Ebacusta: OH MY GOD! I HAVE 204 REVIEWS! (faints)
Kari: Goodness, who would have thought people could actually like her.
Ebacusta: (out of corner of mouth) Shut up. Anyway, thank you, thank you. I really didn't expect so many people to like this. I would have updated earlier, really I would have, but my dad said I couldn't upload it until he reread the chapter (which he took his time doing) and then, I got grounded from the computer and the day after I got off punishment my computer erased ALL my files (ARGH I HATE IT SO MUCH!) and so I had to work really hard to get them all back, well actually my brother did. My mom wouldn't let me get near it. As if the computer not working was my fault. It's not my fault my computer hates me un fairly, but anyway, I'm really sorry! But, I will work hard to get the next chapter out quickly.
Michael: Today review lord (i.e. DAVID!) is going to help us.
Ebacusta: Just for the record, I LOVE HIS NAME! DAVID IS MY FAVORITE GUY NAME OF ALL TIME!
Review Lord: (blushes) Well, uh thanks.
Ebacusta: CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?
Review Lord (i.e. David): Er, sure. I guess.
Ebacusta: Hah. (faints)
Review Lord: Er, is she okay?
Mimi: Yeah, she's just a freak.
Ebacusta: Shut up. Just read the paper David. Hee hee. I said it. Hee hee.
Review Lord (i.e. David): Um, okay. Ebacusta would like to thank:
Sraye- Thank you. Thank you. (takes a bow) Evil? Me? Yeah, I know. I try. And I love it. OMG! SOME ONE BESIDES ... ACTUALLY FIGURED IT OUT! I can't believe it. Congrats. Yes, that's exactly what I was trying to create, and yet only two people including you, have commented on my clever use of hints and clues. And then, my really obvious one! And you're the only who mentioned that. I thought it was funny too, but apparently everyone else didn't notice. As the great ebacusta once said, observing is just as important as understanding. Anyway, thank you.
Review Lord- (i.e. David) You should change your screen name to review lord (i.e. David) I might put you on my favs list just because you have my fav name. But you might have to write something first. Anyway, thank you for all your reviews.
Hghg- Impossible though it may be. That's what she ends up doing. Anyway, thanks for the review.
Kay- Thanks.
Padfoot Gone Girl- Thank you. Sorry about your headache.
rebel- I'll check them out. If I have time. I guess by now you've figured out I didn't have Thursday the 16th of when ever that was off. Nope, I had to slave away during school.
Death-by-illusion- Okay. How about instead of making you wait one month, I'll make you wait two! What do you think? Sorry. I really did get grounded from the computer. Otherwise I would have had this up way earlier. Sorry.
ArchSeraphimon- Hey. I haven't talk to you in a while. How's it going? With school and all? I know my hard work is paying off. More than half my grade is failing English. I think I might have one of the highest grades in the the grade if not the highest. I have a 94. My friend has a 68. There's a huge difference there huh? So anyway, I'm coming up with a new site and it's going to have a fanart section, and with your permission, I'd like to put your art on it. What do you think?
DragonTidalWaves- Thank you. All of you. Dark sounds pretty cool. I like the name. hee hee. And so does Blaze. But I like Dark more. Sorry Blaze.
Miaow227- Yeah, she did. We named them ebacustat 2, Reed, Chocolate Chip/Little Black Muffin/ Muppet/Little Piggy/Little Bacon, and Mr. Ranbuncious Man (who may end up being Mrs. Ranbunctious Woman).
sHiPpO9113- Thank you.
totallytwisted(andiluvJoeKido) )- Thanks. Long name.
Taky Glu- Thanks.
Angewomonandme- Don't we all. Don't we all. I actually cried while I was writing the first bit because it was really sad, and I was thinking "Story of my life." Even thought that's not true at all. I was just feeling down that day.
Lynn-Minmay- Thanks
Fox of Light- Thanks
Rayless Demon- Thanks
Final Genesis- Thanks a lot.
...(elipse)- Thank you. I might read it if I have time.
dbzgal99- Thanks. I didn't have a meeting because there was just me, but now we can have some YAY!
Draechaeli- Thank you.
LilTakariGirl aka Yami Aro- That is pretty sick! Yea, poor Tina. Thank you for the review.
Ebacusta: Thank you all! And thank you review lord (i.e. David) for reading the comments to everyone. Okay, let's get started. I'll have out chapter 11 as fast as I can, which should be soon because I've got it all planned out! (waves profusely)
TK: Fic time!
You Could Save Me If You Really Wanted To
By ebacusta
Chapter 8
The Truth Will Set You Free
Part 3
--------------------------------------------------
And slowly the class came to the same realization: Tina was just a normal, lonely girl with feelings that had been through some tough times. The class rushed down the stairs to stand beside her.
"Oh Tina," chorused throughout the class. The man holding Marie let go of her and fell to the floor.
"What have I done? I was so wrong," he gasped. He took off his mask. It turned out to be a student. "Just because she rejected me when I asked her out. I can't believe, I can't believe what I almost did."
"I want them back," Tina mumbled.
"I know," Kari said. "I know." She and TK both felt a twinge of guilt.
"Would you please proceed back to your seta?" the teacher asked. "Everyone ignored him. "Back to your seats. Ms. Takaishi can go to the nurse's office." Nobody moved.
"BACK TO YOUR SEATS!" he roared. Not one person so much as looked at him. "Argh. I give up." He stomped ti his desk chair and sat down. They spent the rest of class trying to comfort Tina.
-----------------------------------------------------
- - -
After School
- - -
Kari caught up with Mizuki. "Uh, Mizuki, I was wondering if it would be okay if I went to the park to meet someone. I'll be home in time."
"Sure," Mizuki said.
"Thank you," Kari said, hugging him. She could barely contain her excitement. Mizuki blushed and smiled, "You're welcome."
Kari waved at him and took off down the opposite direction of him. She hadn't seen Tina since Math, which was right before lunch, and TK had agreed to meet her at the back entrance to the school. As promised he was there waiting.
"TK, let's go," Kari said. They ran, climbed over the wall, and cut across the park that was behind it.
"Do you have the stuff?" Kari asked him.
He reached inside his bag and pulled out the folder. "Do you have your stuff?"
Kari pulled out the picture, her digivice, and her laptop, "Yep."
"Good." They sped up and ran across the street, and through an alleyway. They passed the bookstore they had been in the other day, crossed the street, and then started looking around.
"Where do you think they'd be?" TK asked.
"The pond," Kari said.
TK looked at his watch, "It's almost five now. Do you think Jake managed to get them together?"
"I hope so," Kari said. They passed some trees and then heard the soft trickle of water and the low murmurs of voices.
"They're here," TK said. They slowed to a walk and then the trees cleared and they saw kids sitting on benches or at the edge of the pond. Jake was sitting next to a boy with blonde hair that looked very similar to TK.
Jake saw them first. He grinned, "Hi. Uh, everyone, this is TK and Kari. TK and Kari this is, um, you already know Rachel and Martin, that's Richard, Tai and Sora's son, Claire, his sister, Alexis, the girl with the blue hair holding the smaller girl, Macy, they're Ken and Yolei's daughters, and beside them is their brother David. Sarah is the quiet girl over there, she's Cody's kid. You know me. This is Matt's son, Ford, and that's Joe's son, Wayne."
"Ages," Rachel said. "Macy's the youngest at 7, then Claire at 14. Sarah, David, Martin, Richard, and Kei are all 15. Ford and I are 16. Jake, Wayne, Alexis, and Tina are all 17."
"Speaking of Tina, where is she and Kei?" David asked.
Jake shrugged, "I dunno. I wasn't able to get a hold of her. So, what did you two want us all here for."
Kari and TK looked at each other, "Well, we were wondering if you know why Takeru and Hikari Takaishi were killed."
Jake exchanged looks with some of the other kids. "We don't know. The murderer was never found. I mean they arrested someone who they thought was behind it, but no solid evidence."
"Do you know anyone or any digimon that might have held a grudge?" Kari asked.
"How do you know about the digimon?" Alexis asked.
Kari looked at TK, and he shook his head. "We'll get to the later."
"But I..." she began.
Jake thought for a minute. "No we really don't. You'd have to ask Tina or Kei. I mean Mr. and Mrs. Takaishi would come over and talk to our parents but we never heard what it was about." The others nodded.
"Well, do you know about the death threat they received?" TK asked.
Ford shrugged, "Everyone knew about that. It was all over the news."
"Yeah," Claire said.
"I remember they started packing to go somewhere, but they delayed it because Takeru had a book to sell and some paperwork to finish," Wayne said.
"Yeah," the older of the kids agreed.
"Do you know anything that might have left some bitter feelings with someone or something?" Kari asked. She was desperate.
"No," all the kids said in unison shaking their heads. They were silent for a minute. Then Sarah spoke up.
"Now that you mention it..."
TK and Kari looked at her hopefully. "Yeah?"
"Well, dad was a lawyer, and he defended them on a case," she said. "I don't really remember the details, he didn't say much about it to mom, but, some guy was suing TK because he claimed TK stole his idea for a novel and took it as his own. He lost, but he didn't seem bitter about it. He admitted that he made a mistake and that he was sorry for wasting their time."
"So you think he was behind it?" Kari asked.
"No," Martin said. "The guy flew to America, Texas I think it was. He's lived there since. Hasn't left America at all. There's proof. Hmmm. What was the guy's name?"
"Uh, um..." everyone said.
"Ryan Hall," a voice offered.
"Yeah, that's it. Anyway, he moved to America, and hasn't been back since."
"Are you sure he didn't come back for any reason?" TK asked.
"He didn't," David said shaking his head.
Jake shook his head, "Why does it matter anyway? The person they think killed our parents has been in jail for years. He's in a high security cell."
"But he was after Tina and Kei too?" Kari asked.
"That's right," another voice said. Everyone whirled around.
"Tina!" they exclaimed. Standing next to her was Kei.
"Yeah, the person they think killed our parents is behind bars. He was after our whole family. We don't even know why. He wouldn't say anything, and besides, it wouldn't matter anyway. They've been trying to make him talk so they could actually punish him, but he hasn't said anything for five years, and now he won't say anything ever again," Tina said coldly.
"Why?" Jake asked.
"He committed suicide last night," Kei said.
"Suicide?" all the kids yelled.
"It was in the papers this morning," Kei said.
"Why?" Rachel asked.
"The guy's been telling them he's innocent for years. Never listened to him. He just happened to be at the scene of the crime when they got to where Cody and his wife were found dead," Kei said. "Wrong place at the wrong time. Besides, it wasn't him."
"What do you mean?" they asked.
Tina shrugged, "The guy was innocent. He was telling the truth. His alibi was solid proof. He had witnesses, but the police thought he paid people off to protect him."
"So, you're saying the guy who killed our parents is still out there?" Rachel asked fearfully.
"And probably waiting for the right moment to strike," Tina said.
"What do you mean?" Alexis asked.
Tina and Kei sat down on an empty bench. "I can't tell you here. There's too much of a chance someone could over hear us. And that would be bad, so I'm going to ask you to follow me." She stood as did everyone else. Tina and Kei led the way to the house where their parents had once lived. Kari swallowed when they got here. But, Tina went in by herself, and returned a moment later with a key.
"Come on," she said. They all followed her, got on the subway, and about thirty minutes later, they all entered a house. "This was out vacation home," she told everyone sadly.
"What were you saying in the park?" Jake wanted to know. "Why did we have to come all the way out here just to hear it?"
Tina looked at him. "Because if he or someone else over heard us, it would be bad for us... bad for them." She pointed at TK and Kari.
"Them?" Martin, David, Richard, and Claire asked.
"Look," Tina said. "The murderer is still out there. Kei and I know he is. We went and checked out the others guy's alibi, and it was airtight. We check out all kinds of leads and they all led no where."
"If he's still out there then that means, he'll kill again," Rachel said shaking. Jake placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Exactly," Tina said. "And this time, what he'll kill, will effectively kill us."
"Who?" Sarah asked.
"Kei and me," Tina said.
"What?" they all yelled. "How?"
"Keep it down," Kei said.
"They'll kill our parents before they even have a chance to get married," Tina said.
"How?" Claire asked.
Jake glared at her, "I'm with Claire on this one. You'd always been a jokester before your parents were killed. Who's to say that you haven't reverted back to your old self?"
But Kari understood what Tina was saying. "No," Kari said slowly. "She's right."
"What?" everyone said rounding on her.
"I am Tina's mom," Kari said.
"No way!" everyone exclaimed.
"You can't be. You two are the same age," Jake said.
"That's the thing, I'm from the year 2004," Kari said. "I don't belong in this time period."
TK understood now too. "It makes sense."
"No it doesn't," Sarah said. "It doesn't make sense at all."
"Yes it does," Kari said. "Don't you get it? I'm from the year 2004. Twenty years in the past. There I'm only 17. And there I'm not married to anyone, and I have no kids." She thought back to her and Mizuki's conversation. "When we die, all future versions of ourselves disappear," she repeated to herself quietly.
"That's it!" She exclaimed. "I get it now. I haven't had a chance to conceive Tina or Kei. Which means, if I get killed here, then they'll disappear."
"How does that work?" Richard asked.
"Look," Kari said. "If I hadn't died four years ago, I'd be 37. This picture." She pulled out the picture with her fading continuously off the page.
"Slow down, you're making no sense," Wayne said.
"When we die, all future versions of ourselves disappear," Kari said.
"There are future versions of us?" Macy asked.
"Yes!" Kari said. "Each second in time is like the frame of a movie. And in the frame, or second, before where we stand, is another version of us. Take me for instance. A second ahead of me are many versions of myself, each portraying a different possible outcome that could happen, depending on what I choose to do. A second behind me, is another version of myself, displaying what I have already chosen to do. When ever the one ahead of me leaves the second in front of me, then I enter it.
"No wait, I have to explain something else first. Where we sit, everyone standing in this room right now, is the original. You were the one who was born, and all past versions of yourself have to follow what the original does. But, in front of you, there are many different ways you could go. Behind you there is one path, in front of there are many. And the original always has the power to change the future based on its decisions."
"Under that logic then there is no way we can save our parents," Claire said.
"You can't, but I can," Kari said. "And Tina knew that." Tina smiled. This caused all the digidestined kids to gasp.
"Tina just smiled her first smile in like four years," Jake said. "Oh my god, it's a miracle."
"Stay focused," Tina said in a stern voice.
"She has emotion in her voice now too," he gasped. "Is the world about to end?"
"Shut up and pay attention," Tina said.
"How can you?" Ford asked Kari.
"I'm from the year 2004. Your past, but my present," Kari said.
"Yeah and?" Richard said.
"I haven't gotten to the year 2019 yet, which means, ahead of me lies many paths. Only the original can change the future. I am my original, and that means that I can do something to change your presents," Kari said.
"Something like what?" Rachel asked skeptically.
"Like change your past so your parents were never killed," Kari said.
Everyone gasped. "You mean you could really do that?" they asked.
"Yes, I can," Kari said. "As long as TK and I remember that someone's going to try and shoot him on April 29th 2019, then we can change the outcome. It's just like cheating on a test. If you see the teacher's key, and you see the answer to the first question is A, then it's up to you to decide if you want to pay attention to that and get it right. In a similar way, TK and I now know what's going to happen in the year 2019, and so, it's up to us to pay attention, and avoid it."
"How would that save our parents?" Claire asked.
"Your parents died, protecting my children," Kari said. "If, there's no one reason for my children to go and stay with your parents, then, your parents will never be killed. And thus, they will reappear like nothing ever happened."
"Why can't we do that?" Claire asked.
"Behind you lies one path, in front of you lies many," Kari repeated. "Your past is already set in stone. You can only alter the future. But, your past just happens to be my future. So for me, there are many paths I could take that could alter your past and your future as well."
"So you," Jake said, "could basically not go to work on April 19th and thus the murderer would never have gotten a chance to murder you, and then Tina and Kei never would had to come stay with us, which means our parents never would have had to die for them, which means our parents will come back, just like Tina and Kei's parents will come back?"
"They'll have never died, and you won't even know they were supposed to die," Kari said. "And this picture..."
"...is in suspended animation," Tina said.
"Suspended animation?" the others asked.
"The picture is basically going to continually go through the year 2020. Look," she said. Kari showed the picture to everyone else. They looked closely at it and saw the faint outline as their parents.
"How?" Jake asked. "How did you get this? We just took this picture together a month ago. Mom and dad were dead."
"When I was 12, before mom and dad were killed. I was on my way home to collect my digivice to meet you guys in the digital world so we could play. I had a daydream that I was on my way home to collect my things. And in my dream, the world distorted, and I thought something was wrong with my eyes because they next time it was clear. Anyway, I went home to look my digivice, and it wasn't in my desk where I left it. Instead, I found a picture, but when I picked up, my dream ended and I found myself on my doorstep. But then when I reached for my doorknob I noticed I was holding it," Tina explained.
"Wait a minute," Jake said. "You found this picture?"
"Yeah," Tina said.
"When you were 12?" he asked.
"Yes," Tina nodded.
"And it looked exactly like this, plus our parents?" he asked.
"Yes," Tina replied.
"But that's impossible," Jake said. "We just took the picture a month ago. How would you have found this picture looking exactly like the one we just took when you were 12?"
"I don't know," Tina said.
They were all silent for a moment. But then TK spoke suddenly, "She must have been to the dream world."
"Dream world?"
"Where we fought MaloMyostimon," TK said.
"You really think so?" Kari asked. "She went to the Dream World and her dream became a reality."
"That's the only thing that makes sense, about how she dreams about picking up a picture and then when she wakes up, she's holding it," TK said. "Do you recall anything else?" he asked her.
"No," Tina said. "That's all I know. And then, when mom died four years ago, it started doing that whole looping thing about watching her constantly fade in and our of the picture."
Kari stood. "Look, we have to go to the Digital World. Maybe, through Gatomon, and Patamon we can somehow get a message back to the past. They'll have to know that we were transported to the future, and maybe they were transported along with us in the Digital World."
"How are we going to do that?" Rachel asked.
"Did you bring your digivice?" Kari asked.
"Yeah."
"Then it should work," Kari said.
Jake stood up, a firm resolution planted firmly in his mind. "Guys, let's go. It's going to alter our future for the best."
Kari pulled out her laptop, and began to type on it. Once she got the gate and turned it towards them.
"Look," she said. "One of us is going to have to stay behind and it's imperative that TK and I go. It's going to have to be someone who's good with a computer too."
"I'll stay," Rachel volunteered. "But, I'd like someone to stay with me."
"I will," Alexis said. "Besides, I don't want to take Macy there right now anyway. No telling what she'd do."
"Okay then, you know how to contact us, so contact us if there's trouble," Jake said. He turned towards that gate and put out his digivice. "DIGIPORT OPEN!" With a bright light they disappeared.
- - -
Digital World
- - -
"Oof!"
When the light cleared, Kari lay at the bottom of the pile. "Could you guys please get off?"
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "Having a little trouble breathing down here."
"Sorry," Wayne said. Slowly the kids picked themselves up and dusted themselves off. Once they were all standing up they heard a yell of excitement.
"TINA!"
"JAKE!"
"MARTIN!"
"SARAH!" They all turned to see their digimon racing towards them.
"KARI!"
"TK!" Just as Kari had hoped Patamon and Gatomon were running towards them.
"Gatomon, Patamon," they said as they scooped them up into their arms.
"I guess you two really are Tina and Kei's parents," Jake said.
"What do you mean?" Kari asked. And then she spotted, Tina and Kei holding a Gatomon and a Patamon as well.
"Absolutely," TK said. "But we need to stay focused."
"Yes," Kari agreed. "Have you two noticed anything different?" Kari asked.
"Yeah," Gatomon said. "The sky."
"Huh?" all the digidestined asked and looked up. They sky was pitch black.
"What's going on here?" Jake asked.
"We don't know," the digimon said. "We had our speculations but we have absolutely no idea what's going on."
"Has anything attacked you?" Kari asked.
"No nothing," they said.
"Then, I guess for now, it's okay," TK said. "Listen, Kari and I probably don't have a lot of time left. Now that we've figured out what we were brought here for, then that means we'll probably be leaving soon."
Gatomon spoke, "Before you go on TK. I would appreciate it if you could tell me where we are. Why all these digimon know who we are? And what they're going on about us being okay because you two are dead?"
"That's because we are dead in this place Gatomon," Kari said. "We were murdered."
"Murdered?" Patamon said.
"All of the DigiDestined were," TK said.
"We were transported to the year 2024," Kari explained. "We're twenty years in the future. For some reason we were murdered by someone. We don't know why. And somehow Tina," Kari paused to gesture towards her, "figured out a way to bring us here. And she brought us here because she wanted us to know what was going to happen to us in the future so we could change it."
"Why does she care about you two anyway?" Gatomon asked.
"Because she's out daughter," TK told her.
"Daughter? You two?" Patamon asked.
"We were twenty when we had her," Kari said, to squelch any notions he might have been thinking about.
"Yes," TK said.
"But if she could bring you to the future, why didn't she go to the past?" Gatomon asked. "And furthermore, why did she call you the seventeen-year-old Kari, who might forget before she's 30, rather than call the 30 year old who will remember when she's about to be killed."
"That's a good question," Kari said. "Why us? Why not the TK and Kari the day before they were going to be killed?"
"I didn't have any control over which TK and Kari it brought me," Tina said. "It just gathered up a set and brought them here."
"Well, that the answer to one of you questions Gatomon," TK said. "And the one about bringing us to the future instead of her going to past?"
"Well," Kari said. "I don't think she had much control. It would have been easier for her to bring someone who's life still lay ahead of her than go back herself."
"What are talking about?" Patamon asked.
"Behind you there is one path, in front of you there are many. Her past is set, there is no way she could easily change it," Kari said. "But her past is my future, and since it's my future, that means that I still have control over whether I want it to happen like that or not, and Tina knew."
"So you're saying that she figured out that she would have a better chance of changing her past by bringing someone who still had it ahead of her, than trying to go back and change it herself," Gatomon said.
"Exactly," Kari said.
"Smart kid," Gatomon said.
"Okay," Kari said. "If you have all that then, we need to bring you with us. When we go back to 2004, we can't have you telling anyone where we went. It could mess up things."
"Our lips are sealed," Patamon said.
"Good," TK said, "And they better stay that way too."
"So if we've accomplished what we needed to accomplish can we leave then?" Jake asked. "Or was there something else you needed to do here?'
"No," Kari said. "I think we're finished."
"Then let's go back," Jake said. He sent an email to Alexis.
Alexis-
We're coming back with our digimon. We have yours and Rachel's too.
Jake.
"Are we going to wait to see if she replies?" Martin asked.
"I don't know," Jake said, somewhat distracted. "I wonder what happened here in the Digital World. It looks so dark and gross."
"I agree," Claire said scooting closer to her brother.
Jake's D-Terminal suddenly started beeping. "A reply!" he exclaimed. "Jake don't come back it's ..."
"It's what?" Kei asked.
"That's all it says. It trails off," Jake said. "Oh no, Alexis and Rachel must be in trouble! Let's go!"
- - -
Real World: Alexis and Rachel
- - -
"Hmm, I wonder how they're doing," Alexis said.
"Me too," Rachel agreed.
"What do you think's going on?" Alexis asked. Suddenly Rachel screamed. Alexis whirled around. Rachel was gone.
"Rachel! RACHEL!" Alexis yelled. She pulled Macy closer to her. Suddenly the computer let out a noise.
Alexis-
We're coming back with our digimon. We have yours and Rachel's too.
Jake.
Quickly Alexis bent over the keyboard and began typing. "Jake don't come back it's-" Suddenly something grabbed her too, and began to pull her away from the keyboard. The last thing she was able to do was hit enter as she was dragged away.
They were just dragged into a room in the hall. The lock clicked and she saw Rachel sitting on the bed. Suddenly she heard Jake's voice.
"Where are they?"
Alexis and Rachel began banging on the door.
- - -
Jake and the Others
- - -
"Where are they?" Jake asked looking around. Suddenly they heard Alexis and Rachel.
"Jake! It's a trap! Go back!" Alexis yelled.
"It's dangerous! The murder's here!" Rachel yelled.
"What?" Jake asked.
Suddenly hands grabbed Kari roughly clamping over her mouth. The others were not paying attention to her so the only thing she could do was knock over the chair. The others looked around.
"Kari!" they yelled.
"Now, I'll get rid of you once and for all," a deep voice said.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Here it is. Longer than the first chapter by one and a third pages. Once again reread the fourth chapter. And I'd like to send out a BIG THANK YOU to my brother, who helped me work out some of these events and explain the time thing. So THANKS BIG BRO! Don't forget to review! Chapter 11 will be out soon.
ebacusta