Long, long ago, in a country far, far away, there lived a king named ShogunGeckomon. One day, from the eastern country, a very important sorcerer came to visit and a welcoming party was held in his honor. Chefs throughout the country used their greatest skills to prepare the most magnificent dishes and the sorcerer was very pleased.
ShogunGeckomon had quite a bit to drink, so he was in a jovial mood as he presented to the sorcerer his favorite medley. The sorcerer also appeared to be enjoying himself, beating in time to the music. But because ShogunGeckomon had not had his fill of singing, he did not let go of the mic. Reluctantly, the sorcerer allowed him carry on but when ShogunGeckomon did not stop singing even when the sun rose the next morning, he finally lost his temper. The sorcerer waved his staff once and immediately ShogunGeckomon fell into a deep, deep sleep.
And so, three hundred years passed. Then a passerby told them of a girl with a splendorous voice would soon arrive. So she did. Although she was indeed pretty, she did not appear at all like a Digimon. And so it was, for Mimi was something called a human being. Raising her delicate pinky finger as she held the mic, Mimi began to sing. The girl kept a high score on the karaoke screen as she sang.
"The sorcerer's prophecy came true!" The Digimon began to raise excited voices. But– All of a sudden, Mimi stopped singing.
"Well, I'm bored of this," Mimi said nonchalantly. "Also, I'm hungry. Isn't there something to eat?"
Once Mimi and Palmon had their fill, they asked, "Now, sing for us once more, tama."
But her stomach full, Mimi gave a big yawn and said, "I'm sleepy from eating so much. Get the beds ready."
From there, Mimi's selfishness began. What's more, she called together all of the tailors throughout the country so they would make her a gorgeous pink dress of gold and silver thread, studded with jewels. Reluctantly, Mimi would sing, but she would always stop midway. She made up many strange laws, such as ordering everyone to call her Princess Mimi, and cheer: 'L-O-V-E, Princess Mimi' whenever she showed herself on the balcony, and use camera flashes whenever she walked along the walkway.
The Digimon servants were very much troubled indeed. They would whisper furiously among themselves, "We've tried everything but nothing works, tama."
Then two humans who were also accompanied by Digimon, just like Mimi, arrived at this country with three other girls. Once they arrived reaching the top of the stairs and pushing open the doors they saw it was quite the commotion. Running from different sections were frog and tadpole type digimon. Green frogs with a wiry body, a white underbelly, yellow webs between its digits, and with a horn coiled around its neck, pointed teeth, and its tongue has three holes at the tip. And purple pollywogs with developed forelimbs and undeveloped hind limbs.
"What are they doing?" Joe wondered.
"So busy, ribbit!" One of the frogs said.
The partner digimon then explain that the frogs were Gekomon and the tadpoles were Otamamon.
"Hey, hey!" Gomamon stopped one of them. "Why are you in such a rush?"
"Why? Don't you know the princess said she wants fried rice with roast pork, shrimp and assorted vegetables right this minute, ribbit?"
"Fried rice?" The group questioned.
"Princess?" Beth frowned.
A second Gekomon showed up. "No, ribbit! The princess said she wants cold yaki-udon, ribbit!"
"What are you saying, ribbit? The princess wants simmering okara miso soup made Mediterranean Sea style, ribbit!" A third Gekomon showed up.
"No, ribbit! It's fried rice, ribbit!"
"Cold yaki-udon, ribbit!"
"Okara miso soup, Mediterranean Sea style, ribbit!"
"This sounds like quite a mess. Why doesn't she just make up her mind?" Beth remarked.
Tai tried to help. "What if you made all of that and gave it…"
"They're all wrong, tama!" An Otamamon approached.
"What now?" Joe said.
"The princess wants a gaudy looking polka dotted dress, tama!"
"No, tama!" Then a second Otamamon crawled up to the first. "She wants a retro ring, tama!"
This left all the Gekomon and the Otamamon arguing with each other.
"If this princess jerks around her servants like this…" Joe said with a wry grin.
"She must be an extremely selfish girl!" Tai finished sardonically.
"The proper word is spoiled!" Beth grumped.
Kylie shook her head, "Indeed she ought to be ashamed. Just look at how all the poor digimon rushing just to get all her orders done."
Abruptly the arguing digimon rushed away. Once they did, trumpets were heard playing a fanfare.
"The princess has arrived! Ribbit, ribbit!" A Gekomon called out.
And there, walking out of the hallway was…
"It's Mimi!" The group cried out.
The girl in question smiled slightly at seeing the arrivals. "Oh, it's you. It's been a long time!"
Except she was wearing a white and pink dress complete with white opera gloves and a crown.
"What are you doing in this weird place?" Tai asked.
"What am I doing here? Can't you tell? I'm a princess." Mimi replied, opening her fan.
"Then that means the selfish princess around here…" Agumon piped up.
"Was you?!" The others said aloud.
"Who are you calling selfish?!" Mimi snapped haughtily. "How rude!"
"Oh yeah? Since when are you of royal blood?" Beth countered.
Meanwhile deep in the dark forest, Demidevimon was speaking to his Master.
"What is currently happening with our plans?"
"Everything's going according to plan." replied Demidevimon.
"And what of the plan involving the castle?"
"Everything is going well there. I checked last night. All of the Gekomon are treating that Chosen Child like a princess. If they keep this up, the Crest of Purity will never activate."
"Have you heard any word regarding the whereabouts of Sirene's Heir?"
"None yet."
"I need not remind you what will happen if you repeat your mistakes, do you?"
DemiDevimon winced. "Y-Yes, of course."
"I'm expecting results." The portal collapsed and the bats flew away.
"The best part is knowing you're safe and sound." said Joe.
"Hey, this is no time to be fooling around. Get out of those funny clothes right now," Tai suggested.
"And the sooner the better. Don't you know what happening out there?" Beth pointed out.
"Funny clothes?" Mimi demanded indignantly. "Why do I have to change?"
"What do you mean why?" Agumon questioned innocently. "It'll be hard to walk in that dress!"
"Why do I have to walk? I don't like that." Mimi whined.
"Surely, you can't expect one of us to carry you the rest of the way… it simply not done." Kylie said sternly.
"Why do I have to go to the others? Sorry, but I'm not going." Mimi refused.
Her response made their jaws drop.
"There's no guarantee that we'll ever return to our own world, so why should I bother to go traveling out there where it's dangerous?" Mimi sneered. "I have everything in here! A bath, a soft bed, and good food! Besides, I'm the princess of this castle!"
"Mimi, is something wrong?" A familiar voice was heard from the hallway.
That was Palmon.
"It helps having you here, Palmon! Please tell her we're right!" Joe implored.
"What are you talking about?" Palmon stepped in… and she was a wearing a dress just like Mimi.
This had caused the boys to face-fault and the two older girls to facepalm in disbelief.
"You're dressed like that too?!" Joe actually yelled in her face.
"Mimi and Palmon." Tai spoke up again. "We can't waste time playing along! Hurry up and get ready!"
Mimi growled. "I am not joking around! When I decided to stay here, I meant it! If you don't have anything else to say, then hurry up and get out this minute!"
"Mimi, why are you mad?" Palmon asked obliviously.
"Palmon, you be quiet!"
"Mimi, don't talk to her like that!" Kylie scolded.
"Give me a break!" Tai was annoyed with Mimi's attitude. "You think we'll just agree with you quietly and leave?"
Joe added, "He's right! Besides, don't you know what we went through to get here?"
"I don't even want to know." Mimi replies snootily.
Her selfish reply made the others mad.
"Now you've made me mad!" Tai sat down on the floor stubbornly. "I won't move from this spot until you say you're coming!"
"Me neither!" Agumon and Gomamon agreed.
Beth snarled, "They're staying put… but I'm the one who's going to drag you out by the hair if I have to!"
She stomps over to Mimi and flings her over her shoulder. Only for the younger girl to start screaming and ring a small bell frantically. The next thing the group knew they were tossed out on their butts by the Otamamon and the Gekomon, who'd quickly responded to Mimi's screams.
"That hurt!" Tai said.
"Treat your guests more courteously!" Gomamon yelled.
"You know making her leave by force wasn't going to work." Kylie rebuked Beth.
"How was I supposed to know Mimada was going to pull off the 'Help, I'm being kidnapped' routine you use for stranger danger?" Beth retorted then she yelled at the castle. "You're just lucky I can't raise a hand to you!"
"Violence isn't going to convince her either!" Joe was taken aback
"I was talking to the Gekomon and the Otamamon." Beth grumbled.
"Whatever it is, she's assuming too much because these frogs are spoiling her!" Tai said in exasperation.
"You're exactly right, ribbit."
They turned to see three Gekomon and two Otamamon by the front door, looking morose. They wanted the group to follow them in an attempt to explain things.
"So you think we ought to set the record straight?" Beth asked Tai and Joe, jerking a thumb at the Gekomon and Otamamon. "That Mimada's just a little usurper, and that their true blue princess is right here?"
She motions to Kylie, who looks greatly taken aback.
"Oh no! No, no, no!" Kylie shook her head and hands frantically.
"This is because of the guy who's after you, isn't it?" Tai asked her in concern.
Kylie looked a little nervous. "I- yes. Think about it, if you tell the Gekomon and the Otamamon and they tell the next digimon and Demidevimon overhears, he'll relay the message to his boss… and he'll know where I am!"
Joe, Tai, Agumon and Gomamon exchanged thoughtful glances. What she said made some sense. "Okay." they said somewhat reluctantly.
The group was led to a large structure behind the castle however the inside was just one giant room to show their slumbering master, ShogunGekomon, who they say fell into a deep sleep after losing a singing contest, and will only awaken after hearing singer as good as the one that defeated him. They explain how DemiDevimon told them about Mimi's amazing singing voice, so they found her and had her sing for them. The first time, Mimi forgets the lyrics, so the Gekomon and Otamamon serve her a food buffet to help her remember. The second time, she complains about the lack of decoration and asks for a makeover. She continues to make excuses and demand things from the Gekomon and Otamamon, becoming spoiled and eventually not singing at all.
"That's why we have a request for you, ribbit!"
"Can you get the princess to sing for us, tama?"
"We're not so sure about that…" Agumon sounded worried.
"Okay. Leave it to me!" Tai then slapped his chest determinedly.
"You'll ask her for us, ribbit?!"
"What you want is to get this big guy to wake up, right? Just leave the singing to me!" Tai said holding the microphone.
Tai was first to give it a try, then it was Joe. Next Agumon and Gomamon tried and there were no results whatsoever. ShogunGekomon wouldn't wake up.
Just then, the lights went out briefly then went on as an entirely different song waved out of the speakers.
"Written in stone, Every rule, every word. Centuries old and unbending..."
Beth was on the stage holding the microphone passionately like a pop-star singing an emotional melody.
Except the lord of the castle was still asleep. What's more, they can't convince Kylie to sing, and when they tried to use a voice recording of Kylie and Dana, the tape goes haywire halfway through the song.
"Won't anything else work with this guy?!" Beth griped.
"It's impossible to wake him up unless it's Mimi singing..." Tai mumbled.
"You guys!" Palmon walked into the room. "I was worried about you. What happened?"
"You don't know?" Agumon questioned. "Haven't you noticed Mimi acting strangely?"
"Strangely?" Palmon thought for a bit before finally saying. "You think so too? I've been thinking that maybe she has!"
The boys slumped in disbelief while Beth and Kylie rolled their eyes. Really?
"At least figure that out for yourself." Gomamon muttered. Palmon chuckled in embarrassment.
The plan was simple: Palmon will have Mimi sing into a Karaoke Machine they could get her on tape. Then play it back so that ShogunGekomon will wake up!
It was a half an hour later and the four of us were crouched down outside Mimi's room, waiting for her to start singing. Except their little plan went awry.
Mimi picked up the microphone and was about to start singing when she saw the wire leading to the recording machine, which was of course, right outside with the group. She also noticed Gomamon's flipper, Joe and Agumon's head that were visible at the window.
She quickly caught on to what was happening and screamed into the microphone, causing the boys to yell too.
By this time, Beth had had enough.
"Alright, I'm at my limit! I'm going to give you the ugly truth from the very start…!" The redhead teenager opens her mouth to scream an angry diatribe at Mimi…
CRACK!
The next thing they knew, Beth is lying down on the dungeon slab, emitting a pained squeak.
Kylie sighed sympathetically, "You have to admit, it is kind of funny. Yelling so loud you actually throw out your back?"
"I come from a family of doctors and in all my years, there was never a medical case like this." Joe shook his head in disbelief.
As it turned out, when they failed to record Mimi, Beth had attempted to shriek her head off at the spoiled younger girl… only for the stress and frustration had caused the redhead tomboy to actually throw out her back. It didn't help that Mimi had ended laughing at her expense or that she had the reluctant Gekomon and Otamamon seize the group and lock them in the dungeon.
"You can't trick me, I know exactly what you were planning." Mimi boasted.
"Mimi, open your eyes!" said Tai.
"You don't know what you're doing!" Joe urged.
"Oh? Did I do something wrong?" Mimi mocked.
"You can't even figure that out anymore?" Tai argued. "Don't you feel anything by doing this to your friends?"
"It's not just us!" Agumon joined in. "You're causing a lot of trouble for the Gekomon and the Otamamon too!"
Mimi merely turned away started to walk away even as the others called out to her. Then she reached the edge of the cell where Palmon was.
"Doing this is too dreadful even for you, Mimi!" Palmon cried. "I never thought you'd go so far…I never thought you'd go so far…" Her green eyes began to fill with tears. "… I hate you!"
As you would expect, those words upset Mimi greatly, but she refused to back down.
"I see. Well crying isn't going to help!" Mimi said sharply.
She couldn't believe how everyone was acting, that even Palmon would say such a thing to her. Kylie reached out and grabbed Mimi's arm.
"Mimi, what you're doing is wrong on so many levels! What's more there IS a way back to Earth – somehow Tai and Theo found it!"
"Why does everyone want to take me with them on their journey?!" Mimi exploded. "I'm sick of all these scary things…!"
"You're going to be facing frightening dangers your entire life. What I'm trying to say is you should never be afraid. And if hiding away from the world is all you're going to do… you're going to watch your life go by without you."
Mimi only huffed at Kylie's words and marches out, accompanied by the Gekomon and leaving them in the dungeons.
"It gets worse, I meant to tell you…" Tai said to the others in the cell. "Someone is bringing the Digimon to Earth, she's behind all of this and wants to use the digimon to conquer the planet and other dimensions, someone called the Dark Spectre Queen told me."
"The Merciful And astern of the Eastern Sea?!" Kylie exclaimed. "I read about her, Vanessa is supposed to be a guide for the lost, and aids those less fortunate. And she told you someone is behind this?"
"Devimon, Etemon, all of those guys were made by this witch," Tai said. "Though, she made her sound like some other dimensional monster, Lady Despair."
That night Mimi had a nightmare, which involved a dark rift with Devimon and Etemon were advancing menacingly upon her.
"Gekomon! Otamamon! Save me!"
They said "No."
Mimi stamped her foot. "Fine! Then I won't sing for you anymore!"
"That's okay, ribbit. You wouldn't sing for us even if we did help you, ribbit."
"We're going home to sleep, ribbit." So they walked off
"Wait! I'll sing! Please, help me!" Mimi's fear increased as they faded away into the shadows.
She gave a quick glance back at Devimon and Etemon, they were getting closer. Just then the others appeared with Palmon.
"You guys! Help me!" She said a little too hopefully.
"After locking us up?" Beth asked sarcastically with a glare. "As if!"
"You're no friend of ours!" Tai scorned.
"It serves you right." agreed Agumon.
"Indeed." Kylie nodded, her gaze was ice cold.
"Have you forgotten what you've done to us?" Joe asked darkly.
Mimi then turned to her own Digimon partner desperately. "Palmon!"
"No, I hate you!" The plant digimon back away, disappearing on the shadows like all the rest.
"No!" Mimi wailed.
Now the two evil Digimon were too close for comfort. Mimi covered her face with her hands, bracing for the end, and as she did a red mist seemed to rise from her body.
"Oooooooh such tantalizing suffering..." A voice purred from the shadows.
Mimi screamed in alarm, when a hand with sharp, black, curved talon grabbed her throat, and pulled her backwards. Mimi cried out in alarm when a pair of pink, glowing eyes, with black, vertical cat slit pupils stared at her gleefully. The mist being sucked into the figures eyes.
"What wonderful suffering you're bleeding," The figure giggled, and pulled back a ways to reveal a woman with long, flowing golden hair, and a pretty face. But she wore a disturbing, Black Hand shaped brooch in her hair and a wicked smile.
"You turned your friends away from yourself," The woman laughed. "You let your being needed by these little froggies to swell up your pretty, pimple head. And soon, you refused to even sing as they hoped for and became something they hate..." She nuzzled her cheek to Mimi's who was very much freaked out by now.
"Now, my dear, you are hating and loathing yourself for your own arrogance and selfishness. And fear you've totally lost your friends forever! AHAHAHAHA!" She released Mimi, who fell down in a heap, looking up in terror.
"Oh, I've forgotten to introduce myself," The woman curtsied, wearing a blood red dress with a red fur hemline. "I am Lady Despair, a most terrible and beautiful Queen of Darkness. And I happen to feed on negative emotions..."
She gestures to Mimi with a taloned hand.
"And your misery attracted me here to your dream, so I decided to stop by and have a bit of a nosh! Hahaha!" Lady Despair threw her glittering head back to laugh maniacally.
"A...Dream?" Mimi gasped.
Lady Despair's eyes widened.
"KRAKEN SPIT! NO! NO! DON'T WAKE..." Lady Despair shouts.
But too late, Mimi snapped her eyes open, and sat up screaming in alarm.
"Mimi…" A voice called out from the darkness. When Mimi sensed that presence and opened her eyes, she was greeted by a familiar face.
Sora was a lovely girl who was of a different type from Mimi. With a face full of love and tinged with sorrow, the girl Sora said to Mimi, "You know what you've done wrong, don't you?"
The truth was that Mimi herself felt that she had gone overboard. Ever since the Gekomon and Otamamon obeyed her every desire, she began to give in to her selfish whims. And now she had locked Palmon and her friends in the dungeon. Mimi apologized honestly. "…Yes. I'm very sorry."
"Then you know what you should do to fix things, right?"
"Yes."
"That's great. After all, you really are a good girl."
There was a bright light. And Mimi opened her eyes again, she saw that her crest was glowing a bright green.
Mimi released Palmon and the others from the dungeons and prepared to sing. To atone for all that she had done to them, she decided to sing to the very end.
"Gekomon and Otamamon… Kylie, Tai, Joe, Agumon, Gomamon, Beth… And Palmon… Everyone… I'm so sorry!" Mimi bowed apologetically.
The whole crowed room was shocked by Mimi's change in attitude.
"I know that just apologizing might not be enough, but I've come to my senses! I've realized how horribly I've been treating all of you! There's more…Kylie, could you come up here please?"
The teenage girl with a long, blonde braid came up on stage, quite puzzled.
Mimi backed up tearfully. "This is your true princess. Kylie is the daughter of Sirene, the guardian nymph of this world."
Stunned, the Gekomon and Otamamon stood still for a moment, allowing this new information to register with the others watching patiently. Amazement gave way to hope, and they all let out a cheer. Before Kylie could say anything, frog and tadpole type digimon were crowding around her adoringly. They smiled, laughed and raised their fists in the air with glee.
"We're on your side!" said one of the Otamamon.
"I remember seeing you in your mother's arms when you were just a tiny baby, ribbit!" said a Gekomon. He reached out and touched Kylie's arm gently.
The older girl in turn was overwhelmed and surprised. "Thank you." Kylie then looked to Mimi, "I'm glad you opened your eyes Mimi. Now I think you owe them a song," she added with a wink.
Palmon and the others forgave her with smiles on their faces.
"Mimi, sing for us!" Palmon called.
"We want to hear you sing, princess, ribbit!"
Mimi watched with tearful eyes and smile, somewhat relieved that no one else held a grudge against her.
"Start the music!" Palmon cried delightedly.
And they all listened to her, spellbound. ShogunGekomon had awakened causing the Gekomon and Otamamon to cheer except things wouldn't go as they all hoped.
"I was having a wonderful nap. Who woke me up, ribbit?!" The giant orange frog roared.
He stomped down hard, causing them all to flee for their lives.
"No one told us he was so aggressive!" Joe yelled.
"I didn't know he was such a tyrant, tama!"
"We shouldn't have woken him up if we know about this, ribbit!"
"This is crazy!" Beth hollered.
Mimi standing on the stage with a mic in her hand and realized that she was the girl who had woken him up.
"Hey, you ungrateful swine! Don't you know who woke you up?" Mimi yelled back.
"Who cares about that?!"
Fortunately the digimon and the two guardians with them got ready for battle. Togemon got Mimi out of harm's way, Greymon became MetalGreymon while Beth and Kylie flew over in Digix mode.
"Incandescent beam!"
"Winter rose!"
"Giga Destroyer!"
The spells and Metalgreymon's missiles went directly into both of ShogunGekomon's horns and exploded, destroying the entire building. Caught underneath the rubble, ShogunGekomon fell once more into a long sleep once more. Not that it was a big loss anyway.
"Sleep for the rest of your life!" Mimi said stubbornly, causing everyone to laugh.
The Gekomon and Otamamon assured Kylie they will be there for her, and that she'll have a fully fixed castle when she comes back to rule.
After Mimi apologized to everyone for her previous attitude (she even asked Beth about her back) the crest of purity shone brightly. Yet there was more than pressing matter on her mind…
"I had this awful dream, some witch...she tried to...suck my bad feelings to make herself more powerful!" Mimi explained. "She...she had such horrible pink, glowing eyes, her pupils black and vertical slit like a cats."
"Sh-she didn't happen to have golden hair that seemed to shimmer, did she?" Kylie asked in alarm.
"Yes, do you know her?" Mimi asked.
"Only in legends," Kylie said. "And our studies, she's a level 20 threat, 10 being a SUPER magic threat, she's a dark creature and one of thee most powerful sorceresses in any world. Lady Despair."
"YES! That's what she called herself," Mimi said.
"But, who is she?" Joe asked.
Beth explained. "All we got from a textbook about her...is that she's a creature from another plane of existence, she is incredibly powerful and dangerous. When she enters a world, she brings darkness, madness, and destruction!"
And then, Mimi and Palmon left to join the other in their continuous adventure.
But why hasn't Sora shown herself in all this time?
The only currently known thing is…
"Aaaaaargh! Help me, please! I don't want to die!" The scream belonged to DemiDevimon, who had his leg chained and was hanging from the ceiling over a fire like a roasting pig.
"P–Please forgive me, Lord Myotismon!" DemiDevimon pleaded desperately, but Myotismon's eyes smiled coldly. His thin fingers with clear nails like that of a bird of prey ran through the blond bangs that hung over his pale face.
His voice was not angry. In fact, he sounded almost happy. He was obviously enjoying himself, relishing the eyes full of fear, the screams, the face twisted with pain. Except… he tired of it after a few hours before retiring to his chambers.
DemiDevimon's Master refused to admit it out loud, but he was still languishing the absence of someone greatly important to him.
Red candles burned along the walls of the spiral staircase, their wax dripping like blood at their feet. Even when they reached the bottom of the stone room, that aching feeling did not go away. In fact, it got even stronger.
None of the children nor the guardians knew of the sinister going ons in the Digiworld shadows. Unfortunately they would soon find out.
To be continued…