Which Anniversary is it again?
On the island of Odaiba, at noon on the first of August, three teenagers made their way to the Fuji-TV building. Walking along the river, was a tall, fifteen-year-old boy with nearly shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes and a grumpy face, followed by two younger kids, both three years younger than him. The first was another boy closely resembling him, down to the color of his eyes and hair, albeit more bustling and cut short. The last was a young girl with auburn colored eyes and brown hair, just long enough to frame her face, and a hair clip, keeping her bangs from obscuring her eyes. She also wore a digital camera on a cord around her neck, as she did for almost two years at this point.
The three were part of a group of eight kids, called the DigiDestined, a collection of chosen children, who, one day at summer camp, were washed away by an enormous tidal wave, only to wake up on a remote island – in an alternate universe called the Digital World. At least seven of them were. The young, auburn eyed girl, named Hikari Yagami, had to stay home, due to a cold, which spared her from the traumatic event - along with many others, befalling her future team-mates. Kari and the two boys, walking with her that day, the older boy Yamato "Matt" Ishida and his brother Takeru Takaishi (called TK for short), had one thing in common though: They were chosen to save the Digital World from the dark forces, threatening to destroy it. And subsequently the human world, too. All of them were paired with each one creature native to the Digital World, known as Digimon (which stands for digital monsters), who were born to fight the children's battles. These loyal companions by their side, they set out for their mission. The DigiDestined were meant to overcome, whatever the (digital) world threw at them. Together. Which would work occasionally, until their chemistry (or lack thereof) would drive them apart. Far, far apart, more often than not...
"So, where is your brother?" Matt asked Kari casually, referring to Taichi Yagami, the leader of the group.
The girl sighed.
"Taking a nap." She said quietly.
"Again?"
"What do you mean 'again'? He wasn't up since yesterday to begin with." Kari answered somewhat dismissively, "Besides, you guys know it's his lazy season!"
"Wait, I thought winter was his lazy season" TK said confused.
"No, that's his sleepy season" Kari explained patiently, "There's less soccer training in winter, so he gets to sleep more. Easy to remember."
TK shot a puzzled glance at her.
"Look, he has his system and he gets iffy, if anyone criticizes it. He is very defensive about it."
"Yeah, because his systems always turned out to be the very best things, to happen to our group!" Matt muttered.
"First off: His systems are designed to help him schedule his sleeping patterns – he never intended them to help the group in any way!" Kari snapped.
"What a leader!" Matt said sarcastically.
"Second off: You voted for him as the leader!"
"Whatever" Matt huffed, "You weren't there..."
Kari ignored this comment and went ahead:
"Third off: Why don't you call Gabumon, go back to our apartment and try to murder Tai again? It's been a while! And what better way is there, to celebrate our anniversary, than you trying to beat my brother to death again?"
"Wait, I thought we were meeting up for Odaiba-Day!" TK said confused.
"He was sleeping under a tree, while Sora almost got hammered to death by Puppetmon." Matt hissed impatiently.
"So? He always slept on the job! Get over it! Joey tried to screw us over, every time he saw an opportunity to make a profit out of it!" Kari fired back, "Don't act like my brother was a spoiled brat in a bunch of saints! Oh, and don't tell me you attacked him for the greater good! What was that story again? About the magical tree, only you could see and speak to?"
"I keep telling you: Cherrymon was real!" Matt said, perplexed that she still didn't believe him, "How hard is it to believe, that there are trees in the Digital World who can speak?"
"Then how come, we never saw a single talking tree?"
"I don't know, because not all of them are sentient?"
"Okay, so why did no one except you ever see that talking tree?"
"Because Puppetmon killed him before I had a chance to introduce him to you!"
"Right… Just keep telling yourself that. Oh, and can you see Tai's reflection in the river right now? Or do you need your imaginary tree friend for that, as well?"
"Shut up"
"So speaking of the gang" TK tried to steer the conversation away from his brothers growing insanity, "What are the others up to? Is anyone else coming?"
"Let's see" Matt started reflectively, "Mimi is still in the U.S. and surprisingly they didn't deport her, yet. So my guess is: She's not coming."
"That's what we thought last time, too" TK reminded him grim.
"Scratch that. I have high hopes she's not coming."
"I talked to Sora on the phone" Kari went on, "but she hung up, as soon as I dropped Tai's name."
"Well, what did you expect?" Matt snorted, "He interrupted her while she was hitting on Mimi and pretty much ruined it for her – so naturally she hates him now and forever. Why didn't you just say the team wants to meet up?"
"I know, I know…" Kari grumbled, "Well, Izzy is coming. That's… something…"
"Yeah, because surely he is there to meet up with us" Matt replied snarky.
"So, what about Joey?" TK asked.
"He's probably off sucking somebodies blood" Kari muttered.
"What is your deal with Joey?" Matt said incredulously, "Why do you always wonder about him?"
"He is the only one left!" TK countered angry, "Also he saved my live once, remember?"
"He dragged you out of the river, because he knew you had your milk money on you." Matt said, "He'd rather die than watching a single coin getting wasted!"
"Well, maybe that was part of it but -"
"No, that's it."
"You don't know that!"
"He never cared about any of us." Matt said, "Why would you be the exception?"
"Shut up!" TK yelled at his brother, "Just because nobody cares for you, doesn't mean they don't care about me, either!"
"People care about me..." Matt muttered grumpy, turning his face away from them.
"Oh, really? Who? Mom, Dad and I don't count!"
Matt remained silent.
"Wow, not even your imaginary tree?" Kari asked with a soft giggle.
Matt flipped her off without even looking at her.
They kept on walking, silent for another few minutes. When they had almost reached the TV-Station TK started speaking again.
"Can you imagine, it's been almost five years already?"
"You mean four years" Kari corrected him.
"No, I mean five years!"
"TK it was at the end of last year when the crew split up... again"
"Yeah, because that's the big takeaway from that day - "
"Can we not - go into detail, about that, TK?" Kari said shuddering, "I still have night terrors, sometimes... anyway, we met Wizardmon again, the summer prior to this. And that was our third anniversary. The third. Not the fourth, the third."
"No, no I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the summer of 2000 when we got sucked into –"
"2000?!" Kari and Matt called out simultaneously, stopping and turning to look at him in disbelief.
"Wait..." TK said startled, "Shit, no... let me think!"
"Man, you look really confused, right now." Matt said, frowning.
"Fine!" TK said gritting his teeth, "It was '99... four years ago! Are we done now?"
And with that, they walked on.
"Told you so" Kari said quickly.
"Whatever!" TK hissed, "You weren't there!"
"I joined you like – two days later!"
"It's been half a year for us!"
They came across Izzy sitting on a bench facing the TV-Station. He was a skinny, pale fourteen-year-old with dark gray eyes and scraggly red hair. He had his laptop on and candy bar in the one hand that wasn't typing.
"How come, you never gain an ounce of weight, when you're eating this junk night and day?"
"Nice to see you too, Matt" Izzy replied without looking up, "Also, do you really want me to get started on genes and how sugar facilitates ones intellectual capacity?"
"I was just having small talk" Matt sighed.
"So, what are you up to Izzy?" Kari asked rather kindly.
Izzy gave her puzzled look.
"Aren't we all supposed to meet up here for – what was it - Odaiba-Day?" he answered.
"For our anniversary!" Kari said annoyed, "Also how did you know? You wrote an e-mail to all of us, that you were heading out here, to collect some data… or something. I thought about telling you about the meet up, but I figured since you are already here…"
"Right… sure you did. I've been monitoring all of the group's messaging traffic, for nearly a year now. In fact, I knew before you hit the send button."
TK sighed in frustration.
"See?" he said to his brother "What did I tell you? We couldn't possible exclude him, even if we tried!"
"And you would be foolish, in doing so." Izzy said calmly, "But I forgive you. It's not like I'm the only one, getting bullied out of the team, anyway."
"Doesn't bullying mean something like a group of people teaming up to insult and exclude a single person?" Kari asked, raising an eyebrow.
Surprised Izzy looked up to her.
"You are absolutely right! This term doesn't fit the situation at all!"
"So what's the data you're collecting?"
"Since our last and – technically first encounter, of a rather paranormal kind…"
"Why would you even ask him something like this?" Matt asked Kari annoyed, "Remember how long this went on, the last time you asked him, what a single line on the screen of his laptop meant?"
"I'm sorry, okay? I thought he might have gotten a little more... straight-to-the-point by now" Kari answered over Izzy's still ongoing monologue.
"You are so naive!"
"Says the guy, who voted for my brother as our leader!"
"Everyone had the same idea! That wasn't my fault! I still don't get why people like him. He is such a lazy asshole!"
"Maybe it's because you are the bigger asshole, so they chose the lesser evil"
"At least I would have gotten shit done!"
"Seriously, Matt?" TK intervened, "Is this, how this going now? If Tai isn't around you just fight the next available Yagami?"
"No, that's not true at all!"
"Didn't you get into an argument with Tai and Kari's mom at the grocery store last week?"
"She was talking about making fries in the oven instead of the deep fryer! Who does that?"
There was a moment of awkward silence until they realized that Izzy had stopped talking and was now indignantly glaring at them.
"I'm sorry Izzy" Kari said, chuckling nervously, "what was that?"
"Long story short" Izzy sighed, "Wizardmon showed up here, last year, so I figured, I could gather some data about him or the other digital ghosts, doomed to haunt this world, until the end of days, because we mercilessly killed them. I think, I might be able to use that data to my advantage somehow."
"Well, at least that explains Phantomon." TK muttered more to himself than anyone else, but Izzy heard him:
"What, now you're wondering about the reasons behind that?"
"I mean, uh..." he trailed off, but then he continued confused: "But they are just ghosts. How could you benefit from that?"
"Well, for starters, me being able, to prove the existence of ghosts, even if they are just digital ones, would probably help me, gaining the attention of the national science community, at least. My intellect would then do rest; ensuring me a quick rise in the world of science, to the point when my influence alone will be the foundation for my future success."
"Wow, you really thought this through, didn't you?" Matt said shaking his head in disbelief, "You and Joey should launch a league of super-villains while you're at it..."
"Nah" Izzy huffed dismissive, "He is in for the money. Me? I'm in for the power. He can have his big mansion, they call money. But after a few years, as it collapses around him, guess who's gonna laugh at him, while watching from the old stone building, that is power, which will undoubtedly last for centuries!"
"I'm getting a little uncomfortable right now…" Kari said, crossing her arms before her chest.
"I know" Izzy said now paying even closer attention to whatever his laptop was displaying, "It looks like Wizardmon or one of the others, are trying to materialize themselves. It's only natural to get uneasy about that."
"That's not what I meant..." Kari said quietly.
A dark cloud began to form in front of them. Growing a first, then rapidly shrinking into the shape of a short man with gray skin, wearing a pointy wizards hat, a tattered cloak and patched clothing. The figure had a staff in his hand, with the top part resembling a sun.
"Look at that, it is Wizardmon" Izzy said mildly surprised, "Well, that worked perfectly."
"Oh, uh... good to see you, my friends" Wizardmon said somewhat startled, "Uh, I... didn't actually plan to show myself right now, to be honest... That's weird..."
"Oh, yeah actually I did that" Izzy explained, "I've been looking at everything we learned about you ghosts, so far and I used that knowledge to get you to materialize once you were in our general proximity."
"You baited him into materializing?" TK asked baffled, "But how -"
"TK!" Matt cut in sternly.
"- is it possible, that I didn't see this coming?" he finished his sentence robotic, "Seeing how much of a genius you are, as we all know..."
"I'm flattered..." Izzy said dry.
"So, uh..." Wizardmon said awkwardly, "Gatomon isn't with you, huh?"
"Nope." Kari said crossing her arms, "Damn tragedy, I know!"
"Yeah, if you couldn't tell already, our team is in great shape" Izzy said.
"Well, I don't wanna be rude and it was nice seeing you all..." Wizardmon said, "But I really didn't plan on this, so if you guys have anything to discuss, that's okay... but otherwise..."
"You got anymore prophecies for us?" TK asked.
"Well, I've..." Wizardmon started, obviously not enjoying to be put on the spot like that, "I've heard something about an infection, a few years down the road..."
The four kids looked at him eagerly.
"That's it. That's all I know."
"You suck" TK said.
"I died for you guys!"
"You died for Gatomon." Kari corrected him.
"But I knew it would also trigger your crest. I even told you, what feelings to focus on, so it would actually work!"
"Oh, that's what you were doing!" Kari realized, "I thought those were some weird last words..."
"Well, you died as you lived" TK said, "Giving us important information and/or prophecies – man, I'm really sorry... now that I think about it like that, you really don't suck."
"Pretty much" Izzy said, "Wizardmon, if I find a way to resurrect you, can we have you as a support instead of Gennai? I mean, honestly, everyone would be a step up from him, but having Mr. Exposition instead would be like winning the lottery, in return for killing a retarded coworker."
"I..." Wizardmon said, taken aback by Izzys metaphor, "I guess so... Can't see why not. Anything else, you wanna talk about?"
"Well, I don't have anything" TK shrugged, "What about you guys?"
"Nope" Matt and Kari said in unison.
"In that case, nice seeing you again" Wizardmon said, waving them goodbye – before freezing.
"What?" he said perplexed, "Why can't I -"
"I figured, you would try that" Izzy said calm, "Look, I'm sorry, it had to come to this, but I got a lot of data to collect from you and I needed to make sure you wouldn't just disappear in the middle of it, so -"
"You fucking trapped him, dude?" TK asked half laughing.
"Essentially"
"One could really say" a voice behind TK chimed in, "He didn't stand a ghost of a chance, he he."
"God dammit, Phantomon!" TK barked.
"Hey, couldn't you have used him for your experiment, instead of – well, luring me into a trap?" Wizardmon said, now somewhat annoyed about this turn of events.
"That's a legitimate question" Izzy nodded, "Let's just say this: I would have, if somebody told me, he was here!"
"I didn't know!" TK defended himself, "He showed up less and less lately, I thought he was... I don't know – fading or something! Also we just talked about him! Why didn't you ask me? Most of the time, I'm the only one who can see him, anyways!"
"Ugh, fine!" Izzy said, "You know what Wizardmon? I'm sorry, but I wouldn't have used him over you. Because contrary to you, he never delivered even a fragment of a prophecy. I was hoping that I would get you, because frankly, you are the most interesting subject around."
"Now I am flattered" Wizardmon said, almost as dry as Izzy before him, but not quiet.
The ghost sighed.
"So, how long do I have to stay?"
"Oh, not that long" Izzy said, "It should only take until... let's see... sunset, I think."
"Izzy, it's 1 p.m." Matt said, "And it's August."
"Well, it's not like he's running out of time, right Wizardmon?"
"U huh..." Wizardmon groaned, having thrown his head back and slouched his shoulders.
"So..." TK started awkwardly, "Since we have some time to kill, what have you been up to, lately, Wizardmon?"
"Not much..." Wizardmon said, "Afterlife isn't as eventful as some people make it out to be..."
He sighed again.
"What about you guys? I saw you got some new team-mates."
"Well, not anymore..." Izzy said, "But sure, that story should be enough, to keep us entertained until the process is done."
"Right!" TK huffed, "Buckle up Wizardmon, I'm sure we gonna need eight hours for this one."