On with the story! This takes place approximately four years after 02 so ages are: Joe: 21/Tai, Matt, and Sora: 20/Izzy and Mimi: 19/TK and Kari: 16. I bumped up everyone but TK and Kari's ages up a year so they would be the only ones still in high school.

When a character's thinking something I'll write it 'like this.'

Enter the investigator and the pill...

Week One

Monday

Benjamin Mori was having a Monday morning like any other. He burned his hand on his coffee, the secretary forgot his name, and he got all the way to his desk before realizing he was wearing two different shoes.

Mori let out an exasperated sigh. The shoes just added to his miserable look. He had a prominent case of five o'clock shadow, and his dark brown hair was a matted mess. Mori also had a wide build and a tall stature making him out to look much older than his early thirties.

His morning wasn't going great, and his anxiety grew upon getting the call that no one wanted: his boss needed to talk to him.

Mori sat at his boss's desk while his boss, Mr. Raincheck, fiddled through a few papers only having acknowledged him with a short grunt. Mori was confused since he couldn't recall doing anything that would cause this. His boss hadn't tried to speak, so he carefully asked, "Why'd you need me, sir?"

Mr. Raincheck glanced up quickly before returning to his papers. "You're fired."

He paused and then, "What are you talking about, sir? Why? I can't be-"

"Fired, Mori, you're fired." He had now turned his full attention on the other man. "You take your work too seriously. As an investigator, you must stay detached from the people involved, and you've become too… clingy with your last two cases."

He folded his arms over his broad chest in protest. "Clingy? Please, I could never see the Ichigos again for all I care."

Mr. Raincheck shook his head. "No, Mori, you couldn't. You went to extreme measures. You stalked that family. You're lucky they didn't press charges.

"This is a place of business. We gather information the right way."

He stopped himself from scowling at his boss. "I'm just doing my job and don't I get a warning?"

His boss shook his head slowly. "If you actually listened to me instead of doing things your own way, you would be aware that you've received plenty of warnings."

Realizing Mr. Raincheck had already made up his mind, Mori began to beg hopelessly. "Sir, please, there has to be something I can do."

Mr. Raincheck spoke with finality. "There isn't. Be out of here by the end of the day. You'll get a paycheck for five more weeks, and in that time, I expect you to find a new job."

Mori sulked out of the office, a million thoughts circling around in his head. He needed this job to support his family. How was he supposed to get a new job? He'd been an employee here ever since he graduated college! Getting fired after working here for years will forever be burned into his work history. He was ruined.

'I can't get another job. I have to get this job back,' He thought to himself. Now with a new purpose, Mori made his way across the busy workplace to what had been deemed the "Unsolvable Pile" because it was full of cases that no one had been able to crack. 'I solve a case from here, and they'll have to take me back.'

He rummaged through the papers and articles before a newspaper headline caught his eye: "Monster Attacks Shake up Japan." Mori skimmed the old, faded article. 'Yes, if I crack a story like this, they'll be begging me to come back.'

"Alright, Izzy, you made us all come to Kari's apartment and you've asked a bunch of pointless questions. Now can we know why?"

Izzy didn't bother looking up from his clipboard that he was furiously jotting down notes on. "They weren't pointless, Matt. I now know that all of you can successfully recall most if not all of our adventures in the Digital World."

Tai fell to his knees dramatically in the center of the room. "Oh praise the Lord! It's a miracle! I can remember the past eight years clear as day! The brain transplant was a success!"

"That's not funny, Tai," Izzy said. His tone was serious and agitated, but he still didn't look up from the clipboard.

Trying to release any tension in the room, Kari asked, "What are you writing?"

"Basic protocol. I'll need to record every detail to better track the pill's progression."

"Pill? Like for a headache?" Mimi piped.

Izzy finally pried his eyes from the clipboard, shocked at himself for mentioning the pill without explaining it. He surveyed the room around him. No one else seemed particularly shocked considering they had no idea what the pill was for.

Mimi stood by the wall ever impatient for an answer. This was spring break for her college back in America, so she was in town visiting. Her attention span seemed to lessen ever since she'd slipped into the mold of a New Yorker. Tai still sat on the floor of the family room having not bothered to get up after his earlier display. The couch and chairs formed a semi-circle around him and the chair to the left of him had TK and Kari both perched on an arm on either side. On the couch was Matt with Sora slightly leaning on him, and behind the couch stood Joe with a look of impatience to match Mimi's. Izzy was in the chair to the right of Tai, still looking around the room to see if anyone had a bad reaction to the mention of a pill.

Izzy sighed, bent over to go through the bag by his feet, and took out a tiny, white bottle that he held up for them all to see.

"These are the pills. We will all be taking one."

"I've gotten all of my vitamin C today, thanks," Joe joked.

Izzy ignored the comment and kept a solemn expression on his face. "Ever since the Memory wipe, I've spent the last four years creating these. One of these pills will cause you to lose all memory of the Digital World."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "That's a nice, little science project and all, but why would we take one?"

"Yeah, we can't forget about the Digi-World. We're the only ones who can defend it," TK said.

Izzy took in a deep breath knowing how much talking he'd have to do to convince them. He couldn't tell them everything, not the real reason, not yet. "It can get along without us. Through the years, we've formed a whole army of digimon to battle any evil that might inhabit the Digital World. Our very own digimon partners are able to digivolve to ultimate without our presence. We're not needed anymore."

There was a pause as everyone thought over Izzy's last words. Could they really not be needed?

Sora broke the silence. "Even if they don't need us, why would we want to forget?"

The redheaded genius knew this question was coming. "We're not kids anymore. It's time to move on." A few of the digidestined, the people who he had come to call friends, opened their mouths to speak, but Izzy kept going, "TK, how many day of school have you missed because of some distress call from the Digital World?"

Counting the high total in his head, his expression turned sheepish. "Um… a few."

Satisfied with the answer, he turned to Joe. "You were supposed to be done with your required volunteer hours at the hospital last year. Care to tell us why you don't have all of your hours in?"

Joe defended, "I've volunteered as much as I can! I have other things to do what with studying and the Digital World!"

"Matt, why did your band break up again?"

"I was always busy," He paused for a moment before realizing what Izzy was getting at, "with the Digital World." His expression turned to a scowl.

Izzy addressed the whole group. "We've given up our lives for the Digital World, and it's time that we take them back. If we take this pull, if we forget about the Digital World, then we'll have our lives back, and the Digital World will still be protected."

Tai stood. Izzy made some good points, but he couldn't just leave the Digital World behind. He faced the group knowing that, as the leader, he had to be diplomatic, "Alright, we're either all taking the pill or none of us are. Who's for Izzy's pill?"

The room stayed unresponsive and still. Some were still thinking things over; some made their decision and were looking around the room to see if anyone dared to speak.

"I'm in," Matt said casually earning him a few bewildered looks that he simply shrugged off. "Izzy's right. They don't need us, and we don't need them anymore."

Joe raised his hand slightly to indicate he sided with Matt before adding, "I think it's time to move on."

There was another long silence as no one was willing to voice their opinion one way or another. This was such a big choice; they needed time to think.

Kari spoke up, her voice gentle, "What about our partners?"

Even Izzy hadn't thought of how to answer that. "Well, we'll, uh, forget them too."

"Aren't they worth keeping our memory for?" She pressed.

Thankfully for Izzy, Sora cut in, "They'll understand that this is for the best. We're letting them take charge of the Digital World while we take charge of ourselves." She looked to Izzy, an encouraging but slightly fearful smile on her face. "Izzy, I'm for the pill."

Tai recapped, "Four yeses from Izzy, Matt, Sora, and Joe, a no from Kari. Everybody else? Mimi?"

The girl in question looked panicked. "This is all too fast! You can't expect me to know right now. Could I have some time?"

"There is no time!" Izzy snapped causing everyone in the room to turn their attention at him, but he didn't notice. "We have to do this now! We should have forgotten four years ago along with the rest of the world, but it is Gennai's fault we're stuck like this, always lying, and fighting, and keeping secrets!"

Mimi continued to stare at Izzy, unwanted moisture entering her eyes. Izzy rarely snapped at anyone, especially not her.

He took a calming breath before continuing in a controlled voice, "Through all my research, I've never steered us wrong. You all have to trust me that this pill is the best choice for us."

TK took his eyes from the floor to Izzy. "Even if it's not what I want to happen, it is what's best."

Kari never met Izzy's eyes but spoke in a strong voice, "I'll do it."

Mimi was the last to respond. Quietly she said, "I trust you, Izzy."

Tai nodded slightly turning to the redhead, "Alright, go ahead."

Izzy stood and went around the room placing a pill in each digidestined's hand.

Sora studied the light blue, elliptical object. "Don't we need water or something?"

Izzy shook his head as he took the last pill in his own hand. "No, they're chewable."

"Nifty," Joe commented with a hint of sarcasm.

Tai spoke in a commanding voice. "On the count of three, we chew. One…Two…Three!"

He threw the pill in his mouth and swallowed quickly. He then looked around the room, taking in each of his friends in turn. For the most part, they looked a bit haunted having realized what they'd just done, but there was no turning back now.

Tai asked, "What now?"

Izzy answered, "The pill will take about five weeks for the full effect to kick in."

"Five weeks until our memories of the Digital World are gone forever." He now didn't speak to anyone in particular. He just felt that needed to be said aloud as if to make it more real.

Izzy nodded. "I'll be doing weekly status reports to see how the pill is affecting everyone, but for now there's nothing left to do." He stood as if to leave. "I should really be going. See all of you at my house next Monday at 4 o'clock sharp."

Gradually, each of them left after Izzy leaving only Tai and Kari. Kari had barely spoken a word since taking the pill causing Tai to grow concerned.

"Hey," he started nudging her from behind the chair she still perched on, "This is for the best."

"I know," She sighed. "I just wish we had more time."

Tai nodded in understanding before leaving to pick up some stuff in his old room before heading back to his college dorm. On his way out, he stopped beside their mother's potted, purple daisies.

"Tai?" His sister called.

He ignored her, too focused on what he saw. Mixed within the dirt, he spotted a small, light blue pill.

Bum, Bum, Bum! ... Sorry, I thought it was necessary.

Who didn't take the pill? Who's betrayed everyone? Anybody got a guess?

Thanks for reading! Reviews = motivation