Butter-Fly Effect

"It's Mimi. You see, she and I aren't really... getting along right now." It's a bit of an understatement, but at least your main point still gets across. "And I guess it's my fault, but I hadn't really thought about it at the time, because I don't really think about things like that a lot. I mean, the Crests."

"Sora, slow down." Right, you're not sure how much of that Daigo understood. "What about the Crests?"

"Well, you know how Mimi has the Crest of Sincerity?" You ask. He nods. "Well, I'd forgotten about that for a bit. And when we first came back, we were at camp and needed to do something so our teacher wouldn't notice all the Digimon."

"...The same ones that Izzy sent over on MegaKabuterimon?" Okay, so it sounds really bad when he puts it like that...

"It's not like we knew he'd do that at the time. It's Izzy, we expect him to show some amount of common sense. Anyway, so, our teacher showed up, and we needed to do something to distract him from all the Digimon gathered on the hill. I volunteered to go, and... I asked Mimi for help, just in case." It had seemed like a good idea at the time. A lot of things do.

Not all of them turn out to be good ideas, of course. Like now.

"And she took offense."

"Not immediately, but... Well, it was fine at first. She agreed, didn't even try to fight it. So... we went down to distract our teacher, and he just... went along with whatever we said. And that... seemed to get to her, because when I went to visit and make sure Palmon was okay... it all just sort of blew up." That makes it sound a bit more dramatic than what happened, but you think you prefer it that way. "I tried to explain things to her, but that just kept making it worse, and then we somehow got back to... why I don't really talk to people about Biyomon."

"She doesn't want to hide Palmon?" You shake your head.

"I don't... really think she's making any effort to." And that's not a bad thing, it's been a while since you spent any real effort hiding Biyomon when people don't really seem to notice, but you honestly wouldn't be surprised if Mimi took a microphone and broadcast the existence of Digimon to the world, with how she's acting right now. "And I tried telling her that I don't either, besides avoiding the fact that Birdramon helped destroy a bridge once, but she didn't really believe me, especially once..." You don't really want to continue from here.

"...Once what?' Daigo sounds apprehensive, and really, you can't blame him. Not when you're sure he already knows what you're going to say. And you don't particularly want to say it.

Not that you can avoid the subject forever. Biyomon makes sure of that. "She tried explaining what you told her, back when we first met. And that it was probably a good idea, because you're always right, and why would that be any different? Mimi... didn't like that answer. She told Sora to come back once she started thinking for herself... but what does that even mean? Of course Sora's thinking for herself- she can't think for other people!"

"That's... not entirely what she meant." Daigo fiddles with his goggles. "It's- you know I don't really have friends, outside the DigiDestined?"

This admission surprises you. Daigo is the sort of person who can win others to his side with minimal effort. "Why not?"

"Well, I'm the leader of the DigiDestined. So, back in the Digital World, I had to do all the talking. And with how much I had to do it, I got good at it. Maybe a bit too good."

"How can you be too good at talking?" Biyomon asks. He shrugs.

"I don't know, it's just... People listen to me. They don't think to question it a lot of the time, even in my own group, because for some reason, everything I say makes perfect sense to them. Haruka tried testing it once, but there wasn't anyone that we could really use for that without feeling guilty about it. The only person who was ever really an exception was Maki, and she-" Is a keychain. "...She's been gone for a while now." Or that.

You guess he's not really ready to face the keychain thing just yet. But you hadn't fully believed it either, when it was first revealed to you, so at least you're the same in that sense.

"...Mimi's got a lot of friends," Biyomon says. You nod, without thinking about it. You've seen her talk to them- you've seen her talk to a lot of people, actually. She's the kind of girl who thrives on social interaction.

"She's... going to try and tell them whatever she thinks is the truth. To try and keep this from being a problem." At least, that's the impression you got of the whole thing.

"Whether or not it actually is, and then people will be upset with her when she finds out it's not the case," Daigo finishes. You glance at him in surprise. "What? I can be wrong sometimes, you know."

Can he? But if he's said that, either it's true or- you have a headache. Maybe you should just... not think about him making that statement.

"So what are we going to do about it?" You ask instead.

He sighs, as if he's about to do something he doesn't like. "...We're going to have to talk to her together."



[ ] Do so immediately, while it's still fresh in your mind.

[ ] Wait until tomorrow, so Mimi has another day to cool off.

[ ] ...Can't it wait until you're back in the Digital World?

"Right..." You'd been afraid he'd say that. Really, you aren't sure what you can say to Mimi that hasn't already been said, but if Daigo thinks it's a good idea... Well, then it probably is. And you don't exactly want the issue to sit to the side until you forget about it... or worse, end up in a situation where you and Mimi need to get along to survive.

You wouldn't even be surprised if the Digital World threw that sort of situation at you, really. Actually, given the risks of your line of work, you almost expect it.

"It can't be that bad," Biyomon chirps, like she hadn't been there yesterday. "We just have to go, explain things, and everything will be okay, right?"

Daigo smiles a little, at that. Were the situation a bit less serious, you think he'd be laughing. "I don't think it'll be quite that easy."

You pull at your Digivice, just to make sure you can find Mimi. Honestly, it's sort of strange how many dots there are now, even taking into account the fact that TK is normally out of your range. You'd... honestly thought you'd never see more than four or five on the screen at a time, after everything settled down but right now, you can see an entire eleven.

Most of them are still close by to you. Matt and TK seem to be shopping, Izzy and Haruka are still working on... something... And, of course, Maki is there as a keychain.

The fact that you can even find her Digivice with yours brings up a lot of questions about how the whole thing works, but it's Digital stuff, so you're not sure how much you'll ever understand.

Mimi currently appears to be in the park. Which... actually seems like somewhere you'd want to be right now, it's a nice day.

So you guess you're going to the park.

---

The area around the park seems to be deserted, when you get there. There's no sign of the police or anything, but you can't help but wonder if people are scared that MegaKabuterimon might come back.

If they are, you can't really blame them. You'd be a bit unnerved by him, too, if you hadn't met Tentomon. And even so, the idea of Izzy having access to that type of power alongside his own coding skills is pretty terrifying, if you think about it too long. Normally, your mind just has you avoid the subject.

At the very least, that'll make talking with Mimi a bit less of a spectacle.

A bit. Because it's probably not going to go perfectly, either way.

Particularly when she seems to currently be occupied by having Togemon punching an oddly-monochrome Digitamamon. Given that this is a Champion against an Ultimate, and the cactus just keeps hitting eggshell, you don't think this is going very well for Mimi.


[ ] Join the fight.

[ ] Just watch.

[ ] Run to Mimi.

The first thing you should do is probably try to figure out what's going on. "Do you need help?" You call over. Mimi turns in surprise, the rim of her hat flopping down in front of her face.

"What are you two doing here?" Which isn't even an answer to your question, but you're pretty sure that means that, whether or not she needs help, she doesn't want it. Not from you or Daigo, at least.

Daigo, meanwhile, doesn't seem phased by any of this situation. "Right now? Wondering about the Digitamamon."

"I don't really know where he came from..." She admits, glancing back to the fight, where only Togemon appears to even be trying to win. "He just... showed up, kept trying to pick a fight... With everyone... This was the best option."

Nearby, Togemon is thrown through a tree. "Are you sure you thought this through?" You ask.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, besides the fact that your partner is getting beaten up by an egg with legs?" You know he's an Ultimate, but still, that seems pretty embarrassing.

"What else was I supposed to do? Let him go off and mess with whoever he feels like!?"

"I don't think that'd last very long..." Daigo points out. "See, he's not fully here, so he should disappear back to the Digital World eventually... I think."

"You think? You don't even know?"

"Well, I've never had to deal with this kind of thing before. It's all new to me." And you can't even blame him, because Digimon in the Analog World is a rare thing no matter what, and you don't think Biyomon and Patamon are a normal case.

"A lot of Digimon have been appearing and disappearing recently, though," You add. "And they've never seemed to really be 'there'. So a Digimon without color like this Digitamamon is probably like them."

"I guess we can't figure it out unless we ask..." Biyomon muses. "But I don't think he really wants to talk right now, do you?"

"I tried..." Mimi sighs. "And then Palmon started talking." Yeah, that would do it. "And he was yelling at all my friends, so..."

"Your friends?" You ask. "Oh, were you introducing them to Palmon?"

"Yeah. See, unlike some people, I-"

"Could we not do this right now?" Daigo groans. "At least until the random Digimon isn't throwing Togemon through trees?"

"I could help!" Biyomon volunteers. "See, maybe if I fired a Spiral Twister through the facehole..."

"That would leave less craters..." You observe, glancing around what's left of the park. You don't think you should come back here for a while.

"And then what?" Mimi turns to your partner. "You're a Rookie."

"...Maybe you should just call Togemon back," You suggest. "I don't think you're really... getting anywhere with this." Though it is impressive that the cactus manages to keep getting up. "And... and it'd make it easier to talk."

Mimi glances from you to Daigo, and back again. "Why do you think we have anything to talk about?"


[ ] Because you'll all be stuck together in the Digital World.

[ ] Because you just don't want to fight with her.

[ ] Because Daigo's a lot better at putting these things into words than you are.

[ ] Because she missed a meeting to go to the park and get her partner beaten up by a Digitamamon.

[ ] ...Does no one care about the fight anymore?