Created By: Jason Wong
Note: This is the unofficial sequel to "The End of Summer". And as someone's review mentioned, the fic could not have a truly good sequel. There is also little to no digimon interaction. I'm going to deal with just essentially Matt, TK, and Tai in this particular fanfic. I've got the story spilt into four parts. Each main charater gets part of the story in their POV and then there is a general POV.
Warning!!! If you really really adore TK, you should probably stay away from this fanfic. He's portrayed as a drop out. Ok, enough rambling and onto the fic.
"My name is Yamato Ishida, or Matt as my friends call me. That is, if I had any friends. I suppose I still do, but they're all away, they don't know if I'm alive or not. They've moved on, along with the world leaving me struggling in the past. But I guess it really wouldn't matter. Not with what I did, I guess I'll just have to wait for my rescue. Until then, I guess I should explain what all this is about.
It's 2010, eleven years since we first entered the digital world, and two years since the digital wars ended, since TK died. I hope he went painlessly. I'm a coward, no really I am. TK lay dying in a red cross camp and I abandoned him, right when he needed me the most. I got Davis' e-mail when Kari died, the one asking for help. I stayed hidden in the background, afraid to face the truth. I've been hiding ever since then, isolated from the rest of the world in this little roadside cafe. I can remember the exact moment when my life changed. The day I chose to die, or was it to ascend to immortality. I guess that's up to you to decide. It was mid June, Japan was getting back on it's feet from the war. A certain new leader pulled into the cafe. Koushiro Izumi, or Izzy. I was careful to stay hidden from him. He was joking around with an aid, talking technical mumbo jumbo. But one thing caught my attention. Altering time, it was possible but so hard. A person could only alter events of their life. I risked the chance he'd recognize me and made conversation which led to a final decision. I would save TK, at least I hopped I would, but at what cost?
Two days later I re-entered Tokyo. I made my way to a small house where a Daisuke Motomiya, or Davis lived. Using some of my many skills, I broke into the house. I felt bad after finishing my first task. I had attacked and beaten Davis into unconsciousness, and he had saved me. But I couldn't let him interfere even if he was a digidestined, especially because of that. I used his digivice to open the gateway and entered the digital world. I made my trek to the peak of Infinity Mountain.
"Hello Matt. So it was you at the cafe. I had wondered why someone would ask so many questions." called Izzy. "I'm afraid I can't let you alter the fabric of time. It could have unforeseen consequences."
"How? How did you get here?" I asked. "And you can't stop me, it's for the best."
"Recognize this?" asked Izzy holding up TK's reconfigured digivice. "Davis gave it to me. And think about what you're doing. No one can predict time, you could create a world worse off than now."
But I wasn't listening anymore. While Izzy blathered on, I'd already begun setting up the components to open the gates of time. By the time Izzy noticed that not only was I not listening, but that I was setting up to open the gate. For a single fleeting second I saw the terror in his eyes before a sphere of white expanded outwards, consuming the world, all the way back to a single even in my life, my birth. I tweaked time so that I was never born, no I died at birth. I thought it would be over then, but I was still there, watching. Time moved on without me. My brother's birth, the messy divorce my parents had taken us through. I watched and saw the painful life TK went through because I wasn't there. Sadness and hardship, that's what he faced. Instead of the happy sheltered boy that I envisioned, I found a boy who was closing himself off. But the came that faithful day when history would change forever. All my hopes lay in Tai. He was the only one who might be able to undo the damage I had caused, he would have to do as TK's brother. I watched the incredible hardships and tasks that happened in the digiworld. Tai had both Agumon and Gabumon at his side. They moved the same as before, but much faster. Too fast, they weren't ready. Tai wasn't ready. He was so weak and tired from having to let Gabumon and Agumon constantly digivolve. And the battle with Apocalymon was a total disaster. Sure they won, but it was a bloodbath. Sora, Izzy, and Mimi didn't make it out, Tai was crippled and then the group fell apart. Only TK, Kari and Tai had any sort of contact with each other. I watched how much I had affected TK real world life. Without me, he was going to the pits. At one time in the timeline, TK had envisioned himself as a university graduate. Now, he was a high school drop out. Not even the now crippled Tai could get through to him.
I found that although I'd been erased myself from history, there were still traces of my timeline. Traces that Tai, who had quite a bit of time to look at was catching onto. The extra crest, the digivice, Gabumon. These things that weren't altered. He finally put it all together and started to look for me. He found me, eventually. I was locked in a piece of the digital world. My own space with nothing else in it. We've talked, briefly, about what I did, about me. If all goes well, Tai will contact my brother today and they'll leave for America. There they will purchase super computers that have the power to generate a portal to my secluded world and the mistakes I made can be corrected.
My name is Taichi Yamagi, most people call me Tai Kamiya, Tai, or occasionally the cripple. Yes, it's true, I'm crippled. I suffered major trauma in the digital world. I can barely use my legs, so I have a wheelchair to get around, the best money can buy. Our close knit group broke right apart, but I've tried to stay in touch. I live alone now, graduated from college. At least I try to live alone, my doctors say I need a nurse, but I rarely listen. Just recently however, I found some earth shattering news. The anomalies I'd always wondered about, I found the source. Yamato Ishida, Takeru's dead brother isn't really dead. Apparently he caused his death from the future using some sort of time altering mechanism. Takeru doesn't know of course. His parents hid the fact he even had a brother. Not that he cares much nowadays. He's a drop out, he's got a lousy job, and no education. I tried to help, but he's far to stubborn to accept my help, especially mine. Matt and I, we've got a plan to fix our realities. If we rescue him from his dimention trap, the worlds should merge and time should fix itself. I'm phoning Takeru now. I need his help. I can't make the trip to america alone. I'd ask Hikari, but she's been seeing someone by the name of Daisuke Motomiya or Davis as he calls himself. Davis is Kari's second choice really. She'd rather be seeing TK even if he's a drop out. I don't blame her, Davis is a moron, but he has a good job, and he devotedly returns Kari's affection. Something TK never really did. Damn it! Where is it he? I know he's home today. Why can't he awnser the damn phone? Finally, he's picked up.
"Hello? TK? You there?" I asked. There was a grunt at the other end. I took it as a yes. But god, he sounded like I woke him up. It's three pm. "Look, I'm coming over, wanna come on a trip? Just pack something."
Another grunt. He hung up. I doubt he even heard me. Oh well, I left for his apartment. He needed a bit of help so a voyage would do him some good. I wheel up to his building. What a dump, it's falling apart. I'm surprised the city hasn't condemned the building. He lives in room 36. I knock, and again, and again. Don't tell me he fell asleep again. Finally the door opens and I'm let in. His room, I never thought it could be even worse than the building. Garbage litters the floor, a small pile of raggedy soiled blankets appears to be the bed. This room is totally unfit for human habitation, He should be able to find better even on his pay.... His pay.... I eye TK.
"You still have the job right?" I demanded.
"No, I got fired a month ago." said TK dazed.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He only had to work two days a week and still he missed half his shifts. Not to mention he always had a stench around him. The room's atmosphere is filled with the stench of urine, vomit and alcohol. He was probably drunk now, or at the very least had a severe hangover. Yep, there he goes, he's collapsed. A trickle of vomit is running from his mouth. It's a good thing I had my cleaning stuff with me. I'd forgotten to change the pack on my wheelchair. There was no way I was going to use the communal washrooms. I snagged my backpack and pulled out my stuff and moved TK to the cleanest bit of ground I could find. Off hand, I wondered if he'd slept the whole month by. The boxers and shirt he was wearing were easily the cleanest thing in the apartment. That wasn't saying much considering that the shirt was growing strange coloured mosses and fungus. I had to wait a minute for the water from his tap to clean out and warm up. I lathered the water up with cleaning detergent. It claimed that it would cut through grime. Squirting some of it on TK, I began to scrub away layers of dirt so that at least when I took him home, the neighbors wouldn't notice. It's amazing how much dirt he was wearing. In fact, his shirt melted away being more grime than cloth. Thank god his shorts were in better condition. Oh, well. At least when I finished he was presentable to the public. He doesn't smell like a rose, but he didn't reek either.
It took yet another twenty minutes to wake TK up and get him into some of my old school clothes I'd brought for him. Finally I brought him home so that he could shower and groom himself properly. While he was in the shower, I informed the city of the dump I'd been in. I'm sure TK would be upset that the building was now slated for demolition, but he never had anything of value with him. No, he'd left it all with me so that he wouldn't foolishly sell any of it. When TK finally came out, he looked and smelt clean, and his spirits were allot higher.
"Man, I forgot what it was like to be clean." said TK. "Got any munchies?"
"Sure TK, let's start with an apple." I grinned.
"An apple?" whined TK. "Don't you have anything less nutritious and wholesome?"
"Eat it and I'll make you something good." I retorted. "You need the nutrients."
"You don't know how to cook. I'll probably die of poison." accused TK.
"Look, some of us didn't fail high school. I learnt how to cook in home ec." I retorted.
"You said something about a trip on the phone?" asked TK.
"We're going to America." I replied.
"America? We? Hold on a sec, I never agreed to anything, I don't even know that much english." exploded TK.
"Remind me please." I said. "Who was it that said english wasn't an important language to study? You'll be fine if you stick close to me."
"Mabey I don't want to go." said TK.
"You've never passed up a free trip in your life. Actually you've never passed up anything that was free." I retorted.
He knew I was right. There was no way in hell he'd pass a chance for a free vacation. Especially since he was starving and broke. We boarded the plane for America and set off on a mission.
My name is Takeru Takaishi. I'm a real mess, I guess it's because I have no driving force in my life. It's probably the reason why I dropped out of high school. Of course I had no job, you couldn't get a job if you were a drop out. Tai helped me get a job, but I was fired a couple of months after I got the job. I live on my puny welfare cheque. My apartment is the pits, but it's the best I can afford. I stay home allot, I only go out to scrounge food from the dumpsters around town. I'm glad Tai hasn't come looking for me, he's the only one who cares about me. I'm sure he'd have a fit if he saw me. I'm the scum of the earth. My once golden blond hair is dark with grease and unmentionable stains and food chunks. I'd try to clean up, but the communal washrooms are dirtier than I am. It's quite literally sewage.
One day, I'm lying in my own filth, trying to get some sleep off this massive hangover that I have when the phone starts ringing. I didn't even know I had a phone. But it sounds so loud. It's like it's new years eve in my head. Mabey if I don't awnser they'll go away. But no, the phone keeps ringing. I slowly gather my wits and search for the phone. Dazed, I pick up the receiver.
"Hello? TK? You there?" asked a voice. Tai. I grunted. I didn't want to talk to him. He talked some more, I really only heard the word 'trip'. Finally he stopped talking. I grunted before hanging up. Sleep had already begun to claim me.
I slept awhile, then this incessant knocking shattered my world. I staggered to the door as my mind spins. I vaguely notice that my boxers are soaked. Must have had one too many last night, probably several too many. I crack open the door praying that it isn't Tai. But just my luck, it's him. I let him into my humble abode. He looks revolted, but I can't blame him.
He's asking me a question, something about work. I awnser truthfully to what I guess is his question. He'd probably find out sooner or later that I was fired. I can feel myself dozing again as a small bit of bile rises from my stomach. I don't want to fall asleep standing in front of Tai, but I do anyway. Right at his feet, I'm in dream land.
Next thing I know, I'm feeling warmth. Someone is scrubbing me with something, one of those small sponge mops, the type you'd use on linoleum or hardwood flooring. The water was so warm and relaxing. I drift back to sleep.
Then it's Tai again. This time he's bopping me with his sponge again. I bat at it as I get up. I notice that I don't reek anymore and that I feel lighter. He throws a towel and some clothes at me. I change quickly and we head for his apartment. I'm totally undeserving of this charity, but it seems he needs me for something, possibly this trip he mentioned. Once at his place, which looks like a palace compared to mine. I take a long hot shower, a luxury I haven't had in over a month. Once I'm done, I take a set of large scissors to my hair chopping bach my long flowing hair. It's still uneven, but it looks decent. I'm a somebody again, not a low life nobody. With my spirits soaring, I ask Tai about some grub. But all I get is an apple, a pitiful apple. That's all I get, at least it's something to tide me over while Tai cooks something. I wasn't sure if he could cook, but I'll take his word for it. My eyes fell on a small display case. Inside were my old things, my things from the digital world. It'd probably be worth a small fortune now, but that's why I gave it all to Tai. I probably would have sold it all by now if I hadn't given it up.
We ate in silence. That was when I brought up the trip. I was distraught that it was to America. My english stunk. The letters are so strange, but I've never given up a chance for a free anything.
The airplane ride was horrendous. Full of westerners heading back to the US. There were only a couple of japanese tourists onboard. The inflight movie was in english and I couldn't understand a single word. Even the food was western, I'd been hopeing for one last japanese meal. Tai helped me along, while he wasn't chatting with some of the passengers, he was helping me understand the movie and trying to teach me the basics of english. I'm hopeless though and he quickly gives up and hands over a newspaper he'd picked up before leaving. At least it was in japanese. Next I asked Tai what we were going to do in america, but Tai just smiled and said nothing.
We landed, switched planes and flew off again. When we finally arrived, Tai had a small surprise in store. Joe was there, on his way to another city. He gave me a quick check up and prescribed some vitamins. I was underweight, out of shape and needed to overhaul my life. Naturally Tai had to take some blows. Joe gave him a bottle of pills to give me so that I could gain my weight back. The pills were horrible and I fought to keep them away every time he opened the jar. Of course, being handicapped, I couldn't fight too hard or I might hurt him, so he had the advantage and in the end, forced the pills down my throat. We've been in America for a week and I've already gained back substantial weight. The first day we'd been in town, we were mugged. I couldn't believe it, these people were about as bad off as I'd been, only much stronger. I wasn't able to hold them back and they were quick to beat me before stripping me for my clothes after discovering that we had no american money. Than god they underestimated Tai who managed to recover all of my assets.
Today, we've gotten what we need and Tai finally explained what he was here for. If I hadn't been with him in the digital world, I'd have thought he was insane. I mean I don't have a brother, at least I thought that was the case, at least until I dreatched it from my parents over the phone. My brother altered history for my sake. I don't exactly feel gratified, I mean I turned out horrible. My life was in the slums, any life would have been better. I think Tai felt the same way. He was crippled. He wasn't able to drive a car like he'd wanted to since the age of ten.
There he goes, activating computers and equipment. Strange, there's no gateway as he said there would be. But I can see something's happening. Electricity is dancing across the equipment. It's going to explode. I shove Tai over and he slides behind a table. I'm quick to follow as explosions run through the building. The smoke begins to clear and I can see Tai dragging himself across the floor. His wheelchair was demolished, a smoldering pile of scrap. He looks so helpless without his wheels. I move to pick him up. Boy is he heavy, or am I just weak? He tells me to goto the epicenter of the chaos, he must be crazy, but a figure is emerging from the smoke, I slowly make out the features, my legs go to gelly as both Tai and I sink to the floor. Tai glances up at me smiling, he understands....
"Yamato." I call out forelornly.
"Yamato." The call echoed forelornly through the room.
The first thing Matt saw when the smoke cleared were two figures. Matt knew in an instant who they were. He'd watched then their whole lives. Taichi Yamagi, his best bud, and his brother Takeru. But something was wrong, this wasn't the scene he had envisioned. There was no portal to walk through. No, instead he had been violently sucked through. Next were the people he saw before him, he hadn't seen anything but darkness after Apocalymon's defeat, he didn't know why. Sometimes he got small clips of TK's life, but that was it. He'd been overjoyed when Tai contacted him because he hadn't talked to anyone for so long. Tai had mentioned he'd been crippled, but Matt had assumed it was nothing because Tai had brushed it off so lightly. But here he was, supported by TK, a ruined wheelchair at one end of the room. Matt couldn't believe how drastically different the world had become. And he realized just how big of an impact he had on his friends.
Just then the emergency crews burst into the room and ushered everyone out. Later, everyone had been released from hospital and were sprawled around the hotel room. Matt explained his reality, how his world was in chaos, the horrible crimes and atrocities committed under Apocalymon, and finally, his decision.
"You know Yamato. Or do you like Matt better?" asked Tai. "Izzy was right. The consequences of your actions were dire."
"But I got what I needed, the world is a better place." said Matt. "And you guys are alive."
"Barely. TK turned out really bad as you can see. He probably would've died soon. From what you tell us, he died a hero in your time. Same with me. It's only better some ways, in other ways, it's far worse."
"I'm sorry I didn't turn out the way you envisioned Matt." said TK.
"I-I-I..." stuttered Matt.
"We need to fix this timeline Matt. Exactly what did you do?" asked Tai. "If you'd have seen TK's living conditions, you'd agree with me. Isn't there something else you could have changed to get the desired end result?"
"I admit I made a huge error, but I can't think of how to fix it or even what to do." said Matt.
Suddenly the small computer Tai had in the room came to life. Genni's image appeared on the screen.
"Hello Matt." said Genni. "I see you've realized your mistake and are trying to undo it. Are you ready to fix it and accept the consequences?"
"You knew?" shouted Tai. "And you didn't tell us?"
"I couldn't." said Genni. "Not only did Matt have to see how he affected you, you needed to find out this mystery yourself."
"And I realized, but I still don't know how to fix the problem." said Matt.
"Well Matt, using my keycards, I can open the gates of time and alter the past slightly." said Genni.
"But would history go back to the way it was before, or would it still be changed?" asked Matt.
"No, it will be changed. But you will remember both times so that you may correct some of the mistakes you made in the past. Use this opportunity wisely, for this will be the only chance you get." said Genni.
Matt glanced at Tai and TK. "Should I do it?" he asked.
"Go for it bro." said TK.
"Do what you feel is right." said Tai.
"All right Genni, I accept the offer. Let's do this." said Matt.
A brilliant wave of blue-white light moved outwards from the computer enveloping everything in it's path. History would once again change.
Matt was celebrating, everyone was. Apocalymon had been beaten, the world was safe from the evils of the digital world. But already, a new evil was beginning. In three years, the digidestined would meet a new face of evil as Ken, the digimon emperor would begin his reign of terror over the digital world....