyone anymore. Now it's just a simple matter of sending him back through a Digi-Port."
TK sighed. "I guess we'd better find a computer. Let's go, guys."
Another Digimon had struck and another Digimon had failed. Standing atop the roof of a building, The Digimon Empress couldn't be more disappointed. She had high hopes for that Tortomon, but it had failed. She was beginning to get frustrated.
The Digimon Empress reached into her belt for her whip and lashed it on the ground. She knew she'd have to hunt down another Digimon and whip it into shape so failures like this would not happen in the future.
But despite this latest failure, she knew that things weren't grim. In fact, everything was still going well. There were still many Digimon under the influence of Datamon's Black Gears and they would be more than ready for battle. And the fact that Tortomon didn't Digivolve was a good thing. This didn't change the fact that someone was making their minions Digivolve and turning against them.
And she couldn't forget one of her biggest advantages.
As she walked away, The Digimon Empress remembered the biggest thing she had going for her. None of the DigiDestined or these Tamers knew of her identity.
She planned to keep it that way.
It was another all-nighter for Yamaki. He was more than tempted to venture back on campus after hearing reports of something lurking in the university's cafeteria. He figured he could go back to the university and investigate what happened before… going back to grading his students' homework. But halfway there, he had noticed the streets were emptying.
Now Yamaki was on foot and quickly running in the opposite direction of where the people were evacuating. He was in the middle of an empty street. Nothing was happening. It was as if whatever was happening… had already ended.
Then he looked up at the sky and saw someone looking down from atop a building. It was someone in the shadows. He could barely make her out, but the figure had lashed a whip before turning to walk away.
He didn't know how he knew, but somehow he knew. Yamaki could sense that the person on the roof… was his mole.
And he vowed to find out who that mole was. He felt his phone ring in his pocket. Not taking his eyes off the rooftop, he answered.
"Yamaki here."
"It's Yoshi."
Yamaki's attention was turned to the voice on the other end. Ever since he recruited Yoshino, she had always referred to herself as Agent Fujieda, never her nickname. Something was clearly wrong.
"What's wrong?"
"Thomas Norstein… he has a Digivice."
Puppetmon was in a rage. He couldn't believe that the Tortomon couldn't even come close to beating Angemon. He grabbed his hammer and was about to strike down on the giant supercomputer.
"NO!!" Datamon shouted. "Fool! That's very delicate equipment! You can't just smash it like it's one of your toys!"
"I gotta smash SOMETHING!" Puppetmon shot back. "Got any other suggestions?"
Before Datamon could suggest something else, Puppetmon turned towards a random RedVeggiemon under the influence of a Black Gear.
"Puppet Pummel!"
Puppetmon hit the RedVeggiemon with his Puppet Pummel attack, instantly deleting the big vegetable.
"Stop that!" Datamon snapped. "Bad Digimon are hard to find these days! And furthermore, you just wasted a perfectly good Black Gear! Haven't you ever heard of 'anger management'? Those Black Gears don't grow on trees, you know."
"So where do we go from here?" Puppetmon asked angrily.
Of course, it was at that moment that the frequency on the supercomputer began to change. The screen was showing a shadowy figure shrouded in darkness. Puppetmon recognized him as The Dark One.
"I take it things aren't going well?" The Dark One demanded.
"You might say that," Datamon answered. "We're having a few minor setbacks. But don't worry about a thing. We've got everything under control."
"It certainly does not appear that way," The Dark One snarled.
"Don't get bent out of shape," Puppetmon sneered. "We'll take care of everything."
"You'd better! I don't want to be forced to take the DigiDestined out of the picture myself! If that happens, then rest assured that there will be consequences!"
With that, the feed quickly died. Puppetmon shook his head. Exchanges with The Dark One were never fun. But he knew that when it came to The Dark One, a lot of fun was more than a possibility. It was a certainty.
"Now what do you think he meant by that?" Puppetmon asked.
"He probably meant he'll destroy you and The Digimon Empress," Datamon said casually. "He knows I'm much too valuable to destroy. After all, who's the one who's bringing him back? Me, of course. So I'd be careful if I were you."
"Then maybe we need a better Digimon to send," Puppetmon suggested. "I'll be the one picking this time. Champions are chumps. We need something a little more… ultimate." He looked over the whole line of Digimon and that's when he found just the right one. "Hey, you look like you can get the job done."
Puppetmon looked at the big Digimon that would be sure to get some results. It was the mighty Minotaurumon. And with his brute strength, he would more than capable to demolish the DigiDestined, those new Tamers, and maybe even the Legendary Warriors. This time, there would be no failure.
Yolei heard a knock on her door. She looked around to make sure the living room was clean. With Catherine out on her date with TK, and with Yoshino out… wherever she was, Yolei was left alone to clean everything up for her guests. And the place was still quite a mess.
Unfortunately, that's when someone knocked on the door. Yolei gasped. She knew her room was a pigsty, so she sprung into action quickly. She began gathering the clothes that were on the ground and tossed them in the hamper, rushing over to the couches, gathering everything that didn't need to be there. She was working as fast as she could, spraying aerosol like no tomorrow. As soon as the room looked presentable, she grinned and walked over to the door.
But, the people standing at her door weren't exactly in the best mood. There stood Kari, holding Gatomon, and Rika and both had matching sour expressions. Zoë was in the middle of the two of them, an aggravated look on her face. Kari and Rika both walked in, neither one looking at the other, and sat on opposite sides of the couch.
Yolei began to sense some tension. "Uh… where's Jeri?" She asked Zoë, who stopped short. "She's not coming, said she had something to do," the blond replied, looking at her two angry roommates.
Yolei finally asked the big question. "What's with them?"
"Ugh, everything. And nothing. They've been acting weird ever since we left," Zoë said in a whisper, but Rika and Kari apparently heard her, because they shot death glares at the two of them.
"I can hear you know!" Rika snapped.
"Nothing is wrong!" Kari yelled.
"Really?! Because your attitudes say otherwise!" Zoë retorted back. The two of them glared at her, before turning huffily around.
Things looked as if they could blow up any moment, and Yolei glanced at Zoë nervously. That's when they got a lucky break and someone knocked on the door.
Yolei rushed over and opened the door. There stood Takuya, Takato, and her own boyfriend, Ken. She never felt more relieved to have them there.
"Come on in!" Yolei grinned. "Sit down and relax."
Takato exchanged glances with Davis and Ken. "Well… we'd better bring in our 'stuffed animals'."
At first, Yolei thought they meant Veemon, Wormmon, and Guilmon. But she was surprised when they reached over and picked up… another pair of 'stuffed animals'. They were different. One was a purple little creature with pointy ears and a scarf around his neck and the other was a tiny white creature… with a big head.
Rika's eyes widened. "What are THEY doing here?"
As soon as the white one was gently placed on the ground, he ran straight up to Rika and joyfully jumped on her lap.
"Rika! I missed you!"
"Calumon, how did you get here?" Rika asked.
"I walked and hitchhiked with Impmon," Calumon answered cheerfully. "We didn't want to be left behind! We missed you!"
Impmon smirked. "You didn't really think I'd stay behind, did you?"
"I thought you had your own Tamers!" Rika pointed out.
"You think I'm going back with them?" Impmon shot back. "They already messed up with me again. I'm not giving them a chance for a third strike. Besides, that place is a dump anyway. I'd rather have some fun out here."
"Well, you can't stay here!" Rika snapped. "Things are already bad enough in our room! We're having enough problems without having to baby-sit you two."
"Actually, I think it's a good idea," Takato cut in. "I'm sure Impmon will be on his best behavior… hopefully. And maybe Calumon can help keep things peaceful between… you know."
That got Gatomon's attention. "Huh?"
Rika nodded. "True. Terriermon tried to play peacemaker last night and failed miserably. But Calumon's got this certain… innocence. It just might work, goggle head."
Calumon walked over to Gatomon. "Hi! You must be Gatomon."
"Yeah, that's me. I've never seen you before."
Calumon grabbed Gatomon's gloved paw and shook it. "I'm Calumon! Wanna be friends?"
Gatomon blinked, obviously being caught off-guard. "Friends? Uh… I don't see why not."
"Oh boy! You, me, and Renamon are all gonna have lots of fun!"
"You know Renamon?" Gatomon asked.
"Uh huh! Renamon's one of my best friends!"
Gatomon thought about that. "Friends? Renamon has a friend?"
"Yeah! Impmon's her friend, too! And we're all gonna get along, aren't we, Impmon?"
Impmon casually shrugged. "Eh, whatever."
"So after all these years, Renamon DOES have friends?" Gatomon muttered to herself.
"Ok, Takato, they can go ahead and stay in my room," Rika said. "But, you owe me big time!"
"I always owe you big time," Takato smirked. "Pretty much everyone owes you except for…" Takato stopped in his tracks when he saw Rika glaring a hole right into him.
"Um… never mind."
Having established these two new guests as mainstays, everyone finally started sitting down. Takuya walked past Zoë, the two of them mugging each other with aggravation.
"Zoë," he simply said to the blonde, who muttered some obscenity under her breath in return.
Zoë sat down next to Rika, who had Calumon in her lap with Impmon on the other side of her. Takuya saw Kari sitting on the other side of the couch, a large smile on his face.
"Fancy meeting you here," he said before taking a seat beside her.
"Um, Yolei is my friend. What are you doing here?" Kari asked, smiling at the goggle head.
"I was just hanging with Takato and Ken, when he said girls were supposed to be up here. Didn't think he meant you guys, though," Takuya replied, his lopsided smile forming on his face.
Zoë took notice of the flirtatious behavior, but said nothing. Takato sat on the floor. And Yolei walked over to the loveseat, making sure to leave a small space for Ken.
Ken walked over and whispered in her ear. "Is everything ok? I can sense that things between Kari and Rika aren't… what they should be."
It was true. Yolei looked around and saw that they were still occasionally shooting death glares at one another.
"Just ignore them," Yolei whispered. "Maybe they'll get over whatever's wrong by the end of the night. At least we can hope."
Yolei looked forward to finally starting the movie, but there was yet another delay. Someone else was knocking on the door. Yolei grumbled as she walked over to answer the door. And there was another grinning guest.
"Hey, Yolei!"
"Cody? How'd you… ?"
But before Yolei could even finish her question, someone else poked their head in. For her, this was more than an uninvited guest.
"Ken!"
It was that Rosa girl. And before Yolei could even say anything, she rushed right in and took her seat… next to Ken.
Yolei could feel her blood start to boil. She turned and grabbed Cody by the collar.
"What's… SHE doing here?" she demanded through gritted teeth.
"Don't look at me," Cody grumbled back. "She just ran into me as I got here. What'd you want me to do? Just say no?"
"Yes!" Yolei growled softly. "And how did you find this place anyway? I didn't think you knew where the sophomore dorms were."
"Oh, you can thank me for that."
Yolei looked up and saw that Jeri had come back. She looked a little worse for the wear, as if she had been running around all night. Jeri walked in and took her seat next to Takato. Yolei was just standing by the door trying to absorb everything that happened. Her room was getting pretty crowded. There were about nine people and two Digimon.
"I need some fresh air," Yolei sighed.
Yolei was about to walk out by herself, but to her surprise, Kari came out right behind her.
"Uh… Yolei? Can I come too? I could use a little air, myself." While Yolei was hoping for a little time to herself, she didn't mind having a few friends around.
"Yolei, you want me to come with you?" Ken asked.
"Don't bother," Yolei growled.
With that, Yolei just walked out, not even checking to see if Kari was following along. All she wanted was to get away from Ken and Rosa. If Ken wanted to be with that other girl, she wouldn't get in their way.
Finally, after a long night, Kazu reached campus once more. It was good to be back after a long and eventful day. But he looked in the back and saw that everything wasn't over just yet.
Kenta was riding shotgun while Koichi, TK, and Patamon were all riding in the second row. But they weren't the ones Kazu was concerned with. His problem was lying in the very back. It was his own partner, Guardromon.
"I don't think tonight would be a good night to bring him in," Kazu said slowly.
"We can always wait for tomorrow," Kenta replied. "It's only Sunday. We've got the whole day."
"I guess you're right," Kazu agreed. "Will you be ok in here, Guardromon?"
"I'll be just fine, Kazu."
"Ok, sit tight and don't move an inch until I say so. We'll be back tomorrow."
Kazu tried to analyze what he just said. It was pretty clear cut. There was nothing that could possibly mix up the big robot. Feeling comfortable, Kazu parked in the only available parking space and brought the van to a halt. Everyone headed out the door and started walking towards the freshman dorms.
Kazu quickly followed suit. While this wasn't the ideal Saturday, there was always next week. His college life was just getting started.
Feeling tired, TK just headed back to the freshman dorms with his friends. It wasn't exactly the ideal night he was hoping for. The date ended prematurely and he wandered right into a rampaging Tortomon. This wasn't his idea of a good Saturday night.
"TK?"
But it just got better. TK turned around and saw Catherine. He looked over and saw that his friends had stopped in their tracks as well upon seeing the French beauty.
TK frowned. "Guys? A little privacy?"
Koichi was able to shake it off and drag drooling Kazu and Kenta back into the dorm building. "Sure thing, TK. See ya."
With his friends back inside, TK turned back around to face Catherine. "Hi! You're getting back in pretty late."
Catherine sighed. "I just had some business to take care of. I'm really sorry I had to cut our date short, TK. I feel terrible about it."
"Ah, don't worry about it. It's not like you could do anything about it. Besides, I had a great time. Maybe we can try again sometime?"
"I'd like that!"
As he saw Catherine's face light up, TK could sense that the time wouldn't be any better. Sure, he already got a kiss that night, but that was an on-the-run kiss. TK wanted something… a little more than that. He wanted something more… romantic. So he leaned over slowly and so did Catherine. But …
The door to the freshman dorm building opened. Someone was walking out.
"Oh… I hope I didn't interrupt anything."
The forward motion stopped. There was no kiss. TK turned his head to see a familiar face. But, what he didn't remember was that it was also a familiar face to someone else.
Catherine gasped. "Tai?! Is that you?!"
Tai Kamiya, who was just walking out, just blinked. He didn't recognize her. "Uh… yeah."
"Do you remember me? It's me, Catherine!"
Tai's face brightened. "I remember you! Who could forget such a beautiful face?!" He quickly threw his arms around her. "You've grown up so much! I never thought I'd see you again! It's been so long! What's it been? About seven years?"
Catherine nodded. "I think time has done you well, Tai. You certainly look much more handsome."
"You think so?" Tai asked happily. "You don't think I look… old or anything, do you?"
"Pas de chance! You may be growing older, but I imagine that you're also becoming much more mature."
"I'll bet you're pretty mature, yourself. Do you… wanna go for walk? I'll take you to your room."
"Okay. I'd like that!"
Suddenly, Tai was walking back into the dorm building with Catherine by his side. TK couldn't help but notice that he was now by himself. Out of nowhere, Tai had just barged in and left with his girl.
TK looked into the sky and shouted. "Hey! What about me?!"
Uncle Willy and Aunt Diane left about two whole hours ago to go pick up Grandpa Homer at the airport. And Marcus couldn't have gotten anymore impatient. Here he was, waiting on his grandfather to come, and who knows what time it is.
As soon as they got back from the seminar, Diane and Willy went upstairs and changed clothes in the large mansion home. When Marcus asked if he could come along, his uncle, of all people, simply brushed him aside as if he didn't matter!
Marcus could admit, that when he first arrived at the Avalons' home, he was a bit apprehensive. In fact, even now, he couldn't wait to get off suspension so he could go back to his home AND school after next week. But, even so, his mother's sister's family was actually starting to grow on him. He could tolerate Uncle Willy a lot more, mainly due to the fact that Willy treated him like a man, instead of a little boy. His Aunt Diane, while still stuck up and uptight, was even more tolerable. The only one was Naomi, who was a great deal more secretive than Marcus remembered.
She was always sneaking out after-hours, and pretending that she didn't do it in the morning. Not that he was a snitch, Marcus has done his fair share of sneaking out, as well. But, Naomi? His by-the-book, daddy's little girl cousin? No way.
Now, he just waited for his aunt and uncle to return with his grandfather. He walked around their giant home, in the upper levels he had yet to explore.
Marcus was staying in the Willy and Diane's older son room. Jeremiah Avalon, the only and older son. But, like Marcus's father… his older cousin had disappeared, as well. So both sides of the family were affected in the past year. To what, Marcus didn't know.
He walked past a couple of open studies, empty bedrooms. Before he got to one door that was slightly ajar.
When he first came into their home, his aunt was very keen in saying that he was not allowed on this floor. So the interest had piqued way past now. He figured all the doors would be locked, however. To see one open had completely sparked his intrigue.
He walked up to the door, and slowly pushed it open. Only to find…
Naomi sitting at a desk. She was looking through some papers, but as Marcus opened the door, she quickly put them down.
"Well, what do we have here-" Marcus began, but Naomi ran over quickly, shushing him and closing the door.
"You're not allowed up here!" Naomi said quietly, her arms folded.
"Um, I don't think you are either," Marcus retorted.
"I live here."
He began to walk deeper into the room, which had a fireplace and a large picture of a handsome man and probably the most beautiful woman Marcus had ever seen.
"Whose room is this?" He asked.
Naomi glared at him, but walked back over to the desk. "None of your business, you need to leave."
"I won't be long… But, what are you doing in here?"
"Nothing."
He walks over to the desk, and sees an open drawer where she is sitting. He sees two words written on a sheet of notebook paper.
Digital World.