What if...?
Story 3 - "Elemental"
By Thunderboom

Foreword: The Origins of "What if...?"
By Thunderboom

Konnichiwa and hajimemashite. I, the author, have decided to write an introduction to the series. This will not only summarize the first two stories, but it will also explain the origins of the series. Well, let's begin, then:

"What if...?" was originally designed as a side-story for my fanfic series, "Digimon Advanced". The idea behind it was "What if the Digidestined had never become Digidestined? What if there was no such thing as Digimon or the Digital World?". The first story followed this idea closely, but with a few differences.

I once was going to create a webcomic (which I shall refer to as "the webcomic", because I never did decide on a name). Two of the characters in it were Takumi and Aiko Kaminari. Now, of course, Kaminari would be a rather unusal name, but in the world of webcomics, anything is possible. As I was planning the comics, I just kept developing Aiko and Takumi's personalities more and more. Eventually, they had become the stars of the series.

Unfortunately, I never did create that webcomic, so Aiko and Takumi were filed away in case I ever decided to use them again. That opprutunity came a few months later, when I was writing stroy 1 of "What if...?". I realized that I would need more characters, so I decided to use Takumi and Aiko, mainly just to round out the extras, but also to allow me to use them in a story, which was something I was wanting to do for a long time. In "What if...?", the Kaminari Twins' personalities are almost identical to they're webcomic counterparts. (For example, Takumi was obsessed with anime, manga, and video games in the webcomic, as well as "What if...?")

Kaori was another character from the webcomic. She, however, was able to appear in another series much earlier than the Kaminari twins, although she had a different name in the story. She was the primary basis for Serpentina, a character in my Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic series, "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Millenium Curse". In "Millenium Curse", she desplayed all of her unique traits, such as narrow eyes, fangs, and the fact that she spoke with a lisp. Interestingly, in the webcomic, she was adopted, much the same as in "What if...?". Like in "WI", her name was Kaori Satō, though her adopted family name was Hachimitsu, which, like Kaminari, was another unusal family name. In the webcomic, her nickname was "Hebi-chan", due to her snake-like features. In an interesting side-story, Kaori developed magical abilities and became a "Magical Girl".

One more interesting fact was that I was contemplating the idea of Takumi and Kaori having a family (their children would have been named "Sakura"" and "Tomoyo"). But, I suppose that's enough about the origins of the webcomic characters. Time to move on to the rest of the origin.

As I already mentioned, "What if...?" was originally going to be a side-story of "Digimon Advanced", rather than its own series. However, as I was writing the first story, characters like Denise Hill, who appeared in both DA and WI became less and less important, and were never heard of again. Oddly, I only wrote out three main characters from DA. Namely, Lucian and Lucilla DuBois, and Denise Hill. Although I did not write out Tobias and Loretta Moore (Amity Moore's younger siblings), they play a Normal 0 false false false !-- /* Style Definitions */ , , {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} 1 {page:Section1;} -- relatively small role in "What if...?". As it turned out, WI became a series of its own, not merely a side-story. The name "What if...?", however, remained. The only difference being that it represented many more possibilities than it had originally.

Interestingly, "What if...?" only has a few original characters. While many of the reused characters have radically altered personalities and relationships with each other, the basic character is still the same between stories. Clarissa (a character that appears later in the series) was the first original character created for the series. The next was Chiba, followed by the Eleme Family. Clarissa and Loretta have a rather unusal relationship, but I probably shouldn't reveal too many spoilers.

Well, I suppose that's that. Oh! I just realized that I never summerized Stories 1 & 2...

Story 1 Summary:
Story 1 starts out with Melissa Clark describing to her brother, Jonathan, a weird dream involving Digimon that she had, in a reference to "Digimon Advanced". Aiko's trait of falling head over heels for everyone she meets is first introduced, though this trait is no longer as comical or as dominating as it originally was. Melissa is shown to be quite eccentric, and Amity's bipolar problems are introduced. In addition, Alistair and Aurelia Lee, two students that attend Saffron High School, like the Clarks (but a grade higher than them), are introduced, and Aurelia breaks the hand of someone who is bullying Amity. At the end, Amity announces that she is dating Alistair, though wheter or not this was true has not been addressed yet (though it probably will be in Story 4).

Story 2 Summary:
Dragged along against his will by his sister, Jonathan learns just how dreadful a school camping trip can be. We also learn that Melissa cheats when she plays Card Games. ANother thing we learn is that Melissa falls down a lot, only to land on her brother, who is often very injured, while she is unharmed. At the end of the terror of camping in a tent, Jonathan wakes up to discover it was only a nightmare. However, as Melissa left to go help Amity work on her ecchi manga, Esper, a voice commented on how they and Jonathan were finally alone. Jonathan turned slowly around to face the voice....

Chapter 1
Two Elements

"Era, get back here!"

"You'll hafta catch me!"

Ah, summertime.

The time when young girls play tricks on their older sisters.

Well, this actually applies year-round, too.

Era Eleme (pronounced "el-UH-mii"), a 10 year-old girl, was running from her 16 year-old sister, Aquaria.

However, as she was not looking where she was running, she ran into a 15 year-old.

"Era?" the older girl asked, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, um, hi, Aiko." Era replied, "I'm really sorry about that."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Aiko told her, smiling and brushing her long, black hair out of her eyes, "It's not like you haven't done it before."

Era stuttered, trying to find something to say.

"So..." Aiko asked her, smirking, "What did you do this time, Era?"

"Well, you see, I-"

"Era!!" Aquaria called out, racing up to them, her long, light blue hair flying wildly behind her, "I have a score to settle with you!"

"For the love of Chobits, Aquaria," Era called out, "Will you just forget about it?! It was an innocent joke!!"

As soon as Aquaria reached the other two, she looked Aiko over, and shrugged.

"Eh, never mind, Era." she told her little sister, "I guess you're right. But it was still a pretty pervy thing to say..."

"See, I told you so!" Era told her big sister.

The two sisters, after saying "goodbye" to Aiko, walked back to their house, chatting, leaving Aiko confused.

"Just what the heck was all that about?!" she wondered aloud.

Chapter 2
Puberty

The Next Day:

"Kana! Your friend Chiba is here!" twenty-four year-old Candice called up the stairs.

"I'm coming!" the eighteen year-old Eleme sister replied, before coming down the stairs.

Era rushed past her on her way down.

"Era! That's not safe!" Kana yelled after her.

Era ran up to the front door to greet the guests.

She was soon followed by Kana.

Chiba was there, looking about the same as ever. However, she had a stranger with her. She was accompanied by a somewhat-short boy wearing a white t-shirt and shorts, who had messy, short, black hair. He was looking at the ground.

"Oh?" Era asked, "Who's this, Chiba? Your boyfriend?"

The boy's fists started shaking, and he looked up at Era, making eye contact with her. He leaned very close to her, and practically screamed:

"It's me, Kaori!!!!!!"

Needless to say, Era was taken aback.

"Okay, okay!" she told her, "Just chill already!"

"Hey, that's my line." said Yuki Eleme (23), who was passing by.

"Well, Kaori," Era continued, explaining, "You cut your hair, so I couldn't recognize you. You have such a flat chest, it's easy to mistake you for a boy, you know?"

Kaori's face turned red. Whether this was due to embarrassment or anger is a mystery.

"I mean," Era continued, "At least I have something, and I'm only 10!"

"Stupid puberty..." Kaori muttered under breath.

Then she looked up.

"I'll have you know," she said, "That I was the tallest in my class until 6th grade!"

"And after that," Chiba added, "You stopped growing, right?"

"Yes." was all Kaori would say.

"So, you've always had a flat chest? If you were 12..." Era pondered.

Kaori just glared at her.

"You know, this is a big contrast." Era said, "You, Kaori, have the smallest chest I've ever seen, while Chiba has one of the biggest I've ever seen."

Chiba looked down, embarrassed at the truth.

"I know!" Era exclaimed, "Let's all compare bust sizes, shall we? I already know mine, of course."

"NO!!" the other girls told her in unison.

Chapter 3
Ecchi Anime

"How come you have such a perverted sister, Kana?" Kaori finally asked.

Kana's younger, gray-haired sister had, after the others' refusal, left to go play an MMORPG called "Quest".

Now the remaining girls (Kana, Kaori, and Chiba) were sitting around a table in the Eleme's living room.

"I personally attribute it to Aquaria." Kana replied, "After all, she's the one who introduced things like Chobits, Rosario + Vampire, Rizelmine, and, last but not least, Goshûshõ-sama Ninomiya-kun into this house."

"What's that last one?" Kaori asked, as her knowledge of anime wasn't as vast as some of her peers (namely, the otaku Clark siblings and Aiko's brother, Takumi).

"Oh, it's an incredibly perverted anime." Kana answered, "You do not want to watch it. It must have been aimed at lecherous old men."

"You know," commented Chiba, "I've been hearing that phrase a lot. I wonder why it's so popular these days..."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that the rest of you, including the bisexual Aquaria, all worry that she's a lesbian?" Kaori asked.

"Um, yeah." Kana replied, "Wow, you're good. You should be a psychiatrist."

"Thanks, I guess."

Chapter 4

Another Element

"Hey, Kana," Chiba asked, "You don't have any brothers, do you?"

"Well, actually, we do."

"Huh? Really?" Kaori asked.

"Yes, his name is Sol. He's a pretty pompous little brat, considering he's only 14." Kana told them.

"How come we never see him?" Chiba asked.

"Well, he lives with our cousins in New York, but if you want to see him, he's coming for a visit in a week." Kana replied.

"So what color hair does he have?" Kaori asked, eyeing Kana's shoulder-length, light green hair.

"You'll just have to see for yourself!" Kana said.

Chapter 5
Amity Moore no Konran

Meanwhile, though school was out for the summer, the Anime Club continued its duties.

Amity Moore, Jonathan and Melissa Clark, and Takumi Kaminari, four of the members, were watching episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (English version, so Amity could understand it) on the Kaminaris' television, along with Takumi's twin sister, Aiko Kaminari.

Amity was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans (she wore all black half of the time and all white the rest of the time); her long, black hair was tied into a ponytail that reached halfway down her back. Jonathan was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, his ultra-dark brown hair (he preferred to call it "black") was as short (except for his bangs, which covered his forehead) and unkempt as always. Melissa was wearing her signature "l33t rul3z" t-shirt and a blue, pleated skirt. As usual, her straight, light brown hair, which reached a little past her shoulders, was left untouched.

Aiko, who designed and made clothes in her spare time, was wearing an outfit she herself had created. It was a dress made in the "Goth Loli" style, black and white, with a moderate amount of lace and frills, and two large, black bows tying her black hair in long, thin pigtails. Takumi was also wearing one of Aiko's creations, an outfit that made him look like he was cosplaying as Sosuke from Full Metal Panic, while his short, black hair looked very tidy.

Finished with Volume 2, Takumi ejected the disc, and was about to replace it with the next one, when Amity spoke up.

"Um, I have a question." she

said, "Why's Haruhi always such a pervert?"

"Well," Melissa answered, "She is pretty crazy."

"Well, yeah, obviously." Amity replied, "But why?"

"Hey, you know the Eleme family?" Aiko asked, "Aquaria Eleme is my best (American) friend. She has a little sister named Era. If you can figure her out, then you'll understand Haruhi. Needless to say, I still don't understand Haruhi or Era."

"Wow, Aiko." Takumi commented, "It's hard to believe you had the most trouble with English at first."

"Yeah, well, Sakura helped me." Aiko replied.

"Sakura?" Jonathan asked, perplexed.

"Sakura Inoue." Takumi clarified, "She's onee-senpai's childhood friend, and an expert at a lot of languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, French, and some nonsensical language called 'Leet'."

Melissa burst out laughing.

"Leet isn't a language!" she told him, "It's a kind of internet slang! See what my shirt says? It says 'Leet Rules' in Leet. Leet is basically the same as English, but with a lot more slang words and a lot of letters being replaced by numbers."

"Oh. So that's what it is."

Suddenly, a furry object fell on Melissa's head.

Surprised, she reached up and picked up the object, which she sat on her lap.

"Hello, Neko-san." she told the cat, starting to pet it.

"Her name is Ayu." Aiko told Melissa.

"How come I haven't ever seen you, Ayu?" Melissa asked the cat, "I've been over here a lot, so I think I would have noticed."

"She's shy." Takumi explained.

"Ah. So that's why." Melissa replied, still petting the cat.

Chapter 6
Colors of the Win-I mean Hair

"So, Kana," Kaori asked, "There's something I've always wondered. Those can't possibly be your natural hair colors, right?"

Kana laughed.

"No, they're not." she told her two friends, "Candice, Terra, Yuki, Era, and Sol's hair colors are natural, but the rest of us have the same hair color as Yuki's: pure white. Our parents permanently dyed our hair when we were very little, though, so we've been like this for almost our entire lives."

"Oh." Kaori said, "Well, that's certainly weird."

"I know." Kana replied, "I don't really get it either."

"Speaking of your parents," Chiba said, "Where are they? I've never met them."

"Well," said Kana, "I guess I'll just have to tell you the story..."

Chapter 7
The Tale of the Eleme Family

"Our parents, Percy and Rebbecca Eleme, were born in 1961 and 1960, respectively. They were both hardcore occult fanatics, believing all sorts of nonsense, which led to the colors of our hair and our names.

"Our mom wasn't exactly the picture of perfect health. and she died shortly after giving birth to Era. Then Dad, who was an archeologist, left to go study some ruins, leaving Candice, who was only 14, in charge of taking care of us. Naturally, she hired a babysitter during the school week. As you can see, our father wasn't the most considerable guy there was.

"Many months later, our dad returned home, only to set off again after a few years. It's been almost 6 years since we've heard from him, but we still get checks in the mail, supposedly from his salary as an archeologist.

"Sol decided to move in with our mother's sister and her family when he was 8. Our dad let him go, and we had no objections.

"Era's always been super-energetic and hyperactive, and she only stays still when all her concentration is on a single task, such as when she's playing a game or watching anime of varying levels of questionable content. Era was also always very curious, especially about secretive things. She had a comprehensive store of knowedge about, shall we say, naughty things, by the time she was 9. It's been torture living with her since then.

"Aquaria always loved sealife, swimming, and everything else regarding water. Candice has had a fiery personality since she was little, and most of us are just afraid of her, due to her sometimes-violent tempers. Yuki's always been cold and isolated, but the rest of us respect her as an older sister (except Candice, of course, since she has senority over all of us). Terra is always the voice of reason, and she's always really calm.

"I think Akari is the only one I haven't mentioned yet. She's older than me by a year, so she's the fourth oldest. Kari is always so nice and kind to everything, you'd think she was a saint. But she is really mysterious, and she'll stay locked up in her room for hours on end. Oh, and she's also the lead singer/guitarist in a semi-famous band."

Thus concluded Kana Eleme's story.

Chapter 8
"Um..."

"Um, Kana?" Kaori asked, "We know you well enough to have already known the last part about you and your sisters."

"Oh." Kana said, chuckling, "I guess I just kind of got carried away, didn't I?"

Epilogue
Black & White

"Hey, Amity," said Melissa, who was still petting Ayu, "You're wearing black, but I haven't noticed you being too depressed today. What's that about?"

"Well, Melissa," Amity replied, "I was feeling depressed when I put my clothes on this morning, but by noon, I was back to normal. I haven't had another depressive (or maniac) episode yet, so far."

"Oh. Well, that's good to hear."

"But it really isn't fun, switching from depression to mania and back all the time." Amity continued.

"Yeah," Melissa agreed, "Having Bipolar Disorder just sucks all the fun out of your life, doesn't it?"

"Well," Amity said, grimly, "A shortened form of that sentence would be better: 'it sucks'."

Meanwhile, at the Eleme residence....

A middle-aged woman came into the room. She was covered, head to toe, in all sorts of occult paraphernalia, and her brown hair was tied in a knot at the back of her head

"So Kana," she asked, "Are these your friends you always talk about?"

"Um, Kana?" Kaori asked.

"Yeah?"

"Who the heck is this?"

"Oh, um, she's uh...."

The woman spoke up.

"I'm her mother, silly!"

Kaori and Chiba were stunned.

"But, but, but...!" Kaori stuttered. "You said she was dead!"

"Are you STILL using that same old story, Kana?" Rebbecca Eleme asked.

"Yes..." Kana admitted.

"Well, I think you could stand to be a bit more creative." her mother replied.

"Okay, mother, I will in he future..."

"That's my little author!" Rebbecca said, smiling.

"Um, Kana?" Chiba asked.

"Yes, Chiba? What is it?"

"Well, if you're 18, Akari's 19, Yuki's 23, and Candice's 24...."

"Yeah?"

"Well, then why on earth are you all still living here if your parents are still around?!"

"Because I can, silly!" Kana replied, grinning.

THE END

End Note
By Thunderboom

Don't worry about Kana. She's currently going to college. Akari? She's in a band, so she travels all over. Yuki? Well, Yuki mainly just stays at home, reading (actually, she works from home, via the internet).

And Candice? Well...You don't really wanna know...

Well, now that this "meanwhile" story is over, we switch back to Jonathan Clark, as he turned around to face the mysterious person that wanted to be alone with him.......

NEXT STORY:
Ichi, Ni, San...SHI!!!