Digimon World Tour

Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Data Squad, etc. 1999-2014 Toei Animation, Akiyoshi Hongo, Studiopolis, Saban Brands, etc.

[Just before the start of the chapter, an adult (and live-action) Lara Jill Miller appears on the screen.]

Hi, this is Lara Jill Miller, the voice of Kari on Digimon World Tour. This "very special" chapter contains subject matter we're certainly not going to touch on Doc McStuffins... yet. This is a common hurdle that a lot of girls have to face. The author, using his better judgment, will not actually show you Kari inserting a tampon. You'll have to be content with an outside view of the toilet, with the door shut. Girls, you'll understand, and guys... well, I hope you'll understand. The human body is fascinating, and I should know because I "work" in a toy hospital. I'm just glad I had someone like my mom to explain it to me. …..Or was it Nell? Hmmm... maybe it was Lauri or Kari. If you have any questions, ask your parents. Or your doctor. Either way, get the conversation going.

[Please note, the real Lara Jill Miller was not harmed in this chapter, although I'd love for her to follow the fanfic.]

Chapter 15: Rumble Down Under

Kari

Since we were all witnesses, we were told not to leave the country. 2Day FM wanted to cash in on the incident, so Matt was flown up to Sydney and made a guest appearance on "The Kyle and Jackie O Show". Kyle must not have been hurt that badly if he was still doing the show.

We stayed at the hotel and mulled the whole thing over. "I don't get it," I said. "What don't you get?" Rika asked. "Matt's just going to be on the show. Marcus beat Kyle up, and yet Matt's going to pay for it." "Eh, it'll be OK. That jerk Kyle had it coming to him. He stole the mic, bashed our performance and dragged our music through the mud. He deserved it. If Marcus didn't do it, I would've." "But Rika... that's wrong. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Even if he did have it coming, Marcus shouldn't have punched him." "Look, if you think everything can be settled with a nice talk and a cup of tea, you're dead wrong. If you go into a Digimon fight with that kind of attitude, you could die." "Those are two different things and you know it!" "Whatever. Anyway, this whole thing will blow over, Marcus'll get a slap on the wrist, and we'll never have to talk to that guy again. You can try to become friends with him if you want, but I'm not going near the guy."

The next morning, we listened on the Internet as Matt humbly apologized on Marcus' behalf on the radio. Kyle was his usual blunt self, and Matt just took it. He didn't get angry and he didn't start an argument. That took an incredible amount of self-control, courage, and integrity. Listening to it, I could tell that Jackie O was won over. And in the end, I think Kyle was too. "Matt, I want to thank you for coming in this morning. I know it must've been tough for you to get on the radio with this tactless piece of s***. And I'll admit, what I did was wrong, but that's how I am. I've made a career of telling it like it is. I don't care what people think. You either like me, you don't care, or you hate me. I don't care. I can accept who I am. But what you did, what you did took a lot of courage. For you to take my abuse calmly and humbly, that takes a lot of guts, and I respect that." "Thank you, Kyle," Matt replied.

After the radio show, Kazuki came in with some good news. "All right, gang. Dreamworld seems to be hip, so they've agreed to let us go back into WhiteWater World. Even rented out a cabana for us. And since we don't have a gig, we can basically wail there all the doo-dah day like normal people." Most of the group cheered, but I didn't.

I spoke with Rika in private about it. "So basically you're freaking out because you're afraid to use a tampon?" "Yeah." "That's stupid," she grumbled. "But what if it gets lost inside me? What if it hurts?" She let out a sigh. "Kari, you're an intelligent woman. Don't wuss out on me. Come on, I'll walk you through it."

Soon, I was ready to do it on my own. I know it sounds kind of silly, but I really was concerned about it. I thought about what Big Brother had said to me. "Kari. You, are stronger than you know. Do not, under any circumstances, underestimate your inner strength." He was right. If I could kill Devimon by myself, inserting a tampon should be a piece of cake. I washed my hands, unwrapped the applicator, and walked inside the stall, shutting the door behind me. Gatomon and Renamon waited outside.

Gatomon

I coached her through it. She was too busy taking deep breaths and trying to relax. "OK, Kari. You can do this. Take a deep breath." She inhaled and I continued. "On the count of three, exhale, relax, and spread your legs apart. One... two... three!" She exhaled. "Do we really have to do this?" Renamon complained. "Like you never had to do this with Rika," I shot back. "Rika could do it on her own, thank you very much." I went back to Kari. "That's it, Kari. Just relax," I encouraged her. I could hear Kari take a few more breaths. "It's too bad Sora isn't here for this," I said. She softly grunted, let out a sigh of relief, then knocked on the door. "Gatomon! Could you get me my one-piece swimsuit?" she asked. I looked through her suitcase and pulled it out, then ran back and knocked on the door. She opened it, and I passed it to her. Then, she shut the door. When she came out, she was ready to go.

Kari

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Greg

WhiteWater World, which was right next to Dreamworld and is the sister park, must've been warned we were coming because the park's quality went up dramatically. I had to take off my glasses, so I couldn't see as well as I could've, but I could still see.

Marcus' treatment varied from person to person. Some passersby wouldn't look at him, or were afraid of him, while others thought he did the country a favor by punching "that so-and-so" (my words, not theirs) in the face. Our paroled drummer tried getting along with everyone.

Marcus, Thomas, Rika, and I (the new kids on the block) decided to go to The Green Room, one of their extreme attractions. We rode in a specially designed 4 person cloverleaf tube, and were thrown into the upper hemisphere, off back-to-back "vertical" banks before a needle-nose splashdown.

Then, all six of us challenged two civilians in a race down the Blue Ringed Octopus, the only 8-Lane Octopus Racer in the world, produced specifically for WhiteWater World. If a civilian managed to beat us, we'd give him a copy of our album for free. We each zoomed down one of eight, 120 meter tentacle tracks zipping around 270 degree turns for the thrill of a lifetime. It was really a lot of fun, and I was sorry Matt wasn't there to join us.

T.K.

We spent all day at WhiteWater World, and by the time we came back, Matt was in the lobby reading a newspaper. "Sorry I'm late," he said nonchalantly. "No problem. What kept you?" I asked. "Eh, you know how it is. I spent the whole three-and-a-half hours on that stupid radio show, Jackie O insisted on it. Then, they took me to lunch, and I did a tell-all interview for 'A Current Affair', which will be airing tomorrow night. You know, damage control. Just got back 20 minutes ago. What'd you guys do, go to the beach?" "WhiteWater World." "Oh, they let Marcus back in there? I would've thought they'd have the place guarded." "It just so happens that some people think I did the whole country a favor," Marcus sneered. "We'll find out at the trial, won't we?" Matt asked, turning the page.

We had a nice dinner at the hotel's restaurant, and then later ordered room service for the Digimon. I looked out over the marina. It was peaceful at night. I decided to call Mom on my cell phone. "Hello?" "Hey, Mom." "Oh, T.K. It's good to hear from you. How are things going in Australia?" "Just fine. Marcus punched out this jerk radio host, and so the trial's on the 26th." "Oh really? Were you involved?" "No, Mom. Honest." "Ha ha, I believe you. I've been thinking about you all the time. I've got your album in my car and listen to it everywhere I go." I smiled at that. "Thanks, Mom. I knew I could count on you." "I miss you." "So do I. You know, it's beautiful up here. It's just so peaceful, with the moon reflecting on the water." "All right. How's Matt doing?" "He's doing fine, I guess. He just came back from Sydney, did an interview for 'A Current Affair'. That's one of those investigative reporting shows here." "I can imagine. Well, it was good talking to you. Say hello to Patamon for me." I didn't need to, because I let Patamon speak for himself. "Hi Mom!" he cheerfully said. Mom just laughed, and I went back to our conversation. "I love you, T.K." "Right back at you, Mom."

Greg

I decided to call my folks. Dad picked up. "Hello?" "Hi, Dad," I said. "Well hi, Greg. How are you doing in Australia?" "Just fine. We're staying here a couple of days extra for the trial." "Trial? Wait, what trial?" Hoo boy, I'd done it. I could hear Dad faintly yelling over the phone. "VALERIE! Get in here, your son's a criminal!" "No, no, Dad, I'm not getting arrested. I just have to testify." "You have to testify!? VALERIE!" "WHAT?!" Mom's shouting faintly came in. "GREG HAS TO TESTIFY IN COURT!" "Oh brother..."

She picked up another phone. "Greg?" "Yeah, Mom?" "What happened?" "Well, we were in the Australian Big Brother House in Dreamworld, and this DJ named Kyle Sandilands comes in after our fourth number and starts slamming our music. He just bursts in, grabs the mic, and starts dragging our name through the mud. He'd been giving Marcus a hard time-" Dad cut in at that point. "Marcus?! You mean, that street brawler?" "Now Spencer..." "I told him that boy was a bad influence on him." "Now wait just a minute! Greg Logan, did you get involved?" Mom urgently asked. "No, but I wanted to punch both of their faces in." "Oh good. It sounds like this Kyle got his just desserts. I would've punched him myself." "Valerie!" Dad gasped. "I would've, Spencer. There's no way I'd let our son's band be dragged through the mud like that." "But you're not supposed to hit people!" "I think someone recorded it and put it on YouTube," I volunteered.

A few minutes later, Mom and Dad saw the whole thing on YouTube. "Good luck in court, Greg," Dad finally said. Then, he hung up.

Anya

This is a status report from Agent XYZ, Major Anya Rădulescu. February 21st, 2013; 8:45 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time. My mind has been troubled slightly by my meeting with Gregory Logan on the 14th of this month, one week ago. Something about that young man is quite different. I have been trained by my superiors to use every possible advantage I have to complete my mission, but my main advantage (sexuality) did not work on him. It seems odd, but I could faintly detect that he cared more for me than he did satisfying his own appetite. I felt... secure around him. I am attempting to factor my personal feelings out of the equation, but that is becoming... more difficult. I have moved to join the group sooner than anticipated, more than likely when the opportunity for a Digimon battle presents itself.

Thomas

On the 22nd, SME Japan sent us their lawyer, Ryūichi Naruhodō. I volunteered to assist him in preparing our case, but before I did, I looked at his track record. In most of his trials, he usually ends up using bluffs, manipulation and general making things up in court. What surprised and frankly frightened me was the fact that he was accurate most of the time. "Mr. Naruhodō, it's my opinion that we should build a solid case before we go into court," I heavily suggested. He just patted me on the back and smiled. "Don't worry about it... uh, what'd you say your name was?" "Thomas, sir." "You don't have to call me 'sir'. I like Ryu better. Anyway, I think I can get you out of this." "But Mr. Naru- er, Ryu, I was there. Marcus clearly punched Kyle in the face. That's battery." "Please, just trust me on this one."

One of the key factors we had to implement was Kyle Sandilands' temperament and personality, and its effects on the public at large. Since he is in the public eye, we had all sorts of audiovisual footage we could use to determine his character.

Greg

Ryu talked to each of us about Kyle and Jackie O and what had happened that night at the party. Both Thomas and he worked on the case, while the rest of us rehearsed for future concerts, worked on new material, and explored the Gold Coast.

Finally, the day of the trial arrived. Kyle was suing Marcus for AU$100,000; plus whatever punitive damages he could get. Downright outrageous, considering what Marcus was charged for. We had to wear our Sunday best to Southport Courthouse, and it was a bit of a struggle getting Rika into a dress. She ultimately decided to go for a designer blouse while maintaining her pineapple-shaped haircut and her blue jeans. "One of these days, Rika Nonaka, I'm going to get you into a dress!" Kari vowed. "Never on a first date," Rika said with a wicked smile on her face.

When we arrived, the paparazzi was at large. Photos were taken, cameras were broken, and Thomas began to develop a cramp from all the checks he was writing.

Kyle's lawyer was Gene Goodsell, a Fellow of the Tax Institute of Australia who had considerable litigation experience. In addition, Endemol Southern Star brought in their own council on Kyle's behalf. It was a guy by the name of David Roberts, who had represented Fairfax Media Limited on the sale of the Southern Star Group to Endemol. The trial started as usual, and Gene put up a good opening statement. I'm no lawyer, but I'd seen enough "Law and Order" and other courtroom dramas to know what a good opening statement sounded like. Then, it was Ryu's turn, and he managed to get his point across very well in English.

Mr. Goodsell called in Peter Cunningham as his first witness. After he was sworn in, Mr. Goodsell established his character. "What is your name?" Mr. Goodsell asked. "Peter Cunningham." "And would you please explain to the court what it is you do, Mr. Cunningham?" "I am one of the three on-air voices of 'Big Brother' on the hit television series. My responsibilities include overseeing the Big Brother house and generating content working closely with Control Room Producers; conducting interviews with Housemates via the 'Diary Room' in my role as Big Brother; overlooking housemate welfare and practising duty of care; and coordinating daily Housemate logistics." "And for those unfamiliar with the program, what is the Diary Room?" "The Diary Room is a place where housemates make their private nominations, and where they can vent their frustrations or share their concerns and feelings in a place that other housemates will not overhear them. Big Brother will never share any information given in the Diary Room with other housemates and housemates should feel free to talk privately to Big Brother at any time, night or day." "And on the 20th, you, as Big Brother, had conversed with the defendant in this Diary Room." "Yes. We were testing the audio systems and practicing for the actual show." "Now, I would like to present Exhibit A, audiovisual footage of this conversation recorded February 20th at 3:45 PM. While this would normally be considered confidential, it is relevant to the case."

He pulled out a DVD and inserted it into a computer. A screen came down, the lights dimmed, and we saw the evidence, timecode and all. After we saw it, the lights came back up and Mr. Goodsell continued. "As you can see, Marcus Damon clearly had the intent to inflict harm upon my client." "OBJECTION!" Ryu belted out. The judge wouldn't have it. "On what grounds?" "Misquoting the client. He said, 'I just want to punch his face in,' not 'I'm gonna punch his face in'." "Objection sustained. Carry on." When Mr. Goodsell concluded, Ryu asked a number of what I thought were good questions. Mr. Goodsell and Mr. Roberts raised a few objections of their own (hearsay and assuming facts not in evidence).

Jackie O was next called up on the stand. "Your full name?" Mr. Roberts asked. "Jacqueline Ellen Marie Henderson." "Ms. Henderson, how long have you known the plaintiff?" "At least ten years. We've worked together professionally since 2005." "Now, please describe the format of your early morning radio program." "A mix of music, celebrity interviews, gossip, talkback topics, giveaways, and stunts from 6:00 to 9:30 am on 2DayFM, with an hour-long syndicated highlights show networked on The Australian Radio Network, usually in the evenings." "And usually, you and the plaintiff have free reign to speak about whatever on your program, correct?" "Yes, usually, but we have had more censors keeping track of us. We've had a full-time censor on staff since August 2009." "OBJECTION!" Ryu belted out again, "Irrelevance! This incident occured outside of their radio show." "Objection sustained."

The trial went on for five hours (with breaks every hour) and pretty much established what we already knew about the incident. We all testified and told the truth. Kyle and Jackie O had met us at Dreamworld and had, in our opinion, harassed us. We didn't have a case with the radio show, so we had to pin our hopes on the incident at the party. We saw footage from Matt's 'Current Affair' interview, to which Kyle's lawyers objected. Objections were fired left and right, and it seemed like we were at a standstill. Everything seemed normal until Kyle was called up on the stand by Ryu. The testimony seemed to be normal until Ryu pulled out a comma-shaped bead. The radio host's eyes went wide open as the truth came out of his mouth, much to his shock. "OBJECTION! Attempting to extract testimony by supernatural means!" Mr. Roberts shouted. The judge examined the bead carefully, then gave it back to Ryu. "Objection overruled," he said. Testimony continued. Kyle openly admitted that what he had done might have been considered wrong, but that was what he did. "And here's the thing. Every guest that comes in … I want them to come back. Yes, we're going to try and get every issue, which we usually get from them voluntarily. But I still want them to come back - I want them to feel safe on the show. And I was hoping your band and I could get along with each other, even though I don't understand you at all. Marcus got angry with me, I tried to shut him down, and I openly criticized you in front of all those Housemates. I'm not going to apologize for criticizing you, of course. I am entitled to my opinion. However, I may have done it in the wrong way."

After 15 minutes of contemplation in his quarters, the judge came in with his verdict. "I have decided to look at the facts. Mr. Sandilands is known for polarizing everyone he comes into contact with. He has just apologized in court. Mr. Damon, I would encourage you to think carefully before you lay a blow to someone's face. With all matters considered, I rule in favor of the defendant, but am also awarding the plaintiff punitive damages of AU$100. Consider yourself lucky, Mr. Damon. Case dismissed." He slammed his gavel, and we celebrated.

After the trial, we thanked Ryu for what he'd done and even gave him a copy of our album, plus a note good for a copy of our second album when we finally finished it. He flew back to Japan, and we would've flown back the same night except we had something to do.

Matt

It was 9:30 at night. I was personally looking for something good on TV when my Digivice went off. I switched it to normal mode and responded. "This is Matt, come in." "Oi! This is Derek, from the DATS Gold Coast Division. How ya' goin?" Derek... now why'd that name sound familiar? "Wait a second, you were at the last battle, weren't you?" "Heh heh, right you are. Now my question is, who are you?" "Matt Ishida, I'm a friend of Joe's and Cody's." "You mean the short bloke and the guy with glasses?" "Yep." "Oh, well good to know ya. Anyway, Commander Sampson asked me to call all agents in the area and tell them to report to Surfers Paradise. We've got a nautical battle, and it looks like it'll be big. All hands on deck!" "Got it. I'll get the others." "Good on ya. Hoo roo." Then, he signed off.

I gathered the others in my room and gave the pre-game pep talk. "OK, guys. This is it. We've got a full-blown nautical battle on our hands. Now we could go about this two ways. One, everyone who has one can use the DigiEgg of Reliability to Armor Digivolve." "Yeah. Based on what we know from Submarimon, it'd be safe to guess that that DigiEgg relates to the water," T.K. backed me up. "Right. The other way is to use the DigiEgg of Friendship. Those deal with either ice or electricity." "So, we could freeze them or electrocute them," T.K. chimed in. "Right."

Marcus raised his hand. "Yeah, I checked my DigiEggs, and I don't have any. So what are you expecting me to do?" "It's never stopped you before," Thomas quipped, rolling his eyes. "Very funny."

Just then, Greg's Digivice rang, and he answered it. "Hello?" "Hello, Gregorivich," a seductive, Russian voice purred. "Huh?" "It's me, Anya. I want you to know that I'll be at this battle as well. I've been thinking about you all week." "Eh... you have?" "Yes." "I told you before, you can't seduce me." "Wait a sec, who's this Anya?" Rika cut in. "It's a long story. OK, I'll see you there." She hung up.

"All right, Greg, lay it on us. Who is this Anya chick?" Rika repeated, with hands on hips and an expectant look on her face. "She came to my hotel room in Sydney with a pizza. She's with the Russian secret service, she has a Digimon partner and this handheld Digivice, and she plays saxophone." Greg ended up explaining the whole thing to us.

"All right, now that we got that out of the way, let's suit up!" "It's Morphin Time!" Greg called. We each selected the "Suit Up" function, checked the "Extended Sequence" box and then pressed Enter.

[BGM: "Juuken Sentai Gekiranger (Instrumental • Short Size)" by Takafumi Iwasaki]

[Each of the members of the "Neo Data Squad" (fan nickname) gains a white aura over their bodies, which strips them of most of their clothes. Their DATS uniforms are layered on from the feet up, starting with the boots, then the bodysuit, and the jacket. The girls are slightly different as their bodysuits only go down a few inches down the thigh, leaving their legs exposed. Kari gains a mini-skirt to accentuate the fact that she's the Girly Girl out of the two. After each sequence is complete, the members pose with assertive confidence. Overall, this sequence is stylized in the manner of a Super Sentai henshin sequence from the 21st century Heisei Period Series.]

Matt

We decided to exit out from the back, where no one could see us. Thomas, Rika, and I Digivolved our Digimon to Garurumon, Kyubimon, and Gaogamon. Greg Armor Digivolved Veemon to Raidramon, while Patamon and Gatomon became Pegasusmon and Nefertimon. Marcus hitched a ride with me as we rode off.

"I'm looking forward to returning to Japan," Thomas said. "Why's that?" I asked. "Because we have an extended play of Alan Parsons Project covers to record. Don't think that I've forgotten." "Who said we were doing that?" "Greg and T.K." At that point, Raidramon sped up, with Pegasusmon close behind him.

We finally arrived at the Surfers Paradise beach, where we met up with Derek and his Digimon. PurityxSpirited were there, along with this woman with long, blonde hair. She wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs, with short sleeves and a zipper, tight dark green shorts, and a forehead protector which she used to accentuate her face. "I'm guessing that must be Anya," I said.

"Over here! Well, it looks like I get to meet all of you," Derek said. "Right. This is T.K., Kari, Greg, Thomas, Rika, and Marcus." The others ad-libbed their hellos, and some more Australian DigiDestined stepped forward. "Great! I'll introduce you to my crew. The bloke with the yellow hair and blue shirt is Guy. Yellow-and-pink tank top is Kylie. Three blocks on his shirt and bluey [red] hair is Jason, while the orange shirt is Tony. And that little ankle-biter next to him is his little sister Sparky." "It's Alyce," the little girl insisted. Between the five kids, they had a Betamon, a Divermon, and two Gizamon. All water-based.

"Right. So, what's our game plan?" Sadie inquired. "We came up with two. Either we fight them in the water, or we shock or freeze them," I said. "I like the water-based idea better. That way, we get to fight them on their own turf, er, surf," Lily decided. Just then, something caught her eye. We looked with her, as a Digimon in samurai armor flew in riding an old hoverboard.

"Perfect. I have you all just where I want you," he sneered. "Who are you!?" T.K. shouted up to him. "Allow me to introduce myself. The name is Tactimon, the strongest of the Three Head Officers of the Bagra Army. Thanks to my brilliance in strategy and warfare, I have brought 26 Zones of the Digital World under my control. But now, I'm on to bigger things, like the Human World!" We gasped at that. "B-b-b-bbut..." Kari stammered. "But how was I able to conquer the Digital World so quickly? Quite simple. We waited until MaloMyotismon was completely destroyed to act. That fool Oikawa did us a favor by revitalizing the Digital World. He left it fresh and new, and completely defenseless! The Bagra Army swooped in at just the perfect time. And once we'd left a calling card for you humans, you became so focused on your world that you neglected the Digital World! HA HA HA HA HA!"

Derek angrily shook his fist. "You won't get away with this!" he vowed. "Oh, but I already have. Now, arise!" Tactimon lifted his sword up, and three aquatic Digimon rose out of the ocean. One looked like an octopus with a crown and a pot on his head, carrying weapons in his tentacles. Another was a giant, red prawn; and the third was our old enemy Gesomon, a white squid.

At least Tactimon was nice enough to identify our enemies. "The first one is Octomon, a rather nasty little hoarder from the bottom of the sea. I'd just hate to be stuck at the receiving end of his Spurting Ink attack. And then, there's Ebidramon, who crushes his opponents with his razor-sharp twin huge lobster claws. I'm sure you've all heard about the 'White Demon of the Depths'. And don't think I've forgotten about you landlubbers!"

At that point, four green lizard-men dressed like ancient warriors rushed towards us. I looked them up on my Digimon Analyzer. "'Dinohyumon, Champion level, a Dragon Man Digimon which lives in primitive areas where civilization has not yet reached. The large sword "Akinakes" is swung by his indomitable muscles.'"

"We're surrounded!" Kari moaned. "Oh come on, Kari. You think something as minor as that is gonna stop us?" Marcus asked. He brought up his Digivice and pressed the button on the side. "Agumon, realize!" In seconds, Agumon came out, ready to go. "Is it fightin' time again, Boss?" "You bet it is!"

"Then we better act fast! All right, team, let's do this!" T.K. called. All of our Digimon except Gaogamon were brought back to their Rookie forms. Greg, Kari, and T.K. accessed their DigiEgg menus. "DigiEgg of Reliability!" they called. "This one's for you, little bro," I said as I selected the DigiEgg of Hope. "DigiEgg of Friendship for you, Renamon?" Rika confirmed. Renamon gave her the thumbs up. The five of us posed. "DigiArmor Energize!"

"Veemon Armor Digivolve to... Depthmon, the Diver of Reliability!"

"Patamon Armor Digivolve to... Mantaraymon!"

"Gatomon Armor Digivolve to... Tylomon!"

"Renamon Armor Digivolve to... Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

"Gabumon Armor Digivolve to... Moosemon, Protector of Hope!"

Depthmon looked like a fish wearing scuba gear. I looked him up on the Analyzer. "All right, let's see what we've got. 'Depthmon, Armor level.' Uh huh, yada yada yada. 'The armor Depthmon wears can withstand underwater pressure, enabling him to dive to the very bottom of the ocean.' Right. 'Mantaraymon.' Uses the DigiEgg of Reliability, we knew that. It looks like a manta ray, we know that too. 'He can launch himself at the opponent at lightning speeds.' Hmm... Then there's Tylomon. She can launches explosive homing torpedoes in the shape of miniature Tylomon at her opponent. Useful. Finally, Moosemon. A blue elk. 'He is the protector of nature and can bring hope to a land of despair.' What gets me is how Renamon was able to Armor Digivolve to Raidramon." Greg looked shocked at what happened. "There's another Raidramon?!" Rika just smirked as she mounted her partner.

In the meantime, the four girls hummed in unison to get in harmony, and then took out their D-Tectors. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" they cried in perfect harmony. Then, their bodies blacked out as they transformed into Digimon. "Vulpemon!" "Sakuramon!" "Azimon!" "Namimon!"

Marcus ignited his DigiSoul, then got in position. "DigiSoul... charge!" The energy went to Agumon as he Digivolved. "Agumon Digivolve to... GeoGreymon!"

Derek pulled out his own handheld Digivice. "Crabmon, realize!" Within seconds, a crab Digimon appeared. Derek then formed his fingers into a "surf's up" sign and covered his hand with coral blue DigiSoul. "DigiSoul... charge!" He pressed his hand on the top sensor, then posed with the Digivice as the energy hit Crabmon. "Crabmon Digivolve to... Coelamon!"

The other Australian DigiDestined cheered their Digimon into battle. "Go, Gizamon!" Jason and Kylie called out together. They managed to hold hands and point towards the battlefield with their free ones. "Divermon, dive in there!" Guy hollered, pointing the way. Meanwhile, Tony and Sparky were fighting over who'd get to charge the DigiSoul. They decided it the old-fashioned way. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Tony got paper, but Sparky got scissors. "Yay! I get to do it!" Sparky cheered. Then, she turned to Betamon. "Go on, have a go, Betamon!" "Right!" Betamon said as he started jumping towards the water. He gave a signal once he was deep enough in. Sparky snapped her fingers, and green DigiSoul covered her hand. "DigiSoul... Charge! YAY!" she squealed as she placed her hand on the sensor. The data beam went straight to Betamon. "Betamon Digivolve to... Seadramon!"

Finally, the new girl Anya revealed her Digivice. "Lalamon, realize!" she called. She brought out this floating flower bud with an expressionless face. Then, she ignited her DigiSoul by gracefully opening her palm up like she was examining a fallen flower bud. "DigiSoul... charge!" All of a sudden, just like the rest of us, this new Digimon Digivolved. "Lalamon Digivolve to... Sunflowmon!" She grew longer as her face blossomed into a sunflower. She gained a pair of leaf-like wings, a pair of claws, a pair of feet, and a tail.

Greg

"Now who's the one surrounded?" Thomas boldly asked Tactimon while aboard Gaogamon. Tactimon merely unsheathed his sword, and pointed it forward. "Attack!" With that, the battle was on. Moosemon, Raidramon, GeoGreymon, and Gaogamon charged ahead toward the four Dinohyumon, who unsheathed smaller swords. The aquatic Digimon finally got into the water and started their attacks.

The two Gizamon brought out their sharp, blade-like dorsal fins and tried to slice off some of Octomon's tentacles, but the red octopus fired at them first with his ink gun. "Marine Knives!" Depthmon called. He pulled out sharp blades and launched them at Octomon, inflicting critical damage. Mantaraymon stung the enemy Gesomon with his tail, leaving the enemy fully paralyzed, while Tylomon used her Torpedo Attack from behind. T.K. and Kari couldn't be happier.

A Dinohyumon grunted as he swung his huge sword, but Moosemon countered by summoning a giant tornado to thrash him around. Marcus tried getting into the dino-busting act by using some of that boxing training he'd learned from Thomas, but it didn't pay off. Raidramon snapped at one of them with electrically-charged jaws, but was met by a smaller sword that got a little too close for Rika's comfort. "Rika! Jump off!" Raidramon ordered, but Rika wouldn't let go. After Azimon distracted one with her Fresh Fragrance, Gaogamon fired off an X-shaped wave by rapidly slashing his claws at him

Back in the water, Divermon fired his harpoon at Gesomon, landing the final blow. We cheered our Digimon on. Seadramon wrapped himself around Ebidramon and squeezed tightly. The prawn tried to fight back with his claws, but the serpent prevented that from happening. Then, he fired an ice beam in Ebidramon's face! Coelamon fell upon Octomon with his gigantic talons, seriously turning the tide of battle. Namimon ran into the water and started riding the waves of the Pacific on her surfboard. "Surf's up, you big ugly mollusks! Penguin Surf!" Her surfboard repeatedly hit the two enemy Digimon in the face as she caught wave after wave, all with excellent form and precision. I didn't know whether she was a ballerina or a surfer.

More Dinohyumon came running, and the other Pure Spirits sprang into action. Sakuramon spun around rapidly while spinning her fans above her head at the same time, hitting one of them. Vulpemon put out a defensive pose. "Renard's Emerald!" The emerald on her tiara glowed brightly, where a beam of energy burst and shot a Dinohyumon in the chest, throwing him off. Then, she withdrew her sword, sped up, and slashed away. "Cactus Tail!" Sunflowmon waved her tail-like stalk, firing off its thorns. I got a bit too close to the action and accidentally got hit by one in the arm. It really stung! Anya immediately rushed to my side and started nursing my wounds. "Sorry!" Sunflowmon apologized. GeoGreymon spewed super-high temperature flames from his mouth, reducing a number of Dinohyumon and some brushwood to ashes.

The battle continued for about half an hour. Tactimon's deep sea threats had been taken care of, but those Dinohyumon kept coming. Once Marcus had gotten out of the way, Gaogamon and GeoGreymon combined their attacks to take out the last three.

Marcus bent over and caught his breath, but that didn't stop him from copping an attitude. He'd managed to take out two Dinohyumon by himself, using just his DigiSoul and his fists. "Is that all you got? HUH!?" he demanded to know. Tactimon gave us all a look of disgust as he put his sword away. "You were lucky to be in such large numbers, humans. However, this battle is not over! I bid you all... adieu." With that, he flew away. We cheered at his defeat.

By the time we'd finished, it was 11:00. All the Digimon had reverted back to their Rookie levels as we said our parting words to our Australian teammates. "That was an amazing battle," Matt said. "I know, and we couldn't have done it without you, mate," Derek added. We all shook hands, bumped fists, hugged, and even kissed each other on the cheeks. Then, the seven of us changed back into our normal clothes and Thomas called a taxi to take us back to the hotel.

The next day, we got a flight back to Tokyo. We met up with PurityxSpirited at the airline luxury lounge. Apparently, they'd decided to take a break and head back to Shibuya for school and normalcy. "But we'll join you for the American leg!" Lily excitedly announced. "Seriously, Lily, you need to cut down on the sugar," Charisse said. "Awwww..." "Charisse is right," Naomi admitted. "Bloody oath," Sadie agreed. We boarded the same flight and had a nice talk all the way back to Japan.

Kari

I decided to buy a diary at the airport gift shop and started writing down all that had happened during our first leg. We still had two more gigs in Japan, but this leg was one of the most exciting experiences I'd ever had. Who knew what excitement and what dangers would await us in Europe?

Author's Notes:

Some of Kyle Sandilands' dialogue (starting from "Every guest that comes in …" and ending with "I want them to feel safe on the show.") comes from a 2012 interview he gave to Scott Muller for Radio Today, Australasia's leading radio site.

The parental advisory was inspired by one that Valerie Harper gave on a 1987 episode of Valerie entitled "Bad Timing", where Jason Bateman's character David considers having a tryst and one of the Hogan twins gets a lesson in condoms. And no, they haven't discussed tampons yet on Doc McStuffins.

I named the Australian DigiDestined myself. Guy is named after Guy Pearce, who would go on to star in movies such as The King's Speech, Memento, and Iron Man 3. Jason and Kylie, who are indeed a couple, are based off of real-life couple Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, whose characters on Neighbours were married in 1987. Tony and Sparky? Those are named after $ale of the Century hosts Tony Barber and Alyce "Sparky" Platt. Alyce, incidentally, also appeared on Neighbours as Jen Handley from 1995-96.

If the name "Ryūichi Naruhodō" sounds familar to you, it should be. But I'm not going to spoil it for you. Not completely, anyway. I'll just say that his English VA in this is Sam Riegel, and he's reprising a role from Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I wrote him in because I didn't want to write a very long courtroom scene.

And thus ends our adventures in Australia. Just remember, "Neighbours, should be there for one another. That's when good Neighbours become good friends."