Back again with the second chapter. Cranked this one out all day yesterday with my friend Goku Skywalker. He's been an amazing partner and was really helpful when it came to decent dialogue. Check out his Star Wars/Digimon crossover fic: 'The Destined Jedi.' It is really good and I am co-writing it as well.

So recapping: Matt fired the members of Knife of Day after they voted to discontinue the band. He decides to form a new band and recruits TK, Tai, and Izzy to be in his band, despite Tai and Izzy's lack of musical ability.

Do not own Digimon or any unoriginal songs used in this fic. Enjoy.


Journal Entry #2

Ishida, Matt

June 23rd, 2010

Two days after putting the band together, we began our first practice. I certainly was not having high expectations going in but hoped that something good would come out of it.

TK and I practiced together in the days leading up and confirmed what I already knew: he was a drumming genius and was possibly the next John Bonham, Keith Moon or even Dave Grohl. I knew I had a gold mine with this.

This really has gotten me thinking, when did this all really become toxic? Why did we let it get so far? I guess no one is really safe from the temptations of the alluring toxic sensations.

Now to our first practice…


Matt tuned his bass to the proper tuning while TK tuned his drums until he had the right sound he desired. Today was the band's first practice and Matt was a little nervous about how it was going to go. He could only hope that Tai and Izzy had gotten guitars and practiced enough since he had called them. He would find out soon whether they had put in any work.

"So what songs are we going to practice, Matt?" TK asked from the drums.

"I've got a few that I think could be excellent for the show," replied Matt. "Now it's just a matter of how simple they can be for Tai and Izzy."

"Are you nervous about this at all? Nervous that this was probably a bad idea?"

Matt shook his head. "They just need practice at this sort of thing. The more practice, the better."

A few minutes later, the door to the warehouse opened and in walked Tai and Izzy, guitar cases and amplifiers in hand. They walked over to the blonde-haired brothers.

"Hey guys," Tai greeted. "How's it going?"

"Fine," Matt and TK nodded in greeting.

"Good," Tai smiled. "Well, let's hope this works."

He and Izzy started to open their cases and reveal their new guitars. Tai had an all black Fernandes Stratocaster with a rosewood fretboard and a black guitar head. Izzy pulled out a cherry red Gibson ES-339.

"What's wrong, Izzy? The ES-335 too big for ya?" Matt laughed as Izzy pulled out his guitar. "Don't you think, Tai?"

Tai turned his head, not understanding what Matt was talking about. "Matt, I have really no idea what you're talking about. ES this, EDS that, it doesn't make sense to me."

Matt snickered again. "You'll know soon enough."

Izzy cracked a smile "No, Matt. I just wanted to sit and smile as you noticed Tai's guitar and then marvel in my own sound."

That elicited a laugh from all four of them. After it subsided, Matt got serious.

"Alright, so are you guys all tuned up and ready to go?" He asked.

Tai and Izzy gave each other nervous looks, not understanding exactly what Matt was talking about.

"We have to tune our guitars?" Tai spoke. "Wouldn't it be easier just to tuna fish?"

TK chuckled at Tai's joke but Matt gave him an incredulous look. Already things were not off to a good start if the guys did not know how to tune their guitars. He pulled up his stool beside Tai's.

"Strum a chord for me and I'll see if you're in tune," he said.

Tai sat his guitar on his lap and strummed a 'G' chord. It sounded fine to Tai but Matt was mulling over the entire sound. Pulling a tuner out of his pocket, Matt put it on the head of Tai's guitar and turned it on.

"Now pluck each string for me," he said.

Tai hit the E string. It sounded a little low so Matt moved the rig up until the red on the tuner met the middle in a blue. They repeated the process for each string until it was all tuned up. Matt then did the same for Izzy.

"Ok, since you guys are all tuned up, let's start practice." Matt returned to pick up his Fender Mustang bass and put it around his neck.

Tai took the strap from his guitar and wrapped it around his neck. Izzy did the same while TK took the throne behind the drums. It then occurred to them that they needed some material to practice with.

"Okay, here is a very simple song to find our sound. It's called Paperback Writer by The Beatles." Matt explained as he went over to Tai and Izzy. "The only chords you'll play in this song are C and G7. You do know what a C is don't you?"

Tai did his best at a C chord. "Like this right?"

Matt looked at him with a stern look. Tai had his fingers in the proper shape but at the wrong place on the fretboard. He could fix that no problem.

"Yes, but move your fingers down the fretboard. Like this." Matt then played a C chord to demonstrate. Tai did as instructed and played the chord with grace. The sound it generated wowed Izzy.

"So that's what it's supposed to sound like," Izzy awed. "Okay I think I've got it." He then played the same chord. He felt powerful when he heard the distorted sound pulse through the amplifier. Almost like a shot of adrenaline, he felt a rush of energy go through his system.

Matt then went back to his bass. "See what happens when you tune your instruments to the correct pitch? You get a graceful sound like that."

Tai then tried to play a G7 chord, but ended up playing G minor. His fingers bumbled around trying to find the correct notes to form the chord but in the end, he just got frustrated.

"Gah!" He let out a growl. "This is ridiculous!"

"Tai, come here. Let me help." Matt took the guitar from Tai and showed him where the fingers of a G7 chord were to be placed. "You need to find a chord book and just memorize where to place your fingers. Then practice switching between them."

Tai gave a sorrow look. "Yes Matt," he sighed as he walked back to his chair with guitar in hand.

"It's ok. You're still learning. Don't get upset," Matt said as he hooked his bass around his neck. "Ready, TK?"

"You betcha!" TK said excitedly as he counted them off for Paperback Writer.

The song started off great, Matt and Tai's vocals harmonized together perfectly. It was only until after the first verse that something had gone wrong.

"Hold it, hold it, HOLD IT!" Matt yelled begging for the group to stop playing.

"What's wrong? I thought we sounded great." Izzy said as he dropped his hands from playing position, doing a little descent down the fretboard in a solo.

"See, that's the thing. It sounded great, but it was off. You two need to learn how to keep time. TK and I provide the rhythm; you two provide the flavor that makes the song great. However, I want the song to sound like it was produced with a fine wine. Not some hand me down cheese grater that's two beats off everyone else." Matt explained as he sat down and started to count out how to keep time. He tried to keep his patience but he was beginning to lose that battle.

Tai and Izzy practiced switching chords while strumming the usual way of up and down rather than all down. This showed mild improvement, and Matt was generally pleased with how serious the two of them had taken this. TK started to count off again and Paperback Writer was on again.

The song went off without a hitch, and the sound they produced was adequate for their first practice. The only issue remaining was that Tai and Izzy kept complaining about how their fingers hurt and looked all bloody.

"My fingers are killing me!" Tai yelled as he rubbed them trying to stop the pain. Not only did they hurt, he also saw that the string marks were embedded in his fingers and blood dripped from them.

"That's why you need to keep practicing. You do that and your fingers won't hurt as much anymore. See look at mine." Matt said as he showed off the calluses that his fingers had formed from years of playing. The others looked in awe at how his fingers were not bloody even after maneuvering around the bass strings.

"Okay, can we give it one more go for Paperback Writer?" TK said as he grabbed his sticks, eager to play after having not been able to for almost an hour while Tai and Izzy figured out how to strum properly.

"I don't know how I feel about it. Considering my fingers are bloody and in constant pain, I really don't see the need." Izzy said as he put his guitar down. He pulled out a case of Band Aids and handed a couple to Tai before putting some on his fingers.

"Come on, guys! We have a gig in two weeks and we need to practice. How else are we going to get better if we don't practice?" Matt insisted as he started the bass line again for Paperback Writer.

"I'm with Izzy on this one. I think that's enough for today." Tai spoke. "We know our sound and it's good enough for government work. We can always work on it some more before the gig. Besides, I have to go and get my fingers checked to see if I'm losing any of them." He laughed at his own joke but was met with an incredulous stare from Matt and TK.

Matt thought this over for a brief second before giving an agitated sigh.

"Fine. Practice is over for today. We start again in two days. Have calluses developed by then and I mean developed!" He slammed his bass into its case. "Let's go, TK."

TK got up and followed him but not before turning around to face Izzy and Tai, a displeased look clear as day.

"You two really need to learn that just because things aren't going your way, that doesn't mean you stop and quit." He snapped before following Matt out the door to the warehouse.

Tai and Izzy both felt a sting from TK's words. They really screwed up their first practice and now they both were paying the price for it. They felt like complete failures, not only for themselves but also for their band mates, feeling like they were letting Matt and TK down.

In Tai's mind, his thoughts flashed to Sora and how quickly she would reject him if she found out he was not the great guitarist he thought he was. He needed to step up his game if he was going to be as good as he wants to be.

Izzy wanted to impress Mimi so badly with his guitar skills. Botching up the first rehearsal that he had been a part of would not be the greatest thing to tell her. Izzy felt that he needed to buckle down and learn some discipline for his and Tai's sake.


"Well today was a complete disaster," TK sighed as he sat at the table.

He and Matt were back at their dad's apartment. Matt was cooking dinner for the both of them since their dad was still at work. Since he did not get much of a chance to practice today, TK did overtime: tapping on his practice pad and listening to songs and playing along with them ever since they got back.

"Easy, Teek," Matt replied, trying to keep his own cool in addition to keeping his brother calm. "We should not have expected much from Izzy and Tai right away. I am sure it will take a few days for them to get used to it. We had some flashes of brilliance."

"Yeah but other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" TK drawled sarcastically. "I think maybe this was not such a great idea after all."

Matt came to the table with two bowls of stew and gave one to his brother, pouring glasses of lemonade for the both of them before sitting down. He was a little disappointed about how things went earlier but still kept it in perspective. TK was young so he had yet to fully understand that, despite how mature he was for his age.

"It's only one practice," he said. "We should not judge them based on one practice, as well as it being their first time doing something like this. The whole bringing them into the band thing was your idea to begin with."

TK shook his head and scooped up some stew in his spoon. "Don't remind me."


Tai and Izzy got together before the second practice at Izzy's office to practice before being judged by Matt again. Tai had tried to produce an E minor chord, but wound up producing an E chord instead. After a few more attempts at it, he groaned and stopped strumming.

"All these chords makes playing the guitar difficult." Tai complained, still trying to put his fingers in the right position. "Why do people do this? Couldn't they have stayed on one string and just made it work?"

Izzy strummed the chord perfectly. "Hold on Tai, like this," He fixed Tai's position to get the E minor chord. "Now if guitar was that easy, then it wouldn't be worth it. You're thinking of the bass guitar. " Izzy said as he went back to his seat.

Tai just sighed and practiced his chords. He and Izzy had shown some mild improvement, but it still wouldn't be good enough for Matt's standards.

"Let's run through Paperback Writer. We need to get through that one progression before we get through the chords." Izzy got ready and they practiced and practiced until their fingers felt like they were going to fall off.

After another two hours of straight practice, they decided to call it a session. Hopefully tomorrow they were a little more up to Matt's standards. They did not want to be yelled at again.


Unfortunately, the next practice that would be held had not yielded the results that Matt was hoping for. Paperback Writer had sounded great, even if it was off tone a bit, but the other song Matt had included, Louie Louie, had not been met with positive results.

"Tai, you need to keep the style going. This isn't an original song so you can't afford to screw up a simple style that is known to this earth as… glam metal." Matt threw up in his mouth as he said those words.

Tai grew impatient. "Matt, I'm trying my hardest but that doesn't seem to be good enough for you! I made sure my fingers had calluses but I just can't seem to get it!"

Tai sat down with a huff and slammed his hand against the riser that acted as his backrest.

Matt grew more frustrated. "Don't take that tone with me. All I want is for you to understand the style. Know what it is that we are playing rather than waiting for the last minute before you magically show off your 'mad' skills of being the world's greatest guitar player."

Izzy then took to Tai's side. "Matt, you really have no idea what's going on here do you? We're exhausted," he explained calmly, although he wanted to get in Matt's face and tell him off. "We've tried every single method of learning but nothing is coming of it. We may know chords but does it mean that we're ready for a full gig? I don't think so. Why you made the gig in less than two weeks is a mystery to me but I think you've forgotten the one thing that makes a band: and that is are we having fun in it. I don't think we are anymore." Izzy then got up and looked Matt dead in the eyes.

Matt shoved Izzy out of his way. Tai came to Izzy's defense by shoving Matt in return, but just as it looked like it was going to be a full-blown brawl, TK and Izzy held them back. Matt's patience was beginning to wear thin with their complaining. His anger got the best of him and he started to let his feelings about the situation be known to them.

"I will have you know that I don't need any of this!" He roared. Tai and Izzy sat quietly, looking down at their shoes. "All I want is a group of people who are good enough to be in a band so we can all become famous rock stars. If it could be with my friends, then that would be even more amazing. Apparently I was wrong."

Matt then turned to leave the warehouse. "If you still feel the need, you can come to the gig and watch me and TK flunk out all by ourselves. Thanks for ruining the one chance we all had." He then walked out in a huff.

TK then stepped off his throne and turned to Tai and Izzy. "That was very brave of you for doing what you believed in. However, I can see the lack of practice and effort on your part. I'm sorry, guys, but unless you shape up and get your act together, you're out." TK then walked out of the warehouse and chased after his brother.

Tai stood up and stroked his brown hair, shame and guilt coursing through his system after the fight.

"How could we have done that to them?" He sighed. "They're two of our best friends and we let them down." He then looked over at his guitar and grabbed it. "Come on, Izzy, we need to practice our asses off if we're gonna be in shape for the gig in less than two weeks."

Izzy got up and grabbed his Gibson ES-339. "You got it, Tai. From the top we do Paperback Writer and then Louie Louie." They counted off and began to tear the warehouse apart with how much effort they put in to their work.

After they finished the run through, they gave each other proud looks. Somehow, someway, they managed to run through it without any problems. Perhaps it was because they did not have Matt and TK breathing down their necks at every little thing that they did. It was much easier.

A chord progression that Izzy was doing caught Tai's ear. It sounded really good and could make a new song. He did not know how to write a song but that did not stop him from wanting to start something.

"Hey Iz," he said. "Play that again. I'll try to put some words to it."

Izzy raised an eyebrow for a brief second before he caught on to what Tai was trying to tell him. Did he just come up with a new song?

"Ok," Izzy nodded, playing the A minor-F-C-G progression that he had just been playing. He started bobbing his head up and down, feeling the rhythm in his playing, and a smile made its way on his face. This was fun. Tai played along with him until he got a burst of inspiration.

"Tell me how this sounds," he said before singing, "I am a passenger, and I ride and I ride. I ride through the city backsides, I see the stars come out of the sky."

"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed, ceasing his playing. "That is actually really good. Maybe for every other line in the verse, we use an E chord at the end just to have some variety in it." He played the same progression with an E at the end for Tai.

"Yeah we should," nodded Tai. "Oh man. We have to show this to TK and Matt before the gig."

"I agree."

Tai then pulled out a notebook from his backpack and wrote down the words he came up with. For the next half-hour, he and Izzy worked out the rest of the lyrics before deciding to call it a day. All that could be said afterwards was that the gig was going to be a night the four of them would never forget.


Will they pull it off in time? Will this band even survive the first gig? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

The song Tai and Izzy came up with was 'The Passenger' by Iggy Pop. I know that the song was released in the 70's but we have to have them write some sort of original material. That will be a constant throughout this fic, though I promise that there will be some that I did myself eventually.

Keep those reviews coming and always remember to favorite and follow along with that. It's a package deal. See you all next time. At the rate I am writing, it should not be too long at all.