2004 – New Year, New Problems

Story #8: Another Adoption

Author's Notes: This story covers Izzy, generally in his "pondering mode". Enjoy!

Date: 1/3/2004

Time: 2:00pm

Place: Izumi apartment, Izzy's room.

"Izzy" Izumi sat on the chair by his desk, his laptop running idle on the desk. Beside the open laptop, Izzy was scribbling various, somewhat disjointed thoughts on a piece of scrap paper.

Right now, Izzy was in his head scratching mode. He had apparently been naïve in assuming that their problems would have ended with MaloMyotismon's destruction, and now he found himself trying to cope with several situations in his own way.

One involved Ken. After he reverted from being the Digimon Emperor, Izzy approached him with an offer of becoming a research partner, something Ken had at best coolly accepted. This had been confusing to Izzy, as he thought Ken would have jumped at the chance to redeem his intellectual talents, but now Izzy had some insight into why the hesitation existed: Ken had been hurt so badly that he didn't really want to do anything which reminded him of "the dark research" which he had undertaken to create Kimeramon.

Izzy was now prepared to offer the chance again. He was sure that Ken would be more willing now that evil wasn't hanging over their heads, and also as a common way of showing spite at Myotismon. Izzy usually was not this emotional (indeed, he once was often criticized for being inattentive to other's feelings and desires), but Myotismon had victimized what Izzy now considered not just a peer intellectually but as someone who was pushed around by the perceptions of others, what other people wanted him to be. In addition, Ken's real self was almost destroyed by Myotismon, bringing agony and suffering to humans and Digimon alike. Izzy's left hand clenched into a fist as he kept thinking about how Ken was robbed of his innocence by the old foe...

But anger at this point would be useless. Myotismon was gone, but not before he had added to his long victims list. Ken, Oikawa, the kids that had the spores planted in them... they all now joined that long list that had Gatomon and Wizardmon as its highlights. It made Izzy feel both so sad for Ken and so upset at Myotismon at the same time that he was having a hard time trying to cope with the emotion.

However, that wasn't the only thing on Izzy's mind right now. Another problem Izzy had to deal with was concerning Tentomon. Unlike the others, Izzy's mom had remembered Tentomon, so he didn't have to hide him, but now he was sure they were talking about whether he was staying or not. Up to this point, Izzy had been noncommittal about that, but he knew that the longer he delayed the more problematic the situation would get. There were many things to consider, food and bedding being some of them, and Izzy knew if he kept hemming and hawing about it they would start asking questions Izzy wouldn't want to hear or talk about. In short, he needed to give a yes-or-no answer about that soon.

A third problem stemmed from an email received by him from Tai. It stated that during Gatomon's introduction to the parents, his dad had pulled up some online stories, written up by kids, that sounded like what had happened when Gatomon was held by Myotismon as bait to lure out "the eighth child", and that Tai thought Gennai had deleted that kind of data, so then why was his dad able to access that data? This question had indeed perplexed Izzy, and he had met with Tai, Kari and Matt at Tai's apartment this morning to try to figure out what was going on. After coming to the conclusion that the situation was what it appeared to be, Izzy had returned home and sent an email to Gennai, promising Tai and Matt to give any news he received from him. This was the reason why his laptop was on right now: he was waiting for Gennai to reply. The waiting made Izzy fidgety, and he was worried that somehow because of this revelation Digimon would have to be introduced to the general public quickly, possibly within the next few months. Izzy didn't feel this was the right way to go about it, but also knew that circumstances may leave him with no choice but to accept it this way...

A final point of worry involved something related to Oikawa. Izzy knew it was a logical assumption that Oikawa had left behind in the real world many possessions, including an apartment and undoubtedly much computer technology, the means by which the possessing Myotismon had wreaked his havoc. Oikawa's spirit was now guarding and repairing the Digital World with the assistance of Azulongmon and the "Trees of Light" that had grown up to replace the destroyed Destiny Stones, but there were still things to be dealt with in the Digiworld. One thing was the other trapped Harmonious Ones: how could they be released from their prisons? And another was the energy barrier that had been created from the energy of the Crests: would it be dismantled and its energy returned to the Digidestined now that it was no longer an effective barrier against entry to the Digiworld? Izzy figured that to get answers to those questions, he needed to access Oikawa's computers, and with each passing day it became less and less likely that they would be able to get their hands on his technology. He thought Ken and his dad might be on that case, but he didn't have an optimistic outlook on this. Unless something came up which allowed them to make a legal claim on Oikawa's possessions (which wasn't unreasonable considering Cody's father was Oikawa's best friend), Izzy thought that the government might seize the computers and with that destroy anything which could provide answers to the questions, causing difficulties that could neither be predicted nor prevented without the information.

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Yep, Izzy had a lot to worry and think about right now, which was the reason he was scribbling on the sheet of scrap paper: it sometimes helped him make sense of things, or at least look at it from a different angle. But now, it wasn't helping as much as he hoped it would. He sighed and checked the email on his computer again. "Still nothing. Rats!" he said when no new messages were found on the computer. He was hoping for something, but...

Izzy was interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door. The door opened to show his mom peaking in. "Are you OK, dear?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Izzy replied, eyes still fixed on his computer screen.

"Well, I just want to make sure that all that's been going on isn't stressing you out."

"I know Mom."

"Um, where's your friend?"

"Tentomon?" Izzy said. "Umm..."

Izzy looked around for signs of his Digimon friend and found him laying on the bed, apparently having a nap. Izzy told his mom that, and she replied with, "Well, Tentomon doesn't seem to be worrying as much as you are."

"That's because he's got the better half of the deal." Izzy stated. "He doesn't have to do fighting or patrols anymore, while I have to worry along with the others on how do we explain Digimon to the general public! We have to think this through very carefully before something bad happens, and we can't make mistakes; that's very important, Mom!"

"I know, dear. Just make sure you take breaks now and then, OK?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Good. I'll tell you when it's supper time, alright?"

"Alright."

With that, Mom quietly closed the door, leaving Izzy to his thoughts again.

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Izzy chuckled a bit. After all, it was kind of ironic that he was an adopted child genius. The mom and dad he had known were his foster parents, as his real parents had died in a car accident when he was very young; his real dad in particular was very smart (undoubtedly where Izzy himself got his smarts and why he was chosen to hold the Crest of Knowledge). This was a big problem after he found out he was adopted through his own investigations, but during the events of the first Digimon adventure four and a half years ago he had laid that to rest when it was publicly confessed. Izzy still occasionally wished he could meet his real parents, but otherwise he had long ago made peace with the fact he was adopted.

However, adoption still held a special meaning to Izzy. First off, he saw the redemptions of both Ken and Gatomon as "adoptions", accepting and loving the victim of a tragedy (Myotismon's destructive influence) and treating them as no different as anyone else. Also, by again offering Ken the opportunity to become his partner, he was in a way "adopting" his intellectual abilities, which had been grossly abused by Myotismon through Oikawa.

"Adoptions can mend broken lives." Izzy said. "Adoptions can heal wounds. Adoptions can make the unloved feel loved, to let them know someone still cares for them. And I know that because of what it can do, adoption is one of the most loving things a person, or Digimon, can do for another." Izzy knew these things because he was not only a case study of what adoption can do but because he had seen its effects in others.

Adoption was a good thing, he said, and in that moment Izzy had his answer for his problem concerning Tentomon staying. He would say that he was being adopted into the family, like with a pet cat or dog. Now of course Digimon aren't pets in any way, shape or form, but for this situation it would be a good enough analogy. Izzy's day suddenly perked up, and he began to think that maybe the problems weren't so big after all. Just a little more knowledge, and everything would come right.

Izzy had to pull himself back down to reality as he tried again to see if Gennai had put up a reply, but Izzy was now more confident in the situation at hand...

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You once had the Crest of Knowledge, Izzy, and you must continue to gather knowledge any way you can. You learned that letting go of your curiosity was a mistake, and you must not repeat it just because the battles seem to be over. The Digidestined and the Digiworld may change in ways you cannot predict, and with what is emerging knowledge is always helpful. Be aware, Izumi, and ready to take your post in this emerging order, for it may come sooner than you think, and you must be ready to fill it before it is forced upon you. Keep learning more about Digimon, for it is this curiosity that may someday benefit thousands of humans and Digimon alike...

The End