Mimi and Palmon

A beautiful girl was walking through a vast forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. Judging by her listless appearance, however, she was clearly a pampered girl.

"Palmon, how much longer do we have to walk?" Mimi Tachikawa straightened her hat and asked weakly.

"Mimi, just a little farther and we'll be out of the forest." Palmon was hardly doing any better than Mimi; the flower on his head was almost wilting.

"Palmon, that's not the first time you've said that," Mimi replied wearily.

"Oh, Mimi, don't worry about that," Palmon said sheepishly.

The human and Digimon kept walking. "Palmon, look! Bananas!" Mimi cried excitedly. "Palmon, hurry and pick them for me!"

"Okay, Mimi. Poison Ivy!" Six long vines grew from Palmon's palms, wrapped around the bananas on the tree, and plucked them in one swift motion.

"Wow, it's been so long since I had something decent to eat," Mimi said wistfully as she peeled a banana. But once she had removed all the peel, she discovered that there was only a tiny sliver of flesh inside.

As a Digimon, Palmon did not have the same eating habits as humans. Since Mimi had said bananas were edible, he ate one. He did not peel it, though, swallowing the whole banana instead. "Mimi, this tastes really good!"

Watching Palmon swallow a banana whole and hearing his praise, Mimi sat down on the ground helplessly. "What even is this? Palmon, I can't walk anymore."

"Mimi." Palmon looked at the bananas in his hands, then at Mimi, and held out half of them for her to eat.

Plop. A lump of poop fell from the very tree Mimi was leaning against, brushing right past the bananas Palmon was offering her.

"Aah!" Mimi and Palmon screamed in unison. Mimi, who had just firmly declared that she could not walk another step, snatched up Palmon in an instant and burst forward at a speed surpassing Bolt's, running dozens of meters away.

"Hello there!" Two Digimon suddenly sprang out of the banana tree and greeted Mimi and Palmon.

"Mimi, they're Sukamon and Chimairamon," Palmon explained. "That golden Digimon that looks like poop is Sukamon, a champion-level Digimon. The little one is Chimairamon."

"This is a robbery! Hand over everything you have!" Sukamon and Chimairamon said in unison.

"No way!" Mimi retorted, pulling Palmon along as she turned and ran.

"Stop! Hand over your belongings!" Sukamon leaped rapidly between the trees without touching the ground, forming poop in his hands and hurling it at Mimi and Palmon as he went.

Although both used poop-based attacks, this Sukamon was stronger than the other Sukamon. The other's poop attacks did virtually no damage and could only repel enemies with their stench. This Sukamon, however, had all kinds of poop techniques, including sticky poop, baseball poop, foul-smelling poop, explosive poop, and more. The poop he was throwing at Mimi now was merely the most basic kind.

As Sukamon gave chase, Chimairamon tugged on the cowlick on his head. (Let's just call it a cowlick.) After Chimairamon whispered a few words into his ear, Sukamon stopped attacking and advanced slowly.

"Huff, huff, huff, huff." Mimi ran a long way in one go. Only when Palmon said they had shaken off Sukamon did she finally lean against a tree, panting heavily.

"That was so disgusting," Mimi said.

"Yeah. Really disgusting," Palmon agreed.

"What was so disgusting, Palmon?" Sukamon had quietly toned down his movements and managed to reach them without either Mimi or Palmon noticing. His hands were long and pointed, like human hands made of nothing but bones. In an instant, he grabbed Mimi's schoolbag.

"Aah!" This time, Mimi's scream rose another ten octaves or so. Sukamon immediately withdrew both hands to cover his ears, while Chimairamon and Palmon were caught in the crossfire and left badly hurt.

"Gausmon, hurry! There's a noise coming from that direction!" An elderly voice rang out. Sukamon and Chimairamon went pale at the sound. Sukamon glanced at Chimairamon questioningly, and Chimairamon said, "It's Elderlymon! Let's get out of here!"

With Chimairamon's confirmation, Sukamon scooped him up, sprang into a tree, and fled without a trace.

After Sukamon ran away, an old man came galloping over from the distance on a dragon.

"Mimi, thank goodness! It's Elderlymon!" Palmon said happily.

The old man rode up to Mimi and studied her curiously. Just as his staring was beginning to unnerve her, he asked excitedly, "Are you one of the Chosen Children?"

Mimi did not know how to answer his question. Palmon tugged at her clothes and said, "Mimi, this is Elderlymon, the most respected elder on File Island."

"Hello, Elderlymon. I'm Mimi," she said, gathering her wits.

"Chosen Children, we're counting on you to protect the Digimon World," Elderlymon said with a sigh. "Palmon, have you seen Kangarumon?"

"Kangarumon?" Palmon asked, looking utterly puzzled.

"Ah, I forgot to explain. You know Dumplingmon, don't you? A Black Gear took control of him, and he digivolved into Kangarumon. Kangarumon has already killed many Digimon." Elderlymon looked anxious. "We have to find him quickly, or who knows how many innocent Digimon will suffer."

"Oh, so he digivolved from Dumplingmon. Does Kangarumon have the same abilities as Dumplingmon?" The moment Palmon finished speaking, he covered his mouth, as though something terrifying had occurred to him.

Elderlymon did not answer, instead scanning their surroundings warily. Only after a while did he say, "You seemed to be running away just now, and it looked like Sukamon was chasing you. But Sukamon doesn't normally operate in this forest, does he?" Elderlymon truly lived up to his status as the most senior Digimon. He patted the dragon beside him and said, "Gausmon, go bring Sukamon here."

Gausmon's face turned green when he heard that Sukamon was his target, and he reluctantly headed in the direction Elderlymon indicated.

"Elderlymon, Palmon, this Kangarumon you're talking about sounds really powerful. Is he stronger than Andromon? Andromon is an ultimate-level Digimon," Mimi asked.

"Chosen Child, your name is Mimi, correct?" Elderlymon asked. Mimi nodded. "Kangarumon is only a champion-level Digimon, but the damage he can inflict on Digimon far exceeds Andromon's."

"What do you mean, he does more damage to Digimon than Andromon?" Mimi pouted, unsure what else to say.

"Heh, Mimi, you've seen how powerful Andromon's Super Missile is. But even if Greymon and the others were hit by a Super Missile, they wouldn't die immediately. If they were struck by Kangarumon's Spear of Faith, however, I doubt any champion-level Digimon could survive. Even Creatoromon might die." Elderlymon started out confidently, but his certainty faltered when he mentioned Creatoromon.

Just then, Gausmon returned. Mimi burst out laughing at the sight of him. Since Gausmon had no hands-or rather, his hands were inconvenient to use-he had brought Sukamon back with his cowlick clenched between his teeth. Sukamon was unhappy, and Gausmon was displeased too. Nobody enjoyed eating poop.

"Sukamon and Chimairamon's abilities can help us find Kangarumon," Elderlymon told Mimi.

"Can they really help us find that dangerous Kangarumon? They look so... strange." Mimi was too embarrassed to use the word "ugly."

"Mimi, don't underestimate them. Sukamon's Territorial Ability can detect whether enemies have entered a large area, while Chimairamon's Motion Sense can determine the direction objects are moving within a smaller range." As he spoke, Elderlymon glanced at Sukamon. Sukamon was as afraid of him as ever, but could not conceal the vicious gleam in his eyes.

Once Gausmon was certain Sukamon could not escape, he set him on the ground and said, "Sukamon and Chimairamon are acting very strangely. But they don't seem to be controlled by Black Gears."

Elderlymon swept his hand imperiously. "We'll know whether Black Gears are controlling them once we test it." A beam of light shot from his finger and shone on Sukamon and Chimairamon.

Under the strange light, Sukamon and Chimairamon twisted uneasily, but Elderlymon appeared to have activated another technique that pinned them to the ground.

"It hurts!" Sukamon screamed. Half a Black Gear forced its way out of his body and shattered the moment it was exposed to Elderlymon's technique. As that half of the Black Gear broke apart, the aura of a Black Gear also spread from Chimairamon's body. It seemed that his had been destroyed inside him.

"Ugh, Black Gears again! I hate them, hate them, hate them!" If Palmon had not been holding Mimi back, she would already have gone on a rampage.

After a while, Chimairamon came to his senses and said, "I feel so refreshed now. My head has never felt this clear." Sukamon agreed, "Yeah, yeah!"

Palmon smiled. "Now we need to settle accounts over your attempt to rob us." His words immediately reminded Mimi, and she said, "Exactly! Trying to rob me was bad enough, but you actually dared to throw poop at me! I'm furious!"

Sukamon and Chimairamon had never expected such a beautiful girl to turn on them so abruptly. They stammered, unable to get a single word out.

With the Black Gears inside Sukamon and Chimairamon destroyed, their chances of finding Kangarumon improved a little. Along the way, Elderlymon kept asking Sukamon whether Kangarumon was approaching. Poor Sukamon feared Elderlymon more than anyone else and received no shortage of scoldings throughout the journey.