Fanfic / Digimon: Children of Time

Children of Time is a series of Digimon Fan Fics written by Zero Unit RGB, written in celebration of the Digimon franchise's 15th anniversary. The series in general makes efforts to link the six different Digimon television series (Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Tamers, Digimon Frontier, Digimon Data Squad, and Digimon Fusion) together into one coherent continuity. There are currently three fics in this series:

• Children of the Past, which centers on the original DigiDestined group before Taichi Yagami's.
• Children of the Present, which details the protagonists of all six series meeting and joining forces.
• Children of the Future, a direct sequel to Children of the Present which picks up after that fic's ending.

Unlike most Digimon crossover fanfics, Zero Unit RGB has taken all the source material of each series, run with it and taken it up a notch with all the possible references of the entire franchise... to the point that the series themselves are stacked up into a ridiculously elaborate timeline.

Not to be confused with another fic of the same name.

As of July 12th, 2018, Zero decided to leave Fanfiction.net due to experiences with hostile users and migrated to Archive of Our Own. He had not made any updates to either Children of the Past nor Children of the Future since February 14, 2018, and according to his tumblr page, while he had hoped to update it eventually, it had become an Old Shame, leaving the series presumed dead for some time. It would surprisingly get updated again though a little over four years later, now advertising it was fully migrated to Archive of Our Own.

---

Children of Time contains examples of the following tropes:

As a Whole

• Adaptational Badass: Various characters reach higher levels, while Relena gets a Bearmon partner.
• Adapted Out: Due to being released after the fic had already established it's own take on the Original DigiDestined mythos and post-02 events, the events of Digimon Adventure tri., particularly the characters Meiko, Meicoomon, Daigo, and Maki, are all absent here, with the Monster Makers instead being the Original DigiDestined.
• Alternate Universe Fic: The fic ignores the various anime series taking place across The Multiverse in favor of a unified world.
• Always Identical Twins: In chapter 6 of Present, Ruki is revealed to have an identical twin sister named Risa, though Risa has dyed her hair blonde.
• Anyone Can Die: Well, not Main cast, but any Digimon from any of the franchises can be killed off. Tagiru's Metal-Tyrannomon dies protecting him from Dorbickmon and then has his data loaded by Dorbickmon, meaning he is effictively a part of Dorbickmon now. The Royal Knights from Savers are all deleted by the Demon Lords (Except Omnimon, Magnamon, and Kentaurusmon)^note Digimon deleted by a Demon Lord cannot reformat/be reborn, so they are Killed Off for Real, then brought back as slaves, their only salvation being the hopes they get deleted. All of the Deva (Minus the already living Antylamon (As Lopmon) are revived before the series begins, only to fall to the Demon Lords as well and be made into slaves, and when Yuu tried to hunt them, there was too little data for them to be truly hunted. City was attacked by the Demon Lord and left few survivors, including killing all of Koh and Sayo's partners aside from their Olympos XII Members.^note Apollomon and Marsmon for Koh, Dianamon and Venusmon for Sayo. And the body count is still rising.
• Back from the Dead:
  • The Demon Lords revive numerous enemies of each Chosen group, and implant them with coding that forces them to serve them. The only options in regards of beating them are deleting them, or hunting them.
    • Of note are the three former generals of the Bagra Army, and the Seven Death Generals. All three former generals are hunted by Ryouma's group^note Ryouma hunted Tactimon, Ren hunted Blastmon, and Airu hunted Laylamon (The Non-Demon Lord Version), and several of the Death General's make Heel Face Turns.^note Akari hunts Splashmon, Zenjirou hunts Olegmon, Tagiru hunts Dorbickmon, Apollomon is reunited with his tamer Koh, and Gravimon is forced to join Kiriha's Blue Flare Army while under the effects of Venusmon's hypnotism.
    • Myotismon is revived in all three forms as separate Digimon, and all three must be killed simultaneously in order to beat them.
  • Ryouma's real Psychemon was revived as a Kuramon, and proceeded to follow Ryouma around before rejoining him.
  • Juri's Leomon is revived as a Leormon.
  • Wizardmon is restored to the physical plane thanks to Sanzomon, just in time to reunite with his old partner Rai.
• Bloodier and Gorier: While not overly graphic, there have been three instances of Blood from the Mouth on the Chosen Children's end.
• Canon Welding: In this fic, all six seasons of the Digimon anime have been combined into one coherent continuity, with several examples:
  • The Monster Makers (Robert McCoy, Janyu Wong, Shibumi, Babel, Daisy, and Rai), are revealed to be the original DigiDestined group, predating Taichi's. Not only that, but the Wizardmon that died protecting Hikari and Gatomon is revealed to be Rai's partner.
  • Additionally, Babel, Daisy, and Rai are revealed to be the parents of Phil, Anna, and Mina, respectively, three of the international DigiDestined that Taichi and the others encountered during the Digimon World Tour.
  • Yushima is revealed to be the father of Shibumi.
  • Shibumi is revealed to have co-founded DATS alongside Suguru Daimon, as well as having been responsible for the appearance of the Greymon and Parrotmon that Taichi's group saw fighting eleven years previously.
  • While it's left ambiguous as to whether or not Digimon X-Evolution is part of the timeline here, there have been numerous mentions of the X-Antibody.
  • The Royal Knights from Savers are shown to be the same individuals as their other depictions of their species in the anime, the group having broken apart following Yggdrasil's actions and Masaru's destroying them. The only exception to this is Gallantmon, who is a separate entity from Takato and Guilmon's Matrix Evolution.
    • Omnimon had stepped down as leader of the group and, with the aid of Homeostasis and the Sovereign, split himself into the Agumon and Gabumon that would one day be partnered with Taichi and Yamato, neither possessing their memory of being Omnimon.
    • Dynasmon and Crusadermon, frustrated at being bested by DATS, gave into the temptations of Lucemon and became his enforcers.
    • Magnamon vanished following the reveal of Yggdrasil's faults, sealing himself within the Digimental of Courage until he was eventually found and awoken by Daisuke, now as the amnesiac Veemon.
  • Digimon World Dawn/Dusk is explained as City being a colony established in the Digital World by Human Immigrants centuries ago, with Glare, Julia, Koh, and Sayo all joining the main cast, and Dorothy is mentioned as being one of the survivors.
  • Similar to the Royal Knights, the Olympos XII are comprised of members from different series, all of them, even the ones who should be Deader than Dead, being hunted by the Demon Lords.
    • Apollomon and Marsmon of the Sun Wheel Army in Xros Wars were originally part of the group, before becoming Koh's partners and then being conscripted into the Bagra Army.
    • Dianamon and Venusmon became Sayo's partners, the latter never leaving the Digivice due to her pacifism.
    • Merukimon from Savers, despite being killed by a Gizumon, is alive once again after his data was reconstructed, under the control of the Demon Lords.
    • Minervamon at some point split off a portion of her data, giving birth to Mervamon, who would go on to partner with Nene.
    • At an unknown point, Neptunemon was deleted, his data being scattered throughout the realms. Two significant portions would end up reforming, one in the Tamers Digital World as MarineAngemon, the other taking residence in Kenta.
• Comic Books Are Real: Due to the Canon Welding. Takato is surprised to discover early on that the Digimon television show is all real events, and that Taichi and his friends all actually went through it all.
• Cosmic Retcon: In Present, it's explained that after the events of 02, Gennai, insisting that The Masquerade still has to be maintained for a little while longer, not only erased the memories of everyone who wasn't a DigiDestined or a family member of the DigiDestined, but also somehow created the Digimon franchise as shown in Tamers.
• Crisis Crossover: The main plot of Present and Future centers around the heroes of all six series banding together.
• Death Is Cheap: As revealed in Present chapter 7, now that the Digital Worlds have become one again, all Digimon are once again reborn as Digi-Eggs rather than simply being destroyed completely, much to the Tamers' relief. If a Digimon is killed in the DigiQuartz, or by one of the Demon Lords, however, they'll be Deader than Dead.
• Dub Name Change: Inverted. Initially, the fic proper used the dub names for all but the Digimon Fusion cast. After it was uncancelled and uploaded to Archive of Our Own however, it was edited to instead have the cast referred to by their original names, the only exception being Yutaka due to him not having a name in the original.
• Elemental Powers: A carry-over from canon.
  • An Ice Person: The Warrior of Ice and a few of the other partners.
  • Casting a Shadow: The Warrior of Darkness.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: The Warrior of Earth and a few of the other partners.
  • Green Thumb: The Warrior of Wood and a few of the other partners.
  • Making a Splash: The Warrior of Water and a few of the other partners.
  • Playing with Fire: The Warrior of Flame and a few of the other partners.
• Evil Teacher: Kurosaki, who is revealed to be in league with the Demon Lords, as well as having participated in the Dark Spore experiments.
• Generation Xerox: Each member of the original DigiDestined has similarities to the current ones, best shown in Past:
  • Robert shares traits with the leaders of the different groups, most notably Taichi. He wears goggles, enjoys playing soccer, and has a reptilian/draconic Digimon for a partner.
  • Rai bares similarities to both Hikari and Sora. In the case of the former, she's the youngest member of the group who everyone looks out for, and in the case of the latter, she's the glue who holds her team together.
  • Babel is similar to Jyou, being the oldest member of his team and having an aquatic Digimon for a partner.
  • Janyu is also similar to Takeru, starting out as a crybaby and afraid to do much.
• Goggles Do Nothing: A Digimon mainstay. Lampshaded by Babel in Past chapter 1:
  Babel: What are you even doing with those goggles? Did the guy who gave you your D-Sync tell you that you were going for a swim or something?
  Robert: Hey! For your information, this is part of my outfit!
• Identical Twin ID Tag: Having two Agumons in the whole alliance would normally be confusing. Fortunately, thanks to his red armbands, Masaru's Agumon partner can be told from Taichi's. Masaru's partner even commented on how they looked different.
• Mark of the Supernatural: Several of the Tamers bear the insignia of the Zero Unit somewhere on their bodies; Takato's is on his chest, Jian's is on his back, Ruki's is on her shoulder, Kenta's is on his left palm, and Juri's is on her stomach.
• Memory-Wiping Crew: It's explained that the reason that most people don't remember the attacks of the D-Reaper and Yggdrasil is because Hypnos and D.A.T.S. used government technology to erase everyone's memories of the events.
• Merged Reality: Played with. It's explained that the different versions of the Digital World as seen in Adventure/02, Tamers, Frontier, and Savers were all once one composite world, but were broken apart when the original DigiDestined defeated the darkness present during that time. After Taichi, Daisuke, Takato, Takuya, and Masaru's respective groups saved each one, they have since merged back together into a single world.
• Multinational Team: The original DigiDestined team; Robert and Babel are American, Daisy is Russian, Rai is Indian, Janyu is Chinese, and Shibumi is Japanese.
• No Hugging, No Kissing: The writer has confirmed that, while there will be Ship Tease, there will be no actual romance in the series; to drive that point home, Yamato and Sora, who had become an Official Couple at the end of 02, have broken up by the time of Present.
• Not Quite Back to Normal: After the events of Frontier, it's revealed that Takuya's group still retain some aspects of their Digimon forms even as humans, in the form of Elemental Powers and Super-Senses.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Daisy's real name is revealed to be Margaritka in Past. Her Salamon partner is the one who dubs her Daisy, since "Margaritka" means "Daisy" in Russian.
• Required Secondary Powers: The downsides of having Super-Senses are addressed in Present chapter 15 with Takuya's group, with at least three of them suffering Sensory Overloads.
• Sensory Overload: Izumi, Junpei, and Koji all discovered the downsides of having Super-Senses as such. Izumi compares hearing her alarm clock to standing inside a giant bell, Junpei describes trying spicy ravioli at an Italian restaurant as "the worst decision he ever made," and Koji warns the others never to walk past an alley where garbage accumulates and there's no one to throw it out if they have a heightened sense of smell.
• Super-Senses: Takuya's group all possess one enhanced sense, even in human form; Takuya has super-sight, Koji has super-smell, Izumi has super-hearing, Junpei has super-taste, and Tomoki has super-sense of touch.
• Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: The bulk of the Chosen Children are centered in Japan, and most Digimon bio-emergences are centered around it. In chapter 24 of Present, in the wake of The Unmasqued World and the chaos inflicted by Keramon's digivolution line, Izumi's mother actually suggests it's safer to move out of Japan.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl:
  • Ruki is the Tomboy to Risa's Girly Girl, best shown upon Risa's introduction in Present chapter 6 with their clothing preferences; Ruki wears a spike-studded leather jacket, whereas Risa wears a blouse and heels.
  • Daisy is the Tomboy to Rai's Girly Girl in Past. Daisy is a Tomboy with Boyish Short Hair, whereas Rai has feminine long hair.
• Yakuza: It's revealed in Present chapter 26 that Ryo is the heir to a yakuza family, and Ruki's grandmother was once a mob wife.

Children of the Past

• All of the Other Reindeer: Both Janyu and Daisy were bullied back home before ending up in the Digital World.
• Boyish Short Hair: Daisy, which contributes to her Tomboy image.
• Conscience Makes You Go Back: In chapter 8, Daisy and Babel suffer a Heroic BSoD after a near-miss with NeoDevimon and decide to leave the group and find a way home. However, after seeing the devastation caused by Apocalymon's minions in the next chapter, they change their minds and return to help the others.
• Cross-Popping Veins: In chapter 1, Daisy gets two of them when both Robert and Babel mistake her for a boy.
• The Heart: Rai serves as this to the group. In chapter 8, when she's separated from them after the fight with NeoDevimon, the group is almost immediately at each other's throats and falls apart.
• Jumped at the Call: Of all the kids, Robert is the one most willing to stay in the Digital World and fight Apocalymon rather than simply return home at first.
• Tomboy: Daisy. She has Boyish Short Hair, hates wearing feminine clothing, and also mentions hating the color pink in chapter 1. Regardless, as shown when Robert and Babel do so, mistaking her for a boy is a major Berserk Button.

Children of the Present

• Abusive Parents: As revealed in chapter 26, Rumiko's father wanted to sell her as a prostitute at age sixteen, but Seiko refused to let him and ran away with Rumiko and her then-boyfriend in tow.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • In canon, Osamu's death was largely a complete accident, a result of him getting hit by a car, with Ken blaming himself due to having wished Osamu would die out of anger shortly beforehand. Here, Ken reveals that he walked into the road after an argument, and Osamu died pulling him out of the road to save him. Ken even admits he believes he knew the car was coming and that the crosswalk was red, and thinks he was either Driven to Suicide at the time, or did it just so Osamu would be in trouble for once, which only added to his guilt over Osamu's death.
  • In canon, Yoshino's backstory was largely her just feeling overshadowed by her elder sisters and suffering depression and low self-esteem as a result. Here, Yoshino accidentally left the stove on one night, causing a fire that killed her sisters. While she knows it was an accident, she sometimes doubts herself and wonders if she actually did it on purpose out of resentment towards them being better than her.
• Bag of Spilling: Taichi's group (sans Hikari) have once again lost their ability to digivolve their partners any further than Champion by the time of Present. They get them back once more during chapters 18 and 19, Takeru regaining his during the fight with Armageddemon.
• Big "WHAT?!": The DATS team is particularly shocked that Yushima has a son, Shibumi. He counters that it should've been obvious considering that he's an old man in his mid-seventies who would hate to see his bloodline end.
• Cliffhanger: Present ends with the gang arriving in the Digital World and being separated upon their arrival by the Demon Lords.
• Continuity Nod: In chapter 2, when Takato admits to Taichi that he created Guilmon, Taichi warns him of the dangers of creating Digimon, citing Kimeramon and Diaboromon as examples.
• Creepy Cemetery: Chapters 18 and 19 detail Taichi's gang fighting Digimon in one. Both Mimi and Sora are unnerved by it, with Sora outright admitting that cemeteries creep her out.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Chapter 24 ends with the gang defeating Armageddemon, resulting in The Masquerade being broken once and for all. Despite this, the fic isn't over yet, and the next few chapters centering on their preparations to go straight to the Digital World to take out the Demon Lords.
• The Dreaded: Played for Laughs with Koji and Koichi. A Running Gag is that Izumi is convinced the two of them are somehow the spawns of Satan due to their ability to give a literal Death Glare and "twisted" behavior. While it's easier for people to understand her seeing Koji like this, especially with how brutal he can be when dealing with stalkers, most get confused initially at her claims of Koichi being so with how polite and kind he is.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: When things are getting increasingly dire during their respective fights in chapters 18 and 19 of Present, Taichi's group regains their Crest power via Heroic Resolve.
• Flawed Prototype: It's revealed in Present chapter 14 that Takuya, Sora, Koichi, Chika, Jian, and Hikari were all experimented on with prototypes of the Dark Spore, all of which were failures in some form: Hikari suffered a weakened immune system, thus explaining why she was sick so much as a child, and Takuya, Sora, Koichi, and Chika only received half of the effects (Takuya and Sora excelling in sports while Chika and Koichi excelled in academics). Jian was the last test subject before Ken, and implanted with a near-perfect example of the spore, except he was able to control the spore without getting corrupted; however, when he was first experimented on with the spore, he flew into an Unstoppable Rage and destroyed the facility where they were manufactured.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: In chapter 18, Taichi is panicking at the sight of SkullGreymon and on the verge of giving up, believing they can't win, Sora slaps him and chews him out, refusing to give up on the world they'd strived so hard to protect. It works like a charm.
  Taichi: What kind of leader am I? Getting a speech about having courage from somebody else.
  Sora: And you can't even use the excuse of having your goggles on too tight anymore.
• Golden Super Mode: Magnamon makes a comeback during the fight with Armageddemon in chapter 24.
• Handicapped Badass: Taichi has a bum leg from a soccer injury, but he doesn't let it stop him from being a DigiDestined.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Hikari dips into this slightly in chapter 5, remarking that she and the rest of Taichi's gang don't do much in helping fight in comparison to the other groups, especially since the Tamers can give their Digimon power boosts, the Warriors can become Digimon, and Masaru is a Badass Normal who punches out Digimon regularly.
• Solomon Divorce: When their parents divorced, Risa went to live with her father, and Ruki with their mother.
• Take Our Word for It: In chapter 11, Koji scares off a group of perverts who were harassing Yoshino at the beach. It's not revealed exactly what he did to do so, but it describes Hikari and Takato cringing and covering their eyes, and after the fact, Yoshino remarks that she'd arrest him for assault if she wasn't off duty.
• There Are No Coincidences: In chapter 11, Ruki points out to Taichi that she doesn't believe in destiny, and considers it odd that even before the big meeting between all the Chosen Children groups in the park, the Tamers all met members of Taichi's group in some form (Taichi and Yamato were friends with Jian's older brother, who also attended class with Jyou, Jian's older sister was in all the same sports clubs as Sora and currently in the same class as Mimi for the second year in a row, Takeru tried to befriend Ruki while his mother tried to do an interview with hers, Koushiro became acquainted with Jian when he visited Shinjuku Junior High, and Taichi himself got a summer job at the Matsuda Bakery), pointing out that such things can't be mere coincidences. In response, Taichi states that, while he doesn't believe in destiny either, he does believe that when it's needed, some things are just meant to happen.

Children of the Future

• An Asskicking Christmas: Several chapters are set around Christmastime.
• The Atoner: The Bio-Hybrids all went their separate ways after losing, but all three have their own ways of trying to change. Naomi and Ivan became agents of DATS, Naomi as a researcher and Ivan as an officer. Kouki on the other hand still had rage issues but was being looked after by the other two, and after Masaru served as his Warrior Therapist, began traveling around as his new path in life.
• Back in the Saddle: After being retired for several decades at the very least, the original DigiDestined get back on the frontlines, courtesy of Digital Avatars that allow them to fight as if they were in their prime.
• Big Good: The Xros Heart United Army. While Shoutmon was in the Human World, Sanzomon and Gokuwmon assembled Digimon from all the digital worlds to aid in the defeat of the Demon Lords, and setting up strongholds everywhere, their main one being in Kingdom Town. Among those she recruited were the Celestial Angels, Chiefs Julia, Glare, and Sayo and Koh, and with the Chosen's arrival, the former residents of File Island.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: After being captured, Ryo, Monodramon, Shaochung, Lopmon, and Impmon are fed food that brainwashes them, the humans becoming Akumako (Partners for the Demon Lords), and Impmon digivolving to his ultimate level, Reapmon. His sister LadyDevimon says this was supposed to be a last resort, only done if they didn't cooperate willingly or couldn't be convinced.
• Fantastic Racism: Numerous protest groups were formed against Digimon, including the Chosen. Some even went as far as to throw stones at them, despite most only being children.
• Feeling Their Age: The original Chosen Children suffer this problem, being middle-aged, and Daisy mentions her hips aching. Gennai helps them get around it by creating Digital Avatars of them when they were in their physical prime.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Several chapters in the human world show that numerous humans are just as terrified of the Chosen Children and their Digimon as they are the evil Digimon.
• Living Macguffin: The Demon Lords are hunting the members of the Olympos XII^note Despite having thirteen members in total. in hopes that when they are united, the path to Mount Olympos will make itself known. Those that reach Mount Olympos can then have their desire granted. At the moment, the following Olympos XII members are known.
  • Apollomon and Marsmon of Xros Wars returned to being Koh's partners, with Marsmon later joining Taiki's Xros Loader.
  • Dianamon and Venusmon were both Sayo's partners, however Venusmon later joined Kiriha's Xros Loader after forming an attachment with him.
  • Nene's Partner Mervamon was approached by Minervamon and revealed to be a fragment Minervamon split from herself, with Minervamon now following Mervamon in hopes of learning just what made Mervamon want to remain with humans.
  • Merukimon was revived and placed under the control of the Demon Lords. He was reverted to a Digiegg by Julia and Keenan, which was actually a ploy by the Demon Lords to find Kingdom Town, though he was later defeated by Mervamon and Minervamon, and had himself purified by Junpei.
  • Neptunemon was revealed to have been deleted long ago, his data reformatting itself in two places: as Kenta's partner Marine-Angemon, and in Kenta himself long ago. When the two biomerge however, they form an incomplete Neptunemon, so they still need to find the rest of it.
  • Jupitermon, Ceresmon, Junomon, Bacchusmon, and Vulcanusmon are still MIA. Plutomon, the unofficial thirteenth member, is also MIA, though he is mentioned as having once taken residence in the Underworld, and was the cause of both Lucemon and Daemon's birth.
• Muggles Do It Better: Digimon are incapable of harming Voidlings; only Digisoul-using humans can. This can done either through straight up brawling (Masaru's method), or by enhancing weaponry with one's Digisoul.
• Take Up My Sword: After being revived as an unknowing servant of the Demon Lords and falling to Takato, the Gallantmon known as Duke asked Takato and Guilmon to take his place as Royal Knight, and left him with both an X-Antibody and his Medieval form.