Last Week: The big pajama party winded down…and ended with a little mishap involving the smoke machines. Luckily, Guardromon was there to help clean it up. Joe and Mimi ended up in Reedington, of all places, and watched as Ms. Mackenzie met up with Dr. Marquez with an urgent message. TK helped carry Kari, who was drunk, up to Yolei's room and laid her down on the couch before leaving…or trying to leave. He didn't get very far when he saw Yolei's roommate, Catherine. After clearing up all misunderstandings and misconceptions, TK left Kari alone with Catherine, but again didn't get far when he saw her being carried off. The Digimon Empress had struck and it wasn't long before TK gave chase. She tried to make a clean getaway, but didn't get far after Tai intercepted her on his motorcycle. Surrounded on both sides, The Digimon Empress didn't get too far before she was unmasked by Tai. But after the glasses and blond wig were removed, Tai and TK were surprised to find out it was actually ROSA! Momentarily frozen by the shock, Rosa used the opportunity to escape. Meanwhile, Ryo was leaving the pajama party, but soon found himself confronted by Ebemon. Cyberdramon tried to make the save, but was soon outsmarted and Ryo was left alone again. That is, until Ken and Davis arrived with Stingmon and ExVeemon, who DNA Digivolved into Paildramon. Now there's a battle on hand.


Digimon: The College Years

Episode 34- Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto


Mimi was almost falling asleep as she sat behind the bush. Without Joe there, she would have fallen asleep long ago. Of course, if it weren't for Joe, she also wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. The conversation between Ms. Mackenzie and Dr. Marquez was obviously very private and of a very sensitive nature. Why she was even here in the first place, she had no idea. Only Joe knew that for sure.

"Have you been listening to them this entire time, Joe?"

"I can barely make out what they're saying," Joe grumbled.

Mimi crossed her arms and huffed. "So have we basically wasted this entire night?"

"I wouldn't call it a total waste. I mean, you did enjoy looking at all those billboards we passed."

Mimi groaned and laid back on the ground. She didn't even care that a perfectly good sundress was getting basted in dirt. She couldn't believe Joe had wasted her time like this.

Ms. Mackenzie helped Dr. Marquez into her car and watched as she drove away. She then turned towards the bush.

"I know you must have a lot of questions, Joe," Ms. Mackenzie called out. "Perhaps I can answer them for you."

Joe gasped and nearly fell back on top of Mimi. Mimi shoved him off and sent him tumbling clumsily out of the bush. Joe picked himself up and adjusted his glasses.

"How long did you know I was back there?"

"I had a feeling you'd be back there," Ms. Mackenzie answered. "And I also had a feeling you'd drag Mimi along with you."

Mimi stuck her head out of the bush. "Wow! You're good!"

Ms. Mackenzie nodded and picked Joe up by the hand. "You've had questions about me from the very beginning. I can sense it. You believe I know something about the strange occurrences of the past couple of months…involving the Digimon."

Joe dusted himself off. "Yeah. You've been…weird, to say the…wait…you know about the Digimon?"

Ms. Mackenzie had a look of uncertainty on her face. "Um…vaguely. I'm not entirely familiar with the phenomenon that is the Digimon. I've seen…a prophecy. But to me, the meaning of it has come across extremely vague…at least in my eyes. All I know…is that I've seen you and Mimi in these visions…along with the other RA's…and some of the other students."

Joe and Mimi exchanged glances. Something big was going on and, likely, it was too big for Ms. Mackenzie to comprehend. So Joe went ahead and asked the big question.

"What have you been seeing?"

Ryo looked on as the battle between Paildramon and Ebemon began. They started grappling and tossing each other around, as it looked that Ebemon had finally been distracted from what was apparently a mission to do away with him. Ryo didn't understand why he was suddenly a target.

After pushing Paildramon away, Ebemon aimed his ray gun. "Brain Rupture!"

Paildramon leaped to avoid the blast, which hit the pavement. From midair, Paildramon launched a counter-attack. "Desperado Blaster!"

What Ryo hoped would be a critical blow turned out to be harmless. The potent blasts merely bounced off Ebemon.

"Fool! I am an enhanced Mega Digimon with protective armor! Your frail attacks cannot hurt me!"

Ken and Davis looked shocked to see Paildramon's attack bounce off. Terriermon and Patamon, who were picking themselves up, were taking a step back. Ryo didn't know what else to know, until he started to see a rumbling from the underneath the sidewalk he was standing on. He began to realize it must have been Cyberdramon. That's when he got an idea. Ryo looked under the sidewalk and saw his partner from the gutter.

"Meet me over there!"

Cyberdramon got the message and started running through the sewer. Ryo ran in the same direction, in hopes to meet up with his partner on the other side.

Impmon looked on from a nearby tree. He left the party looking for a good time, but never expected to see something like this. He was witnessing a big fight with a rogue Digimon and a Digimon that had been formed by the merging of two champion-level Digimon. He had never seen anything like it.

He suddenly noticed Ryo running off. "Humph, where's HE off to?"

Impmon then shifted his focus back to the battle. Ebemon was firing off his ray gun at Paildramon repeatedly, coming closer to making contact each time. Impmon merely scoffed at what he was seeing.

"He calls that a gun? He ain't seen nothing yet."

A long time had passed for Impmon since he decided to take the big guns out. There had never been any reason to. But this was different. As amazing as this new Digimon was, he wasn't getting very far against the hostile Digimon.

So Impmon jumped off the tree…and walked off to make a change.

The pajama party was over. Everyone had cleared out after the smoke machine went out of control, so everybody was out of the freshman dorm building…except for Kazu and Kenta. After having Guardromon blow the smoke away, it was safe to stick around. When the smoke cleared, Kazu realized just why nobody else bothered to come in. To say the least, the freshman dorm building was a terrible mess.

There was garbage everywhere, residue all over the walls, and just about all the equipment was turned over. It looked like a stampede had come through and left nothing but destruction in its wake.

Kazu tried to slink away. "Well, I guess that's our cue to leave."

But as Kazu turned to walk away, he bumped into Resident Advisor Matt Ishida, who wasn't about to let him get off the hook that easily.

"Part of being a good party host is knowing when to clean up after your guests," Matt pointed out. He handed Kazu a broom and Kenta a dustpan and duster. "Ms. Mackenzie could come in at anytime, so I'd advise you guys to go quickly."

Kazu and Kenta just stood in disbelief as Matt casually walked off. The party was a complete success, but it didn't come without a price. Kazu grumbled as he started sweeping some of the residue off the walls…which then proceeded to fall all over Kenta.

"Hey! Watch where you're sweeping!"

"Oh, shut up and dust."

Kenta complied. He started dusting Kazu's face until he sneezed. It was obvious that cleaning the entire building after a big party would be an all-night task. And it would be far too much for two freshmen to handle by themselves. That's when Kazu got the idea to get a little help. But before he could walk off, Kenta dragged him back by the arm.

"I know that look. Do you REALLY want Guardromon to help us with this?"

"It's not like things could get any worse," Kazu pointed out.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kenta countered. "The last thing we need is for Guardromon to make an even BIGGER mess."

"That's not possible," Kazu said matter-of-factly. "Guardromon, come on out here."

Guardromon rushed over. "Yes, Kazu?"

"Give us a hand with this," Kazu requested. "Clear these walls."

Guardromon pointed his mechanical arm and got to work on the walls. He started scrubbing the walls with his hand, but Guardromon was getting overzealous again. He was clearing the walls of dust. Unfortunately, he was also clearing the walls of its paint.

"Guardromon, stop!"

"Something wrong, Kazu?"

Kazu crossed his arms. "You know, your wires have been getting crossed more than usual these days. Now you know when I say 'clear these walls', you know I don't mean STRIP THE PAINT! I think you need a thorough reprogramming."

"You're going to have him reprogrammed?" Kenta asked.

"You in the mood to take a look at him?"

"I don't know. Reprogramming a Digimon? I don't know if I could do that."

"Well, who else am I supposed to take him to?"

As if on cue, somebody else walked back in. "Is it safe to come back in?"

Kazu turned around and grinned upon seeing the right person for the job. "Henry! Am I glad to see you!"

Davis couldn't bear to look as Ebemon kept blasting away. He hadn't connected with Paildramon yet, but he was coming a lot closer. Paildramon was on his toes more than a ballerina and was proving ineffective against the roguish Mega Digimon.

Paildramon kept bouncing around. "I feel like I stepped into a old western!"

"Stand still!" Ebemon shouted. "It'll make it much easier to blast you!"

"Hey! You call that a gun?"

Everyone stopped in their tracks, giving Paildramon a much-needed break. Everyone present turned around to look at who made that bold statement. Somebody else had stepped into the fight. It was another Digimon, a tall purple creature covered in black leather, holding a gun in each hand. He stepped forward, roughly pushing Paildramon aside, and promptly raised his arms to point his guns at Ebemon.

The Digimon aimed straight for Ebemon. "Get a load of these! Double Impact!"

A barrage of loud shots came next. Ebemon didn't expect to be confronted with this latest opposition, but still fired back. The Digimon avoided the hits and skillfully aimed his guns and fired another barrage of shots. One after the other, they made contact with Ebemon, puncturing his armor with every hit. Ebemon soon fell back, stunned by the sudden onslaught.

That's when something hit Davis like a ton of bricks. There was something about this Digimon. The way he callously fired off his guns…the look of fury in his eyes…the seeming disdain and contempt for anyone else's well-being…struck Davis as…familiar.

"Davis, what is it?" Ken asked.

"I've seen this guy before," Davis muttered.

Terriermon ran forward. "Beelzemon?! How did you get here?!"

"I got here when the party slowed down," Beelzemon answered gruffly.

Despite taking a brutal assault from Beelzemon, Ebemon didn't give up. Staggered, but not beaten, Ebemon rose to his feet.

"This battle is not over," Ebemon snarled. "It is merely beginning." He held up his right hand, which had an arm cannon attached. "Planet Destroyer!"

The cannon charged up briefly before it released a long, laser blast that scored a direct hit on Beelzemon. It hit with such an impact that Beelzemon flew at least five feet back before landing and sliding another five feet on the pavement. Terriermon and Patamon rushed to Beelzemon's side. He was still alive, but he was dazed by the impact.

"I came here to claim my target!" Ebemon growled. "And I will do so, even if it means doing away with all of you in the process!"

With that, Ebemon pointed his cannon at Davis and Ken. Before he could fire at the two DigiDestined, Paildramon swooped in between them.

**Paildramon…Mega Digivolve to…Imperialdramon!**

Paildramon had reached the Mega level and Megas didn't come bigger in size than Imperialdramon. There was a momentary standoff, which gave Davis the opening he needed. A Digiport would punch Ebemon's ticket back to the Digital World.

"I would love a computer right about now," Davis whispered.

"I know what you mean," Ken whispered back. "Or at least anything with a network connection."

Davis thought about that. "Anything?" He pulled out his cell phone. "It's a new model. Think it might work?"

Davis's new cellular phone carried a wireless network connection. It was the best they had since there were no computers where they were.

"It's worth a try," Ken replied. "Hold it up." Davis held up his cell phone while Ken held up his Digivice. "Digiport open!"

Amazingly, a Digiport did open and it was big enough to fit Ebemon. But the extraterrestrial Mega wasn't about to go away quietly. He pointed his cannon at Imperialdramon.

"This is a very powerful cannon, capable of destroying even the strongest of Digimon. You don't scare me, Imperialdramon."

Imperialdramon responded with an attack. "Positron Laser!"

Imperialdramon aimed his attack very carefully. He nailed Ebemon right on the hand, disabling the arm cannon. Ebemon screamed in pain and stumbled around, holding his arm. What he didn't see was another Digimon rushing towards him at full speed. Just as Ebemon raised his head, the Digimon had jumped in the air and was coming right at him.

"Justice Kick!"

Ebemon was caught completely off-guard by the sudden flying kick. He staggered back and fell right into the Digiport, which Davis and Ken quickly closed. A lucky break was all it took to end this battle, but now Davis was curious as to who saved the day. Davis had never seen this Digimon before and unlike Beelzemon, this one did not look familiar to Davis at all.

Terriermon looked over and identified this one, too. "Justimon!"

"Justimon?" Davis and Ken repeated.

Terriermon walked up to Justimon. "A Mega. Ryo Biomerged."

Ken was taken aback. "Ryo? Is that you?"

"I guess I never told you this about myself," Justimon answered. "We really DO have a lot of catching up to do."

"I guess we do," Ken agreed. "Is there a reason that Digimon was after you?"

"I have no idea," Justimon replied. "He swore Cyberdramon and I did something, but I don't know what he's talking about."

Davis's attention was elsewhere. He walked over to Beelzemon, who was barely getting to his feet while clutching his chest.

"You ok?" Patamon asked.

"It's just a flesh wound, I'll be fine," Beelzemon grumbled. He saw Davis staring right at him. "What are YOU staring at?"

"I've seen you before," Davis said frankly. "I remember you."

Ken and Justimon cut their conversation short when they heard that. Beelzemon gave Davis an inquisitive look. Meanwhile, Imperialdramon separated and reverted to their rookie forms. Veemon walked up to Davis and also took a good look at Beelzemon.

"I've seen you before, too," Veemon pointed out.

"I've never seen any of yous before," Beelzemon said sharply. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Beelzemon…" Davis began. "I remember a Beelzemon…a year ago…when I was in the Dark Ocean."

Everyone went silent upon hearing that. It was a night Davis would never forget*.

"Dark Ocean?" Beelzemon repeated. "That sounds…familiar. I'm…I'm…"

Beelzemon held his head. It was as if he was struggling to remember. He fired a shot into the air and stood upright. He got a closer look at Davis and Veemon.

"You and I need to talk…but not now."

Beelzemon turned and started running. Terriermon tried to catch up to him, but there was no catching Beelzemon.

"Hey, get back here!" Terriermon called out. He crossed his arms. "Still not a team player."

"Davis, what do you mean you remember him?" Ken asked.

Davis just looked at Patamon. "Patamon, you remember him, don't you?"

Patamon nodded. "I didn't recognize him until you mentioned the Dark Ocean. But I remember him now. You'd think he'd remember us."

"I remember going into the Dark Ocean a year ago with TK and Kari," Davis explained. "And that's where we met Beelzemon."

It was all coming back to Davis. He recalled meeting the disgruntled Beelzemon while in the Dark Ocean and he remembered leaving Beelzemon behind. It was certainly surreal to see Beelzemon again…and it was interesting that the renegade Digimon didn't remember him.

Kari moaned. "OHHHHH…my head!!"

When Kari opened her eyes, the entire room was spinning. She didn't know where she was or what hit her. All she felt was a jackhammer pounding inside her skull. Raising her head and sitting up was the most painful thing she had done in a while. Somehow, she mustered enough strength to sit up and look around. That's when she realized something. She wasn't in her room.

The surroundings were familiar, but Kari wasn't in her room. She was in Yolei's room and lying on Yolei's bed. Then she looked at the wall clock. It was seven in the morning. The night before was a total blur. She was still wearing her nightgown from the night before. She didn't know how she ended up here.

Then Kari turned her head to her right. Someone else was lying down next to her. She pulled up the covers and realized she wasn't in the bed by herself. The person next to her stirred, revealing a head of short blond hair. It was TK. Kari started to put two and two together.

Kari immediately reached for the first pillow she could get her hands on and started pounding TK with it repeatedly and relentlessly.

"OW! HEY! WHAT THE?! KARI!"

"You creep!" Kari shouted. "You jerk! What's the big idea?! How could you?!"

"How could I what?" TK cried.

"What am I doing here IN BED with you?!" Kari demanded. "And…why is my head pounding?! I've never had this big a headache before."

TK shook his head. "Hangover. You don't have a clue, do you? Do you remember what happened last night?"

Kari hesitated. "I…I don't. TK…we didn't…um…"

TK blinked. "Huh?" Then he got the hint. "HUH? NO! No, no, no, no, no! Nothing like that! Kari, you know I wouldn't do anything like that to you." He looked Kari in the eye. "You really DON'T remember what happened last night, do you?"

Kari fell back on the bed. "I remember leaving Davis's frat party…getting to Kazu and Kenta's pajama party…and everything from there is a blank."

"Remember drinking anything before you got to Kazu and Kenta's party?" TK asked.

Kari thought hard. "Just this really awful punch. It tasted like…like…"

"Alcohol?" TK finished.

Kari went silent. It was finally starting to sink in. She didn't remember anything that happened last night…because she had gotten drunk. Somebody spiked her punch…and that's when she immediately thought of those jerks from Davis's fraternity. They must have been the ones who spiked her punch. She felt so angry at them…but also felt angry at herself. She couldn't believe she did something so stupid like taking a drink of strange punch when she knew it had been in their hands.

"What…did I do?" Kari asked, almost fearfully.

TK sighed. "Well, you left a lasting impression on everyone at the party. You nearly broke your hip on the dance floor, you couldn't walk straight, and you pretty much made a fool out of yourself. You came THIS CLOSE to throwing up on the floor. Yolei asked me to bring you back here and watch over you. And then…" TK paused. "Uh…I brought you back up here and you passed out."

Kari couldn't believe what she was hearing. She buried her face in her hands. "Oh my goodness…I'm so embarrassed!"

TK patted her on the back. "Don't worry about it. Things could have turned out a lot worse. Your would-be kidnapper tried again last night."

Kari raised her head. "What? What do you mean? What happened?"

"The Digimon Empress came in while you passed out," TK explained. "She carried you out the window and tried to run away with you, but she dropped you as soon as she saw me coming after her. She almost got away, but I was lucky Tai showed up. We grabbed her and…we unmasked her. Kari…it's Rosa."

Kari's eyes widened. "Rosa? I don't believe it! Why?"

"We don't know. She managed to escape. We were lucky to even stop her for a second. It's a good thing Tai was around."

"Wait, TK. Tai…he didn't notice I was…you know…"

TK shook his head. "I told him you passed out, but he doesn't know it was from alcohol. Trust me, you're safe…in more ways than one."

Kari hesitated before asking her next question. "So what happens now?"

"Well…Tai's going to call one big meeting tomorrow night. We're all going to meet—

DigiDestined and Tamers—and decide our next move…if any. All we know is, we're going to be a lot more cautious from now on. But in the meantime…I have a lot of cleaning up to do. The entire hall must be a mess from that pajama party last night." TK got to his feet. "So I'd better go."

Kari frowned. "Oh…ok. Well…I'll see you later."

TK started walking out, likely heading back to his room. But as soon as he was out there, Kari felt the need to call him back.

"TK?"

TK stuck his head back in the room. "Yeah?"

Kari smiled. "Thank you…for being there for me. Thank you for everything."

TK scoffed. "Don't worry about it. Just…don't get drunk again anytime soon."

Kari giggled. "I won't. Thanks, TK."

TK walked out and as soon as he was gone, the smile on Kari's face faded. He had always been there for her, even after they broke up. He was such a good friend to her. She would never be able to repay him for the things he had done for her. Even since they were young kids, TK was always looking out for her. In fact…TK had never really betrayed her.

No, the only issue Kari ever really had with TK involved the delicate issue of trust. And she honestly couldn't think of a way to indicate if he had really learned his lesson.

At first, Kari thought her emotions were giving her butterflies in her stomach. But she suddenly realized that what she felt in her stomach wasn't butterflies. She felt like her insides had gone through a blender…and the product was just about done. Now her stomach felt like a volcano…that was about to erupt.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Kari leaned over the side of Yolei's bed and retched. What was once Yolei and Catherine's clean floor now turned into a janitor's nightmare.

Kari, obviously feeling ashamed, reached over for some towels. She could clean up the mess, but she didn't know how she would explain the unmistakable stench of vomit to Yolei.

"No more drinking…EVER!"

Joe's legs had nearly fallen asleep after being seated on the shrine's wooden floor for so long. He and Mimi were now at a nearby shrine, a place Ms. Mackenzie called her second home. She said she came here very often before she left for the university and this was where she started seeing prophecies regarding the Digimon.

The unusual woman hadn't started seeing any of the prophecies until she first reached Odaiba for the first time. The prophecy was vague in nature, but Ms. Mackenzie did tell some of the things she saw. Some of the prophecies she saw already happened. The rest of the visions weren't clear.

"What else did you see?" Joe asked.

"The reason I called Dr. Marquez over today was because I saw her adopted daughter in one of my visions. A young woman in a flashy costume and cape with dark sunglasses stood amidst the darkness…"

"The Digimon Empress!" Mimi interrupted.

Ms. Mackenzie nodded. "She stood in the darkness and removed the blond wig and sunglasses to reveal Dr. Marquez's adopted daughter, Rosa."

Joe didn't expect to hear that. "Rosa? Are you sure?"

"I've seen prophecies before," Ms. Mackenzie replied. "They don't lie."

"What else did you see?" Mimi asked.

Ms. Mackenzie took a sip of her tea. "I remember seeing visions of large monsters roaming around the city, some of which had already been sighted and taken care of. I also remember seeing the heroes who saved Odaiba from those attacks…and you two were among them. But there's much more to what I've been seeing—especially lately. Everything seems to be leading to something."

"So I just have one question," Mimi cut in. "What happens next?"

"I haven't been able to determine what happens next," Ms. Mackenzie answered. She slowly took a sip of her tea and looked up to the sky. "The next part of the prophecy wasn't clear. All I can decipher from it is that there will soon be a climactic battle."

"We've seen enough battles to last us a lifetime," Joe sighed. "And a lot of them qualify as 'climactic'. Could you elaborate?"

Ms. Mackenzie didn't answer right away, but eventually replied. "The sky will be covered in darkness. I see light, but the light…is struggling to break through the darkness. And as time goes on, the light continues to fade away…until the light is eventually extinguished."

Joe bit his lower lip. "It may just be me, but that doesn't sound too good."

Mimi grimaced. "Yeah, I don't like the sound of any of that. Any idea when that might happen?"

There was a brief silence. That put Joe on edge. Silence was hardly ever a good sign. Ms. Mackenzie simply got to her feet and put on her sunglasses. It was an ominous sign to say the least.

"There's no telling when it will happen," Ms. Mackenzie finally said. "All I can say is…it will happen soon."

Things seemed to be getting worse down in the Server base. Only now were the machines coming close to being repaired, but there were still many that were far from fully operational. Datamon worked extremely hard to make sure every one of the machines were fully functional again, but he wasn't close to completing that task and the ones that were fixed weren't bringing good news. One of the supercomputers that did work indicated that Ebemon had failed. He had been defeated by the DigiDestined and the Tamers and wound up back in the Digital World before completing his task of eliminating the Cyberdramon and his Tamer.

But things got worse. Datamon also got another piece of bad news—one that was sure to cripple his sinister efforts. The Digimon Empress's identity had been discovered. The DigiDestined and the Tamers knew who she was. It was obvious that they would now have their guard up and would be far more cautious. The element of surprise was gone and Datamon no longer had the luxury of having a spy on his side.

For that, Puppetmon needed to deliver a message. The Digimon Empress's services were no longer required. She would have to be disposed of and Puppetmon was more than happy to volunteer for that task. He menacingly twirled his hammer in his hands, waiting for her to come in. The wooden fiend didn't like her from day one.

Puppetmon didn't have to wait long before he spotted his target. The Digimon Empress, holding her glasses in her hand so that her face was clearly visible, stood in the shadows and slowly stepped forward. She had a look of fearlessness in her eyes, even though she clearly saw Puppetmon in a position to strike.

"You have failed," Datamon said coldly. "The DigiDestined and the Tamers have discovered you and thus our advantage is lost. You remained a valuable servant to us and the Dark One for one reason: for the fact that you could easily infiltrate the Odaiba University campus and watch over the DigiDestined and the Tamers. Regrettably, there is no reason to keep you around now that that opportunity has expired. It is time for us to part ways…Rosa."

"In other words, you blew it, toots!" Puppetmon added. "Game over!"

Puppetmon rushed forward with his hammer hovering overhead. Rosa simply stood still, not wavering away for a second. The girl stood her ground, fully knowing Puppetmon was moving in for the kill. Datamon soon saw why. Just as Puppetmon was within striking distance, a large lance fell in between them, crashing on the ground with a loud boom.

It stopped Puppetmon in his tracks and had the wooden one looking up at the massive frame of ChaosGallantmon. The hulking monster came to Rosa's aid.

Rosa simply raised an eyebrow. "Useless? I think someone behind me believes otherwise."

Datamon had nearly forgotten about the product of the remaining Black Gears. Somehow, Rosa had created some kind of bond with ChaosGallantmon. Whether the link was psychic, telepathic, or otherwise was yet to be determined, but the fact remained that Rosa seemed to be the only one to control the unstoppable menace.

Datamon casually tapped on the control panel. "Perhaps I was a bit hasty."

"You were?" Puppetmon grumbled. "I can crush the tin can too, you know. The bigger they are, the more there is to smash!"

"No!" Datamon snapped. "The Digimon Empress's identity may be exposed, but as long as she can lead ChaosGallantmon into battle, there is still a place for her. He is, after all, our greatest weapon."

"Huh? What am I?" Puppetmon growled. "Chopped wood?"

Rosa chuckled. "There's nothing left to talk about. The DigiDestined and the Tamers will be beaten…one way or another. I'll let you two figure out how. If you want me, you know where to reach me."

With that, Rosa turned to leave and ChaosGallantmon returned to his chamber. The Digimon Empress obviously wasn't about to be eliminated anytime soon—not while she controlled the ultimate trump card. After she left, Puppetmon slammed his hammer on the ground out of frustration.

"She's not gonna do us any better, you know!"

"That's where you're wrong, Puppetmon," an evil voice boomed across the lair.

Datamon immediately dropped what he was doing, because he knew that voice. The Dark One appeared on one of the functional supercomputer screens. The lights in the lair began to flicker, which never happened before when the Dark One appeared.

"Your presence is most unexpected, Dark One," Datamon said. "What can we do for you?"

"The Digimon Empress must be kept around!" the Dark One bellowed. "Her presence will be a turning point in our fight against the DigiDestined and the Tamers. She will be play in integral role in our impending invasion. She is not to be harmed!"

"W-W-Whatever you say, Dark One," Datamon replied. He turned to Puppetmon. "You heard him! You leave that young lady alone, you ignominious wooden marionette!"

"You can't call me that!" Puppetmon yelled angrily. "At least not until I get a dictionary, anyway!"

"She won't be harmed, Dark One," Datamon said calmly. "You have my word."

"Excellent! You both shall be rewarded soon…because it is nearly time for my invasion."

With that, the feed ended. Datamon didn't expect to hear that piece of news. But if it was true, then the fruits of all his labors would soon pay off. The Dark One was almost here.

The next morning, after a lot of coaxing from Kazu and Kenta, Henry finally gave in and begrudgingly took the daunting task of taking a look at Guardromon. After so many years of confusing Kazu's commands, Kazu thought that Guardromon must have had some crossed wires. So Henry, with Terriermon on his shoulder, had Kazu and Kenta bring the absent-minded android over to the university's robotics lab.

Of course, that task brought a lot of complaints.

"I'm getting tired of lugging Guardromon around," Kenta whined. "We have to take him apart every time we want to get him out of the freshman building."

"This'll be the last time we have to bring him out for a while, so don't complain," Kazu muttered. "Besides, it'll all be worth it if Guardromon gets properly reprogrammed. How's everything looking, Henry?"

Henry was busy doing some rewiring. He wasn't as familiar with the wiring designs of android Digimon—at least not as familiar as his father must have been. But Henry was giving it his best effort, along with the helpful Terriermon, who kept passing tools over with his right ear. Henry wasn't sure if any of the modifications he was making would actually work, but he figured it was at least worth a try.

After a long reprogramming process, Henry wrapped up his work and stood upright. His legs were sore from kneeling down behind Guardromon for so long. Terriermon climbed up on a nearby stool and jumped on Henry's shoulder from there.

"He should be ok now," Henry said. "You guys want to try him out?"

Kazu stepped forward. "Ok, Guardromon. How do you feel?"

"Better than ever!" Guardromon said jubilantly. "I feel like a million bolts!"

"Alright, then. Let's see just how much Henry fixed you. I'll think of a really simple task for you to do. Uh…ok, I've got one. Guardromon, make me a sandwich."

Guardromon made his way towards the loaf of bread that Kenta brought in, just in case Henry took the whole day. Guardromon sliced the bread in half and then began fixing up a turkey sandwich. He laid out the mayonnaise, added the turkey slices, poured the mustard on, added lettuce and tomatoes, and finished by adding some cheese. Holding both halves of the sandwich, Guardromon brought them over to Kazu…and proceeded to slam them on each side of his face.

"You're a sandwich."

Kazu nodded sarcastically. Kenta slid a finger down his friend's cheek to catch some of the mustard and mayonnaise that was dribbling down and tasted it.

"You make a good sandwich, Kazu."

"Ha…ha…ha," Kazu grumbled. "Henry, I think there are a few BUGS that still need to be worked out!"

Henry shook his head. "I don't get it. I thought that would have been enough."

Suddenly, someone else walked into the robotics lab. It was one of the university's professors, Professor Junichiro. Henry nearly slapped his forehead. He forgot to make sure the doors were closed. Upon seeing the professor come in, Terriermon played 'stuffed animal'. Unfortunately for the long-eared Digimon, he couldn't keep his balance on Henry's shoulder and ended up flopping down to the ground, taking what looked like a painful pratfall.

"Good morning, Mr. Wong," Professor Junichiro said. "I couldn't help but notice the fine work you've been doing. I knew you were talented, but I had no idea you were this brilliant. You actually have a real, fully-functioning robot."

Henry, Kazu, and Kenta all sweatdropped. The professor actually thought they had a real robot on their hands. While Guardromon WAS technically an android, he wasn't really a robot. He was a Digimon. Of course, it wasn't like any of them could enlighten the professor to that fact.

Henry didn't know what to say. "Uh…yeah…robot. But…he's…far from perfected!"

"That's fine, Mr. Wong. But this work you DO have so far is quite outstanding. I'm sure you can fix whatever minor glitches your robot has, but…this is amazing! This is livelier than any other robot I've seen in all my years of teaching robotics. I know natural talent when I see it. What else can your robot do?"

Henry's sweatdrop didn't go away. "Uh…what else can he do? Um…he can…uh…um…oh!" Henry extended his hand towards Guardromon for a handshake. "Guardromon, shake!"

The sweatdrop Henry had only got bigger when Guardromon started vibrating wildly. Whatever repairs Henry made, it appears he only made the android's malfunctions worse. He didn't solve any problems at all. Of course, there was no convincing Professor Junichiro of that.

Henry grinned sheepishly. "See? Bugs."

"But…it's STILL a working robot!" Professor Junichiro pointed out. "That's still amazing work! Mr. Wong, I'd like to enter you and your Guardromon robot into our annual robotics fair."

Henry quickly tried to cut that suggestion off. "Oh no, sir. I couldn't enter my robot. It's…far from perfected."

"Are you sure about that? In my opinion, this is clearly the frontrunner to win the competition. I believe you should enter it. First prize is 10,000 yen."

Henry was about to decline again, but Kazu quickly stepped in.

"He'll do it!"

"Yeah! We're in!" Kenta added.

"Guys!" Henry snapped.

"Ah, so you WILL do it!" Professor Junichiro grinned.

Henry sweatdropped again. "Uh…I…I…guess so…"

"Excellent! I will enter your name into the Robotics Fair immediately. I am eager to see your Guardromon robot on display. I'm sure the entire student body will be dazzled."

"Um…dazzled…would be one word," Henry said nervously.

"I am confident that you will perfect any flaws in your robot. Good luck with everything, Mr. Wong. The Robotics Fair is this Friday. Good day."

After Professor Junichiro left, Henry gulped. "This Friday?"

With the professor gone, Terriermon picked himself up and rubbed his backside. "Oh man…I'm not taking another fall like that again. I'm not a stunt mon."

"Don't worry about a thing, Henry," Kazu said nonchalantly. "We can have Guardromon fixed up and ready to go by Friday—in time to win that 10,000 yen."

Henry frowned. "Haven't you guys even noticed that I managed to make Guardromon WORSE?"

Kenta chuckled. "It could be worse." He looked at the mustard and mayonnaise on Kazu's face. "Kazu hasn't looked that good in years."

Kazu clearly wasn't amused and turned to his partner. "Guardromon, make Kenta a salad."

Guardromon nodded. "Ok."

Kenta knew what was coming. He started running around the lab while Guardromon gave chase, hoping to make a salad out of the young freshman. Henry only covered his face.

He had his work cut out for him if he wanted to turn Guardromon into a fully functioning robot before Friday.


Next Week: The DigiDestined and the Tamers have a meeting to discuss Tai and TK's discovery. Meanwhile, Agumon and his ragtag group of Digimon are still at Koromon Village, but are met with an unexpected visitor. And with the humans all at a meeting, Renamon and Gatomon decide to do a little bonding. But what happens when Impmon suggests a game of TRUTH OR DARE?! Things may get ugly once sensitive subjects start coming up. Watch what happens on the next Digimon: The College Years!


*- Davis did meet up with a Beelzemon. Fans of my crossovers will remember the meeting in "Keeping Secrets" (which is also the story where Kari first agreed to go out with Davis).


Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below. Again, sorry for the lateness of this chapter.