#repeat espimon

[koushirouizumi]

{repeatverse?_ Parody} (KouTai Implied) x This Sequence from {A.n.g.e.l. B.e.a.t.s} Ep 13

(check img descriptions!)

imgs/caps by Me

(DO NOT Copy) (DO NOT re-post) (Please ASK to Use)

"What is it?"

"I came all this way to {protect} everyone."

"Ah, so you're the {source}.

So? What do {YOU} (INTEND) to {DO}?"

"Shut down all these machines. {Please}

right now."

"Are you sure?

Have you thought this through?

You still have time.

Quite literally, all the TIME in {the world}."

"...You,

Let me tell you something {valuable}."

Humans don't have the "PATIENCE"

to wait EVEN 10 MINUTES for 'something'!"

-Y.u.r.i N.a.k.a.m.u.r.a

[bossarmadimon]

Oh, terriermon...

We're going to have another minicomic duo post in the Digital World with Hokuto and company!

The second part will be up next week!

OOC:Sorry for the week off, the writers of the comic were out on vacation, hope you enjoy!

[jadeazora]

So, now that DGG is over, I still feel Tamers is still the golden standard of Digimon anime for me. It just feels like they had a few interesting things set up or a few mysteries that they just dropped the ball on that lead to some big disappointments for me. This'll be long, so sorry if tldr:

Espimon's "fake Hiro" thing sounded interesting at first, perhaps there could be something off with our Hiro, or our Hiro potentially somehow being an imposter. But nah, just a misunderstanding/gag they carry on for way too long, like over 20 episodes 💀

The whole burn up if you try to go to the Digital World mystery (and how Hokuto got there) being just a bullshit lie when they dwell on it for more than 50 episodes. Like, yeah, they weren't ready by the time Bokomon died, but how long was Bakumon going to keep them in the dark?

Hokuto apparently got to the Digital World by accident, and could have apparently left any time rather than being trapped or working on some plot. (I always thought he had seemed a bit shifty, like one of those characters who is portrayed as goofy, but might be more sinister than they let on.)

The fact that Gulus was the main bad guy after all. GulusGammamon was set up as a threat, and like, ok, I wasn't against that, but (until the more hostile reversion seen in TonosamaGekomon's episode), it felt like he was slowly mellowing out a bit and could have been an ally at some point. Even as far back as the first episode he properly debuts in, we see his time as Gammamon has been affecting him, with him flashing back to Bokomon's death and dropping his attack/fainting and reverting to Gammamon. I assumed he might again cause problems in the long run, but would be absorbed by Gammamon and be a begrudging ally. (Also, we never do find out why he reverted to Gammamon and why Gammamon apparently lost that memory of him? It had to be post-failure in his mission to defeat the Endbringer since he had such a fearsome reputation in the Digital World, and the Endbringer thing feels just very random overall?)

Regulusmon being the final boss. While he's a stronger Perfect/Ultimate akin to Megidramon in power, he's still a Perfect/Ultimate. It's weird we're not facing a Mega final boss.

No Arcturusmon or Proximamon. My thoughts last episode was that Regulusmon would use the MoonMillenniummon crystal to power up into Arcturusmon, but Hiro and Siriusmon beat him with some bs power of friendship or whatever, with Gammamon's evil part getting absorbed, the evolution to Proximamon, and that it would then use its abilities of recreation to purge the Digital World of the GRB infection.

What the fuck about MoonMillenniummon's crystal anyway too? Never gets utilized or addressed outside of Hiro staring at it before they leave for the Digital World.

It also feels like there were a few villains that could have made more repeat appearances. Cherrymon, Weedmon, Lilithmon, and potentially Myotismon or Matadrmon.

Amphimon and Diarbbitmon barely doing anything outside their debuts. Diarbbitmon got off better than Amphimon, since he got to fight ZeedMillenniummon, but Amphimon really only managed to pull some minor support against Quartzmon. She got trapped by ClavisAngemon, and then her and Diarbbitmon got stomped by Bloomlordmon. We never saw our Mega trio win a fight together.

It feels like they could have done more with the kids getting secondary partners too, like there was the ever-present Espimon, Ruli was mentioned to have really hit things off with Airdramon, and Kiyoshiro was commonly shown with Ryudamon, who barely appeared after his evolution to Ginryumon. Plus, potential auxiliary Digidestined with Nomura, Riku, and the woman who befriended TonosamaGekomon.

Overall, I feel they either dropped the ball because they took too long keeping it episodic and getting moving on the story, or there was some executive meddling behind the scenes. Like, even as far along as the Lilithmon and ZeedMillenniummon episodes, it still felt like they were setting up, and then we get this rushed arc? It really feels like they planned for the series to have been much longer, but found out about the new show taking their timeslot and realized they didn't have the time to do what they wanted.

I'm genuinely sad about that too. I really loved the horror focus, the characters, and their Digimon. (That said, I really wish they had given us more of them dealing with trauma considering all the fucked-up, certain life-or-death scenarios they've been in, dealing with several Digimon that are literal serial killers, getting tortured at one point, and the forced transformations a few of them have undergone, etc., and that they'd been more proactive in trying to solve the series' mysteries. I feel they should have dropped the show being episodic at some point. It couldn't have stayed that way forever, and we're seeing what comes of keeping it that way for far too long.)

[detectiveichijouji]

Case 24 - A panicking digimon’s plea

[AO3 version]

“HE GOT TEN?! TEN FRAGMENTS SO FAR?!” Daisuke babbled, shouting and making iconic angry Daisuke noises, “THAT THIEEEEEEEEF…!!”

“We should focus on who will be the next target!” Miyako snapped, “We can track Arsenemon’s stolen pieces later, ok?!”

“But--”

“Miyako-san is right,” Ken sighed, “There’s something bugging me about this though…”

“Hm?” The digimon, Hikari, Takeru and Iori looked at Ken. Miyako was still on the laptop and Daisuke… was just babbling something inaudible right now (probably gibberish noises).

“Espimon was there too, but we didn’t see Noel Leblanc around.”

“Oh, that’s true,” Patamon replied.

“But Noel-kun said he doesn’t like to leave Espimon locked inside a room,” Hikari explained.

“This could mean Ken’s theory that Noel created Arsenemon is true, right?” Armadimon asked.

“Makes no sense!” Daisuke snapped, “Noel wouldn’t create a smug thief digimon and be playing with us! He’s not like… Uh, forget it.”

Ken stared at him for a moment -- yes I know what you wanted to say. But Ken also knew Daisuke didn’t mean any harm. And besides, Ken himself admitted creating Chimeramon was a bad bad idea.

“... Y-you know, sometimes I forgot you were… that guy” Daisuke blushed in shame. He was about to blame the Kaiser again, in front of the one and only former Digimon Kaiser.

“No, I get it. I just hope he’s not like who I was in the past.”

“... Awkward,” V-mon whispered to the other digimon.

“Hmm…” Iori was thoughtful.

“What is it, dagya?” Armadimon asked him.

“Instead of waiting for the next victim to appear, we should set a list of potential targets so we could prevent them from getting caught.”

“Ooh, that’s a good idea,” Hawkmon exclaimed.

“Iori-kun is really a genius,” Hikari giggled lightly.

“Of course he is!” Armadimon said, proudly of his human partner right now.

“Well done, Iori-sama” Daisuke gave Iori a pat in the head.

Iori blushed all of those compliments though. Then, the group started listing the potential victims. Patamon then asked, “Should we include ourselves in this list too?”

“Everyone has a potential to be a target here,” Ken explained. The others could feel he was afraid of something… But still not sure if about him turning into a potential menace again, or about the enemies using the other five against him like they had tried previously with Takeru.

“Right, I think they wouldn’t come after Takeru again,” Daisuke said seriously, “That Impmon noticed Takeru had some resistance to the wicked Digimental fragment, or the brainwash.”

“The lightning doesn’t strike twice, so I don’t think they will target me again.”

“Right, this means…” Miyako looked at the others, “... The rest of us are in danger.”

They nodded. Hikari frowned, “Okay, so who else is left from our seniors?”

“Mimi-san, Yamato-san and Koushiro-san,” Wormmon replied.

“Well, Mimi-san can’t be!” Miyako smiled, “She lives in New York, and we haven't got any request from any American Chosen Child yet.”

“Ok, then Yamato and Koushiro are possibly the next ones” Tailmon mused, “How is Yamato’s mood, Takeru?”

“Huh? He’s… fine, I guess.”

“Fine?” the others repeated, the worried faces made Takeru uncomfortable.

“Y-yeah, everything is fine with him. He told me at least. He’s just busy with university stuff, but nothing to worry… Yet.”

“When you say ‘yet’ like this, it means something is off,” Daisuke sighed. V-mon imitated him as well.

“They would totally target Koushiro, dagya” Armadimon said with a serious gaze at the group, “He got the shards we collected so far. Soon or later they will come after those too! To use it on others.”

“And then there’s Arsenemon too, who will come after those shards once he gets the remaining three…” Ken began musing again.

“... I think we should ask Arsenemon why he wants those,” Daisuke commented, out of the blue, making the others look at him in surprise, “He said we wouldn’t believe him if he told us what he wants with the shards… But… I think we would’ve at least tried to.”

“What?? He’s a thief!” Miyako squinted her eyes at Daisuke, “Isn’t you who keeps saying he’s a thief and that it’s our job to catch him!?”

“Yeah, but he helped us countless times! Even if we had the shard stolen later!”

“Daisuke-kun, why are you suggesting we do that all of a sudden?” Hikari frowned, “And besides, Inspector Fujieda didn’t… Contact us anymore…”

“Did she kick us out of the case??” Patamon asked them.

“Hmm, no. It’s that Arsenemon’s targets are not related to stealing usual objects anymore” Ken replied, “Seems like she and the police decided to quit the case.”

“AH~ Japan’s Autumn is so good~” Mimi’s plane has just landed and she was stretching her arms and she started to hum a song, excitedly.

“Mimi-san?” someone else came with her. Someone… who wanted to see a couple of old friends after a long time without seeing them… “I had never been to Japan before, so please don’t leave me behind…” he chuckled nervously.

“It’s okay~ I bet Daisuke-kun will be happy to see you again, Wallace~ ”

“... W-will they hate me?” a tiny Lopmon was holding Wallace’s leg. Yes, it was…

“I don’t think so, Chocomon. Don’t worry about it” Wallace responded with a smile, “I think they will be happy to see you again, now that you’re back.”

“Yeah, it was Daisuke himself who gave Wallace hope while you were inside that DigiEgg” Terriermon replied, “I bet he will like to meet the real you.”

“The real me…?”

“Now, let’s go!! I want to visit everything while we’re here!!” and then Terriermon took Lopmon’s hand and dragged him through the airport.

“D-don’t go without us!!” Wallace, Mimi and Palmon gasped and went after the twin-mons.

Later, at night…

“...”

Despite everything, Arsenemon kept watching the kids’ activity from the shadows. Especially now that they are the next targets from the eyepatched Impmon and Dracumon. Also… Who would be this Naito person? Would he be the same person mentioned by Taichi?

“Sigh, I’m running into a wall here” the elusive thief sighed, “We could track Impmon down and retrieve the remaining pieces, but this would end my fun…”

The truth is, he’s enjoying the caper shenanigans.

“... But if I don’t stop them, something bad will happen to those poor innocent humans and their digimon…”

He used his own magical tricks to write on the air, making notes on the current thread of events.

“Let’s see… Takenouchi Sora, Yagami Taichi and Kido Joe… Trying to use the Chosen Children with crests huh…”

“What’s up boss?” Espimon popped in, and she realized he was busy thinking about complicated stuff again “Oh…”

“I guess they’re just doing it purposely this time.”

“Huh, but why?”

“Maybe revenge? But it wouldn’t make sense… If the human named Naito is after the Chosen, he would’ve targeted Yagami Taichi’s peers first and then him later. But Taichi was the second victim this time…”

“Hmm… I think they might indirectly attack one of the younger humans…?”

“Oh, that’s for sure mademoiselle. But… Who?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged, “So, who’s next?”

“I’ve come to the conclusion it would be the less expected, less obvious human in this group of douze personnes , and it’s…”

He wrote the name in a calling card, then copied the calling card with his magic. He gave her the original one, “Send this immediately. Maybe if we get their awareness… Maybe we can prevent those Chosen Children from facing something terrible.”

“Aye, sir!!” and with this, Espimon flew away.

But that new target was…

In the morning…

“WHAT!?”

Mimi and Daisuke found the calling cards in their rooms, respectively. Daisuke’s one made him confused -- ISN’T MIMI-SAN IN NEW YORK OR SOMETHING!? -- but Mimi’s confusion was why would she become a target if he had nothing like a shard in possession?

“Might be a mistake,” Wallace looked at the paper “Are you sure it reads ‘Tachikawa’ and not another way? It doesn’t have furigana…”

“Maybe we should talk with Miyako-chan and the others…” She took her phone from the desk and started typing a message on it.

…

“Mimi-san is here!!?” Daisuke blinked, looking at the message he got on his phone minutes later, “Wait… How did he know?! Is she the next victim?! But it makes no sense!!”

“Huh… He’s really good at spying on us” Chibimon had his arms crossed, and he nodded his head sagely.

“It doesn’t matter! We have to protect Mimi-san from Arsenemon!!”

“But weren’t you saying recently that… We should ask him what he wants with the pieces?” Chibimon’s eyes narrowed.

“... Yeah, I did. But I’m not sayin’ we should become best friends ever with him!”

“Oh…”

“Anyway, Mimi-san needs our help. This is a case for our special digimon crimes unit!!”

“He’s back into that ‘detective’ mood…” Chibimon gave a long sigh.

Mimi and the 02 group gathered at the usual karaoke booth. And with her… Wallace and the twin digimon. This was the very first time Ichijouji Ken and Wallace were seeing each other.

“Why is Wallace here!?” Daisuke exclaimed.

“Oh he asked to come to see you five!” Mimi grinned and replied with joy, “See? He asked if they could come too and I said yes why not…? Daisuke-kun and the others would love to see you again!!”

“Huh, is that digimon…” Ken noticed Lopmon. The others looked at Ken and Wormmon.

“Oh, yeah it’s Chocomon!” Wallace took the digimon and put it on his lap, “He hatched!”

“What, didn’t I tell you before?” Daisuke blinked, “Wallace got twin digimon partners.”

“Oh…”

“Anyway,” Miyako cleaned her throat, “Why is Arsenemon after Mimi-san if she does not have a shard?”

“Maybe he knows something we don’t?” V-mon mused.

“That thief is really good at getting one step ahead from us, dagya” Armadimon complained with a pout.

“Um… Can you please explain to us more about those shards and this digimon called Arsenemon?” Terriermon asked them.

“Well, we can…” Hawkmon answered, “But we still didn’t get enough details figured out yet. Is that okay?”

Mimi, Palmon, Wallace and the twin digimon nodded in return. Then the 02 Team started explaining to them what happened.

“Oh I see…” Mimi stroked her chin “Ichijouji-kun destroyed a forbidden Digimental, hid the broken pieces somewhere only to be found by some mean digimon and then started to be spread through Tokyo…”

“Yeah,” Miyako nodded.

“Then this digimon called Arsenemon appeared,” Wallace was also stroking his chin, “claiming he would gather all of those pieces for a reason he claimed none of us would believe him…”

“Yup,” Patamon confirmed with a nod.

“But then an eyepatched Impmon and a Dracumon appeared and started corrupting people with those fragments…” Terriermon said, arms crossed.

“... And now you all have to not only get the shards before Arsenemon, but before they’re activated by someone’s desire?” Palmon completed the line.

“Yes,” Tailmon replied, “There’s also this new student at Hikari’s school named Noel Leblanc. He’s suspicious, but so far he has not been involved with anything bad yet.”

“Oh, is it because…” Wallace asked.

“... He’s a distant relative from Maurice Leblanc” Takeru answered, “Arséne Lupin’s creator.”

“In other words, we suspect he had created Arsenemon” Ken added. Daisuke looked at him.

“Well, we will have to be your bodyguards,” Miyako explained with a serious voice, “At least to prevent either of them from attacking you!”

“I’d like to have you as my bodyguard, Miyako-san,” Wallace said with a smooth voice and a smile. Ken suddenly took the microphone from the table and…

“THAT’S ALL, THANK YOU FOR COMING.” … screamed on it.

And he then gently pushed Wallace and Mimi out of the booth. He closed the door. Everyone stared at him, confused. Except for Daisuke, who definitely got the gist.

“Why did you do that!?” Miyako snapped, “That was so rude coming from you, Ken-kun!!”

“We need to talk. About that plan. Right now.”

“????”

“What was that…?” Wallace whined in his seat, at a local fast food chain around the karaoke’s location, “Daisuke told me that Ichijouji Ken was nice and tidy.”

“Oh don’t mind him,” Mimi giggled nervously, “Ichijouji-kun can be a little assertive when it comes to some of his friends.”

“Does he like Miyako-san too?” Wallace wondered, “He got good taste then.”

“I think we shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet,” Palmon commented.

“Oh so do I still have a chance…?” he smiled.

“Wallace,” Mimi laughed, “You’re so funny~”

“Hmm…?” Terriermon blinked, then called for the others’ attention, “Wallace, Mimi, look.”

“??” they looked to the direction Terriermon’s ears were pointing.

It was an Impmon. It had an eyepatch. So it’s one of the enemies, right? Mimi and Wallace, alongside their partners, got up from their table and slowly left the building, trying to contact Miyako and the others as soon as possible.

On their way, Wallace accidentally bumped into a young man with short white hair: Unryuuji Naito.

“Ah, I’m sorry!!” Wallace apologized with a bow.

“Oh it’s okay, kid” Naito smiled, “Oh you have dropped something.”

“Huh, did I-- Oh yeah, my phone! Thank you, mister!!” Wallace got his phone from the streetwalk and then bowed again to Naito. Finally, he ran after Mimi and the digimon.

Naito smirked, but a certain cyborg digimon witnessed the entire scene.

“What, you saw that Impmon we told you and Wallace?” Takeru and the others had met Mimi again. Oddly, Wallace was not around yet… the twin-mons neither.

“Yeah, we saw it!” Palmon confirmed, Terriermon saw them-- Huh? Where’s Terriermon, Lopmon and Wallace?”

“That’s no good…” Patamon frowned, “Maybe they went after that digimon?”

But, suddenly they see Wallace walking calmly with the twins. He smiled at them and went to meet with the group, “I finally caught you up. Sorry, I bumped into a dude…”

“Are you okay?” Hikari asked, and then Wallace nodded.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, no one got hurt. Well, shall we look for that digimon then?”

“Hmm…” Ken mused.

“What is it?”

“Nothing… Takeru-kun and Iori-kun should go with you. Miyako-san and Hikari-san with Mimi-san.”

“Hey, who made you the leader here?” Wallace stared at him, “You just think I’m after your girlfriend right!?”

“Girlfriend?” The group exclaimed.

“She’s not my girlfriend…” Ken spurted quickly. The group glanced at him again.

“Wait who’s Wallace talking abou--” Miyako raised an eyebrow.

“He’s jumping to conclusions,” Ken babbled again, “Anyway, let’s go. Daisuke agrees with those groups, right Daisuke?!”

“Huh?? Y-yeah I do…” Daisuke blinked, “Ken’s a good strategist so I trust him.”

“Hm… Going by those choices,” Iori stroked his chin, “Ichijouji-san put Mimi-san in priority, Silphymon is smaller and faster, alongside Lilymon they might counter the enemy until we arrive. However, Shakkoumon and Gargomon might be useful to protect you and the twins from turning into a target too.”

“Yes, exactly.” Ken nodded, “Paildramon and Imperialdramon should be used only in an emergency, in case either of you or Mimi-san get corrupted by the fragment.”

“I dunno…” Wallace squinted his eyes, “But if Daisuke says so, I’ll trust him more than you.”

“... Ken,” Daisuke and V-mon had narrowed eyes on the boy.

“Yes?” he gulped.

“Now that we’re alone… Be honest with me. You did it on purpose right?”

“What are you talking about, Daisuke??” He was sweating cold now.

“Y’know, you saw Wallace flirting with Miyako and… Decided to keep the girls away from him.”

“Oh?? Oh no no no no, I thought it would be good if they had Silphymon with--”

“He definitely did it because of Miyako” V-mon nodded sagely. Daisuke kept staring Ken.

“Don’t you believe in Ken-chan?!” Wormmon hissed, “Of course he didn’t do that for Miyako-san--”

“Ok, I admit… Yeah, but. Don’t. Tell.  Them. About. It.” Ken gave Daisuke and V-mon the stare most known as the ‘Digimon Kaiser murderous glare’

“R-right, sir…”

“Sigh, was it too obvious…?” he blushed.

“Y’know, it’s still funny” Daisuke chuckled, “You’re not the kind to be this aggressive when it comes to someone.”

“...”

“You should be like me and be more… Discreet? Is that the word?”

“You? Discreet?” Ken held his laugh. Wormmon and V-mon looked at Daisuke, impressed (but not surprised) that he had the audacity to say that.

“... Say, is it true Miyako-san doesn’t have a boyfriend?” Wallace tried to start a convo with the other two, but they were too focused on catching Impmon before things went south. They didn’t answer Wallace at all.

“Wallace-san,” Iori spoke, looking at the older boy now, “Where did you and Gummymon see that Impmon?”

“Uhh… It was in a fast food restaurant…” he answered, “Gummymon, show them the way.”

“But I… I have never been to Japan before…!!” Terriermon frowned, “How can we get there…?”

“Hmm, is there anything you could remember from that place?” Takeru asked, trying another approach, “Like, what’s on the other side of the street?”

“... I wasn’t paying attention… All I remember is we left and I bumped into this white haired dude, Then I used the digivice to find Mimi-san.”

“That’s a big problem, dagya…”

“But we don’t need to look for the place,” Terriermon said, pointing with his ears at someone in the horizon, “That Impmon is right there.”

“!!”

“Let’s catch him!” Patamon said, and then the boys nodded. But Lopmon was a little slower. Something made him a little wary about this.

“Um.. Umm…” the bunny digimon tried to run faster, to catch them up, but he stepped on his big ears and slipped, rolling like a ball through the street. He then heard some screams and a loud noise. He got up and looked into the direction of the sound.

He saw Wallace and Terriermon. But…

“A-aahh…!!”Lopmon flew away from there. What did he see??

“Strange…” Miyako pouted, “Why is Ken-kun acting so weirdly today? Geez, I don’t understand him sometimes.”

“Maybe Iori-kun was right and it was to take advantage of a Lilymon-Silphymon combo” Mimi tried to cheer her up, “Or do you think he did it because he was jealous?”

“Jealous?” Hikari, tilted her head, “Um… It’s true that sometimes…”

“Hey, there’s no way he would be jealous!” Miyako snapped, “He’s not Daisuke. Daisuke used to throw tantrums every time someone flirted with Hikari-chan.”

“He didn’t do that anymore though” Tailmon shrugged, “Maybe he grew out of it.”

“Mhm, mhm” Mimi and Palmon nodded.

“Hmph! Ken-kun is too intellectual to lose his patience with someone like Wallace! He’s well mannered, and calm. There’s no way he was putting us in a team to keep Wallace away from us!”

“I think I heard something…” Hawkmon commented, “Oh, someone’s nearby.”

“Hm? Oh it’s…”

… Noel? He seemed to be looking for something or someone. He then saw the girls and panicked. Well, maybe he’s just awkward… He passed by them, in a rush. But something fell from his pocket.

Mimi took it from the ground and it was…

“A card?” they all exclaimed.

It was one of those black calling cards. Miyako then read it, it was actually a calling card specially for him?? 

Your friends are in danger. Hurry up and find the shard, before it’s too late.

“Why would Arsenemon send a calling card to Noel-kun?” Hikari frowned, “And… Is Arsenemon planning to attack Daisuke and V-mon?”

“Oh no, we got to warn them…!!” Mimi babbled. The girls then went back, trying to phone Daisuke and Ken immediately.

“You were laughing!” Daisuke growled, “ Don’t lie, Ken! You were laughing when I said you need to be more like me!”

“I don’t know what you mean, but it was funny the way you said it.”

“Hah! You admitted it! But now you’re feeling less upset, right?”

“So Daisuke was trying to make Ken laugh?” V-mon blinked, Wormmon shrugged in silence.

“Well, if you want to know, I don’t think the word ‘discreet’ suits you. You’re more… ‘carefree’ if you ask me.”

“Carefree huh… Well, that’s how I am, I don’t like to take time worrying about useless stuff.”

“Suits you. See?”

They laughed lightly… Until they saw Lopmon coming in their direction, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” The bunny just hit Daisuke in the face and hugged it like the times Koromon did it with Taichi.

“G-GAH!!” Daisuke fell on the floor, then he took the bun off his face. He held Lopmon gently, “W-what happened, what’s wrong, where’s the others!?”

“TOO MANY QUESTIONS AAAAA!!” Lopmon cried, like a baby. Yeah, Gummymon was right -- Chocomon is a crybaby.

“Hey, take it easy,” Ken then took him from Daisuke’s hands, to let the other get up, “What happened…?”

“Wallace… He--”

Suddenly, a calling card flew in front of Daisuke. He took it from the ground:

Pardon my mistake. You six might be in real danger now.

“What? What does he mean??” V-mon asked the boys.

“Please… save… Wallace… and Gummymon…” Lopmon said, with his voice wavering. He grabbed Ken’s shirt tightly, as if he was saying don’t leave me.

Ken and Daisuke looked at each other. Something happened. Daisuke looked at the calling card again, “Alright so this means the bad guys caught Mimi-san and Palmon.”

“Are you sure…?”

“Arsenemon knew she was the target. There’s no other option here. Let’s go--”

“Alright/Yeah…” Ken, Wormmon and V-mon nodded and then the four went after the girls.

“Ugh…” Takeru woke up, and then he realized he and Iori were stuck inside a basement, “Iori-kun…!”

“Ghn… My head…” Armadimon growled, “Are y’all okay?”

“I’m fine…” Iori finally spoke, “Where are we?”

“We’re underground,” Patamon explained, on the top of Takeru’s head, “Seems like we got trapped here.”

“... Can we open the trapdoor?” Iori asked, but Takeru and Patamon shook their heads.

“Gah, I don’t think we can call for help now, dagya…!!” Armadimon sighed.

“Stay calm, please…” Iori asked him, softly. Then he took his phone, “Maybe I can ask for help.”

“But… How did we end up here, dagya…? Huh? Where’s Wallace and Gummymon, dagya?”

“...”

“Mimi-san!!” Daisuke screamed, and then approached the girl, “Huh, you’re… Normal??”

“W-what do you mean!?” Mimi pouted, “I’m fine…!”

“But… Arsenemon…”

Miyako and Hikari come, along with Silphymon and Lilymon. They all were confused. Daisuke then asked their digimon: “Why did y’all evolve?”

“Miyako-san found this,” Silphymon (Aquilamon side) answered, and then Miyako showed him the calling card.

“Huh, another one??” V-mon exclaimed.

“Did you get one of those?” Miyako raised an eyebrow. Ken was also curious about it, “This one dropped from Noel’s pocket.”

“Noel huh…” Ken mused.

“Maybe he went to warn us?” Wormmon said.

“But why would Arsenemon send him that?” Daisuke frowned, “A-anyway… If Mimi-san and Lilymon are fine, then this means…

Then Daisuke and the others look at Wallace coming into their direction. He was smiling, walking calmly and normally. But they all definitely noticed that Takeru and Iori weren’t with him so it made them all a little terrified.

“Sorry, we couldn’t find that Impmon” Wallace frowned, “Anyone got some luck?”

“Wallace,” Daisuke said with a serious voice, and he was glaring at the other boy, “where are Takeru and Iori?”

“Oh? They decided to keep looking for the digimon a little more, but I got lost from them.”

“You could’ve phoned us,” Mimi said, “I thought you had mine and Daisuke-kun’s number…”

“Hey, what if we split up again? I’ll go with Daisuke this time. We can find them quickly this way.”

“Uh…” Daisuke looked at Ken and the others, and at Lopmon who had asked for them to help Wallace… “It’s pointless to split up now. We need a better plan--”

“No, go with him” Ken interrupted him, and whispered something in Daisuke’s ear.

“Ok… If you say so…” Daisuke shrugged, but whatever Ken had told him made the goggle boy pout. He walked to Wallace, but Ken held V-mon’s arm for a moment. For some reason, Lopmon refused to go with them.

Wallace and Daisuke left, V-mon looked at Ken: “Huh, don’t you think it’s dangerous to leave Daisuke to go all alone?”

“Trust me, I have a plan” Ken said with a determined gaze at the blue digimon.

“Hm?”

“Hey, Wallace…” Daisuke grabbed his digivice inside his hoodie’s pocket, “Where’s Gummymon? If you get in trouble you might get hurt…”

“He went with Iori and Takeru,” he replied calmly, “Huh?” Wallace looked behind, “V-mon and Chocomon are not coming?”

“V-mon is a little tired. I think it’s okay to look for the other two without him. And when we found Chocomon he was afraid, so leave it in Mimi-san and Hikari-chan’s hands.”

“Fine then.”

Wallace, you’re acting too suspicious here… -- Daisuke thought -- I think something is wrong here, but being used as bait sucks!! Hurry up Ken…

“Uh… Shouldn’t it be easier if we call them with my phone?” Daisuke asked, “I think it would be easier--”

“... Daisuke.”

“?”

Wallace led him to an alley. They stopped, and Daisuke clutched the digivice in his pocket. He gulped.

Suddenly, Daisuke noticed something in Wallace’s hand. It was… A shard?!

“Y-you…!!”

Behind Wallace and in the shadows, two flashing red eyes appeared and then from that direction missiles like the ones from Rapidmon Golden were shot. But Daisuke couldn’t defend himself!! So he closed his eyes waiting for the worst, BUT!!

“Un deux trois!”

A magical barrier made of a giant Ace of Hearts card protected him. The three looked up and saw a silhouette of a humanoid digimon. Arsenemon jumped from the top of that building and landed in the middle of the scene.

“My my, you’re a bit reckless when I told you you were a target, non ?”

“I… I didn’t ask for your help!!” Daisuke babbled angrily, “... B-but thanks. I guess.”

“Your little blonde friend here has not only been consumed by the fragment,” he said hesitantly, “But also one more little detail. May you believe me?”

“If you’re goin’ to steal that thing do it now!”

“I won’t let you ruin it.” Wallace’s voice sounded creepier now, “Rapidmon, get rid of them…!!”

 A black digitron Rapidmon appeared from the shadows and assaulted Arsenemon, who used his cane to block the opponent’s attack and shielded Daisuke. The boy was completely confused about why Arsenemon decided to protect him instead of going after the fragment.

“Forget me!” Daisuke shouted, “Get that thing out of Wallace’s hand!”

“If you want this, then better you stop shielding him and come get it!!” Then Wallace ran away.

“He’s escaping!!”

“Are you ok, though?”

“... Yeah I am, but you might not like to lose a piece right?” he smirked.

“W-what?”

Lilymon used her Flower Necklace technique to wrap Arsenemon with her flower and vine rings. Little do they (Wallace and Arsenemon) know that Lilymon had been following Daisuke.

“Kh!! It was a trap!?”

“Hehe” Daisuke laughed, “We caught you, sneaky thief!!” Then he phoned Ken, “Ken, we got him. Now it’s up to you to catch Wallace.”

“Heh, you smooth detective caught me.”

“Shut up, I hate to be used as bait!”

“...”

Wallace and Rapidmon were successfully running away when Silphymon and Shakkoumon blocked the way! It wouldn’t be a problem to get rid of them, right!?

Except… a pair of cables wrapped Wallace and Rapidmon. They looked back and saw… Paildramon?! But HOW did V-mon evolve without Daisuke…!?

“Kh!! H-How!?”

“Easy,” Ken smirked a la Digimon Kaiser, “Lopmon witnessed you using the shard. And then he used ‘save’ when asking us to help you and your digimon.”

“Then Iori called me on the phone and explained everything” Miyako added, “That they were trapped in a basement by you and Gummymon.”

“... So, you figured things out, huh?” Wallace smirked, “But not enough for THIS!! ” and then Rapidmon fired his revolver on his back, attacking in all directions. The group had to cover and hide.

But… More of those card-shields protected them all. Lilymon took advantage and used her Flower Necklace technique on Wallace and Rapidmon by wrapping them with her flowers and vines, thus removing the wicked mental control from the fragment and Dracumon. Rapidmon devolved back into Terriermon and passed out due to exhaustion. 

Ken took the fragment from Wallace’s hand, “I’ll take this, thank you.”

“Huh… How did this thing end up in my hand…!?” Wallace blinked, “Argh… My head hurts…”

They all looked at each other, then back to Wallace.

“Don’t you know?” Patamon asked, raising an eyebrow.  The three Jogresses had undone and all six digimon devolved back to their usual forms.

Wallace shook his head, “Nope… All I remember was… I was using my phone to call Mimi-san and… Suddenly a flash light came from the screen… I don’t remember when I had that shard in my hands, but I clearly remember doing something bad to Takeru and Iori… ugh…”

“Maybe it fused with Wallace’s phone” Ken mused, “Like when Mokami Ryouma fused the shard with his partner’s DigiEgg…”

“Wow, you’re pretty smart huh?” Wallace gasped in surprise.

Mimi walked in, with Lopmon in her arms, Lopmon then jumped on Wallace’s face and hugged it. The boy grabbed the twin-mon gently and took him off his face.

“Thank you,” Lopmon thanked Ken, looking at him timidly.

“Daisuke’s friends are my friends too” Ken smiled kindly, “I hope Terriermon is not hurt though…”

“He will be fine, he’s a tough digimon” Lopmon smiled back.

“But where did those cards come from, dagya?” Armadimon asked, looking at those objects fading in the air.

“Arsenemon…” V-mon clenched his fists. Then, the group saw Lilymon and Daisuke coming to meet them “Daisuke, did you let him go?!”

“... No?” Daisuke blinked, “A-actually he… He was a dummy. Like, not the real one.”

“A dummy!?” the rest of the group exclaimed.

“Yes, a dummy” Lilymon nodded her head, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, you did your best” Mimi tried to comfort her.

“... Sigh, we got THIS close to get the other ten shards back…” Daisuke commented, dramatically.

“Hmm… 8 shards for them…”

In the distance, Noel watched them. Why was he there though? Maybe he arrived too late to warn Daisuke and the others about what happened with Wallace?

“Good… Very good…”

[koushirouizumi]

Koushiro, receiving the message N.Y Chosen Steve previously sent: ("'A cute'" "'Mon'" that "kind of acts like" me' 'showed up...' '?? ? ? ?'") Taichi, leaning over to read: Koushiro, giving Taichi a LOOK: (H-hey!!!) Taichi: (OK, OK, I won't look) Koushiro: (*...reads Taichi the message*) Taichi: Tell Steve I'm seeing a cute expression on your face right about now. Koushiro: (t-tAICHI-SAN---) Steve: (*receives the reply*) Oh--- (*laugh*) Frigimon & Espimon: (?????) Steve, showing the pic Taichi snapped and convinced Koushiro to send: They're really cute. Espimon: ...Che. I don't GET it, but they look "happy" here, I Guess. Kind of like "fake Hiro" when Fake-Hiro is with the others. Steve, mentally taking Note: And cute. Espimon, psuedo-nodding, repeating: And cu---- Frigimon: (Got you.) Espimon: ---Well, I GUESS. (*huff!*) Not me, though. Frigimon: (This feels like it might go on for a while.) Steve: (It's just genuinely really sweet, they're pretty similar, too...) Steve, laughing in mind: (Anyway, TAICHI... sure is going to keep Koushiro's attention today.) Taichi, later on: (You were messaging Koushiro ever since the meeting back in '02????) Steve: (Well, we're something like 'friends'... but Koushiro was always talking about you too, it just naturally flowed like that) Taichi: (!!??!?) ("Koushiro talked about me?!??") Steve, laughing: ("I don't know where Taichi-san would, even like to 'hang out' at? Taichi-san likes to eat but... Steve-san, do you have any advice? I'm rather bad at this kind of thing, I don't eat out often, my parents usually..." "Taichi-san seemed happy when I finally asked Taichi-san to 'hang out' the other day. I know I took some time to ask, but the level of confidence that was required..." "I'm trying to introduce Taichi-san to the concept of e-mailing for a while now, but Taichi-san doesn't typically write long messages." "Taichi-san wrote back. It was rather short, but... And, uses a lot of 'emojis'..." "I want to wear something a little 'different' - I know I did with Mimi-san 'back then', but I'm still a little, well, it's disconcerting..." "I gave the tickets my other American friend gave me, to go the football game, to Taichi-san, and Taichi-san was really, really thrilled. I can't obtain these all the time, but if possible..." "The football game was really loud, but Taichi-san seemed to have a lot of fun, and I can't help but admit it was a very exciting atmosphere." "Is it ok if we practice speaking again? I'd like to brush up on my French. Someday, I think Taichi-san would also like to go to..." "After making the new Digivices, Taichi-san began to call more, but as for proper communication over the phone, I wonder if I'm handling it well with Taichi-san..." "Is it all right to also invite Taichi-san to {gathering Koushiro was also invited to by Steve}?" "Taichi-san seemed to really enjoy the gatherings, so I was quite pleasantly surprised.") TAICHI: (oH) STEVE: (Go for it, "Taichi-san".)