SCATTERED, Part 7
"Neither Here Nor There"
"Well, Tentomon, that's everyone but us," said Izzy. The two of them were holed up in Dr. Kido's office ten years in the past. This was where Mini Apocalymon had sent them. Their friends had ended up in different worlds and been faced with their own challenges, but Izzy had managed to contact them all. If everyone got to a computer at some point in their world, then all of them could return home. If even one failed, they would all be trapped permanently.
"So, what do we do now?" Tentomon asked. Izzy turned off his computer and disconnected it from the phone line. Then he turned on the older, slower computer on Dr. Kido's desk.
"Joe's father has a computer of his own," said Izzy. "If we use my computer, then it will remain here in this world. I intend to use Dr. Kido's computer to transport us home and prevent my technologically advanced computer from being found in this time."
"Good thinking," said Tentomon. "Plus, if you had to go home without your computer you would probably suffer a nervous breakdown."
"Yeah, probably," said Izzy chuckling. He then took hold of Tentomon's claw and held up his digivice. He closed his eyes knowing that this was the moment of truth. Holding his breath, he put his digivice to the glowing monitor.
And in South Park, Colorado, Matt and TK put their digivices to Eric Cartman's mother's computer…
And in D'ni, Joe put his digivice to the screen of the link machine, knowing that whether it worked or not, he would be transported somewhere else…
And in the Land of Oz, Mimi and Kari put their digivices to the late Irritable Witch of the South's monitor…
And on an island off the coast of Costa Rica named Isla Nublar, also known as Jurassic Park, Tai and Sora put their digivices to the monitor of a newly restored computer…
And in those five separate worlds, all were engulfed in blinding, brilliant white light as a massive flow of energy took hold of them and sent them hurtling through time and space, bypassing the laws of physics and somehow finding their way back to the place that they came from.
In what was formerly Myotismon's dungeon, all sixteen of them materialized. Back in their bodies after their sudden transportation, they rubbed their eyes and caught their breath. Tai was the first to completely recover.
"Hey, it worked!" he exclaimed. "Way to go, Izzy!"
"Glad I could help out," said Izzy, also catching his breath. "But the truth is the plan wouldn't have worked unless everyone did their part in each of the worlds they were in. Everyone deserves credit."
"Hey, speaking of which," said Mimi, "where did everyone go?"
"Matt and I went to America," said TK, "and I got to go to an American public school and Matt stopped Barbara Streisand from destroying a small town! Wasn't that cool, Matt?"
"No," said Matt.
"You wouldn't believe it, Tai," said Kari. "Mimi and I were in a place with tiny people and witches and flying monkeys!"
"Flying monkeys?" Tai asked, laughing.
"Uh-huh," Mimi said. "And that witch sure had a lot of warlock porn on her computer!"
"Mimi wouldn't let me see the green guys hugging," Kari added innocently, not noticing the disturbed look on Tai's face.
"How about you and Tai, Sora?" asked Mimi.
"We were on an island with a bunch of dinosaurs that were trying to eat us," said Sora. "But Tai and I managed to get past them and turn on the computers we needed to get home. Isn't that right, Tai?… Tai?"
When she got no response, she looked around and saw Tai sneaking up behind Matt. Before Matt could do anything, Tai snatched the magazine he was carrying in his back pocket.
"Tai! NO!" Matt yelled, his face turning bright red as Tai ran off with the magazine. "Give that back!"
"Come on, Matt!" Tai said, laughing as he dodged him. "I was just going to see what kind of- whoa!"
"What is it, Tai?" asked Izzy, walking over. Then he saw the woman in the picture that Tai was looking at with wide, staring eyes. Then he too began to stare.
"Wow, Matt," said Tai quietly. "Your world had some great magazines."
Matt, sighing, looked over Tai's shoulder and joined him and Izzy in their ogling. "That one kind of looks like Mimi, doesn't she?" Matt commented.
"She is a remarkable facsimile," said Izzy, a small grin appearing on his face.
"Uh-huh," agreed Tai, a glazed look coming into his eyes.
"Hey, what are you guys reading?" asked Mimi.
"NOTHING!" they all said, giving it back to Matt, who shoved it roughly back into his back pocket.
"Hey, guess what I did in my world," said Joe, drawing stares from everyone. "I saved the entire universe from the corruptive influence of an evil man who wielded the power to twist worlds with godlike impunity!"
All of them looked at him for a moment in silence. Then Tai turned to Kari and said, "So, flying monkeys, eh?" and everyone went about their own individual conversations.
"Oh, great," said Joe, deflated. "I finally have a cool heroic story and no one believes me."
"Hey, I'm sure they believe you, Joe," said Gomamon. "They just don't care."
"Thanks," said Joe sarcastically. "Thanks a lot."
"Well, at least I care," said Gomamon helpfully.
Joe smiled. "Well, then it wasn't a total waste of time," he said, picking up his digimon and joining the others. "What about you, Izzy?"
Izzy turned quiet then and looked away in contemplation. "I'll tell you later," he said finally.
"Well, looks like we're all here and everything's going to fine!" said Tai.
"Wrong!" shouted a voice. "You little meddlers are no safer now than you were on those distant worlds! You cannot defeat me! Your fates are sealed!"
"Mini Apocalymon!" cried Izzy, realizing that the mutant digimon was still there.
"Yeah, did you forget about me, you little chatroom chimp?" asked an angered Mini Apocalymon as he emerged from the shadows of the corner. "You probably didn't notice that I was trying to get your attention since you got here," he added, looking wounded.
"So, you're still here," said Tai. "Too bad there's still nothing you can do to us. We can handle anything you throw at us!" The others gathered behind him in support.
"Don't flatter yourselves!" laughed the dark, cube-dwelling rookie. "You are as insignificant as ticks crawling on the leathery knees of a card-carrying Shriner!"
"Eww!" said Mimi.
"Yeah, I hate ticks, too, Mimi," said Kari.
"No, I meant the Shriners," said Mimi. "All those old guys in fezes and driving those weird little cars… it's creepy!"
"Silence!" bellowed Mini Apocalymon. "Jeez, don't you brats know not to interrupt someone in the middle of a tirade!"
"Enough talk, shrimpy!" said Tai. "Come on, guys, let's finish him off!"
As the digimon rushed him, Mini Apocalymon smiled. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
The sides of his cube slid open and eight metallic claws snaked out. They were remarkably similar to those he had at his mega level. Once revealed, the seven rookies and one champion froze, temporarily thrown off by their appearance.
"Block Digivolve!" attacked Mini Apocalymon, and the claws reached out and clutched the eight digimon tightly. Then, after a brief moment of being held, the claws withdrew. Too their surprise, all of them seemed unscathed and still in the same forms.
"What happened?" asked Sora.
"Yeah, wasn't that supposed to make them de-digivolve?" asked Joe.
"That was my 'Reverse Digivolve' attack that I had as a mega," explained Mini Apocalymon, "but obviously you didn't hear me when I said 'Block Digivolve,' did you, you dim-witted, larval-infested chunks of carion!"
All looked to Izzy.
"He called us dead meat, basically," Izzy said.
"Correct, you red-headed, uh… son of a... blue-collar laborer!" said Mini Apocalymon, running low on menacing insults.
"Hey, that's hitting below the belt!" said Izzy.
"In any case," he went on, ignoring Izzy's protests, "your digimon cannot digivolve from their present forms for at least ten minutes! And that's more time than you've got left to live! Cower in fear, you weakilings!"
"Logically, you're a weakling too, being at your rookie level," Izzy retorted.
Mini Apocalymon fumed. He was sick of listening to this little snot and it was time to silence him. "Petite Darkness!" he attacked.
A small, black burst of energy flew from hi hand and collided with Izzy, sending him reeling as he fell motionless to the ground.
"Oh my God!" screamed TK. "He killed Izzy! You bastard!"
"I'm not dead," groaned Izzy. "I'm just in a lot of pain."
"There's more where that came from, geek-boy," said Mini Apocalymon as the Digidestined went to help Izzy to his feet. "You're in too much pain too move and after I defeat all of you, your discomfort will only get worse."
"Oh yeah?" retorted Tai. "Well, we've still got you outnumbered! Go get him, guys!"
The digimon attacked, letting loose with their best attacks.
"Super Shocker!" attacked Tentomon, most eager since his Digidestined was the one currently down. Mini Apocalymon flew more swiftly than any of them would have though possible and dodged the attack easily.
One of his claws morphed into a strangely familiar silhouette. "Blue Blaster!" attacked Mini Apocalymon, using Gabumon's attack to blast Tentomon out of the air and sending him, disabled, to the ground.
"He can mimic our attacks?" exclaimed Gabumon. "Well, there's still nothing like the original. Blue Blaster!"
"Boom Bubble!"
"Pepper Breath!"
All of these attacks were dodged skillfully and countered with attacks from other Rookie level digimon. The remaining digimon tried their best, but Palmon, Patamon, and Biyomon were overcome rapidly, leaving only Gatomon behind.
"You're a small demon digimon," said Gatomon, smiling. "Unless I miss my guess, that puts me at an advantage."
"Here, kitty-kitty," taunted Mini Apocalymon.
The agile Gatomon was able to dodge his attacks and pounced forward to counter attack.
"Lightning Paw!" she yelled, slashing him across the face.
Mini Apocalymon floated back, grunting in pain, but he then raised his hand and once again fired a small beam of black energy at Gatomon in retaliation. "Petit Darkness!" he cried, as the attack hit its mark.
Gatomon let out a cry as the attack tossed her back several feet.
"Nice moves, dog food," laughed Mini Apocalymon, "but now you join your companions in defeat!"
"Gatomon, are you all right?" asked Kari. Indeed, all the Digidestined went to their digimon to check on them. Mini Apocalymon watched all this with amusement and began to laugh cruelly.
"How could he beat us?" asked Tai, bewildered.
"Because, my goggled young friend," explained Mini Apocalymon between guffaws, "in addition to being one of the strongest rookie level digimon in existence, I used strategy. If I weren't about to kill you all, I'd suggest that you use some next time! Had your partners digivolved, perhaps they would have stood a chance. As it is, once this machine warms back up, I'm going to send you all to another dimension. And this time I'll pick something myself. Something nasty."
Mini Apocalymon threw his head back and laughed. He knew nothing could stand in his way. He could finally finish off the now defenseless children. Not only that, but the thought of them being destroyed by a rookie was too ironic to bear.
As he laughed, however, his words on strategy suddenly reached one of them. And in his eight-year-old mind, TK formed a very simple plan: attack while he's still laughing.
Before Matt or anyone else could stop him, TK charged at the cackling Mini Apocalymon. When he was close enough, he leapt up at him headfirst. His momentum carried him like a cannonball into the oblivious digimon and he head-butted him back into the controls for the pedestal.
"Oof!" grunted the surprised Mini Apocalymon.
"Respect my authoritai!" yelled TK.
"TK, no!" cried Matt.
"You should listen to your brother, you wretched little worm," said Mini Apocalymon. Using his metal claws he picked up TK by the torso and with another he grabbed him by the head. "Now, I'm going to take that head of yours and mount it on my wall!"
TK closed his eyes and the rest of the digidestined all screamed in horrified protest. Then, the machinery that Mini Apocalymon smashed into moments earlier began to crackle with electricity and a puff of smoke was emitted. This was followed by a beam of white energy that suddenly shot from the pedestal directly into Mini Apocalymon. He dropped TK as he began to howl in pain.
"What is going on?" he asked in fear and confusion. "I feel like I'm being torn apart! I can't keep myself together! I can't-"
With a bang and a flash of light, Mini Apocalymon exploded out in a cloud of sparkling energy. When the smoke and light cleared, there was nothing left of the once great digimon.
"What happened?" asked Joe.
Izzy, still recovering from his own injury, stumbled over to the pedestal's main computer and began to investigate. A moment later, he had an explanation.
"It appears that when TK knocked him into the machinery, there was damage to the mechanism and a power surge ensued," said Izzy.
"You mean, too much power went to the pedestal thing?" asked Tai.
"Correct," said Izzy. "It caused the machine to randomly fire a transport beam in a direction and it happened to hit Mini Apocalymon, but since the machine had no designated area to transport to, it simply scattered his molecules at random throughout time and space. It essentially tore him apart, not limb from limb, but atom from atom!"
"Wow, how convenient," marveled Joe. "That he would be in the exact right place at the exact right time and be defeated by such bizarre consequences. It's like the ending of a really badly written movie, or short story, or fanfi- ow!"
Joe was suddenly interrupted from his ranting as a piece of the ceiling just happened to fall on his head.
"So, looks like everything's okay!" said Tai. "Nice going, TK!"
"Yeah, that was great," said Kari.
"Thanks, Kari," said TK. "Say, maybe some time after school you can come to my house and, uh, study!"
"Huh?" asked Kari. "Study for what?"
Matt lightly booted his brother. "Leave your pick up lines in Colorado, bro."
"I hate to rain on everyone's parade," said Izzy. "But there's one other problem."
"What's that?" asked Mimi.
"I'm afraid the machine has been damaged to a certain degree," he said. "I can reverse the process that brought us here, but it can only transport us back to the Digital World or Earth and nowhere else. Also, when we transport, it will create a kind of warp that will turn back the clock. We won't remember any of this."
"You mean… we have to say goodbye again?" asked Mimi.
"I'm afraid so," he replied.
The whole group was in a state of sorrow, but also of acceptance. And many of them were comforted by the thought that, if they were reunited once, they would be reunited again.
Izzy, along with Tentomon, was working on the pedestal, making sure it would work. When he was finished, he pressed a few buttons and two circles of light appeared in the center of the room. They were stood vertically, like doors, or portals.
"The one on this side of the room leads back to Earth," said Izzy, gesturing towards it. "And the other will lead back to the Digital World. Now, I couldn't get an exact fix on when the digimon were taken, but I believe that they will arrive one hour after they left, although I'm not positive how close they will be to their original positions. As for the humans, we'll arrive the very same second we departed and in the same spot. In both cases, however, we will remember nothing."
The others nodded solemnly and all waited to see who would go first. As the leader, Tai decided to take the initiative. He gave Sora's hand a squeeze as the two exchanged glances. Then he walked with Agumon to their portals and they turned to each other.
"Well, looks like another battle's over," said Tai.
"Yeah, next time we'll have to have one we can remember!" said Agumon. The two of them laughed as they entered the portals.
Next came Kari.
"Are you getting one of those funny feelings like we'll see each other again?" asked Gatomon.
"Yeah," said Kari, grinning. "I am."
"Then I'll see you later, Kari," said Gatomon, returning her smile. And they transported.
"I'm getting sick of all this jumping from world to world," said Joe to Gomamon as they stepped up. "But, it was worth it seeing you again, buddy."
"Yeah, don't get all mushy on me," said Gomamon, cracking a smile. "Just take care of yourself and try not to get nauseous on the trip home!" Chuckling, they entered the portals.
"I'm going to miss you, Biyomon," said Sora. "I'm just sorry I won't be able to remember the time we spent together."
"Yeah, but, on the plus side, you'll be going back to a place where digimon aren't trying to kill you or dinosaurs are trying to make you an appetizer," replied Biyomon, choking up. "And anyway, I'll see you again real soon." The two transported.
"Do you think that those kids in South Park will remember us?" TK asked Patamon.
"Yes, but the only thing that matters to me is that you don't forget about me, even if you do forget about this one time," answered Patamon. The two exchanged knowing glances and transported.
"I wonder if I'll still be able to warp digivolve," said Palmon as she and Mimi approached.
"It doesn't matter to me," said Mimi, holding back tears. "I'm just glad we get to say a real goodbye this time, even if we don't remember it. It still counts, doesn't it?"
"Sure it does," said Palmon. And the two embraced briefly before transporting themselves.
"Matt, do you truly believe that we'll meet up again?" asked Gabumon.
"After dodging hunters, mad scientists, and fighting a giant Barbara Streisand, I believe anything's possible," Matt said. The two of them shook hands, or paws in Gabumon's case, and they also transported.
That left Izzy and Tentomon, who'd monitored the transports of each of them.
"Well, that's about it," said Izzy.
"I'm very sorry, Izzy," said Tentomon.
"What for?" Izzy asked.
"You got to meet your biological parents and did some truly incredible things and now you get it all erased! How can you stand it without breaking down?"
"Don't worry," said Izzy. "Even if I don't remember it, it did still happen, after all."
"Well, it was good to see you again, Izzy," said Tentomon.
"You too, pal," said Izzy, hugging him tightly. "You go ahead, I'll monitor things to make sure it's all right."
Tentomon complied and transported out. Izzy sighed, now alone in the dark room.
Izzy typed a few commands into the pedestal and the portal leading to Earth shifted slightly. There was something Izzy hadn't told them, not even Tentomon. The pedestal may have been set to transport them all home and they had no choice about when or where to go, but the part about their memories being erased was not the machine's doing. It was his.
Izzy knew how dangerous the knowledge of the machine was, how easily it could be used to tamper with reality if anyone found out about it, as Mini Apocalymon had. Even if it meant losing their newfound experiences, the sacrifice had to be made to make sure that none of them had knowledge of the pedestal's power.
Even so, he was only human. He had gone back and met his real parents and said the things he'd always wanted to say to them. Even if it meant that he alone would be entrusted with the knowledge of the pedestal, he wasn't about to give up the new memories he had.
So, with an almost mischievous grin, he teleported, knowing that only he would know what had happened, and the others, including Tentomon, would remember nothing.
"Centaurumon, do you have one of those drain snake things," Gennai asked his friend over the phone, back in the Digiworld. "No? Well, can you recommend a good Plumbermon? I've got two digimon stuck down the toilet and I can't find anyone else to help me get them out… No, I don't know how they fit, and I don't care, I just want them out!"
Suddenly, the toilet began to make a weird gurgling sound.
"What the…" Gennai asked, puzzled. "Let me call you back, Centaurumon. Something's happening... Right, right, I'll let you know as soon as I get a new prophesy, don't worry about it!... Yeah, I- what? ... uh, sure, I love you too. Bye."
Gennai hung up the phone and walked over to the toilet and peered inside. He had no idea why it was making those sounds, but it seemed to be getting louder.
Without warning, the toilet suddenly exploded, sending a stream of water in the air and fragments of porcelain on the floor. Also, to Gennai's surprise, eight digimon suddenly shot up from the hole in the floor and toppled onto him.
"What happened?" asked Palmon.
"All I remember was calling for Gennai, because Patamon flushed himself!" said Gabumon.
"Did not!" protested Patamon.
"I don't know why you were all down the toilet," said Gennai, at the bottom of the pile, "but I do know one thing: anyone who wants to eat dinner tonight is going to clean this bathroom up until their arms fall off!"
Tentomon looked at his four arms and felt he was getting a raw deal.
The eight Digidestined sat in a circle, exactly as before, in the middle of the park. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the birds sang as children laughed somewhere nearby.
"Uh, anyone remember why we're here?" asked Tai.
"Haven't the foggiest," said Izzy with a smile as he got up. "So let's go."
The others seemed confused but they all got up as well.
"I can't wait to read those new magazines I got today!" said Mimi, patting her purse as she walked away.
Izzy chuckled, remembering the little something Matt had stuffed into Mimi's purse before they left. He would've liked to see Mimi's reaction when she found it, but he had something more important to do first.
Matt and TK were at their father's house. Matt was making TK some dinner he sat in the living room watching TV.
"Matt, this stuff is hilarious!" said TK.
"What did you say, TK?" Matt called from the kitchen.
"I said these cartoons kick ass!"
"TK! Where did you learn to talk like that?" Matt demanded, sticking his head out of the kitchen door.
"I... I don't know..." TK said, trying to remember.
"Sora! Hey Sora!"
Sora looked over her shoulder and saw Tai catching up with her.
"Hey, Tai, what is it?" she asked.
"I sent Kari home by herself, since it's such a short walk to our apartment," Tai said. "How about if I walk you home?"
"Okay, why not?" said Sora. They were about to walk a little bit further when she felt Tai's hand casually take hold of her own. Startled, she yanked it back suddenly.
Tai and Sora looked at each other for a moment with a look of shock as both took on red faces. Then, ignoring the moment, they continued walking in silence, their hands at rest at their sides.
"Tai?" asked Sora, carefully. "What made do that?"
Tai was quiet as he thought about it. "I... don't know," he answered.
Izzy returned home to find his parents waiting for him. His father had taken the day off and the two were fixing dinner in the kitchen.
"Izzy, you're late," said his mother. "What happened?"
Izzy responded by walking over to her and hugging her around her waist. His father came near and Izzy caught him in the embrace as well. For a moment, he just stood there, hugging the two of them. Then, after a full minute of this, he let them go and went to his room, never speaking a single word.
"What was that all about?" asked his father.
His mother smiled. "I... don't know..."
Mimi was in her room and she set her bag down on the bed next to her. She took out the latest magazines she'd bought that afternoon, naming them as she went.
"Let's see," she said. "Here's the fashion one, the cooking one, the travel one, and... what's this?"
She lifted the last magazine, which she didn't recognize and looked like it was printed in English. Since she spoke English, she read the title out loud, not recognizing it: "Penthouse."
She opened it up and faced the pictures inside.
"Oh, gross!" she said, making a face. "Eww! Who would publish something so disgusting and-"
She paused, studying one of the pictures carefully. "Hey," she said, a smile appearing on her face, "this one looks like me!"
THE END
