Embedded Files
Taylor Glovion and Martin Soleman are alone, together in a park. This isn't a regular park. This park is a simulated natural habitat at the very center of World For Us All's base. The World For Us All Headquarters was built in the shape of the digivice that Izzy and his team owned in the universe he came from back in 1999. In the square center where the screen would be, a park was built. It implemented the most advanced technology from Aqualia to simulate sunlight, a blue sky, green grass, and chirping birds. Taylor and Martin sat down on a picnic blanket with sandwiches, cookies, and little cartons of milk. This was their first date as boyfriend and girlfriend. "Taylor….what made you want to become a Digimon Researcher?" Martin asked. "Well, I've always had a great love and fascination for Digimon ever since I was a little kid. The very first question I had about them was if Digimon were digital monsters, how could they exist in the real world? I was told by my mother that I should look it up, so I did. The answer is that parts of a Digimon's being sort of…physicalize…when they enter the human world. The reverse is true for humans and other non-Digital creatures. Much of their data becomes…converted…if you will, into atoms, cells, molecules, and so on. But then I had more questions; how does this bio-emergence occur? What causes it? And what causes Digimon to digivolve? I kept asking questions and kept researching answers." Taylor explained. Martin giggled. "Sounds like you're quite a curious person." He said. Taylor smiled with her eyes closed and giggled. "You're right. I've always loved learning in general. There's no such thing as too much knowledge. That's my philosophy." Taylor said. Taylor then took a bite out of her sandwich. After swallowing, she began to speak again. "Speaking of philosophy, did you know that a few of centuries before Christ, the Greek Philosopher Diogenes…" Taylor then stopped herself. She giggled and waved her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm beginning to go into lecture mode aren't I?"
"Don't worry about it. I could listen you talk for hours." Martin said. Taylor began to blush. "R-really?" This was a surprise. Normally, her other friends would have shut her up by explicitly telling her, as Drusilla sometimes would, or by changing the subject. "Well….ok. Diogenes tried to answer the question of what a human being is. His answer was 'a featherless biped'. This answer is actually hilarious because although it seems to me that bipedality and lack of feathers are necessary conditions to being human, they are clearly not sufficient conditions. For if that were the case, then a plucked chicken or a shaved monkey would qualify as human beings!" Taylor said, resuming her 'lecture'. When she finished, she burst out laughing.
Martin didn't seem to find it as funny as she did. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Taylor noticed Martin wasn't laughing. "You don't think that's funny?" She asked. Martin looked panicked. Grinning nervously and rubbing the back of his head, he said, "Oh! I do!" and then tried to fake a laugh. Martin reached into the picnic basket and brought out a couple of juice boxes. "Ok, so who wants some apple juice?" He asked. Taylor began to look worried. "What are we thinking? This is our first date. Are we really trying to start a romantic relationship…at our age? Statistically speaking, this relationship is doomed to fail. We're not even teenagers yet. There's no way either of us has the maturity to keep this thing going. Besides, look at what Martin considers a 'date'; a park picnic with ham sandwiches, juice boxes, milk, and cookies!" Taylor thought to herself. Her mind began racing. Taylor then thought of hers and Martin's parents. They were childhood sweethearts and they not only lasted through high school, but got married and still are to this day. Still, Taylor knew that relationships like these were the exception, not the rule. Was there any point in pursuing this further if it was just going to fail? As more thoughts entered the goggle headed girl's mind, she found herself becoming more and more sad. She thought that perhaps her best hope was to be a lifelong friendly ex.
A voice interrupted her thoughts. "A nice day for a picnic isn't it? Thank yours truly for programming this week's simulated forecast." They two children looked to see a purple haired woman wearing glasses with purple hexagonal lenses, a white buttoned shirt with long puffy sleeves, a pocket on the left side of the chest, a purple bow tie, and a black dress that accentuates her breasts. She was carrying a square device in her arms. It was like a PDA, but far more advanced. Behind her were Gatomon and its black variant. "Who are you?" Martin asked. "Oh! That's right. You haven't met me yet. My name is Mirei Mikagura. I'm a Digimon Tamer, a scientist, I'm a lot of things, but most importantly, I'm the founder of this organization." The purple haired woman explained. Taylor and Martin looked surprised. "You built this whole place?" Taylor asked. "I founded the organization. Interdimensional travel is something I'm very well familiar with. I also built this pocket space in the Mother Universe that only those with authorization can enter. Like the DigiLab, from which your Father came and went quite frequently a while back." Mirei explained.
"You know my Dad?" Taylor said in realization.
"I kept an eye on the Digimon he tamed during his early Cyber Sleuthing days." Mirei explained. The Gatomon behind her tugged at her shirt. "Mirei, you should tell them why you came." Gatomon said. "Oh, right. Miss Glovion, I'm giving you a temporary leave of absence. Your mother and father's wedding anniversary is tomorrow and I thought you might want to get them something." Mirei said. Mirei's demeanor was rather stoic. She then let out a slight smile. "Martin can go too if he wants."
Taylor and Martin then boarded a Kommondomon with Sharkmon and Naturemon and traveled back to their own universe. It took about a day for them to reach their home universe. The Kommondomon came out of a portal, and allowed the two children and their Digimon to exit. Martin got out his smartphone and began typing. Taylor looked over to him and asked, "What are you doing?" Martin replied "I'm telling Mom we're back home." Taylor then said, "Don't. I want to show up at my house as a surprise." Taylor said. Martin smiled and nodded. He then put his smartphone back into his pocket. It was already night time when they exited the portal. Street lights illuminated the streets and stars adorned the sky.
They then heard a voice from behind them. "What the….Taylor!? Martin!? Sharkmon!? Naturemon!?" The two children turned around to see Zaiaku Gray standing behind them carrying her BlackGatomon in her arms. BlackGatomon started flailing about wildly in her arms. "It's Taylor! It's Martin! And neither of them are fartin'! It's Sharkmon! It's Naturemon! And neither of them are riding in giant milk cartons!" Syn the BlackGatomon sang. Zai grunted as the black cat Digimon flailed about her in her arms. One of her claws almost jabbed Zai in the eye. "Hey! Stop moving around, will ya?" She said a little frustrated. Taylor closed her eyes and put her hand up to her mouth and giggled. "Syn is as energetic as ever, I see." She said. Zai then walked over to them. "What are you guys doing back here? Is All For One World defeated already?" Zai asked.
"Nope. Mirei let us come back to celebrate Taylor's mommy and daddy's wedding anniversary." Sharkmon said.
"She wants to surprise them, so we haven't told them we're here." Naturemon said.
"We have to go shopping tonight because it took Kommonodomon a whole day to get us here." Martin said.
"Yeah, and I'm huuuungryyyyyy! Is there a hot dog stand nearby?" Sharkmon whined. Taylor rolled her eyes and sighed, and then tilted her head off to the side with her eyes closed. "I should just start carrying around a bag of those things." Taylor said. Syn then started moving her arms some more, still being carried by Zai. "Ooh! Oooh! But then you might get a reputation! You'll be known as The Hot Dog Mermaid! And everyone will point at you saying 'There goes The Hot Dog Mermaid'!" Syn said energetically.
The Kommonodomon was about to turn around and head back through the portal, but before he could, a Piximon flew out! Everyone looked surprised. "It's a pink puff ball! Yummy!" Syn shouted. Taylor sighed before cranking her neck up to look at the little pink Digimon flying around in circles over them. "I hope it doesn't leave droppings like birds." Sharkmon said. "That's no puff ball. That's Piximon; an Ultimate level pixie Digimon. Don't let it's size fool you. Its Pit Bomb attack hits hard. It has the ability to wield magic and travel anywhere in time and space." Taylor explained.
Martin looked over to Taylor and raised an index finger. "So, he's like that guy in the phone box I saw on that British TV show." He said. Taylor smiled in Martin's direction and sweat dropped. "Well….kind of, but not really." She replied. The Piximon then turned around and looked down at all of them. He had been flying around to quickly for any of them to realize this before, but Piximon had a Red Mark right in the middle of his forehead. Taylor's and Martin's eyes widened and their jaws dropped. Sharkmon also looked surprised. "A Red Mark? I thought it was weird that he came through that portal!" Sharkmon exclaimed. Naturemon took her spear off of her back and clenched it in front of her tightly with a determined look on her face. "He must be working for All For One World." Naturemon said. Taylor thought it was odd that their location was found out yet again. Maybe Izzy was right? Maybe there really is a mole at World For Us All.
Piximon began to speak. "Your presence has annoyed my master, yep yep. He wishes to not waste anymore time on you. Time is a precious thing after all. Too precious to waste, yep yep. And speaking of time…" Piximon said before pointing his spear in their direction. Sharkmon and Naturemon took fighting poses, preparing to counter or evade whatever Piximon was about to do. "Pixie Portal!" Piximon shouted before twirling his spear above his head like a baton. When Piximon twirled his baton, a portal opened up beneath Taylor's, Sharkmon's, Martin's, Naturemon's, Zai's, and Syn's feet. Everyone let out a shout as they fell through the portal. After they had fallen through the portal, it closed up. The Red Marked Piximon laughed evilly.
Taylor, Martin, Zai, and their Digimon all fell out of the other side of the portal. They were quite high up in the air, and hurdling down towards a small town. "This isn't good!" Sharkmon yelled. Zai took out her digivice and held it in Syn's direction. The word "DIGIVOLUTION" scrolled across her black D-Smartphone in big green letters with the symbol of her Crest Of Balance underneath the word. "Syn! You know what to do!" Zai exclaimed. Syn gave a knowing nod in her direction. "BlackGatomon digivolve to….LadyDevimon!" After Syn had digivolved, Zai spread her wings out wide and grabbed Taylor and Martin in each of her arms. Syn, now a LadyDevimon, grabbed Sharkmon and Naturemon. Afterwards, they flew downwards at a slower pace until they landed, at which point they put the people and Digimon they were carrying down on the ground.
Taylor and the others looked around. While they were falling, they were too frantic to take note of their surroundings. "Where are we?" Taylor asked. There were humans walking around the city, and only humans. There no Digimon and no alien races in sight. "Did we travel to another universe?" Naturemon asked. Zai looked around and noticed they were getting some weird stares. Syn the LadyDevimon then noticed something. She pointed at one of the signs. "Zai, look! That sign isn't in Japanese!" She said. Zai looked to where Syn was pointing. Her eyebrows furrowed. "That is strange." Zai said. Taylor and Martin stood up. Taylor was standing in front of the entrance to a park. Taylor turned and looked at the sign. "Williamston Park? What? Is….this?" Taylor asked. Sharkmon hopped up into her arms, looked Taylor in the face, and then looked back at the sign. "Well, clearly it's a park that belongs to William's son, whoever William is." Sharkmon said.
Zai put her hands on her hips and took a few steps forward. "This is a place your dad liked to hang out as a child. In fact, it's the place where our Digimon achieved the Mega level for the first time." Zai explained. Taylor put her thumb and index finger up to her chin. She was clearly going into deep thought. "That Piximon sent us somewhere in a portal. Clearly this is Williamston, South Carolina. But where? In my own universe….or someone else's?" Taylor thought aloud. Just then, a child ran past them. This child had a backwards blue baseball cap on, goggles over the cap, a t-shirt with blue and yellow stripes on, and dark blue denim jeans. Taylor's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She had seen this child in a photograph before. "D-Dad!?" Taylor blurted out. The boy stopped running and turned around to look at them. He seemed agitated. "Dad?" He wondered aloud. Taylor looked nervous and started waving her arms back and forth wildly and she was starting to sweat a little. "No! I-I said E-Gad! As in 'E-gad! Where is this boy off to in such a hurry!?' Why in the world would I call you 'Dad'. That's so weird. We're like totally the same and stuff." Taylor said before beginning to laugh nervously. The young Evander raised an eyebrow. "You're a weird girl." He said. He then took off again, before stopping and turning around. He clearly hadn't noticed the adult Zai and LadyDevimon standing right there. Why did he not notice them? Taylor turned around and saw that everyone was gone! She was alone!
"Wh-where did everyone go!?" She exclaimed. Zai went "Psst!" to her from behind a bush. Taylor ran over to her. Clearly, they caught sight of Young Evander first and hid before he noticed them. Her mind was racing with questions. When Taylor got behind the bush, she noticed that Syn had de-digivolved back to BlackGatomon. "I think I know what happened." Zai said. "Me too! Piximon didn't send us to another universe! He sent us backwards in time! That my was Dad when he was around my age!" Taylor said. Zai smiled and placed her hand on Taylor's head and let out a slight chuckle. "You are your father's daughter." Zai said. Naturemon's eyes lit up. "You mean we get to see what our partners' parents looked like before they digivolved to the Adult level?" Naturemon said enthusiastically with a big smile across her face, sparkling eyes, and clenched fists. Zai frowned and shook her head. "No. If we really are in the past as seems to be the case, then we need to be extremely careful with every action we take. Even a small minor difference could radically change the future." Zai cautioned.
"This means no talking to my parents. I share a name with another time traveling Marty, but Great Scott do I not want to be my parents' matchmaker to ensure my own birth!" Martin said.
Taylor sighed. "What a mess. Right, Sharkmon?" She said. Silence. Taylor looked around, trying to find her partner Digimon. She began to look concerned. "Where's Sharkmon?" Taylor asked. "He's not with you?" Naturemon asked. Taylor's eyes widened and her mouth opened a little. She had a bad feeling about this. "Oh no. Don't tell me." Taylor said before taking off running. She was running in direction her young father had run. "Sharkmon, please don't be talking to my dad. Please don't be talking to my dad. Please don't be talking to my dad." Taylor thought to herself as she ran through the park. She ran up to a bridge in the park that had a slanted roof over it. The bridge was over a small creek that ran through the middle of Williamston Park. Taylor gasped as what she feared was true. Sharkmon was in the middle of a conversation with the young Evander. Evander had knelt down to talk to the small quadruped shark Digimon at his level. Evander tilted his head. "So you're the Digimon partner to that girl I met?" He said, repeating what Sharkmon had told him a moment ago. Sharkmon nodded. "Yep. Her name is Taylor. She's really smart. She knows everything! And she plays with me and feeds me hot dogs! She's the best!" Sharkmon said. Evander smiled and chuckled. "She sounds great." The young Evander said. Sharkmon then started looking around. "Hey, where are your Digimon? Agumon? Terriermon? Ladybugmon? Are they back home?" Sharkmon asked. Evander's smile turned to a frown. "They're….back in the Digital World." Evander replied. "Then go and get them! I want to play with them!" Sharkmon said. Evander looked confused. He furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head. "You don't know? The gate to the Digital World shut. It happened after I defeated Thithemon a few months ago. I…..can't go to the Digital World. And….I don't know if I'll ever see them again." The young Evander said in a sad voice.
Taylor ran up to them both. "Sharkmon! What do you think you're doing!?" Taylor asked. Sharkmon ran over and jumped up into Taylor's arms. The young Evander stood up and walked over to Taylor. "Sharkmon and I were just talking. Hey, sorry I snapped at you earlier. I'm just in sort of a bad mood today." He said. Taylor was extremely nervous. She knew she was treading on her own history, but her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know why her dad was in such a bad mood. "What's wrong?" She asked. "I broke up with my girlfriend earlier. We had a falling out and…she said she never wanted to see me again. Zai was right. We weren't really in love. It was just infatu-whatever she said." Evander said in a sad tone of voice. Taylor was shocked. Obviously, Evander and Jessica must have made up at some point, but her parents had told her they had never been apart. Did they really lie about that? Moreover, when Taylor first brought Sharkmon home, Evander and Jessica claimed to have never seen him before. But shouldn't what the young Evander's experiencing right now still be in his memory in the year 2033? Maybe he just forgot? Taylor tilted her head and smiled with her eyes closed. "Don't worry. I'm sure you too will work it out. I just have this feeling your future with her is bright. Maybe you'll even have a daughter someday." Taylor said before letting out a giggle.
Evander grinned and started blushing. "Hey, you know, you're actually really cute now that I've had the chance to get a good look at ya. How about you and I get dinner sometime? Just us goggle headed digidestined…no Digimon." Evander said before leaning in close with his finger across is chin. His eyebrows going up and down. Taylor blushed, grimaced, and took a couple of steps back. "Ew! Ew! Ew! No! You can NOT be thinking of me in that way! That is SO wrong!" Taylor blurted out. Evander's face went dour and he hung his head down. "Jeez. A simple 'I'm not interested' would have sufficed. You don't have to be mean." He said. Taylor felt bad. She basically insulted this boy without meaning to. It wasn't his fault. He didn't know he was approaching Alabama territory. Before she had a chance to apologize, they all heard an angry girl blurt out. "Really!? It didn't take you long to get over me, did it!?" Taylor looked and her eyes widened in shock. Taylor gasped. It was an 11 year old Jessica! She looked quite angry. Jessica was clad in a striped t-shirt that exposed her midriff, an aqua blue vest that went over the shirt, an aqua blue skirt, knee high socks, and royal blue tennis shoes. She was glaring at Evander and had both hands on her hips. "M-mom!?" Taylor screamed inside her head. "Hey, isn't that-" Sharkmon began before Taylor clamped his jaw shut with her hand. "Quiet!" Taylor whispered as she leaned in closer to her Digimon partner.
Jessica walked up to Evander, scowling. When she got close enough, she began poking him in the chest. "I can't believe I came all this way to apologize to you! I was going to make up with you, but here I find you flirting with this….this…." She then yelled something in a foreign language. Taylor didn't know much, but it sounded like Aqualish, the native language of Jessica's home planet. Evander took steps back, with a nervous facial expression, sort of leaning back as Jessica repeatedly poked him in the chest and ranted at him in Aqualish. "It's not like that! I'm not into this girl! She's just someone I met!" Evander said. Taylor closed her eyes halfway and frowned while looking in the young Evander's direction. "We both know that's a lie, Dad." Taylor thought silently. Jessica grit her teeth and growled. "I saw everything! You literally just asked her out and now you're going to deny it!?" Jessica said before continuing to swear in Aqualish. "At least yell at me in a language I understand!" Evander yelled angrily. Jessica then started to have tears run down her face. Jessica clenched her fists and started running away. "I hate you, Evander Glovion! I never want to see you again!" She shouted. "Well that's fine by me! I don't need someone as insecure as you anyway!" Evander shouted back.
Taylor then began to feel a little weird. She felt dizzy and her vision got a little blurry. Taylor stumbled into the railing of the bridge on the other side. She had dropped Sharkmon in the process. "Taylor! What happened?" Sharkmon asked. Evander looked back at the goggle headed girl in concern. "Hey, you ok? You need me to take you to a hospital or something?" He asked. "I'm fine. I just need to…" Taylor then noticed something horrifying. She held her hand up in front of her face, and it was transparent! It faded in and out of transparency. It went from being opaque to transparent, to opaque again. "Great Scott!" Taylor thought to herself. She was full of fear, inferring what just happened. Her mother and father were about to make up from a break up, but her very presence had prevented that from happening! Was she…fading from existence?
Taylor bent down and picked Sharkmon up. Looking over in Evander's direction, she said "I have to go! It was nice meeting you!" Then she took off running err…staggering. Evander watched as Taylor staggered away. Evander looked down at the water below the bridge. Taylor made her way back over to Zai and the others. Zai smiled and took a sigh of relief. "Oh good, you found him. Where'd he wander off to?" Zai asked. Terror was covering Taylor's face. Zai's face went dour. "What's wrong?" She asked. Taylor held her hand up. It was still fading in and out of transparency. "Whoa! Cool! Is this a mermaid thing?" Naturemon asked. Taylor was sweating heavily. "No! This is a go-back-in-time-and-prevent-your-own-existence thing!" Taylor replied in a harsh tone. Zai was freaking out…but on the inside. On the outside, she kept her composure. As someone who grew up on Devillis, she was a master at hiding her emotions. "How did it happen?" Zai asked.
Taylor explained the whole situation. When she was finished, Zai put her hand over her chin. "So…if we fail, Taylor will really never be born? No! I love Taylor! She's my best friend! I don't want her to not exist!" Sharkmon said in a sad tone. "The only way to fix this is to make sure Evander and Jessica get back together." Zai said. Taylor looked terrified. "My arms are numb." She said, sounding like she was going to burst into tears. Zai embraced her. "Be brave. There's still time to fix this." She said.
Sometime later, Zai rented a hotel room for her and the kids and their Digimon. Zai was wearing a trench coat to cover her wings. The people of Earth at this time still believed they were alone in the universe. Zai also wore a fedora. Sharkmon bounced on the bed making happy noises. Taylor looked indignant. She put both her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "How can you be so chipper at a time like this? I could literally be wiped from history!" Taylor scolded. Sharkmon stopped and whimpered. Taylor felt bad. She frowned. She went over and hugged Sharkmon. "I'm sorry, Sharkmon. I shouldn't have yelled at you." She said. Sharkmon smiled. "It's ok, Taylor. Besides, I'm not worried at all. You're the smartest person I've ever met. We'll solve this. Don't we always get out of tough scrapes together?" Sharkmon said. Taylor smiled and nodded. "Yep."
Zai took a couple steps forward. "So…..did Evander really hit on you?" She asked. "He sure did. It was creepy. I mean, he's my dad! Plus, he literally broke up with mom hours before. What is wrong with him?" Taylor said. "He uh….he went through a bit of a womanizing phase from ages 13-16. I had totally forgotten about it until now. It caused a lot of tension between Evander and Jessica." Zai said. Zai's eyes then widened. "Oh crap! That's right! I lived with Evander for a couple of years after the portal to the Digital World closed. I could encounter myself if I'm not careful." It was true. Zai hated her own planet so much that rather than return to her own planet, she bunked with Evander. It was only for a few years though. Eventually, Zai got so tired of hiding her wings when she would go outside that she hitched a ride back to Devillis on the space capsule Jessica's parents used to come to this planet.
"So how are we going to get Taylor's parents back together? I can't play 'Johnny B Goode' on the guitar and my singing is terrible." Martin said.
"Well, perhaps we should talk to them first." Naturemon said.
"Since this is my fault, I'll talk to Jessica. Zai, I want you to talk to Evander. You and him have been friends for a long time. You know him better than Martin or the Digimon." Taylor said. Zai tipped her fedora. "I'll do it, but Evander at this point in time….well, let's just say he's a bit headstrong." Zai said. She then put her index finger up to her chin and looked off to the side. While that was true, Zai was also much older and much more mature. Perhaps she could be tactful. Taylor opened up her phone and pulled up pictures of herself. In a picture she had taken with her Drusilla, she wasn't in the photo. Drusilla was the only one present. Taylor's eyes widened and her hand began shaking.
Taylor and Zai left the hotel with their Digimon, however Martin and Naturemon stayed behind for fear of messing up the timeline any further.
Jessica's House….
Taylor walked up to the door of her mother's childhood house with Sharkmon in her arms. Taylor took a deep breath. She reached up and pushed the door bell. "I hope she listens to me." Taylor said with a nervous expression on her face . "I hope she has food." Sharkmon said. No one answered after a couple of minutes, so she pressed the door bell button again. Another minute passed and then an orange haired woman answered the door. Taylor was taken aback at the sight of her. At first, she thought she was seeing her Mom as an adult, but after her eyes adjusted, she realized this was actually her grandmother; Victoria Poseidon (or Maria Amber as she went by at this point in time). It was uncanny how much Jessica looked like her mother in adulthood. "H-hello mam. Is Mo-I mean Jessica home?" Taylor asked, still visibly nervous. Maria nodded. "Yes. Are you one of her friends?" She asked. "You could put it that way." Taylor said. Maria turned around, looked into the house, and put her hand up to her mouth to ensure her voice carried. "Jessica! You have a friend here who wants to see you!" There was nothing but silence for a few seconds. "JESSICA! THERE'S A FRIEND HERE WHO WANTS TO SEE YOU!" Maria repeated, more loudly. "If it's Evander, tell him he can drop dead!" Jessica screamed from her bedroom. "That's a terrible thing to say! And no, it's not Evander!" Maria replied. "Fine! Send her up!" Jessica yelled from her bedroom.
Taylor walked up the stairs and into Jessica's bedroom. She closed the door behind her. Jessica stood up and pointed her finger at Taylor with an angry look on her face. "You! You're that girl from the park! What are you doing here?" She asked. Taylor took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, exhaled, and then opened her eyes. "I came to apologize. What happened at the park was a big misunderstanding. Evander cares about you very much." Taylor said. Jessica put her finger down. Jessica turned around and sat down on her bed. "If he cared about me, he'd stop flirting with other girls." Jessica said.
"Is that what this about? Da-I mean Evander never struck me as a playuh." Taylor said.
"Evander is so stupid. He has a bad temper, picks fights with everyone who looks at him funny or says a bad word, and he is so impatient! I put up with these qualities because I loved him, but this new womanizing thing he's started doing recently is too much. I can't tolerate him looking at other girls." Jessica said. She looked at the floor, took a deep breath, and then laid back on her bed. She then looked over to Taylor. Her angry expression faded. "Why am I even telling you all of this? I don't even know you." Taylor smiled and laughed nervously. "Well, I'm just one of those people that other people feel ok opening up to I guess." She said. Jessica turned her gaze from Taylor to back up to the ceiling. "That's not it. Even though I've never seen you before, you feel familiar to me. You don't feel like a stranger even though you are. It's like I both know you and don't know you at the same time." Jessica rambled. She then smiled and scoffed. Looking back over to Taylor, she said "I'm sorry. I guess that doesn't make any sense." Taylor bent over to put Sharkmon on the floor. She stood back up and looked Jessica in the eyes with a smile. "Actually, I think it makes perfect sense." Taylor said. Jessica sat up on the bed and put her feet on the floor. She looked down at Sharkmon. "So….is this a Digimon?" Jessica asked. Sharkmon was quiet. He had been told by Taylor to pretend to be a stuffed animal and he didn't know if he could move yet. "Yep. This is Sharkmon." Taylor replied. Sharkmon continued to be as still as an inanimate object. Taylor looked down and nudged him with her foot. "You don't have to pretend to be a toy anymore, Sharkmon." Taylor said. Sharkmon took a sigh of relief. "Howdy! I'm Sharkmon!" Sharkmon said, grinning and raising one of his front legs.
Taylor knelt down beside the bed at Jessica's legs. She took her mother's hands and held them in her own. Taylor smiled. She couldn't believe that this red headed child's hands were the same hands that wiped away her tears when she cried. These were the same hands that held Taylor when she took her first breath. These were the hands that put bandages on her when she fell off her bike. "Jessica…you should give Evander a second chance. He might have eyes for many women, but I know for a fact that you and you alone have his heart captive. Just….talk to him. Relationships….are hard. Life isn't a fairytale. People don't just happen to live happily ever after. You have to make it happen. You and Evander are the co-authors of your own love story. Sometimes it may feel like you have writer's block; like you don't know what to write next. You may feel you have written your characters into a corner they can't possibly get out. But no matter what happens, don't close the book. Keep writing. Write your story no matter how much your hand cramps, no matter how little ink you have left. Keep writing until your love story has a happy ending." Taylor said.
Jessica widened her eyes a bit as Taylor held her hands. She still felt like girl was familiar to her, but she couldn't understand why. "But he's a hot headed, impatient, womanizing jerk." Jessica rebutted. "And I'm sure you have flaws too. But if you can't look past them, you'll never find happiness. There are no perfect people in the world. Every man is flawed. Different men are just flawed in different ways." Taylor said. Jessica looked Taylor in the eyes. Jessica was taking all of Taylor's words into consideration. "My dad. He….used to get really absorbed into work a lot. I felt like he didn't care about mom or me. But he eventually realized how much he was hurting us and decided to limit his work to the office." Taylor continued. She closed her eyes, smiled and giggled. "We recently took a family vacation together and we played lots and lots…just like when I was little." Jessica closed her eyes and smiled. She then opened her eyes, looked up, and clenched her fist with a determined look on her face. "You're so right! You're so right! I'll give Evander another chance." Jessica said. Taylor smiled and giggled. "I'm so glad to hear that!" Taylor said. Taylor then resolved to take her own advice.
Meanwhile….
Zai walked down the street in her cloak and hood. Syn was chilling inside of Zai's D-Smartphone. Zai turned the corner and bumped into a girl. They both knocked each other to the ground. The adult Zai rubbed her backside. "I'm so sorry!" She said before looking up at who she ran into. Her eyes widened. It was herself! A 14 year old Zai sat on the ground in a black midriff t-shirt, dark blue jacket, and black skirt. Her jacket was hiding her bat wings. "Ugh…it's fine. Just make sure you do better at paying attention to where you're going mam." The young Zai said in a monotonous tone while she was getting up and dusting herself off. The adult Zai kept her composure and said. "Oh, right! I will." Then the adult Zai stood up and ran down the street she was about to turn on. "Well, see ya." Zai said. She wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was cause some paradox by interacting with her younger self. They already had to do damage control for Taylor.
"Now to go tell Evander 'I told you so'." The young Zai said. The adult Zai stopped in her tracks and turned around to face her younger self. "Child, wait." The adult Zai said, reaching out in the younger Zai's direction. The young Zai looked back and furrowed her eyebrows. "Child? Please. Where I'm from, I'm a full fledged adult." She said. The older Zai smiled. "Did you say you were going to see Evander? Does that mean he's not home?" The older Zai asked. The younger Zai folded her arms around her head and rolled her eyes. "Why do you care? What? You one of the older women he tried to hit on?" The younger Zai said, still in a monotonous tone. The older Zai took a couple of steps forward. "No, but I am a friend of his. I want to talk to him about Jessica." She said.
The younger Zai sighed. "What a coincidence! Me too!" the younger Zai said in an energy-less yet sarcastic tone. "I'm off to tell them that I was right in what I said back in the Digital World. They weren't really in love. They were just infatuated. At our age, you can't be sure if your love for another is real. Hell, I'm skeptical that love is even real. If it were, then my father would never have…." The younger Zai stopped. She was clearly suffering. Although she didn't finish her sentence, the older Zai knew what she was about to say. The way Dracula, her father, had treated her mother Luxelle caused her to doubt that love was even real at all. Zai believed that for years until she met Jacob. No, she realized it even before then, in the way she cared for Syn and the way Syn cared for her. But Zai never wanted to admit it because it would mean admitting everything she ever believed was wrong. However, falling in love with Jacob Gray removed all doubts in her mind; love is real, and love is powerful. The older Zai took a few steps forward and took her jacket off, revealing her batlike wings underneath to the younger Zai's surprise.
"Listen kid, you still have a lot to learn about this world. About friendship, love, and lots of other things. So, before you confidently shove Evander's failure in his face, let me talk to him first." The older Zai said.
"Who….who are you, lady?" The younger Zai asked.
The older Zai smirked, "You'll find out someday." She replied.
The older Zai then turned to look for Evander. She found Evander sitting inside of an ice cream parlor with an empty glass in front of him. He was sitting at a counter. Evander raised his glass while looking over to his left, the direction of the man who ran the parlor. "Another double fudge Sundae, waiter!" Evander said, slurring his words. The man folded his arms and shook his head. "Sorry son, I'm gonna have to cut you off." He said. "Ah, come on! I still have cash to pay for another one!" Evander said, angrily and slurring his word. "It's not about the money. At this rate, you'll develop diabetes." He said. "And stop talking like that. People are going to think I'm giving a minor alcohol."
Zai - the adult version - stepped into the parlor and walked over in Evander's direction. She gave him a gentle and benevolent smile. She walked over and took a seat right next to him. "I'll have one triple fudge sundae with extra sprinkles, please." Zai said. "Coming right up!" Zai looked over to Evander. She extended a hand to him. "Hi, my name is Zzzzzoey. Zoe." Zai said. She almost inadvertently gave her real name. Although, it then occurred to her that it really wouldn't matter if she did. She surely wasn't the person named only Zaiaku in the world, right? Evander shook her hand. "I'm Evander."
"Is something wrong? You look like you're having a rough day." Zai asked.
"My girlfriend broke up with me. She was going to take me back, but I ended up blowing it. I flirted with this really cute brunette I met at the park right in front of her. I didn't know she was there. She got really mad and ran off. She said she hates me. Why am I like this?" The young Evander explained.
"It's called puberty." Zai explained.
"Puberty?"
"Yeah, for the next several years, your brain is going to register every female who isn't either an old hag or a relative as a potential mate." Zai explained.
"A friend of mine told me a while back that Jessica and I were just infatuated, that we'd end up with totally different people eventually, that were too young to understand real love. She said that we were just infatu-something. Do you…think she was right?" Evander asked.
"You know…a long time ago, I would have said the same thing. But that's because I spoke from a place of pain. I didn't even think love was real at all. My father abused my mother and eventually killed her. That scarred me. Where I come from, a man and a woman only get together for the purpose of procreation. Love doesn't exist there, and anyone who professes they're in love could be killed on the spot." Zai explained.
Zai slipped her jacket off and let her wings spread out. Evander's eyes widened and he gasped. "You're a….fallen angel?" Evander observed. "Your friend might have been speaking statistically. Yes, the younger you are, the less likely a relationship will pan out. But, there are success stories of childhood sweethearts making it." Zai said. She then smiled and gave him a wink. "Besides, you don't look like the type to give up. Do you really want your friend to have the last laugh?" Evander shook his head. "No way! There's no way I'd ever let her be right!" Evander replied. "Atta boy!" Zai said, giving the young Evander a hard slap on the back.
Zai didn't realize this, but Taylor and Jessica were standing behind them the whole time this conversation was taking place. Taylor then smiled. Zai received her ice cream. Zai gave the man her money but then smiled nervously and chuckled. "You know what? I'm on a diet. Just give it to this boy." Zai said. "But the diabetes! THE DIABETES!" The ice cream man shouted dramatically. Zai stood up and turned to walk out, at which point, she saw Taylor, Jessica, and Sharkmon standing there. Evander turned. "Before you go, just answer me this." Evander said before pausing. "Are you…Zaiaku Kuro?" Zai froze in her tracks and her heart started racing. Maybe revealing her wings was going too far. Evander then chuckled. "Nah! There's no way you could be her. You're way too nice." Zai took a sigh of relief and then kept walking.
Evander then looked back to see Taylor, Sharkmon, and Jessica. Evander walked over to Jessica nervously. He bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry…for everything. Jessica, you're the only girl for me. You always will be. My heart belongs to you and you alone. I'd rather die than lose you! I'm so sorry!" He said. Jessica embraced him. "I forgive you." She said, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. Taylor looked down at the picture in her phone again. This time, both Drusilla AND herself were in the photo. Taylor smiled. Crisis averted! Her arms also stopped phasing in and out of transparency. She then noticed that "Earth Angel" by Marvin Berry and The Starlighters was playing on the Ice Cream Parlor's jukebox.
Just then, the ice cream parlor bar guy pointed towards the exit of the parlor. "Is that a pink cream puff?" They all looked to see that the Red Marked Piximon had returned. "Piximon!?" Sharkmon exclaimed. Evander and Jessica pulled away from their embrace to look and see what was going on. Evander's eyes widened when he saw the Red Mark on Piximon's head. "And he's got a Red Mark!" Evander exclaimed. "You don't think Emily could have…" Jessica began, looking at Evander with a worried expression on her face. "No, this isn't The Digimon Ruler's doing." Zai replied. The Piximon crashed through the window. He looked ticked off. He pointed his stick at Taylor. "You were supposed to prevent your parents from getting together, thus undoing your own existence! But since you've failed, All For One World will have to destroy the old fashioned way." Piximon said.
Jessica looked over to Taylor. "What is he talking about?" Jessica asked. Before Taylor could give any sort of response, Piximon unleashed an attack, "Pit Bomb!" The attack was headed straight for Taylor. Jessica perceived this event happening as though it were in slow motion. Something came over her at the moment. She started glowing in a golden aura and she punched the pit bomb, sending it right back at Piximon! "NANI THE FRICK!?" Piximon exclaimed as he got hit with his own attack. Jessica looked down at her hand in shock. "Did I…..did I just deflect an Ultimate level Digimon's attack?" She couldn't believe what just happened. What had happened was a little bit of the power of Poseidon. Zai bit her lower lip. It was too soon for her to learn about that.
They all ran outside because they didn't want to damage the ice cream parlor any more than they already had. Evander raised a fist in Piximon's direction. "Hey, pinkie! If you want a fight, you got one! Get over here so I can beat you to death!" Evander yelled. Taylor sighed and sweat dropped. "You don't have your Digimon with you, how are you going to fight it?" Taylor asked, sounding a little agitated. Evander punched the air a few times. "With my own two fists! Thunder and lightning! Hiyahh!" Evander replied. Taylor looked confused. "He can't be serious!"
Taylor took out her D-Eco. "Evander, just let me handle this." Taylor said. Zai took out her black D-Smartphone. "And me." "Don't forget about us!" Everyone looked over to see Martin and Naturemon. They showed up after seeing news about Piximon's attack on the news. Evander and Jessica looked surprised. "A Demi-Felincius!?" They said in unison. Taylor, Martin, and Zai stood in front of Evander and Jessica. Syn the BlackGatomon came out of Zai's digivice. "DIGIVOLUTION" came across the screen of the two D-Ecos and one D-Smartphone.
"Sharkmon digivolve to….Jawsmon!"
"Naturemon digivolve to….MotherNaturemon!"
"BlackGatomon digivolve to….LadyDevimon!"
"DIGIVOLUTION" came across the screen of the two D-Ecos with the symbols of the Crest Of Water and the Crest Of Earth underneath the words.
"Jawsmon digivolve to…WarJawsmon!"
"MotherNaturemon digivolve to…Vineyardmon!"
Evander looked very surprised. He looked over at Zai. "A Devillian woman who has a BlackGatomon. Hmmm….." He was putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Zai looked back at him and smiled.
WarJawsmon: "Great White Gatling!"
Vineyardmon: "Grape Grenades!"
LadyDevimon: "Darkness Wave!"
All of their attacks hit Piximon's Red Mark and destroyed it!
Some time later, Taylor and Co. we're at Williamston Park again. Piximon was with them, having been freed from the Red Mark. They were about to say their goodbyes. Jessica hugged Taylor. "Thank you for everything. If it weren't for you, I don't think Evander and I would be back together." Jessica said. She then withdrew from her embrace. Evander held out his hand for a handshake. "Ditto. You really helped us out. Thank you." Evander said. Taylor shook his hand and giggled a little. "If I wasn't so cute, I wouldn't have had to intervene." Taylor responded. Jessica took a look at Zai and then at Taylor. "But we're glad you did. I learned that maintaining a relationship takes work. I learned a lot over these past few hours. Maybe...too much. Like...things we aren't supposed to know yet." Jessica said.
"So what are we gonna do about these...things we aren't supposed to know yet?" Evander asked.
Syn, who had now de-digivolved to BlackGatomon, took a bow. "Just leave it to me." She said. When Syn stood back up, her eyes began glowing and sending out waves. "Cat's Eye Hypnotism!" Syn shouted. The attack caused Evander and Jessica to fall unconscious. Taylor and the gang look surprised at this. "What did you just do?" Naturemon asked. "I erased their memories of what occurred that involved us." Syn explained. Zai picked the little BlackGatomon up and started giving her a noogie while grinning. "You're using your head for a change!" Zai teased. Piximon then opened a time portal and they all traveled through it.
Earth, The Glovion Residence, Present Day…
Taylor, Sharkmon, Zai, Syn, Martin, and Naturemon, appeared in front of Taylor's front door. They had already gone shopping after Piximon profusely apologized for attacking them. Taylor reached out and knocked. The now middle aged Evander opened the front and was ecstatic to see his little girl. "Taylor! You're back!" He then reached out and hugged her and started showering her with kisses. "Now I know how Martin feels." Taylor thought to herself.
Taylor and the rest went inside and gave Evander and Jessica their wedding anniversary presents. Taylor had gotten her mother a blanket with two hearts on them with Evander and Jessica written inside of each heart. Taylor got Evander a coffee mug with a silhouette of a mermaid gently touching the face of a silhouette human. "I love it, thank you, Taylor." Evander said.
"You know, we almost broke up once, but a girl around our age showed up and helped us patch things back together." Jessica said.
"Do you remember anything about this girl?" Taylor asked.
"Only her name and gender." Evander said. "And what she said to me." Jessica added. "It was the strangest thing. We just woke up in Williamston Park. We had just said goodbye to her, but we couldn't remember much about her. I do remember her name though; it was Taylor. I made a decision that if I ever had a daughter, I would name it after that girl that helped save your mother's and mine's relationship. Maybe I'll meet her again some day." Evander said.
Taylor looked horrified. "Wait, does this mean….I WAS NAMED AFTER MYSELF!? BUT THAT'S A BOOTSTRAPPING PARADOX!" She thought to herself.
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