Last Time: A floor meeting took place in the 4th floor lounge in which the DigiDestined and the Tamers got to know each other just a little bit. Information was exchanged and Izzy even ended up with the opportunity to study a D-Arc and a Blue Card, which he'll do along with Joe and Cody during the weekend. Patamon and Terriermon were willing to make up, but the same can't be said for Renamon and Gatomon. So the basic ground rule was established: First to show physical hostility towards the other must leave. But now that this rough day's over, Davis wants to get ready for his date with Kari. He isn't the only one with a date, though, because Takato and Jeri are also going out Friday night…walking Guilmon in a shopping cart.


Digimon: The College Years

Episode 9- Urban Legends


After a long day of classes, Friday night was here. And for Rika, her Friday night could stand to get a lot better. She knew that Kari was getting ready to go out on a date and she wouldn't be able to help maintain peace between Gatomon and Renamon. For all she knew, it would just be her and Jeri.

"OW! Jeri, be careful!" Kari cried from the other side of the room. "I want to have both my eyebrows intact for my date with Davis."

"You just have to hold still, Kari," Jeri said. "Your eyebrows are pretty thick, but if you hold still, I can be done in a few minutes."

There they went again. Kari and Jeri were off being girly again. Rika just shrugged. If Kari wanted to go out with that klutz, that was her own business. If anything, Rika would just be happy to have her away for the night. In the few days she had known her, Rika didn't find anything she could like about this girl.

A few minutes later, Jeri was done doing Kari's eyebrows. Jeri held up a mirror for Kari to see herself. Her face brightened.

"I love it, Jeri! Rika, how do I look?"

Rika turned her head to look at her sickeningly cheerful roommate. Kari nodded slowly, trying to get Rika to say something. But Rika just shrugged.

"What? You look the same."

Kari frowned. "Oh…"

Jeri scoffed. "Don't listen to her, Kari. Rika's the type of girl who never notices those types of things. You look great!"

Kari's face lit up again. "You think so?"

"Of course I do! And I'm sure Davis will notice, too."

Rika turned back around. She was getting the urge to go out herself since she felt like she was suffocating in this room. The combined factors of Jeri and Kari's extreme femininity and Gatomon and Renamon's friction were getting to be too much for Rika.

Kari got to her feet. "I'd better get ready for my date. It's almost 6:30."

Jeri gasped. "I'd better get ready for MY date!"

That got Rika's attention. "Wait a minute! YOU have a date?"

"I'm going out with Takato," Jeri said matter-of-factly. "We're taking Guilmon for a stroll."

Rika's ire was rising. She took Jeri by the hand. "Jeri, can I see you OVER HERE?"

"Sure thing," Jeri grinned. "I think Kari needs to get ready anyway."

"You're right, she does," Kari grinned. "I'd better get in the shower. Be right back."

Kari took her towel and headed out the door to get in the shower. Rika thought she had Jeri alone, but eyed Renamon. Renamon took the hint and went invisible. Then Rika shot Gatomon a stare.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," Gatomon muttered. She walked into the closet and shut the door.

Rika finally focused on Jeri. "You CANNOT leave me alone to babysit those two! What am I supposed to do?!"

"Rika, I'm sure you'll do just fine," Jeri said confidently. "They know they can't touch each other. Trust me, you'll be fine."

"Jeri, don't leave me here alone…"

"You're a very strong woman, Rika. I doubt anyone else could handle this job, but I don't doubt you for a second. If anyone could take on a tough task like watching Gatomon and Renamon, it's you."

"That kind of kissing up might work for the goggle head, but it doesn't work on me," Rika growled.

Jeri sighed. "You're right. I knew you were too smart to fall for that."

Rika nodded. "Exactly, that's what…STOP THAT! You're still doing it!"

"Please say yes, Rika!" Jeri pleaded. "I really want to see Takato tonight. We might have something after tonight."

Rika sighed. "You owe me."

"Thanks, Rika! I'd better get ready now."

Jeri got up and grabbed a towel of her own to go take a shower. Rika couldn't believe she was forced to watch over these two feuding Digimon. She wanted to be anywhere but there.

For Rika, Friday night wasn't looking so good.

Davis carefully looked in the mirror again. He didn't want a single hair to be out of place and he didn't want a single flaw on his face.

"Davish? You've been looking in the mirror for over an hour."

"Wait, Veemon," TK whispered. "You might blow his intense concentration. His goggles could be out of place by half an inch."

Davis wasn't even listening. He stared right in the mirror and continued to fix his face. He wanted everything to be perfect for tonight's date…the date he had been waiting so many years for. His date with Kari Kamiya.

Ken suddenly walked through the door and saw Davis. "Is he still at it?"

"I didn't think anybody could look in a mirror for so long," Patamon replied. "Maybe Davis is just pumping himself up. He looks really focused."

Finally, Davis stopped looking in the mirror. He was convinced that he was good to go. He turned back around and sighed deeply.

"Well, guys…how do I look?"

Ken gave the thumbs up. "You look good."

Davis frowned. "Good? That's it?"

TK sighed. "You look GREAT, Davis."

Davis perked up. "Ok, I feel better. I'm ready to go! I can't wait! Uh…someone show me to the door!"

Ken opened the door. "This way, Davis!"

Davis closed his eyes and headed out the door. "AAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Davis ran out the door and started running down the hall. He made a beeline for the stairs. Unfortunately, he still had his eyes closed. All he heard was Ken whistle.

"Davis! Stairs are that way!"

Davis stopped in his tracks and opened his eyes. Indeed, he was going the wrong way. So Davis did an about-face, closed his eyes, screamed again, and headed for the stairs. Unfortunately, he didn't watch where he was going and…

**CRASH**

"HEY!"

…he crashed right into Takato, who happened to be walking out of his room at the same moment.

Takato sat up. "DAVIS!!"

Davis flinched. "Sorry. I guess I'd better watch where I'm going." Rather than risk seeing Takato angry, Davis got up and headed for the stairs. "Gotta go!"

Never did a staircase seem so long. Davis wanted to hurry and climb up. He was in such a hurry that he nearly knocked over Jeri, who was coming down the stairs at the same time. He had to hurry. He couldn't wait anymore.

Davis was in a hurry…because he was about to go on his first date with Kari Kamiya.

Takato shook off the cobwebs and got to his feet. He kept reminding himself that Davis wasn't doing these things on purpose. But he was awfully clumsy and Takato couldn't help but feel that he had the worst luck of any of the freshmen.

"Takato?"

He didn't get the chance to dust himself off, however, because Jeri had already arrived. And that meant it was time for them to go out on their date.

"Hi Jeri!"

"I heard you yelling. What happened this time?"

"Nothing," Takato muttered. "Just another minor run-in with Davis. No big deal at all."

"Ok then. Are you ready?"

Guilmon stuck his head out the door. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Guilmon!" Takato snapped silently.

"Oh sorry, Takato."

Guilmon went into his stuffed animal act, freezing in place. Takato lifted the heavy Digimon over his shoulders and started carrying him out with Jeri by his side. They were ready to have a night they wouldn't forget for a long time.

Kari was feeling nervous. Only now was it starting to sink in that she was about to go out on her first date…since she broke up with TK. This was a huge step. She didn't know if she could handle it. But it was too late to think about that…because someone knocked on her door. Kari hesitated. She stood still. She didn't know if she could bring herself to open it. He knocked again and Kari felt herself freeze.

"What are you waiting for?" Rika snapped. "Just open it!"

Kari shook it all off and reached over to open the door. And there was Davis Motomiya in his casually formal attire. Davis was the next one to freeze. He froze as soon as he saw Kari's pink dress that went down to her knees.

He smiled dreamily. "You look great."

Kari blushed. "Thanks."

Kari was wrapped up in this brief exchange. She couldn't make out the sound of gagging in the background.

"You ready?" Davis asked slowly.

Kari nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

While not quite in the state that Davis was in, Kari was still looking forward to tonight's dinner. Since Davis wasn't moving, Kari made the assertive move and started leading him by the hand.

The night had just begun.

Rika just watched as Kari walked out with Davis. She wasn't envious of her in the least after hearing the stories she heard about him. If anything, Kari could have that clumsy oaf all to herself. She had other things to worry about. She had to babysit for Gatomon and Renamon, who were being peaceful…for the moment.

That's when someone knocked on the door. She answered the door and saw that she might have some backup on this night. It was Henry Wong and Terriermon…and they looked a little less than thrilled to be there.

"Can I help you?" Rika muttered.

"Takato suggested I come help you keep order," Henry sighed.

"He owes us big time for this," Terriermon added.

"Well, you two might have an easier time with this than you think," Rika said. "So far, they've managed to keep to themselves…sort of."

Henry and Terriermon turned to the beds, where Renamon and Gatomon were both sitting with sour expressions. Looking a little curious over the situation, Terriermon jumped off Henry's shoulder and waltzed over to them.

"So…how's everything going?"

Renamon and Gatomon just turned away from each other. Terriermon sweatdropped. But then it appeared that he had an idea. He walked over to Rika's fridge and took out a bowl of pudding. He stood between the beds and started eating.

"You know, nothing gets me in a better mood than something sweet," Terriermon began. "Why don't you two have some pudding to calm you down."

Rika shook her head. It all seemed like a simple solution. Try to find a common interest between the two. But this sounded a little TOO simple. She couldn't help but be a little skeptical.

Terriermon handed the two Digimon a spoon and held up the bowl. Both of them took a scoop and held it in front of their faces. Gatomon ate first and savored the taste before swallowing. It looked like she liked it. But Renamon didn't quite taste it. Instead, she flicked her spoon, sending the pudding flying into Gatomon's face. Gatomon cleared her face of the pudding and snarled.

"Sorry, it slipped," Renamon said smugly.

Gatomon looked like she was about to lunge for Renamon, but restrained herself. She knew that if she threw the first punch, she'd have to leave. But she didn't take Renamon's taunting lying down. She reached down for a bottle of water that was lying on the ground.

"You look thirsty. Have a drink!"

The water splashed onto Renamon. Rika's eyes widened, because the water on Renamon dripped onto HER bed. Renamon turned beet red and tried to lunge for Gatomon, but Gatomon just grinned.

"Ah-ah-ah…can't touch me. You wouldn't want to be on the road back home, would you, Foxy?"

"I told you NOT to call me FOXY!" Renamon yelled.

Terriermon threw his hands up in the air. "HEY! Can't we all just get along?"

"NO!!" both Renamon and Gatomon snapped. Terriermon flinched.

Rika frowned. "You see what I have to deal with?"

"Need some time alone?" Henry suggested.

"Oh you'd LOVE to get out of this," Rika growled. "Well it's too bad. You're helping me! I'm not doing this alone."

Henry sighed. "It's times like this I wish Ryo was around."

A vein popped out of Rika's head. She grabbed a pillow and nailed Henry over the head with it. "I told you to NEVER, EVER mention his name around me!"

Henry rubbed his head painfully. "I can't believe you're still THAT sensitive over…"

Rika shot Henry a cold stare. "Henry, I'm warning you! Don't go there!"

Luckily (for Henry), before things could escalate, someone else knocked on the door. Rika walked over to answer it and saw her two RA's, Sora and Mimi. Mimi looked into the room and gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Rika. I didn't realize you were alone with your boyfriend."

Rika raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"That…isn't your boyfriend?"

"Henry Wong? My boyfriend? You think Henry Wong is my…?"

For the first time since she arrived at Odaiba University…Rika smiled…and started laughing. She had heard of people mistaking her and Takato for a couple, but it wasn't often that people mistook her and Henry. She found it rather funny.

Henry didn't. "I don't find anything funny about that, do you, Terriermon?"

"You WERE voted Shinjuku High's Most Eligible Bachelor," Terriermon pointed out. "I guess no one told Rika."

Rika smiled and finally contained her laughter. "Thanks, you two. You made my night with that comment. So what's going on?"

"We've got a little something down in the first floor in Tai and Matt's room," Sora answered. "If you two aren't doing anything, we'd like to give you two an update on the situation at The Den."

Rika remembered hearing that The Den was closed. "Update?"

"Come on down and find out," Mimi grinned.

With that, the RA's left. Rika turned around and saw this as the solution to her problem. She wouldn't have to babysit Renamon and Gatomon alone with Henry and Terriermon. Her night's work was over.

So she cheerfully headed out the door. "You guys coming?"

It wasn't until Davis left that TK was starting to realize that…there was nothing to do on this Friday night. He couldn't believe that he was about to spend his first Friday night in college…with Ken.

"So…any ideas what to do?" TK asked.

"I don't know," Ken sighed. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

Just then, someone knocked on the door. TK could only hope that it was someone with something to do. Ken walked over to answer it and he was pretty happy to see Yolei.

"You guys bored too?" Yolei asked.

"You bet," Ken concurred. "But where's Catherine?"

"She said she had something to do tonight," Yolei answered. "Didn't say where she was going either. So I figured, 'do I know anyone who would be just as bored as I am?' and I immediately thought of you two."

TK blinked. "Thanks…I think."

"You want to get something to eat?" Ken asked.

"I tried eating already," Yolei answered. "But The Den closed early tonight. Didn't you guys hear?"

"Hear what?" TK asked curiously.

"There's supposedly something inside The Den," Yolei explained. "A lot of the food's missing. There are crumbs everywhere, so it's looking like something ate the food. Nobody has a single clue how the food got lost or even how anything could possibly break in there."

"My ears are burning," someone else said.

TK, Ken, and Yolei turned around to face the open door and see…

"You know about this, Matt?" TK asked.

Matt Ishida nodded. "I know this old story. As soon as we heard about what's happened in The Den, pretty much every upperclassman came to the same conclusion. It's…the OU Phantasm!"

TK scoffed. "What?"

Matt smirked. "What? You've never heard of the Legend of the OU Phantasm?"

Yolei thought about that. "I might have heard something like that in my freshman year. But that's just a silly story."

"There's nothing silly about it," Matt responded. "It's one of this school's biggest legends. I can't believe you guys haven't heard of it."

"What is this OU Phantasm?" Ken asked.

"Why don't you guys come up to my room and I'll explain the whole thing to you," Matt suggested. "I might need some help with this one."

Matt walked out leaving TK, Ken, and Yolei alone. They all exchanged looks…skeptical looks.

"He can't be serious," TK scoffed.

"We got nothing better to do," Ken shrugged. "Might as well hear an urban legend."

"The room's empty. And we've got no plans for tomorrow. You know what that means, right?"

After a moment of hesitation, Kazu looked at Kenta and raised an eyebrow. The answer should have been so obvious, yet Kenta seemed to be stalling.

"Uh…what DOES that mean?" Kenta asked.

Kazu groaned. "It means we can move Guardromon in here! And it'll be a whole day's worth of work. So we'll both be busy tomorrow. You think we can fit him in the back of the van?"

"Hope so," Kenta sighed. "But that's not our biggest problem. Guardromon's pretty big. How do we get him through the door?"

"The same way we got him through the door in my room," Kazu grinned.

"Kazu, don't tell me we're doing that again," Kenta groaned. "It was hard enough doing that the first time."

Kazu walked over and opened the door. "We'll talk about it while we get something to eat at The Den."

"You guys say you were heading to The Den?" someone else asked.

Kazu looked over to see that RA, Tai Kamiya, with the poofy hair. "Yeah. You want us to bring you something back?"

"Uh…not exactly. The Den closed early tonight. Didn't you guys hear?"

"Hear what?" Kenta asked.

"There's something running around inside The Den. It's been eating all the food and nobody can tell what it is. Nobody even knows how it got in there. But the upperclassmen know."

"What is it?" Kazu asked.

"It's…the OU Phantasm."

"The what?" Kazu and Kenta both muttered skeptically.

"You've never heard of it?" Tai asked. "Oh, that's right. You guys are freshmen. Why don't you guys drop by my room and I'll tell you about it. The other RA's and I are about to tell the story anyway."

Kazu turned to Kenta. "We've got nothing better to do tonight."

Kenta nodded. "Let's go."

Tai led the way as Kazu and Kenta followed him up towards the 4th floor lounge. Kazu was eager to hear about this OU Phantasm, even if it DID sound like a bunch of nonsense. He was always up for an old ghost story.

Takato pushed the shopping cart down the park's walkway, making sure to give Guilmon a fun ride. Even after all these years, Guilmon still got a kick out of riding inside a shopping cart. And Takato was having a good time, himself. So was Jeri.

Takato looked down and saw a downward slope. "Ready for REAL ride, Guilmon?"

Guilmon nodded eagerly. "Ready, Takatomon!"

"And…GO!"

Takato pushed the cart over the hill and it quickly picked up momentum. The cart continued rolling along and Takato and Jeri both happily gave chase. The cart kept rolling until it slowed down and gingerly tapped a tree in its path. Takato and Jeri both stopped by the cart and as they panted to catch their breath, they looked at each other and smiled.

But suddenly, the happy moment was ruined by the sound of beeping. It was the sound of Jeri's pager. Jeri looked at it and frowned.

"Why now?" she moaned. "Takato, I have to go."

"But we were having so much fun," Takato said disappointedly.

"I was having fun, too. But…I need to go. I'll…be back on campus a little later."

Takato smiled. "Then I'll see you back on campus?"

Jeri nodded. "Of course!"

She looked around and hesitated before making a bold move. Jeri leaned over and kissed Takato on the cheek. Takato, clearly taken by surprise, blushed.

Jeri turned away. "I'm sorry. I…shouldn't have done that. I'd better go."

More than anything, Takato wished he could have returned the gesture. Jeri had been his friend for many years and he had always considered her one of his closest friends, even AFTER she moved away from West Shinjuku following the D-Reaper incident. He wished he could have gotten the courage to give her a kiss on the cheek. He actually wished he could have done a little more.

But instead, he did the other alternative.

Nothing.

Takato only stood there as he watched Jeri walk away. She probably felt bad about what she had just done and he didn't want her to. He liked the kiss. He wanted to give her one of his own. Instead, he just stood there frozen.

"Takato? Are you ok?" Guilmon asked.

Takato nodded slowly. "Yeah. Great."

Not knowing what else to do, Takato just grabbed the edge of the shopping cart and started pushing it slowly down the walkway. The night was still young and even if Jeri was gone, Takato was still there with his other close friend.

He was still there with Guilmon.

TK took a seat in the middle of the 4th floor lounge. And it was quickly getting crowded. He was there with Ken, Yolei, and Henry. Henry had Terriermon with him and TK and Ken brought Patamon and Wormmon. Rika was also there and she was sitting between Gatomon and Renamon. Matt was up in the lounge along with Sora and Mimi. It looked like they weren't kidding about needing more than one person to tell the story about this OU Phantasm.

"I'm really curious about this, Matt," TK said. "What are we waiting for?"

"One more person," Matt answered.

And sure enough, there came Tai. But Tai wasn't alone. He had Kazu and Kenta with him. TK's first instinct was to have Patamon go into his stuffed animal act. But he was surprised to see Terriermon casually wave.

"Hey guys!"

Kazu and Kenta waved back. "Hey Terriermon!"

Tai stopped in his tracks and turned to Kazu and Kenta. "You two know about him?"

"Kazu and Kenta are cool," Terriermon said nonchalantly. "They're also Tamers. And we told them all about the floor meeting, so they know about you guys, too."

"You two are Tamers?" Tai asked. "You two must hide your Digimon well. Because I didn't see anything."

"Mine's not here," Kazu replied. "He's still at home."

"And mine's pretty small," Kenta added. He opened up his coat and a small Digimon flew out of the pocket. "This is MarineAngemon." MarineAngemon waved cheerfully. "He doesn't say much. He's kind of a mute."

"Just how many of you Tamers are there?" Matt asked.

"Eight," Henry answered. "There's us four here, Takato, there used to be Jeri, my little sister, and…"

Henry paused as soon as he saw Rika shooting him a cold glare.

"…and someone whose name escapes me at the moment."

"Nice meeting two more Tamers," Tai nodded. "But we'll get more acquainted a little later. Right now…we have a legend to share. Sora? Lights?"

Sora turned out the lights. Mimi passed a flashlight over to Tai. And Tai flashed the light on his face, just like as if they were sharing ghost stories.

Tai go the ball rolling. "There was once a student here at Odaiba University. He was a senior, a lot like me and Matt and Sora. He was just a few days away from graduating. He had just gotten engaged and he had a great job waiting for him as soon as he graduated. He had a pretty good life. At least I don't think it could have gotten any better."

Matt took the flashlight next. "But then things started going wrong. His family was involved in a tragic car accident and they all died, except for his mother who was permanently blind and paralyzed. His fiancée was taking a flight to the United States, but the plane crashed in the middle of the ocean and she was never found. And the company that offered him a job after he graduated just went bankrupt and went out of business. He was still a few days away from graduating, but he didn't have anything going for him anymore."

Mimi then took the flashlight. "His friends tried to reach him, but he kept himself isolated. He went to the only place that would make him feel better. He decided to go to The Den and drown his sorrows in food. He sat in the corner and no one bothered to reach out to him. Hardly anybody noticed he was there, because a few hours later, The Den closed with him inside. He was stuck."

Sora took the flashlight. "The next morning, everyone went out to look for him inside The Den. But there was nobody there. He had completely disappeared without a trace and everyone assumed he was dead. But another day later, when everyone went back to The Den, the food was gone. There were crumbs everywhere and wrappers all over the place. The food had been eaten, but there was no trace of any signs of life. Everyone began to think it was him, still drowning his sorrows in food from The Den from beyond the grave. He didn't even have a name anymore. Now he was just known as the OU Phantasm."

Tai took the flashlight again. "After a while, it finally stopped. Everyone began to think he had just decided to rest in peace. But now with what's been happening lately, we all know that the OU Phantasm is back…and haunting The Den again."

Silence.

TK snickered. "Are you kidding me?"

"Matt, your little brother's laughing," Tai muttered dryly.

"I sense you don't believe in the legend?" Matt asked.

"I think it's obvious that I don't," TK grinned.

"I agree with TK on this one," Rika added. "Come on now, a phantasm? That's ridiculous."

Tai glared at the freshmen. "Any other non-believers?"

Every single freshman hand in the room went up…and so did Yolei's.

Mimi shook her head. "Yolei, you don't believe in it, either?"

"It just sounds silly. I can't really say I buy the whole thing."

Sora sighed. "They'll pick it up eventually. It's one of the school's most well-known legends."

"Just because it's well-known doesn't make it any less hokey," TK smirked.

Tai shook his head. "Alright, that's it! All underclassmen clear out! Go back to your rooms and…do whatever it is you were planning to do tonight."

TK could tell that the RA's were a little hurt that this urban legend wasn't being taken so seriously. But TK knew that it was all so nonsensical, anyway.

TK started heading down the stairs, but was quickly joined up by Ken and Henry.

"Can you believe those guys?" TK chuckled. "OU Phantasm…that's funny."

"So what do you think IS haunting The Den?" Henry asked.

TK didn't know himself, but he had one guess.

"Can you say 'rats'?"

The time was here. The Digimon Empress was standing alone in an alley and awaiting for her communicator to go off. There was an evil Digimon waiting for the chance to bring about destruction to this city and she couldn't wait to see it. Finally, after she had just about lost all patience, the communicator in her pocket went off.

The Digimon Empress quickly answered it. "It's about time!"

"Sometimes you can be just as impatient as Puppetmon," Datamon said from the other end. "Tuskmon is ready to go. Be prepared, for I am about to test my Digital Field generator. It's homed into the frequency of your communicator. Just hold it out."

The Digimon Empress held out her communicator and a Digital Field began to form in front of her. The big green Digimon with the striped horns began to come out into the real world. The Digital Field generator worked, as Tuskmon was now here. But The Digimon Empress couldn't help but notice something on top of his head.

"What's this?" she asked curiously.

"That's a camera," Datamon answered. "We wish to get a birds-eye view of the destruction of the city AND of the DigiDestined, if possible. HEY! Watch it!"

"You aren't the only one who should be having all the fun!" Puppetmon growled into the communicator. "We wanna watch! Now get out there and give us all a good show."

The Digimon Empress chuckled. "I'll do that." She closed the communicator and looked up at Tuskmon. "You heard him! Get out there! Give this town a Friday night it'll never forget!"

Tuskmon roared and headed down the alley, scratching the walls with his horns along the way. The Digimon Empress was in for a show and she decided to go and get a better view.

This would be fun.

Davis was having a great time. Not only was the food at the restaurant ten times better than anything at The Den, but he was also eating with the girl of his dreams. The other thing that made him feel good was that Kari seemed to be enjoying herself, too. Davis knew the best way to top off this night and that was to go take a walk in the park.

Kari started twitching. "Davis…do you see a bathroom anywhere?"

Davis pointed at the nearby restrooms. "Over there."

Kari looked like she had been holding it in for a while. "Thanks. Be right back."

Kari rushed to the bathroom, leaving Davis by himself. Davis decided to take this opportunity to check and see how he was doing. He pulled out a small mirror from his pocket, which he kept in case of emergencies, and checked his hair. Not one hair was out of place. Then he checked to see if there was any food between his teeth, which there were none. Then there was the concern of his breath. He checked his pockets, but was distressed to discover that he didn't have any breath mints.

Suddenly, a blue hand reached out of the bushes with a stick of mint gum. "Here you go, Davish!"

Davis sweatdropped and looked in the bush. "Veemon! What are you doing here?!"

"I snuck out when everyone wasn't looking. I wanted to see you in action. And you've been doing great so far! I think she really likes you."

"You think so?"

"Of course I do! This night has been perfect, Davish. You haven't made yourself look stupid once and you've been a perfect gentleman."

Davis thought about that. "You're right. I've taken her out to dinner. I opened every door, pulled every chair out for her, and offered her the first chance to order. I didn't spill my food once and I actually didn't spill on anyone. I feel good. I've done everything right! I feel like nothing can go wrong!"

Unfortunately, that's when things started to go wrong. Davis and Veemon both heard a crowd of people in the distance start running away in terror. They didn't know why at first, but that's when Davis saw what was wrong. There was a giant creature roaming the streets. It was a Digimon.

"That's a big Digimon!" Veemon exclaimed.

"How did that thing get downtown?!" Davis shouted.

"I don't know, but you know what we have to do," Veemon answered.

The last thing Davis expected on this night was to be fighting a big Digimon. But yet here he was. So Davis pointed towards the horned creature and Veemon was off and running.

"Vee Headbutt!"

Veemon tried to strike the giant creature in his leg, but it didn't faze him at all. Dazed, the little blue Digimon fell back.

"I'm thinking we need something bigger," Davis noted.

Veemon shook off the cobwebs and got to his feet. "I hear you, Davish!"

**Veemon…Digivolve to…ExVeemon!**

The much-bigger ExVeemon stepped over in front of the big green Digimon. "Hey you! Now you can pick on someone your own size!"

The big Digimon rushed forward to try and tackle ExVeemon, but the champion ExVeemon held his ground. There was a brief stalemate before the next blow was landed.

"XV-Punch!"

ExVeemon landed a furious punch that sent the Digimon with the striped horns flying back. But he quickly recovered and rushed forward again. It didn't look like he'd go down easily.

Davis couldn't imagine things going anymore awry. But that's when Kari came out of the bathroom.

Kari looked up at the two fighting Digimon. "How long was I in there?"

Puppetmon was enjoying this show he was seeing on the base's large monitor. There was nothing he liked better than seeing two Digimon just go at it. He had to give Datamon credit for creating his ingenious camera on top of Tuskmon's head.

"This is great!" Puppetmon shouted. "This is better than some of my favorite shows! Who says there's nothing good on TV?"

Datamon looked at the big blue Digimon facing off with Tuskmon. "That looks like one of the new ones our Digimon Empress told us about. It looks like we've run into one of the new DigiDestined."

"He doesn't look so tough!" Puppetmon scoffed.

Puppetmon got a birds-eye view of Tuskmon unleashing an attack of his own.

"Horn Buster!"

Tuskmon attacked and the big blue Digimon known as ExVeemon was knocked into one of the buildings. Puppetmon couldn't help but laugh manically at the senseless destruction these two were causing the city.

"This is fun!" Puppetmon squealed.

"Hey…what's that over there?" Datamon asked.

Puppetmon stopped his laughing long enough to look at the monitor. There was something else off in the distance.

It looked like someone wheeling up…a shopping cart.

Davis couldn't believe how long this fight was going. ExVeemon wasn't having it easy with this Digimon. In fact, he was struggling. Davis wished he could do something, but Kari was holding him back. There was nothing he could do.

"Davis? What's going on?"

Davis and Kari turned around to see Takato walk up to them, with Guilmon in a shopping cart. Davis and Kari just pointed at the big Digimon that was fighting ExVeemon.

Takato took out his Digivice and pointed it at the big Digimon. "Hmm…Tuskmon, champion level. His main attack is Horn Buster. Where did he come from?"

"That's a good question," Kari replied. "We don't know HOW he got here. But we have to get him back to the Digital World! But it doesn't look like ExVeemon is faring too well."

Curious, Takato pointed his Digivice at ExVeemon. "Hmm…ExVeemon, champion level. I wouldn't want to get in the way of his Vee Laser attack. But he looks outmatched."

"He's just getting started!" Davis yelled. "Besides, it's not like you could help!"

Takato calmly took Guilmon out of the shopping cart. "We can help. Guilmon, you ready to show how Tamers battle?"

Guilmon nodded enthusiastically. "Ready!"

Guilmon charged towards the big Tuskmon and it looked like he'd be outmatched. But that's when Takato took out his Digivice and one of his cards.

"What's the card for?" Davis asked curiously.

"Watch and learn," Takato smirked. He swiped the card through the Digivice. "DigiModify! Digivolution activate!"

Digivolution

**Guilmon…Digivolve to…Growlmon!**

Davis's jaw dropped open when he saw Guilmon Digivolve at the simple slash of a card. Now there was a much bigger red lizard in place of Guilmon.

"What is that?" Davis asked in amazement.

"That's Growlmon," Takato said proudly. "A champion-level Digimon. Wait 'til you see what he can do. Growlmon! Do your stuff!"

Growlmon stepped over towards Tuskmon and grabbed him by the tail while ExVeemon wrestled with the green Digimon's head.

"Hey, nice to have a hand!" ExVeemon grunted. "Should we send him flying?"

"Let's do it!" Growlmon concurred.

ExVeemon and Growlmon both lifted Tuskmon high into the air and tossed him towards…one of the local shops.

"Don't throw him there!" Davis cried. "It'll take months to fix that!"

"We've got to send him back to the Digital World," Kari said. Then she looked over towards another block. "And I think I know how! Be right back!"

Kari ran over towards one of the shops, which luckily wasn't in the middle of the fray. "It's an Internet café! Can you lure him over here?"

Davis knew what Kari was suggesting. She was about to open a Digiport and send Tuskmon back where he came from. But Tuskmon had to be close enough to the port to be sent through. That would be up to ExVeemon and Growlmon.

Tuskmon ran at full speed and tackled Growlmon to the ground. Then he turned and got ready to attack ExVeemon. Davis was about to warn him, but Takato was one step ahead. He pulled out another card and swiped it through his Digivice.

"DigiModify! Hyperspeed activate!"

Tuskmon attacked. "Horn Buster!"

But before his attack could hit, Growlmon ran at blinding speed and moved ExVeemon out of harm's way. Davis was shocked.

"How did you do that?"

Takato grinned as he held up one of his cards. "It is in the cards."

"DAVIS!"

Davis looked over and saw that Kari was standing outside the Internet café. She was holding her Digivice out.

"Digiport open!"

The Digiport was open and it was a simple matter of sending Tuskmon through the Digiport. But now they had to get Tuskmon towards the port. For that, ExVeemon and Growlmon brought out the big guns.

"Vee Laser!"

"Pyro Blaster!"

Tuskmon was stunned by the sudden hits and was sent stumbling back towards the Internet café. And with the Digiport open, Tuskmon fell through and was sent back to the Digital World.

"All right!" Kari cheered. "That's the last we'll see of him." Then she walked over to Growlmon. "Wow! I've never seen anything like you before. And I thought I've seen just about every Digimon there is."

Takato nodded. "Yeah, that's Growlmon. He's totally one of a kind."

Seeing his work was done, ExVeemon devolved back into Veemon. Growlmon, on the other hand, didn't. He and Takato started walking off.

"Hey, where are you two going?" Davis asked.

"I wish going back to the rookie level was as easy for Growlmon…but it's not that simple. It's one of the downsides to being a Tamer. Come on, Growlmon. Let's get you standing on your head again."

"Aw, but that makes me dizzy, Takato," Growlmon whined.

"We can't go back on campus like this!" Takato shot back. "Now come on, let's go!"

Growlmon hung his head down and followed Takato towards an isolated area of the park. Veemon just waved cheerfully.

"Thanks for the help, guys!"

Davis leaned over Kari's shoulder and grinned. "Some date, huh?"

Kari wasn't in a jovial mood. "How did a Tuskmon get in our world? It doesn't make sense. Something's seriously wrong. Let's tell the others about this."

Without a second thought, Kari was heading back for the parking lot. Davis couldn't believe his rotten luck. The date had now become nothing more than an afterthought to Kari. But he had to admit that she did have a good point.

How DID a Tuskmon get into the real world?

The Digimon Empress watched from the rooftop of a building. She was disappointed that Tuskmon had failed in defeating ExVeemon and Growlmon. But all was not last. This battle was just beginning and when it was over, she was confident that she would have the last laugh.

The time was getting late. She had to go. But there would always be next time. And next time, she would not fail. Maybe it was time to use one of the Digimon under the influence of the Black Gears.

With that thought in mind, The Digimon Empress walked off into the shadows.

Ten minutes had passed and Growlmon still hadn't devolved back into Guilmon. Takato shook his head. It was never fast with this sort of thing. They never DID figure out the secret to devolving and it was always a pain in the neck once a battle was over. Yet, that was another thing that bothered Takato. Why WAS there a battle tonight. Digimon hadn't come into the real world since the disaster with the Devas. And that was five years ago.

"Takato?"

Takato's thoughts were instantly cleared. He turned around to see that Jeri had come back.

Jeri looked at Growlmon. "Takato, what happened?"

"There was a Digimon running loose through the city. Didn't you notice?"

"No, I had to attend…a meeting. You mean there was a Digimon here?"

Takato smiled. "Yeah, but we took care of him. If anything, this gave us a chance to show Davis and his Digimon what Tamers could do."

"That sounds great."

"Too bad I can't get Growlmon to go back to the rookie level the way Davis can get ExVeemon to go back to Veemon."

"It's ok, Takato," Jeri sighed. "Hey, the night's still young, right? It's only 11."

Takato blushed as Jeri took his hand. Jeri, seeing how close she was getting, quickly took it.

"I'm sorry," Jeri backtracked. "I didn't mean to…"

"No…it's ok."

Takato smiled as he reached over and held Jeri's hand. The night WAS still young. So the two young college freshmen just stood there, holding hands…while Growlmon stood on his head.

It was as good a Friday night as Takato could have hoped for.

Puppetmon sulked by the monitor. He continued watching it, since the camera was still on. He knew just where the Tuskmon was going and so did Datamon.

"He's almost here," he said.

And sure enough, a few seconds later, Tuskmon came wandering into the Server base. Puppetmon angrily got to his feet and reached for his hammer.

"They got lucky!" Tuskmon shouted. "Gimme another shot! I can take them!"

"I'll give you SOMETHING, alright!" Puppetmon growled. "Puppet Pummel!"

Puppetmon attacked with his Puppet Pummel, instantly deleting Tuskmon. There was nothing that ruined his fun more than failure, and Puppetmon wouldn't tolerate it.

Datamon shook his head. "Those cameras aren't cheap, you know! Please be more prudent in the future! Now I'll have to build another one!"

Puppetmon just huffed angrily. Those new DigiDestined made him angry, but there was also the issue of that other guy. That guy that called himself a Tamer. He didn't know what those were, but he could tell he would grow to despise them.

No matter. Their time is about to be up, anyway. Once Datamon finishes his machine to release The Dark One, then the REAL fun would begin.

Still in the teacher's lounge, Yamaki fumbled with his lighter again. Despite the late hours, he was still at the university and so were his two partners, who were both looking pretty tired. But there was no rest for the undercover Hypnos crew. With a potential mole out in Odaiba University somewhere, they would soon find the lounge to be their new home.

"We haven't found anything," Talley sighed. "Can we call it a day, sir?"

"The fate of the world may be at stake," Yamaki pointed out. "And you want to call it a day?"

"I think we should call it a day," Riley said. "The fate of the world may be at stake, but staying here past hours does us no good. We can't question anybody because everybody's gone home. At this rate, the other professors will get suspicious."

"How do you figure?" Yamaki asked.

"We can't be the last ones to leave everyday," Riley explained. "The others will start to think we're weird and wonder why we don't go home like normal people. We're already getting stares with our 'casual' interrogations. We don't need anything else to add to their suspicion. We wouldn't want our mole to be on to us."

Yamaki frowned. "I suppose you're right. I guess we'll call it a day and take a break."

Seeing that their day was over and they were finally able to relax, Talley reached over for the nearest remote control. She turned on the teacher's lounge's television. And Yamaki's jaw dropped open upon the first sight. It was a large green creature. It was a Digimon.

"A monster was sighted in downtown Odaiba tonight, terrorizing the public and tearing through the streets. As you can see…it even tore through our camera."

Sure enough, the Digimon's tail swung and knocked out the station's camera that was positioned on the ground. There was no more video footage.

"While we have no further footage, the monster appears to be gone now. No witnesses were sighted in the area, but the city of Odaiba can now rest easy knowing that the monster attack is apparently over."

Yamaki fumbled with his lighter again. He began to weigh the ramifications of what this meant. Time was now running shorter. The attacks have begun and he could feel that this wouldn't be the last one. There was no time to lose. He knew that he and his partners would have to work faster.

"It has begun."

Davis grumbled as he reached the door to his dorm room. He couldn't believe how his date with Kari could have possibly taken such a lousy turn. And for once, it wasn't even his fault that things went wrong.

Before he opened his door, Kari reached over and held his hand. "You know, Davis? Before the Tuskmon came and started going on a rampage…I was really having a good time. I'm wondering…you want to try again sometime?"

Davis smiled. "Of course, Kari!"

Kari giggled. "You know…maybe the night didn't go like I'd hoped…but maybe next time it'll go a little better."

Davis knew the one way this night could end perfectly. He reached over…to give Kari a kiss.

Unfortunately, Kari pulled away.

"You know, I feel pretty tired. Maybe the whole ordeal tired me out. I'd better get some sleep. Call me?"

Davis stopped in his tracks and just nodded. "Oh…sure."

Kari leaned over and kissed Davis on the cheek. "Thanks, Davis. Good night!"

Kari walked towards the stairs, leaving Davis by himself to think about what just happened. It was obvious what was going on. Kari was evidently still a little unsure about going the next step with anybody. He couldn't blame her. Even Davis believed that she and TK would last forever. After breaking up from such a wonderful relationship, it was natural that Kari would be a little scared of getting back into a serious relationship. Davis respected that.

Of course…he also vowed to make Kari's inhibitions go away…in time.


Next Week: It's Saturday and what a Saturday it is! Seeing no better opportunity, Kazu and Kenta go out to retrieve Guardromon. But who else do they recruit to help them? The Den is STILL under siege and no one knows what's haunting it. Is it up to Detective Ken Ichijouji to solve the Mystery of the OU Phantasm? And what happens…when Kari finds out that TK's about to go on a date with Catherine?! Find out on the next Digimon: The College Years!


Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!