It would seem things for Tai and the others aren't finished just yet. Whoever this Athena is, it seems like she had a part in what happened with Meicoomon and the infected digimon. If the digidestined had known that, things could have gone differently. She is clearly a methodical individual, but there was something about the way she was able to use DarkTyrannomon. Is someone like her even human or is she something else? As for Davis and the others, at least they get to be part of the action this time. Now that he has been released form the hospital, he could finally return home. He and the others took some time for them to fully recover, but Davis was ready to get back in the action.
"Davis? You in your room?"
"Yeah, Dad. I'm in here." Davis said and that was when his father came in.
"Just wanted to make sure you were okay after returning from the hospital." Mr. Motomiya said.
"I'm fine, Dad." Davis claimed.
"Okay... Well, Kari called. She and Tai are on their way here." Mr. Motomiya said. "I guess she was rather worried about you. She even gave you some flowers at the hospital." He said as even he knew about Davis' little crush on Kari. However, Davis wasn't really feeling the love.
"Thanks, Dad. I'm just going to meet them outside the building." Davis said.
"No over the top expression? I thought you would have loved all that about Kari. What's this? Finally moving on?" Mr. Motomiya questioned.
"It's not that... Let's just say I'm not exactly happy with some of my friends right now." Davis said.
"Are you fighting or something?" Mr. Motomiya questioned, but Davis didn't really want to talk about it. He really couldn't with his father. "Davis, you and Kari have been friends for a long time. It sounds like you've been through a lot with these friends of yours. They might have made a mistake, but that doesn't mean they can't be forgiven."
"It's not that simple, Dad." Davis said.
"Maybe not at the moment, but be sure to find some form of forgiveness. It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission for it." Mr. Motomiya said. "If these friends mean so much to you, don't try to lose them, especially after all that you have been through together." That was all he said before his father left Davis' room. It was certainly something Davis needed to think about. Once Davis got his things together, he grabbed Veemon and the two of them were on their way.
"Let's go, Davis! Action is calling for us once again!" Veemon said. "Whatever is going on with this Athena, we're back in the action and we're going to stop her. Isn't that right?"
"Yeah. Sure is." Davis said as he tried to keep that upbeat and optimistic personality of his. "We might have missed out on some things, but we're back in."
"Davis!" That was when he looked down the street and spotted Kari and Tai. "Morning!" Kari said.
"How did it feel to be back home?" Tai questioned. Davis didn't really answer. He just walked right passed them.
"Come on. The others are waiting." Davis said. Seeing Davis act so bland right now was not really a good thing. They understand why he's mad, but what can they do about it now?
...
Izzy's Office
All of them were meeting up at Izzy's office. They need to discuss what is happening now because it would seem their fight isn't over yet. When they got there, Davis and Veemon were a little impressed with the place. They also noticed Ken, Yolei, and Cody were already there.
"Wow! Izzy, you work here?!" Veemon said.
"He sure does." Tentomon said.
"You've got to admit that this is pretty cool." Yolei said.
"Are you sure you're still in high school?" Davis questioned.
"Very funny, Davis." Izzy said. "By the way, I'm glad to see you and the others are doing better. They should be here soon."
"More like we're already here!" That was when they all noticed Matt and the others showed up.
"Hey, everyone." Yolei greeted.
"Yolei!" Mimi called and hugged her. "I'm so glad to see you're doing better!"
"And I'm glad to hear that you're back in Japan, Mimi." Yolei said.
"Cody and Ken, what about you two? Are you two doing well yourselves?" Mimi asked.
"We are. Thank you." Cody said.
"Yes, Thank you for asking, Mimi." Ken said.
"Well, now that we're all here, we need to get down to business." Izzy said. As the digimon were socializing with each other the way they always do, the others were all talking about latest events. "Let's talk about what we know because it seems like things aren't done. Ken, do you and the others know what happened?"
"Yes. Tai and Kari told us everything that went on." Ken said. "We know about the infected digimon, this Meicoomon, and what this King Drasil was trying to do."
"But do you guys not remember anything while you were captive?" Sora questioned.
"Sorry." Yolei said as she and the others were just as puzzled and unclear as to what might have happened. "I'm trying, but I don't remember much on what happened after we were in the Digital World."
"Well, it could have been something traumatizing. A loss of memory based on what you guys might have gone through is quite common." Joe said. "I'm sure with some rest and time, it will all come to you. Even if it doesn't, wasn't this King Drasil shutdown?"
"Yes, but it seems there were more to the situation than we thought. Starting with this Athena." Tai said. "We never even heard of her before this encounter. She somehow had control of that digimon, and it looked like it infected. The thing is that she said it was something different than before. She also said that she wants to return us to the darkness and nothingness that all of existence came from. Obviously, she plans to destroy our world."
"If I wasn't a lady, I would be so mad that I would actually spit. Gross." Mimi said. "If this Athena was behind everything, she must be the one really responsible for what happened to poor Mei and Meicoomon. All of it was so unfair, especially to those two."
"Do you think we should call her and tell her what's going on?" T.K. asked.
"I don't think that would be a good idea. At least, not until we know more and can explain it all to her." Sora said.
"I've got to ask something. This Meiko... What is she like?" Davis questioned.
"Mei? She was really nice and sweet, but was a little shy and bashful." Mimi said. "She has some confidence issues, and you can imagine what she was going through knowing her partner might have been the cause of our problems."
"Her partner, Meicoomon, was also nice." Palmon said. "Those two really cared for each other like any partners would."
"You would have loved her. She even won a cute monster contest." Gomamon said.
"Sounds great. I wish we were around to meet them, but no. We were left trapped without anyone even knowing. Now we can't because Meicoomon is gone." Davis complained. That might have been the wrong thing to say as everyone is staring at him. He figured he crossed a line, but you can't blame him for being upset. "Sorry." That was all he said before he got up his seat and just left out the door with Veemon following after him.
"What was that about?" Matt questioned.
"He's kind of mad at us...and I don't really blame him." Tai said. Kari felt rather guilty about this herself.
...
Davis
Davis needed some air and needed to clear his head. That's why he went up to the roof of the building and had a look outside the city. He had a lot to think about, but forgiveness might not be that easy. Thinking about what his father said, how can Davis find forgiveness. While he was thinking about that, he didn't know was that someone was watching him from a different space.
"You okay?" Veemon asked.
"Let's just say a lot went on, Veemon." Davis said. "Veemon, do you know anything about what went on during this whole thing? What was going on with you?"
"I'm not really sure. I think that reboot you mentioned might have messed with my own memories or something." Veemon said. It seems like there's some pieces missing in Davis' head, but where can he find them?
"Davis..." Davis looked back and saw that Kari came after him as she was rather concern about him.
...
The Office
While those two were talking up on the roof, the others were talking back down in the office about what happened.
"Honestly, it was nothing personal." Matt said. "When you guys never showed at the airport with your digimon like everyone else did, we assumed your digimon never came back like the others. Without your digimon, we didn't want to drag any of you into this."
"Understandable, but still..." Yolei said as she wasn't sure how to say it.
"From what I can understand, this Himekawa is the one to blame." Cody said. "She gave you all false intel."
"True, but we should have looked more into it." Tai said.
"We talked about this. We trusted Himekawa, and she lied and manipulated us." Matt said. "I did talk to her after seeing who we thought was Ken, and she told me she was keeping an eye on you guys. By the time we learned the truth, things were already getting out of hand."
"Yes... Kari told me about Gennai taking my form. Back when I was... Back when I was the Digimon Emperor." Ken said as he remembered his darker times.
"Yeah, that surprised us too, but we knew something was off Ken. We knew you would never go back to that." T.K. said. "We also knew something was off when Rosemon, Vikemon, and Leomon fought Imperialdramon."
"That's right. She mentioned that as well." Ken said as he petted Wormmon as he didn't to think of friends fighting friends.
"But I don't remember that." Wormmon said.
"My guess is that the Imperialdramon we fought was some sort of digital copy. Probably formed out of some data taken from your D3." Izzy said. It couldn't have been the real Imperialdramon because that would require both you and Davis just like Omnimon needs Tai and Matt."
"We had faith that you were all okay, but we didn't know Himekawa was fooling all of us the way she did." Sora said.
"Tai said that Nishijima told him it was because Himekawa was once one of us, but she lost her partner." Joe said. "It's understandable. When Gomamon and I hit a bit of a rough patch in all of this, I was worried about him. He said he wanted to stay away."
"Yeah, but that was because I wanted to fight and help your friends while you didn't." Gomamon said. "I thought I was helping you at the time. You would have also had more time with your girlfriend."
"I know, but you and I should stick together." Joe said as he dropped down and petted Gomamon. "Both you and she are my important partners. Losing someone like that can take a pretty tough mental and emotional toll on a person. That's probably what Himekawa went through, and that's why she did what she did." It would seem Joe feels some sympathy for Himekawa, but there was something else to discuss.
"Hold the phone! Joe, you have a girlfriend?!" Yolei said.
"When did that happened?" Ken questioned.
"Is she real?" Cody asked.
"Oh come on! She's real!" Joe claimed.
...
The Roof
"Davis, you know we would have came and searched for you guys if we knew the truth." Kari said as they both stared out at the city.
"But you didn't and yet you didn't think anything was suspicious." Davis said.
"We did, but the problem was that we trusted someone when we shouldn't have." Kari said. She feels just as guilty as the others do and wants to make it right. "Davis, you can't stay mad. We need to stick together because it seems like this fight isn't over. You and I have been friends since we were kids. After everything, are you just going to stay mad?"
"Well, there's a surprise." Davis said. "I think that's the first time you acknowledged us being friends for years. You and I met before I met any of the others, but you always hung around T.K."
"Don't tell me you're still jealous." Kari teased. She was hoping to get a reaction out of him, but he just looked away. Kari didn't like seeing him like this.
"Oh boy. Things must be bad if Davis is giving her the cold shoulder. I can feel it from here." Gatomon said.
"You can't really blame him. Gatomon, what do you think of all this?" Veemon asked.
"I think this is something he needs to work out." Gatomon said.
"Look, I don't want to be upset, Kari. After all that we've been through, I don't want to just throw it all away." Davis said. "My old man says I should seek forgiveness instead of asking permission for it. I'm just not sure how to do that. It's not easy to forgive something like this." This thing is leaving things quite unsettled with the gang. Kari certainly doesn't want to make things more difficult. She wanted to show that she does care, but there wasn't a chance to do that. That was right when a warp opened up and something came walking out with their partners rushing to their humans. Both of them were now faced with a knight-like digimon with a red cape and white armor.
"Who is that?" Davis questioned.
"No clue, but he could be friendly." Veemon optimistically claimed, but he was proven wrong when they saw the digimon's arm turned into a jousting lance with a shield forming in the other arm. "Never mind." Suddenly, he attacked.
