o.:Disclaimer:.o

Do I own Digimon? Nope. Are you an idiot if you think I do? Yep.

o.:A/N:.o

Yayyyyyy!!! I finally bypassed the damn firewalls of writer's block and am now fully able to continue writing!!! Yay!!! This is my attempt at an adventure fic, but even after two chapters it's getting more and more like a pure romance. Which brings me to:

THIS FIC CONTAINS YAOI.

SHOUNEN-AI.

BOYS IN LOVE WITH OTHER BOYS.

Would it really be me if it didn't? If you want to flame me, be prepared to be taken down. I get very offended very easily when people make fun of yaoi or yuri and think it's disgusting and unnatural. I'm not going to apologize for writing it anymore! I happen to think that yaoi and yuri are more noble than straight relationships, and I'm sticking to that view until they have to pry my cold, dead fingers from around a computer mouse. ^_~ The only think I will apologize for is if you read this fic by accident because I didn't put enough warning. I think two capitalized warnings should be sufficient, and by insulting me you will only make me love yaoi and yuri even more. Thank you for your time and attention.

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ALTERNATE DREAMS, ALTERNATE REALITY

BY AKIRA ICHIJOUJI

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PART I: LOST IN SPACE

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"Hey, where's Daisuke?" Ken extricated himself from the pile of Chosen Children which had formed after their hasty trip through the Digiport. Everyone slowly got to their feet, looking around anxiously. Ken rushed over to the computer.

"Yeah, where's Daisuke?" Chibimon had landed on his head, and was trying unsuccessfully to right himself.

"What's going on? Where is he???"

"I thought he was right behind me!" Takeru looked genuinely worried.

"I'm going back! I have to find him!!!" Ken grabbed for his Digivice, holding it to the computer screen.

"Digiport, op..." Hikari pulled him away.

"Ken, you can't just go rushing back in there! There's no telling what Archnemon and Mummymon will do to you!"

"But Daisuke must be there! He was the last one running toward the Digiport! One of them must have destroyed the television set! And now he's there, all alone!" Hikari pushed him into a chair.

"If the television set was destroyed, then there's no way we can get back to that exact spot. We'll have to go through another Digiport, and then we can go back to the other on foot." Ken looked like he was about to cry. "Don't worry! This same thing happened to me a while ago. And Daisuke can take care of himself!"

"But he doesn't even have Chibimon with him..." Ken sat dejectedly, covering his face with his hands.

Despite the best efforts by the remaining Chosen Children to analyze the situation, they couldn't be more wrong about Daisuke's whereabouts.

Yes, he was the last to reach the Digiport.

Yes, the television set was destroyed by Archnemon.

And yes, Daisuke wasn't quite there yet when it happened.

By "there", I mean back to the real world. Archnemon had destroyed the Digiport while he was still in it. Thus, the pathway to Daisuke's world was cut off, sending the begoggled boy ricocheting along another path in the Digiport.

Remember the conversation the Chosen Children had about different realities? You know, the one Hikari and Takeru illustrated by drawing different colored lines? The world that Daisuke found himself in was around the location, of, say, the lime green line. Of course, because this reality was so close to Daisuke's on the reality spectrum, things were remarkably similar. For example, he landed in the computer lab of Odaiba Elementary. Of course, because the Chosen Children of this reality had not gone to the Digital World at the same time as the ones in Daisuke's reality, they were, of course, not in the computer lab at the exact moment Daisuke came through the Digiport. And Daisuke was so miffed because his friends (and Chibimon!) had seemingly ditched him that he didn't notice how the walls in the computer lab, instead of being the light, pleasant yellow he was used to, were an even more pleasant sky blue.

The Chosen Children of this world were, in fact, gathered at Ken's house. No new enemy had shown itself yet after they had defeated Demon, BlackWarGreymon, Mummymon, and Archnemon, so they were having a discussion about what they should do in case another enemy did show up.

Let me explain a few things about this particular reality. Oikawa Yukio was in fact, in existence, but a fatal calculation error on his part while trying a new method of transporting himself to the Digital World had ricocheted him across the barriers of space and time, stranding him and his ghostly possessor forever in an alternate version of the Dark Ocean. This is probably just as well, because, also, in this reality, there was no longer a Daisuke, and without him, the Chosen Children would have been at the mercy of BelialVamdemon. While the Chosen Children were fighting Demon (in the Digital World, in fact, not the Real World), he had shot a large blast of fire at Ken (if he couldn't have the Dark Seed, then no one could!) but Daisuke jumped in the way of it, dying, in fact, to save Ken's life. How romantic.

It actually was romantic, because before Daisuke's death, he and Ken were a wonderful pair of star-crossed lovers.

It sounds like an ideal world, doesn't it? No more enemies from the Digital World, Oikawa forever in exile at the Dark Ocean, Daisuke and Ken a couple...? That's what it might seem like to the untrained eye. However, there is the fact that Daisuke had died, which made even the impetuous and enthusiastic Miyako depressed. Also, XV-mon had basically committed suicide (throwing himself haphazardly at Demon after Daisuke had been hit). In unrelated matters, Texas was, in fact, part of Mexico, as were Arizona and New Mexico. This didn't really have a bearing on the lives of the Chosen Children, but I'm just giving you a little perspective on how this world wasn't as peachy-keen as it appears at first. (From American perspective, anyhow. Mexico was thrilled.)

You may be wondering why Daisuke coincidentally ended up in a world where his counterpart was gone. The fact is, it was no coincidence at all. It is scientifically impossible for two of the same person to exist at the same time in the same location. It is completely against all laws of physics, and if it ever did happen, both parties would begin to experience temporal shift. They would both begin to fade out of the reality, because in trying to make up for the doubles, the space-time continuum would begin to work in overdrive trying to correct the mistake. So while Daisuke was travelling through the portal, any world with him in existence would be blocked off by a sort of invisible barrier. The first world he came to where he was gone was the one he ended up in.

It was a good thing that there was a world so close to Daisuke's own without him, because if he had traveled farther down the reality spectrum, he might have ended up in a world that was even more different than this one. One where life had been wiped out by a nuclear war, for example, or one controlled by Myotismon, or one where life had never evolved past the dinoflagelate. I'm sure you're becoming impatient with my scientific explanations, so let me continue with the story.

Daisuke landed in the computer lab, and Daisuke thought all his friends had ditched him. He was more than a little upset, especially on Chibimon's and Ken's parts. They were supposed to be his best friends, and they went off with the others without him! What nerve. Daisuke went out the door, muttering angrily to himself. As he went out the school doors, he did a double-take. He was sure that there had been a large tree outside the school before! Things were beginning to strike him as very odd.

Daisuke rubbed his eyes. "I think I'm going crazy."

Although he was starting to notice small things that were different, like the colors certain buildings were painted, and the fact that the subway fare was slightly different than usual, he wasn't prepared for the ultimate shock.

When he got home, his key wouldn't fit in the lock. "What the hell???" Daisuke cursed under his breath. He tried another key. Still nothing. He rang the doorbell several times repeatedly in a pattern, his trademark ring. A strange woman opened the door.

"Yes, dear?" Daisuke's mouth dropped open. He was sure this was his apartment. He was positively sure this was his apartment. The number was right...the door looked the same...what in two worlds was going on here???

What Daisuke didn't know was that his counterpart in this reality was dead, and that his family had moved away to another city, Odaiba bringing back too many painful memories.

As it was, Daisuke was confused and a little frightened. He had the feeling that a small child has when she cannot find her parents in a department store, and has an irrational fear that they have left her behind. "I...um..." Daisuke began floundering. "I...ah, thought this was my...um, my friend's apartment. I, um...I'd better go..." Daisuke took off down the stairs.

I have to go see Ken. He'll know what to do. He'll know what's happening to me, Daisuke thought feverishly as he ran toward the subway.

Luckily for Daisuke, this reality's Ken was living in the same location as his counterpart in the world we are all familiar with. It would have been a completely different story if he had tried to go to Hikari's, or Takeru's, or even Koushiro's. Also, Mimi had moved to America, but to L.A., not New York. And Sora's parents had divorced, and she was living with her father, not her mother. But this is all off subject; I digress.

When Ken got up to answer the door, he was not prepared for the one person he knew it absolutely couldn't be. He unlocked the deadbolt and the doorknob lock, then turned the doorknob and flung the door wide. Daisuke was leaning against the doorframe.

"Ken, the weirdest thing is happening to me! I'm sure you can..."

He never got to finish his sentence. Ken fainted dead away. Upon hearing the thud of the indigo-haired boy hitting the ground, all the other Chosen came rushing out of his room.

"Ken, what's going...oh, my God..." Hikari reached the door first. She fell to her knees, tears coming to her eyes. Daisuke was kneeling over Ken, trying to get him to wake up. All the other Chosen came skidding to a stop as soon as they saw the figure of their dead friend.

"Hikari, I don't know what happened! He just fainted!" Daisuke was still gently shaking Ken, thinking Hikari's exclamation of "oh, my God" had been in response to Ken's prone form. He looked up, taking in the amazed and frightened looks of the other Chosen Children. Some of them even had tears in their eyes. "What is wrong with all of you?" Daisuke's brows knitted together, confusion eating away at his confidence. He got to his feet, frowning at the silence. "What's going on here? Why did you all leave without me? I was right behind you! You didn't have to ditch me!" He crossed his arms, looking pissed.

Hikari sniffed, two tears making their way slowly down her face. Next to Ken, Daisuke's death had hit her the hardest. She always felt guilty about the way she had treated him while he was still alive. Now was her chance to make up for all the times she had been mean to him for kicks. She leaped to her feet, throwing her arms around his neck. "I thought...we thought you were dead!" Daisuke was really confused now. Why would they think he was dead? He was only right behind them in the Digiport! They wouldn't have time to!

All the other Chosen broke out of their stupor and rushed over to Daisuke, giving him a huge, jubilant hug. He stood, confused, in the middle of it all. What in the Digital World was going on here???

Ken woke up sometime later on the couch. All the Chosen were sitting around him, waiting for him to regain consciousness.

"I thought that I saw Daisuke at the door...I thought I was over seeing him everywhere..." Ken's eyes went wide as he again saw Daisuke sitting with the other children. "No, Daisuke, I know you're dead...I'm only imagining this...You're not real..."

Hikari smiled gently down at him. "No, Ken, this is real. He's really here..."

Ken sat up slowly, wincing at the pain in his head where it had hit the floor. He reached out, cupping Daisuke's cheek with one hand. Daisuke grinned. Ken shakily stood up, wrapping his arms around Daisuke, burying his face in the soft fabric of the other boy's shirt. Daisuke put his arms awkwardly around Ken. All this talk about him being dead was really starting to freak him out. His mind went immediately to that urban legend where a Mr. Jones walks away from a hit and run, tries to call his wife, and finally realizes he's dead once the guy on the other side of the line tells him that Mrs. Jones' husband had died after being hit by a car. Maybe Daisuke was dead. Maybe he just forgot because he was a ghost. But then how could all of them see him? And then how could Ken be hugging him? Which, he had to admit, was very nice. Quite a few buried feelings that he didn't even know he had buried began to surface. He was even more surprised when Ken pulled back a little, holding his face between his hands, then kissed him full on the mouth. Daisuke's eyes widened, and after a moment of pure shock, he pulled away, making the chair he was sitting in fall over backwards. He scrambled to his feet, backing away.

"What do you think you're doing???" He stared at Ken incredulously. "What the hell do you think you're doing? I don't know what's going on! You all are acting crazy! You're acting like I'm dead! Why do you think I'm dead??? I was just with you this morning when we all went to the Digital World to fight BlackWarGreymon!" Daisuke had begun to babble, his confusion and the events of the past hour or so frightening the hell out of him.

"We didn't go to the Digital World this morning," Miyako said, equally confused.

"And we defeated BlackWarGreymon almost a month ago!" Iori added.

"What are you talking about??? What's happening to me??? Maybe this is a dream. Maybe I'm imagining all this!!!" Daisuke was beginning to get hysterical. He didn't even notice Ken's hurt and confused expression after he jerked away from their kiss. It had all started out to be such a normal day and he had just gone to the Digital World with his friends and now he was in some sort of hell and some strange lady was living in his apartment and all his friends thought he was dead and his best friend had just kissed him and he was so confused and felt like he was going to cry! He leaned dejectedly against the wall, blinking repeatedly to keep back the tears. "I'm not dead, I'm not!!!"

The other Chosen Children looked at each other, just as confused as Daisuke himself. Surprisingly, they were starting to get used to the idea of Daisuke alive again. Several of them were beginning to take it for granted that he wasn't dead. The human mind is a very interesting thing -- in the face of suffering, it begins to fashion a new form-fit reality.

Iori, always the rock of reason in the face of absolute insanity, began trying to analyze the situation.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Iori stood a little off to the side, arms crossed. Daisuke was still a little hysterical.

"What do you mean what is the last thing I remember???"

"Before you di...I mean..."

"I told you! I'm not dead! You guys are starting to really freak me..."

"OK. You're not dead. Then where have you been the past month?"

Daisuke stared at him incredulously. "I've been with all of you! We've been fighting BlackWarGreymon, Arukenimon, Mummymon, and Oikawa..."

Everyone looked at Daisuke, confused. "Who's Oikawa, Daisuke?" Hikari ventured to ask.

"What do you mean who's Oikawa??? Only the guy who's been making our lives miserable for the past several weeks!!!"

"Is he a digimon?" Takeru was trying to understand, really.

"No, he's not a digimon! Have you all just suddenly lost your minds? Oikawa is a human! He created Archnemon and Mummymon, and he kidnapped all these kids so he could put these weird Dark Seed things in them -- He kidnapped you, too, Ken! He wanted to make a copy of your Dark Seed or something. He had the chance to kidnap all the kids while we were all over the world shutting the Digiports...I was in New York with Mimi and Michael..."

"Michael? Who's that? And why was Mimi in New York? She lives in Los Angeles!" Miyako said.

"How can you not remember Michael??? He asked you out! He's another Chosen Child! Anyway, I was in New York, Hikari, you and Koushiro were in Hong Kong, Ken, you and Yamato went to Mexico, Iori and Jyou went to Australia, Miyako and Sora went to Russia, and Takeru and Taichi went to France."

"But we didn't go any of those places! Either I've lost my mind or you have, Daisuke." Iori was skeptical of Daisuke's apparently harebrained narrative.

"Yes we did! We rode all over the world on Imperialdramon."

"Imperialdramon?"

You must remember that Daisuke had died before him or Ken could discover the fact that Paildramon could digivolve into his Mega form.

"Yes, Imperialdramon! The Mega form of Paildramon! Ken, don't you remember???"

Iori tried to regain control of this conversation once more. "OK, Daisuke, um, what exactly happened to you today?"

Daisuke crossed his arms. "Before or after all this weird stuff started happening?"

"Before. Start over at the beginning of the day."

"OK. I woke up, got some cereal, watched cartoons...let's see. I got a call from Ken saying we were going to meet at the school and go to the Digiworld. So, I grabbed Chibimon and took the subway to the school, and once we were all there (Miyako was ten minutes late, may I add) we all went to the Digital World to try and fight Archnemon and Mummymon again. But, Demon also showed up, with some pretty nasty sidekicks, so we were forced to make a run for it...I was the last in line to go through the Digiport, and I just barely made it because I looked over my shoulder just as I went through and saw Arukenimon about to blow up the television set. Um, then, I got back to the school, and you guys had ditched me, and so I decided to go home..."

The wheels in Iori's mind were turning. "Wait, wait, back up. So, you went through the Digiport just as Archnemon was about to blow it up?"

"Yeah, I guess so..."

"Interesting. I'm going to get Koushiro on the phone. Maybe he'll know what's going on."

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END PART I: TO BE CONTINUED...

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