By the fall of 2000, the smoke seemed to settle in Odaiba and the Digidestined hoped to have a moment to return to their normal lives. But for them, that was hoping for much. The MIB closely monitored them so that they could be summoned for further developments. Normally, they would not communicate with much less share anything with a non-MIB agent, but since they were a unique set of people, Gennai communicated with Izzy on the Digimons' behalf and shared with him the new revelations and discoveries of the Digital World. Since Izzy's crest was knowledge, he had become an important correspondent and asset for both parties. Because of this, strange things began to occur.

On an occasion when Izzy was in class, he looked out the window by his desk and saw what appeared to be Mimi walking by. He only saw her from behind. He thought, "how can that be Mimi, she's in America now". When he glanced back, he noticed she was gone. There was no way she could disappear that quickly. He figured that it was probably a girl with similar clothes as Mimi with a similar profile and dismissed it as him missing her and continued taking notes.

Later that day, Izzy was wrapping up his club activities and decided to head home. He boarded a bus for home and sat at the very back on the side facing the sidewalk. Right before the bus pulled away, Izzy saw Mimi again. She was walking toward his side of the bus. He thought to himself, "has she come to give us a surprise visit?". When she looked directly at Izzy, he noticed her eyes were all black. This frightened him; even more so at the fact that none of the other passengers noticed her. When Izzy reached his stop, he darted off the bus and ran home as fast as he could and didn't bother to look back. He knew what he saw was definitely not Mimi. He felt safe once he was inside and made sure the door was locked. "Hello Izzy, how was your day", asked his father. "My day was good", he responded anxiously and out of breath. His mother noted this and asked, "Are you alright, you look like you just saw a ghost?" Izzy not wanting to mention what he saw faked a laugh and changed the subject by asking what was for dinner.

After dinner, Izzy retreated to his bedroom and called Tai up and told him what he saw. "Hmm that's strange", said Tai, "Could this be an omen from the Digital World", pondred Tai, "or a sign that you miss Mimi very much?" Tai chuckled. Izzy was not amused by the latter comment, but took it as a light spin on the scary occurrence that he experienced. After their conversation ended, Izzy messaged Gennai to report what he experienced and inquired if it might be connected with the Digital World. Gennai messaged back that he wasn't sure what it might be. He relayed this message to Zed, who was also equally puzzled.

Izzy woke up the next day feeling very drained. His mother noticed this and made a shake for him to boost his energy. This gave him some minimal energy to go about his day at school. He was still traumatized by what he saw the previous afternoon, but was hopeful that some light could be shed. He tried to go about his day and forget about what happened. After school, he joined Tai and Matt at a ramen place. Joe was supposed to meet them, but didn't show up. They joked about their life at school. They left the ramen place at 6pm. The ramen place was 10 minutes away from Izzy's place by walking distance. He noted that there was hardly anyone around, which was unusual. He knew he could get home faster if he took a shortcut through the alley. He felt uneasy about walking through there because it was dark and vagabonds were known to hang around there, but he wanted to get home as soon as possible. As he walked through, he noticed strange shadows on the narrow walls that didn't have any define contours or a shape. Then there was a bright flash of blue light coming from both ends of the alley. The next thing he knew; he was running as fast as he could home. When he got home, his parents were standing by the entrance as if they had been waiting for him for some time. "Where were you Izzy?", his mother asked. "We were worried", his father added. Izzy was confused. He was only less than ten minutes from home and he hadn't gone anywhere after leaving Tai and Matt. He looked at the clock on the wall, which read 9:18. He was perplexed at this and looked at his watch and noticed it had stopped at 6:07.

Izzy explained to his parents that he could have swore he left Tai and Matt just ten minutes ago, but could not account for the time difference. They believed that he was sincere and sent him off to bed. What they didn't tell him, was during his absence, they had a bizarre experience. After they called the parents of Tai, Matt, Joe, and Sora, they received a visit from two MIB agents asking them about Izzy. They told the agents that Izzy was not home at the moment and asked who the agent was and who he was with. The agent responded that he was a representative of the Japanese government and left. They thought that the man was strange that an American looking man would be a government representative, especially with the kind of suit that he wore. The MIB was hoping to ask Izzy about what he saw to get some insight. In the meantime, Gennai did some investigations on his end.

The following day, Izzy told Tai and Matt about his strange experience. He thought that they wouldn't take him seriously at first, but they gave credence to his story when they told him that Joe was reported missing. They agreed something was up and decided to form their own search team after school and find him. During break, Izzy messaged Gennai to inform him that Joe had mysteriously disappeared. He also asked Gennai if there were any disturbances in the Digital World. Gennai's response was that there was nothing out of the ordinary and couldn't account for Izzy's experiences and Joe's disappearance, but hoped to get to the bottom of the matter.

In finding Joe, Tai formed three groups of two. He had Sora go with Matt, Takeru go with Hikari, and Izzy accompany him. He instructed each team search a section of their neighborhood where Joe would likely go to. He urged that they stick together in case something happens. All parties were to meet in front of the school at 7:30 to report any possible clues or if Joe was found. Tai was curious as to what Izzy experienced, so they investigated the section where the Ramen shop was and the alley where he walked home the previous night. First they checked the Ramen shop all around to see if there was anything unusual, or with high hopes that Joe might turn up there.

While they were investigating the shop, two MIB agents were investigating the alley. One had a device to detect possible portals to other dimensions. The other was taking pictures. They wrapped up their work just as Tai and Izzy headed towards the alley. They saw the agents walk from the other end of the alley, but didn't think they were anybody out of the ordinary. Izzy anticipated investigation so he brought a camera and a flashlight. Izzy simply pointed out to Tai what he saw and experienced. He felt apprehension being in the alley the entire moment they were there. They left the alley without incident and moved on to their next point of investigation. The children feared that Joe might have been transported to the Digital World and may have no way of returning. Although they realized that Gennai would have been aware and told them.

The six children returned in front of the school at the allotted time. "Did anyone find any clues to Joe's whereabouts?", Tai asked. "No luck here", Sora responded. "We didn't find anything", Takeru responded. "But we were approached by these strange men in black suits", Hikari added. This got everyone's attention. "They sounded like a robot and moved like one too", added Takeru. "What did they say", asked Matt. "They told us to nevermind about Joe", Hikari responded.

They all had to return home and get ready for the next school day. When Izzy returned home, he was anxious to see how his pictures would turn out. He had a dark room sectioned off in his bedroom with the help of his father. When he developed the pictures, he noticed that all the exposures were blank. He was surprised, because he knew that he took the lens cap off when he took the pictures and he checked the settings of the camera and verified that they were appropriate for that time of day and lighting for the alley where he took them. He called Tai just to make sure. "Hey Tai", said Izzy over the phone. "What's up Izzy, I'm about ready to head to bed", Tai responded. "When I took those photos in the alley, did I take my camera lens off?", Izzy asked. "I'm pretty sure you did, you're usually very good about that", Tai responded, "Why, what happened?" "The exposures are blank", Izzy said. "Hmm that's strange", Tai pondered, "The alley was light enough to take clear shots; We'll have to talk some more about it tomorrow at school". "Alright, I'll see you in the morning", Izzy said. "Good night", Tai said. Izzy messaged Gennai to tell him about his pictures of the alley and Takeru's strange encounter, to which Gennai relayed the message to Zed. "That's odd", Zed pondered, "I didn't send any MIB agents to confront the Digidestined; If anything, Joe must be located safe and sound".

The next morning, Tai, Izzy, Matt, and Sora met in front of the school before class began to formulate an additional plan to search for Joe. Much to their surprise, Joe approached them. They were so relieved that they all hugged him as a group. "Where have you been?", asked Tai. "We've been worried sick", Sora said. Joe didn't appear to be traumatized nor vanquished after being gone for two days. He looked very relaxed and serene, but had no recollection of where he was or what occurred. "I can at least tell you what I last remember, but that'll have to wait till lunchtime", Joe said.

"When I was on my way to the ramen place, I saw what I thought was Mimi. She had the same pink clothes and hat. I thought that this couldn't possibly be her. But I had to make sure. As I approached her, I noticed that there was no movement. I addressed her to see if it was her or not. The girl turned her head around in 180 degree angle. Her eyes were completely black and she had no mouth. I immediately ran. The next thing I knew, I was in the quiet meadow; my intense fear had turned to serenity."

"So you saw a strange Mimi look-a-like as well", Tai pondered. "It looks like someone else misses her as well", Tai teased. Joe and Izzy blushed. "Oh stop it", Sora snapped, "we all miss her very much; We should all write her a thinking of you card". After school, Sora picked out a card and had everyone write a note inside. She had it mailed the following day.

Izzy messaged Gennai that Joe had returned safe and sound. Gennai then reported to Zed:

"There is something sinister at work here, This might not be related to the Digital World, but it requires our attention. I advise more investigations be done in the alley where Izzy disappeared and the meadow where Joe returned"

Zed arranged a team of MIB agents to investigate; Only more strange events where about to unfold half way across the world.