Last Week: The DigiDestined and Tamers teamed up to take care of the stubborn SuperStarmon, but ultimately it was Gallantmon who turned the tide in favor of the good guys. And while there, Izzy was given a message to meet with Talley on Monday, along with her superior. Tai and TK raced in an abandoned lot and things didn't fare well for TK, whose car blew up after a NOS boost went awry. To make matters worse, it all turned out to be for naught, because Catherine wasn't even there! Ryo and Rika cleared the air and there wasn't any bloodshed, so it looks like all's well so far. Renamon and Gatomon had a game of Twister that quickly turned into a strangling session. And Davis finally got to be alone with Kari, where at last he got the kiss he was desperately seeking.
Digimon: The College Years
Episode 16- OU Pride!
A whole new school week was starting and for the students of Odaiba University, it was more than welcome. After the season opener was crashed by SuperStarmon, the student body was agitated and thus, nearly everyone stayed inside their dorms.
It had to be because they had never seen anything like it before, because this wasn't anything unusual for Kazu Shiota. After some of the things he had seen, a flamboyant ultimate-level Digimon under the influence of a Black Gear was practically nothing in comparison.
Evil Digimon and dangerous Digimon under the influence of Black Gears didn't get to Kazu. There was only one thing that had him worrying at this point in his college tenure. It was the history class that had just concluded for the day. But more than the class, what worried Kazu…was the teacher.
Walking through the hall of the liberal arts building, Kazu must have been going pretty slowly, because Kenta quickly caught up to him.
"Did you get the assignment?" Kenta asked.
Kazu nodded. "An eight-page paper! I'm telling you, Miss Asaji still has it in for us!"
"We're barely getting into the second month! How can we already be getting papers that big?!"
"Ok, it's best not to think about it. We need something to get that off our minds."
Kenta sighed. "Why can't an evil Digimon ever attack during class instead of during a soccer game?"
"I ask myself that all the time."
Before that conversation could get anymore stimulating, Kazu and Kenta noticed that everyone was quickly filing out of the building. While that wasn't unusual, what was weird was that everybody seemed to be heading in one direction in a hurry.
Through the whole crowd, Kazu reached over and managed to grab a familiar shoulder. "What's going on?"
Kazu managed to grab the shoulder of Davis, who was running out with the rest of the students.
"Something happened in the gym!" Davis explained.
"What happened in the gym?" Kenta asked.
"I don't know yet," Davis answered. "I was about to go find out."
"Then we'll tag along," Kazu suggested. "Let's go!"
Something curious was afoot at the Odaiba University gymnasium. Like the rest of the student body, Kazu, Kenta, and Davis all wanted to find out what it was, so they headed out and followed the crowd.
Days, turning into weeks, had passed since they had been sent on this mission. Thus far, they hadn't made a single discovery. It was starting to get to Agumon, who wanted to know what it was that was threatening his world. But like his friends, Agumon wasn't about to give up.
They now found themselves in the lush Koromon Village in the continent of Server, taking a leisurely break. Though rest was the best medicine for the weary, Agumon knew that they couldn't rest for too long.
Hawkmon and Armadillomon ecstatically ate the meals on their plates, while Gabumon just looked out the window. His brain must have been running a mile a minute, wondering just what they were hunting. Agumon, in the meantime, decided to get down to some business with the Koromon present.
"So we're out here looking for someone using Black Gears," Agumon explained. "A human. Have you seen anyone like that around?"
"We haven't seen a human around Koromon Village," one of the Koromon answered.
"Are you sure?" Agumon asked. "This human's been using Black Gears and abducting Digimon. Have you noticed if Digimon have been disappearing?"
The Koromon huddled up and murmured amongst themselves. After a team huddle, the Koromon looked at Agumon and nodded.
"Now that we think about it, there HAVE been Digimon disappearing," the Koromon said. "One of us saw a Cherrymon wander over towards a shadow. I guess now that we think about it…it sorta DID look like a human. And there was something in his leaves. I guess you could say it WAS a Black Gear."
"Where did this happen?"
"Over near the forest, right by Server's desert."
"Hey, guys!" Agumon called out. "We have a break! There may be something outside the village!"
Hawkmon and Armadillomon swallowed what was in their mouths nervously and exchanged glances. Gabumon turned away from the window to look at Agumon.
After days of nothing, it looked like they were finally making some progress. But what would they find when they got out to the forest?
Kazu couldn't believe what he was seeing. Neither could the rest of the students present. Indeed, something had happened out by the gymnasium. And it was by the dragon statue in front of it.
The statue had been toilet papered. White sheets of quilted toilet paper covered the entire statue and the statue was dripping with ketchup and mustard. And on the arm of the dragon hung a rope that was holding an effigy of the Odaiba Dragons' mascot. And it hardly looked anything like Guilmon.
Everybody could only wonder how anybody could vandalize the statue like this. Who could have done such a thing? Then they got their question answered as they looked behind the statue and saw a banner hanging by the gym. It was a banner that read:
Odaiba Dragons Fear Shibuya Samurais
The whole student body was outraged. Everybody was in an uproar over what was now revealed to be a stunt pulled by someone from Shibuya University. The Shibuya Samurais and the Odaiba Dragons shared a very intense rivalry that dated back many years. It was a rivalry that came to a head with the annual Odaiba University/Shibuya University soccer game. And while the rivalry was often fun and competitive, it also had its ugly moments such as this one.
"I can't believe somebody trashed our statue like this," Davis grumbled.
Kazu looked around at each and every student present and saw how upset they were about this. And he saw that they wanted to get back at them.
Kazu pulled Kenta over and whispered into his ear. "I just thought of something. Let's head back." He then tapped Davis on the shoulder. "Uh…we'll meet up with you later. We have…something to do."
Davis blinked. "Uh…ok. See you later."
Kazu dragged Kenta by the arm away from the scene. He couldn't wait to get back to his room, because the gears in his head were turning. And he had a good feeling about this one.
The computer lab was empty. Izzy bashfully knocked on the door and got no response. Holding Tentomon in his arms, he reached over with his right hand and gently pushed the door open. He slowly wandered inside and reached for the light switch to bring some light into the dark computer lab.
"Don't turn that light on, Izzy."
Izzy stopped right where he was. He recognized Professor Onodera's voice and heard it coming from the corner of the computer lab. He turned his head and saw a shadowy figure in the corner. The faint light barely shone on Professor Onodera as she walked over and shut the door, so nobody else could come on. But Izzy noticed there was a third figure shrouded in the darkness.
"Is that the one you told me about?" the figure asked.
"That's him, sir," Professor Onodera answered. "I had him pegged as a suspect, but after the events of the season opener, I'm convinced he's on our side."
The mysterious figure lit a lighter that was in his hand. The faint brightness it created revealed his face. Middle-aged with dark sunglasses and a head of blond hair.
"You must be Izzy Izumi," he said.
Izzy nodded. "That's me. But who are you?"
The man stood up. "My name is Mitsuo Yamaki. I trust you know Talley Onodera? Everyone here at Odaiba University knows us as two of its new professors. I'm here to tell you that that's all a masquerade."
"I had my suspicions," Izzy replied. "I started to suspect something when I saw the way Professor Onodera attempted to handle the situation at the season opener. It was as if she knew exactly what was going on. Just who are you two, anyway?"
"We're undercover agents," Professor Talley Onodera answered. "We work for the government and used to be part of an operation known as Hypnos. We know all about the Digimon, so there's really no need for you to keep up the act in front of us."
Tentomon sighed in relief. "It was getting hard to keep still like this. I had an itch in my nose."
"You know about the Digimon?" Izzy asked.
"We've known for years," Talley answered. She looked over at Yamaki. "But sir, this one says he isn't a Tamer. He claims to be…"
"A DigiDestined," Yamaki finished for her. "I know all about them."
"You do?" Izzy asked.
"You do?" Talley also asked.
"I've known about the Digimon for a long time," Yamaki explained. "I was one of the first to look into the Highton View Terrace incident, the battle between two giant Digimon. No advances were ever made and the government eventually wrote the whole thing off and never brought attention to it again. It's very similar to many UFO sightings. The best course of action to take is create a cover story and never mention the incident again.
"Then there was an incident that was far too difficult to brush aside. It was the day that an evil Digimon known as Myotismon and his minions invaded Odaiba. It was the first instance in which the DigiDestined were revealed, as they came out to stop the threat and eventually head into the Digital World to handle another disturbance. Unlike previous instances, this was something far too big to be ignored. This was something that didn't go unnoticed by the government.
"Witnesses saw the Digital World appear in the sky after the Myotismon threat was thwarted. They also saw the DigiDestined head into the Digital World and fight the being known as Apocalymon. And our government jumped in to investigate the phenomena. Our government, the military, and scientists throughout the world attempted to find a way into the Digital World. But just as we began to make headway, vital dates in the computers were changed and important information was suddenly lost. None of us understood how the information could just vanish without a trace or how dates could just suddenly change."
Izzy knew. He remembered hearing this story from Gennai. In the years between the defeat of Apocalymon and the emergence of The Digimon Emperor, Gennai spent those years with his allies trying to cover everything up. They secretly changed all the dates on the computers to keep the Digital World hidden.
"The government was ready to give up, but I wasn't," Yamaki continued. "Five years later, the organization known as Hypnos was founded. Shortly after Hypnos was created, Digital Fields began to appear throughout the town of West Shinjuku and Digimon we classified as 'wild ones' began to appear in our world. Remembering such disasters as the Highton View Terrace incident and the Myotismon invasion, I found Digimon to be nothing more than a menace. I wanted to squash the threat once and for all by destroying all Digimon in our world.
"All of our efforts, however, proved to be failures. The only ones able to defeat the wild ones were the Digimon Tamers. Hypnos was a failure and was eventually destroyed by the gargantuan pig Deva, Vikaralamon, along with pretty much all of West Shinjuku. At that point, I began to see the Tamers as allies fighting the good fight and began to see that not all Digimon were evil. That's when the D-Reaper began to emerge and nearly destroy both worlds.
"The Tamers eventually defeated the D-Reaper once and for all and I began to think that we finally had solid evidence of the existence of Digimon and the Digital World. But once again, computer dates were changed and information suddenly disappeared without a trace…just like the last time. And we were back where we started. But I've never forgotten the Digimon. You can erase computers, but not my memory."
"Fascinating story," Izzy said. "If I may ask, what brings you out here to Odaiba?"
"We received an unconfirmed report of a Digimon threat out here in West Shinjuku," Yamaki answered. "It's our belief that the Digimon that have appeared in Odaiba these past few weeks were merely flunkies. We believe there's something else out there preparing for a big invasion."
"And for that you have to pull this charade?" Izzy pointed out.
"There's another reason we're working undercover," Yamaki explained. "We've received word that a human being is the one bringing the Digimon into our world. Someone from this very school. A mole, if you will."
That's when it finally hit Izzy. He looked over at Talley. "That's why you were there that night! You thought *I* was the mole you were looking for!"
"That's right," Professor Onodera admitted. "You were my top suspect since the day we bumped into each other in the computer lab. I recognized the device you dropped as a Digivice. And that's when I figured out that what you carried with you everyday wasn't a stuffed animal."
Tentomon sighed. "I knew I couldn't keep up THAT act all year…again."
"With everything that's happened, there are questions that I want answered," Yamaki said.
Yamaki took out a briefcase and pulled out a small lamp. He plugged the lamp in and turned it on. The bright light shone right at Izzy, nearly blinding him. The intensity of the light led him to believe he was about to be interrogated.
"I want the truth," Yamaki began. "Are you the only DigiDestined on this campus?"
"Why should I say anything?" Izzy demanded. "There's nothing that indicates you're worthy of my trust."
"You can trust us, Izzy," Professor Onodera offered. "We only want to help and we promise not to interject ourselves."
"We do?" Yamaki asked curiously.
"Sir, we aren't here to handle the situation ourselves," Professor Onodera pointed out. "We came here to find out who the mole is. We'll leave the battling to the DigiDestined and the Tamers."
Yamaki groaned. "Ok, agreed. We'll stick to our original objective. But please answer the question, Izzy. Are there other DigiDestined around Odaiba University?"
Izzy didn't know this Yamaki person long enough to determine whether he could be trusted or not, but he did trust Professor Onodera. And that was good enough for him.
"There are many of us here. Four freshmen, one sophomore, two juniors including myself, three seniors, and one fifth-year grad student. Oh, and one transfer student from France is also an International DigiDestined."
"Then we have many allies on our side," Yamaki noted. "Have any of you seen anybody suspicious around campus or any suspicious activity whatsoever?"
"I haven't seen anything," Izzy answered.
Yamaki sighed hopelessly. "No luck. Thank you, Izzy. Before you leave, I must ask a favor of you. Nobody must know that I'm undercover and the same goes for Professors Onodera and Ootori. This must remain our little secret. Tell no one. Not even your friends."
Izzy thought about that. This sort of information would come in handy. But he also recognized some of Yamaki's anxieties. The mole would be less likely to reveal himself or herself if they knew someone from the government was on campus searching.
"I'll keep your secret," Izzy finally said. "And so will Tentomon."
"We'll both keep it hush-hush," Tentomon added.
Yamaki smiled. "Good. Thank you, Izzy. We need nothing further. You can go."
Izzy cautiously got back to his feet and stepped out of the pseudo-spotlight and walked out the door. This whole situation had taken a very interesting turn to say the least. His junior year of college had gotten a lot more interesting.
Talley watched Izzy walk out the door. The two undercover agents were now by themselves. But there was now one student who knew their secret.
"I hope we did the right thing," Yamaki said.
Talley smiled. "I'm sure we did. You know, sir, he could make a great addition to our team."
"What? You can't be serious."
"No, I mean it, sir. Izzy's far more intelligent that most of the agents we've been working with these past few years. He knows everything there is to know about the Digital World and in the short time I've worked with him, he's demonstrated exceptional skills. He'd be perfect!"
"Since when did you become a scout, Talley?" Yamaki asked curiously.
"Those are just some things I couldn't ignore," Talley answered. "He's a standout kind of guy." Then she looked towards the distance to see Izzy turning the corner. "And he's pretty cute, to boot."
"Cute?" Yamaki repeated. "Talley, I'm surprised at you. He has to be around 21 years of age. You're getting into your late twenties. And he's your TA, for crying out loud!"
"Hey, I didn't say I wanted him for a boyfriend," Talley said innocently. "I just noticed he was cute, that's all." Then she shrugged that off. "Hey, you're getting me off the point! The point I'm making is, he'd be a good fit to be an agent."
Yamaki sighed. "I'll think about it, but I'm not exactly head of recruiting, myself. We aren't here to find new agents, we're here to take down a mole. But I'll be sure to consider bringing it up."
"Thank you, sir."
Talley looked past the glass door one more time, but saw that Izzy was long gone. She really did think he would make a good agent someday and could be valuable to the government. But a boyfriend? That was crazy talk.
At least that's what she would keep telling herself.
Seeing no one else was around and after seeing the damage done to the dragon statue, Kazu decided there was only one thing to do. So he headed over to Takato and Henry's room and knocked. He didn't stop knocking, even after he didn't get an answer.
"They're probably in class," Kenta pointed out.
Kazu looked around the hallway to see if the coast was clear. Once it was, he decided to call someone else.
"Terriermon, open up! It's us!"
It took a few seconds, but Terriermon turned the knob and opened the door with the aid of one of his long ears.
"You guys need something?"
Kazu pulled Kenta inside and quickly shut the door. This was to be a private conversation.
"Has Henry been here at all?" Kazu asked.
"Nope. He's been in class all day. What's up?"
"Those losers from Shibuya University trashed our dragon statue," Kazu said indignantly. "They had the gall to toilet paper the statue and mock our mascot."
That got someone's ears burning. "Huh? Mock me?"
Kenta thought about how to phrase it. "It's nothing personal to you, Guilmon. They were just mocking the mascot itself."
Guilmon didn't look any more comforted hearing that. Kazu decided to step in and make him feel better.
"Don't worry about it, Guilmon," Kazu grinned. "We're going to make sure they don't get away with it."
Kenta nodded…and suddenly stopped. "What do you mean by that?"
"Kenta, this is a matter of school pride! It's an opportunity for us to defend the honor of Odaiba University! It's an opportunity for us to even the playing field! It's an opportunity for us to get the last laugh on the Shibuya Samurais!"
"It's an opportunity for you to make a name for yourselves," Terriermon cut in.
"That, too. And the best way for us to do all that…it to get back at Shibuya University with our SECOND PRANK!"
Terriermon sweatdropped. "Second prank? After how the first one blew up in our faces?"
"Come on, Terriermon," Kazu urged. "There's a reason we came to tell you about this. You were great the first time around. And we're going to need you to come with us."
"Huh? Where are we going?" Kenta asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kenta replied. "We're going to hit them in their home turf. We're going to Shibuya University!"
Kenta's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious!"
"Kenta, I'm surprised you forgot. We had something like this planned for such an occasion. Remember? Prank #63-A?"
Kenta thought about that. "Hmm…I remember Prank #63-A. But isn't Prank #63-A just a little extreme? Technically, we could get arrested for Prank #63-A!"
"Correction: We could get arrested for Prank #63-A…IF we get caught," Kazu pointed out. "But I don't intend for us to get caught. Come on, Kenta. You know we're more careful than that. We can pull this off easily. Don't tell me you're afraid."
"I'm not afraid of a prank. I love a good prank. I just wonder if this might be going a little far. And I'm wondering what'll happen if we do get caught."
"It's not going too far. They have it coming to them. And we don't have to worry about getting caught. Trust me. That's what we have Terriermon for."
"Huh?!" Terriermon piped up. "Just what exactly will I be doing?"
"Kenta, fill Terriermon in on Prank #63-A."
Kenta bent down and Terriermon raised one of his long ears. Kenta whispered the whole twisted plan in the Digimon's ear while Guilmon looked on curiously. Kazu would have liked to tell him about it, too, but there was always the possibility that he could spill the beans to somebody. And this prank was meant to be a total surprise.
Terriermon snickered. "We're really gonna do that?"
"Can't wait to see the looks on their faces," Kazu grinned. "But if we're gonna pull this off, it'll require some heavy lifting. We'll have to take Guardromon with us."
"But it took us hours to get him in the dorm room the first time!" Kenta whined. "We'll have to take him apart again!"
Kazu nodded. "So we'd better get started."
"Alright, I guess we'd better get a head start…"
"Kenta…"
"Oops. I almost forgot. No more bad jokes when taking Guardromon apart. Got it."
There was still one more piece of business to take care of before going off to commit the big retaliation prank. They had to make sure Guilmon wouldn't tell anybody about this.
"Uh, Guilmon? Don't you have practice or something?" Kazu began.
"Not until later. Kazu, what are you guys gonna do?"
"It's a total surprise," Kazu replied. "But we need you to do us a huge favor and keep it a secret. Don't tell Takato, Henry, or any of your cheerleader friends."
Guilmon thought about it. "I don't know…"
"If you keep our secret, I'll bring you back a pizza."
"Ok!"
It was all that was really needed. It was as easy as offering a Scooby Snack to Scooby Doo. So with Guilmon's silence assured, it was time to go where no other sane Odaiba University student would go. And at the end of the day, Kazu and Kenta would make a huge name for themselves.
But first, they needed to go get Guardromon and stuff him in the van.
There was silence all over. It was highly appropriate, since this WAS a library, after all. Following the intense stress of class, this was the best place to get some studying done. TK heard that Catherine was in here somewhere and he didn't waste any time trying to find her.
TK walked through the first floor, his shoes squeaking on the floor. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Just as people began to stare at him, TK found who he was looking for. Catherine was sitting alone at a table with her nose buried in a textbook. TK took a seat right across from her.
"Hi," he whispered.
Catherine raised her head from the book. "Bonjour, TK. How did you know I was here?"
"Yolei told me you'd be here. I'm sorry I didn't get to take you to the game Friday night. I'm thinking maybe it was best you didn't see the race."
"Oh yes, I heard what happened to your car. How dreadful."
"Eh, it's ok. I should have a new car by the end of the month."
Someone else took the seat next to TK. "Hi, Catherine."
A vein nearly popped out of TK's head. "TAI!"
TK was immediately greeted with a rounding chorus of shushes.
"TK, we're in a library," Tai whispered. Then he smiled at Catherine. "What happened on Friday, Catherine? I thought we'd be going to the game together. You didn't even see TK's car get blown away…literally."
"Yeah, Catherine. I thought you'd come see us," TK added.
"Gentlemen, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise," Catherine explained. "I simply couldn't make it to the lot that night. I had to help out at the game."
Tai remained cheerful. "That's ok. We can always go out tonight."
Catherine shook her head. "Tai…"
"No way, Tai," TK argued. "She's going out with ME tonight. Right, Catherine?"
Catherine shook her head again. "TK…"
"No way, TK," Tai growled. "I asked her first."
"Too bad she wants to go out with me."
"Yeah, right. Like she'd go out with someone whose car is in a million pieces."
"Gentlemen, please," Catherine sighed. "Don't you two think this is getting a little out of hand?"
"What do you mean?" both TK and Tai asked.
"I feel like you two have been fighting over me," Catherine answered. "You're very handsome young men and both of you are wonderful in your own right. But please, don't fight over me. I'm nothing special. I'm just your average French girl."
"If you're the average French girl, then I envy the average French guy," Tai grinned.
"You're above and beyond the average Japanese girl," TK added.
"Be that as it may, you cannot keep fighting over me like this. Especially not now. I have a project worth 30% of my grade. I can't let myself get distracted."
"Beauty and brains," Tai nodded. "I love it!"
"But then again, you two are very sweet," Catherine continued. "So I'll tell you what. We'll have a night out this Saturday. Not really a date, but more like good clean fun for the three of us."
"Three of us?" TK and Tai repeated.
"I'll see you two on Saturday," Catherine went on, ignoring TK and Tai's bewildered looks. "Until then, can you please let me study?"
TK and Tai sighed deeply. "Ok. See you Saturday."
They both got up and started walking out. But halfway out of the library, they suddenly noticed each other and grew irked.
"Who asked you to jump in?" TK demanded.
"I had this planned, TK," Tai shot back. "Nobody asked you to be here."
"You did not have this planned," TK argued. "And even if you did, if this is like any other plan you've ever had, it probably would have blown up in your face. You're making this a lot harder for me and Catherine. Why don't you just stay out?"
"Because she likes me better."
"Oh yeah? We'll see. I say we make our move on Saturday and see who she likes better."
"Sounds good. But let's make the stakes even higher. If she picks me, then you owe me your next paycheck. If she picks you, I'll pay for the repairs to your junk mobile."
"You're on!"
TK and Tai shook hands on this gentlemen's agreement. They were standing by the library door and noticed everyone was staring at them. Including a certain receptionist.
"Guys, I'm glad you two are shaking hands," Jeri muttered dryly. "But can you take it outside? You're in a library."
TK and Tai sweatdropped and stepped outside the door. At least there were plenty of witnesses to this agreement.
Kari's class was just about finished. While her math class went very slowly, she couldn't say that Dr. Marquez didn't make it challenging. One thing Kari had to admit, this class always had her thinking.
The hour was coming to a close, so Dr. Marquez began to wrap up her lecture.
"Much like anything else in real life, calculus is something that can only be mastered through experience. It's with that in mind that I'd like to assign your essay."
Kari's eyes widened. A written essay in a math class was unheard of. She looked over and saw Rika had the same look on her face. They weren't expecting a written essay in this class.
"I want you all to write a six-page essay on the methods of integration and how you can apply them to real-life situations. It's something I'm sure you can all do. I know you're all smart students."
She made sure to look at Kari when she uttered that last line. Kari didn't really consider herself smart, but she knew she could do this one simple assignment. It didn't sound that hard.
"One more thing," Dr. Marquez continued. "This essay will be worth 20 percent of your grade. I'm sure that won't be a problem for any of you."
A collective gasp filled the classroom. That didn't look to sit too well with anybody. Kari was relatively calm about it, though. It wouldn't be too hard for her. All she had to do was remember not to forget it.
"And your essay is due this Monday."
That announcement didn't make the class feel any better. Kari remained calm about it.
She knew she could do it. All she had to do was remember to start on it soon.
It was a long, arduous day, but an evil Digimon's work was never done. That didn't please Puppetmon, who always preferred to play. But Datamon was the intense, focused one of the group and he had been at work all day, trying to make something of the recent discoveries made.
"This is boring," Puppetmon complained. "Can't we smash something?"
"Stop being so impatient!" Datamon snapped. "Once I finish, we'll be doing a lot of smashing! But we won't accomplish anything if we don't see what we're up against. But for that, we'd need our Digimon Empress here."
"Did somebody call me?"
The Digimon Empress stood at the entrance of the lair. Puppetmon didn't understand exactly what was going on, but he was always a Digimon of action, anyway.
"It's about time you got here," Datamon growled. "I've been hard at work examining that Digimon that foiled us at the season opener."
Datamon pressed a button and an image appeared on the big screen of his supercomputer. It was a huge Digimon with a cape, armor, and lance. It was the same Digimon the Empress said came to the aid of the others.
"I feel as if you've made an error," Datamon began. "You reported that this one had two voices, and one of them sounded like the Tamer, himself. That must have been because the Tamer was standing at a distance."
"It wasn't an error!" The Digimon Empress protested. "The voice I heard belonged to the Tamer called Takato! It was as if he was a part of Gallantmon! I had never seen anything like it! Not only that, but the brute was extremely powerful. It made short work of SuperStarmon."
"I knew those Tamers had some tricks weren't aware of," Datamon muttered.
"So what?" Puppetmon scoffed. "I could probably pound him into a tin can."
"Don't be foolish, Puppetmon," Datamon warned. "We cannot afford to take chances in this war. We made a bargain and we must make sure to live up to it. And in order to live up to our end of the bargain, we need to know what we're up against."
Datamon reached for a button, but before he could, he was interrupted by a Numemon with a Black Gear on his head.
"Datamon, there's something you need to know."
"Can't you see we're busy?" Datamon demanded. "What is it?!"
"We went on our usual rounds and found four Digimon snooping around Server," the Numemon said. "We recognized two of them as Agumon and Gabumon. They were in the vicinity of the Koromon Village."
"Somebody's onto us," The Digimon Empress sneered.
"I don't like bad news!" Puppetmon whined. He pulled out his hammer. "Puppet Pummel!"
The Numemon became another victim of what was quickly becoming a daily tantrum for Puppetmon. The Numemon faded in a flurry of digital bits. Datamon slapped his domed forehead.
"How many times do I have to tell you to STOP OBLITERATING OUR SERVANTS?! We've lost countless Black Gears because of your shenanigans!"
"You two can argue later," The Digimon Empress cut in. "But let's consider what the Numemon told us. We have unwanted guests snooping around. I think we should give them a welcoming committee."
"Who do you have in mind?" Datamon asked.
The Digimon Empress smirked as she looked over at the Digimon present in the base. She whistled to call one of them over. And the one she called was a massive one.
"I'm proud of this one," The Digimon Empress said. "I just picked this one up the other day. Meet MetalTyrannomon!"
Puppetmon and Datamon looked over in amazement at the cyborg ultimate-level MetalTyrannomon, a form much more dangerous that his other counterparts. This one was completely metallic and very destructive. And with the Black Gear on the back of his neck, he was completely willing to do the bidding of the unholy trio.
"Go down to the Koromon Village and welcome our visitors," The Digimon Empress ordered. "Give them a welcome they'll never forget!"
MetalTyrannomon let out a fierce roar and started stomping out of the base, creating small tremors as he went. The equipment was literally shaking with every step he took.
"That should take care of our guests," The Digimon Empress muttered.
Datamon was still examining the image of Gallantmon on the screen. "This one could be trouble. There must be SOMETHING we can do to neutralize him."
"I say it's time to put the Black Gears to a whole new use," The Digimon Empress suggested.
"We use them to make Digimon do what we want," Puppetmon pointed out. "You're saying there's a BETTER use?"
The Digimon Empress smirked. She obviously had something in mind.
"You bet there is. We use them to do what the old Digimon Emperor once did. I suggest…"
Once she got back to her room, Kari sat down with her calculus book. She wanted to get this essay out of the way as soon as possible and with Rika at the library and Jeri out…somewhere, there was not better time. So she opened up her book, but…
"Threes?"
"Go Fish."
Kari looked towards her bed to see that there was a game of Go Fish going on between Gatomon and Renamon, another in a long series of competitions those two were having against each other. Renamon sighed and reached for another card.
"Nines?"
Renamon snarled and laid down a nine. Gatomon laid down her last two cards.
"And that makes a pair. I win."
"You got lucky! Best two out of three!"
"You got it, Foxy."
"DON'T call me FOXY!!"
Kari sweatdropped. "Do you two mind? I'm trying to start my homework."
"Sorry, Kari," Gatomon apologized. Then she got an idea. "Ok, Renamon, new game. Something more to your tastes." Gatomon walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed an apple. She gently placed it on top of her head. "Calumon? I think you know what to do?"
Calumon blinked. "Gatomon? Are you sure you want to play this game?"
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
Kari watched as Calumon walked to Rika's closet and pulled out a wooden arrow. Kari shrugged off the thought that they'd be playing 'William Tell'. That couldn't possibly be it.
"Ok, Renamon. Try and pick the apple off my head."
"I fail to see the point of this exhibition, cat," Renamon said. "If I pick the apple off your head, I show I'm clearly a better marksman. If I miss, I make a kitty-kabob. What's your stake in this?"
"Renamon, you wouldn't hit me," Gatomon smirked. "I'd be too fast. I'd never let it hit me. Besides, did you think I wouldn't make the stakes a little higher?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you pick the arrow off my head, then I agree to do ANYTHING you want."
Renamon raised an eyebrow. "Anything?"
"Anything! BUT…if you miss, then you'll be cleaning out my litter box for the rest of the school year."
"That's degrading! Not to mention unsanitary!"
"What's the matter, Renamon? Afraid you might miss?"
Renamon responded by snatching the arrow from Calumon. Gatomon confidently stood straight with the apple sitting atop her head. Renamon prepared to toss the arrow javelin-style. After carefully aiming the arrow, she tossed it straight ahead. It looked to be a perfect shot.
But the arrow didn't even make it to its target. A fireball suddenly intercepted it and left the arrow nothing more than smoldering ash. Kari wondered how such a thing could happen, but then she looked under Rika's bed and found her answer. It was Impmon.
"Aw, too bad," Gatomon mocked. "Looks like you missed."
"T-That's unfair!" Renamon cried. "That was a perfect throw! I demand a do-over!"
"Sorry, Renamon. The deal was that you had to hit the apple. Nobody said there couldn't be something like an errant fireball flying around."
Renamon snarled. "You tricked me, cat!"
"Maybe so, but I still have myself a new litter box cleaner. And Renamon? Get every chunk, will you?"
Renamon walked over to the bed and pulled Impmon out by the ear. "You're supposed to be on MY side! Why are you helping HER?"
"Sorry, babe, but I ain't on anybody's side," Impmon corrected. "To me, it's just a matter of who's got more to offer." He walked over to Gatomon and held out his hand. "Ok, let me have 'em."
Gatomon sighed and walked over to Kari's closet. The feline Digimon dug through the closet, tossing out towels and rags as she went along, until she found a box and brought it to Impmon.
"There! A box of twine balls. There are a least a dozen of them."
Impmon chuckled. "All right! Target practice!"
"Y-Y-You sold me out for TWINE BALLS?!" Renamon stuttered.
"Hey, if I can't roast humans, then I gotta roast something, And nothing burns faster than twine."
Renamon stared coldly at Gatomon. "Ok, Gatomon. I'll live up to my end of the bargain. But I'll get you for this someday."
Gatomon just casually shrugged that threat off. She was being awfully carefree about this whole thing. A lot had changed about Gatomon since the day Kari first met her. She remembered when Gatomon used to be a tortured soul, reflecting on the days when she was nothing more than the pawn of Myotismon. Since breaking away from him, Gatomon had learned to enjoy herself a lot more.
And maybe Gatomon wouldn't admit it, but since living with Renamon, she seemed to have a lot more fun. It was like the two were developing a friendship. But of course, Kari wasn't about to bring that up to either of them.
Kari looked out the window and noticed the sun had already set. It was already 8 o'clock and she still hadn't gotten started. No longer feeling focused, Kari decided to put it off for a night. She closed her calculus book.
"I'll start tomorrow."
Night was starting to fall in the Digital World. It was the best time to investigate what the Koromon had seen out there. Led by Agumon, the faithful squad of four Digimon trekked to the scene of where the Cherrymon had last been seen.
Once they got out there, they found only emptiness. Not a Digimon was stirring that night. That was a good thing, because maybe they could find some clues as to who was tossing Black Gears around.
"Do you guys see anything?" Agumon asked.
"Hey, I found something!" Armadillomon called out.
The other three rushed over to their friend to see what he had found.
"What did you find?" Gabumon asked.
"A fresh bunch of bananas," Armadillomon answered as he held up several golden fruits. "You don't see many bananas this fresh."
"I believe he meant if we saw anything pertaining to our mission?" Hawkmon muttered dryly.
"Oh, that. I saw an empty box over there."
There was a box tipped over sideways towards the area where the forest became desert. The four Digimon wandered over to investigate, but the contents of the box were empty.
"Who carries a box out here in the middle of nowhere?" Gabumon wondered.
"Probably our target," Agumon answered.
"This could just be a coincidence," Hawkmon thought. "Do you think we're making any progress?"
After Hawkmon asked that question, the ground started to shake. The leaves on the trees were rustling and falling with each small tremor. The four Digimon were stuck in their tracks. Then they slowly turned their heads to see that something BIG was coming their way.
"Uh…Agumon?" Gabumon began. "Did that Gazimon tell you that the Digimon he saw with the human was huge and metallic?"
Agumon nodded. "Uh huh. A lot like…"
The Digimon stomped towards them and greeted them all with a roar.
The four Digimon panicked. "METALTYRANNOMON!!"
The van, now settled in park, was filled with would-be pranksters. Kazu sat in the driver's seat, Kenta was in the front passenger's seat, MarineAngemon was in Kenta's pocket, Terriermon was in the backseat, and Guardromon was in the trunk. They were on a journey to avenge their school.
"Are we ready?" Kazu asked.
"I'm ready," Terriermon answered. "Let's do it!"
Kenta sighed. "MarineAngemon, how did I get myself into this?"
MarineAngemon shrugged. Kenta always stuck with Kazu, no matter how bizarre the circumstance, and being Kenta's partner, that meant MarineAngemon was always finding himself in the middle of these plots…for better or worse.
"Ok, then let's do it!" Kazu smirked. "Prank #63-A is underway! Let's go!"
There seemed to be no other precautions to take. Kazu and Kenta stepped out of the car and Terriermon came out right behind them. Kazu opened the back door and let Guardromon step out. He would be the muscle required for this job.
Now that they were all together, they headed down the parking lot…towards Shibuya University!
Next Week: Kazu, Kenta, Terriermon, MarineAngemon, and Guardromon pull Prank #63-A. But…what IS Prank #63-A? And what results from it? Meanwhile, our brave tandem of Digimon face off against MetalTyrannomon. Unable to Digivolve without their partners, can they prevail…or at least escape? As for Kari, she still needs to get started on her essay. But will certain interruptions keep popping up? It's something you won't want to miss! Find out what happens on the next Digimon: The College Years!
Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!