Last Week: Davis and Takato had another unfortunate run-in in the cafeteria…where Davis proceeded to have another accident. Yolei introduced Catherine to her friends and to everyone's surprise, she and TK knew each other. Rika and Renamon had a little talk just as Jeri came back. Jeri and Rika then decided to give Kari an intense questioning…about her love life. Calumon met up with Impmon and after a brief conversation, Impmon decided that it was time to move away from West Shinjuku. Despite Henry's protests, Kazu, Kenta, and Terriermon are all planning their first college prank…with Davis, TK, and Ken as the intended victims. Meanwhile, Henry got to meet RA's, Tai and Matt. When Tai and Matt got to talking about the Digimon Card Game, Tai had an epiphany and walked out. Deciding there were more important matters, Matt called together a meeting of the old DigiDestined.
Digimon: The College Years
Episode 5- Day One
The sun rose and the alarm clock blared, signaling the start of a new day. Davis instinctively reached over, grabbed the clock, and tossed it across the room, like he usually did every morning he had to go to school. There was just one difference between now and before.
"OW! Davis!"
Davis suddenly went wide awake. He sat up and opened his eyes to see where he threw his clock. He saw that he literally clocked TK on the forehead.
"S-Sorry, TK. I guess it's a force of habit."
Ken just calmly turned over and kept his eyes closed. "Can you guys keep it quiet? My class doesn't start until 11."
Davis just shrugged. Ken had it pretty lucky. He didn't have to start with an early eight o'clock class. Knowing it was time to start his first day of classes, Davis got to his feet and walked over to his closet. But as he opened the closet doors, a blue hand reached out and handed him his wardrobe for the day.
"Here you go, Davish."
Davis sweatdropped. "Thanks, Veemon."
While TK and Ken kept sleeping, Davis changed into his day's wear (topped off by his goggles) and got ready to go. He poured himself a quick bowl of cereal and grabbed his backpack. Feeling ready for his first day, Davis walked out of his room and headed for the hall door. But he ran into someone on the way.
Davis grinned cheerfully. "Hey Takato!"
Takato was a little wary to say the least. "Hey Davis. You're not pouring that cereal over my head, are you?"
"Of course not. I wouldn't do that sort of thing on purpose. Besides, I'm eating this. So where are you headed to?"
Takato looked at his schedule. "College Writing 101."
"Me too!" Davis said cheerfully.
Takato blinked. "Uh…great. Well, I guess we can walk there together."
"Oh, of course!"
It looked like there was a smile forming on Takato's face. Davis's cheery demeanor looked to be contagious and Takato was far from immune.
"You know something, Davis? Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. I mean, it's hard to see the best in a person when he's knocking you over, throwing doors in your face, or splashing a soup over your head."
"I know what you mean. If I were you, I would have done something to get even with me."
"Eh, I'm not the kind of guy to get mad easily."
"So what kind of guy ARE you?"
This was the kind of opportunity Davis relished. This was the chance to get to know some new people. And it looked like Takato was more than willing to share as they both headed to their College Writing class together.
"Well, I guess I'm a pretty laid back kind of guy. I've been that way since I was a kid…"
The sun was rising and the glare from the bright star was already waking Matt for another day. He opened his eyes and sat up, recalling that he arranged for the old gang to meet up in Sora and Mimi's room. But what surprised him was that he looked over at the other bed to find it unmade and empty. Tai was already gone…even though his first class didn't start until ten o'clock. It was barely 6:30.
"Tai…" Matt snarled under his breath.
Matt got to his feet and just decided to get ready for another day. He'd go to that meeting without Tai if necessary. This whole 'feeling old' thing was beyond ridiculous and Matt knew Tai was just being silly. Maybe the rest of them would agree. But Matt wasn't calling this meeting to discuss Tai. He wasn't even calling it to discuss the existence of that Digimon Card Game. Well…that was part of the reason.
No, Matt actually had an ulterior motive for calling this meeting of the old DigiDestined. He had a proposal he needed to make.
Class was about to get underway and Henry felt fully prepared for what this day had ahead of him. He was already preparing himself for a long day of classes that began with his freshman computer science class. Of course, before getting into the hands-on part of the class, there was to be a brief intro and that would come from the lecture lab.
Kenta tapped Henry on the shoulder. "Henry…I see someone checking you out."
Henry curiously turned his head to see two girls looking his way, but when they were spotted, they quickly turned back around. It was as if they were nervous.
"What did I tell you?" Kenta grinned. "Shinjuku High's most eligible bachelor."
"We're not starting THAT again, are we?" Henry groaned.
"It's true, isn't it?"
Henry just stayed silent. Kazu and Kenta just wouldn't let up with that whole bachelor thing. And neither would Terriermon, for that matter. Henry was just hoping to forget about it. It sounded silly. He didn't think he was that desirable.
At about 9:05, Henry saw his professor come in. It was a young woman, likely approaching her thirties, with straight brown hair reaching down to her neck and a white lab coat that went down to her knees.
"Good morning, class. Welcome to CMSI 185, Computer Science, my name is Professor Onodera."
Henry couldn't quite put his finger on it, but this woman looked familiar. He could've sworn he had seen her before.
"Henry, please tell me you aren't checking out our professor," Kenta whispered with a wry grin.
"Shut up," Henry growled softly.
The professor made her way up to the front of the classroom, but she ran into someone. He looked like an older student, who had his hair cut pretty short and was carrying around a laptop.
Professor Onodera was caught by surprise. "Oh…can I help you?"
"Oh don't mind me," he said before extending his hand. "I'm your Teacher's Aide. I'm Izzy Izumi."
Professor Onodera hesitated before accepting the handshake. "Oh…I get a Teacher's Aide. I wasn't expecting to get one. Well it's very nice to meet you."
"Likewise. So…I'll just let you continue."
Professor Onodera suddenly remembered what she was doing there. "Oh…yes…thank you, Izzy."
Henry was watching all this intently. He couldn't quite remember from where, but he sensed he had seen this woman before.
Class was getting started and Takato was ready to go. Of course, from the look on Davis's face, it didn't look like he was looking forward to actually having to SIT through a class. After getting to know this guy for a few minutes, he didn't start to sound so bad. For one thing, they both realized they had a big interest in goggles.
At around 8:07, the professor walked in. Takato wasn't exactly paying attention, though. But when the professor introduced himself, West Shinjuku's goggle boy got a big shock.
"Good morning, I trust you all enjoyed your vacation. This is College Writing 101. I am Professor Yamaki."
The name immediately got Takato's attention. He turned around to look at the front of the class. Wearing that suit and dark sunglasses and with the lighter hanging from his pocket, there was no mistaking that this was indeed the very same Yamaki from Takato's past. Takato couldn't take his eyes off him. He hadn't seen Yamaki in years. When did he become a college professor?
"Takato? Are you alright?" Davis asked.
Takato blinked. "Uh…yeah…"
For Takato, these 50 minutes would go awfully slow. It felt weird having this old ally as his professor. Yamaki quickly gathered his sheet and started taking roll as any instructor would do. But he would quickly encounter a surprise.
"Hmm…Matsuki?"
Takato raised his hand. "Here!"
Yamaki raised his shades to get a better look and, indeed, he saw Takato sitting in his desk. A knowing smirk widened on his face. He obviously recognized him from the old days. But Yamaki didn't say anything. He just kept taking roll.
This was set to be an interesting semester.
Time was flying by fast, but Kari made it to her class on time. It was 8:55 and her first class was about to begin. Everyone was starting to take their seats. Kari scrambled to find anywhere to sit, feeling a little nervous about being in another new environment.
"Oh great. You have to sit next to me, too?"
Kari didn't notice it, but she sat in the desk…that was right next to Rika. She didn't look happy to see her at all and Kari could only chuckle nervously. Kari slowly took her seat while Rika just looked away.
That's when the professor walked in. "Good morning, class. I hope you all enjoyed your vacation. This is Math 132, Calculus I, and I am your instructor. My name is Dr. Marquez."
She was a slender young woman, looking only about a few years older than Tai. She had a long brown ponytail with a pair of glasses, making her look very intelligent. She wore a black dress with a long white lab coat. But what made her particularly interesting to Kari was that she wasn't even Japanese.
Dr. Marquez started walking around the classroom. "Before I get started, I would just like to say a few things about the course. Obviously, if you don't study, you won't pass. But there's more to this course than meets the eye. Many of the problems you'll encounter are difficult, but this course will help you find various ways of dealing with them. There are ways to solve them that might surprise you. What may appear to be a problem of about 30-minutes length may actually turn out to take only less than five. If there's one thing I want you all to walk out of this course knowing…
"…it's that nothing is as it seems."
Usually, math wasn't the most stimulating subject for Kari. But there was something about Dr. Marquez that was really interesting her. She was making this sound pretty fascinating and was obviously into her work. This was the sort of thing Kari was hoping to achieve. She wanted to have that same excitement for teaching.
Dr. Marquez smiled. "So let us begin…"
A few minutes had passed since his class ended. Yamaki was just organizing his roll sheet and getting ready to go get some coffee. His first day as a writing professor went very well. Luckily, past experiences and a curriculum he could work with was making this not only easy, but also invigorating. He also found some pretty interesting things in his first day undercover.
"Um…Professor Yamaki?"
And there was one of them, standing by the door. It was an old ally by the name of…
"Takato, come on in."
Takato Matsuki slowly made his way back into the classroom, stopping in front of Yamaki's desk. Yamaki remembered the strong boy, his friends, and their Digimon. They could be of great assistance, but Yamaki didn't want to resort to the old Tamers at this point in time. He didn't even know what he was up against just yet. Yamaki didn't have a suspect in mind. And maybe...there was a little ego involved also. Yamaki wanted to try and wrap this up without the assistance of the Tamers.
"How have you been, sir?" Takato asked.
Yamaki wasn't ready to reveal everything now. "Well, I've mostly been taking it easy these last few years. I haven't been working as much and…things have been pretty slow. I guess the guys at the top decided that with everything that happened back in West Shinjuku all those years ago, I deserved a break."
"But I didn't know you were a professor here," Takato pointed out.
Yamaki hesitated. He didn't want to reveal to Takato that he was undercover. He didn't want to get him mixed up in this unless it was absolutely necessary.
"I've…had my Master's and teaching credentials for a while now and while I'm on leave…I decided to get into teaching."
It wasn't the best excuse in the world, but it looked good enough to work. And sure enough, it looked like Takato had bought it.
"Oh, ok. I guess I wasn't expecting to run into you again. Not like this, anyway."
"I was thinking the exact same thing," Yamaki smirked. "You take it easy, Takato. I look forward to teaching you this semester…and seeing your work. You know the assignment, right?"
Takato sighed. "Pages 1 through 80. I got it."
"Good. Now you better get started on that."
Takato started heading out. "Yes, Professor Yamaki."
A thought suddenly hit Yamaki as he saw Takato walk out. A lot of memories of the past were coming back and they had him wondering…
…was that Digimon of his here too?
As TK headed to his next class, he saw Ken looking at him curiously. It had been that way since they both left the dorm to go to their history class. And TK knew exactly what he had on his mind.
"What do you want to ask me, Ken?" TK sighed.
"How long have you known that girl?" Ken asked.
TK groaned. "Why does everybody want to know about me and Catherine?!"
Ken sweatdropped. "You two just seemed close, that's all."
TK raised an eyebrow. "We were NOT close. We didn't even know each other that long. I mean, if I knew a hot girl like that for a long time, do you think I wouldn't have gotten close to her?"
Ken snickered. "Oh, I can only imagine what Kari would say if she heard something like that."
"What's your point?" TK muttered dryly. "Kari and I broke up, remember?"
"Oh, right. I almost forgot. Sorry, I'm just not used to hearing you say that sort of thing about any other girl."
"Let's drop it," TK scowled through gritted teeth.
Ken just shrugged and said nothing more. TK didn't like being reminded about his breakup with Kari. It still brought back bad memories. On the other hand, maybe this opened up some new doors. He never thought he'd see the beautiful Catherine again. Maybe this could be a new beginning for him. He just wondered what Kari would think.
Then he shrugged that line of thinking off. It didn't matter what Kari thought. If she didn't like this, then that was her problem. He had no obligation to her anymore. They were broken up.
TK and Ken walked into their classroom and sat down in front of a guy in a black t-shirt and a girl in a green blouse.
The guy turned around. "Hey, nice to see you guys in this class. My name's Kazu."
"Oh, my name's TK. And this is Ken."
The girl sitting behind Ken extended the hand of friendship. "Hi! My name's Jeri."
"Oh, I think our friend, Davis, might have told us about you," Ken said, accepting the handshake. "You're Takato's friend, right?"
"Uh…is Davis the one who spilled the soup and salad on Takato?" Jeri asked.
TK chuckled. "That sounds like Davis, alright. It's nice to meet you, Jeri. Hmm…where else have I heard that name before?"
"Maybe Kari told you about me. I'm her roommate. Uh…one of them, anyway."
"You know, it'd be nice to get to know each other like this," Kazu sighed. "I mean, I've only heard about you guys…especially Davis. But I can't believe we start class in about a minute."
"I take it you aren't the studious type?" TK asked.
"Eh, not really. It's kinda been that way since I was a kid. Even going back to elementary school. Oh man, I could go on all day about this one teacher I had. She totally had it in for me and my best friend."
"You didn't like her?" Ken asked.
"No way!" Kazu scoffed. "Miss Asaji? I couldn't stand that woman at all. You want to talk about a windbag…"
Jeri gasped. "Kazu?"
"Jeri, I'm not finished. Anyway, you want to talk about a windbag, Miss Asaji was the kind of teacher who would never shut up. And talk about BORING. I went through four years of high school and all of those teachers combined couldn't hold a candle to how boring Miss Asaji was. She was like my instant cure for insomnia. I am SO glad to never have to see her again. Jeri? Why are you pointing like that?"
Kazu slowly turned around and the young man saw a middle-aged long-haired woman in a purple dress towering over him. TK didn't know why Kazu's mouth suddenly fell wide open. And he didn't know why this woman had a very wry grin on her face. Then he found out why.
"Hello, Kazu. Remember me?"
"M-M-M-M-M-M-Miss…"
"That's PROFESSOR Asaji to YOU, Mr. Shiota. I'd love to say hello, but I have a class to start. Besides, if I keep talking to you all day, I'd probably just bore you."
Professor Asaji started walking to the front of the class as Kazu's mouth just stayed open. Ken waved a hand over his face and he got no reaction. The poor guy was in utter shock.
Jeri sweatdropped. "Wow…that was unexpected."
Ken grinned. "Hey TK, it's a good thing nothing like that's happened to…"
TK cut him off by holding his hand up. "Ken…PLEASE don't tempt fate."
Miss Asaji began what was sure to be a long class. "Good morning, class. And welcome to Ancient Western Civilization…"
The bell rang ten minutes ago and that meant school was out at Odaiba High. And that meant Cody was free for the day. Of course, he had another hundred and something days to go. But for right now, he just wanted to forget about high school and go visit his old friends, who were now all going to Odaiba University. But this didn't seem to be a regular walk, because Cody noticed something behind him.
A girl his age was walking right behind, as if she were going the same way…or following him. It was the same girl Cody had seen for a while now. The very same Mexican girl who found him in the Inoue's store. Cody stopped in his tracks and turned around.
"Hey, are you following me?"
The girl suddenly noticed Cody and stopped. "Oh, I didn't see you here."
"Yeah, right. Why are you following me?"
The girl shrugged nonchalantly. "Man, are you paranoid. What makes you think I'd follow you ANYWHERE?"
"You want to know why, Rosa? Because every time I turn around, you seem to be right there."
"Cody, please believe me when I say I would NOT follow you anywhere. You must have a pretty high opinion of yourself."
"Well if you aren't following me, then where ARE you going?"
"I'm going to Odaiba University."
"HA! You ARE following me! That's where I'm going, too!"
"That's not following you. That's called a coincidence, burro! I know someone up there. But what are you going there for?"
"I have friends up there. They said I could drop by anytime…and today's as good a time as any, so I decided to go up for a visit."
"If we're both going up there, then we might as well go together," Rosa suggested.
"Fine, but don't get any ideas," Cody smirked.
Rosa scoffed and smacked Cody upside the head. "Puerco."
Cody rubbed the back of his head. "And no fair insulting me in a foreign language."
"Just walk, burro."
Cody shrugged and walked beside Rosa. He was 16 now and was growing older each day. He had come a long way from that little kid who first entered the Digital World at the age of nine. If anything, some elements of Davis, Ken, and TK were starting to rub off on him. Of course, that wasn't always a good thing.
He couldn't wait to see his friends again. But he didn't want them to get the wrong idea when he walked in with Rosa.
Later that day, around four o'clock, Matt knocked on the Resident Advisors' door on the second floor. He didn't have to wait long before Sora opened the door and let him in. Matt came in and Sora quickly shut the door behind him. He started to wonder why Sora would be so quick to close the door, but he soon saw why. Sora and Mimi were both harboring Digimon, namely Biyomon and Palmon. And the two Digimon…were wearing dresses. Biyomon had a little red dress while Palmon wore a small pink dress with floral patterns. And of course, both of them were wearing hats.
"What's with them?" Matt asked curiously.
"They're helping us with our new designs," Sora answered. "We're hoping to expand into children's apparel by next fall."
Sora and Mimi hadn't given up on their endeavor of a fashion line. The STMT label wasn't exactly a multimillion dollar conglomerate by any means. But the fact that it was still going on strong was a testament to Sora and Mimi's will and talent.
Matt shrugged. "I can't believe the clothing line's lasted this long. I thought…"
"You thought WHAT?" Sora cut him off, making sure to give him a cold stare.
"Yes, Matt, what DID you think?" Mimi added with a tone of anger.
Matt shrugged again and tried to divert their attention. "Hey, Biyomon! That's a good look for you."
"You think so?" Biyomon asked. She twirled around to show off the whole dress. "This kind of design would take the Digital World by storm…that is…if we wore clothes."
"I didn't doubt Mimi for a second," Palmon added. "She's always had a sixth sense for what's in."
As Biyomon and Palmon continued to show off their ensemble, there was another knocking on the door. Sora and Mimi shot the Digimon knowing glances and they both took the hint. Biyomon and Palmon slinked to the corner and stood perfectly still, going into their stuffed animal act. Sora opened the door, but found that it wasn't a stranger, but it was just junior Izzy Izumi and fifth-year senior Joe Kido. Izzy was carrying his laptop, a significant upgrade from his old pineapple laptop, and Joe was carrying…Gomamon.
Joe immediately stumbled in and dropped Gomamon. "You've GOT to go on a diet!"
"Speaking of food, I'm pretty hungry," Gomamon grinned. "Got anything to eat?"
Palmon walked over and stuffed a bagel in Gomamon's mouth. "Here! Eat this!"
The fishy Digimon swallowed the bagel whole. "A little sour for my tastes."
"You know, I don't think we're all meeting here to feed you," Joe told Gomamon. Then he turned to Matt. "You're the one who called this meeting. What's up?"
"Since when does Matt call meetings?" Izzy pointed out. "Doesn't Tai usually reserve that 'honor' for himself?"
"Tai's out right now," Matt answered. "I haven't been able to get in touch with him all day. It's been that way since last night. He says he needs to do some soul-searching because he's feeling old."
"Tai's feeling old?" Joe asked with a tone of skepticism.
"Old? We're barely in our early 20s," Mimi said. "I don't even have wrinkles yet, thank goodness."
"Why would Tai suddenly start feeling old?" Sora asked.
"Because of a little discovery we made downstairs," Matt tried answering. "And it's the other reason I called us all here. Did you guys know…about a Digimon Card Game?"
Izzy raised an eyebrow. "This isn't a business proposition, is it? I don't have a dime to invest."
"No, there's ALREADY a Digimon Card Game," Matt clarified. "There IS a Digimon Card Game out there!"
"But…how can that be?" Sora asked skeptically. "There have hardly been any Digimon sightings here unless you want to count that ugly incident with Myotismon, but that was ten years ago."
"Actually, the kid Tai and I ran into remembered hearing about the Highton View Terrace incident," Matt continued. "But that's not the point."
"Then what IS your point?" Izzy asked. "So someone's seen the phenomenon of Digimon in the real world and has decided to make a game out of it. Likely, it's just a regional thing. Don't tell me you think we should be profiting off that."
"No, actually that's what Tai thinks," Matt said.
"Then what point are you trying to make, Matt?" Joe asked.
"Well…if this Digimon Card Game is spreading like I think it is…then the whole country and maybe even the world may be starting to get an idea of what Digimon are. So I'm thinking…maybe we should think about dropping the whole stuffed animal thing. Don't you all think it's time to let the world know about the Digimon and that they ARE real? Isn't it time for the Digimon to reveal themselves?"
Silence.
Matt frowned. "Well?"
Izzy finally broke the silence. "Are your brain cells malfunctioning?"
"You've got to be kidding!" Joe added.
"You must be out of your mind!" Mimi finished.
Matt sweatdropped. "I take it you aren't cool with the idea."
"Why don't you think about what you just suggested, Matt?" Izzy began. "Think about how the populous reacted to seeing Greymon, Parrotmon, and later on, Myotismon. Everyone panicked! And some panicked more than others, right Mimi?"
Mimi nodded. "My parents ended up moving me halfway across the world because of it."
"Matt…I agree that Digimon can't keep up this charade forever," Izzy continued. "But to think that the world's ready for such a huge revelation would be madness."
Matt blinked. "So what are you saying?"
"He's saying it's too early," Joe replied. "Some people are still trying to forget the whole Myotismon 'I'm-here-to-take-over-the-world' incident. People are ignorant and afraid of what they can't understand. So I have to agree with Izzy on this one."
"Me too," Mimi added. "I would love it if humans and Digimon could live in harmony, but that can't happen right now. Especially with human nature being what it is. I'm sorry Matt, but I agree with Joe and Izzy."
Matt shrugged. "But aren't you all tired of hiding your Digimon?"
"Of course we are," Joe answered. "Trust me, it's no fun to carry Gomamon around all the time."
"I can be a pretty heavy load," Gomamon grinned.
"But the risks are just too great," Joe continued. "The Digital World is in peace right now. But if we reveal it to people, then they might try to take advantage of it, reshape it, or even destroy it. There aren't just evil Digimon out there, but also evil people. We can't forget that."
It was all sinking in slowly to Matt. "So…you're saying…"
Izzy decided to put his answer delicately. "All opposed, raise their hands."
Izzy, Joe, and Mimi all raised their hands.
"The nays have it," Izzy nodded. "Sorry, Matt. We can't do this."
Matt sighed and headed for the door. "Ok, I respect your decision. Meeting adjourned."
Without hearing a second word, Matt walked out the door. He was obviously disappointed with the outcome. Matt was tired of Digimon having to hide from the world. He wanted Digimon to come to the real world with confidence. But he also had to admit that his friends had a point. People WOULD overreact to seeing new, strange creatures in their world. That's one of the reasons that Matt kept Gabumon in the Digital World. He was afraid of the consequences of someone discovering him.
Matt was ready to head downstairs to go back to his room. He was wondering if Tai had come back, but he didn't make it to the staircase before someone called out for him.
"Matt?"
Matt turned around to see Sora, who was slowly walking up to him.
"Matt…I think it's a good idea," Sora told him. "It's just that…the others aren't ready yet."
"They probably have a good point," Matt sighed. "You think the Digimon will ever be able to come out, Sora?"
Sora smiled and her eyes sparkled with hope. "I know they will someday. It might even be sooner than you think. You never know what might happen."
Matt smiled back. "Thanks, Sora. I can always count on you to make me feel better. Think you can do that for Tai when he gets back?"
Sora smirked flirtatiously. "Well…why don't we go down to your room and wait for him? I bet we can keep ourselves busy while we wait."
"I like that idea," Matt grinned. He quickly dragged Sora away by the hand. "Let's go!"
Having time alone with Sora was the best Matt could have asked for. He was almost hoping Tai didn't come back at all.
TK slowly made his way downstairs alongside Ken, Kazu, and Jeri. The long day was finally over and everyone was happy for that. Now it was time to go back to the dorm, but TK couldn't help but notice something.
"Kazu, are you ok?"
Kazu had a bewildered look on his face the whole day. It started when he saw Professor Asaji.
"Don't mind him," Jeri scoffed. "The shock hasn't set in yet."
"She's got it in for me, Jeri," Kazu said for about the hundredth time. "I can feel it!"
"Kazu, she hasn't said a word to you," Jeri pointed out. "Professor Asaji never called on you."
"Don't you see it, though?" Kazu argued. "She's playing mind games with me! She's trying to lull me into a false sense of security! She's out to get me!"
"Kazu, you're being silly," Jeri huffed.
"Yeah, I have to agree with Jeri," Ken added. "I don't think Professor Asaji even noticed you."
"That's because she hasn't thought of what she wants to do to me yet," Kazu persisted. "You don't know Miss Asaji! She lived to make my life miserable and she won't rest until she ruins my college life!"
Jeri shook her head. "You are overreacting. Only you would be this paranoid, Kazu."
"KAZU! She's back!"
TK saw Jeri shake her head again, because a blue-haired boy wearing glasses quickly ran up to Kazu, looking just as worried as he was.
"Don't tell me you have her, too!" Kazu wailed.
"She's my 1:00!"
"NOOOOOO!!!" both boys cried.
Jeri sighed deeply. "TK, Ken, I'd like you to meet Kenta."
Behind Jeri, a girl with red hair arranged in a ponytail that stood up. And she didn't look too happy. She looked rather exasperated, as if she had been putting up with Kenta's antics for a while now.
"Hi Jeri. I'm guessing Dumb and Dumber are giving each other the news?"
"Oh you bet," Jeri sighed. "Rika, have you met some of our new friends? This is TK and that's Ken. TK, Ken, this is my other roommate, Rika."
Rika extended the hand of friendship, accepted by TK and then Ken. "It's nice to meet you." Rika eyed TK's white hat. "Nice hat. It's a good look for you."
"And it's nice meeting you, too," Ken said. "Kari hasn't told us about you yet."
Rika raised an eyebrow. "You two know Kari?"
Ken nodded. "Oh yeah. I'm her friend and TK's her…"
TK immediately shot Ken a cold stare. He didn't even want him to say that forbidden word.
Ken sweatdropped. "Uh…TK's…also her friend."
Rika maintained a serious demeanor. "I…see. Speaking of Kari…Jeri, shouldn't we be getting back to our room now? For…you know…?"
Jeri's face lit up. "Oh! Right! That! We should get going. It was nice meeting you guys and it'll be nice to see you everyday."
Rika and Jeri walked away, while Kazu and Kenta were still wailing away. Suddenly, the two boys noticed Rika and Jeri were gone and immediately ceased their whining.
Kazu sweatdropped. "Uh…we should go, too."
So did Kenta. "Yeah. See ya."
Kazu and Kenta walked off. TK and Ken just exchanged unsure glances. They didn't know what to make of this day so far, so they just both shrugged and headed back to the dorm.
"So, TK…about you and Catherine…"
Henry was in shock. "You're kidding, right?"
"I'm not kidding," Takato responded. "Yamaki's really one of the professors here. He's one of MY professors."
"Since when does Yamaki teach?" Henry asked.
"I thought it was weird, too," Takato admitted. "But I got a chance to talk to him earlier and I guess this is just the best way for him to walk away from all that government work."
"But do you really think Yamaki would just stop working for the government all of a sudden?" Henry pointed out. "Why would he just switch jobs?"
"So he got tired of the stress," Terriermon offered. "I know if I was a human working to try and stop the Devas and the D-Reaper, then I'd probably think of switching jobs, too. You agree with me, don't you, Guilmon?"
"I don't know," Guilmon said. "I can't think on an empty stomach. I'm hungry, Takato."
As if on cue, Takato's stomach growled. "That makes two of us. Maybe we should go get dinner."
"Ok."
Guilmon started heading for the door, but Takato immediately cut him off.
"And by 'we', I mean me and Henry. You're staying here."
"Ok, bring me back something, Takato."
Henry waited by the door as Takato caught up to him. Henry would have dinner, but his thoughts were definitely elsewhere. He couldn't stop thinking about why Yamaki was here.
After getting back to his room, TK laid back on his bed, having gotten his first day of class over with. But he had to get used to knowing that he wouldn't get much alone time. For one thing, there was Davis and Veemon on one bed. Ken and Yolei were on the other bed. Wormmon was sitting in his drawer. And of course there was Patamon, who was sitting right by TK's head.
Things were still pretty quiet. At least until TK started hearing some arguing coming from the hallway, followed by a knock on their door.
"Who could that be?" TK asked.
TK walked over as the three Digimon froze and went into their stuffed animal act. He answered the door and found an old friend.
"Hey, college guys!"
"Cody!"
TK was happy to see his friend, Cody. And as happy as Cody looked to see them, there looked to be something bothering him as he looked down the hall.
"You know you don't have to follow me anymore," he called out. "We're already here. Don't you have someone to meet?"
A girl suddenly walked up to Cody. "I can meet her in a little bit. But I was hoping to meet your friends."
Cody sighed. "Ok. Guys, this is…"
Ken gasped and got to his feet. "ROSA?"
Yolei looked puzzled. "Rosa?"
Rosa gasped when she saw Ken. Her face immediately lit up and she rushed over to give him a big hug.
"Ken! Is it really you?!"
Ken nearly got toppled over. "Yes, it's me. Wow! You've really grown up!"
Rosa looked up and gave Ken a seductive glance. "So have you."
TK knew what this would lead to. And sure enough, he looked at Yolei and saw that she wasn't liking this girl's amorous tone.
Yolei cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but who…?"
Wormmon raised his head from the drawer. "Rosa!"
Rosa beamed. "¡Gusano!"
"It's been such a long time! How have you been?"
Davis scratched his head. "Does someone want to tell us what's going on?"
Yolei glared a hole into Ken. "Yes, Ken. Why don't you tell us what's going on?"
Ken sweatdropped. "Rosa? You want to tell this story?"
Rosa walked Ken over to his bed. Ken sat on the bed and Rosa jumped up and sat next to him, practically knocking Yolei over.
"I'd be more than happy to. Ken and I met seven years ago…"
**GRRRRRRRR**
Rosa stopped in her tracks and everyone stared at Davis.
Davis sweatdropped. "Uh…I guess I'm pretty hungry."
"Then we should talk about Rosa and Ken over dinner," TK grinned. "Shall we?"
Yolei got up and headed for the door, making sure to shoot Ken one more glare. "I can hardly wait."
Davis followed right behind Yolei and Cody walked out behind them. TK was heading out, but not before he leaned near Ken's ear.
"And you were asking me about MY past with another girl?" he smirked.
Rosa got to her feet and led Ken out by the hand. "Come on, Ken. I'm sure we have LOTS to talk about."
TK chuckled. It looked like things were about to get interesting. Especially knowing Yolei…
Puppetmon was starting to get impatient. He wanted to start playing his sinister games, but Datamon insisted on them taking things slowly, at least until they made contact with The Dark One. So Puppetmon waited as Datamon prepared another one of his machines, which was adjusted to The Dark One's frequency. It was a large supercomputer with a giant monitor.
And sure enough, Datamon made contact. On the supercomputer's huge monitor, there was a shadowy figure surrounded by darkness. Puppetmon couldn't see anything more than a shadow. One thing about The Dark One was that he was apparently VERY hesitant about revealing his identity…for the moment.
"I see you haven't gone anywhere," Datamon began. "Nice to see you're still around."
"Enough of your banter," The Dark One bellowed. "Has that Digimon Empress begun using the Black Gears?"
"The Black Gears are a complete success," Datamon reported proudly. "I knew I could recreate Devimon's technology. Of course, with my superior intellect, I'm not surprised."
"So does this mean we have an army of Digimon ready to send to the human world?" The Dark One asked.
"Dozens of Digimon are at our disposal and ready to do our bidding," Datamon answered. "Thanks to my new Digital Field generator, I can make a small Digital Field, large enough to fit one Digimon to send to the human world. The only downside to it is that I can only send one Digimon at a time and it takes days to get the stupid thing operational again."
"I don't understand why we can't just go in ourselves," Puppetmon whined. "I wanna play NOW!"
"You'll have to excuse Puppetmon, Dark One. He's being childish because he has no patience."
"I am not the most patient one you'll encounter," The Dark One shot back. "I came to you, Datamon, because you are the very definition of the term 'evil genius' and you have the means to release me into the human world where I shall proceed to take over BOTH worlds. And Puppetmon, you are here because you know how to deal with our main opposition. And also because you know about manipulating and pulling strings…as is the case with The Digimon Empress. You two were best suited for this task. Now how long will it take you to release me? I am in a destructive mood!"
"Unfortunately, it will not be an easy process," Datamon replied. "I can create a machine to open a portal to…where did you say you were again?"
"The Dark Ocean!"
"Ooh, The Dark Ocean," Datamon muttered. "The Dark Ocean is one of the most mysterious domains in all of existence. To set a frequency there would be extremely difficult…but not impossible if I have the proper components. I will get to work immediately on a device that will bring you back. But in the meantime, we'll give the humans a welcoming committee…and hopefully thin out some of those infernal DigiDestined in the process."
"Remember our agreement," The Dark One warned. "You can destroy the rest of the DigiDestined, but the holder of the Crest of Light must stay ALIVE! When I get there, she is to be unharmed."
Puppetmon didn't understand that. He wanted to destroy ALL the DigiDestined, but for some odd reason, The Dark One wanted the Child of Light alive.
"And you remember OUR agreement," Puppetmon responded. "I get to wipe out that little snot, TK, myself. I'll teach him not to play with Puppetmon! And don't forget that once you take over, I get all the humans in Japan to be MY personal playmates."
"That's right," Datamon added. "And remember what you promised ME. Once you take over, you shall make me your second in command and I shall go down in history as the most intelligent being in all worlds!"
"I haven't forgotten our deal," The Dark One said dryly. "You shall have those rewards and more once I become the ruler of both worlds. But first, hold up your ends of the bargain and release me!"
Suddenly and without warning, the feed died and the monitor went blank. The Dark One had signed off.
"So NOW can we start playing?" Puppetmon whined.
"We can't send just ANY Digimon onto the battlefield," Datamon pointed out. "We must find a suitable candidate. And for that…let us go into the depths of our base."
Puppetmon laughed wildly. "It's almost playtime!"
Eager Puppetmon jumped out of his chair and headed straight for the lower chamber of the Server base. He wanted to pick a particularly destructive Digimon to send to the human world.
Terriermon sighed. "You know something, big guy? Maybe it's not so bad having you here. I mean, when Henry and Takato are out, I need SOMEONE to talk to."
"I feel the same way," Guilmon agreed. "I'm starving. How long have they been gone, Terriermon?"
Terriermon shook his head. "They've been gone for five minutes! Does the phrase 'momentai' mean anything to you?"
"Not when it comes to food," Guilmon grinned.
Terriermon couldn't believe his hungry friend. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to check the window and see if anyone was coming back. So he walked over to the window and looked outside. But he didn't see Henry or Takato.
Instead he saw another group of guys…including Ken, TK, and that goof, Davis. They were out of their room. And then he remembered what he was supposed to do.
It was time for the prank.
Terriermon rushed over and grabbed a small folded up banner and went back to the window. He opened the window and was about to jump out.
"Terriermon, where are you going?" Guilmon asked curiously. "I don't think Henry would want you to leave."
"Uh…this won't take long," Terriermon said. "I just have…something I have to do. Be right back."
Terriermon jumped out the window, landing behind the hedge outside the windowsill. And Terriermon headed down the path…towards Davis's window.
It was time for Terriermon to pull his first college prank.
Next Time: Terriermon's ready to become a prankster! But what he doesn't know is that he's about to meet some resistance…in the forms of Veemon, Wormmon, and Patamon. Kari gets back to her room after her first day of class…but it about to be in the midst of an intense interrogation from Rika and Jeri, who are a little curious about her love life. Davis, TK, Cody, and Yolei get to hear about the time Ken met Rosa and hear about her life since then. What happens when TK has an unexpected meeting with Catherine? And Puppetmon and Datamon choose their first minion to send into the real world. Things begin to intensify on the next Digimon: The College Years!
Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!