A/N: Wow, thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm going on holiday, but I've got the next four chapters written so I'll update when I get back, in a week! Until then, enjoy!
Summary: (Season 1) Mistakes are dangerous things. Is it even possible to walk straight into the future, just like that? The digidestines didn't think so. Until now.
Disclaimer: Do I look like I'm rich enough to own Digimon? (eyes scruffy jeans)
Warnings: Um…dodgy, confusing plot line? Potential slash. Nothing heavy.
I'd like to think I've improved as a writer since this was written; but comments would be appreciated nonetheless.
Chapter three: Complications of the complicated sort
"Is everyone okay?" Taichi and Tai asked in perfect unison.
Tai glared at his older self, who smiled meekly.
"Sorry. Old habits die hard."
Matt got up, pulling TK to his feet, and looked around. They were in a large, completely white room, with televisions raised on small circular platforms all around the room, with name plates.
Terminal 9: Spiral mountain DISENGAGED
Terminal 23: Primary village (kindergarten trips half price!)
Terminal 54: Serva coast (please specify)
And, directly behind them:
Terminal 56: File Island (restricted use)
Matt's gaze stopped on a large sign on the only apparent exit, a sliding white door in the corner, bearing a large notice:
Due to temporary problems, this area is off limits.
The network shall be up again shortly, and the department
of digital welfare and system maintenance would like to
apologise for any inconvenience.
Thank you.
Matt raised an eyebrow.
"I take it your respect for the rules has changed immensely?" he asked sarcastically. Taichi grinned.
"Changed? Nope. I just have to say 'I'm the director, you didn't see me or you won't see your job tomorrow.' Simple." Sora frowned, and opened her mouth.
"Yes, thank you, Sora. Save for the fifteenth of March, 2001, okay?" Sora closed her mouth, looking slightly put out. Matt turned, surprised at Tai's contribution to the conversation, or lack thereof. He had never seen Tai so subdued. Of course, he reasoned, he would be slightly freaked if he had to follow himself home, but still, it was strange to see his friend so uptight.
They were walking along a completely deserted street. Cherry trees lined the gleaming paved streets, sending cool fractions of dapple shade dancing across their bodies as the warm summer breeze rustled the leaves gently. There was a certain air of tranquillity, and a dozy silence had settled over the children as they walked in pairs behind Taichi.
Matt didn't like it.
It was peaceful, but too peaceful. It was five thirty now, there should be cars and people everywhere…or at least someone…but nothing came. Matt quickened his pace to fall into step beside the adult.
"Why is it so quiet?"
Taichi grinned.
"I wondered if you'd ask. It's the sixteenth anniversary of the Digicaust."
Matt blinked.
"The what?"
Taichi shook his head.
"I can't tell, it would screw up the timeline too much. Speaking of which…" he glanced back at the other children, who had stopped to admire a snowy white cat which was rolling on its back, clearly asking to be stroked.
"I suppose you want to know how you ended up here?"
Matt rolled his eyes.
"Thought so." Taichi muttered, raising a slender olive hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun as he leant against the warm bricks of a nearby garden wall. He closed his eyes for second, and suddenly seemed so tired Matt could feel his own bones ache.
"In this age, there is an established link between our world and the digital world. Both worlds are aware of each other, and the link is called…well, the ONU-I can't tell you what it stands for, that's classified-call it the network, but I just call it the link. Originality was never my strong point."
Matt snorted, and smirked knowingly, folding his arms across his chest.
"So anyhow, every so often a digital distortion causes a rip to develop in the system. It's a bit complex, so I'll spare you the torture and skip to the important bit. This rip is both in space and time, and if it grows big enough…well…" he gestured feebly at Matt "…this happens."
Matt stood quite still, letting the information sink in. Clearly, they were a lot farther from home than even he had ever imagined.
And yet, they were home.
They were in Odaibia, after all, but…not in their own time.
"Here we are!"
Taichi's voice drew him out of his thoughts. While he had been thinking, they had wound their way down a maze of small side roads, until they reached a cul-de-sac. They were now at the very end of the road, in front of a house set a little further away from the terraced houses leading up to it. The houses were all neat and freshly painted, a clear white colour.
This house, however, was made of sharp bricks of different shades of red, with cream coloured plaster in between. It had a small balcony overhanging the garden on one side, with honeysuckle growing up around the banisters, and rectangular windows with rounded tops.
One window beside the balcony was half open, and a white curtain was rippling gently in the breeze. There was a large driveway with a small semicircle of grass near the front, which was fenced off by a small wall with gate-like bars on top of it. The gravel was a creamy white colour, and a small roofed porch jutted out from the front of the house, half concealing a tall yellow door.
Matt turned his gaze to the garden, where a painted green metal swing with a wooden seat swung slowly back and forth, creaking slightly. Various trees bearing blossom of many different colours littered the small garden on the left side of the house.
"You like it?" Taichi asked, smiling. They all muttered affirmatives. "My wife chose it. She said she liked honeysuckle, you see. That was what cinched it, or so she told me." Tai jumped like he had been given an electric shock, and turned away. Taichi sighed.
"Oh…yeah. Sorry. Little freaky, isn't it?" Tai said nothing.
Taichi shifted his briefcase from his shoulder to the ground, and retrieved a notebook and pencil from his trouser pocket.
"Now, I think my neighbours would be a little suspicious if I suddenly acquired eight kids out of nowhere, so I'm afraid you can't all stay here. Besides, it isn't safe." He didn't elaborate, and Matt felt himself shiver slightly.
"So, I'll ask around the group and see if I can lodge you with some of the others…some of you, that is. Let's see…I think we should avoid having past and future selves living together, so…" he trailed off, and began scribbling in the notebook. Matt leaned over, and smiled to see an almost incomprehensible diagram involving small symbols and letters. Tai's map skills had obviously not improved either.
"Right, ok. I think we'll have you in pairs or more, if that's ok?" they chorused an affirmative.
"Alright then. Tai, Kari, I would like you to go with Sora. Grown up Sora, I mean. Watch out for bedtime rules. Sora, Mimi, I think you should go with Yolei. You don't know her yet, but she's very nice, and could use some help with her children. Izzy, Joe, you can go with Cody. He's a lawyer, so he'll understand all that technical jargon you two talk about. Plus, he has a computer. Matt and TK, you can stay here with me." He paused "You unlucky things."
TK snickered.
"You can't be that bad." He said between snorts. Taichi ignored him.
"Anyway." Taichi continued, as he keyed in a code on the small panel beside the gates, after which the gates swung open. "First I have to spread the word of your arrival. Now, listen carefully, because what I am about to tell you is very important: nobody, and I mean nobody, must know who you are, where you came from, or why you are here."
"Why are we here?" Kari asked. Taichi ignored her.
"I want you to keep as low a profile as you can. If someone asks your name, make one up and add the surname of the person you are staying with. I'm sorry about all this, but until the rip in the network is fixed, I cannot get you back to the digital world…at least, not in your own time."
The group all nodded, with scattered 'okay's, 'we will's and one 'I promise.'
Taichi led them up the front drive and took off a small band from his wrist, behind his watch. He undid a small knot, then slid a green circular disk into a small slot beside the keyhole. After a few seconds, a panel unfolded itself with a tiny keyboard. Taichi typed something in so fast, not even Izzy could read it. He grinned at the whizzkid.
"You taught me that." He said, before pushing the door open.
They crowded into a spacious hallway, with yellow coloured wallpaper decorated with Victorian patterns and a panelled light coloured wooden floor. A tall grandfather clock ticked softly by the door, along with a dresser and an empty shoe rack. A staircase which curved around at the top wound upstairs, covered in a creamy coloured carpet, stood on the left side of the hallway. Various doors led off the hallway to different rooms, and brightly coloured paintings of ships and boat yards hung on the walls.
Mimi closed the door behind them, and they all took of their shoes and placed them on the rack. TK discovered you could slide about on the polished wooden floor, and began to gleefully skate around.
"TK!" Matt admonished, grabbing TK's arm.
"Don't worry about it." Taichi reassured him "My-"
He stopped, then glanced warily at Tai, as though doing a double take, then shook his head.
"Let him. Here, come into the living room. You can watch some TV if you like, I have to phone around about you're living arrangements…"
He showed them into a large living room, with a high ceiling and a large fireplace. Below a window revealing the driveway, a large television stood next to a bookcase filled with videos and DVDs'. There was a long pale peach coloured sofa, as well as assorted matching armchairs scattered about the room. Soft rugs lined the floor here and there.
The children collapsed into different chairs, TK and Kari sitting on the rug in front of the television, which was quickly switched on. Matt leant against the wall beside the doorway, listening to Taichi ringing around all of their new 'guardians'.
"Hello? Oh, hi Kimmi, this is Uncle Tai, can I speak to your Mum? Thanks."
A short silence.
"Hey Yolei! Listen, there's been a slight problem at the headquarters…no, listen up, will you? Okay, here goes…"
He explained the problem to this woman, Yolei, and Matt let his mind drift, watching the news idly.
"…thanks so much, Yolei, this really means a lot. Well, you're the experienced housewife, why don't you tell me? Okay. Yes. Yes. Thanks…I'll bring them over in about half an hour, right? Ok, thanks again, Yols. Bye."
The next conversation was far more interesting.
"Hello? Hi Sors! Yes, I can…don't sound so freaked! No…yes…I see…listen, Sors, this is kind of important…like, situation critical! Yes, I know your busy, but the dummies can wait! No, the plastic ones, not you're colleagues…yes…ok then, you will not believe this…"
Matt waited, listening intently.
"…right then. Don't worry, I'm sure they can occupy themselves…they can even help you out. No don't worry, I'll take care of it. Ok. They'll be there when you get back…ok, thanks. See ya."
The next one was far shorter.
"Hello? Cody! Wir haben ein problem…el problemo, whatever! You were the one who wanted variety…listen up…"
Thirty seconds later…
"Thanks so much, Cody, I knew I could count on you…she'll enjoy the company, won't she? Much more intelligent than most…yeah…okay, I'll tell them…I'll send them round in an hour. Bye."
Matt frowned. He didn't like the idea of the group being split up around in this time period, even if it was their home. He quickly turned his attention back to the phone conversation.
"Hello? NASA? Yes, this is ambassador Kamiya…uh huh…no, nothing like that, I just need to send a small message…I'm not sure, fifty seconds should do it. Yes. Thank you very much."
There was a short pause.
"Hello Yamato. This is Taichi. I know I said I wouldn't send a message after the last, but this is important; a rip in the time frame continuum caused our twelve year old selves to drop through into this time scale. By the way, I'm still mad at you."
Taichi slammed the phone down, and rubbed his eyes vigorously, before standing still for a moment.
Matt, watching, felt a sudden overbearing sense of unease which had nothing to do with his current situation.
A/N: So, any thoughts? Constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks for reading!