Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon. Thinking about it buying it, just so I can have another series of Tamers and another one with the Adventure kids again, but it may be a while.

Author's Note: The story you are about to read takes place some 3-4 years after 02. It contains traces of Kenyako, Takari, Nuts, Michi, Sorato and has a high opinion of itself.

Chapter 1. The Stakes

"You may all be wondering why I called you all here today." started Izzy. He was standing in the park, computer by his side, surrounded by the majority of the Digi-Destined. Ken and Yolei weren't there though; they were locking lips in some supply closet as Davis put it so eloquently. Neither was T.K or Kari present, though for completely different reasons.

"I'm not so much wondering why we're here so much as why you decided we should meet in the park at seven in the morning in the middle of winter?" grumbled Matt, who obviously had not quite acclimatised to the cold.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, as you may remember, some years ago we made some bets on the future. Well, now its time I handed out the prize money."

"Bets on the future? Don't you mean perverse wagers on who was going to end up with who?" This time it was Joe and his remarkably high moral standard to do the grumbling.

"Joe, for being the only person to guess that Matt and Sora would end up together, you win $200."

"YES! In your face losers." Joe jumped from his bench grabbed the money from Izzy's fist before looking back on what he had just said before and sitting back down very quietly. Meanwhile, Matt and Sora just looked at each other.

"Matt, you bet that I would end up with Tai, didn't you?" said Sora. Matt just blushed and slowly nodded before looking back up and glaring at Sora.

"Wait a second," responded Matt indignantly, "YOU bet that you'd end up with Tai?"

"No. I bet that you and Tai would end up together" answered Sora matter of factly. There was an awkward silence with Tai and Matt blushing at the thought that the girl they had competed for had thought they were gay.

"…Anyway," continued Izzy, "now that we all know that the love of Matt's life thought he was gay, I've got $50 for our most recent bet for Davis for bringing us the photo proving Ken and Yolei were a couple."

"Wow," whispered Mimi to Tai, "I thought Davis would end up with Yolei." Davis overheard this and responded with what he had been sure was self praise when he thought of it.

"Yeah, well, I always bet against myself don't I?" There was a silence at this while everyone waited for Davis to catch up with what he was saying. After about half a minute they gave up and Izzy started again.

"Umm, okay then," said Izzy, "there's only one cash prize left but its left unclaimed for the moment."

"Wait," interrupted Tai, "Davis, how did you get that photo"

Flash Back

It was a crisp, winter afternoon in the park, and Yolei and Ken were meandering along one of the many paths, heading nowhere in particular and enjoying each other's company. Yolei was clutching onto Ken's arm and staying as close to him as humanly possible, under the plainly false pretext of trying to stay warm. Not that Ken seemed to mind of course. He'd just finished a rather amusing anecdote about computer graphics cards that had cracked Yolei up before looking around, seeing no one else in the general vicinity, and then kissing a rather surprised and pleased Yolei. The two were so occupied for the next 5-10 minutes that they never saw the figure hiding in the tree snapping photo after photo, laughing manically under his breath.

Flash Back

"I waited three hours in that tree. The squirrels stole my goggles. But it was worth it" Davis snapped back into reality and noticed that everyone was staring at him again. It's difficult not to stare when you see a person's face go blank and mutter things under his breath for a whole two minutes; it's just such a rare experience.

"What is it?" interrupted Cody who had been silent up until now.

"What is what?" replied Izzy, who was still watching Davis with a touch of fear.

"This last bet. What was it for?"

"Yeah, and how much is it?" asked Davis.

"Oh yeah" remembered Matt "this was the pot for when T.K and Kari would get together, right?"

"Is that why they're not here?" asked Cody

"That right," replied Izzy, "which is a shame because they each got a hundred dollars for betting on Tai and Mimi getting together." Tai quickly pulled arm back from around Mimi's shoulder, both of them blushing profusely.

"WE ARE NOT A COUPLE" they thundered in unison, the power of their words nearly knocking Cody over.

"The photos that Kari and T.K gave me tell a different story" Matt was smirking as he pulled some photos out from thin air, presenting them to Tai with unabashed glee. "I was going to have this one blown up and 'Tai and Mimi 4eva' airbrushed over the top," he quipped before fleeing behind Sora to escape the two's murderous glares, sticking out his tongue from behind his girlfriend.

"Ummm…So no one won the money for T.K and Kari?" ventured Cody, who was trying to bring the conversation back lest Tai and Mimi try to kill Matt there and he was caught in the crossfire.

"Yes, and thanks to someone's…" at this point everybody just stared at Tai, "overprotection, no one's going to be able to collect the pot."

"Well," said Tai shaking off the stares, "why don't you just hand the money back Izzy?"

"I don't actually have the money" admitted Izzy sheepishly.
"Did you buy a new computer with it?"

"No, I invested it for an Economics Class project. But I can't get it out unless someone wins the pot"

"Oh well, it was only a hundred dollars" Tai was feeling quite pleased that no one had won that particular bet; it meant he was doing his job as an older brother well.

"It was only a hundred dollars," started Izzy before he looked down at his shoes and started twiddling his thumbs.

"Izzy," asked Sora calmly, "you said you invested the money. How much is it worth now?"

Izzy said something inaudible.

"What was that Izzy?"

"Ten Thousand Dollars" said Izzy in a whisper that still reached the back row.

"Umm, how did you make that much?" asked Joe with interest.

"Computer stocks" answered Izzy

"Should've guessed"

While Izzy and Joe talked business, the rest of the group just started to stare out into space.

Ten-Thousand Dollars

'New soccer gear' thought Tai, paying nary a thought to the fact that he'd have to undo all his hard done work at defending his sister's honour to win the cash.

'A new guitar' thought Matt, thanking some sort of divine entity for giving him the chance to manipulate his little brother for cash.

'Clothes' mused Mimi, actually not thinking about the money at all and going back over that cute dress she'd seen the day before.

'Kendo' wondered Cody before jumping his thoughts to how to get the 'money shot' as it were.

'University fees' thought Sora, the only one with any real sense.

Ten-Thousand Dollars

While the others stared off into their own private fantasy world filled with money, joy and other happy things, Davis was torn. On the one hand he could use to the money to win Kari over once and for all, but to get the money he'd have to prove that Kari was lost to him forever.

"AHHHHH Cruel World!" shouted Davis as he sunk to his knees, screaming at the heavens for the cruel hand that the Gods had dealt him, snapping everyone out of their daydreams and bringing them back to reality.

"Right. This is what we'll do," explained Izzy, who had obviously planned the following rules in advance, "It's a long weekend isn't it? That means we've got three days. Seeing as I've got be impartial and Joe objects to this whole thing, I say we just divide into groups of two, and the two who get T.K and Kari together on their day get the money to split. Fair?"

"No. It's not fair." Davis seemed on the brink of insanity. "I'm not going to have any part in this."

"You just say that because Kari's turned you down like a bajillion times." Retorted Mimi, with everyone else nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," said Sora, "we all know that those two were made for each other, and they'd be together already if it weren't for you and the other goggle head."

"Ok, Ok, Ok." Izzy was now trying desperately to stop the meeting falling into a melee. "This is what we'll do. Matt and Tai, you get Saturday, Mimi and Sora, you get your turn on Sunday, and Cody can have Monday. And if none of you get them together, then I suppose Davis gets the money. – at this point Davis looked up with a huge grin on his face – Now does anyone else have any objections?" At this point Izzy looked up at Tai, hoping to God that he wasn't going to punch him in the face for suggesting this plan that would invariably end with Tai's mission to stop Kari from dating until the age of 30 failing. Tai, however just stood there, backing away a bit as everyone began to peer at him intently, waiting for him to object.

"Guys, ten-thousand dollars? I'd sell her into slavery for that kind of money. Actually, I think I tried to once when she was six. I tried to sell her to Sora for a bar of chocolate." That freaked everyone out just a little.

"Well if everything's settled, I have to go attend a breakfast of the Computer Club in Hibiya. We meet back here same time Tuesday." Izzy was very pleased that everything had gone down almost without a hitch. He guessed that all hell was about to break loose that weekend and the malicious part of him was overjoyed that he could create such havoc. As he made his way towards the nearest train station he began to chuckle; by the time he was at the breakfast he was laughing manically and actually suffered a mild asthma attack later that day.

"Seeya Izzy," Mimi shouted, "say 'Hi' to Yolei and Ken"

After Izzy left, the rest of the group began to break up and go their separate ways. But for them, only one thing was on their mind: how to win the dough. Sora and Mimi went to brainstorm over coffee, Cody off to kendo, Tai and Matt to plan for the next day. Neither of the two boys noticed Davis follow behind them at a discreet distance. The money would be his and then at last he could win over Kari with his immense wealth as well as intellect and good looks. All he had to was sabotage everyone else. Like Izzy he also began to chuckle insanely for the rest of the day, lost in his dream world of ruining T.K's chances with his girl forever.