Digimon Paradox - Episode 2

Chapter #2 of Digimon Paradox
=Characters=
=Summary=
As Shinonome Reiji and Wanya slept, Eve remembered how a group of mysterious beings told her about how humanity had, at best, a year left to live, how they'd cease their assault until the paradox was corrected, and that their mission was to determine the path to humanity's survival. They also told her to be careful as those sent before her had yet to return. As she promised to eliminate the source of the paradox, Eve clutched her broken time machine and looked at Wanya, thinking of how it was nonsense to think of "it" as a living being.
At school, Reiji's schoolmate wondered if a tired Reiji hadn't slept. Reiji then remembered how his sister was okay with Eve staying with them even when Reiji wasn't and he couldn't sleep because Eve stayed in his room, which made him think she did so to kill Wanya which he wouldn't allow. Reiji decided to take a sip of his water bottle, only to spit it out as the teacher introduced a new transfer student: Shinonome Eve (a disguised Eve), who the teacher believed was related to Reiji. Later, on the roof, Reiji screamed at Eve though Eve pointed out she didn't want to enroll at school, but Reiji's sister came into their room while he wasn't there and asked her why she wasn't at school. Eve couldn't think of a good excuse, so Reiji's sister forced her to change into her old uniform, brought her to school and helped her enroll. This angered Reiji, who then asked her what happened to Wanya. Eve replied she had told him to stay in his PC, which Wanya found boring. Reiji then asked Eve about her glasses, which Reiji's sister had picked for her to make her look more serious. Extending her skirt, Eve asked Reiji if the uniform looked odd on her but Reiji thought it didn't. Wanya, who climbed on Reiji's shoulder, loved it, which Eve appreciated but Reiji was more concerned about how he even got there. From Eve's time machine, Kuwagamon explained he most likely went through the network to Reiji's smartphone, which Reiji likened to a portable pal. Kuwagamon and Eve found this dangerous, as it meant Wanya could take action ignoring orders. Eve remembered how, as a child, she listened to a news report about damage caused by rampaging Digimon spreading rapidly, to the point the government had given up and the population rate in Europe had fallen drastically, as it showed two Tyranomon-like Digimon rampaging. The news asked everyone to stay indoors at all times. The young Eve then asked her mother why nothing had been shown on TV since the previous day. 
Snapping her back to reality, Reiji asked Eve how she was going to get her time machine back. Eve asked Kuwagamon for the address but Kuwagamon answered the network in that era was too underdeveloped to search properly. He also couldn't confirm battle records or trace the link back to the time machine. Eve then fell deep into her thoughts, as she was back at square one and couldn't do anything. Once again, Reiji snapped her back to reality by shouting her name, then took her to a shrine that was full of flower-viewers that time of the year. Eve found the flower-filled place beautiful but couldn't walk properly due to the amount of people around. However, Reiji said it was actually quite empty as it was a weekday. Eve didn't know about the many things in the shrine, such as cotton candy, flavoured apples or ramune. Wanya thought it all smelled good though Reiji didn't want him speaking in public, while Eve was intrigued by their "ancient" culture. Eve then tried to catch goldfish and failed to, but the ringleader gave her one anyways because she was a cute girl. Getting called cute made Eve smile which got Reiji flustered. Wanya and Eve wondered if they should eat the fish but the ringmaster and Reiji told them not to. Wanya and Eve didn't understand why you'd catch a fish you couldn't eat, so Reiji got them taiyaki. He then explained he did all of this to calm Eve down as she couldn't think straight while freaking out, then asked her to explain the situation properly to him. Reiji recapped that she intended to get her time machine back and send Devidramon back to the future. Eve explained that'd fix the paradox and let her return to the future too. Reiji thought that sounded easy as it meant they could save the future and not kill Wanya, who was also happy Eve could go back to her time and took the chance to eat Reiji's taiyaki because he was still hungry, something Reiji didn't appreciate. Eve thought about how she lied to them: Devidramon would be erased and that wouldn't be the end of it. Wanya then asked her if she would eat her taiyaki, Eve gave it to him and he remarked how nice she was and promised to help her too. This confirmed to Eve that the "weapon" had a will of his own. Kuwagamon told her he was ready at any time but Eve stopped him because she wanted to wait and see just a bit longer. She knew her duty, to correct the paradox to prevent the extinction of humanity, but wondered if Wanya really was the source of the paradox. 
A montage of their time together was then shown, and how Eve seemingly fit just right in the present. Walking together, Reiji explained to Wanya that he originally helped Eve to protect him, but now truly wanted to help her after he realized she was all alone in their era. Wanya encouraged him to continue helping her so they'd get her home as he liked her too. However, they couldn't find any clues and Eve stayed more and more time silently staring out of Reiji's window. On a rainy day, Reiji and Wanya complained about how they had several days of rain already, and Eve pointed out it reminded her of the future where it never stopped raining. There were no seasons and they could not see the Sun or the blue sky so people didn't look up at the sky anymore, which to Wanya sounded awful. Eve thought this era was beautiful, to the point she could even almost enjoy the rain. Looking at her goldfish, she wondered if she'd ever be able to return to the future and Reiji asked her if she even wanted to. Eve said it was her duty to fix the past and go back so feeling she wanted to stay just a bit longerm to look at the sky, was wrong. She wanted to know what the sky would look like after the rain stopped and if the cherry blossoms would bloom again. Reiji explained to her that, once the rainy season ended, the sky would turn bright blue and would have big white clouds and then it'd be summer. Eve wanted to see that if she was still in their era. Reiji grabbed her arm and told her they'd go see it right now. 
The four then jumped into cyberspace, with Reiji carrying his bat. Reiji's plan was to go to Kyoto, where the rainy season was already over. Eve pointed out using the network in that era was dangerous as they were exposed and Devidramon could attack them. Reiji thought this was only another plus as it'd lure him out. Torii gates spawned on their way which meant they had to be close to Kyoto. However, Eve had to point out Reiji was correct, as a Digimon appeared in their way, though she didn't expect a Perfect. Eve thought said Perfect, Metal Greymon, was an evolved Devidramon. Reiji and Wanya leapt out to attack it. Eve tried to stop them but it was too late and Reiji got hit by Metal Greymon's claw and sent flying, losing his bat. As Wanya went to him, Eve ordered Kuwagamon to defend him. Reiji was bleeding and badly wounded, the sight of which greatly angered Wanya who was overwhelmed by the desire to kill Metal Greymon in response and evolved into a wireframe Dark Tyranomon. Zen, the mysterious man, pointed out this went as he planned it and ordered Metal Greymon to collect Wanya too. Wanya and Metal Greymon clashed as Kuwagamon thought his evolution from Elecmon to Dark Tyranomon was unusual and asked Eve permission to take him out, which he still had enough power to do. However, as she remembered both her duty and Wanya's encouraging words to her, Eve could not give said permission. Metal Greymon then took Wanya down with its , with his body flying towards Eve. Reiji blocked him just before Eve was hit and reminded Eve of her promise not to kill Wanya. Reiji also screamed at Wanya, which made him regain control of himself and create the textures of his body, completing the evolution, which he thanked Reiji for. Reiji then mounted Wanya. Kuwagamon didn't understand how Wanya's data stabilized, nor did he want to support Reiji and Wanya as Eve ordered him to, but ultimately did so after seeing Eve's resolute eyes. Reiji proclaimed they'd get the time machine back but Zen told him he neither knew nor could do anything. Seeing an eye in a small dark portal in Metal Greymon, Reiji wondered if a human was talking to him. 
Wanya tried to grab Metal Greymon's but couldn't as the latter was too powerful. Reiji thought he had to do something. Kuwagamon then tackled Metal Greymon. Eve told Reiji they'd buy him time so he had to restrain Metal Greymon, and Reiji ordered Wanya to use the Torii gate to do so. As Wanya grabbed said gate, Zen ordered Metal Greymon to stop him, but the Perfect itself was stopped by Kuwagamon who refused to let go even if his pincers broke as he was ordered to support them. Wanya then chained Metal Greymon's neck to the ground with the Torii. Kuwagamon intended to take the chance to delete Metal Greymon but he was stopped by Eve who ordered him not to kill it, to her own confusion, and instead to put it in freeze stasis. Kuwagamon accepted the order which confirmed to Wanya that Eve really was nice. Zen wasn't affected by the loss as it meant he now knew their strength and would be the one to seek them next time. He told Eve to wait for him, with Eve realizing who he was.
Back at Reiji's room, Reiji slept on his bed as Wanya, back as Elecmon, recovered (up to 38%) in Reiji's PC. Eve typed something in said PC as she remembered how, after the fight, she couldn't get the time machine back as Metal Greymon wasn't Devidramon. She wondered just how many Digimon were in the past and why Zen was there, if he was supposed to have gone missing as one of her predecessors. Looking at the delete key of the PC, Eve stated how she had been waiting for an opportunity to erase any Digimon. The awakened Reiji asked her if that had changed. Eve said her duty was to correct the paradox by erasing Digimon but she was acting out of sorts, as she clutched her time machine. She wondered what was wrong with her as she hadn't erased a single Digimon. Reiji told her what was wrong was the future, not her. Eve said she'd leave before that man came for them, as that'd endanger their place. Reiji grabbed her and tried to stop her, but Eve didn't want his help. Telling him she didn't want to endanger him, Eve grabbed Reiji's hand and put it over her heart, which made his own heart race. Eve asked Reiji if he could feel her heartbeat, which shocked Reiji. She explained she was an artificial intelligence, not a human, then pushed Reiji away as she explained that was why there was no point in him risking his life for hers. Everything she had: her personality, her intelligence, her duty; was all given to her by humans and all data, so she was no different from a Digimon.
=External Links=
*Episode 2 on Digimon Web official website:
**Japanese
**English
=Additional Information=
Category:Digimon Paradox chapters