"It's been so long since everyone got together like this," Sora said with a sigh of emotion.
"Has it?" Cody asked.
"Absolutely. Today is our anniversary," T.K. said, sounding just as sentimental.
When they reached the meeting spot—beneath a lush, towering tree—the kids sat in a circle together. Tai and the other eight told Davis, Cody, and Yolei their adventure story in detail. The three of them asked questions from time to time, and Tai's group answered each one. Any doubts or worries they had were spoken openly, and they talked through them together.
"So that's why Kari and T.K. ended up like that," Cody said with feeling. After hearing Tai's story, Cody finally understood why T.K. and Kari had always been so familiar with fighting.
Tai and the others' adventure had been thrilling and intense. Battle after battle, adventure after adventure—it made Davis and the other two feel their blood surge with excitement.
After the story, everyone stood by the river, watching the flowing water and the boats passing back and forth. Davis, Cody, and Yolei just stood there in a daze.
"What's wrong with you three?"
"Hearing so many unbelievable stories at once… my brain can't process it right away," Cody answered.
"It feels like I'm full just from listening," Yolei added.
"I think my head can't fit anything else anymore," Davis replied blankly, holding his head.
"Davis, your brain capacity is way too small," Sora said, amused by what he'd said.
"So? Feeling a lot better now?" Tai asked with a smile as he looked at the three of them.
"Yeah." The three nodded together. Ever since witnessing the battle at the Dark Ocean, the pressure in their hearts had been suffocating—now it finally eased up a lot.
"Back then, we started our adventure on File Island. If someone had told us right at the beginning that we'd have to defeat Mega-level Digimon, we probably wouldn't have had the courage either," Tai said seriously as he looked at Davis and the other four. "So don't overthink it right now. We'll handle the really dangerous Digimon. You just need to complete the tasks in front of you—destroy the Control Spires and defeat the Digimon Emperor."
"Yeah. We'll work hard."
After the gathering ended, everyone split up to explore Odaiba—more accurately, the rebuilt Odaiba. That battle three years ago had destroyed a full sixth of the district, and many of the buildings now had been reconstructed afterward.
Matt took his younger brother, T.K., back to his place. Sora and Mimi took Yolei shopping. And Tai, Kari, Davis, Izzy, and Cody went to Tai's home. They agreed to meet at the park entrance the next day, then went their separate ways.
"It's been a long time since I've been here," T.K. said as he stepped into Matt's place. He looked around, then said helplessly, "But it feels like your place is always this dirty."
"What can you do? Two guys living together is just like this," Matt said. If Matt's fans knew how their idol lived, who knew if their image of him would shatter on the spot.
T.K. set Patamon down on the floor and prepared to pick up the clothes scattered around, but Matt hurriedly snatched them away from him. T.K. looked around again: clothes were still tossed everywhere—and they were all unwashed. In the kitchen sink, plates and bowls sat there uncleaned. Even the floor was grimy.
Matt made T.K. a special dinner, letting him experience what it was like not having Mom cook for them. While they were talking, Matt's dad came home. Without saying a word, he sat down, worry written all over his face.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" T.K. asked with concern.
"If you see someone in the hallway… but when you look again, there's no one there. No—maybe it isn't even a person," Matt's dad said, face pale with fear. "It's a really strange silhouette. Kind of like a person, but also not like one."
"Maybe there wasn't anyone there and you just saw wrong," T.K. guessed.
"Maybe it was my imagination," Matt's dad said, "but when I was editing, I found something appearing on the footage—something that wasn't there when we filmed it. And every time I replay it, it shows up in a different position." He clutched his head in pain.
"Maybe the place is haunted," Matt said, half-joking.
"That's right. You're right," Matt's dad said grimly. "If only one or two people saw it, you could call it imagination—but everyone at the station has seen it."
"Dad, what's this MD?" T.K. asked curiously, looking at the MiniDisc his dad had taken out.
"This is a Buddhist sutra recording Sakurada made for me."
"A Buddhist sutra?" The two brothers echoed at the same time, confused.
"Yeah! I heard it's useful against all kinds of evil spirits if you play it," Matt's dad said, shoving the earphones into his ears. "But it doesn't work at all."
"This is seriously ridiculous," Matt said, then went back to his room.
"I'll go take a shower," T.K. said, following after him. Neither of them wanted to keep listening to this not-scary-at-all ghost story.
But at that moment, the TV station was close to breaking down. Every recorded program had black shadows flitting across the footage. The two editors in charge were practically going insane.
Just then, Sakurada walked in carrying a tape recorder. "Let's try playing the sutra again."
"At a time like this, all we can do is try."
They pressed the play button, but the recorder didn't make a sound. And then, a deep, heavy voice began to echo all around them:
"I… want… re… venge…"
"What did you say? There's a strange voice?" Matt's dad jumped up in agitation. The black shadows in the station were already giving him a splitting headache—now a mysterious voice on top of that. It hit him like thunder shaking the sky.
"Tai, can your computer take us to the Digital World?" Izzy asked.
"Yeah. When I go to the Digital World, I usually use my home computer," Tai answered.
"Do we not need the D-3 Digivice?" Cody asked curiously.
"Actually, to go to the Digital World, you only need a Digivice," Tai replied. "The reason it was set up so only the D-3 Digivice can open the gate is to prevent kids who have a Digivice from going to the Digital World, running into danger, and then not being able to have their partner Digimon Digivolve."
"Does that mean other kids besides you also have Digivices?" Cody asked in shock.
"Of course," Izzy said. "After the Odaiba incident, a lot of kids around the world appeared who have D2 Digivices. We've been in contact online the whole time. The first time, they all rode a mysterious bus to the Digital World, and after that, they could use a computer at home to go there. But ever since the Dark Army invaded the Digital World, the Digital World's defense system had problems, and no one could open the gate anymore. It only reopened after you showed up."
"You've seen what the Digital World is like now," Tai said gloomily. "You could say it's completely defenseless. The firewall was already almost destroyed by Apocalymon, and then it got hit again by the Dark Army's attack—so it can't function at all anymore. And now, because of the Control Spires, there's no way to repair it."
The next morning, the sky was clearly bright and sunny—but above the TV station alone, massive storm clouds had gathered, and they kept accumulating, thicker and thicker.
The kids had only just arrived at the park entrance and finished gathering. They hadn't even spoken more than a few words when they noticed the light dimming. When they looked up, the storm clouds above the TV station had spread out and covered the area where they were standing too—and the cloud mass kept growing larger and larger.
Crack!
A blinding bolt of lightning struck the round sphere on the TV station. Then more lightning began to crash down around the building in rapid succession.
"Ah! Lightning hit the TV station!" the kids cried in shock.
Inside the station, the staff fled toward the exits in all directions. A clear, unmistakable black shadow—something obviously not human—drifted around over and over. And with the shadow's movement, an eerie voice scattered through the air:
"I'm back for revenge."
The ghostly scene, paired with the dark clouds and constant thunder outside, was straight out of a horror movie. People whose nerves had been stretched tight for too long finally snapped—they only had one thought left: get out of here as fast as possible.
"Help! Run!" The kids stood in the plaza in front of the station, watching staff members pour out of the exits, shouting as they ran for their lives like they'd seen a ghost.
…Which, honestly, they had.
The kids stared at each other, wide-eyed, watching the adults sprint past them.
"What's going on? It's just lightning hitting the station," Davis said, baffled. "Do they really have to run that fast? And why are they that scared?"
"Hey—Matt, T.K.!" Their dad came running over, panting hard. "Why are you two here?"
"Dad, what happened?" T.K. quickly asked. "Why is everyone running out? Is it because lightning hit the station?"
"Lightning hit the station?" Their dad repeated, confused. "No, it's not that. Didn't I tell you the station is haunted? It's real! There's a ghost floating around inside the station, and it keeps saying things. It's terrifying! Don't stay here—hurry up and run away with me!" As he spoke, he tried to grab Matt and T.K. to drag them away.
"Haunted? A black shadow?" The moment they heard that, goosebumps rose all over the kids. The girls, especially, were so frightened that they clung to each other.
Just then—
Crack!
Another bolt of lightning struck the station, making all the kids jump.
"Hurry and leave! It's too dangerous!" Matt's dad urged again.
"Izzy," Tai called, turning his head.
"What is it, Tai?"
"You brought the computer, right?"
"Yeah." Izzy pulled it out of the backpack on his back. "What's up?"
"Open it. Call Agumon and the others over," Tai said, staring at the TV station as lightning kept slamming into it, his expression grim. "There's probably a Digimon in there."
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