Chapter 7: Daddy Issues

It was right after the defeat of the Red Mark Copymon. The Digidestined had just witnessed a miracle in the face of defeat against a dozen MarineOmnimon. A member of C.A.D was in front of a computer behind a booth at an internet cafe called Hudie, located in Ikebukuro. "Impossible! What the heck just happened!?" He shouted in frustration. He had been controlling Copymon from inside this booth. In one of the booths next to him, a guy just rolled his eyes. "Must have just lost an online gaming match or something. Geeze. Chill out." He thought. The C.A.D member heard a knock at the door of his booth. "This one's occupied. Go to another." He said. More knocking. "I said it's occupied! Go somewhere else!" Suddenly, the door blew open! The C.A.D man shouted, being startled. The door flew past him and smashed into the computer he was using. The C.A.D member looked at the door. The front of it had been burned by something. He looked back at where the door had been blown off and saw a man with short brown hair and a beard in an orange shirt and trench coat with an Agumon standing next to him. It was Evander. Agumon had used his Pepper Breath to blow the door open. Neither of his other Digimon were with him though. Evander flashed his badge. "I'm Detective Evander Glovion. I'm going to need to take you in for questioning." He said calmly. "On what charges?" The C.A.D man asked. "For mass murder against Digimon, attempted murder of several others, oh, and…threatening the life of my little girl." Evander responded.

The C.A.D member threw a punch in Evander's direction, but he dodged it and gave a counter punch, knocking the man back. Evander took out a pair of handcuffs out of his trenchcoat pocket and slapped them on the wrists of the suspect. "So, you got a name, C.A.D man?" Evander asked. "Screw you!" The C.A.D member responded. "Screw You? That's an odd name. Ever thought of having it changed?" Evander joked. Evander hauled his suspect out of the internet cafe and threw him into the back of his truck. Agumon tied up his legs with rope to further restrain him so he wouldn't damage the car while in route to the jail. "That ought to hold you for a while." Agumon said. Evander hopped into the driver's seat, Agumon, in the passenger's seat. Then they took off.

While Evander was driving, his phone rang. "Computer, answer the call." Evander said. "Dad? It's me, Taylor. I have something TOTALLY amazing and bizarre to share with you concerning our Digimon." She said. Her voice was coming out of the car's radio speakers because the phone had connected via BlueTooth. Taylor started explaining everything, and by the time Evander had pulled into the parking lot of the jail, she had finished. Evander bit his lip. His eyebrows furrowed, and he put his index finger and thumb over his beard and began rubbing it. "So this beautiful woman with fire wings, a shark tail, and flowers on her body appeared after you glowed golden and the light around your body enveloped the Digimon." Evander said, summarizing the whole story. "That's right." Taylor responded over the phone.

"And all these MarineOmnimon were taken down like they were nothing." Evander said.

"Right. Dad. What's going on? Could….could I be manifesting the power of Poseidon?" Taylor asked.

Agumon chimed in, "I don't think so. Jessica said it skips a generation. Besides, when Jessica used her powers to fight, her powers didn't cause anything like that to occur. She did enable Gabumon and I to become MarineOmnimon, but what you described doesn't sound like a normal digivolution. After all, everyone was still on the ground in their Champion forms, right?" Agumon said.

"Well, in any case, I'm glad you're not hurt. Did you tell everyone else over the group chat?" Evander asked.

"I did that before calling you." Taylor replied.

"Ok, good. By the way, you'll be happy to know that I tracked down one of the suspects. He's in custody about to be taken in for questioning" Evander said.

"That's wonderful! How did you find him?" Taylor asked.

"It was really just dumb luck. Evander and I went to the Hudie internet cafe in Ikebukuro to question the customers and we happened to see a guy in a C.A.D shirt walk into one of the booths." Agumon explained.

"I love you, my little mermaid. Be safe, ok." Evander said.

"Sure, Dad. I love you too." She said.

They both hung up. Agumon and Evander got out of the car. On the other line, Taylor was standing on the Beach Of Kawasaki. It was late in the day and the sun was getting low. She looked out at the ocean. Sharkmon was there next to her. Sharkmon looked up at his mermaid partner and patted her on the leg. "So, you gonna strip down and dive back in? Suzie's waiting for you." Sharkmon said. Taylor looked down at the little sharklike Digimon and furrowed her eyebrows. "Yeah. She's probably wondering what happened to me." She said before taking her shirt off, revealing a black tube top underneath. She took her shoes and socks off, and then her shorts, revealing a red loincloth underneath. Although they called them loin cloths, they were really just distressed mini skirts with no underwear underneath. Taylor lowered her goggles over her eyes and went off into the ocean with Sharkmon.

Elsewhere…

Evander and his Agumon walked into a room where the suspect was held. It was one of those interrogation rooms like you see in Detective TV shows, one-way mirror windows and all. The floors had multiple tiles, and the table and chairs were pure white and made of some kind of plastic. Evander sat down in one of the chairs directly facing the suspect. Agumon plopped himself up in one of chairs too. The chair Agumon sat in was to Evander's right. Evander put both elbows on the table and folded his hands. "So…you gonna tell me your real name, or should I call you 'Screw You' for the entirety of this interrogation?" Evander asked. The suspect was silent. Agumon stared at the suspect with a look that conveyed disgust. "Why do you want to completely annihilate Digimon? What did we ever do to you?" Agumon asked. The suspect remained silent. "What's with the Red Marks? How did you acquire the Red Stones and how do you even know what they do?" Evander asked.

The suspect laughed. "Well, first, my name is Hiroshima Kawasaki. Secondly, you ought to already know why we want to exterminate Digimon. They're pests. Murder statistics show that 60% of killings are done by Digimon either of their own volition or at the behest of some human or mermaid or whatever person hired them. That's a little over half. Digimon have also taken jobs away from hard workers like me. I used to be a computer programmer at Fujitsu, the best IT company in Japan, but I was let go and replaced with a Datamon who could do what I could do 10 times more efficiently. Do you know how many IT guys have lost their jobs to Datamon? Too many for me to count. And let's not forget that restaurant owner whose business shut down after all the customers got sick because a bunch of poop-throwing Digimon called Sukamon and Numemon put their disgusting hands over everything. In India, a boy was crushed by playing with a Tyrannomon he befriended when he tripped and fell on the boy. I could go on, but needless to say, we'd be better off if Digimon never even existed. Crusaders Against Digimon formed because all of us were sick and tired of it. Our leader, perhaps, the most of all."

"So, in a nutshell, Digimon have done some rotten things. Well, that makes them no different than anyone else." Evander said. "What about the Red Stones?"

"That's common knowledge thanks to that anime chronicling your Digital World adventures when you were a kid. Assuming that minimal poetic license was taken, we set out in search of the red stones." Hiroshima explained.

"You use Gizumon to exterminate Digimon by eliminating their DigiCores. Why not just use these artificially created Digimon? What's the point of Red Marking Digimon to cause them to rampage and THEN killing them?" Agumon asked.

"Our master wants to make the whole world see how much of a menace Digimon are. Clearly not everyone has come to the awakening we at C.A.D have, so we're creating additional chaos for the sake of the greater good." Hiroshima replied.

"So if a Digimon ISN'T doing something bad, you MAKE them do something bad!? All to worsen Digimon's reputation in the eyes of the public!?" Agumon said, outraged.

"Where's your headquarters?" Evander asked. Hiroshima didn't respond. "I said 'where's your headquarters?'" Still no response. "Answer the question!" Agumon shouted before he started firing up a fireball in his mouth. Evander reached over and placed his hand on Agumon's head. "Agumon, calm down." Evander got up and walked around the table, with his hands in his pocket trench coat, until he was behind Hiroshima. He took one of his hands out of his pocket and slammed Hiroshima's face down onto the table. "Answer the damn question!" Evander shouted angrily. Agumon looked surprised. Behind the one-way mirror windows, the police officers looked surprised. One of them turned to run in and stop Evander. He wasn't permitted to physically abuse the suspects. Kyoko Kuremi was one of the people standing behind the interrogation room windows. She reached out and put her hand on the officer before he could take a step. "Don't. Evander isn't losing his temper. This is all part of his plan." Kyoko said. Evander pulled Hiroshima's head up by the hair, blood now trickling down from his nose. Hiroshima still didn't say anything. "Won't rat out your partners, huh? I guess it can't be helped." Evander said. Evander started walking out of the room. "Come on, Agumon. We're done with this trash." He said. Agumon got up and followed him.

Soon, Evander came running around the corner with Agumon in tow, approaching his house. Jessica and Taylor looked surprised. "Dad?" "Honey, you're home early today." Evander briefly stopped to acknowledge his wife and daughter, "Hey, my favorite mermaids in the whole universe." He said, speaking rapidly before giving them both a kiss on the cheek. Then he turned around and ran inside. Agumon didn't even acknowledge them at all. Sharkmon put one of his claws up to his mouth and tilted his head to the side. "Does he have the squirts?" Sharkmon asked.

Evander and Agumon made it into the basement. Evander booted up his computer and sat down in the chair. Terriermon and Ladybugmon came into the basement. "Where's the fire?" Terriermon asked. "Yeah, we thought you had the squirts." Ladybugmon said. Terriermon climbed up onto the back of his computer chair, and Ladybugmon came to hover beside him. Evander didn't respond to them, but just anxiously stared at the computer screen. "Come on, come on, come on." Evander muttered. Agumon slammed his claw on the desk while scowling. "Boot up already, ya hunk of junk!" Agumon complained. Terriermon and Ladybugmon just looked confused. Evander and Agumon didn't answer, but it was clear to the little rabbit eared and ladybug Digimon that those two knew something they didn't, and it was urgent. When the home page of Evander's computer finally booted up, he clicked on an app that brought up a map. On the map was a flashing red light, right over the location of the jail. Evander folded his hands and said. "Now we just wait for him to go back home." Evander didn't smash Hiroshima's head into the table because he was angry. It was tactical. He had his hands in his pockets prior to walking over to him because he was reaching for a tiny tracking device. When he grabbed Hiroshima's head to smash it in, that was the moment he planted the tracking device. This was the "plan" Kyoko had told one of the officers about. Should the man go back to C.A.D headquarters, they would know exactly where to go to raid the place and arrest everyone involved. "It's just a waiting game now." Evander said.

Two days passed, and it was a Monday in the afternoon. Taylor and her friends had been Digidestined for a whole week now, and boy what an event filled week it was! Taylor was walking down the hallway of Arai Elementary with Sharkmon in tow. Taylor was looking down at a flyer in her hand. It had Professor Agumon's picture on it and a big brain in the center. The flyer said "Want To Become A Digimon Researcher When You Grow Up? Test your knowledge at Professor Agumon's Quiz Competition!" Taylor smiled. Sharkmon looked up at her while they were walking. "Is that the flyer for that Digimon quiz thing you were talking about while we were at Suzie's house?" Sharkmon asked. Taylor nodded. "Yep. I'm totally gonna win this. The prize is 347,374.93 yen which is roughly $3,000 American dollars, which is 2,645,.7996 Euro, which is about 956,000 Hungarian Forints. When I win, I'm going to try to use the money to take my dad on a vacation with just the two of us." Taylor said. Taylor then heard some laughing from a group of girls. Her face went dour when she saw her old foe; Brittany Dousington along with her clique of mermaids. Brittany was in an orange t-shirt, a red mini skirt, and gray sneakers. The other mermaids around her were also wearing typical human clothing. "You're such a freaking nerd! Of course you're going to win this competition. No one in this school but you considers reading books on science, the history of multiple planetary civilizations, and Digimon biology to be pleasure reading." Brittany said. Taylor scowled and a slight growl could be heard from her. Of all the schools in Japan that Brittany and her clique could attend, why did it have to be Arai Elementary?

"I've been reading some psychology lately, and I pity you. Your hostility is obviously aimed at me because I'm so much more intelligent than you are. You feel inferior, so you call me a nerd and give me mean nicknames like The Great Giggling Goggle Freak. On top of that, having two parents who actually love each other and aren't constantly having the police called on them for domestic disputes must make you really envy me." Taylor said with a smug look on her face.

Brittany looked angry. She grabbed Taylor by the shirt and pulled her close. "Don't pretend like you know me, you know-it-all half breed!" Brittany shouted. "Touch a nerve, did I?" Taylor asked rhetorically. Brittany punched Taylor and knocked her to the ground. "Shut up, you filthy half-breed! So what if you're smarter than me? So what if your family life is nicer than mine? You think I care? I'm way prettier than you and way more popular. We're not even in middle school yet, and boys fawn over me left and right? How many boys have shown even the slightest interest in a half-breed giggling Goggle Freak like you? That's right! None!" Brittany ranted, before kicking Taylor in the stomach multiple times. Sharkmon reacted instinctively and bit Brittanny's leg. Brittany screamed and tried to shake the little Digimon off her. Just then, the principal showed up. "Alright! Break it up! Break it up!" She yelled. The principal was a green skinned woman with scales all over her. She had slit eyes and a forked tongue. This was a Reptilonius from the planet Reptillion. They were a race of lizards that evolved bi-pedality and intelligence on their planet. They were among the many races now living on Earth alongside humans. "Principal Elizardbeth." Brittany said, afraid she was about to get in trouble.

Taylor, Sharkmon, and Brittanny were sitting in the lizard woman's office. The lizard lady sat with her claws folded on her desk looking at the two tween girls. "Taylor, I'm surprised at you. Someone who's an honor student getting into a hallway brawl?" Elizardbeth said. Taylor looked down and frowned. "I didn't actually hit her. I was the one taking all the blows." Taylor said in defense of herself. Brittanny shook her head and started shedding some crocodile tears. "It's not true. She mocked me for being stupid and then she sicked her Digimon on me. She's, like, a total monster." Brittany said, speaking a half-truth. The lizard woman sighed. "Look, Taylor, since this is your first offense. I'll let you off with a warning. But any more disturbances like this, and I'll have to punish you." Elizardbeth said. Taylor decided it was best not to argue with the principal. Besides, there was no way to prove that she was the only victim. "Yes, mam." Taylor said.

When Taylor got home, Jessica was waiting for her, standing in the front of the house. "Your principal called me." Jessica said. Taylor's heart dropped. Although her principal let her off with a warning, would Mom? "Don't worry, I know that Brittanny can be a bit of a bully. And I know you. You're not the kind of person to just sick a Digimon on someone just because you don't like them. You're not in trouble." Jessica said. Taylor smiled. She ran and hugged the orange haired mermaid, almost knocking her over in the process. "Mom! You're the best! I love you!" Taylor said.

Taylor walked up to the door leading down to the basement. She reached out her hand and hesitated for a moment. She had a flashback

Flashback…

A tiny 6 year old Taylor was standing on the beach in an Aqualian loin cloth and pink tank top. Evander asked Taylor why she didn't want to go underwater. Taylor told her Dad that the water hurts her eyes. Evander bent over and took his old goggles out of his bag on the beach. Jessica was lying down in a blue bikini soaking up sun with a beach towel and radio playing. The bag was to Jessica's left. Evander knelt down and handed the goggles to Taylor. "Here. Wear these. These goggles will keep all the water out of your eyes. Take good care of them. These goggles were my fashion statement of choice when your mommy and I became Digidestined. I think you could get better use out of them than me." Evander said. The tiny Taylor smiled and let out a giggle. "Really!? Oh, thank you, Daddy! Now I can swim underwater like mommy!" She said. Evander put his hand on the little Taylor's head and rubbed it, messing her hair up. "That's right, my little mermaid!" He said with a big grin on his face.

Flashback over…

Taylor reached up and ran her finger over one of the lenses of the goggles on her head. She had another flashback of Brittanny making fun of her for needing the goggles underwater, now closer to the age she is now. Brittany was in her mermaid form, and Taylor was as well. They were both underwater. Another flashback flashed through Taylor's mind; the time Evander taught her how to ride a hover bike. Still another, the time Evander and Jessica took her to Disney World Tokyo and they saw all the attractions. "He had so much time for us back then." Taylor thought, a sad look coming across her face. She opened the door and walked into the basement, where Evander was sitting, staring at the screen. "Dad….I…would you maybe want to….umm…maybe like to come with me and Sharkmon to Plankton Park? Or…maybe we just can see the sights. Or if you don't want to bother putting on a diving suit, that's fine too, we can-" Taylor was cut off. "I'm sorry, Taylor. I'm going to be busy for the rest of the night. Why don't you ask Drusilla to go with you? Or Mario's kid?" Evander said, not even turning around to look at her. Taylor's face dropped. She knew it was a longshot, but she figured she would try anyway. "Oh…ok." She said before turning around and walking out.

The next day, Taylor entered the basement again. "Hello, again, Dad. I uh…was just thinking that it'd be really nice if we rode our hoverbikes through the sky like we did when I was little. How about we race? I'll bet you can't beat me!" Taylor suggested. Again, Evander didn't even turn around. He just continued staring at the computer screen. "Sorry, I'm going to be busy for the rest of the night. Some other time." He responded. Taylor again looked disappointed. She turned around and walked out.

Another day passed, and it was a Wednesday after school. Taylor again entered her father's workplace, the basement, and held up a flier. "Hey, Dad. Jimmiken is having a concert tonight. Can I go?" She asked. Jimiken was a rock artist whose most famous song was "Momentary Hummingbird." Back in the day, he was also a member of the Demons hacker team, but reformed his ways after Evander defeated him and his Digimon in Eden in the year 2021. He almost gave up on his career after Zaxon gave him the boot, but Keisuke helped him get back on his feet. "Sure, you can go." Evander said. "Want to come with me?" Taylor asked. Evander again never even looked at his daughter when he responded to her. "Sorry, but I'm going to be busy for the rest of the night. Take Drusilla, or Martin with you."

The next day, Thursday, yet again Taylor entered the basement, seeing her father do the same thing. "Dad, would you like to see a movie with me?" Evander still didn't turn around to answer. "Sorry, Taylor. Some other time."

The next day, a Friday, Taylor, Agumon, Ladybugmon, Terriermon, Jessica, and Jessica's Digimon were all sitting at the dinner table. Jessica looked in the direction of where the basement entrance was. "I don't think Evander's going to come out. Gabumon, could you go get him?" Jessica asked. Gabumon nodded, and then got up and went over to the basement door. Gabumon knocked on the door. "Hey! Dinner's ready!" Gabumon shouted. "Could you bring it in here? I'm busy." Evander responded. Gabumon looked surprised. "B-bring your food down there? You don't want to have dinner with your family?" Gabumon inquired. Everyone else at the dinner table was within ear shot. Taylor was looking sad, but her face now started to express anger. She clenched her fist in her lap. "I do. I do. It's just that, like I said, I'm busy." Evander replied through the door. Gabumon came back into the kitchen and started to prepare a plate for him. Taylor got up and walked over to Gabumon, grabbing his arm. "Gabumon, don't. If that stupid old man doesn't want to have dinner with his family, then let him starve!" Taylor said. "Taylor! Don't talk about your father like that!" Jessica scolded. Taylor glared at her mother. "You're part of the problem! You let him stay down there all the time and don't complain even once! Don't you miss him even a little? It's like he's not even here most of the time!" Taylor said. Jessica frowned and then turned to look at the food she had prepared. "Yeah, I do. But your father's work is very important. He's working on multiple cases right now, including the one about those guys at Crusaders Against Digimon." Jessica said.

Gabumon looked a little awkward. "So uhh….prepare a plate or no?" He asked.

"No!"

"Yes." Taylor and Jessica had responded in unison. Gabumon looked nervous. "I uhh…" He began, starting to sweat a little. Taylor glared at Gabumon. Gabumon looked really frightened and gulped. He set the plate he was holding down and ran away. "Aaahh!! Goobers!" He yelled.

Later that night, Taylor was lying in bed flipping through pictures in her Google Drive. She found a photo of a tiny 6 year old version of herself riding on top of Greymon's head as she clinged to one of his horns. Evander clinged to the other horn. Sharkmon was sitting beside her and saw the photo. "Is that you and your Dad riding a huge Digimon?" Sharkmon asked. Taylor nodded. "Yep. That's Greymon."

Flashback…

6 Year old Taylor stood on the beach as the sun was starting to go down. She jumped up and down. "Daddy! Thanks for the goggles! I swam lots and lots and lots and lots! And underwater too like mommy does!" She said with a huge smile on her face, arms up in the air. "Sounds like those goggles caused you to digivolve into a new form" Agumon said. Terriermon raised his arm. "Actually, it's more like a Digi-Modify." Terriermon said. Taylor put her finger on her lip and tilted her head. "Diddy balls? What are those?" She asked. Agumon looked surprised. "You don't know about digivolution? It's when a Digimon becomes bigger and stronger. Digimon like myself who have a partner like your daddy can digivolve on command, but others have to train and fight for years to attain a new form." Agumon explained. Taylor looked enthused. She looked up at Evander. "Daddy! Can you make Agumon diddy ball right now? I want to see him get bigger!" The tiny Taylor requested. Evander looked at Agumon and smiled. Agumon nodded. Evander took out his orange D-smartphone and held it outward. The word "DIGIVOLUTION" scrolled across his Digivice and light shot out of the digivice, enveloping the little orange dino. "Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!" Taylor's eyes lit up and her smile couldn't possibly have been any bigger. "Agumon! You're huge!" She said, excited. Greymon looked down and said "I'm Greymon, now." Greymon got down on his belly and lowered his head all the way to the ground. "When I'm Greymon, I can see up much higher than as Agumon. Would you like to ride?" Greymon asked. Taylor nodded. "Yes!" She then turned to Evander. "Is it ok?" Evander nodded. "Just grab onto one of his horns and hold on tightly." She climbed on top of Greymon's head. Evander got up there as well. Jessica got out her phone and started recording video. "Be careful, sweetie! Don't fall!" Jessica said. Greymon shot Jessica a thumbs up. "I'll be sure not to make the ride too bumpy." Greymon replied. Greymon walked all the way back to the Glovion residence with Evander and Taylor riding all the way, and Jessica recording it on video. Taylor was having a blast.

Flashback over….

Taylor sighed. "That was the first time I ever witnessed digivolution. It was so awesome. From that point on, I often pestered Agumon to give me rides. He was always nice about it even when he declined." Taylor said. Taylor looked at the clock on her phone. It was getting late. She decided to call it a night.

The next day, In the basement, Evander and his partner Digimon were staring at the screen. It was evening. Terriermon sat on Evander's head, with his ears drooping down both sides of Evander's head. "Ugh. When is this guy going to make a move?" Terriermon said, exasperated. "Do you think he found the tracker and just set it down?" Ladybugmon asked. Evander sighed. "At this point, I'm thinking that's probably the ca-" he cut off as his attention was drawn back to the screen. The little red flashing light started to move. "He's on the move! Let's go!" He said, getting up. He turned around and his three Digimon bolted for the basement stairway. On their way, they encountered Taylor. "Oh! Dad, I-" Evander tried to evade her. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" Taylor asked. Every time Evander tried to get past her, Taylor blocked his way. "I know it looks like you're in a hurry, but I want to ask you something." Taylor asked. "It'll have to wait." Evander said, finally managing to make it past this little girl who was moving left and right like a soccer goalie. Taylor grabbed him by the trench coat. "Just give me one second! It won't take long!" Taylor pleaded. Evander looked back at her with an irritated look on his face. "Look, can you go at least one day without bothering me? I'm very busy! Go annoy someone else!" He barked. Taylor let go of Evander's coat. Evander looked surprised at what came out of his mouth. Taylor just stared at her father for a second before looking down at the floor. "Taylor, I didn't mean it like that. It's just-" He began to say. He noticed some tear drops hitting the floor. Taylor looked up at him with an angered expression and watery eyes. "Just go! Go do whatever the hell it is you need to do! I don't care anymore! I'm sick and tired of pining for you, of trying to get you to spend at least A LITTLE time with me…like we used to! Well, I'm sorry that's been so ANNOYING to you!" Taylor shouted. Evander felt horrible. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings. He went for a hug, but Taylor just pushed him. "Go away! I hate you! I hope you never come home!" Taylor shouted as tears streamed down her face. Evander had such a severe look of regret and guilt washing over his face. Agumon realized Evander got distracted. He pulled on Evander's sleeve and said, "We need to go before he gets away!" Agumon said. Evander nodded and turned around and ran.

Taylor's outburst was a long time coming. She had had a love/hate relationship with her dad for the past 3 years. She finally just snapped. She loved him and wanted to spend time with him, but she also despised him and sometimes couldn't care less whether she ever saw him.

In the car, Evander and his Digimon drove down the road, looking at a GPS on the dashboard that kept track of where Hiroshima was headed. "I can't believe I said those things to her. She had every right to yell at me." Evander said. "That surprised me too." Agumon said. "I have been a workaholic lately. Initially, I just dealt with cyber crimes. But I solved a couple of immensely difficult cold cases and suddenly, departments wanted me to investigate more than just credit card fraud and the illegal activity of Digimon. The more cold cases I solved, the more the city revered me as a great detective, and the more they revered me, the greater the number and difficulty of the cases I've been assigned." Evander said. The car was silent for a moment. "I'm….a horrible father." He said.

Silence filled the car for a second. "This is the part where you say 'Oh, no you're not'." Evander said, looking over to Agumon. "I could, but I'd be lying." Agumon said. "Yeah, you kind of suck. You made Taylor's adorable smile just vanish like a fart in the wind." Terriermon said. Terriermon was sitting in the back seat sitting in a toddler's seat. He had to. He was too small to sit in anything else when he rode in the car. Ladybugmon chuckled. "A fart in the wind." He repeated before chuckling some more. They drove the corner, and were now directly behind Hiroshima's car. Just then a laser blast hit the middle of the road right in front of the car! Evander hit the break and tried to swerve. The car hit a huge hole that the laser caused in the ground, and the car went tumbling! When the car stopped tumbling, Evander undid his seatbelt. The car was upside down. Evander sniffed a couple of times. His eyes widened. He turned back. "Terriermon! Everyone! We need to get out right now!" Evander said. He had picked up the scent of gasoline. Everyone got out of the car and started running. The car then blew up! "Will insurance cover that?" Terriermon asked. Agumon looked up to the right and pointed with his claw. "Nevermind saving 15% or more on car insurance! Gizumon XT 2:00!" Agumon said pointing. "Actually, I think it's closer to 8:00pm, Agumon." Ladybugmon said.

They all looked and saw the purple machinelike Digimon descending down above them. Someone was standing on top of it. "My, My detective Glovion. I can't believe someone of your calibre managed to take the bait." The man was wearing a black cloak and a mask with the C.A.D logo on it, which were the letters C.A.D in red with a cancel symbol over V-Pet sprite art of Agumon. "What bait?" Evander inquired, clenching his fists. "Hiroshima is trained to detect tracking devices. After contacting me, we decided to ambush you. You and your daughter have been thorns in our sides for too long. It's time we did away with you." The cloaked man said. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, dozens and dozens of Gizumon XT appeared from the shadows. Evander and his Digimon looked around at all of them. They were surrounded. "Don't try to fight. You're outnumbered." The cloaked figure said.

"So that's it. You're going to kill us." Agumon observed. "Not right away. Not if you don't resist. I have another plan for you before I kill you all." The cloaked figure replied. Evander grit his teeth. They were so close, but they couldn't even make it to C.A.D Headquarters before they were ambushed.

Back at the Glovion residence…

Taylor sat on her bed in the fetal position crying her eyes out. She was letting out emotions she had stockpiled for the past 3 years. Sharkmon sat beside her looking at her sympathetically. "Taylor…please don't cry. You're going to make me cry." Sharkmon said. Taylor didn't respond. Sharkmon nuzzled up next to her. "Your dad loves you, Taylor. And so do I." He said. Taylor looked up and then looked over to Sharkmon. "You're kidding, right? You heard what he told me! He said I was an annoyance! That I had been bothering him all week! I'm a burden to him! That stupid old man! Why'd he even have a daughter if he didn't want anything to do with her!?" Taylor said angrily. Sharkmon frowned and groaned sadly. Taylor reached up and took her goggles off. "I don't want anything to do with that stupid old man anymore! Not even these!" She said before throwing them against the wall. She threw them so hard that it's a wonder they didn't break upon impact. Taylor stood up and bent down. She punched the floor over and over. "Damn him! Damn him! Damn him! I hate him so much! I just hate him so….so damn much!" She screamed.

Sharkmon hopped down off the bed and ran over to the goggles lying next to the bedroom wall. He picked them up in his jaws, trying to be as gentle as he could so as not to break them. He walked over to his half human/half mermaid partner and looked up at her. "Taylor, that's not true. If you hate him, why have you been trying to get him to spend time with you all week? If you hate him, why, when we first met, were you so concerned to find these? Goggles are like, super cheap…at least I think. You felt around that mall floor because these goggles mean something to you. They're a gift from your dad. These are HIS goggles. These are YOUR goggles. It's like….like a symbol of your love. Any pair of goggles will keep water out, but not many goggles were ever worn by Evander Glovion." Sharkmon said. Taylor just scowled at Sharkmon and turned away. She got on her bed and laid her head on her pillow, curling up into the fetal position. She said nothing. She was angry, but Sharkmon was right. She didn't hate her father. She just hated how he's been acting, and she was angry with him. But she didn't hate HIM. Taylor adored her dad, even though she didn't express that adoration in words as much as she did when praising her mother. As a child, she would often play detective with Drusilla, mimicking her Dad. At others, she would wield a plastic trident around and roleplay as her Mom while swimming in the ocean, dawning dark green plastic armor and an orange wig. Whether she played detective or goddess of the sea depended on whether she was on land or in the ocean. She admired both of her parents for different reasons.

Taylor's phone then made a notification sound. Taylor took her phone out of her shorts pocket and looked at it. It was a text from an unknown number. She tapped the text message app button near the bottom of her phone. Her phone wallpaper was a photograph of Evander, Jessica, and herself all posing for a photo at the beach. Everyone was giving the peace sign. Taylor was a bit younger in the photo. She checked the message and her heart sank as she read the message. "This is C.A.D. We have your father. Bring your Sharkmon and the three other Digimon and let us dispose of them, or we'll dispose of your father and his Digimon instead. Come to 678 Shinishini Drive."

Taylor thought about the last words she said to Evander; that she hated him and wished he wouldn't come home. What if these were the last words she ever said to him? She looked over at Sharkmon. "Sharkmon. C.A.D has my Dad. We have to go save him." Taylor said. Taylor took the goggles out of Sharkmon's mouth and gently placed them over her head. She looked down at Sharkmon and gave a determined smile and clenched her fist. "Let's go, Sharkmon!" She said. Sharkmon nodded. "Yeah!"

Taylor went to Drusilla's, and Martin's house and explained the situation. Taylor said she needed the four Digimon, but that she wouldn't truly exchange them. They were going to save him. Martin contacted Emmett and explained to him the situation. Emmett and Dovemon used a Digi-Worm phone to teleport to Japan. When all of them had gathered together, they took off on hover bikes.

Then they arrived at the abandoned warehouse at the address C.A.D had given to her. Taylor looked around with a determined look on her face. "Alright, you C.A.D bastards! I came! Where is my father!?" Taylor shouted. The cloaked figure appeared from behind the shadows. The warehouse was dark, but moon light shone in to give enough light for Taylor to see her foe. The cloaked figure clapped and all the lights came on. "You and your friends are quite impressive. Hiroshima showed me the footage of your battle with the Copymon. Anything with enough power to dispose of Digimon copying the powers of MarineOmnimon…and to do so with such ease, is too much of a threat to our plans to ignore." He said. He snapped his fingers and Evander appeared tied to a wooden board with chains. Agumon, Ladybugmon, and Terriermon were also tied to boards with chains. About 15 feet below them was a huge tub of acid. "Give us your partner Digimon. Let us destroy them. And don't fight back. One click of a button and these four will plummet into the acid tub." The cloaked figure explained.

Everyone looked anxious. What were they to do? "We can't fight back or Taylor's dad is a goner." Martin said. Naturemon looked over to Martin with a worried expression on her face. "But….you won't let the bad man hurt me, will you?" Naturemon asked. Martin hugged Naturemon. "No. Never." Martin responded. Coalmon started looking around the room. "Do we really have to choose who dies?" Coalmon asked. She was looking around seeing if there was some item that could help them. There wasn't. Just a bunch of metal boxes. "Let Taylor's dad go!" Sharkmon demanded. The cloak figure laughed. "I will! I will! Just as soon as you're a tasty meal for my Gizumon XT." The Cloaked Figure responded. Taylor looked over to Evander. "Dad…I didn't mean what I said! I don't hate you! I love you, and I want you to come home!" Taylor said. Evander looked her in the eyes. "No. I'M sorry. I wasn't there for you and Jessica these past couple of years. If we get out of this alive, I promise to make more time for you. Hehe. I'll make Kyoko pick up the slack." Evander said.

Taylor's mind was racing at 100 miles per hour trying to think of a plan to get her dad and his Digimon out of danger so they could safely fight back. They just stood there, trying to come up with a plan. "Just hand them over. If you don't, they'll die anyway." The cloaked figure said. Taylor bowed her head and her fist trembled. She then bolted in the direction of the Acid tub and her father. "Dad!" She cried out. She jumped up into the air. "Foolish girl." The cloaked figure said as he pushed the button on the device he was holding, causing the chains to release Evander and his Digimon and send them hurtling down towards the acid below. Taylor jumped over the acid tub and took out her digivice. She twirled the gnob a little bit and pressed it down. Before she, or any of them could land in the acid below, a dark green portal opened up below them. They fell into the portal instead of the acid. Everyone else looked shocked. "W-what!?" The cloaked figure exclaimed.

Taylor, Evander, and their Digimon landed in a place in the Digital World. Evander looked around surprised. "What happened?" He asked. Taylor held up her digivice. "I used my digivice to open up a portal to the Digital World directly below us. We fell here instead of the tub of acid." Taylor said. Evander embraced his daughter tightly. "Taylor! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me for ignoring you and mom." Evander said. Taylor backed away and smiled. "First, we need to take care of that Batman wannabe." Taylor said.

Naturemon was looking left and right. "They disappeared! Where? How? Is Taylor a magician!?" Naturemon asked. A portal from the Digital World opened up from behind them and Taylor, Evander, and Evander's Digimon came through it. "Nope. Not a magician. Just one smart cookie." Taylor said before smiling brightly and letting out a brief giggle. Taylor looked up at her dad. "Dad, can we fight this guy together?" Taylor asked, holding up a fist with a determined look on her face. Evander looked down at his daughter's face. For a brief moment, he thought he saw his 12 year old self, wearing goggles, a backwards blue baseball cap, and blue and yellow striped shirt standing there with his fist raised. Evander smiled. "I'd love to." He replied before taking out his Digivice and facing the enemy. He and Taylor stood side by side and held their Digivices up in the air; Evander's D-Smartphone and Taylor's D-Eco.

"DIGIVOLUTION"

"Sharkmon digivolve to…Jawsmon!"

"Ladybugmon digivolve to….BoxerInsectmon!"

"Agumon digivolve to….Greymon!"

"Terriermon digivolve to….Gargomon!"

The cloaked figure raised his arm out forward, "Gizumon XT! Attack!" He commanded. Dozens of Gizumon XT came out and headed for the Digidestined. Greymon ran up to one of the Gizumon XT and rammed into it with his horns while shouting "Great Horns Attack!"

"Gargo Pellets!" Gargomon shouted while firing the gatling guns on his arms at the opponent. He kept firing his machine guns until the Gizumon XT started sparking. Gargomon then jumped up and pummeled it with the gatling guns. "Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon shouted while he did this. "Bunny Pummel!" He let the Gizumon XT have another round of gatling gun whacks. The Gizumon XT sparked some more. Gargmon then jumped up high into the air and then aimed down at Gizumon XT. "Gargo Pellets!" Gargomon shouted, firing a plethora of bullets out of his gatling guns at the Gizumon XT. The Gizumon XT took some more damage. The Gizumon XT then fired a destructive laser at Gargomon! Gargomon was unable to dodge it because he was suspended mid-air. Jawsmon leapt in, grabbed Gargomon, and took him to safety. "Thanks…uhh…what's your Champion form called again?" asked Gargomon. Jawsmon looked to Jawsmon and smiled "I'm Jawsmon." He replied before turning around and lunging at the Gizumon XT that Gargomon was fighting. "Titanic Bite!" Jawsmon bit down hard on the metal Digimon. He jerked his head while the Digimon's body was in his mouth. As he did so, he tore it apart like it was made of cardboard.

One other Gizumon XT brought out a Gatling Gun and fired it at Jawsmon. Jawsmon put both of his arms up to shield himself. He got hit with a plethora of bullets and grunted as they hit him. Jawsmon then let out a mighty roar and lunged at the metal monstrosity. "Titanic Bite! Titanic Bite! Titanic Bite! Titanic Bite!" Jawsmon shouted as he reduced the Digimon to scrap metal with his mighty jaws. That was two down, 15 more to go.

Greymon was being slapped around by another Gizumon XT's large arms. Greymon fell over backwards. Gizumon XT fired one of its DigiCore destroying lasers at Greymon, but Greymon countered it with a "Nova Blast!" The fireball not only parried the laser, it hit the Gizumon XT and did some damage. Greymon got up and glared at the artificially created purple Digimon. "Nova Blast! Nova Blast! Nova Blast! Nova Blast!" Greymon shouted, firing 4 large fire balls consecutively at Gizumon XT. Gizumon spun around like a spinning top and deflected the attacks. It fired another laser at Greymon, but Greymon again deflected it. "Nova Blast!" Greymon shouted, sending another laser-deflecting fire ball out of his mouth.

A Gizumon XT came up from behind Greymon and knocked him down with one of its large purple metallic arms. Greymon fell against the left wall of the warehouse and left a hole in it. Gizumon XT was about to fire a DigiCore destroying laser at Greymon. Greymon was helpless right now! He had no time to react! The Gizumon was knocked out of the way by a powerful punch from Jawsmon. Jawsmon's punch was so powerful that he actually left a huge dent in the Gizumon's head and destroyed it. Greymon stood up and said, "Thanks, Jawsmon! You saved me." Jawsmon looked over to Greymon. He smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Hey, you need to stay alive to give Taylor more rides on your head." Jawsmon said. Greymon nodded. "Absolutely!" he replied.

Martin looked over to Naturemon. "I think we should fight too." Martin said. Drusilla put her hand on his chest. "Wait. Let's just leave this up to the daddy/daughter duo this time." Drusilla said. Martin looked confused. "Why?" Martin asked. Drusilla looked over to Taylor and Evander, who were both cheering their Digimon on, jumping up and down and shaking their fists. "Greymon! You can do it! Let him have it, Gargomon!" Evander shouted. "Jawsmon! Don't give up!" Taylor shouted. Evander and Taylor were both standing beside each other. They were so close to each other that their arms touched at times. Martin smiled and nodded. "Oh, I see." He said.

BoxerInsectmon flew over to a Gizumon, "Rapid Punches!" He shouted before unleashing a flurry of 300 consecutive punches so quick that the naked eye could barely keep up. Gizumon XT fired a laser at BoxerInsectmon, which he dodged by jumping up high into the air. BoxerInsectmon came down onto the metal Digimon and gave it one powerful punch. "Hyper Punch!" BoxerInsectmon shouted. The Gizumon XT got a big dent right in the middle of its face and exploded.

The cloaked figure snapped his finger, making more Gizumon XT appear. Evander looked over to his Digimon. They were all giving it their all fighting the Gizumon XT. Evander then looked to his daughter. "Taylor. Watch this." Evander said before holding up his digivice.

"DIGIVOLUTION" scrolled across Evander's digivice, but this time, the symbol of Evander's Crest Of Justice appeared underneath the word. The Crest Of Justice looked like the scales of justice.

"Greymon digivolve to…MetalGreymon!"

"Gargomon digivolve to….Rapidmon!"

"BoxerInsectmon digivolve to….TankBugmon!"

Taylor's eyes lit up and a big smile came across her face. She squealed and then giggled. "MetalGreymon! Rapidmon! Tankbugmon! I've never seen these Digimon species in person before!" Taylor exclaimed. Evander looked down at her and smiled. This sight brought back the memory of when Taylor first saw Agumon digivolve when she was 6. "I thought they might be better protected from Gizumon XT's lethal attacks if they were covered in armor." Evander said. MetalGreymon looked over to Taylor. "What do you think of my Ultimate form, Taylor?" MetalGreymon asked. Taylor gave him a thumbs up. "You look so cool!" She exclaimed. MetalGreymon then turned to the Gizumon XT that were closing in on him. "Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon shouted. The metal casing on MetalGreymon's chest opened and large dark gray missiles shot out. They crashed into one of the Gizumon XT, destroying it. "Giga Blaster! Giga Blaster! Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon shouted, sending more large dark gray missiles out of his chest. They each hit some Gizumon and destroyed them.

"Golden Triangle!" Rapidmon shouted. Rapidmon made a triangle with golden colored energy and fired it at the enemy. The Gizumon XT dodged it. It shot a lethal laser at Rapidmon. Rapidmon got hit, but, as Evander predicted, the armor protected him. Rapidmon scoffed and then shouted "Rapid Fire!" shooting missiles out of its arms. The missiles hit the Gizumon XT and did some damage. The Gizumon XT retaliated by shooting lasers at Rapidmon over and over. Alas, none of them phased through his armor. "Are you stupid? That's not going to work." Rapidmon said. Rapidmon then shot more missiles out of his hands and hit the Gizumon, doing more damage.

Jawsmon continued pummeling Gizumon XT after Gizumon XT with his powerful muscular arms. "Power Pummeling! Power Pummeling! Power Pummeling!" Jawsmon shouted. He dented and ripped to shreds many of the artificial Digimon.

TankBugmon rolled around in circles, "Bug Spray! Bug Spray! Bug Spray!" TankBugmon shouted while shooting big balls of energy out of its arm cannons.

More and more Gizumon XT were being taken down. The cloaked figure was getting frustrated. "Damn you! I won't be taken down so easily!" He shouted before bolting towards Taylor. The cloaked figure took a knife out of his cloak and ran towards Taylor. "If I can't kill the Digimon, I'll kill its source of power!" He shouted. Before the cloaked figure could get close enough to stab the 11 year old mermaid, her dad jumped up into the air and roundhouse kicked him in the head. "I don't think so! No one lays a hand on my little mermaid!" Evander said, holding a fist up in the air and giving a proud smile. Taylor looked back at Evander and gave a closed eyes smile, and let out a slight giggle. The mask had fallen off of the cloaked figure. He sat up and moaned. Evander and Taylor were shocked to find out that he wasn't a "he" at all! It was a woman! "A woman!?" Evander and Taylor exclaimed simultaneously. The woman growled. She had black hair and brown eyes. "My name is Rumiko Shinigaku. I'm the leader of Crusaders Against Digimon." She said. She must have been using a voice alteration device to make herself sound more masculine. Could it have been in the mask?

In the background, MetalGreymon was piercing Gizumon XT with his "Trident Claw!" and Rapidmon was sending out Golden Triangle and Rapid Fire attacks at the remaining Gizumon XT. Jawsmon looked around. "It looks like that's all of them!" Jawsmon observed.

"I don't care who you are. You're under arrest." Evander said as he took handcuffs out of his trench coat pocket and started walking towards her. Rumiko grit her teeth. "You think I don't have any more tricks up my sleeve?" She said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Red Stone. She chucked it over at one of Evander's Digimon! It hit MetalGreymon on the head! A Red Mark then appeared on MetalGreymon's head, and his eyes started glowing red! Everyone looked shocked. "MetalGreymon!" Evander called out. Drusilla put her hand over her mouth and stared at the big winged armored orange dinosaur, expecting it to attack them at any moment. "This is the same thing that happened to my mom's LadyDevimon." She said.