"I don't get it." Gatomon murmured. "That chick commanding BlackGatomon is this universe's Kari!? This doesn't make sense!"
"This is a universe that sits parallel to your own. There are bound to be differences." Altemon explained.
"Yeah, but Kari!? She's the most innocent person I've ever met! This just doesn't make sense!"
"...Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?" Izzy asked. Gatomon cocked her head. Kari spoke up from the corner of the room.
"It's... The notion that the smallest decisions can drastically alter your future." Izzy nodded.
"From what I understand, our two universes followed roughly the same path, until a single point in time caused them to diverge. This divergence point is what I assume to be the cause of our Hikari to be so different from the girl sitting with us right now. The question is, what WAS the point of divergence? Kari, besides what's going on in the world right now, can you think of anything at all that seems different from your universe?" Kari sat silent for a moment.
"If... I had to think of something, I guess it would be this universe's Tai." The boy in question blinked, looking up at Kari. "Tai... MY Tai, be wouldn't be so cold, especially towards Digimon."
"He also wouldn't be such a jerk towards Kari." Gatomon continued on. "He'd drop even the most important things just to make sure she's safe."
"Wow, that sounds nothing like our Tai." Matt spoke up.
"Shut up!" Tai snapped.
"Although his relationship with Matt is about the same." Kari piped up. Everyone but Tai laughed.
"Come on Tai, lighten up for once." Sora said.
"Lighten up!? You guys let another Hikari-Don't give me that face I'll call you what I want!- In here. She has a freaking Gatomon with her! How do we know we can trust them!?"
"Well for starters, this Gatomon is a different color." Mimi began. "She's a bit pudgier too."
"What!? Are you calling me fat!?" Gatomon demanded.
""Well, she does have a point Gatomon." Kari said gently. "You have put on a bit of weight and I've noticed You've had trouble climbing up things. I think we need to distance you from the breakfast pastries and sweet potatoes for a while."
"TRAITOR!" Gatomon cried, exaggerated anime-style tears falling down her face.
"I think we can trust them." Mimi giggled.
"Back to the matter at hand." Izzy spoke up. "Kari, can you think of a moment in time that caused Tai to care about you so much?"
"Well..." Kari pondered. "There was one time, when I was five, I got sick."
"I remember." Tai pondered. "I came home wanting to play soccer, but didn't want to leave Hikari home alone. I pondered taking her outside with me, but then I decided against it."
"But that's not how it happened for me." Kari explained. "My Tai DID take me outside. I contracted pneumonia and nearly died."
"Yeah, Tentomon told me that story. You thought Tai was disappointed in you cause you couldn't kick the ball right." Gatomon mused. "Since that day he's been so protective of you."
"That single event must have been the point of divergence." Izzy mused. "Since Tai never almost killed Kari, he and Kari never had a good relationship growing up. Your Tai took your near death to heart and actually became a caring person."
"Uh, excuse me?"
"Let's face it Tai, you're a dick." Sora huffed.
"Yeah, this is all great and all." Gatomon began. "But why are WE here?" Izzy sighed.
"Tai, I think you'd explain best."
"...Hikari, she hasn't always been like this. She used to be shy and introverted. She would dissappear for periods of time and when we asked about it, she just said she was visiting a friend. Just a couple of months ago, she just completely changed. She got these strange powers and and army of Digimon. It was out of nowhere."
"We think BlackGatomon might know more. But for obvious reasons, we can't ask." Izzy sighed. "That's when it came to me, if the multiverse theory was correct, then there was another Kari and Gatomon out there who could help us."
"So you dragged us into a fight that isn't ours. That's what I'm hearing." Gatomon responded.
"We're desperate." T.K. answered. "Hikari's Digimon army has decimated the human resistance. We had nowhere else to turn."
"What about this world's Digidestined?"
"Systematically hunted down and killed." Joe revealed.
"That's what they get for siding with Digimon."
"SHUT UP TAI!" Mimi screamed into his face. "NOT ALL OF THE DIGIMON ARE BAD YOU JERKWAD!"
"Wait a minute!" Gatomon spoke up. "What about you guys? In our universe you guys are Digidestined too. Mimi even has Tanemon."
"Mimi found Tanemon last month, but none of us ever had Digimon." Matt explained.
"You guys got your Digimon when you went to a summer camp as kids." Kari explained.
"Oh yeah, I remember that summer camp." Sora mused. "But Tai wasn't allowed to come because he was grounded, and Hikari couldn't come cause she was home with a cold and a concussion."
"Concussion!?"
"Yeah." Mimi began. "Tai plus soccer ball plus the back of Hikari's head equals concussion plus grounded Tai." Kari sighed, her head in her hands.
"I... I need some time alone... To think about this..."
"You haven't found them yet." It was a statement, not a question. BlackGatomon looked up at Hikari. Her once innocent brown eyes were now dark red, her hair pitch black, and her skin pale. A shell of her former self.
"It's only been an hour. I promise, I'll find them given a bit of time."
"I don't want promises Gatomon." In a swift motion, Hikari's foot met Gatomon's stomach, knocking the Digimon to the floor. "I want RESULTS!" She brought her foot down hard, and BlackGatomon felt a couple of ribs break from the impact. A second stomp met her face, and blood began gushing from her nose. BlackGatomon rolled onto her stomach, pushing herself to her knees as her eyes brimmed with tears.
"I'll find them." She said shakily. "I'll find them..."
"If you weren't so valuable to me, I'd have killed you a long time ago. As it stands, if you don't give me results in twenty four hours, I'll make you wish you were dead."
