As the morning sun was rising over the waters of Mesozoic Isle, the island itself was at rest. The foamy waves gently rolled onto the sand, and for the most part, the various denizens of the island were all sleeping (or if they were awake, not doing anything particularly exciting). It would have been a completely peaceful morning...
...if not for what was going on in the garbage dump, that is.
"Ahaha! I love the smell of profit in the morning!" Sukamon turned away from the window in the meeting room and looked at the assembled array of Chuumon. "Don't you agree?"
The Chuumon all voiced their assent.
"Right on!" Sukamon went over to a nearby cardboard box and began digging through it. "Now, remember, we're all in this together. We may have lost some of our drones yesterday, but we can't give up because of that. What we really need to do is get stronger as a team."
The Chuumon watched as he pulled a wooden bat out of the box. "It's just like baseball, you see." He began floating around the perimeter of the table. "Each and every one of us needs to put everything we have into this if we're gonna take over Mesozoic Isle. Understand?"
"Yeah," his employees said.
Sukamon suddenly caught sight of something, and floated over. When the Chuumon looked to see what it was, they all got nervous looks on their faces; one of the Chuumon had fallen asleep at the meeting room table, and was audibly snoring.
"Is he gonna...?" one of the Chuumon whispered to another as they watched Sukamon get behind the sleeping Chuumon. Sukamon looked at the others with a "Seriously?" expression on his face, shook his head, and raised the bat up high.
Crack!
"Ah! What the-?" The formerly-sleeping Chuumon just about jumped out of his chair at the sound of Sukamon's bat hitting the table, and he gasped as he caught sight of his boss.
Sukamon pointed at him as he looked at the others. "Basically, don't be like this guy!"
The Chuumon (with the exception of the one who just woke up) all sighed in relief.
"I...I can explain, boss!" the sleepy one said.
"You don't have to," Sukamon said as he floated back to his usual seat in front of the window. "I'm not even really awake, either. But look at it this way: when we take over the island, we'll be able to go to bed and wake up whenever we want. And to do that, we need to work together, especially when no one else is awake; it's easier to cover your tracks that way. All right?"
"Sure, boss."
"That's the spirit!" Sukamon returned the bat to its box. "For example, today we should keep testing out our cannon and make sure it fires correctly. We don't want a cannon exploding in our faces when we're trying to launch someone away, do we? I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a day at the beach to me."
A Chuumon raised his hand. "Ooh! Hey, boss! You think we can start a beach resort when we take over the island?"
"Sure we can! Whatever brings more money for our empire!"
Another Chuumon spoke up. "But, I heard they're making a resort on Mainframe..."
"Then we'll make ours so good that they'll have no choice but to let us buy them out!" Sukamon took a seat at his desk. "But we'll get to that when we get to that. We gotta take over the island first. I already have Number Two doing his routine work at the restaurants on the civilized part of the island. We're on our way, so why don't you all go work on the cannon?"
"Yeah!" The group of Chuumon all got out of their seats and left the room.
Sukamon leaned back in his chair and chuckled. "Oh yes, they will believe that the finest restaurants in town are all owned by a pile of sludge!" He let loose some uproarious laughter, pounding his fist on the desk.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Hey, boss, you okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine!" Sukamon said, sitting upright.
"Whatever you say, boss!"
Sukamon rolled his eyes and rested his arms on his desk. How can I tell my employees "We'll get to that when we get to that" when I can't even follow my own advice?
Later that morning, Dati and Piddomon were walking through the jungle.
"I really hope we can defeat Sukamon," Dati said. "Even if he's just a Champion, he still has all those Chuumon with him. How are we gonna subdue all of them?"
Piddomon shrugged. "I dunno, squirt. I think maybe we're just gonna have to do whatever it takes to stop them."
Dati's face blanched somewhat. "You...you don't mean..."
"Killing them?" Piddomon turned to Dati. "Look, squirt, I don't really wanna have to do it, either, but you gotta remember something: they're digimon. They'll just go back to Primary Village and be reborn, hopefully much nicer this time around. They're not like humans."
Trying to hide his discomfort at Piddomon's last comment, Dati continued. "But...won't they forget themselves? I mean, I'd like it better if they turned good on their own free will, not because they forgot who they used to be."
"So would I," Piddomon said. "But remember what Minty and Isis told us yesterday? Those Chuumon are relentless! I'll bet you anything that they'd resort to killing someone if they had to! And you think they'll listen to reason when Sukamon's brainwashing them? Trust me, I'd love it if it were that easy, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."
Dati looked up at a white cloud in the sky and sighed. As much as he had issues with certain digimon, such as BlackGuilmon and The Heartbreaker, deep down in his heart, he hoped that they would eventually see the error of their ways and reform on their own. Would he truly have to take a life one day, even if the life would be reborn eventually?
I mean, if they won't have their memories, what's the difference between that and killing a human?
A strange growling noise suddenly interrupted Dati's thoughts. It only took him a second before he realized that the noise was coming from his own stomach.
"You're hungry too, squirt?" Piddomon asked. "Tell you what, why don't we stop worrying about the future long enough to get a bite to eat, huh?"
"Sure." Dati knew this wouldn't stop the dilemma from hanging over his head, but he was willing to try anything.
"Cool! Now, let's find somewhere to get some food!" Piddomon said, and he and Dati resumed their walk.
As the duo continued walking, both of them kept their eyes open, looking for any place where they could possibly get something to eat. Even if it was just a fruit tree, they would've been open to getting food from there, at least until they found someplace to get an actual meal.
At one point, something intriguing caught Piddomon's eye.
"Hey, what's that?" he asked, flying over to investigate. Dati followed him, and soon found what Piddomon saw: a small garden filled with berry bushes, all of which were loaded with berries.
"Look at all of them..." Piddomon resisted the urge to drool.
"Yeah, and look at that sign over there," Dati said, pointing to the aforementioned sign.
Triceramon's Garden
These berries are property of Triceramon!
DON'T EAT THEM!
(Unless you're Triceramon, or he gave you permission.)
Piddomon paused. "Oh...okay."
With that, Piddomon walked away with Dati. There went his plans for a feast of berries...
Eventually, the two happened upon a forest clearing.
Piddomon groaned, setting a hand on his stomach. "Man, if we don't find someplace to eat soon, I'm gonna-"
"Piddomon? I don't think we need to look anymore."
"Eh?" Piddomon looked out at the clearing and saw two buildings. The one that immediately caught his eye was a tin-roofed building with red brick walls. Above the door was a neon sign that read, in bright orange letters, "The Grey Cafe".
Dati looked at Piddomon. "And there's another-"
"Thank the Four Gods!" Piddomon ran up to the building and looked at the sign on the window. "Fastest service in the Digital World? I am so there!"
"Piddomon? You sure you want to eat here?" Dati asked, pointing at the other restaurant. "I mean, there's another restaurant right there, and we haven't checked that out."
"Oh..." Piddomon paused for a moment, but then an idea came to him. "Tell you what, squirt, how about you go to that restaurant, and I'll go to this one? Sound like a plan?"
Dati shrugged. "Okay."
"Cool!" Piddomon handed him some money. "Have fun, squirt!"
As Dati walked off, Piddomon opened the doors to the cafe and walked in. The restaurant itself had large windows, letting lots of light in. With its retro decor and bright red booths and barstools, Piddomon couldn't imagine a more "greasy spoon"-ish place if he tried.
A flower digimon ran up to him. "Hello! Welcome to the Grey Cafe! I'm Floramon, and I'll be your server."
Something about her seems familiar... Piddomon thought, but he decided to shrug it off for now. "Thanks!"
"Would you like a table or a booth?"
"Table. Booths make me feel claustrophobic."
"Right this way!" Floramon led Piddomon to his table.
Dati looked up at the white building in front of him. Above the revolving door was a sign reading "Chez Allomon".
I hope this place is good. Dati walked through the revolving door, and was greeted by a desk. A small desk bell sat on this desk, and next to it was a sign reading, "Ring for service". Dati hit the button on top - ding! - and a voice suddenly called out.
"Oh! I'll be right there!"
Dati watched as a blue allosaur with red stripes and feathery accessories dashed out to meet him.
The dinosaur stopped behind the desk, panting heavily. "Hello, I'm Allomon. Have you come to try my food?"
"Uh, yeah," Dati said with a confused look on his face. Is he the only guy who works here?
"That's good." Allomon weakly smiled. "So, is it just you, or...?"
"Yeah, it's-"
"Hey, squirt, is there room for one more?"
"Wha-?" Dati turned around and saw Piddomon standing right behind him. "Piddomon? I thought-"
"I'll explain in a little bit," Piddomon whispered, then looked back up at Allomon. "You think both of us can get a table here?"
"Please?" Dati added.
Allomon chuckled. "Well, I don't see why not. Come with me!"
He led Dati and Piddomon through the restaurant to their table, and they both got a good look at the interior. The restaurant was decorated mainly in navy blue, contrasted by some natural wood patterns here and there. With its fancy chandeliers, cushioned chairs, dimmed lights, and ambient music, the whole place just screamed "elegance". As Dati looked around, he noticed that he and Piddomon weren't the only patrons; a Chuumon with a green bandana around his neck was sitting at one table, reading some kind of book.
Eventually, Allomon stopped at a table. "Here you go. I'll bring you your menus shortly."
"Thanks!" Piddomon took a seat, and Dati followed.
Wow, these are some comfy chairs... Dati thought.
Once Piddomon was sure Allomon had left, he leaned in close to Dati. "You wanna know what I'm doing here?"
Dati nodded. "Did something happen to the Grey Cafe?"
"Oh no, it's still standing." Piddomon leaned back. "But there's a much worse problem. You know how they promise the fastest service in the Digital World? They weren't kidding. I mean, I got to order my food just a minute after getting seated, and I got my food just a minute after ordering it!" Piddomon held up a pointer finger. "But..."
"But what?"
Piddomon leaned in really close, and whispered three words in Dati's ear.
"Worst. Food. Ever!"
"Are you serious?"
Piddomon scoffed. "Oh, you'd better believe I'm serious, squirt! It's like, did the chefs there even know what the word 'cook' means? All my food was terrible; the macaroni was way too soggy, the peas were way too mushed, the chicken tasted like wood instead of chicken, and part of me suspected that their fresh-ground coffee contained literal ground. That stuff was barely even edible as it was!"
"Whoa, that's awful..." A thought suddenly came to Dati. "Do you still feel okay?"
"Yeah. I only took one bite of each of them before I left. Put a small amount of money on my table, wrote a note explaining why I wouldn't pay full price, and just left." Piddomon sighed. "Man, after that, I can't believe I'm still hungry! You know, forget battling Sukamon and his goons; we can just threaten them with food from the Grey Cafe! That'll send 'em running!"
Dati rubbed the back of his head. "Eh...don't you think that's a little harsh, Piddomon?"
"What, threatening them with the Grey Cafe's cooking?"
"No, saying that about their cooking."
Piddomon started snickering. "Trust me, squirt, if you tasted it, you'd be totally on my side!"
Dati shrugged and decided to look around. There were a number of pictures on the walls; some depicted different locations around the Digital World, while others showed Allomon doing different things (one picture had him posing with a huge fish he caught, for example). Dati noticed one particular picture that especially seemed odd; the picture depicted Allomon and an orange tyrannosaur standing together in the clearing, in front of their respective restaurants.
Is that Greymon? I thought they were rivals...did-
"Hey, squirt, is it just me, or is Allomon taking a while with our menus?"
Dati jumped a little at Piddomon's sudden question, but soon regained himself. "You're right; usually, they bring you the menu as soon as you're seated, right?"
"Well, yeah, that's usually how it works," Piddomon said, a little confused at Dati's doubtfulness. "Is this your first time in a restaurant or something?"
"Mm-hmm. I only left Primary Village about two weeks ago."
"Oh, right. Usually, it takes longer than two weeks for an In-Training digimon to digivolve to Rookie, so that's why I was a little confused."
As Piddomon finished talking, he could hear Allomon rushing out again. He and Dati saw him running up to their table, a couple of menus in his hand.
"Sorry for the wait!" Allomon said. "I'm just making sure my other customer's food is the best it can be!" He handed the menus to Dati and Piddomon. "Please look over these menus, and I'll come back later to take your order!"
"Thank you!" Dati said.
"Yeah, thanks!" Piddomon said with a nod.
As Allomon left, the two looked over the menu. It was typical high-end restaurant fare, from soups and salads, to pasta and rice dishes, to steaks and fish, and everything in between. There was even a menu section specifically for specialty drinks.
"I don't know where to start..." Piddomon could feel himself getting hungrier as he read every menu item.
"It all looks good, doesn't it?" Dati asked, thumbing through the different pages.
The two spent a little while looking at the menu. Eventually, they both decided on what they wanted, and put their menus down, when Piddomon suddenly realized something.
"Hey, wait a minute! Wasn't Allomon supposed to ask us what drinks we wanted? I mean, they usually do that before you order your actual meal."
"Hmm..." Dati thought for a moment. "Maybe this restaurant's different."
"Yeah." Piddomon leaned back in his seat. "But it's still kinda weird."
For a while after that, the two waited for Allomon to return. Piddomon in particular was impatient for this, doing all manner of crazy things while he waited: getting up and walking around the table, singing to himself, counting the number of chairs he saw in the room, playing pattycake with Dati, speculating on the origins of the pictures around the restaurant, telling Dati about some crazy dreams he had...
...at this point, Dati was praying for Allomon to come soon, if only to ease Piddomon's mind a bit.
"Man, what is taking him so long?" Piddomon slumped down onto the table. "At this rate, it's gonna be lunchtime before we can order, and dinnertime before we actually get to eat!"
"I'm sure he's on the way..." Even as Dati said that, he was beginning to doubt whether or not Allomon would come through.
Piddomon let out a loud sigh. "This is just great. One restaurant has the worst food ever, and the other makes you wait a million years." He threw his hands up in the air. "Come to Mesozoic Isle! Our restaurants are the best in the world! You like having to wait a million years to get some halfway-decent food, or getting terrible food in no time at all? This is paradise!"
In the midst of Piddomon's ranting, Dati could hear the faint sound of footsteps, and with the floor vibrating a bit with each step, this could only mean one thing. However, Piddomon seemed oblivious to this as he continued ranting.
"I mean, it's one thing if the restaurant's jam-packed with customers, or even if some of your employees can't come to work. But he's the only guy who works here, he has only three customers right now, and-"
"Piddomon!" The sound of Dati's voice snapped Piddomon out of his rant. "I think he's coming right now."
"Finally!"
As Allomon walked out into the restaurant proper, he was holding a tray with a bowl on it. The smell of the food inside began wafting through the air, and as it reached the two, they both began anticipating getting their own meals.
Now, that's what I call a delicious smell! Piddomon thought.
Allomon walked up to the table with the Chuumon and set the bowl down in front of him. "You ordered the potstickers and rice?"
Chuumon set his book down. "Why, yes, I did!"
"Here it is; enjoy! But it is hot, though."
"Thanks!"
As Chuumon grabbed his chopsticks, Allomon turned towards Dati and Piddomon and started walking their way. But suddenly...
"Yuck! What is this?"
All eyes instantly turned to Chuumon, who was looking very displeased.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Allomon asked.
"You bet your life something's wrong!" Chuumon slammed his fists on the table. "You call this food? The flavors are all off, the texture's weird, the aftertaste is horrendous...I wouldn't force my worst enemy to eat this stuff! You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to sell this as a decent meal!"
"I...I'm sorry, sir! I'll make you a new dish!"
"Don't bother!" Chuumon stood up. "Man, in all my years of going to restaurants, I've never been to one so delusional as this! You know..."
Chuumon's ranting was driving Piddomon more and more over the brink every second. He was starving, and the food smelled so good...how could it possibly taste terrible? Besides, in spite of Allomon taking an eternity to do stuff, he was at least polite! Who did Chuumon think he was, insulting someone like that for no reason?
Eventually, he just couldn't take Chuumon's attitude anymore, and stood up.
"Hey, if you're not gonna eat that, can I have it?"
Chuumon stopped ranting, and glanced at Piddomon. "Excuse me?"
Piddomon grabbed his own chopsticks and walked over to Chuumon's table. "When I was a Poyomon, Elecmon taught me not to let food go to waste. You think I'm gonna let this food go to waste just because you don't like it?"
Chuumon rolled his eyes. "Hmph. If you can even call this sludge 'food'."
"Don't listen to him, Allomon," Dati said, noticing Allomon's look of distress.
With his chopsticks, Piddomon grabbed one of the potstickers out of his bowl and put it in his mouth. As he bit into it, his eyes widened in amazement. The dough of the potsticker had just the right balance of doughiness and crispiness, the filling was tender and juicy, the glaze had a prominent flavor, but wasn't overbearing, and the flavors all melded together into something that pretty much melted in his mouth.
When Piddomon swallowed the food, Dati asked, "How was it?"
"It didn't taste bad, did it?" Allomon asked.
"Allomon..." Piddomon walked up to him, and pointed at Chuumon. "I don't know what he's talking about! That was one of the best potstickers I've ever eaten in my life! I could eat them all night long!"
"Really?" Allomon's face lit up in joy.
Piddomon nodded, then glared at Chuumon. "Thank you, sir. May I have another? I mean, if you don't want it..."
For the second time, Chuumon's fists pounded the table. "Sure! Take as many as you want! Take the whole thing, for all I care! I'm outta here!"
Chuumon grabbed his book and stormed out of the restaurant, muttering some indistinguishable things under his breath.
"Seriously, what's his problem?" Piddomon asked.
Allomon sighed. "He's been coming to my restaurant several times over the past few weeks. Every time, he tells me that my food is terrible, and every time, I take what he says to heart."
"You actually listen to him? Even though he's not only a jerk about it, but he's lying to you?"
Allomon looked up at the ceiling. "My cooking teacher always told me, 'The customer is always right'. I always want to see my customers happy, maybe even cheer them up with my cooking, and so when I hear that a customer is dissatisfied...it hurts. It really does."
"Whoa..." Dati said.
Allomon looked at the abandoned bowl of potstickers and rice. "I'll tell you more over some food. How about that?"
Piddomon once again nodded, a ravenous look on his face. "Please do!"
Later, after Allomon divided the food between two bowls, Dati and Piddomon ate the food as they listened to him tell his story.
"You see, Greymon is actually my protege," Allomon said. "I taught him all about cooking, and together, we made plans to open our own restaurants here. He wanted to start a diner, while I wanted to start a more upscale restaurant. For a while, business was decent for both of us. However, sometime last month, people just stopped coming to our restaurants. Our only real customer was that Chuumon you met."
"Wait, Chuumon went to the Grey Cafe, too?" Piddomon asked.
"That's right. Greymon told me all about a Chuumon with a green bandana coming in, ordering his food, and until he got his food, complaining that it was taking forever for the food to arrive. He told me that he and his employees started cooking things much more quickly as a result..."
He glanced at Piddomon. "But I heard what you were saying about the food there. It seems like he sacrificed the quality just to get it out faster. And I'm really sorry that my food takes a long time. It's just, I'd do anything to please my only customer, so I keep checking things and re-checking them to make sure everything's absolutely perfect. And whenever he tells me that he thinks it's terrible, it just compels me to scrutinize it even more, you know? That's why I'm the only one who works here; my other employees quit after business went downhill. A few stuck around, but when Chuumon started badmouthing them, they left. At least one of my former employees even left the island, since she had heard about the recent crime wave and was so scared for her life."
He sighed. "I fear that my increasingly scrutinizing behavior might have scared them off, too..."
"Oh...now I understand," Dati said.
Piddomon swallowed a bite of food. "That explains everything."
"But why's Chuumon doing all of this?" Dati asked, but then he suddenly gasped. "You don't think, maybe..."
"What?" Allomon asked.
"He's part of Sukamon's gang?"
Allomon scratched his head. "Hmm...he did smell kind of rancid when he came in. Of course, I didn't say anything, but that would explain a lot."
"We just had to deal with Sukamon yesterday," Piddomon said. "Of course, we didn't actually meet him, but he kidnapped a couple of digimon, and we helped their cousin look for them. Good thing they managed to save themselves; I heard the Chuumon who work for him can get really vicious!"
"I've heard that, too." Allomon looked at the picture of him and Greymon. "But let's not concern ourselves with Sukamon right now. Our first order of business should be to check in with Greymon, and help him with his restaurant."
Thus, after Dati and Piddomon finished their food, they all went to the Grey Cafe.
"Ugh, I'm gagging just remembering the food here..." Piddomon said.
"That'll change soon enough; don't worry." Allomon opened the doors and led Dati and Piddomon inside.
The Floramon from before ran out to greet them. "Hello! Welcome to the-" She stopped when she noticed who was there. "Allomon?"
"Yes, I would like to speak to Greymon."
"He's in his office right now, but he's not busy, so you can see him."
"Thank you!" Allomon walked off towards the office.
Dati and Piddomon started forward, but Floramon stopped them. "Are you with Allomon?"
Allomon turned back. "Yes, they are, actually!"
Floramon let them go without a word.
When they reached Greymon's office, Allomon knocked on the door. A gruff voice from inside asked, "Who is it?"
"It's Allomon."
The voice became much happier. "Why didn't you say so? Come in, chief!"
Allomon opened the door, and the trio walked in. The orange tyrannosaur inside came out from behind his desk and ran up to them. "Hey, Allomon!"
"Greymon, it's nice to see you!" Allomon gave Greymon a fist-bump.
Greymon looked at Dati and Piddomon, who were watching the whole thing. "And you brought friends, too! Did you hire them?"
"Oh, no, they only came for food, not for a job." Allomon looked Greymon in the eye. "But they taught me something really important."
"What's that?"
Allomon smiled. "To show you, I need a sample of your best menu item."
"Sure!" Greymon walked out of the office. After a short while, he returned, holding a plate with a steak on it, along with some cutlery. "Steak is one of our best sellers!"
"Would you eat this steak yourself?" Allomon asked.
"Sure, I would! It's tasty!" Greymon cut the steak in half, cut off a small piece, and put it in his mouth. The others watched as he chewed, and soon enough, he started visibly cringing. After he swallowed, he took a few deep breaths and his entire body shuddered. "Just...just like candy!"
"Let me taste that." Allomon took the other set of cutlery, cut off a piece from the other half, and ate it. His reaction to the tough, rubbery steak was very similar to Greymon's. "How long did you cook this steak, Greymon?"
"Oh, about a few minutes, give or take."
Allomon looked shocked. "For an overcooked steak? Usually, if you cook a steak for just a few minutes, it comes out rare, not overcooked!"
Greymon laughed nervously. "I kinda used my flame breath to help out..."
Allomon facepalmed. "Well, no wonder the steak was burned! You're not supposed to put it directly in the fire! Why'd you even start doing that, anyway?"
"'Cause of that Chuumon. I tried to make him a steak the right way, but he kept being all like, 'Hurry up! You're taking forever! What do you think I came here for, to wait around?' and I got so sick of it. He just kept going on and on and on!"
Allomon put a hand on his shoulder. "That's the point I'm trying to make here. Both of us let that Chuumon start running the business for us, and we completely lost track of what makes a good restaurant. In my case, it doesn't matter if your customers like your food; if they have to wait a long time for it, they won't want to come back."
"Huh...and I guess people won't wanna eat the food at my restaurant if it's terrible, no matter how fast they get it," Greymon said.
"Exactly." Allomon glanced at Dati and Piddomon. "These two helped me realize that we shouldn't let Chuumon distract us from our restaurants' real issues. I thought my food was terrible, but thanks to them, I realized that my food was fine, and that it was my service that was terrible."
"But what's that Chuumon's problem, anyway?"
"We're pretty sure he works for Sukamon," Dati said.
Greymon's eyes widened. "Sukamon? Like the crime boss?"
"You know any other Sukamon?" Piddomon asked.
"No..." Greymon put the plate down on his desk. "Man, that guy works for a crime boss, and we wanted to bend over backwards to serve him? Talk about cringeworthy!"
"Hey, you didn't know it at the time," Dati said.
Allomon nodded. "Well, anyway, I think Greymon and I should develop a plan for how we're going to deal with things until Sukamon's stopped."
"Thanks for helping us, by the way!" Greymon said.
"You're welcome!" Dati said.
"And if you two come back around noon, we'll make you an actual meal," Allomon said.
Piddomon grinned. "Really?"
"Yep!" Greymon said. "And this time, not only will it taste good..."
"...but you'll get it in a reasonable amount of time as well!" Allomon finished.
Greymon and Allomon were digimon of their word, and sure enough, when Dati and Piddomon returned to the area around noon, they had a table and two menus set out for them. After ordering their drinks, Dati and Piddomon chatted for a bit, and soon enough, Floramon came with their drinks.
"Lemonade for you, and cherry soda for you!" she said, giving the drinks to Dati and Piddomon, respectively.
"Yes!" Piddomon took the glass of cherry soda and took a big long drink, enjoying the fruity taste of the cold, fizzy liquid cascading down his throat. When he was done, he slammed the glass down on the table. "Whoa, yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Floramon giggled. "Let me know when you'd like a refill."
"Yeah, thanks!"
Eventually, Greymon himself came out to see them. "You guys having fun so far?"
"Yep!" Piddomon smirked. "In fact, you might say today's shaping up to be...delicious!"
He let out a loud burst of laughter, as Dati laughed half-heartedly.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but that was just terrible," Greymon said with a groan.
"Maybe you're right," Piddomon replied.
Greymon held out a pen and a clipboard. "Anyway, what would you guys like?"
Dati and Piddomon both ordered their food. Fortunately for them, the waiting period didn't feel like a million years, and when they finally got their food, it tasted just as good as they had hoped, and then some.
In the garbage dump's main office, Sukamon looked at Chuumon. "So, those guys foiled your plans, huh?"
Chuumon nodded. "I fought the good fight, boss."
"Don't worry! You know what I always say: if one plan fails, make another one!" Sukamon drummed his fingers on his desk. "Hmm...wanna try an auction?"
Chuumon raised an eyebrow. "An auction? What are we selling?"
"I've heard rumors of a treasure on this very island, and I'll send some of my guys out to get it," Sukamon said. "In the meantime, you think you could find a way to distract those guys?"
"I'll think of something."
"Great! Why don't you tell the others about the new plan?" Sukamon showed Chuumon to the door. "As long as we work together, we'll never fail!"
"Mm-hmm." Chuumon stepped outside of the office, and when he was sure Sukamon was out of earshot, he muttered, "Keep telling yourself that, boss..."