Ronald still owns nothing, just this partly finished electrical project thingy!

Spirits of Ages

Chapter 11

"So... is it always this hard to find that old man?" Heero, the resident nerd, asked. After all, they'd been walking around for quite some time now. And while the Digital World was beautiful by day, he had no intention of finding out if the same was true for he night.

"Damn Gennai." The original Tai grumbled. "Never around when you need him. And when he's around he's almost useless."

"That's Gennai for ya." Taichi said happily.

"Odd." Joni said. "In the books Gennai was always portrayed as a wise mentor to you all." She continued.

"Oh he is all that." Tai answered. "But he's also gives out barely any information, he's annoying and always shows up after the big apocalyptic battle for the world is fought."

"Don't forget I also make the worst 'modem' jokes." Gennai said as he appeared out of nowhere. "Yeah, that too!"

Years may have gone by, but Tai's processing speed hadn't been improved by the years. Mostly because he was in a form of stasis.

"Damnit Gennai!"

The old man gave a good laugh at this. "Ah I still got it." He said smugly and turned his closed eyes to Tai. "It's been quite a while young one."

"Apparently twenty-five years. But you still don't look a day over one hundred and five Gennai." Tai looked up at the old man. "But a question first, is it the real you or a hologram?"

"Real me." Gennai answered. "If I recall correctly your friend Baromon blew up my last hologram projector in this part of File Island."

"Actually we just damaged it a bit. It still worked last time."

"Could be but first things first." Gennai said, waving the topic of his projectors away. "I haven't thanked you yet."

"For what?" Joni suddenly asked. She had been a bit intimidated by Gennai's presence but quickly got over it.

"Tai here saved the world by sacrificing himself." Gennai answered. "It takes a lot of courage to do that."

"Or as Matt would call it: stupidity." Tai winked an eye. "Same difference." Taichi said.

"When did all of this happen?" Candlemon asked. "Twenty-five years ago." Tai answered as he faced the two other rookie level digimon. "Me and my friend BlackAgumon sacrificed ourselves to blow up Legionmon, a huge threat to the Digital World."

At this Gotsumon decided that this digimon was worthy of worship and fanboyism and proceeded to fall to his knees. "Oh mighty Taimon!" He bowed. "We are not worthy!" he repeated that a few times before he got bonked on the head by Candlemon, who instantly began to apologise for doing so.

'And to think I'm stuck working with these mon.' Tai thought as Gotsumon somehow caught on fire again.

After Gotsumon's flames got extinguished Tai decided that it was time to interrogate the old man.

"So Gennai... Mind explaining this?" Tai looked up at the old man, who frowned a bit. "Explain what?" He asked, allowing a small smile to creep on his face.

"That." Taipointed a paw at his 'favourite' nephew. "How the hell did I get teamed up with someone like him?"

"Same question." Taichi said. "Can't I get a cooler partner? You know, one that spits acid or breathes fire?"

Tai glared at his nephew. "Don't think I'm glad with this arrangement. I'd dump you near the first Tyrannomon nest if I could." Tai said. "But then your mother would kill me."

This arguing went on for a while, allowing bystanders to enjoy the show.

"Wow." Joni said. "Almost the same, aren't they?" Heero asked.

"Shut up!" both Tai's yelled at the same time.

In the end the two of them decided to glare at each other some more and allow Gennai to answer the question.

"If the two of you are done arguing." Gennai looked hopeful. The two of them remained quiet. "Very well. The reason you, Tai, got partnered with your own nephew..."

Gennai scratched his chin.

"Actually, I have no idea why this happened."

Both Tai and Taichi face vaulted.

"Or..." Gennai said. "Perhaps fate still has a few surprises for you Tai."

Tai's eye twitched. "Oh no! No more fate! No more saving the damn world! I've saved the world like three times! Can't a guy get a break?"

Gennai, Taichi, Heero, Joni, Gotsumon and Candlemon sweatdropped.

"I'm just kidding you know?" Gennai laughed. "It's just a coincidence."

"You sure?" Tai asked, eying the elderly man suspiciously. He was up to something, he could feel it.

"Nope." Gennai answered. "But I'll let you know when something strange happens, okay?"

"Hell no! Contact someone else then." Tai scoffed.

Gennai suddenly burst into laughter. "Not to worry young one."The old man told him the truth for once. "As far as I know there's nothing wrong with the Digital or the Human world."

"It'd better stay that way too." Tai answered. He was tired of saving the world. But at least now he was sure that he'd be able to spend the rest of his days normally. Or as normal as it could get, being a dog-like shape shifting digital entity.

Oh how wrong he was. As always...

A voice. No. Not one, but a hundred that spoke as one echoed through an underground cave.

"Soon... Soon we will have our revenge!"

Like I said, always...

Tai shivered for a second. "Anyone else feel that?"

"Feel what?" Taichi asked.

"An ominous feeling... like something bad is about to happen." Tai said, looking up to the sky, where the sun was about to set.

"Dad must be cooking his famous casserole." Taichi said, as if it were the worst thing in the world.

"No..." Tai eyed his nephew weirdly. "I doubt it meant that. TK's cooking isn't that bad, is it?"

"You'll see." Taichi grimaced.

"Shouldn't we be getting home?" Heero asked, looking at his watch. "It's getting late. And I'd rather leave now before Gotsumon catches on fire again."

"I just can't help it!" The rock Digimon whined.

"Sure you can't." Joni said as she rolled her eyes, half expecting the tiny golem to catch on fire again, for no apparent reason.

"Okay then, self combusting digimon set aside, can we get going?" Tai asked. He'd never admit it, but he was getting tired. After all, he hadn't had diner yet and since he was a digimon, he couldn't function all that well without it.

After saying their goodbyes to Gennai the 'team' left for the real world.

"Ouch." Taichi groaned as he landed on the floor of his bedroom. His uncle was just sitting next to him, not a scratch on him.

"You've got to tell me how you do that." Taichi said as he got up again and dusted his clothes off.

"Told you, one of the perks of being a digimon." Tai said as he walked to the door. He was actually able to walk at a rather normal pace. Mostly because of the fact that he was still DemiShinxmon.

"At least now I'm safe from you aunt." Tai grinned his canine grin.

"She's still gonna go after you." Taichi said smugly. After all, seeing his uncle's pain/embarrassment always made his day.

"You'll see shorty." Tai said. "You'll see."

"Who are you calling short?!? You barely reach to my knees!" Taichi yelled at his uncle, who just snickered.

"They're back." Kari said to her husband, who was currently slaving away at the stove, cooking up some evil brew. Or a casserole, same difference really. "Told you you'd be able to tell when they get back."

"You're right about that. Their bickering can be heard throughout the entire house." TK told her as he tried to figure out what the hell was up with his attempt at cuisine. It shouldn't be green, should it?

"So when are we telling the rest of the team about him?"

They had been discussing it for a while now, as their leader had been back for some time.

"Next week, Saturday evening. I've got a small thing planned for then." Kari smiled.

"Now that I think of it, who of us already know?" TK wasn't sure. He knew that the two of them knew the truth and Mimi, she was bound to know as she and Tai had a somewhat thing back then.

"Only Mimi and Joe. The rest are still oblivious. But I think we should tell Izzy as well. We'll need his help for something." She answered. "And quiet now, they're coming in."

True to Kari's word her son and brother walked into the room, still in discussion.

"I'm at a reasonable height for my age!" Taichi yelled at his doglike family member.

Tai just rolled his eyes. "Then people must have been shrinking since my time."

"Oh shut it mutt!" Taichi yelled, not being able to think of any witty remarks.

"Real original tiny."

"It appears they've gotten down to calling each other childish names." Kari said as the two Tai's ignored her.

"Just like a real family." TK said, looking up from his cooking for a second.

All he saw though was his son glaring. An evil look that was directed right at his brother in law.

TK could see the wheels in Taichi's head turning. He instantely realised something was about to go wrong, big time.

"Aunt Gato!" Taichi yelled from the top of his lungs. "We're home!" The brat grinned like the Cheshire cat as he saw the panic on his uncle's face. Who knew a dog's eyes could pop out of their sockets that far?

But then something else happened. Tai just relaxed as he remembered an important thing. Gatomon chose that same moment to charge into the room and grab Tai from behind.

"Oh Tai! How you've grown!" She commented on the rookie level digimon she held in the air.

Taichi laughed. This was hilarious!

That was, until his uncle suddenly melted into black smoke.

Gatomon nearly fell over as she lost her balance due to the sudden disappearance of her 'son'

"Did he... did he just explode?" Taichi asked, eying the smoke with a somewhat panicky look on his face. He hated the dog but didn't want him to disappear like that either.

"Nah." TK responded as the black smoke floated away, more specifically towards the living room. "He used to do that all the time."

Gatomon sighed. "I hate it when he does that." She said as she stood up again. Her blue eyes turned cold and serious. "The hunt is on." She said dangerously as she chased after the cloud of smoke.

"Okay." Taichi said, not knowing what to make of what had just happened. "Does that happen often?"

"Not really. Off course your uncle did manage to get under Gatomon's skin rather easily back when we were young." Kari answered her son, remembering the good times.

Taichi could totally get that. After all, he did the same rather often. "Still, there's something a bit off on him though. He acts more like a kid then a forty year old geezer."

"Tai was still a teenager when he was turned into a digimon." Kari said. "And being a digimon made him a lot more childish too." She knew for sure that if Tai were in the room with her, he'd respond with something along the lines of 'you're mean' or 'am not!'

Meanwhile Tai was applauding himself. He had escaped the clutches of his adopted 'mother' and was floating around, not a care in the world. Not that being an amorphous cloud of dust particles had any reasons to worry about anything.

"Rawr!" A cry that scared the crap out of Tai the cloud of smoke, making him lose his focus. Losing his focus meant that he wouldn't be able to maintain his current form. Hanging near the ceiling at that time didn't help his case either.

"Ouch." Tai grumbled as he landed on the couch. He could've had worse landing spots though. The floor for example. Or that pissed of feline with the sharp claws. Both of them would make rather bad landing spots.

"Trying to get away from momma again, are you?" Tai started to shake as he stared at the cat digimon suddenly sitting in front of him on the couch. "We can't have that, can we?" Gatomon was taking this whole motherhood way too serious in his opinion.

"Can't we solve this peacefully?" Tai smiled a nervous smile, hoping that it might mellow Gatomon out a bit.

"No." She said, coming closer. And closer...

Tai started to sweat. 'Well. It's time to be a man and stand up to her.' He thought as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Gatomon's face suddenly appeared, barely a centimetre from his own face as he opened his eyes again. The way she stared at him made him think things through a few times.

He decided that it was actually more like time to act like the rookie he was and get the hell away from the scary champion level.

"Get back here Tai!" Gatomon yelled as she swiped at the smoke, sending it flying higher and higher and back towards the kitchen.

Gatomon smirked a bit. She wasn't really trying to hurt her son. 'He just needed to be disciplined a bit.' She thought as she ran after the elusive digimon.

Said digimon floated at top speeds away from the crazy digi-mom. Doing so he floated towards the smoke detector TK had installed somewhere in the kitchen. With him in the kitchen you needed to be careful.

After all, we're talking about the man who managed to set fire to cornflakes. (AN: been there, done that)

'Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep'

The alarm sounded, causing one digimon in another part of the house to wake up, yawn, stretch and get up to do his duty.

Patamon flew into the kitchen, not even bothering to look for the cause of the fire, as he had done this so many times before. He flew over to the sink, put a bucket under it and waited for it to fill up.

"Eh Patamon? Buddy, there's no fire." TK tried but he got a bucket of water over him anyway. "You saying something TK?" Patamon asked as he snapped out of his automated trance. Stuff like this happened weekly and thus Patamon did it on autopilot. He hears the beeping, gets water and throws it at whatever TK set on fire.

He noticed that TK was currently soaked and glaring at him. "It wasn't even burning yet." TK said and pointed at his cooking.

"What set off the alarm then?" Patamon asked. "He did." TK pointed at the now corporeal again Tai, who was laughing at his predicament.

His son and wife were no different. Taichi was rolling around on he floor and Kari let out a few giggles, which she failed to suppress.

"Awkward." Patamon said as he landed on his seat.

"But funny as hell!" Tai yelled, not noticing the eerie shadow that creped close to him, holding the same bucket Patamon used to 'extinguish' TK.

"Gotcha!" Gatomon yelled and dumped the remaining contents of the bucket on Tai, soaking him with cold water.

"Oh dear." Gatomon said as Tai started to shiver from the cold water. "You're a mess! Let's get you cleaned up!" She fell back in her motherly role and picked up the rookie.

"Save some casserole for us!" Gatomon yelled as she rushed off with Tai in her arms, who mouthed silently the words 'help me!'

"Was she always this scary?" Taichi asked. "Yes." Both Kari and Patamon answered at the same time.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Currently at 249,209,300 km from earth.

"Did you hear that?" Gabumon asked. "Hear what?" Matt responded. "Probably nothing." Gabumon said as he shook his head. "Must have been my imagination." He told himself.

"There we go." Gatomon said. "All clean." Tai was currently in the bathtub, covered in bubbles and plotting revenge.

Great, now we have two avengers. And I'm itching for a battle scene! But I couldn't fit it into this chapter. Maybe next one.

Yay! Update! Took me quite some time to get to this and my final project didn't help much. As you know I'll be updating less frequent but I'll try to get some writing in when I have some time!

Reviews

Depthmon: glad you like it ^^ and I hate that stereotype by the way, we Belgium people are intelligent damnit! We don't survive on French fries alone and we WILL take over the world! Oops…said to much.

Firehedgehog: Indeed, poor not-Tai.

PrincessJaded: I think there will be even more mental scarring in the future. Matt and Sora will be in soon and I do plan on making this as long as SoD, if I have enough inspiration that is.

Lord Pata: Nah probably won't happen. After all, Gatomon already has her paws full on one son ^^ And TK is safe. For now.

WolfSummoner93: BlackAgumon will be back soon, maybe next chapter, not sure yet.

Martiny the one and only still: 'gets tranquiliser gun, points and fires dart' There we go. 'Sees Martiny run around some more' Or not.

: Indeed, nothing can save Tai from momma Gatomon!

anime25: Nah they don't hate each other. They just share really deep feelings of loathing, dislike, annoyance and abhorrence at each other.

Takari4ever3012: No particular reason actually. I was looking for a fire digimon for Joni, so I chose Candlemon for her. Heero was harder but eventually I decided on Gotsumon, because he can become Monocromon, one of my favorite champion levels.

digiwriter1392: Will do!

R&R people!