Author's Notes: A big thank-you to those who reviewed: PrincessJaded, emotionless-robot, Potgenie (does that literally mean that you'll grant people pot?), and SugarSpiral

There's some randomness in this chapter. Including lots of violence =D.

I still don't own Digimon, nor do I get any monetary gain from this (unless someone wants to send me money because I wrote this).

Time Apart Changes Things

Chapter 4: I'm Sorry it has to be This Way

Gatomon grew more and more annoyed as she listened to Kari rant about what happened. Not only was Kari swearing at Davis in every other sentence, it appeared as if this entire things was started off as a trivial thing. Scratch what I said earlier, thought Gatomon. Another rant is going to kill me. I guess this calls for plan B. Oh Sovereigns, forgive me for what I am about to do.

"And then that motherfucking-son-of-a-bitch goes and pisses the hell out of me, and…"

"Stop," said Gatomon. "Just. Stop."

As Kari closed her mouth, she noticed that Gatomon was taking deep breaths. The cat's eyes were closed, and Kari was pretty sure she could see veins popping out of the feline's head. Her ears were twitching, and her tail swished back and forth. Kari gulped. Gatomon opened her eyes.

"Kari," began Gatomon. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, but…"

"…You're an idiot! Getting pissed off at him over something like this! Go and apologize to him!"

Screams and cries of mercy rocked the Kamiya household. Tai poked his head into his sister's room. Kari was backed into a corner, trying to fend off Gatomon's gloved paws. Tai was about to intervene and save Kari's life, but figured that a) if he were Kari and Gatomon were Matt, he'd be suffering the same fate about now, and b) he wasn't in any particular hurry to join Captain Firefly (his teddy bear). As it were, Gatomon's paws were balled into fists, so there probably won't be any lasting damage. Tai snuck out of the room.

"TAI!" shouted Gatomon. Oh, cra—I mean, poo, thought Tai, and poked his head back in. Gatomon was still pounding the life out of Kari, stared at her brother with a look that clearly said "get me out of here".

"Go. And tell Davis. That he. Is. Next. Got it?"

Tai gulped, turned, and ran.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Davis. He was holed up in his own version of Tai's pillow fort. "After all, I heard you didn't fare very well against Gatomon either."

"Don't worry," said Tai. "This time you have allies."

TK, Ken, Tai, and their digimon partners stood guard around Davis' room. TK stood by the window, while Ken pushed against the table barricading the door. Veemon snuggled inside the pillow fort as a last line of defence, while Tai and Agumon were holed up in Davis' closet. Wormon hung from the ceiling light, and Patamon was watching out of Gatomon.

"I hope so," said Davis, fearing for his life.

Gatomon suddenly leapt in, dragging a suffering Kari behind her. Tai gave the order to attack. "Get her!"

Three humans and four digimon tackled the tiny white cat into the ground. The nimble digimon evaded their attacks. Deciding that she would sink in Tai's hair, Gatomon chose TK to jump off instead, landing in front of Davis and Veemon. Veemon raised his fists in challenge, but Gatomon promptly knocked him aside and grasped the younger gogglehead by his collar. Sapphire eyes bored into frightened brown ones.

"You should feel very lucky that I used up my energy on Kari," said Gatomon. "I am getting very annoyed listening to Kari rant about you and her every night. You and her are going to kiss and/or make up, or I will sink my claw into your throat." The feline showed Davis her gleaming claw. Davis gulped, nodding violently. Gatomon released the now-deathly-pale Davis and addressed the rest of group. "Alright everyone, clear out. Let's give them some room."

Scared into submission, everyone sans Kari and Davis beat a hasty retreat into the Motomiya's living room, where Jun and her partner digimon sat leafing through magazines. Tai and TK went to raid Davis' fridge, Veemon following, while everyone else followed Gatomon to the couches. Agumon broke the silence.

"Anyone want to bet on the outcome?" he asked.

"Ah, why not," said Tai, leaning back. "Not as if we have anything better to do until they come out. I bet…fifty yen that they're going to kill each other in there. Or rather, Davis is going to kill my little sister because Gatomon already beat her up."

"Aren't you positive," said TK.

"She's a big girl," said Tai. "She can take care of herself."

"Only fifty yen?" asked Ken. "I bet ten times that amount that Gatomon scared them so much they're going to actually make up."

"I call!" said Tai.

"I bet another two hundred yen that they're going to come out blushing," challenged TK.

"Only blushing?" asked Patamon. "They'll be holding hands!"

"How much do you want to bet on that?" asked Agumon.

"Let's say…three thousand yen!"

"Where are you going to get three thousand yen from, Patamon?" asked TK suspiciously.

"From the rest of you giving me three thousand yen after I win," replied the flying guinea pig.

"We'll see about that. We'll see."

"I bet," began Jun, "that we'll wait here for the next hour, and when Tai finally gets so annoyed he breaks down the twerp's door, the two will be making out on the floor. Four thousand yen."

"Done," said Agumon. "Let's see…we're at fifty for Tai, five hundred for Ken, seven hundred for TK, three thousand for the flying pig – Ow! Sorry! – and four thousand for Jun. Sounds good, except Tai is a cheap-ass."

"And you didn't even bet!" retorted Tai.

"I don't have too!" said Agumon.

"You're just scared of losing, wimp!"

"Pepper Breath!"

Everyone stared as Tai ran around, trying in vain to save his flaming hair. Patamon tried to put it out by blowing it away. "Boom Bubble!"

…

…

…

"Whoops."

"Patamon, didn't you learn that oxygen fuels fire?" asked TK.

"I thought I was breathing out…um…"

"Carbon dioxide?" supplied Ken.

"Yeah!"

"I'll try!" said Wormon. "Sticky Net!"

…

…

…

Sighing, Ken dumped a pail of water over Tai, putting out the fire. "Ok, there's one problem solved. Now to get him off the ground."

Wormon shrugged. "The net will wear off in a couple hours."

"So…," began Davis.

"Um…," said Kari.

"I guess we should…um…kiss and – I mean, make up."

Kari nodded, trying to cover a bloody nose.

"Here," said Davis, handing her some tissues.

"Thanks."

"It's the least I could do, since you got your ass kicked because of me."

"No," replied Kari. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, and try to point out every wrong thing you did."

"So," began Davis. "You want to start again?" Kari nodded.

"Um…so that took care of the make up part…" ventured Davis. Kari smiled slyly. Blood dribbled down her cheek.

"On a second thought, you might want to take care of your nosebleed first," said Davis. "And the fat lip. And the bruises. I guess we really pissed Gatomon off, didn't we? Here, the medicine cupboard is in the bathroom." Picking Kari up, Davis used his foot to wedge open the door. Nine pairs of eyes stared back at him carrying Kari. Agumon broke the stunned silence.

"I guess everyone lost."

"But they're blushing!" protested TK.

"But blushing isn't the most important part," explained Agumon. "Technically, Patamon's the closest, but since they aren't holding hands either, I guess no one wins."

"I'm just not going to ask," said Davis as he carried his wounded princess into the bathroom.

"So Gatomon," asked Ken. "What exactly happened?"

"Does it really matter?" she asked.

"We're curious," supplied Wormon.

"Then use your imaginations. I'm going to take a catnap; this whole thing tires me out."

"I think I could use one too," said Patamon.

"Fine, let's go home," replied TK, and the pair left.

Ken looked at Wormon. "I guess we should leave too. Tamachi is pretty far away."

"I'll walk you to the station," offered Agumon.

"What about Tai?" asked Jun.

"Leave him there," said Agumon. "Make him think twice about calling the digimon of courage wimp."

"But he's just lying in the middle of the living room," protested Jun.

"Then roll him outside. The sticky net isn't sticking to the floor."

Seven hours later…

"Um, where am I?" asked Tai. "Mom? Kari? Sora? Matt? ANYONE?"

Author's Notes: I realize that there hasn't been much Daikari action going around, so if you want, I can write an epilogue of sorts. I know QueenGatomon said she wanted to end it off as a romance, but I guess the only thing I've done is implied romance.

But in terms of plot, the story pretty much ends here.

Epilogue or no epilogue? Review and I will find out!