Epilogue

Another Party, Another Fight

"Where did they come from?"

"SHH!"

…

…

…

"Is he going to die?"

"Wait and see!"

…

…

…

"Why did he turn into butterflies?"

"Shut up-HEY!"

Takato hit the pause button to the general dismay of the gathered Tamers seated in front of him. From his seat between Rika and Henry on the couch, Takato aimed a kick at the back of Kazu's spiky head.

"Tell the birthday girl to shut up one more time and I'll do to you what I did to Myotismon." Takato growled.

"But she was asking too many quest-OW!" Kenta flinched as Rika connected her foot with his head.

"I just came back from saving these aforementioned Digidestined from being destroyed by Demon Lords." She snarled. "Not only does that earn me, Takato, Ryo and Henry more badass points than both you idiots put together, it means I can ask any question I want!!"

"How is that our fault?" Kenta moaned.

"Yeah, you never told us you were going to fight crime with the real Digidestined!" Kazu said accusingly. Takato shared an exasperated look with Rika.

"I mean, after all we've been through,"

"And all the times we saved your sorry asses,"

"I mean the least we should get is a cursory call when you're crossing the space-time continuum."

"Hey Kazu, it's Takato!" Kenta mimed talking on the phone, using a whiny little voice.

"Hey Kenta, it's your best friend Rika!" Kazu mimed in a slightly screechy voice

"Umm…listen here, Kazu old pal…" Kenta said, scratching his head.

"We're going on a dangerous mission and we need a Tamer of your courage,"

"Wisdom,"

"Cunning,"

"Brute force,"

"And dashing good-OW" Kazu and Kenta groaned in pain as Rika smashed her new high-tops into their already bruised heads.

"For that entertaining little rendition of Rika and I…" Takato said through clenched teeth before leaning over the back of the couch. "JERI!"

Jeri stuck her head out of the kitchen door. "Yeah?"

"Just cut four slices of cake; Kazu and Kenta don't get any!"

"Man, that's harsh…" Kenta sighed. "What happened to our Chumly?" Kazu made a whip cracking sound, ducking in time to avoid the cold kiss of another roundhouse kick from Takato.

"This is the last time you two are coming to one of my parties." Rika said, accepting a piece of cake from Jeri.

"Oh, poor us…" Kenta said sarcastically

"How will we ever survive?"

"I wouldn't be complaining if I were you," Ryo smirked. "I have it on good authority Rika's parties are the only ones you're invited to besides the D&D tournaments you two regularly attend." Rika choked on a strawberry as she unsuccessfully try to hold back a laugh.

"Yeah…well…" Kazu fumbled around, blushing. "At least I'm committed to the stuff I'm geeky about…"

"So I don't know why the scary old dude turned into a thousand butterflies…" Rika murmured offhandedly. "Big deal. I could still beat on both of your sorry asses with one hand tied behind my back!"

"Tough talk!" Kenta said, rolling over on his stomach to face Rika. "You're nothing without Renamon and you know it!"

Rika didn't answer for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the slice of cake in her lap. Takato sat up, looking around her curtain of auburn colored hair to see her reaction. Instead of a look of shock or anger, he saw her lips curve up in an all too familiar evil smirk.

Rika stood up, marching out of the living room and into her kitchen. Henry and Jeri craned their necks to see what she was doing. She reappeared in a few moments carrying the rest of her birthday cake on a platter. Ignoring Henry and Ryo's querying glances and widening her smirk at Takato's knowing smirk.

"Um…Rika…" Kenta said, nervously.

"What are you doing?" Kazu asked, sitting up on the balls of his feet. Rika didn't answer. She silently placed her hand on one half of the cake, lifting it in the air and bringing crashing down on Kenta's head.

"MPH!" Kenta murmured through a mouthful of strawberries and butter cream.

"Oh." Was all Kazu could think to mutter before light, fluffy, sugary doom rained down on his head.

What followed was pure pandemonium. Kazu and Kenta leapt to their feet, rushing to the kitchen to try and get the hunks of cake out of their eyes. But in their rush, they tripped up Rika who fell flat against Takato, smashing her own piece of cake into his face.

"Wait…Takato…" she stammered as Takato picked a strawberry out of his hair, staring at it for a long time before flicking his eyes back up to meet hers.

HE picked up his plate with an evil smirk on his face. "Happy Birthday," he said before smashing his still unfinished cake into her face. She let out a yelp of surprise, glomping him against the couch as Ryo and Henry struggled to get out of the way.

"Whew…that was close." Henry muttered.

"Yeah," Ryo agreed, brushing off his coat. "We almost got cake in the fUMPH!" Ryo was cut off as Jeri snuck up from behind, jamming the last pieces of cake into Henry and Ryo's faces.

Sometime in the ensuing cake fight, Rika threw Takato on the couch causing his elbow to rub against the remote.

"-he restored all of the beauty that was almost completely destroyed by Malomyotismon. And Oikawa's spirit is still there protecting the Digital World forever…" The adult TK's voice said from the screen.

"Ugh…" Rika said distastefully pushing Takato off of her. "Is this still on?"

"Yeah…" Takato replied, wiping cake out of his eyes.

"Do we have to watch the epilogue?" Rika asked, shooting a look over her shoulder at Takato. He bit his lip, thinking back to everything that Tai and Sora went through to get to be together; he almost forgot that Sora married Matt in the show.

"Well…it's just a TV show." Takato said as the camera pulled back to reveal an older TK. "It's not like it's the same thing…"

"Yeah." Rika said, decisively.

"Besides," Takato said as TK's son walked in the room. "I could practically rattle off the last few lines of the series myself."

"Really?" Rika asked, pausing the show after TK's son said "Hey Dad! C'mon already, we have to go!"

"Prove it." Rika said. "What does TK say next?"

Takato rolled his eyes as if someone just asked him to remember his mother's name. "TK looks back at his son and says, Right, we don't want to be late!" Rika cocked an eyebrow, flicking a switch to start the TV on again.

"Uhh…yeah, just give me a second!" TK responded, turning back to his computer. "I'll be down in a minute…"

"OH!" Rika cried, jumping up and lobbing a strawberry from her hair at Takato's dumbstruck expression. "And you call yourself a fan boy, pshaw!"

"No…no that's not right…" Kazu mumbled, mouth still full of cake.

"Yeah…" Kenta agreed, staring at the frozen screen. "I would have bet my life on that…"

"Hm…" Rika mumbled, thoughtfully, hitting PLAY again.

"But daaaad!!" TK's son whined. "Mom said-"

"I Know, I know, I just need to-"

"TK? Are you coming?" Takato throat tightened, almost choking on a piece of cake as a brown haired woman holding a small golden haired girl in her arms came into the room.

"Eh?" Takato squeaked lamely

"TK, let's go!" Kari demanded, putting her free hand on her hip. "I promised Tai we'd be there at one and he still says that you have-"

"I know, I know: suspended sentence of death." TK raised his hands in defense. "Well let's get going, then!"

"Eh?" Kazu gagged, echoing Takato.

"Twenty five years have passed and I've become a become a novelist." TK's voiceover said while his family walked along the grassy path, the kids running ahead. "I'm currently working on a set of novels about our adventures in the Digital world."

"Masako!" Kari called after her son. "Don't let Keiko wander off! Hold her hand!"

"Aww, mom!" Masako moaned.

"I got married to Kari a little while ago. She finally realized her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher." TK's voice spoke again

"No…way…" Rika forced out, turning to Takato.

"You don't think…" But TK and Kari had come upon the contingent of Digidestined and cries of "Hey!", "What took you guys?!" and "I'm still thinking about killing you, TK!"

"For a long time, the gates to the Digital World were wide open and everyone knew about Digimon. But there were a lot of problems, so the gates were closed to all but a select few. Despite all that's changed, we still get together as a team every year to celebrate Sora's birthday."

"EH?!" Henry gulped. "What was that?" But TK pressed on.

"Dad! I'm going off with Masako!" Joe's son called over his shoulder.

"Joe followed his passion and became doctor. He's the busiest out of all of us but he still manages to moonlight as the Digital World's only doctor." TK said.

"Be careful!" Joe called after him, running a hand through his hair.

"See ya later, Dad!" Cody's daughter said, running after Joe's son.

"Cody surprised us all and became a defense attorney. He's really made a name for himself by winning almost all of his cases and dramatically yelling "OBJECTION!" any time there's minor inconsistency in the trial." TK's voice commented.

"Be back in time for cake!" Cody called.

"Mom!" A little lavender haired girl tugged at Yolei's dress as her older brother ran after Masako. "I wanna play too!"

"Ken and Yolei are married now. Yolei took over running her parent's store after they retired and Ken works as part of a special police force designed to keep the Digital world from merging into our world."

"Okay, keep your brother out of trouble!" Ken said, gently pushing her along.

"Later Dad!" Izzy's son called to his father who was desperately fretting over a frozen laptop.

"Izzy started his own software company and now runs the most successful antivirus company in the world. Of course, he does have a little help…" TK said cheekily.

"MIMI!!" Izzy called as his wife turned from Kari to see Izzy shaking his computer in dismay. Mimi rolled her eyes, taking it from him, punching in a few keys and handing it back to him.

"Thanks…" Izzy said sheepishly.

"Mimi's the same cheerful, loveable person she always was but a, uh…head injury actually bolstered her intelligence way past Ken or her husband! Yeah, I'm still getting used to it…" TK laughed.

"Looks like Myotismon did something good for once." Henry said dimly, only to be shhhed by Rika who was watching the TV with rapt attention.

"I'm going with them, Dad!" A brown haired girl called to Davis who absently waved back.

"Davis started his own noodle cart and he seems to really have a flair for business! In less than ten years he went from one cart in Odaiba to an entire franchise that spread as far as the US and Europe! Guess his head wasn't full of fluff after all!"

"I'll be back dad!" A blonde haired girl ran after the rest of the kids, waving at Matt.

"Matt's band did alright for a while, but they broke up due to "personal problems". He grew really close to Noriko and married her after college! He works as one of Tokyo's top producers, boasting more gold and platinum records than any one in Asia!"

Matt's daughter stopped for a second, looking over her shoulder. "Takato, Rika! Hurry up!"

The sound that came from both Takato and Rika's mouths could be described as somewhere between a squeak and a cat going through jet engine as their jaws nearly hit the floor.

"WHAT?!" They cried in simultaneous astonishment.

"Hold on a sec!" A brown haired, goggleheaded boy called back to her.

"We'll be back!" His redheaded twin nodded at her mother and father.

"Don't be long," Tai said, wrapping an arm around Sora's waist. "The food will be ready soon!"

"Have fun!" Sora called as her kids and their Digimon raced after the others.

"Tai and Sora." TK said. "Those two have been through a lot together but in the end that's only made their commitment to each other all the stronger. Sora actually took gold in the Olympics as part of Japan's women's soccer team. She got hired as a coach for a professional club and her girls have taken the championship six years in a row now! Tai started the first interworld police force, designed to keep the real and Digital World apart. He and Ken found some great kids to take up the mantle of Digidestined while the rest of us are away."

"Our adventures in the Digital World may be over, but I know that the forces of Darkness won't rest until both worlds are consumed by shadows. It's going to be up to a new generation of heroes to keep them at bay and honestly, I don't think we'll have anything to worry about!"

The credits slowly trailed up the screen as the silence in the room became oppressive. Rika, Takato, Henry and Ryo were frozen in shock, blank eyes frozen on the screen and mouths slack. Jeri, Kazu and Kenta looked back and forth between the TV and their friends, not quite knowing what to say.

Finally, Rika found her voice.

"WHAT THE FU-"

"I don't want to watch Digimon anymore."

Rika and Takato dangled their bare feet off the edge of Rika's porch while their friends cleaned up the mess inside. Rika raised her head from Takato's shoulder, looking intently at her boyfriend.

"Seriously?" Rika asked.

"No…It just got way too real for me…" Takato mumbled darkly.

"Ah." Rika said, "But where will all of your geeky energy go?"

Her head rose as Takato shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. Maybe I'll start watching something else like…Bleach…or Naruto."

Rika's head snapped up. "NO!"

"What?!"

"You're banned from watching anime!"

"Why?"

"Because," Rika insisted. "The last thing you got geeky about turned out to be real. I don't need ninjas and god knows what else in my life."

"So…what will I watch?" Takato asked, leaning back on the deck.

"Coming-of-age teen dramadies." Rika said simply, leaning her head on his chest. "I hope you liked Juno because it's either that or John Hughes movies."

"Mm." Takato replied, twirling a strand of her hair.

"Mm." Rika agreed.

They stayed like that for a time, letting the dying rays of the setting sun warm their skin, content in listening to the Rika's steady breathing and Takato's pulsing heart beat. Everything was as it should have been; all was right with the world. And for a fleeting moment, as Takato's mind flashed back to the final fight with Myotismon, he wondered how he had gone from a geeky little Digimon fan to helping his childhood heroes save their world to spending the evening relaxing with someone who truly understood him.

Maybe it was his imagination, but he could have sworn he heard Sora call his name…in another world maybe she and Tai were lying in the same position, feeling the sun die against their skin.

The shadows grew longer and the weight of the cake in his stomach made Takato very sleepy. Smiling at Rika he pillowed his arm behind his head and enjoyed the end of a very long and tiring day. Finally, he could rest.

The End

"TAKATO!!"

Takato jerked his head up as a police siren whirred past Rika's house. He sat up to meet Kazu and Kenta's terrified faces and Rika rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Whuzzhappening?" Rika murmured, looking around groggily. The sun had almost totally set, meaning they had been asleep for several hours at least.

"What's going-" Takato asked but Kazu cut him off by pointing behind him. Takato leaned his head back to come face to inverted face with a man in his late thirties, rubbing the back of his messy brown hair sheepishly.

"Um…" Tai mumbled. "Well…the thing is…"

"Hi, guys!" Sora said from her husband's side.

Takato sat up, exchanging looks with Rika before falling back to look at Tai. "What's wrong?"

"And the weather in Tokyo's looking great for the next few days, let's go to Goro in the live chopper 3!" The perky anchor said, sending the camera over to the helicopter. "What can you see up there, Goro?"

"HOLY HELL!! IT'S A GIANT SEA DRAGON!!"

"Sigh…Goro, I thought Dr. Hideki gave you a pill for this kind of thing…" The anchor sighed.

"I'M NOT CRAZY!! There's…like…a sea dragon monster in the bay…except he's metal! It's a Metal Sea Dragon Monster!!"

"Oh…" The anchor said, looking at the footage from the camera showing a long, thin eel like dragon snapping at military helicopters. "Well…um…this just in…Metal Sea Dragons terrorizing Tokyo…again…"

"OHMYGOD!!" Goro bellowed. "There's a giant robot dragon in the middle of the city!! He just shot down a helicopter with some kind of lazar beam on his back!!"

"More stunning developments!" The anchor said, trying in vain to maintain an air of professionalism. "It seems there is another dragon attacking from the land! Goro, are the dragons working together to destroy the city or are they fighting each other in a media friendly fashion?"

"WHAT DOES IT MATTER?! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!"

"I think our viewers have the right to know!"

"I DON'T….TOGETHER!! THEY'RE WORKING TOGETHER!!"

"The news just keeps coming in!" The anchor stated, accepting a paper from off camera. "Evidently, one of the puppets from Fun-Fun Toyland has come to life and is wielding a giant hammer in an attempt to crush civilians! Remember, you heard it first on Channel 3!"

"SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!!" The frantic helicopter pilot cried. "THEY'RE CHARGING THEIR LAZERS!!"

"If you're just joining us, there seems to be two dragons, a puppet and NOW and evil sword slinging clown attacking the city!"

"THEY'RE FIRING THEIR LAZERS!!"

"Truly, truly one of the most Pulitzer Prize worthy stories of our time!"

"CALL THE ARMY!! CALL THE NAVY!! GET THE POWER RANGERS IN HERE!!"

"Well, right now, we're going to take a quick commercial break-"

"GYAHHHHH!!"

"And when we return, Goro the newscoptor pilot's last words before being incinerated."

KZZT

Takato flicked the TV off before fixing Tai with an aggravated look.

"I guess…there was another portal left open." Tai mumbled, fidgeting with his fingers. "And...those guys came through..."

Takato sighed, pulling his goggles out of his jacket pocket. "Okay, here's what we're going to do: Jeri, take TK, Kari, Ken, Yolei and Joe and round up Ai, Mako and Suzie. Take Impmon and Lopmon to block off the gate so no one else comes through. Ryo, call Alice and see if she can get over her in time. Then take Matt, Mimi, Izzy, Davis and Cody and try and calm the civilians. Kazu and Kenta will stay here and watch the kids."

"Don't leave us with them!" Rika, Sora's daughter cried, hugging her Koromon to her chest. "Those kids have been acting really weird ever since we arrived!"

"Don't worry," Rika said, leaning down. "There's a water bottle in the sink and you can spray them if they misbehave." Rika giggled at her namesake's joke

"I'm gonna borrow your mom and dad for a bit." Takato said to Takato who was watching him intently as he put his goggles on. "Promise to take care of your sister and friends while we're gone?"

"Sure." Takato mumbled.

"Thanks," Takato said. "Nice goggles by the way."

"Thanks." The younger Takato reached up and touched his goggles.

(AN: If you have a favorite anime/Video game song you want to play, now's the time to cue it up. Personally, I'm using Mesamero Yasei! But anything with a nice hook will do)

"Alright…" Takato turned to Tai and Sora. "Ready to do this?"

"I dunno…" Tai said, taking out his digivice.

"It's been a while." Sora agreed, stepping outside into the chaotic night.

"Don't worry about them." Agumon said to Takato. "

"They've become such worrywarts ever since they had the twins!" Biyomon said, earning a glare from Sora and Tai.

"Oh yeah…I was kidding when I told you to name your kids after us…" Rika said.

"We weren't" Sora said softly.

Rika covered up her smile by turning away. "Renamon!" The yellow kitsune materialized by her side, causing an uproar of "ooh's" and "Ahh's" from the kids inside. "Ready to kick some Dark Master ass?"

Renamon smirked. "Always."

"Ok…Guilmon!" Guilmon blundered out of a closet in clear disarray.

"I'm here! Renamon left me alone in the closet and I didn't know what was happening!"

Rika turned to Renamon. "Do I want to know?" Renamon shook her head, blushing a bit.

"Okay…ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Thumbs up!"

"Let's do this!"

"Ready! Set!…"

"EXECUTE!"

"EXECUTE!"

"EXECUTE!"

"EXECUTE!"

Mezamero! Yasei Afuredashita kanjou

Mune ni himeta Gamushara na egao de

Sakebigoe wa Whoa woa

Shinjitsu dake ni hibiku darou

Kokoro moyase Soshite te wo turnabout

Yume ni kometa Eien no negai wo

Motomeru nara Whoa woa

Sagashiteru hikari wa kitto soko ni aru sa'whoa whoa

ooh oohMezamero! Yasei

THE (Real) END!

AN: FINALLY! I'm done! Sorry for taking so long: college is a bitch. Remember kids; uncle Benny says don't go to college! First off, I own nothing. Secondly, I'd like to thank Intel for unintentionally paying me to write this (There was SOOOO much time that I had nothing to do so I ended up writing this! And I got paid! And free soda!) Thirdly, to you, the fans, for sticking with it for this long. I salute you!

Peace

Love

And Rock and Roll

DOTMW

Is

Blasting

Off

Again