Chapter 15: Fallout, Part II
Tai
He was was back there, in that park as he was years ago, out with his sister, to play soccer. She was a kid again too… a sick kid.
"Now watch me," He said to her "just like that."
The older brother kicked the ball toward his sister, but it barely moved when she tried to kick it back.
"No, that's wrong." Tai reprimanded. "Why didn't you do it like I did?"
"I can do it right, big brother!"
He turned toward the voice. A young Davis was standing there wearing the clothes Kari had been just before.
"I can kick the ball right! Just watch!"
Sure enough, he did. The ball came flawlessly in his direction, and Tai then kicked it back to him. They exchanged the ball several times before he even looked at Kari again. Then she was collapsed on the ground wearing Davis's clothes.
"I'm sorry I didn't kick the ball right." She barely managed to say.
"Eh, tough toenails!" Davis spat back. "That just means you aren't fit to be Tai's sister! Isn't that right, big brother?"
All Tai said in response was "Of course, best sister ever."
Then he woke up trembling.
"No, oh god no!" He whined. "Oh gods what did I just do?"
Nausea overtaking him, he threw up over himself,
"Oh my god… I am the worst brother ever!"
He went to the bathroom to clean up. Glancing at the mirror, he was more disgusted with his own reflection than that of the vomit on his pajamas.
"Let's… just get it over with." A few minutes later he was washed up in and in a clean pair of clothes.
His mother knocked on the door then.
"Morning Tai!" She said. "You okay in there?"
"Yes." He lied. "You?"
"Of course." Mom responded. "Breakfast is ready, if you want it."
The disgusted leader glanced back at his soiled pajamas.
"I… I'll pass. Thanks anyway."
Tai went on to wash the pajamas himself. He did not want her knowing about them. Vows to Gennai not withstanding, he did not want her knowing anything. He could not bare the shame. As far as either of his parents knew, Kari was sleeping over with Yolie. He had told his mother and father many lies to hide the return of the digital world from them. The lie about Kari's current location had been the one he'd least hesitated to tell, but somehow it had shamed him by far the most. That he had to tell it shamed him. And yet... the thought of telling them the truth...
"You are the worst brother ever, the worst son ever."
It was the only reaction he could foresee. It was the only appropriate reaction. He knew he was selfish for wanting to avoid it, and that added to his shame, but it was totally consistent with existing digidestined policy and the vows that spawned it. The parents didn't need to know more than they needed to know. How could he do otherwise?
When the laundry was done he did everything he could to avoid his mother and father for the rest of the morning. Eventually he had to go out. The digidestined were to meet at Izzy's house, by his own order. He tried to slip out without telling them, but his dad stopped him at the door.
"Where are you headed out to, son?"
"Izzy's."
"Okay, be back by supper."
It surprised the goggleboy how causal that turned out to be.
"The truth was innocuous enough." He thought. "Well… that part of it was."
He laughed a bitter, almost maniacal laugh… a few neighbors stared at him.
"Calm down." He said to himself as he walked down the street. "You still have to be the leader. You still need to be there for Kari..." he sighed. "now."
When he arrived at Izzy's, Cody TK and Yolie were already there. The younger kids' digimon were released onto the host's bed.
"Hello Tai." They greeted him.
"Hey guys."
Formality satisfied, he turned his attention to the young blond.
"Did you tell your dad what I told you?" He asked.
"Yes," TK answered. "As far as he and mom know, Matt was out practicing all night with his band."
"And mom?" the leader asked. "Why would you tell her anything?"
The Christian had been the one to share a parable with Tai about not letting the left hand know what the right was doing. That had been his and Matt's policy on how to handle digimon matters with their divorced parents. The leader had approved. If one parent needed to know something and the other didn't, why share with both of them? In this case, it seemed as though Ms. Takaishi did not need to suspect Matt's body was missing if she didn't live with him anyway. Tai had not thought he needed to share that advice with the one who first showed him the line of thinking.
"It came with telling his dad." Yolie said, defending him. "Mr. Ishida is staying with Ms. Takaishi and him. Cody and I saw as much before. Matt… erm, Jun came with him."
That was news.
"TK, is that true?" Tai asked.
"Yes," the blond very happily answered. "Cody and Yolie live in the same apartment complex as I do, so we visit a lot."
The youngest boy nodded in agreement.
"I… wow… I don't know what to say to that." The leader began. "Um, congrats?"
"Thanks." was the response.
"Congrats indeed." Izzy said, apparently also finding out for the first time. "Does Matt know this? I can only imagine he'd be ecstatic."
"I don't think so? I didn't get a chance to talk to him last night; it was after dark by the time we got back from the digital world. I had to go straight back home. I never did get Davis's, well, the Motomiya's phone number before all this."
Tai was very happy for him. Still, happy as the news was, there was still other business to discuss. He turned to Izzy. "Did you find anything out about the rings?"
"I... did." He responded. "Is it okay I wait until everyone is here to explain it? It's... kind of a doozy."
The leader did not like the sound of that. He was about to ask for the details anyway when a sound from Izzy's doorbell beat him to the punch. Given who all was already here, it was obvious who this was.
"I guess you won't have to wait anyway." Tai said. The host nodded and answered the door. Sure enough, Matt and Kari came in in the Motomiyas' bodies.
"Matt," TK asked, is that really you?"
"Yeah, it's me." The former boy answered. "I... it's great to see you again, even under these circumstances.
"Great to see you again too."
The brothers hugged. As their embrace ended, Kari moved in where Matt was withdrawing and hugged TK.
"Thank... thank you again, for standing up to him."
It was clear who "him" was... Davis.
"You're welcome."
It burned. Like almost all of his sister's interactions with TK and Matt it burned Tai to hear.
"Why didn't you stand up to him?"
No one said it. No one even implied it, but it the only thing Tai could hear out of what was truly said.
After the embrace ended, he followed his sister's eyes over to Yolie. She was on her knees with her head down.
"Kari, I am so sorry I voted against you." She pleaded. "I… I swear I didn't know who he was. I didn't know what he was!"
Seeing her do this, Cody also squatted down for his own apology.
"I'm sorry too. I didn't know either."
Kari stared at them for a few seconds and then just said. "It's okay. Like you said, you didn't know."
Yesterday, Tai had made his own apology to his sister. Multiple times he had begged her forgiveness for not believing her when she told him about the swap and for not standing up to Davis because of it. The first time he had been on the floor like her friends were now. And like then, her response had been similar meek "It's okay." It wasn't okay. Obviously it wasn't; how could it have been? How could she think it was?
And that wasn't the only thing he had to apologize for... He dare not even speak what was truly his greatest sin to her...
"Wow Kari. I don't know what's gotten into you but it's awesome!"
He had told Davis he was the best sister ever. The thing that shamed him more than anything else was that he had meant it.
"Haven't the last two months been the best ever? I know they were for me, and I know they were for you too. I know you called me the best sister ever. Before we were friends, but now we're so much more."
As much for himself as for the cause, he prompted Izzy to change the subject. Once Kari had let her partner out of her bag, he asked "You said you discovered something about the rings?".
"Yeah," the smart boy sighed. "I... I don't know how to say this, but I think they're dark rings."
There was quiet for a moment.
"Da.. dark rings, as in, what the Digimon Emperor uses to enslave us?" Upamon asked.
"Yeah, that." Izzy confirmed. "The code is modified a bit, mostly to interface with the gems, but the more I examine them, the more certain I am that they are dark rings."
The ramifications of that hung in there air for another moment before anyone spoke of them.
"Are..." Poromon eventually asked "Are you saying Davis got those things from the Digimon Emperor?"
"That is the most logical conclusion."
"Good gods." Matt chocked. "I... I didn't even think he was that bad. He's really working for that slave monger?"
"Damn," Yolie stuttered. "we knew he was crazy but..."
"You didn't know he was crazy." Tai's thoughts said to him "You thought he was your best friend... You thought he was your best sister ever."
"Was he... was he a mole all this time?" Cody asked.
"I... I don't think so." Gatomon murmured. "He was chosen, like us. I still don't think he was bad at the beginning."
"I don't know about that." Matt said. "Couldn't you say the same thing about the Digimon Emperor himself?"
"I... don't know." TK said. "He has a digivice. Theoretically you get one by being chosen to protect the digital world. In this case though... I would have to ask who it is the emperor was supposed to protect the digital world from. We got called back to protect it from him. If he was chosen, that means there's another threat to the digital world we don't know about, at that seems unlik..."
The Christian cut himself off. It seemed like he was about to say "unlikely" but he second guessed himself. Tai suspected he knew why. The group had had conversations like this before; it was hard not to to ponder such things once they saw the emperor had a digivice. Before, however, they had decided it was most likely that their enemy had found his own way into the digital world. It was assumed his dark digivice was his own creation, just like dark rings and control spires. Another threat on the scale of the emperor himself or the Dark Masters before him ought to be something they would know about at this point. Now... now they had a new piece of information.
"Wizardmon." Gatomon brought it up before the leader could. "'Your true enemy is a much greater darkness than Davis or the Digimon Emperor, and the chain of corruption does not end there.' That's what he said."
"So..." Poromon began. "The Digimon Emperor corrupted Davis and a third person corrupted the emperor before that?"
"Does that mean the emperor was chosen to stop whoever it was that corrupted him?" Upamon asked.
"Maybe," Yolie answered "maybe not too. 'The chain of corruption does not end there.' makes it sound like a forth person corrupted the one that corrupted the emperor... either way, he still could have been chosen to fight an unrelated party."
This was going to be a headache...
"I don't think that's something we can know at this point." Cody opined. "It's definitely something to keep in mind though."
"Agreed" Tai lead "What about the gems? Did you find anything out about them, Izzy?'
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like them. From what I can tell the software, so to speak, for the switching is in the rings, but the hardware is in the gems... and that is the part that really confuses me."
That was a bad sign. If it confused Izzy, what hope did Tai or any of the others hope to understand it?
He continued unchallenged "The ability to process an entire human mind... that shouldn't be possible, not with anything remotely resembling current technology. The best computers right now... they couldn't even hold as much data as is in a cat's brain let alone a human's or a digimon's, let alone transfer it all immediately. It took me over an hour to download a fancy video game last week. I can't imagine how long two uploads and downloads of something as complex as a sapient mind ought to take, but apparently the gems do it almost instantly. That can't even be all that's happening either; it's processing the minds too. For one thing, I'm told the rings also left language abilities behind."
"Ce vrei." Matt interjected.
"Oui," Izzy replied. Tai knew he didn't know French beyond that, but it got the point across. "Speaking of which, it's hard to overstate how bad computerized translation is nowadays. There are videos online if you don't believe me, but, rarely does the product more than superficially resemble the original input. For the gems to truly comprehend language is another huge breakthrough all by itself."
This in turn meant their enemy was that much more dangerous. Who knew what else he could design?
"Anything else it can do, you want to point out?" the leader asked.
"Nothing I can detect yet, though I'm still examining them."
"In that case, can we move on to finding our bodies?" Gatomon asked.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Tai answered. "Any ideas on that front?'
"We had been planning to scout out areas the Digimon Emperor controlled." Cody said. "The way I see it, that is the best way we to handle this as well. We don't have a way of tracking where the Motomiyas disappeared to, but now that we know they're in cahoots with the emperor… The best way forward, might just be what we were doing anyway."
"Easy to kill two birds with one stone when the birds are together." Yolie said. "No offense, Poromon."
"No taken" the bird replied.
"Let's go ahead and do that then." Izzy suggested. "We need to get the digital world trip done before my mom gets home and we're probably delayed by this conversation anyway.
"Do we need to change up the usual teams now that Davis is not here?" Upamon asked.
It did seem like they had to. This wasn't the first time they'd scouted like this. Before TK had gone with Matt, he and Kari had gone with Davis, and Izzy with Cody and Yolie with Sora. The latter most's absence, and, more seriously, Davis's betrayal meant the teams would have to be reduced.
"Let's do three teams instead of four." Tai said. "Yolie and TK can go together since Sora isn't here and Matt doesn't have a digivice."
"Don't suppose I can borrow one of you guys'?" Matt asked.
"Would that even work?" Tai responded. "Jun made it through with your digivice. That means whatever lets you use it is in your body."
"Maybe not." Izzy interjected. "We never did test it. For all we know anyone could pick a digivice and use the portal."
They had never tested it. Well, the older kids had tried to use the younger kids' D3's to open digiports before; it was to tempting not to try it at some point. They had not, however, had a non-chosen try to use either model. They were supposed to make sure such people knew as close to nothing about the digital world as they could get away with. Telling one of their parents, let alone someone who didn't know about digimon to hold a digivice up to a computer would have been more than a bit counterproductive on that front front. Now though, with that state Matt was in...
"Wanna try it?" Izzy immediately said, holding his digivice out to the former boy. It was clear the aspiring scientist wanted to experiment.
The aspiring musician obliged him, taking the digivice. "I will need someone to open the digiport, please." He said.
Cody nodded. "Digiport open!"
"Here goes nothing." Matt whispered. He held up the borrowed digivice up to the portal...
Nothing happened.
He sighed. "Yeah, figures."
Despite the hint of bravado, it looked to Tai that his rival figured it wouldn't work either.
"I guess I can't come after-all." He whined.
"It's okay, big brother." Kari said. "I can go for you, like I did yesterday."
"Thanks."
Once again her true brother winced. He realized then Kari had only spoken to Matt and TK the entire meeting.
"And that's totally deserved." His thoughts said to him. "They deserve her and you don't."
Thinking back further, Kari had answered him when he had talked to her, but the only people he had only seen her address of her own accord those two and Gatomon since the party... the party where he had... he had...
"I really don't deserve her."
"Well, that confirms non-digidestined can't use digivices." Izzy said. "Not a surprise, but science is all about confirmation." After Matt returned his digivice, he turned to the leader. "You wanna try it too? While we're at it, we might as well confirm we can't use each-other's digivices. I know us older kids can't use D3's, but what about other instances of our older model?"
Tai accepted the digivice. Anything to that might change his current train of thought was beyond welcome.
"That is a great idea." Yolie said as he did. "TK, wanna loan me your D3 too? We might as well see whatever rule applies to the OG digivices applies to ours while we're doing all this."
The Christian complied with the experiments. The bespectacled girl held his digivice up to the screen at the same time Tai held up Izzy's.
Nothing happened.
"And with that, we confirm that digivices only work for the person they are assigned for." Upamon said.
"No." Matt sighed. "We confirmed that they only work for the body, they are assigned for. Jun was able to use mine, remember?"
"I'm sorry, big brother." TK said.
"At least it's the right person calling him that..." Tai thought.
Matt sighed. "Don't apologize for it. It's not your fault anyway. Just do what you can to get my body back."
"Of course."
The leader then handed Izzy back his digivice, then all eyes turned to Yolie expecting her to do the same to with TK's. She did, but she gave something else with it.
"Why are you giving me your D-Terminal?" He asked.
"Let's do one more experiment before we go." She answered. "We've confirmed we can't use each other's digivices, but what about each other's digieggs?"
"Why would they be any different from our digivices?"
"Why wouldn't they?" the nerdy girl replied. "You don't know how they work."
"If they work anything like the crests used to, they are reacting to virtues within the user." It was Tai that said that... then he immediately saw it's problem.
"Then how come Davis is able to use the Digiegg of Friendship?" Cody asked. "I think you all will agree he hasn't been friendly as of late."
Matt sighed. "Not to us, no, but, maybe to Veemon? Back... back when I rebelled against Tai, at first I couldn't use the Crest of Friendship... I wasn't being a friend to him or anyone else in the group, but then, when I was inspired by Gabumon, I was able to warp digivolve him anyway. I suppose 'Friendship' might be a bit selective in this context. It would make sense giving what was happening when the egg was found. What was it he said? 'Partner, I'm your friend.'"
Indeed, it made a certain amount of twisted sense.
"What about the Digiegg of Light?" Yolie asked. "He can use that too, and I don't think his behavior lately has been full of light in any context lately... whatever that means."
That... was a lot harder to argue with.
TK took the D-Terminal. "You're right, I think it is worth a try, and Patamon is the only one who can armor digivolve right now." He turned to his partner. "You ready."
The sole rookie nodded.
"Digiarmor energize!"
"Patamon armor digivolve to Pipismon, the Echo of Love!"
Several of the digidestined stepped back in surprise. Tai suspected he shared their feelings. The egg working was improvable enough... and he did not think anyone expected this new digimon to appear if it did... The bat-like creature Patamon had become was as different from Halsemon or Pegususmon as seemed possible.
"Well, that was unexpected." It was Yolie that said that. Even the girl who proposed the experiment didn't think it would work.
"Science is about confirmation, indeed."
"So, the digieggs do work for bodies they weren't assigned too... " Matt observed.
"Not only that, the same egg digivolves different digimon differently." Izzy added. He smiled then. "Looks like we got some positive data out of this after-all!"
"Does that mean," TK began, "if we'd traded crests around back in the day we could have gotten different ultimate digimon out of the deal?"
"Maybe." Izzy said. "Maybe not too... We were assigned the crests because he had the virtues they used, but we couldn't just pick up our own crests and use them, let alone each other's. We had to show the virtue once we got them and then keep showing it to keep using it. You haven't shown any particular feet of love in the last few minutes... erm, no offense. I am sure you are a loving person in general."
The blond chuckled dryly, but despite the impression that gave he said "No offense taken."
"Then how come I was able to digivolve then with this egg?" Pipismon asked.
"I guess the eggs do work a bit differently from the crests after-all. Maybe it's to be expected given they are use a different kind of digivice? My guess, though, would be that the eggs only need to be activated with their virtue to be used, not sustained like the crests."
"That would make sense." Yolie concurred. "The crests make ultimate level digimon, and the eggs something more in line with a champion. The ultimates ought to take more effort, right?"
"That does sound logical." Izzy said. "The only way to be sure would have been to experiment more with the crests too... it's shame they got destroyed..."
"This is awesome." Poromon joined in. "Does this mean we all get lots of new forms using new digieggs?
It was clear he was very exited about such a prospect. It seemed the other digimon were too.
"That is what it looks like like." The genius responded. He then smiled. "The only way to know for sure is to try it out."
"No time like the present!" Pepismon cheered. It was the first time Tai ever saw a digimon so happy as it regressed down a level. He continued as Patamon "Let's see what the Digiegg of Sincerity makes me!"
"Hang on a second." Cody interjected. "Are we sure it's a good idea to do this indoors? Champion digimon can get... pretty big."
It was at this point Tai remembered Greymon bursting through the wall of his old apartment as he digivolved back when the Myotismon's minions went on the attack. It surprised him that he did not consider it before...
"I'm an idiot." He thought. "I'm terrible at leading. I'm as dumb as Davis."
"We were always brothers in spirit. Why shouldn't we be siblings in blood too?"
"Yeah," Patamon said embarrassed. "That is true. I guess I was too exited to think about it."
"I didn't either." Yolie said. "I don't think anyone did... I guess we just didn't think it would work anyway..."
It was small comfort.
"I'm supposed to be their leader. I'm supposed to think of things like that."
"It's okay, partner." TK said, oblivious to his inner turmoil. "We can try it again in the digital world."
"Yeah, doing it in the digital world is a better idea." Izzy agreed. "Wait... the digital world! I totally forgot. We need to leave now to get home before my mom. Come on Cody!"
Before anyone could react he was through the opened portal.
Upamon snickered. Cody just sighed.
"He's right you know. We do need to get coming. Come on, partner."
With that, they were off as well.
Patamon landed on the keyboard then.
"Let's go too TK. I still want to try the new digiegg."
The Christian obliged him. One "digiport open!" later and he and his partner were in the next area to be surveyed.
"Ooh! Ooh!" the bird said. "Can I try the Digiegg of Hope too while we're there?"
"Of course, partner." His human replied. "Let's get you up to Rookie."
They too stepped through the portal.
That just left Tai and Kari behind. There was silence for a few moments, then the former girl just picked up her digimon and walked up to the computer.
"Let's go, big brother." She said. "Digiport open."
He sighed and followed behind her. It was at least nice to hear her call him that.
Agumon was waiting for them on the other side of the digiport.
"Hey partner!" he said. "Good to see you guys again too, Davis, Veemon. Where are Kari and Gatomon, though? Aren't they usually in your group?"
"Ugh... right off the bat." Tai thought "Dammit."
There was only one answer he could give to that question.
"Kari is right here." The leader replied. "Davis went rouge and stole her body. We're looking for him as much as for the Digimon Emperor. They're probably in cahoots with him anyway, so finding one means finding the other."
The dinosaur just stared at him for a few seconds.
"Is this some kind of joke?" He asked. "It's really not funny."
It was almost exactly the same reaction Tai had that day Kari tried to tell him.
"I'm not joking!" Tai insisted. "Davis stole her body. We have to capture him and get it back."
"Tai, that's impossible. You know that." Agumon replied. "Not to mention, kind of cruel. Davis is right there."
"No he isn't!" Tai practically screamed. "This is Kari! Tell him, sis! Tell him how Davis stole your body and we need to catch him!"
It was a few seconds before she responded. The former girl looked back and forth a few times between her brother, her partner, and her brother's partner before finally sighing.
"Yeah, it's true." She said. "I don't expect you to believe it, but it's true."
There was silence again for several moments after that.
"That... is hard to believe." Agumon eventually said.
"Believe what you want." The other digimon said. "I'm Gatomon, by the way. Veemon stole my body too."
With that the dinosaur laughed a bit.
"Isn't that appropriate. Like human like partner! I still don't believe it," He said. "but at this point the joke is... kind of crossing the line twice... if that's a thing. Anyone else switched? I bet Matt stole Sora's body too."
"I told you it's not a joke!" Tai wailed. "Also, no Matt did not steal Sora's body, but Jun stole his."
"Who?"
"Davis's crazy sister!"
Agumon chuckled again. Why not?
"Dammit" Tai groaned inside. "Why can't you believe it either!"
He knew why. Agumon was his partner. A part of the leader was within him. If the human never believed, why should the digimon? Why should any part of him believe it?
"Dammit." He whispered to himself.
Kari glanced over at him. He dared not meet her eyes. Looking down his own eyes met Gatomon's. The former cat just sighed. She began walking down the path away from the portal.
"Like I said, believe what you want." She told the other digimon. "We can go on with the mission if you want."
"Indeed!" Agumon answered, following her down the path. "If we don't Davis might steal Mimi's body next!"
Sighing in defeat as well, Tai followed them on down the path. The mission was pretty routine after that. They found the control spire, Gatomon armor digivolved and knocked it down, she and Greymon cleared out what remained of the emperor's slaves. Any other day it would have just another boring day... today... today...
"I am sorry Kari... I am so sorry." It felt like the only thought on his mind. "I'm sorry I liked Davis better as a sibling than you, and I'm sorry I can't vocalize that to you."
If he did, he would have to admit that he had felt that way. He couldn't do that to her. Objectively, the apology would not be worth the pain that admission could only cause her. And yet, what pain had to be there without it? How could she forgive him without that apology. How could he forgive himself?
Not that he deserved forgiveness.
"I am a disgusting excuse for an older brother."
Eventually they made it back to the portal and Agumon bid them goodbye. He still thought the switch was a joke, of course.
"Good Kari impression, Davis." the dinosaur said. "She normally isn't this withdrawn, though. You should have been Izzy. Maybe Joe."
"It's not an act!" He screamed in his head. This time, though, he didn't bother trying to correct him.
"What's the use?" He thought "No part of me was ever going to believe it."
TK and Yolie were already back when the Kamiyas returned to the real world. Their digimon were happy to describe the 'Moosemon' and 'Ponchomon' they had become with their partners' exchanged digieggs. Tai tried to be happy for them. They sounded vaguely whimsical, especially Ponchomon, but that was a feeling he had a hard time appreciating now.
Eventually, Cody and Izzy returned too.
"That's everyone." Tai said as they did.
"Is my mom home yet?" Izzy asked.
"No, luckily we all made it back beforehand." He answered. "Did you find anything?"
"A whole bunch of control spires."
"A bunch of control spires in one area?" Tai asked. "That's... new."
"Yeah, the emperor's only ever used one per area before." Matt said. "Was it just that area or did you guys see that too?"
"Just one spire where we were." TK confirmed.
"Same." The leader added. "Any idea why your area was different?"
"Yes, that's the other thing." Cody responded. "I think we found the Digimon Emperor's base."
"His base?" Tai said. Had so great an opportunity really presented itself so quickly?
"It has to be fate." He thought. "This is my chance to save Kari's body!"
"What are we waiting for then." The leader answered. "Let's go tear it down!"
If that really was the emperor's base... if the emperor was really in it... if Davis was really in it...
He felt like the time for atonement had come.
His digivice was raised most of the way to the computer screen when Matt interrupted "Hold your horses Tai. You know we can't barge in their without a plan."
"How could he be hesitating?" Tai screamed in his head, his digivice how stuck halfway to the monitor. "This is the best chance to get Kari's body back! Does he not know that? Heck, this is the best chance to get his own body back! He..." the ramifications of that were clear to him... "knows that. He also knows just how dangerous it is. I... I know it too."
He lowered his digivice. "You're right, I'm sorry."
It was like when Agumon was captured. His instinct had to charge in and do something right at the start, even when he couldn't do anything. Kari and... Davis, had talked him out of it before. Now Matt had done the same.
"He always was the level headed one..."
"I know, what you're thinking." His rival said. "I want to help get Kari her body back too. Hell, I really want my own back, but yet, I can't do anything on that front. At least you're still in a body with a digivice! Just now I was stuck here while you guys finally found the emperor's base! You can't know how much that pissed me off."
Tai could only imagine. He had no idea how horrible he'd feel in that position.
"I wish there were something I could do. Maybe there is, but we need more time to think of it. We need time to think of a plan either way. I've waited two months already to get my body back, what's a few more minutes? I'm really confident we can do it. I never felt closer to getting it back than when you guys actually started believing we switched, and now that we have this opportunity... it's golden."
"Well said." Cody agreed.
"You're right." Tai agreed. "Anyone have any ideas for a plan?"
"I don't yet." Izzy admitted, "It's gonna take a lot of thinking."
"I agree." TK said. "And I also think it's gonna take more than one day."
"Yeah," Yolie pondered. "I suppose this will be a lot harder if we all have to be back by a certain time."
It was then that there was a knock at the door.
Izzy's eyes suddenly widened. He just mouthed "She's back."
It was only a few seconds before he said "Come in mom." In that time the group scrambled into believable, non-digimon related positions. Tai was pleasantly surprised by how effectively it went given they had only tried a digi-world trip from outside the school for the first time two days prior.
"Oh, you're home." The lady of the house said as she came in.
"Hey, Mom." Her son answered
"Hello Mrs. Izumi." the rest added.
Tai feared for the inevitable question of what they were doing, but it seemed something else caught the adult's attention.
She turned to Matt. "Why hello there!" She said "I haven't seen you before. Are you a new friend of my son's?"
"Um, yes." Matt took the lifeline. "I… met him through my brother... Davis. He and some of his friends we coming this way and I joined them. My name is… Jun… Jun Motomiya."
"Good to meat you, Jun. It's always nice to see Izzy make a new friend. If you need anything from me, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it."
"In, fact, why don't I make you some cookies. I know it's cliche, but I do feel like a minor celebration is in order."
"Of course," Matt replied. "Thank you Mrs. Izumi." The rest of the group chorused agreement as she left for the kitchen.
"That… was a lot closer than it needed to be." the leader gulped.
"Hey, free cookies." Cody said.
It was one of few times the youngest digidestined sounded his age, but, now that he said it, Tai couldn't argue with him.
"Wise as ever." Tai said.
"Thank you."
Izzy was the first to return to the matter at hand.
"As for a plan, I don't know how helpful any of us older kids will be on that front. There must have been a hundred control spires in the area with the Digmon Emperor's base. There is no way we'll any more able to digivolve our partners without D3's than Matt can without a digivice at all."
That was terrible... No! there had to be something he could do!
"Calm down" Tai told himself. "Don't panic like you did before. There does have to be way. There always is, but you'll have to be clever about it."
He thought for a few seconds… then he laughed. It was absurd given all that was happening, but yet…
"What if we went on a camping trip?" He asked.
"A camping trip?" Yolie questioned.
"Really, a camping trip. Here me out." He answered. "While you younger kids go to the digital world and storm the base, us older kids will go on a camping trip and tell your parents you went with us. If they called the camping site and no one was there, you'd get in trouble, but this way we can cover for you."
"Wow, that is a great idea, Tai." Matt said. "And here I thought I wasn't going to get to do anything at all."
That had been Tai's fear as well. It still wasn't fully rebuffed, but at least this way he was contributing. That counted for a lot. He had too… he had to do that now.
"There is one problem with that." Cody pointed out. "I doubt many camp sites will just let handful of teenagers into the wilderness on their own. We'll need an adult there to vouch for us too."
Yeah… that was a problem.
"How much do we have to tell them?"
The question was on Tai's mind. It must have been on everyone's minds. Tai's more than most given was hiding the fact that Kari's body was missing from his parents, let alone the fact someone else was in it.
"It can't be my mom or my dad." He said. "I… really don't want to tell them Kari's body is missing. Not after I lied to them about where it was already."
"Does my mom work?" Matt asked. "My dad is off the table for the same reason, but mom wouldn't need to know my body is gone too."
"Yeah... about that." TK began. "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that mom is off the table too. The good news... that's because dad is living with her now."
The former boy's jaw dropped as he heard his brother say that.
"Wha... what?"
His jaw stayed dropped as the Christian gave the full explanation.
"Oh... oh my god." He stuttered. "You... no way..."
He sat down on the bed. Tears were forming in his eyes. Were they tears of sorry or joy? Tai couldn't say.
"You okay?" The leader asked.
"I... I'm better than okay. I'm ecstatic... and yet I'm furious. I... my parents are getting back together... and I'm not there to see it." He cliched his fist. "Damn you, Jun!"
"I'm sorry, big brother." It was TK that said that again. Once again the response was "Don't be." Afterwords Matt went on "I'm really glad for you. Really, I am. I know the divorce had to have been harder on you than it was me. I'm so happy that you get to be there for the reunion."
"Thank you." The little brother replied. "I promise. I'll get you your body back so you can see it too."
"Thank you." He replied. "Thank you, very much." He sighed again, returning to the task of getting his body back "Yeah, both of our parents are definitely out."
"So are any of the new kids' parents." The leader added. "It has to be someone who already knows about the digital world."
"Agreed." Matt added. "Mimi's parents are a continent away too, so that just leaves Sora's, Izzy's and Joe's."
"Not Joe's" TK pointed out. "It was his brother that saw Gomamon, not them."
"Doesn't he work instead? Jim's an adult now? He is in college." Izzy pointed out.
"He could work, but I think an older adult would be less suspicious." Cody countered.
"Agreed." Tai put in. "That just leaves your parents, Izzy, and Sora's."
"My mom is a few rooms away. I can go ask her."The host said. "That being said, if we want to keep up the illusion that Matt and Kari's bodies are not missing, we need this to happen ASAP, ideally today or tomorrow. That is very short notice I doubt either of our patents will appreciate."
"Ask anyway." The leader directed. He pulled out his phone. "I'll call Sora and see if her mom works too while you do that."
Matt:
"You okay, big brother?" Kari asked as they walked down the street.
"Oh, I'm fine."
It was a lie. Well, physically it wasn't, but the former boy was a bit anxious as he approached his crush's house.
"What I'd give to do this in any other circumstances..."
Despite the short notice, an adult chaperon had proven fairly easy to find. Izzy's mom had wanted to check her schedule, but Sora's dad volunteered as soon as he was asked. That meant the digidestined were meting up for the camping trip at his apartment... at Sora's apartment. The former stage musician wasn't normally the kind to be shy around the one he liked, but in his current state...
The other switched one kept looking at him. She was far to polite to say anything, but it was plain she did not believe the lie.
Matt sighed. "If there is anyone who would understand, it's her." He thought.
"I'm a bit nervous about going to see Sora in this body." He admitted.
"Why," Kari asked. "Did... do you like her?"
"Yeah, I do." The former boy said. That was the awkward part of the conversation out of the way... maybe now they could address what mde it awkward.
"I... don't know what she'll, well, think of me..." he stuttered a but before continuing "now that I'm a girl."
"Yeah," the other switched one said. "I know that feeling."
"Oh, did you have a crush too you're afraid will reject you as a guy?"
She really did understand then.
"One more thing they could relate over." he thought
"I did." The former girl said. "I... since you told me yours... I..."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No, I do want to. Really, I have to. It's T... T... your brother. I think I'm in love with him."
Matt... was not surprised at all by that information.
"Truth be told, I suspected as much."
"Was it that obvious?" Kari asked.
"'Obvious' is a strong word. I mostly guessed as much from how Davis treated him. That he liked you really was obvious. The easiest way to explain his behavior was to say you liked TK, or at least that Davis thought you did, and that made him see him TK as competition. I didn't know which, but honestly, I kind of hoped you really did like him."
"Really," Kari asked "why?"
"I said to much." Matt thought. He couldn't take it back though.
"That cat is out of the bag." He thought. Glancing over at Kari's book-bag he added "Sorry Gatomon."
Telling his sibling the uncomfortable truth, he said. "It wasn't hard to see parallels between me competing with Tai for Sora all these years and my brother and his successor seeming to do the same for you. In that analogy, thinking you liked TK was like thinking Sora liked me. I know... I'm sorry to involve you in my wishful thinking."
"It's fine." Kari said. "Honestly, you've kind of got me doing the wishful thinking now too. If you're T... your brother and I'm Sora in your analogy and you like her, does that mean he likes me?"
Matt chuckled. "I don't know if it works like that, but I hope it does. I do, for both of us."
"Yeah, me too." She answered. "Maybe we'll do a double date when all of this is over."
Matt chuckled. "Thanks." He said. "That would be great."
The former boy had been half expecting Kari to root for Tai in his love triangle. He could not imagine her siding with anyone else before the switch. Siding with her beloved brother's rival in particular would have been completely absurd. For his own part, back in the old days before he met Davis, Matt could see himself not approving of his brother dating his rival's sister. It probably would have been fine anyway in more recent years, but back when that rivalry was more intense he would have had to object. He tried to imagine the young TK professing his love for the enemy's sister back when he rebelled against Tai after Cherrymon deceived him. That would have infuriated him more than anything else that was going on.
He then chuckled silently at the absurdity of the then 8 year old kids doing that.
Regardless, he could only hope for that profession nowadays. He had root for his new sibling's victory as much she rooted for his. That double date was quickly beginning to look like its own dream come true.
"I guess we're relating even more than I expected."
Thinking further, Matt realized that his new dream date also looked like Tai's worst nightmare. He could only imagine Tai, if nothing else historically, would had similar reasons not to approve of their siblings dating as he would. Perhaps more, big brothers tended to be a lot more concerned about who their little sisters dated than they were for their little brothers, after-all. Combine that with losing Sora to him and it seemed like this would be Matt's ultimate victory over Tai, even more than displacing his leadership ever would have been.
"Yeah, that would be a really nice cherry for the sundae." He thought. He knew his sibling's happiness ought to be the sundae instead of his own petty rivalry. He tried to focus on that. For what it was worth, it was the first thing he thought of.
"You know." Kari said, calling him back to the hear and now, "I... think Tai saw those parallels you're seeing too."
"Oh," his rival asked. "Why is that?"
"At the birthday party, right before I swapped with Davis, Tai saw me and your brother hanging out and said it reminded him of you and Sora." She paused. "I didn't understand it then, but, after this conversation, I think I do now."
She laughed.
"Isn't that funny. I didn't get it with my own brain but it's clear now with Davis's."
"Brains work in funny ways." Matt replied. With his own new brain's disappointing performance, he new that well.
"Anyway," Kari continued "I don't know if he liked Sora or not. Up until now I thought he did but..."
She paused for a minute
"If he does, he's at least okay with seeing you with her."
She didn't say it, but "unlike Davis" was in the air. Even after all this time serving as her older sibling, Matt still could only guess on how the similarities between her real brother and the boy that tormented her must have weighed on the former girl. They certainly weighed on the former boy, and he was Tai's rival rather than his loving sibling.
"Thanks." He said. He knew fearing Tai was THAT much like Davis was unreasonable, but it was nice to hear it confirmed. Even outside of that context, it was still a nice thing to say, and still sincere.
"You're welcome."
When they arrived at Sora's apartment, Matt was mildly surprised to see three cars loaded with camping supplies and surrounded by digidestined. He had expected Mr Takenuchi's and Tai's, but it looked like Joe's was involved as well.
"Is that, Joe's brother?" Kari asked.
"It is." Matt responded. "What's he doing here?"
She shrugged."
Jim Kido did not seem to notice them coming. He was talking with Sora's dad when they approached. It was his brother that greeted them.
"Hey guys." Joe said.
"Hey, Joe." Matt puzzled. "What are you doing here?"
"Eh just going on the trip with you guys."
That was a surprise. The older boy did not strike him as a camping kind of guy at all, and his schedule was pretty infamously tight, especially for something this short notice.
When Matt pointed this out Joe responded. "Honestly, Jim dragged me into it. He got in through Mr. Takenuchi, and thought it was a good chance for some brotherly bonding. I would have turned him down, but he said everyone was coming, so between that, the chance to stop the Digimon Emperor once and for all, and, well, what's happening with you and Kari... I kinda felt like I had to come."
That was interesting. Matt had expected Sora to come with her father but this was further out there. Not that it wasn't appreciated.
"Thanks, sounds like the gang is all here." He said. "Don't suppose Mimi booked another flight back here too?"
"No," Joe said. "One transpacific round-trip in a week as hard enough, I'm afraid."
"Yeah, that stinks." the musician concurred. "I blame her dad for the move."
"Yeah... dads, am I right?" for once Joe joked. Amazing Matt found it mildly amusing.
"Today really is out there, isn't it?" He thought.
Tai and Izzy were also already present. Both of them were talking with Sora. The leader abruptly broke off the conversation to greet Kari when he saw her. It was a nice gesture... albeit an extremely awkward one given how little Kari said in response.
"Um... hey."
Matt did not know what was going through her head as she spoke with him, or rather when she didn't. His current sibling was more willing to talk to him than most people, but she had not wanted discuss her former brother even with her new. Matt had a few guesses, though. Chief among them was "You're terrible for liking Davis in my body more than me and I like Matt better now as my big brother." In a strange way, the latter part of that made him perversely proud... not that he didn't pity Tai for the former.
As far as he and his crush went... their greeting felt almost as awkward.
"Hey, Sora" Matt uttered."Um... thanks for having us."
"Hey, M... Jun" She replied. "Um... Don't thank me. My dad is the chaperon, not me, after all"
She couldn't call him by his real name, not while Mr. Takenuchi was in earshot. They had to tell him about the new digidestined for the plan to work. That was the definition of "need to know." That had always been deemed appropriate for those who already knew about digidestined, hence Patamon living openly with mom and TK. Technically, the body swaps were not, however, need to know. Objectively, that was a good thing; it spared them the herculean task of actually getting Mr. Takenuchi to believe body swap were a real thing that could happen. Still... it was bound to create complications beyond simply making this awkward moment even more awkward... not that that did not bother Matt enough right now.
"How does he know about digimon at all, anyway?" Izzy asked. "Didn't we swear not to tell anyone?"
"That was mom's doing not mine." Sora disclaimed. "Gennai never got an oath out of our parents. I'm kind of surprised more of them haven't spilled the beans."
"I'm not." Mr. Takenuchi countered. "No parent wants men in black probing into their kids because they have connections to those scary monsters from 4 years ago."
It was good enough a counter for Matt. From Joe's expression, it worked for him too.
The group went inside so they could release Gatomon. Before long the remaining younger digidestined also arrived. Like yesterday, the came together. With them, everyone was here.
"Hey, big brother." TK said to Matt. After he responded in kind, Kari input a subtle greeting of her own.
"Um... hey."
It wasn't much, but it was the only greeting she had given of her own accord.
"Hey, Kari." Was TK's response. "Let's get your body back."
"I... thank you."
Minimalistic as the greeting had been, Matt definitely did feel a lot more warmth coming from it than his had with Sora. For a second, he envied it. Then he shook his head in regret. The poor girl needed it a lot more than he did right now.
A moment later they were off. The Takenuchis showed them to the family computer, and with one cry of "digiport open" the younger kids were in the digital world.
"That's it." Matt thought. "All I can do now is wait for them to get my body back... that and have fun on a camping trip."
Sora's father glanced over at Matt. "Aren't you going too?" He asked.
"No, I don't have a digivice." Matt lamented. "I'm just going on the trip with you."
"Huh, I had assumed you were one of the new digidestined Sora told me about." Her father responded. "I guess it's my turn to ask me how you know about it then."
"Um, the younger kids never made the oath either." He lied. "Davis told me. I'm his sister, by the way. Jun Motomiya."
"Fair enough." Was the response. "If you are his family I suppose that is fine. I'm not one to complain."
With that out of the way, Mr. Takenuchi began leading the group back to the parking lot. He and his daughter went up to his car.
"Have we decided who is riding with who?" He asked. "There are 7 people here, so three to one car, two to the others?"
"I wonder if I could get a ride with Sora?" Matt thought. It would be a nice way to bond. He quickly decided it wasn't worth it, however. Their position made it seem inevitable she would be riding with her father. Wasn't that the stereotypical thing to get between a guy and his crush?
"Dads, amirite?" He thought.
It seemed silly to worry about given he wasn't a guy anymore, but hey, one more cherry for the sundae.
Father and daughter would up leaving in their car, and Izzy went with Tai. That left Matt with the Kidos. He went ahead and sat in the back seat without prompt, assuming the brothers would have the front. Joe took the drivers' seat, as expected, but Jim went to the backseat with him.
"Um, hey there." Matt said. "You... don't want shot gun?"
"It's fine." Jim replied. "I'd just assume sit back here with you."
Matt did not object. He did not think much of it until they had been the road for a few minutes. It was only then that he noticed how Jim was looking at him.
"No" he thought. "That's not possible." He was about to assume he had misjudged the glance when Joe's brother... cut straight to the point.
"So, Jun," he asked. "I don't suppose you have a boyfriend, do you?"
"I... no... I don't." The former boy said in shock. He immediately regretted that honest answer. Had he been less shocked he would have known to lie.
"This nut job is flirting with Jun!" He thought. "Worse, he's flirting with me!"
It was not something Matt had experienced the months he'd been a girl. Jun was just to plain and unattractive to draw the guys in. In a strange way that had kind of disappointed Matt up until now. As much attention as he had gotten from the opposite sex as a guy, it was easy to miss, even if he felt no attraction to his new opposite. Now that it was actually happening, the full ramifications of that caveat were coming to bear.
Suddenly the awkwardness talking with Sora seemed a pleasant memory.
"Dammit, how could he like this disgusting freak?" Matt groaned internally. "I shouldn't have made her more presentable. How could I be this stupid?"
He glanced toward the front seat, hoping to find some assistance from Joe. It was plain he did not notice what was happening in the back. The nerd's attention on the road was as undivided as it was to any of his tests. Matt was on his own.
"This is gonna be a long trip." He thought.
TK:
Nothing.
That was what was where Tentomon and Cody said the emperor's base would be, just a big hole in the ground. Yolie, after first insiting the base had flown away, went on to insist the base must have been buried underground and tried to dig it up herself. It was... interesting to see. When nothing happened after a few minutes of that, Armadillomon volunteered to help as Digmon. He didn't turn anything up either.
"I was right the first time!" Yolie eventually blurted out. "Come on Hawkmon, we're searching the sky!"
"Partner, as you su-" he was cut off by a "Digiarmor energize!"
"Hawkmon armor digivolve to, Moosemon the Antlers of Hope!"
"Huh... I guess we forgot to trade our D-terminals back..." Yolie said embarrassed. The change in tone was short lived, however. Shoving her D-Terminal at TK she demanded "Hurry up and give me mine back so we can take to the sky!".
"Let's wait a second." The blond responded. "Are we sure the base is in the sky... that's kind of out there."
"Wait? What are you talking about!? We need to find Kari's body now!" Yolie roared. "And yes, of course it's in the sky. Where else would it be?"
Ironically, the Christian knew he did not have a better answer.
"Just give it to her, TK." Cody said. "I think it actually is a good idea... sort of. I doubt it's in the sky, but can search better for anything from the air than on the ground."
"True."
He handed Yolie her original D-Terminal. She wasted no time.
"Digiarmor energize!"
"Hawkmon armor digivolve to, Halsemon the Wings of Love"
Before the others could say anything, she was off.
"See you guys later." Halsemon managed to put in.
"And yes it is in the sky!" His partner added as they left earshot.
"So, uh, I guess Yolie is enthusiastic today." TK muttered.
"That is one way to put it." Cody sighed."Come on Digmon, let's search on foot while TK and Yolie search the air."
The blond held out his D-Terminal. "Wanna trade? You might get a flying form too?"
He obliged. Unfortunately the resulting Sheepmon was earthbound as Armadillomon.
"Never mind," Cody said, regressing his digimon. "I can search on foot. You wanna come with me, Kari?"
"Um, sure."
The boys returned D-Terminals and TK used his. As he mounted Pegususmon, Kari said "Um... good luck."
"Thanks." He responded "I said I'd get you your body back and I will."
"Thanks."
With that he was off. It was a very brief farewell but it stuck in his head nonetheless. It wasn't the first time his mind had lingered on a farewell from her... though it was the first time he knew why.
"Lovey dovey." He said under his breath.
"What was that, partner?" Pegususmon asked.
"Nothing."
The exchange that day had been almost as brief. The others... just seemed to take it for granted there was something between him and Kari, and yet it was earth shattering to him...
"I'm an idiot." He thought. "Why did it take me this long?"
He didn't know how Kari felt; he couldn't know that, but now he was beginning to realize his own love. He did not know when his feeling with her had changed from platonic to romantic, but it was obvious now that they had long ago. He had been best friends with Kari since they were kids, and at some point, as he matured, so did his feelings.
"I guess it just seemed... normal?" He thought. "Maybe that's why I didn't see it before? Maybe it was gradual enough not to notice?"
A part of him did notice, he realized, some part below consciousness. That dream that had stuck out to him, the one where he saved the angel woman from the dragon, came quickly to mind. At the time he had just seen it was wanting to be a knight, to rescue a damsel in distress like a hero in a movie. Looking back, he should have known better. He already knew he was himself the angel, the image of his partner, in several of his dreams. What could the angel woman be if not Kari? Perhaps the earlier interpretation had just satisfied him enough to not question it deeper. It was, after all, partly right. He did want to be a knight, but that wasn't all. He wanted to be her knight. Now he was getting that chance. Not only was he getting to save the literal woman of his dreams, he was even getting to save her from the dragon he had dreamed of too: Davis.
Of course, that brought up it's own can of worms.
Looking west, he saw the sun begin to set. It reminded him of the night he thought he had fallen in love with the goggleboy. Now that made sense too. In the minutes after his feelings for Kari were revealed to him, so too had an explanation for his feelings for "Davis". He thought back to that evening, that night he had thought he fell in love with him. He knew now that he hadn't. His old love for Kari had merely taken a new form. That... was very comforting in its own way.
"Does it mean I'm not gay?" He thought.
The thought overjoyed him. As much inner turmoil as that temptation had caused, how could he not rejoice at it's removal. Obviously, he didn't really like guys, he just liked Kari... right?
"It was Kari's mind that I loved, not Davis's body." He told himself. It was easy to accept and it filled him with joy that his temptation was behind him.
Of course, it also raised an awkward question in his mind.
"Can you be with her while she's like that?"
The thought of dating Kari in Davis's body... was an awkward one. To date a guy's body... even if it was really a girl in it... that... that still felt like a sin, like something he had to avoid, almost as much as it did before he knew that girl was there. And yet, now he wanted it even more.
"I just have to get her body back as soon as possible." He thought. "Both for her and for me."
That did please him. Soon he would reunite Kari with her body, and then they could be together. Her nightmare and his would both be over, and his dream would have come true.
"I'm her knight in shinning armor." He thought, clinging to that precious analogy "I even have a valiant steed," He stroked Pegusmom's mane "a flying steed at that."
It didn't match the dream come true that was his parents' reunion. It couldn't match that, but it was still an amazing addition. And, of course, he now knew there was another part of that old dream he could make come true the at the same time as his new. It was sad to know he had not truly been reunited with his bother along with his father. Fortunately, his quest to save Kari would rectify that problem too.
"Soon Matt will also have his body back, then we can be together, too."
A call from Pegususmon drew him back into the here and now.
"TK! Look at that!"
Following his partner's eyes, the Christian saw it. It was a giant building... and it was flying.
"No way!" He said. "Is that the emperor's base!?"
"I guess Yolie was right after all."
It was a welcome surprise. With that, the dream was looking that much more real.