Digimon World Tour Chapter 37: Chess, a digimon fanfic

Digimon World Tour

Recap

[Thomas] We were greeted in Boston, Massachusetts by none other than President Barack Obama. One would think that Greg would have a bit more respect for the President of the United States, even if he doesn't like him. Being rude in this case did not help. At least Matt and Kari kept level heads. We checked in and were taken to lunch at the Bull and Finch Pub, which is now known as Cheers Beacon Hill. We were accompanied by Mayor Martin J. Walsh and an uncooperative French fry thief Ted Danson. I was given the distinct dishonor of leading the masses in singing the alma mater so composed by Mr. Portnoy and Ms. Hart Angelo. That evening, Matt and T.K. were called in to join Sadie and Lily, aliases Tamamon and Empressmon, in fighting off ChaosPiedmon. This was a villain T.K. was quite familiar with. In the end, Seraphimon laid the final blow and young Takeru completed the composition of a song entirely in Japanese.

[Marcus] Geez, would you stop using big words, Nerdstein?

[Thomas] Once again, it's pronounced "Nor-stein".

[Marcus] Then stop acting like such a nerd.

Chapter 37: Chess

Greg

We took a late flight to New York some time after the after party with the mayor and Mr. Danson. We even got their autographs. On the flight, Thomas confirmed our reservations at the InterContinental New York Times Square. We got off at JFK and were surrounded by the press. When they called New York City "the City that Never Sleeps", they weren't kidding!

For some strange reason, they all wanted to talk to me. "Mr. Logan! The president wants you and your band to apologize to him!" one reporter shouted. "I may be the oldest, but I'm not the leader. Matt is," I responded, pointing to our fearless leader. Matt put his hands up to the camera and said, "No comment." We walked on.

We discussed the problem the next morning at breakfast. It was all over the papers and social media. Apparently, I hit a nerve with President Obama, and he was mad. Matt laid it out on the table. "I don't know what else to tell you, Greg. Only you can fix this." "It's not against the law in this country to have a differing opinion than the president, Yamato." "True, but we need all the backup we can get, Gregory. We want this guy on our side. He's the president. You should show some respect." "Respect? Don't get me wrong, I heavily respect the office. I just don't respect the man who holds it at the current time. That's my story and I'm sticking to it." "Look, just pretend he's your dad. We can't stand him, and yet we put up with him because you're his son." I burst out laughing. "You're comparing the most hated man in America to my father? Ha ha ha ha ha! That's a good one." I playfully punched him in the shoulder, and T.K. walked in and sat down at our table.

"Hey, guys. What's so funny?" he asked as he poured the milk over his oatmeal. "Oh, T.K., your brother just compared President Obama to my dad. He's hilarious!" "Come on, fill me in. I don't get it." I calmed down. "OK, so here it is. Apparently the president wants me to apologize to him for how rude I was when we were in Boston." "That sounds reasonable. I mean, he is the president." I put my arm around his shoulder. "Oh, sweet, innocent, naïve T.K... there is so much you have to learn about the political system in this country. Republicans and Democrats are like two warring factions in Washington, D.C. Sure, some people make the attempt to go across the aisle, but most of the time, they're at each others' throats. Especially around election time." "I don't know. I still think it's not unreasonable for you to apologize."

"All right, all right. Gosh. The two Ishida brothers ganging up on me. Fine, I'll apologize on social media and the first TV gig we get. What's on the old schedule today?" Matt looked it up on his phone. "...All right now, let's see. We're supposed to meet Mimi for lunch at noon, then go to RCA's headquarters at 1:30." "That ought to be fun," I said, rolling my eyes.

After breakfast, I wrote a quick message on our official Facebook page. "As an American by birth, I deeply respect the office of the President of the United States. Sometimes I forget that our political differences, and the fact that we're allowed to have them, make this country so great. I did not mean any disrespect to President Obama. No matter how much you disagree with a political leader, you should still respect them. - Greg"

We followed Matt to the address that Mimi had supposedly sent him. It led us to a pretty nice apartment complex in SoHo (South of Houston Street). Again, we wore our sunglasses because of the paparazzi. Along the way, we passed Robert Pattinson. I didn't watch any of the Twilight movies, but I did know him from that one Harry Potter film he was in. We exchanged phone numbers and took a picture with him for the Facebook wall.

We took the elevator up to her apartment then knocked on her door. Marcus looked around. "Man, this is pretty swanky. Are all of you old-school DigiDestined loaded?" Thomas, as usual, had an answer. "I've done analysis on the band, and everyone here is at least middle class. Of course, knowing you, you would fail whatever class you were in anyway." "Why you little-!" Marcus went for Thomas' throat, and we all took turns trying to split them apart. Just then, the door opened. A teenage girl with a starred top, a mini-skirt, and long, pink hair was on the other side.

"Ahhhhhh! That's enough!" She got between Marcus and Thomas, splitting them away from each other. "Now you two play nice! I don't want anybody choking anybody on my doorstep!" She turned towards us. "Oh, hi there." "Uhhh... hi, Mimi," Matt, T.K., and Kari answered in unison.

Marcus and Thomas brushed themselves off and looked Mimi over. "Intriguing. Pink hair," Thomas noted. "Well thank you. I'm glad you like it. This happens to be in style."

I stepped in front and warmly shook her hand. "So you must be Mimi. Greg Logan, nice to meet you. Matt's told me so much about you." "Oh? Well, what did he say? Something good, I hope." "Well, he did say you were a nice girl." I didn't have the heart to tell her she was an airhead. "By the way, Izzy says hi," I added. Mimi giggled a little.

Thomas finished brushing himself off, then gently took Mimi's hand and kissed it. "Salutations. My name is Thomas H. Norstein, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." "Well aren't you a Prince Charming," she gracefully replied.

"Yeah, a royal pain in the butt," Marcus said. He spit on his hand, wiped it on his pant leg, and offered his hand to Mimi. "Marcus Damon, the drummer." Mimi reluctantly shook his hand.

Next, it was Rika's turn. "You'll have to forgive Marcus. He's not completely house-trained yet." "Don't worry, he'd be right at home in some boroughs." "Heh, yeah. By the way, the name's Rika." "Mimi. Nice to meet you." "Same here."

Finally, Anya. She approached our new friend. "So, Matt says you are my Japanese counterpart, and you have a plant Digimon." Mimi's face lit up. "Really? You have a plant Digimon? That's great! Come inside, come inside. I've made lunch." So, we all went inside.

The apartment was pretty spacious for SoHo. Nicely decorated, too, with a lot of modern art. We quickly found another Digimon, humming happily while gently dusting some of the vases. She was a plant-like creature with light green skin and purple-tipped claws. She had a pink flower with a yellow center on her head, a small tail and small bumps lining her back. When she noticed us, she turned with a smile. "Oh, hi there. Welcome to our apartment. I'm Palmon." We summoned our Digimon and they got to meet her. "Oh my. Another Agumon and another Veemon? That's a real game-changer."

Mimi made lunch for us. "I've been watching a lot of cooking shows on TV, and I've been practicing all the time. I hope you like it." The French Dip sandwiches were actually very good. During lunch, T.K., Kari, Matt, and Mimi told us new guys war stories from their time in the Digital World. There was the one time Mimi became a princess because a group of Gekomon thought she would be able to wake up a ShogunGekomon. Well, she finally did wake him up, but he ended up attacking them. "Hold up just a second. You're telling me that you finally woke this giant gecko up with your song, and he attacked you? That's pretty messed up," Marcus said. "You're telling me. Do you want to hear it?" "Uh, sure."

So, she warmed up her voice a little, then picked up a wooden spoon and started singing.

["I Wanna Sing a Song" (Acapella)

Presumably Written by Ardwight Chamberlain and J.M. Morris plus Saban Music

Performed by Mimi Tachikawa (Philece Sampler)]

Mimi:

I wanna sing a song,
A song to bring Shogunmon around.
When he hears my voice,
I hope he likes the sound.
He has to listen,
Listen to my sincere heart.
I've learned that friends are friends,
Even when they're apart.

The original DigiDestined seem to like it all right, but the others don't. Marcus, in particular, covers his ears.

Mimi:
I've asked my friends to forgive me
From the bottom of my heart!
If it's my choice,
His eyes will open wide.
And the Gekomon will be cheering,
Cheering with pride-

She stops and explains, "Um, that's all I got to before he woke up. Thank you."

Greg

Marcus, Thomas, and the rest of us new people couldn't wait for her to finish. We decided to judge her. I went first. "Ahem. Mimi, I have to ask you a personal question. Did you write those lyrics yourself?"

She eagerly nodded.

"They're utter crapola," Marcus butted in. I shoved Marcus back, and Rika punched him in the shoulder. "Marcus, stop being so rude," she hissed. "What? They are bad. OK, so she's sincere. So what? She doesn't write stuff like you or Greg or T.K. She's basically telling everybody how sincere she is in a song." "Marcus, I didn't start writing music until about a year after I joined the band," T.K. said.

Mimi just laughed it off. "I know, I know. They're terrible, but it's all I could come up with at the time. Anyway, I've worked a little on my material. Maybe I'll go into the music business like you guys. Do you want to hear something I've been working on? I promise it'll be better." We agreed, so Palmon grabbed a CD player and put a CD inside. We had just enough time after finishing the dishes to hear it.

["Release Me"

Written by Chynna Phillips, Carnie Wilson, and Wendy Wilson

Performed by Mimi Tachikawa (Philece Sampler)]

Palmon adjusts the CD player to the right track and presses "play". We don't hear the actual song, just the instrumental track and the backup. Mimi takes her same spoon/microphone and gets in position.

Mimi:

I know that it's time for a change
Mmm, but when that change comes,
will it still feel the same?

The others are seated on the couch as Mimi operates her living room.

Mimi:
How many times have I tried to turn this love around?
I don't want to give up
But baby, it's time I had two feet on the ground
Can you release me?
Can you release me?
Now that you're gone I can't help myself from wondering
Oh, if you'd have come down from your high
Would we've been all right?
Release me
Can you release me?

Soon, everyone in the audience is doing that arm-pumping dance from the 1st season episode "Princess Karaoke".

Mimi:
Come on baby, come on baby
You knew it was time to just let go
'Cause we want to be free
But somehow it's just not that easy
Come on Darlin', hear me Darlin'
'Cause you're a waste of time for me
I'm trying to make you see
That baby you've just got to release me

Release me
Release me

I'm not going back to you anymore
Finally my weakened heart is healing though very slow
So stop coming around my door
'Cause you're not gonna find
What you're looking for

Any question of Mimi's sincerity goes out the window.

Mimi:

Come on baby, come on baby
You knew it was time to just let go
'Cause we want to be free
But somehow it's just not that easy

Oh oh, oh baby
Come on Darlin', now hear me Darlin'
'Cause you're a waste of time for me
I'm trying to make you see
That baby you've just got to release me

Now tell me
What is this power you've got on me? (Backup: What is this power?)
What is this power? Oh
(Backup: What is it? What is it?)

Come on baby, come on baby
You knew it was time to just let go
'Cause we want to be free
But somehow it's just not that easy

Oh oh oh oh baby
Come on Darlin', now hear me Darlin'
'Cause you're a waste of time for me
I'm trying to make you see

Mimi drops down to her knees, really getting into it.

Mimi:
That baby you've just got to release me

Release me
Release me

Release me

Will you release me?
Ahhhh... Release me

(continue to fade)

Now this type of talent Marcus appreciates. The group cheers as Mimi curtsies.

Greg

We decided that Mimi had so much talent, we had to take her with us to RCA's HQ. But, she wouldn't go. "Little ol' me? A professional singer? Ha ha ha, no no. I couldn't do it, I couldn't take the pressure. Besides, some of us DigiDestined have to stay out of the spotlight," she said with a wink. Thomas gave her a card. We thanked her for the meal, packed up our Digimon, and headed for the next subway toward Sony Music Entertainment's headquarters on Madison Avenue.

We made our way to the 23rd floor, where Kazuki and some RCA executives met us. We opted to undergo the whole negotiation process in English, since all of us knew the language. The executive began. "All right. So, we have been listening to your latest compilation of love songs, and we want to take the band in a new direction. Hence, the inclusion of 'It Was Always You' in this album, and 'Animals' in the next. Of course, we heard 'Just Give Me a Reason' and fell in love with it. So, here is what we have planned. We've found that only three songs could be used as singles from 'D.T.R.'. Those would be 'True Love', 'It Was Always You', and 'If You Asked Me To'. We understand you're going to be appearing on Saturday Night Live, so we've already discussed the playlist with NBC. You will be performing, live, the song written by Ms. Nonaka and 'It Was Always You'."

"Wait just a minute, what about some of the songs I've written from the first album?" Matt wondered. "Oh, those. Well, that's the thing. It took us a while to figure it out, but 'I Turn Around' has numerous melodic similarities with Third Eye Blind's 'Semi-Charmed Life'. As for 'Run Around', it sounds like something out of a television series for children." "You watch your mouth, you mother-" Marcus threatened, but I pulled him back into his seat.

The executive stared coldly at him. "My my, Mr. Damon. You certainly have anger issues. I would suggest you start taking medication for it." "And I suggest you stay out of our business!" he shot back. The executive just smirked at him. "As I was saying, all the songs from your first album are off the Hot 100. So, we must put new songs in to avoid becoming stale. However... we'll have to make a few changes." He went on to describe some of the changes, which included cuts to some of the instrumental sections, more mixing on top of the mixing they'd already done, and so on. D.T.R. would be released on June 29th, so they canceled our stop in Toronto. Our lead-off single would be "True Love".

Before the exec brought up the third album, T.K. got a chance to perform a new song he'd just finished on his guitar. The executive didn't know what to say after he'd finished. "And this is for the Japanese market?" he asked. "Well, yeah," T.K. said. "Fascinating. But it would have to stay that way until you wrote English lyrics for it. Aside from Chinese, English is the world's most-used language. While returning to your roots is good, it wouldn't be profitable for RCA's bottom line. I suppose we can include it as a bonus track on the English versions and as a single on the Japanese version through your old label." That got some cheers from the group.

They laid out their plans for our next album. Some highlights included Rika's and my song, a new song written especially for Rika by this chick named Ingrid Michaelson, and a Mike + The Mechanics cover for Kari. RCA wasn't too happy about "I'm Still Here" being performed on "The Voice UK" when there wasn't a single out, so they'd put that as a single but it wouldn't be released on CD until our first Greatest Hits album. Matt managed to negotiate for a few covers of his own. All in all, we were being thrown a bunch of non-#1 covers and told to work our magic on them. They even came up with what they thought was a cute name for it. RCA dubbed it "On the Prowl".

Finally, there was some interesting news from Columbia Pictures. They wanted to use Rika and Anya for a remake of Jean-Luc Godard's "Two or Three Things I Know About Her". They called it "2 or 3 Things". Originally, it was about 24 hours in the sophisticated but empty life of a single mom who was also a prostitute. They wanted to Americanize it and retool it for the teenage audience, and since Rika and Anya were actually sexually mature teenagers, they thought it would be perfect for them. "Besides, it's not like Anya actually does anything in this album, anyway," the executive said. Anya looked like she was about to cry, so I called a quick powwow. After we broke out of it, Matt delivered the decision. "We'll try to mix saxophone into all our tracks." That made her feel a lot better. The executive just shrugged. "Your decision, then."

It was a gruesome meeting, but I think we ultimately won in the long run. The Seagram's ginger ale didn't help. We walked out of there feeling terrible and met out in the hall. Marcus was the first to speak. "I feel like I was put on a stage with nothing on in there. We can't let anything like that happen again. This is our band, and we're gonna do what we want with our music." I joined in. "Agreed. We've got to make some sort of a pact. We never give in to corporate pressure. We started as a team, and that's how we're gonna stay." We put our hands in a circle and sealed the deal.

Just then, a tall woman with fire-red hair, glasses and a slinky dress stormed towards us. She looked like what Yolei might have looked like in 15 years. "All right, which one of you rugrats is singing lead on 'Girls Chase Boys'?" she demanded to know. Rika raised her hand. "Well I wrote it, but the stupid label stole it from me and gave it to you!" She shoved some sheet music in Rika's face. "Ohhhhhh, so you're Ingrid Michaelson," Kari concluded. Ingrid angrily brushed the hair out of her face. "You better believe it. I knew Sony had a bad vibe. And to think, sharks like this are distributing my label. Makes me sick."

"Lady, don't hate the players. Hate the game," Rika said. "Easy for you to say. Now I want this song treated with respect, you hear me? My writing partners and I put our hearts and souls into this composition." "All right, all right. Take a chill pill, will you?" "Good luck!" Ingrid stormed off. Marcus stared at her as she walked away. "Geez. And I thought I had anger issues," he said.

By the time we left, it was about dinner time, so we stopped by this Mexican restaurant between 64th & 65th Street. After dinner, we searched for the necessary sheet music so we could start practicing, then took a tour of Radio City Music Hall. By the time we finished soundchecks and a short rehearsal, it was 10 PM. At about 10:15, our earpieces went off. I answered mine. "Greg here. What's the sitch, Commander?" Rika gave me a huge thumbs down for that. "Gregory. We have a Digimon sighting at Carl Schurz Park. How familiar are you with chess?" "I don't have a head for it. Thomas would, though. When I think chess, I think Thomas H. Nerdstein- er, Norstein." "Nice save," Thomas said over his earpiece. Commander Sampson went on, "I've already dispatched Mimi and Charisse. Thomas, you and Anya join them on the double."

Marcus cut in. "What am I, chopped liver? I want a piece of the action!" "Marcus, you clearly don't have a head for strategy. I implore you to sit out," Thomas heavily suggested. "Screw that!" I could hear Commander Sampson sigh heavily through the earpiece. "I declare, I suffer more migraines because of you than anyone else. Marcus, you are not going and that is my final word." Marcus ran off with Thomas and Anya anyway.

Sampson

Thanks to the tracker in Marcus' Digivice, I could see he was disregarding my orders. I called in Spencer Damon, the boy's father. "Spencer, how is it that your son is so willful?" I asked. "I don't know, and I'm not going to make any attempt to explain. As far as I know, he's always been strong-willed." "That certainly explains his disregard for authority," Kudamon said.

Thomas

Here I was, once again, babysitting Marcus Damon. I let out a heavy sigh and resigned myself to my fate. Perhaps I could shape him into the muscular backup I needed, if only for this mission. The three of us took a taxi to Carl Schurz Park. Outside, we met up with Mimi and Charisse. "Hello, ladies," I said.

Mimi pointed towards a mansion. "Well, it's about time you showed up. Look at what's happening outside Gracie Mansion." It looked like living chess pieces were setting up for a game of chess. "So that's what Commander Sampson meant," I said. Charisse nodded. "You got that right. You know how to play chess, Norstein?" "I'm practically at Grandmaster level, but I haven't played a decent game since filming that commercial in France."

"You could have asked me, Thomas. I always enjoy a good game," Anya offered. "I'll keep that in mind next time."

As usual, Marcus was impatient. "Aww, quit your yappin'. We gotta get in there." He started to go in, but Charisse grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "Hold it there, homeboy. There's something you gotta know. First off, that's Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor. He finds out what we're doing, and who knows what could happen? Second, I got a new Beast Spirit Evolution I know is gonna be worth the wait." "So, you're saying we should suit up and be quiet?" "Yeah!" "All right, whatever." We took out our Digivices and suited up, then quietly summoned our Digimon. Mimi's DATS uniform was similarly colored to Anya's.

Mimi took the time to show off her custom ivy green Digivice Burst, with pink carnation roses and white lilies on the back. "Isn't it beautiful? Izzy made it for me especially," she said. "Yeah yeah yeah, I think Izzy's nuts in love with you. You should've seen him drool over you when Matt described you to us," Marcus said. That caught her off-guard slightly. "Drooling? Hmm... I wonder how I'm going to break this to Michael. I've grown tired of him. Oh well, I'll just have to break the news to him in my usual way."

As usual, it was up to me to keep everyone focused. "Excuse me, but may we please move on?" I asked as politely as I could given the circumstances. Everyone looked to each other and refocused. "It's fightin' time!" Marcus cried. "Yeah!" Agumon cheered.

We, with the exception of Charisse, ignited our DigiSouls and got in position. "DigiSoul, Charge! OVERDRIVE!"

"Agumon Double Warp Digivolve to... ShineGreymon!"

"Gaomon Double Warp Digivolve to... MirageGaogamon!"

"Lalamon Double Warp Digivolve to... Rosemon!"

"Palmon Double Warp Digivolve to... Rosemon!"

The young African-American-Japanese girl took note of the two Rosemon. "Two Rosemon? That is just... whacked. Oh well. It's Morphin Time!" She put her hand behind her back and pulled out her D-Tector from her back pocket. With focus and determination, she held out her left hand, taking slow, patient twirls as a ball of Fractal Code formed around her fingers. Once she turned in a full circle, she slashed her D-Tector through the data, scanning the Fractal Code. "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"

As she raised her hand up after scanning it, her body blacked out as pebbles and air rose up from the ground. "Hmmmmm!" Her body changed form and appearance as the parts of her attached. She became a fuller, curvier and more powerful woman than before with sandy-tanned skin. Her maroon hair was cut extremely skin-short and a maroon stripe was painted across her eyes. She gained two more bee wings that were much larger with bolder black streaks. She wore a nude-coloured, swimsuit-like one-piece with a deep plunging V-neck, edged with fringe trim and a sexy lowcut back that showed just the right amount of skin. A long green silky scarf was tied around her head, with a honeycomb pattern in different shades of green. She also wore bangles made of stone bearing her Spirit symbol in the centers on her wrists and barefooted ankles, stone medallion earrings, and long light-brown gloves with stingers on the front-like claws. When she finished, she gave us all a grin and landed on her platform. She swung her stone mallet with excellent precision, holding the top right by her head. "AfriQueenBeemon!"

A look of complete surprise was painted on Anya's face. "Two Rosemon?" Mimi had the same expression. "You mean you have a Rosemon, too? I thought I was the only one." "Hmmm... I suppose after having two Veemons and two Agumons, this should not surprise me."

The Digimon flew ahead while one white piece ran towards us. I researched him on my analyzer. "'KingChessmon, a Mega-Level Puppet Digimon. Since he is a coward, he almost never attacks by himself, and he's only fast when it comes to running away in an emergency.' Hmm... no threat then. He's no threat!" The King piece stopped in front of me. "Ah, you! You look like an intelligent young man. We're looking for a commander, and you look like just the one," he said. "Hmmm?" I wondered.

"Sir, I would keep my guard up if I were you," MirageGaogamon advised. KingChessmon made the conditions quite clear. He and his twin brother, the black KingChessmon, were training to eventually take over this world and build a Chessmon empire. They needed a tactician to assist them, and I was the one. I thanked the celestial beings in the universe for choosing me over Marcus. I agreed to take over the black pieces. I was given an army of PawnChessmon, two RookChessmon, and two BishopChessmon. I replaced the KnightChessmon with the two Rosemon, and used AfriQueenBeemon and Marcus as the queen and king, respectively.

Marcus initially enjoyed the position I had given him. "Well how do you like that? Finally, you're showing me some respect. I could like being the king," he said with a smile. "Oh of course you would. The king hardly has to do anything until the end." The smile came off his face.

I stood on MirageGaogamon's shoulder so I could see the battle. I mentally formulated the chess board and the game went underway. A white PawnChessmon marched to f3. "Hmmm... the Barnes Opening, eh? Interesting. Pawn to e5," I called. A black PawnChessmon marched to e5. A white pawn moved to g4. I kept my exterior facade cool and calm, but inside I snickered. This KingChessmon was dumber than he appeared to be. In fact, he was a complete amateur at this game. "AfriQueenBeemon, move to h4," I instructed.

"Uh, yeah, where is that exactly?" she asked me. Obviously, she had not been trained in algebraic notation. "Move diagonally four spaces, so you are three spaces diagonally ahead from the king." She flew over there and stared the white KingChessmon down. The white king looked very nervous. "Checkmate," I said.

The white king quickly ran away, but the queen immediately called an attack. "Did we win?" Marcus asked, looking around. "Yes, yes we did," Anya quickly replied. Marcus shot his fist into the air. "Oh yeah!" A fight soon broke out as AfriQueenBeemon pulled out her mallet. "Stone Slam!" she called as she slammed her stone mallet down. She ended up creating an earthquake that took out a number of PawnChessmon. Soon, the black pieces revolted on us. ShineGreymon extinguished that proverbial fire quickly with his Glorious Burst. Mimi's Rosemon covered the ground in thorns, while Anya's used her Thorn Whipping attack to take hold of an enemy RookChessmon. This Digimon fired from the gunports on his arms at his own men, making sure to avoid any of our forces. Marcus used his Aura Mode to challenge a KnightChessmon by himself, the fool. He was thrown into a tree, but quickly recovered. Later, AfriQueenBeemon commanded a storm of rocks and flung them at our enemies. It was a massacre, but a strangely satisfying one. QueenChessmon, in so many words, gave our monsters a hard time.

Anya

The fight was continuing as normal, when two PawnChessmon ambushed us. I kicked one of them away, then punched in the three-button code on my Digivice. "DigiSoul Aura Mode, On!" I entered into Aura Mode and used a stronger kick.

Mimi punched out a PawnChessmon of her own and then examined her Digivice. "Oh, that's right. Izzy told me this had another mode on it. Let's see, two-three-one." She punched the code in as the light in the side rectangle turned on. She thrust her hand into the light and powered up. Whereas I tended to use combat variants of patented ballet moves in my attacks, Mimi straight out punched and kicked. She stretched out her arms to their limits, grabbed two PawnChessmon, and threw them aside.

The fight finally ended when MirageGaogamon finished off the KingChessmon and QueenChessmon with his Full Moon Blaster. The attack also took out several trees and plant life and left the park a large mess. Mimi and I used Aura Mode to quickly make the park managably clean. AfriQueenBeemon's antennas released a signal and several Earth-based Digimon came to her aid from the Digital World. They returned through a portal upon completion, and Charisse returned to her human form. Mimi and I powered down while the other Digimon powered down. Thomas made sure to get to the ground floor before MirageGaogamon reverted back to Gaomon.

We changed back into our normal clothes. "Well, another job well done," Thomas said, congratulating us. "Yeah, but there's one thing I didn't get. How could that stupid chess match be done so fast?" Marcus wondered. "Elementary, my dear Damon. KingChessmon wasn't very bright. He walked right into the checkmate with the fewest moves possible in chess. It's called, quite appropriately, 'Fool's Mate'. Even among rank beginners such as yourself, the mate almost never occurs in practice." "Oh, good, so at least I have a chance." "I could tutor you if you wish." "Eh, it's really not gonna help me much."

I turned to Charisse. "So, Charisse. How do you and the others arrive here so quickly?" "Eh, we're just in the right place at the right time." "What do you plan to do in New York?" "Eh, mostly cover for you guys Digimon-wise in case something happens while you're on stage." "Very nice."

We contacted the others and made our way back to the hotel. The next morning, we learned that Commander Sampson had woken up Marcus in the middle of the night and yelled at him for an hour straight about how disobediant and willful he was.

Greg

The next day, Macy's insisted on taking us to their Herald Square location, the largest in the world, for some new clothes. Who am I to say no to free swag? So, we spent about three hours individually searching for our new style. Anya chose a white, sleeveless thigh-length dress, with a pink border in the collar, and a metallic zipper in the neck. She matched it with pink and white striped stockings, and gray and pink boots with black soles and pink shoelaces positioned like an "X".

Thomas stuck with a white shirt, a vest, a blue tie, and black slacks. Marcus chose a black T-shirt, brown cargo pants, and a red and white jacket. T.K. opted for blue skinny jeans and a green T-shirt. I chose a black long-sleeve shirt, a gray sleeveless vest, dark blue pants and black shoes. I later got a black short-sleeve shirt for warmer weather. Matt stuck with his usual summer outfit, a black button-up shortsleeve shirt and jeans. Kari's new outfit consisted of a pink bandanna, a pink sleeveless T-shirt with a black collar, black bike shorts, black socks, and pink and white sneakers ("I'm going all pink to raise breast cancer awareness. Plus, I really like pink."). Rika stayed the same, swapping out her broken-heart shirt with her full-heart shirt. She did get some nicer jeans, though. Of course, those were just our best outfits. We did get other clothes.

After shopping, we were taken to the GE Building to rehearse for our appearance on Saturday Night Live. They were saving us for the season finale, with Ben Affleck as the host. I got to meet Kenan Thompson, who I'd grown up seeing on All That. The rest of the day was publicity shots, shooting promos, and various other things that cut into concert rehearsal time. The concerts at Radio City went really well, but I was psyched up for SNL.

["It Was Always You"

Written by Adam Levine, Sam Martin, Jason Evigan, Marcus Lomax, Jordan Johnson and Stefan Johnson

Performed by The Teenage Wolves

Lead Singer: Takeru "T.K." Ishida (Michael Cunio)]

Vanessa Bayer stands by the side of the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, The Teenage Wolves," she says. The audience cheers as the lights come on. Rika plays the introduction on the synthesizer as T.K. steps up to the mic without his electric guitar.

T.K.:

Woke up sweating from a dream
With a different kind of feeling
All day long my heart was beating
Searching for the meaning

Hazel eyes,
I was so color blind
We were just wasting time
For my whole life
We never crossed the line
Only friends in my mind
But now I realize,

He glances back towards Kari. T.K. has dedicated this song to her. The camera gets a shot of her, then goes back to the front (as does T.K.).

T.K.:
It was always you
Can't believe I could not see it all this time, all this time
It was always you
Now I know why my heart wasn't satisfied, satisfied
It was always you, you
No more guessing who
Looking back now I know it was always you, always you

Marcus fully kicks in on the drums as the song moves on. We get various shots of the band. Lorne Michaels does not allow musical guests to perform using lip-synching tracks, believing it diminishes the live aspect of the show. Exceptions are only made when the musical act is focused on intense dance routines instead of vocals, where it is difficult to be both heavily physically active and sing simultaneously. That is clearly not the case here.

T.K.:
All my hidden desires
Finally came alive
No, I never told a lie to you

so why would I start tonight?

Hazel eyes,
I was so color blind
We were just wasting time
For my whole life
We never crossed the line
Only friends in my mind
But now I realize,

It was always you
Can't believe I could not see it all this time, all this time
It was always you
Now I know why my heart wasn't satisfied, satisfied
It was always you, you
No more guessing who
Looking back now I know it was always you, always you

Aah, yeah,

(Greg: you, you, you, always you, you, you)
Aah, yeah,

(Greg: you, you, you, always you, you, you)

Woke up sweating from a dream
With a different kind of feeling (feeling, feeling, feeling)

It was always you
Even if I could not see it all this time, all this time
It was always you (always you)
Now I know why my heart wasn't satisfied, satisfied
It was always you, you
No more guessing who
Looking back now I know it was always you, always you

It was always you

Rika plays the concluding pieces on her synthesizer. As the song ends, the lights go out in the band area. The audience cheers.

Author's Notes:

Yes, Kari's "new" outfit is a modified version of May's from the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl series. Greg borrowed from Yugi Muto in the Dungeon Dice Monsters arc of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Anya's borrowed from Akiho Rindou (Digimon World Re:Digitize), and I simplified T.K.'s look.

I had to go to Wikipedia and look for the fastest checkmate possible just so I could write for Thomas' chess match.

Jason Evigan, who co-wrote "It Was Always You" has a famous father. Greg Evigan starred in series such as B.J. and the Bear and My Two Dads.

I'm eventually planning on phasing out PurityxSpirited in this fanfic. Naomi will get her chance to fight, and then we won't see them until later. Special thanks again goes to IrishDreamer4.