Japanese Title: The Gate of Darkness
Demon demands the Dark Seed, and Oikawa steps out of the truck to face him. Daisuke sends an email to Takeru about Demon and the truck being in Hikarigaoka, and Shuu drives Takeru and Iori towards there. Iori is worried about getting into another fight, and Takeru says that he doesn’t have to force himself, but Iori knows that he has no choice and says that he’s decided himself that he will keep going. Patamon and Armadimon give him support, and he thanks them.
Hikari receives the email about Hikarigaoka, and both she and Tailmon recognize the location. They fly with Miyako on Aquilamon to the site, with Miyako having pulled herself together after the battle with LadyDevimon.
Oikawa tells Demon to do as he pleases with Ken, having no more use for him. As Archnemon leads Ken out of the truck, however, V-mon and Wormmon manage to get Ken out of her grasp. V-mon evolves to XV-mon and Wormmon evolves to Stingmon, but both are ineffective against Demon. Daisuke tells Ken to get to safety, but Ken, blaming himself for what had just happened to the children, refuses to leave.
XV-mon and Stingmon Jogress evolve to Paildramon, but Demon responds by making himself bigger. Shakkoumon and Silphymon, accompanied by their partners, arrive in time to help, with Iori and Miyako having regained their will to fight. Paildramon ultimate evolves to Imperialdramon, and begins to stand a fighting chance with the help of the other Jogress evolved Digimon. Demon, however, remains resilient against their attacks.
Ken’s parents watch the news report about the kidnapped children, and Ken’s mother begins to worry that Ken, who’s out late and hasn’t called, has been kidnapped. Ken’s father comforts her and wonders if Ken is involved in all of this business with monsters and kidnapped children.
Demon continues to demand that Ken come with him, and Daisuke has Imperialdramon switch to Fighter Mode. Still, they’re unable to lay a scratch on Demon, and Takeru demands that he return to the world of darkness that he came from. Iori wonders if it’s possible to send Demon back to the Digital World, but Demon taunts them by opening a gate right in front of them, telling them that he can enter and leave the Digital World at will and thus throwing him back to the Digital World will be useless. The kids begin to lose hope that there’s anything they can do, but Daisuke remains certain there’s something they can do.
Takeru suggests finding a place that’s neither the Digital World nor the Real World where Demon will be unable to escape, and Hikari remembers the dark ocean. This leaves the problem of how they’ll open a gate to the dark ocean, since Hikari had been taken there by force and never of her own will. Ken, however, remembers that he once opened up a gate to the ocean with his Digivice, and that Oikawa had said that there’s a gate point in Hikarigaoka. Ken holds up the Digivice and begins to focus on opening it.
The gate slowly begins to open, but the process causes Ken great pain, and one by one the other kids begin to lend their support by grabbing onto his hand holding the Digivice. Daisuke urges Ken not to give up, reminding him that he’s no longer the Digimon Kaiser and that he’s struggled so hard to get to this point, finally free of his past and of the power of darkness. Daisuke’s words strike a chord with Ken, and as Daisuke tells him that they’re his friends and that they’re here for him, Ken successfully opens the gate to what Demon recognizes as “Dagomon’s ocean”note .
Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, Silphymon, and Shakkoumon manage to get Demon into the dark world, and the gate closes, sealing Demon away. Oikawa releases the kidnapped children, telling them that they are in Hikarigaoka and that they are to remember this place for later. He then makes his escape with Archnemon and Mummymon before the police arrive, and the police take the children back to their homes.
Shuu ends up not having room for all of the kids in his car, but Takeru gives up his space to Ken. Ken explains to Daisuke, Hikari, Miyako, and Iori what had happened, and when Hikari asks what will happen, Ken says that they’ll probably become smarter and more athletic - more like the Digimon Kaiser. Ken arrives at his home and his frantic mother embraces him, while his father berates him for worrying his mother and asks him what he’s involved with.
Shuu returns Daisuke, Hikari, Miyako, and Iori to their homes, taking responsibility for keeping them out late so that their parents won’t worry. After Shuu leaves, to Daisuke’s surprise, Jun expresses interest in Shuu, and when Daisuke asks what happened to her affection for Yamato, Jun reveals that she’s no longer into him because of something she’d witnessed at the Christmas concert: she’d seen Yamato shielding Sora to keep her from danger as the DarkTyrannomon were attacking and concluded that they were in a relationship. Deciding that she’ll set her eyes on older boys from now on, she fantasizes about Shuu, to Daisuke’s annoyance.
That night, Ken decides to tell his parents everything about the Digital World and the Digimon Kaiser, and introduces Wormmon to them.
The kidnapped children return to their families, who don’t notice yet the changes that the Dark Seeds are beginning to cause. In his van, Oikawa gloats that now all they have to do is wait for the time that the Dark Seeds implant themselves in the children’s hearts and they can harvest the Dark Flowers from them...
Tropes
- Welcomed to the Masquerade: Ken does to to his parents by showing them Wormmon.
